Kingmaker (3)
A man struck up a conversation with Sung Yoon-ah.
“Oh! Yoon-ah, you made it.”
“Hello.”
“How have you been all this time? You’re still working at the company, right?”
He was acting as if they were far closer than they really were.
Min Ah-reum leaned in and quietly told me who he was.
“He’s Jin Gyu-seok, the Executive Director at Trinicell HC.”
To have climbed that high at such a young age.
Did he have some kind of insane talent for management?
“His father is Jin Yong-ju, the chairman of Trinicell.”
“Then he really was born lucky.”
Having the right parents is a kind of ability too.
Jin Yong-ju had originally worked as an executive at a large conglomerate, but lost his job during the IMF crisis. Even then, he saw the growth potential of the biotech market early, pooled money with his former colleagues, and founded Trinicell. Supposedly, he didn’t know a thing about biotech himself, so he studied it from the ground up.
The Trinicell he built that way had grown step by step into Korea’s largest biotech company. Its market capitalization was currently tenth on the KOSPI, and by conglomerate ranking, it stood at twentieth.
If Yuseong and Daeyeon were old-guard chaebols, this was the new guard.
Honestly, the guest list was dazzling.
Never in my life had I expected to end up at a party like this.
If I’d come to a gathering like this back when I was still at DA Securities, I might have felt completely out of place. But now, I only felt one thing.
I had more money than all of them.
Besides Jin Gyu-seok, other people who recognized Sung Yoon-ah came over to greet her one by one.
While she moved around, exchanging pleasantries here and there, I talked with Min Ah-reum.
“I heard from your brother that you’ve been up to some interesting things lately.”
“I’ve had plenty going on, that’s for sure.”
“You even went to Japan?”
I said it before she could misunderstand.
“I’m not the one who helped Chairman Samara escape.”
“Then who did?”
“...According to the news, the Kullen brothers did.”
For the record, those two had been arrested in the United States and were expected to be extradited to Japan soon at the request of the Japanese authorities.
The Japanese justice system, humiliated by the whole affair, was determined to punish them severely.
But the crime they’d actually committed was only helping chairman Samara, who was out on bail, escape in secret. At most, they were probably looking at a year and six months in prison.
“Come visit our department store sometime. We’ve got a lot of seasonal new arrivals in right now.”
“Are you trying to sell me something?”
Min Ah-reum smiled.
“I’ll take good care of you.”
“How exactly will you take care of me?”
“Luxury boutiques don’t just stack products in a warehouse and sell them off. You can’t always buy what you want just because you have the money. That’s why you need help from someone who knows the business.”
Luxury goods were expensive not because of their function, but because of their scarcity. That was why the pricier the brand, the pickier it tended to be about its customers.
If I had her help, I’d probably have an easier time getting items that were normally hard to buy.
If you’ve made money, you’re supposed to go to a department store and flex a little to keep up with the trends these days, but...
“I don’t really think I need anything.”
“You mentioned you have a younger sister, right? Wouldn’t she love it if her older brother took her shopping?”
“Ah! She’s still a college student.”
“Oh, college students these days love luxury brands. Saving up their allowance and working part-time jobs to buy them is trendy.”
Who on earth invents trends like that?
You earn money the hard way, and then blow it on luxury goods? Ridiculous.
If you have money to spend, wouldn’t it be better to go to a PC café or have a drink somewhere?
“By the way, Mi-ru, is it really okay for you to come to a place like this?”
“Why not?”
“You’re kind of famous, aren’t you?”
“Me?”
“Maybe people don’t know your face, but no one would say they’ve never heard your name. And Mi-ru isn’t exactly a common name.”
“...”
Come to think of it, my record was a little too flashy.
Putting Yang Jeong-uk, the executive director at DA Securities, out of commission was one thing, but I’d also helped bring down the Chungjeong Group, one of the top ten conglomerates in Korea.
In other words, I was practically an enemy of the chaebols.
If my identity got out, would I get mobbed and thrown out?
Min Ah-reum stepped away for a moment, and as I sipped my champagne alone, Sung Yoon-ah returned to my side.
“You’re popular.”
“Not really.”
“Especially the men. They seem pretty eager to talk to you.”
“It’s nothing like that.”
For something that was supposedly “nothing like that,” a few of the guys still seemed to be glaring at me.
Well, with Sung Yoon-ah, it made sense that anyone would find her likable. She had the looks and the personality for it.
As I talked under the sharp gaze of men who clearly weren’t pleased, someone walked lightly toward us. Pure white shoulders and a delicate collarbone came into view.
It was none other than Go Hyeon-ji, the star of the party tonight.
Seeing her up close, she really was beautiful. If Dongho senior or Seon-woo had been here, they probably would have been too nervous to speak properly.
Go Hyeon-ji looked at Sung Yoon-ah and greeted her warmly.
“You came, Yoon-ah?”
“Happy birthday.”
“I didn’t think you’d come.”
“You invited me.”
“You usually don’t come to parties, so I wondered if it was because of me.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Go Hyeon-ji laughed and shook her head.
“If that’s not it, then good. Nice dress. Don’t tell me you bought it because you saw me in that tweed dress last time?”
“No, that’s not it.”
“Sure it isn’t. It’s fine. I don’t wear that style anymore anyway.”
“...”
Go Hyeon-ji’s gaze shifted to me.
“Who’s this? Don’t tell me he’s your boyfriend?”
“N-no, he isn’t.”
Rather than let Sung Yoon-ah fumble through it, I stepped in.
“Ah! I work with Yoon-ah. We’re company colleagues.”
“Company colleagues?”
“Yes.”
“What do your parents do, then?”
“...”
Was she really asking that on first meeting?
Not that I’d spent much time bragging about it, but my family was a business family too.
“My father runs Byeongjin Industrial.”
“Byeongjin Industrial?”
“I’ve never heard of that one. What kind of company is it?”
It was pathetic to be a small business owner.
If I didn’t want to be looked down on at gatherings like this, then I needed to grow Byeongjin Industrial fast.
“It’s a mid-sized manufacturer with a factory in Incheon. Right now, we’re working hard to develop products for supply contracts with large companies.”
Go Hyeon-ji covered her mouth and laughed.
“Pfft!”
It was less mockery than a snort of genuine amusement.
Seeing Byeongjin Industrial treated like that hurt. This was exactly why we needed to escape the hell of being a tiny, nobody company as soon as possible.
At this point, all I could rely on was Vice President Park Yong-jin.
Come to think of it, if my father’s company grew big enough, wouldn’t I end up as a second-generation chaebol too?
Go Hyeon-ji quickly stopped laughing and said,
“It’s fine. I don’t think social status matters all that much when people meet.”
“...Sorry?”
What was that supposed to mean?
The very statement assumed that status existed in the first place. More than that, it was basically pointing out that mine was lower.
Sung Yoon-ah answered for me.
“In this day and age, what status is there?”
“Right. That’s why I said it doesn’t matter.”
“...”
Now I understood why Yoon-ah had told me Go Hyeon-ji was a tiring person.
For one thing, she just didn’t communicate.
“Anyway, I’m glad you came. If you get along with the other people here, it’ll help your father’s business a lot.”
Sung Yoon-ah’s tone turned a little sharp.
“Hey, Go Hyeon-ji.”
“Why? I’m just trying to help.”
From her expression, I couldn’t tell whether she really didn’t know any better or was doing it on purpose.
After finishing her greeting, Go Hyeon-ji moved on to someone else.
Even though they had barely exchanged a few words, Sung Yoon-ah already looked exhausted.
“Now I think I understand why you said that.”
When I asked, she let out a sigh.
“I’m glad you figured it out now.”
“But did something happen between the two of you?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Just because.”
It felt like Go Hyeon-ji was one-sidedly keeping Sung Yoon-ah in check.
“It wasn’t anything serious, but...”
“What was it? If it wasn’t serious, now I’m even more curious.”
Sung Yoon-ah hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“I went to high school with Hyeon-ji. Back then, there was an older boy at school she liked.”
“Don’t tell me he liked you?”
“Ah! How did you know?”
“Stuff like that happens more often than you’d think.”
Take Ha Gyeong-tae, who had gotten married just recently. He confessed to Jin Se-yeon before I did. Then, after he found out I was dating her, he got drunk and started babbling, ‘I liked her first!’
“So what happened?”
“He confessed to me, but I turned him down.”
“Looks like you didn’t like him.”
Sung Yoon-ah smiled.
“I didn’t really know back then, but thinking about it now, maybe I did like him.”
“Then why did you reject him?”
“Because I knew Hyeon-ji liked him.”
“What happened to that guy?”
“He went to study abroad as soon as he graduated.”
So there had been a story like that between them.
“That really wasn’t a big deal at all.”
“Right? We did make up later, but maybe she still misunderstood me because of that.”
“What kind of misunderstanding?”
“That I made a pass at him first.”
“Ah! Of course, that’s not true. I actually kept my distance on purpose because I wanted things to go well for her instead.”
“And yet he still seemed drawn to you.”
“I don’t really get it myself. Hyeon-ji was prettier, and her family was better too.”
“I get it.”
“You do?”
“If it were me, I think I’d have liked you too, Yoon-ah.”
Maybe if anyone talked to her for just thirty minutes, they’d choose Sung Yoon-ah.
It’s not like you meet someone and just stare at their face in silence. When you’re with someone, you naturally prefer the person who’s pleasant to be around over the one who exhausts you.
And as for looks, Sung Yoon-ah didn’t lose to Go Hyeon-ji in the slightest.
“Oh, um. I-I’m just going to wash my hands for a second.”
For some reason, Sung Yoon-ah looked flustered and hurried away.
I slowly watched the party while waiting for her to come back.
The guests were gathered in small clusters, talking among themselves.
“Raw material prices have been skyrocketing lately. Is your company okay?”
“Don’t even ask. I’m dying because of that already.”
“I put money into lithium futures and lost over a billion won. If my father finds out, I’m dead.”
“What’s there to worry about? There are times to make money and times to lose it.”
“With the Aramco IPO coming up, it looks like Saudi Arabia’s trying to push oil prices higher.”
U.S. Treasury yields, raw materials, startup investment, funds, and more.
As someone who worked in finance, it was fascinating hearing all of it.
As expected from the children of chaebol families, the quality of information they were exposed to was on a completely different level from ordinary people’s.
That was just how it was. People with money made more money.
As I was savoring my loneliness in the middle of the party, someone spoke to me.
“Is the party not fun?”
When I turned, it was Go Hyeon-ji.
“No, I’m enjoying it plenty.”
“Don’t think about it so hard. If you just start talking to people first, they’ll all treat you kindly.”
“I see.”
Whether they’d be kind to me after finding out who I was was another matter.
She had probably come to me because she had something she wanted to say.
“So really, there’s nothing going on between you and Yoon-ah?”
“No. We’re just friends.”
“That’s strange. This is the first time Yoon-ah has brought a man to something like this.”
She still seemed to suspect something between me and Sung Yoon-ah.
To make sure there were no misunderstandings, I said,
“I asked her to bring me.”
“Why?”
I told her honestly.
“I’m interested in the GL Group.”
At that, Go Hyeon-ji stared at my face for a moment. Then she smiled and lowered her head.
“I’m sorry. I’m not interested in that sort of thing at all. And I think dating and marriage are best when people from families of similar standing get together.”
“...”
What on earth was that supposed to mean?
Did she just mistake my interest in GL Group for an interest in her personally?
“Ah, no. I’m only interested in GL Group. I have no interest in you personally, Hyeon-ji.”
Go Hyeon-ji covered her mouth and laughed at that.
“That’s a little stale.”
“What is?”
“Acting like you’re not interested, like you don’t care. You think that makes women go, ‘What’s with this guy?’ and get curious, right? But that’s not really how it works. You’d probably get more favor if you were just honest.”
“...”
What was she talking about?
For a moment, my mind went blank.
It felt as though everything in my head had been wiped clean.
“Uh, that...”
I was so stunned I couldn’t even get a proper sentence out.
Then Go Hyeon-ji smiled brightly and said,
“Don’t be so surprised. I’ve had plenty of men act all indifferent in front of me before.”
“...”
The way she said it made it sound like I was the one who’d been caught off guard because my real feelings had been seen through.
I stared at her blankly for a long time.
What was this?
What kind of situation was this, where I hadn’t even confessed and somehow felt like I’d been rejected?