Moving Day (3)
Han Miru’s story went on.
“What? You acquired Cooloud?”
“It’s Snow Crash now. Do you know what kind of company it is?”
“A cloud company, right? I did hear that Rolf Buchi, who was known as a famous developer, actually lied and said he’d written his dead friend’s program himself. I was blown away when I read that article.”
To ordinary people, it was the kind of company they barely even knew existed, but if you worked in IT, there was no way you wouldn’t know a cloud provider.
He acquired the fourth-largest cloud company in the industry?
“So how much did you make, anyway?”
“Enough to set up a game company for you.”
“No way, does that even make sense?”
For some reason, Sung Yoon-ah’s face lit up.
“Right? I’m not the only one who thinks that, am I?”
But it had actually happened.
Wait. At this point, could he start a major game company instead of just an indie studio?
As I was thinking that, Han Miru spoke again.
“Let’s go for now.”
“Where to?”
“To buy a car. You’ve been singing the praises of wanting a Porsche every day, haven’t you?”
“When did I ever do that? I never said anything like that.”
“Ah! Back when we ran the chicken shop?”
“Huh? The chicken shop?”
“Never mind. Anyway, if you say you don’t need one, I guess I’ll just have to buy one for myself. I was going to get you one, but I suppose there’s nothing to be done.”
At that, Kang Seon-woo quickly grabbed his friend by the shoulder.
“Wait. Just because I didn’t go around singing about it doesn’t mean I don’t want a Porsche. If you buy me one, I’m confident I’ll drive it proudly!”
After moving and buying a car, I finally felt a little more at ease.
I still needed to throw out all my ratty old clothes and go shopping at some point, but I decided to take my time with that. Before anything else, there were more urgent things to handle.
I spent some time thinking about what came next.
Given what was going to happen before long, I needed money right away. And the painting I’d bought at the gallery was the means to get it.
I looked over the painting again.
Size alone could create a certain oppressive force.
With works like Jackson Pollock’s Number series or Mark Rothko’s color field paintings, you could feel overwhelmed before you even fully understood what you were looking at.
But this one was only 45.4 centimeters wide and 65.6 centimeters tall. There was nothing about it that gave off any kind of overwhelming aura.
Thanks to knowing the future, I’d gotten my hands on the painting easily enough. But the real challenge started now.
Buy a hidden work by a famous painter cheaply, then sell it for a fortune.
On paper, the plan couldn’t have been simpler. But once I actually tried to put it into motion, there were more obstacles than I’d expected.
The most important thing in investing was the exit.
What good was a painting worth $400 million if you couldn’t sell it? I wasn’t trying to open a museum and display it there.
The two people who had originally bought the painting were famous figures in the New York art world.
While the restoration was underway, they had it appraised several times, then brought in the art world’s highest authorities and had them all authenticate it as the real thing.
I couldn’t even begin to imagine how much money and effort that had taken.
To do that, you needed not just money but the right connections and the right authority. Realistically, there was no way I could handle it myself.
Even if I could, it would take far too long.
Restoration wasn’t something you did by simply scraping off the paint and putting a fresh coat on. Even with a short schedule, it would take at least a year.
But I needed money for my next investment right away. When was I supposed to sit around leisurely babysitting a painting and restoring it?
It would be better to cash out as quickly as possible, even if I took a slightly lower price.
So who, exactly, should I sell this painting to?
The best option was to sell it back to the person who had originally bought it. If someone had already paid a huge sum for it, that meant they wanted it badly enough to pay that much.
The identity of the person who had won the auction hadn’t been disclosed. But everyone knew who it was.
There were plenty of rich people in the world, but not many who could mobilize over $100 million in cash at a moment’s notice.
If it was $400 million, there probably weren’t even a hundred such people.
The buyer of the painting was none other than the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.
“Oil money is famously fond of art, after all.”
At the time, galleries, investors, museums, corporations, and foundations had all jumped into the bidding to get their hands on it.
He’d beaten out all those competitors to win the auction, which meant he must have wanted the painting badly enough to pay anything for it, right?
So all I had to do was make direct contact with the Saudi Crown Prince and sell it to him.
“Hmm.”
There was no way he’d agree to meet me just because I showed up in Riyadh with a painting under my arm. No, before that, Saudi Arabia didn’t even allow entry unless you were Muslim.
I wasn’t about to convert to Islam just to sell one painting.
I looked up the Saudi Crown Prince.
“Oh! He’s visiting Korea as a state guest next week. Lucky me.”
Lately, it felt like the timing was aligning a little too perfectly.
The Crown Prince’s visit to Korea was taking place at the invitation of President Oh Young-hwan.
Korea was one of Saudi Arabia’s major trading partners.
Saudi Arabia accounted for about 30 percent of Korea’s crude oil imports. In addition, Saudi Aramco was the largest shareholder in A-Oil, one of Korea’s four major petroleum companies.
The purpose of this visit was to expand investment and trade between the two countries.
He would stay in Korea for three days and two nights before returning to Saudi Arabia.
It had been nearly twenty years since the Crown Prince last visited Korea, so his schedule was packed tight. Would I really be able to find a chance to meet him in the middle of it?
I opened the Crown Prince’s photo.
These days, kings lived so long that crown princes were usually potbellied men in their sixties. Four official wives, twelve if you counted the unofficial ones. Forty-four children.
Ah, the life of an Arab royal family member…
As I stared at the photo, I felt something was off.
“Wait. Something’s strange.”
The Crown Prince was supposed to be young and handsome.
Had my memory been wrong? Or was I confusing him with someone else?
After digging through a few more photos, I realized something important.
Among the people standing with the Crown Prince was a broad-shouldered man with a beard, who looked to be in his early thirties.
I nodded.
“Right. Now I remember.”
While I was wondering how I could possibly meet the buyer, my phone rang.
“I heard you’re back in Korea.”
“Yes. I came back a few days ago.”
“Ha! Then we should have a meal together.”
“Of course. I’ll pay, just like I promised.”
“How does the day after tomorrow at eight sound? I should finish work a little early that day.”
“Sounds good.”
Then I’d need to reserve a restaurant in advance for that day.
I wondered what a conglomerate chairman actually liked to eat.
I asked carefully, “Do you have a place you go to often, or any kind of food you especially like?”
I was really hoping he wouldn’t say he was happy with anything.
“I’m happy with anything, really. Since I’m the one being treated, I’ll leave the choice to the person paying.”
“……”
The call ended.
I’d settled the date and time, but I still had no idea where we should meet. I couldn’t exactly drag him to Kimbap Heaven or McDonald’s.
After turning over a few restaurants in my head, I decided to call in an expert.
“Yes, Miru.”
I explained the situation to Sung Yoon-ah.
“I promised Chairman Yoo Jae-ho dinner, but I’m not sure what he’d like. Do you have anywhere you could recommend?”
“Well… where were you thinking, Miru?”
I thought for a moment, then said, “There’s a place near my neighborhood with really good tteokbokki.”
A brief silence followed.
“Ah, yes. Then we can go there. I’ll hang up now.”
“No, wait. Help me out here.”
“But aren’t you planning to meet just the two of you?”
From the way she sounded, it seemed like she wanted to be invited along.
I hurriedly said, “Ah! Yoon-ah, you’ll come too, right?”
“Would that be all right? I’d feel like I’m barging in without any sense.”
“What are you talking about? I was planning to treat you to dinner too. And honestly, I thought it might be awkward if it were just the two of us. Chairman Yoo will probably like it too.”
“He did say last time that he wanted to meet together.”
“Really? Then that works out even better.”
Sung Yoon-ah’s voice seemed to brighten.
“Fine, fine. If you put it that way, Miru. Then I’ll make the reservation.”
At an Italian restaurant in Apgujeong.
It felt less like a restaurant and more like a private home, with separate rooms divided off inside. Sung Yoon-ah and I arrived first and took our seats.
A little later, Chairman Yoo Jae-ho arrived after work.
We greeted each other warmly.
“Hello, Chairman.”
“It’s been a while. How was your trip to the United States?”
“Very good. I heard you also went to Japan a few days ago.”
“Ha! Who told you about my schedule?”
“The news anchor mentioned it. Oh—this is a gift I brought back from the United States.”
I handed Chairman Yoo Jae-ho the art tube containing the painting.
“A souvenir from my trip.”
“What is it? May I open it?”
“Of course.”
He took the painting out of the tube and unfolded it.
“I don’t know much about art, but it looks like a good painting.”
“Yes. It is.”
Then I heard a mutter from behind me.
“Tch. I thought you were giving it to me alone.”
“……”
I never said that.
I was just giving one to each of the people who’d helped me out.
While Chairman Yoo stepped away to take a call, Sung Yoon-ah leaned toward me and asked in a low voice, “Is it really all right to give such an expensive painting as a gift?”
“You got one that expensive too, didn’t you?”
“Well, yes, but…”
When I thought about how much I’d made from it, it didn’t feel like a loss. Besides, I had another favor to ask today.
When Chairman Yoo returned to the table, Sung Yoon-ah ordered wine.
The food was delicious, and the atmosphere was warm and lively.
Eating face-to-face with a conglomerate chairman I usually only saw on the news felt a little surreal.
How many people in the business world could sit down for a private meal with Chairman Yoo Jae-ho like this?
He remained cheerful the entire time.
He didn’t come off as stiff or demanding at all.
Maybe when someone was rich enough, they showed off a little; but when they were too rich, they became unexpectedly easygoing?
By the time dinner was drawing to a close, I slipped in what I’d come to ask.
“Chairman, there’s something I’d like to ask you.”
Chairman Yoo said lightly, “I thought this was just a meal on your tab, but it seems there was another reason. You’re not going to ask me to do it for free, are you?”
“Of course not. I’m not such an inconsiderate person. I’ll pay more than enough in return.”
“Good. Then let’s hear it.”
“You know the Saudi Crown Prince is visiting Korea next week, don’t you?”
“Of course.”
There was already a luncheon scheduled with the heads of the conglomerate groups, and Chairman Yoo was naturally going to attend.
“I’d like to meet someone among them.”
“You mean Prince Rashid? Wouldn’t that be difficult? I don’t have any separate one-on-one time with him either.”
His schedule was already packed, and there were lines of people waiting to meet him. No matter how powerful Chairman Yoo was, it would still be hard to rearrange the Saudi Crown Prince’s schedule.
“Not the Crown Prince.”
“Then who?”
“Prince Rashid.”