A New Investment (10)
The negotiations to sell Yuseong Town D-Dong moved quickly.
The sale price was set at 720 billion won, and in addition to that, Yuseong Trading agreed to provide various benefits such as repairs and ongoing management.
Because Continue Capital had such a notorious reputation in Korea, we handled the purchase not by buying it directly, but by setting up a separate fund to acquire it.
David took care of the complicated paperwork on his own.
It would still take a few months before ownership was fully transferred, but once the contract was signed, the building was effectively ours.
I told Dongho senior, “The headquarters will be sending people over to handle organizational management.”
“Who’s coming?”
At that moment, I heard the elevator doors open outside.
“Ah! Looks like they’re here.”
The man who appeared was a massive Black man.
He had to be over 190 centimeters tall, with shoulders broad enough to block out the hallway.
What stood out most was his shaved head and the tattoos climbing all the way up to his neck. He wore a gray suit and polished dress shoes.
He was so tall and so huge that he had the air of a mafia enforcer.
When he saw me, he greeted me warmly.
“It’s been a while, boss.”
“Welcome, Edward.”
Dongho senior’s eyes widened, and he took a cautious step backward.
“W-what? Why is that guy here?”
“Did something bad happen?”
Dongho senior then hid behind me and complained like he was tattling. “When I was in the States, that guy used to hold me hostage so I couldn’t even go out to eat. He had me eating hamburgers three times a day and worked me like a plantation slave.”
“……”
Now I really wanted to send him on a field trip to a cotton plantation.
Wouldn’t he never say things like that again after he came back?
I said to Dongho senior, “In Korea, you’re the boss here, so treat him the same way.”
“How?”
“Feed him plain rice and kimchi three times a day and make him work, for starters.”
“What if he hits me?”
“What do you think?”
He’d get knocked flat and end up in the emergency room, that’s what.
Edward walked over to Dongho senior and extended his hand. “It’s good to see you again, Mr. Lee. I look forward to working with you.”
“Hey, Mister Benson. Been good?”
Dongho senior took the hand with a relaxed smile that could’ve fooled anyone.
Despite that confident look, his back seemed bent at a perfect ninety degrees. Or maybe that was just my imagination.
After the greetings were done, we sat down.
Edward looked at me and said, “What the boss pulled off this time shook Wall Street to its core.”
“Oh?”
“For a while, people were more interested in the Korean market than the U.S. market. Not just GL Entech, but the Korean stock market and derivatives market were all thrown into turmoil. Every day the newspapers and news outlets were flooded with analysis pieces, and the WST article racked up hundreds of thousands of views as soon as it went live. There were more than a few hedge funds that took losses because they invested the wrong way. For a while, on Wall Street, if two or more people gathered in the same room, that was all they talked about.”
Well, when even RuneStar’s cash-grab looked small by comparison, that was the sort of phenomenal return it had produced.
It hadn’t just affected the financial markets, either; it had rippled through society and politics as well. It had changed the law, and even reshuffled the ranking of presidential candidates.
I asked, “How’s the headquarters doing these days? They’re not complaining about losing staff, are they?”
Edward hadn’t come alone; he had brought nine employees from headquarters with him.
Four of them had come over together, and the remaining five would arrive later. One of them was Korean, and two were Korean Americans who could speak Korean.
“Please don’t worry. Our headcount has more than doubled in the meantime. The name Continue Capital alone is enough to draw a flood of job applications every single day.”
By now, Continue Capital was the most famous private equity firm on Wall Street.
More often than not, a firm that made its name with aggressive, all-or-nothing investments drew more attention than one that simply grew assets steadily and conservatively.
When those bets went wrong, they could vanish in a heartbeat. Fortunately, Continue Capital was still in the business of bringing home only the winners.
Because of that, the best financial talent in America had gathered around us of their own accord.
When an organization grew larger, management naturally became harder, but David was exceptional not only at investing, but also at stable organizational management and systems building.
It wasn’t for nothing that he would later come to lead Shark Management.
As expected, once I’d put someone capable and trustworthy in the co-CEO seat, my body and mind both felt lighter. It had been worth it to rush to the States and recruit him the moment I started making money.
“Thanks for coming in person. But will life in Korea be all right for you?”
“Even setting work aside, I’ve always wanted to visit Korea at least once.”
“Really?”
“Actually, I’ve become very interested in Korean popular culture lately.”
“Oh! What are you into? Dramas? Movies? Games?”
Edward flashed his bright white teeth in a grin. “I listen to K-pop often.”
That made sense. Music was probably the easiest thing for a newcomer to get into, the way people who didn’t speak English still listened to pop songs.
“What kind do you like? Hip-hop, maybe?”
“When I was only listening to American music, I liked hip-hop. I still have a lot of friends around me who do hip-hop.”
“Oh! I like hip-hop too.”
I nodded as if I’d expected as much.
He might be a successful financier on Wall Street now, but he’d grown up in Harlem. You could hear the soul of hip-hop in his accent alone.
For some reason, I could even picture him in sunglasses and a pile of gold rings, rapping under the summer sun while wearing a fur coat.
Edward said, as if remembering the past, “When I was a kid living in Harlem, I used to think hip-hop was the only drug the country ever allowed.”
“Well……”
Wasn’t that neighborhood full of the kind of drugs the country didn’t allow, too?
Things like meth, ice, or plain old methamphetamine……
But what he said next was unexpected.
“But not anymore. Somewhere along the way, hip-hop stopped being cool.”
“No, why?”
It was hard to believe a man who looked born to rap was now denouncing hip-hop.
“It’s just a trend, or maybe a TV show. After I happened to come across K-pop on A-Tube, hip-hop didn’t even register anymore. The outfits, the dancing, the beat, the lyrics. All of it was shocking. It felt like I’d stumbled into a whole new world.”
“What on earth did you see?”
Edward answered with absolute conviction. “A girl group.”
“……”
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
Unlike me, who could only gape in disbelief, Dongho senior brightened instantly.
“Which group do you like best?”
“I like Wonder Girls the most, but I like Scarlet Silk too.”
“Okay. Main group Wonder Girls, side gig Scarlet Silk. And your one pick?”
“They’re not a girl group, but lately I’ve been listening to Jiyu’s songs a lot. I’d like to go to one of her concerts someday.”
Dongho senior clapped, looking genuinely impressed. “You’ve got taste in music. A true listener only listens to girl group music.”
Edward nodded as if he completely agreed and gave him a thumbs-up. “Korean girl groups are the best.”
“Welcome to the girl group world.”
“……”
The man who had been backing away in fear just moments ago had suddenly switched gears and was acting like they were old friends of ten years.
Maybe girl groups really did have some power that could cross borders and races and bring the world together as one?
If I let them keep at it, they looked like they might end up hugging each other.
The Korean branch would expand its staffing together with the move to the new building.
For now, Dongho senior would remain branch manager, Kim Beom-seok would serve as deputy branch manager, and Edward would take charge as head of investment operations.
Below them, we planned to establish an entertainment investment team and a fashion investment team.
Kim Beom-seok would handle the entertainment side, and Min Ah-reum would be in charge of fashion.
I called Min Ah-reum while driving.
“How’s the preparation going?”
[Yes. We’re starting by hiring staff first.]
We weren’t just investing in fashion companies. We also planned to secure distribution channels by linking them with department stores and shopping malls, while supporting digitalization through Snow Crash.
Using solid infrastructure as a base, the companies we invested in would be nurtured until they grew strong on their own.
That was why we needed Min Ah-reum, who already had a name and a network in the fashion world.
[I sent out investment offers to a few companies from the report you gave me, and they’re already saying they’d love to meet as soon as possible. If necessary, they said they’d come to Korea themselves.]
“That’s a relief. Nothing weird going on at home, is there?”
[My mother seems a little worried, but my brother and sister are encouraging me to do well.]
Of course they were. If she left the group, the share of the pie each of them got would only grow larger.
“I’ve left an entire floor empty in Yuseong Town D-Dong, so you can move in whenever you’re ready.”
[Understood.]
“Ah, by the way, did you run into Sena at the department store?”
[Oh my! We said we’d keep that secret between us. How did you know?]
“Yuna recognized the bag right away.”
[Aha! Then Yuna met Sena too.]
“You didn’t buy the kid something too expensive, did you?”
[No, nothing that expensive. You’re not upset that I bought it without asking Miru, are you?]
“It’s not that. I’m just sorry about it. Please don’t buy Sena anything the next time you see her.”
[Then what if I give her a bag or jewelry I don’t use anymore?]
“That……”
Somehow, that sounded even more expensive than buying something new.
By the time I finished my call with Min Ah-reum, I’d arrived at my father’s company.
Byungjin Industrial had taken out a loan against my investment and moved to a larger factory.
The company, which had once run on a completely ad hoc basis, now felt as though it had acquired a sense of structure after Vice President Park Yong-jin came on board.
When I went into the office, there was Park Yong-jin.
“Hello.”
“You’re here?”
He looked at me with obvious curiosity.
“Why do you look like that?”
“I heard you did something huge again this time. I’ve got a few friends on the GL Group side, and they said the company atmosphere is a total mess.”
We sat down on the sofa.
“My father keeps praising the vice president.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. He trusts and relies on you a great deal. Please keep taking good care of things for us.”
Park Yong-jin nodded.
“Don’t worry. I’m going to do everything I can to help Byungjin Industrial grow, if only for my own benefit.”
That was the most reassuring kind of answer.
Shortly after, my father came into the office wearing work clothes.
“What brings you here without even calling?”
I handed him the contract.
“Please sign this.”
“What is it?”
“A real estate purchase contract.”
“……Huh?”
“It’s a penthouse in Songdo. It used to be unsold inventory, so Yuseong Trading was holding it as company-owned property, but they’re selling it now, so I said I’d buy it.”
The reason was simple: the original price had been steep.
Still, even if it was expensive, in Gangnam it was about the price of a mid-sized apartment.
I’d have preferred for him to move to Seoul, but both my father’s company and Sena’s university were in Incheon. For now, it would be fine to keep living there, and then move once Sena graduated and the headquarters relocated to Seoul.
“I took a look around myself, and it was pretty nice. The subway station’s close too.”
“You want me to buy a penthouse?”
“Yes.”
My father looked flustered.
“Where am I supposed to get that kind of money?”
“Take out a loan. Mom has had a hard enough time over the years, hasn’t she? She should get to live in a nice house for once. How much longer are you going to keep making her suffer?”
“What do you mean, suffer? We live in a forty-pyeong apartment right by the subway, for crying out loud. There’s even a big supermarket so close I could fall on my face and hit my nose on it.”
“……”
Fair enough.
Honestly, even though our family wasn’t rich, we hadn’t lived all that badly.
Back in the first timeline, things had gotten rough when my father sold the company for a pittance, but that hadn’t happened this time.
“All the more reason we should upgrade our quality of life, don’t you think?”
“We raised all of you in that house……”
“If you don’t want to sell it, then leave it empty or rent it out and buy a new place already.”
“Ha, moving all of a sudden……”
I said, refusing to back down, “If you won’t buy it, then I’ll buy it for you.”
After a moment’s hesitation, my father nodded.
“Fine. All right. If you’re going to push this hard, then I’ll buy it.”
In the end, my father signed the contract.
“Oh, and I’ve also hired a housekeeper plus a driver who doubles as a bodyguard, so keep that in mind.”
“……Huh?”
That took care of household chores, more or less.
I took Sunwoo with me and toured the empty floors of Yuseong Town D-Dong.
Sunwoo looked speechless.
“You bought this building?”
“Yeah. SW Games will use up through about the twentieth floor, and the upper floors will be for Continue Capital.”
“We still don’t even have twenty employees.”
“If you keep making games, the headcount will grow.”
If the company was in the middle of Gangnam, hiring would be easier too.
Since the building had once been occupied by a large conglomerate affiliate, it already had its own server room and security network, so there was nothing we needed to fix separately.
I patted Sunwoo on the shoulder and said, “I’m heading back to the States, so get the move sorted out properly.”
“Why are you going to the States?”
“Because I’ve got a new investment to make.”
There was a big game coming soon.