Black Knight
“If the chairman helps me, I think this will go a lot more smoothly.”
At the word help, Chairman Kim immediately seized on the heart of the matter.
“You want me to help you secure the shares? You want me to be your black knight?”
“If you’re willing.”
It was the kind of answer that might as well have been, if you want to, fine; if not, that’s fine too. And yet James’s deliberately half-hearted reply only fanned Kim Seong-oh’s enthusiasm higher.
“Hahaha. I can’t ignore it when my future son-in-law asks for help. Besides, I’m in a comfortable cash position right now, so I’m starting to wonder whether I’ll be the one to take that company over.”
“I think it would be hard for ST Group to take it over from this side. If you swallow it this far, the outside world won’t look at you kindly.”
“Well…….”
In truth, public opinion was never kind to conglomerates that grew by devouring other companies. To pull off a move like that, there were countless hands that had to be greased. Politicians, prosecutors, judges—everyone had to be soothed, and even the other members of the Federation of Korean Industries would need to be appeased.
“Anyway! Is it time to check our son-in-law’s eye for business after all? Good. Which one did you pick?”
“Telecommunications. A classic cash-cow industry.”
“!”
“And the biggest company in Korea is my target.”
“TY Group again?”
James had once mentioned that he had made quite a profit shorting TY Telecom.
“If you’re close with Chairman Choi Tae-yeong of TY Group, please pretend you didn’t hear that.”
Choi Tae-yeong and Kim Seong-oh did occasionally play golf and have meals together, but that was no different from the way they interacted with other corporate titans. It was simply part of the public work of building ties with the chairmen who stood at the top of their respective fields.
“If I don’t help, it’ll be difficult?”
“I’m already in a position where I could swallow TY Telecom on my own. I’ve signed a deal to take over the 6 percent held by Citibank out of nearly 50 percent foreign ownership.”
“!”
It was a transaction made possible by the pressure of VIP Club members with influence over Citibank Investment. Citibank Investment had issued exchangeable bonds backed by the TY Telecom shares it held, and James had already taken them all up. Once the conversion option was exercised at the proper time, the shares would transfer immediately.
“On top of that, Citibank is going to help me secure additional shares from other foreign investment firms. It’s not easy with domestic shares alone.”
Kim Seong-oh had not realized things had already progressed this far, but this was not bad news—it was excellent news.
ST Group would end up with TY Telecom and TY Chemical? That was the best possible outcome!
The gain from James taking over the company as his future son-in-law, and his connection with Chairman Choi Tae-yeong, weren’t even worth weighing against each other. Besides, James had not yet formally tied the knot with ST Group, so no one could spin this as a turf war between conglomerates.
“A corporate friendship ends the moment you turn your back. Let me have a seat at the table too.”
James could read the thick greed clouding Kim Seong-oh’s eyes.
“You can practically smell money, can’t you?”
The synergy between ST Group and TY Group once James took control would be tremendous, and even just looking at the still-undervalued shares of TY Telecom made it worthwhile.
“It’s sickeningly intense. Hahaha.”
The TY Telecom job was going even more smoothly than planned.
“I keep saying he’s a lovely boy, but how does he manage to do nothing but lovely things? Hahaha.”
“…….”
And as a bonus, he was winning even more of Kim Seong-oh’s affection.
Was my magic too strong?
After finishing his meeting with Kim Seong-oh and stepping back outside, Ma Sang-hoon respectfully held out the car key.
“The gift the chairman mentioned has been loaded into the car.”
“Should I be looking forward to it?”
“We packed plenty.”
“Haha. Thank you, Director.”
Until that moment, James had assumed ST Group’s gift for a VIP would be something like a luxury car or a bottle of whiskey.
Beep.
He took the elevator down to the underground parking garage, opened the car door, and checked the trunk first.
“Let’s see.”
Inside the wide-open trunk sat an object that was a little off from his expectations.
“…….”
There were five heavy-looking apple boxes inside.
“I’m not Snow White or anything… you’re telling me to eat nothing but apples until I burst?”
James shook his head and closed the trunk, then climbed into the driver’s seat.
Thunk. Bwoooom.
After James left ST Group headquarters, Ma Sang-hoon entered the chairman’s office once more.
“I confirmed that he left, Chairman.”
“Hehe. He seems like a decent man, doesn’t he?”
“Yes. He seems completely different from most children born into chaebol families.”
Ma’s point of comparison was the children of wealthy families who had grown up in comfort.
“How can those greenhouse flowers compare to James? They’ve never known hardship.”
Ma Sang-hoon couldn’t bring himself to offer only praise.
“Still, I’m a little worried that he revealed such high-value information without expecting anything in return. For information like that, he should have secured a proper price in advance and taken whatever he could…….”
“Ah. I was worried about that too. But I think that was because it was me. If it had been anyone else, he’d have been sly enough to turn right around and use the information against them.”
“Is that so?”
“He also asked me for a favor regarding the outside contractors who helped make our report earlier.”
Ma Sang-hoon listened closely, wondering what kind of favor that could be.
“Nothing else mattered to him except making sure the information stayed secure. He just needed them to keep quiet about Duojardin going under.”
“...Was there another reason?”
“He said he’d introduce Duojardin’s CFO, Blody, who’s visiting Korea, to another company. Heh.”
“What?”
James had already said he planned to swallow TY Group, so he was able to share the plan that had just occurred to him. He would arrange for Blody to meet Choi Jeong-san of TY Telecom and then drain the overseas slush fund he had hidden away. Of course, that money would not end up being invested in Duojardin; it would be moved somewhere else instead. But to Park Jin-tae, who believed Choi Jeong-san’s slush fund was his own, it would be a bolt from the blue.
“You said there was a company that needed to burn through funds?”
“Then he’d deliberately make them invest in Duojardin and……”
“Exactly. It also means his favor is limited to me.”
“He was a cold, calculating man. But even with a grudge, repaying it like that…….”
“It’s not a grudge. It’s just part of business.”
Ma Sang-hoon immediately realized there was a part of the picture he didn’t know.
“...May I share the details too?”
“There’s already a project for you tied to this. Of course you should know the inside story.”
After that, James’s plans to take over TY Group were laid out for Ma Sang-hoon.
“TY Group is... far too big for one person to handle.”
“Our prospective son-in-law sure is ambitious, isn’t he?”
“I’m amazed that he already has over 2 trillion won in assets, but…….”
“I hear it’s still growing. He’s been building his wealth by investing alongside rich people he knows in America.”
James had not lied to make a good impression on Kim Seong-oh. Duojardin was an unusual case, but there were many other investment companies as well. James was reviewing target companies with them, investing together, and steadily increasing his assets.
Then what do I need to do?
Ma Sang-hoon had his answer. If the work was already under way, he needed to get on board as quickly as possible and prove his worth.
“I’ll assemble a task force for the share acquisition operation.”
“Of course, handle the nominee-share purchases as well, and find a way to minimize any public backlash that might arise from a foreigner taking over a telecom company. There’ll always be a few crooked people in politics too, so we need scenarios for them as well.”
“Wouldn’t preemptive media spin be the most important part?”
“Ah. That part’s already fully planned. We won’t need to handle the media separately.”
“...You even had media spin in mind?”
“Heh. The media isn’t the only thing. He’s even planted one of his own people right in the heart of TY Telecom.”
“Huh.”
“You know Park Jin-tae, the head of TY Telecom’s strategic planning office, right?”
Ma Sang-hoon knew him well. He was at a different conglomerate, but because they worked in the same field, they crossed paths now and then.
“You poached the strategic planning chief who works right beside President Choi?”
But it was hard to believe. Ma Sang-hoon worked in strategic planning himself. Especially when leading a strategy team, trust from the owner’s family came first, and ability came second. Without trust, no one would hand over the illegal work, and that was exactly why large conglomerates had strategy offices.
“That’s impossible!”
“And yet he already did it.”
“Th-that makes no sense…….”
“He said the entire plan to swallow TY Group came straight out of Choi Jeong-san’s head. He’s already using him like a pair of hands and feet.”
“…….”
If the impossible had already become reality, there was no point arguing further.
If even the strategy chief, the man who knows everything inside the company, has been taken over……
It suddenly made sense to Ma Sang-hoon why media work was unnecessary.
“Then all the things TY Group has kept hidden until now will go to the media…….”
“One by one, they’ll all rise to the surface. And then who will pity TY Group’s executives? We’ll make them look like filthy men who need to be thrown out of their seats right away.”
Ma Sang-hoon shivered at the memory of James smiling brightly as he faced him.
Brrr.
He imagined James hiding his ambition behind a cheerful face while baring a razor-sharp knife at TY Group.
He had a sharper blade than anyone else, and he’d hidden it completely.
Even though he was a dangerous opponent who had drawn a knife to seize a conglomerate, Ma Sang-hoon still couldn’t see his true nature at all. That, more than anything, was terrifying.
Even an ST Group affiliate with 3 trillion won in sales didn’t interest him at all. An apex predator that refuses the meat offered to him by others. He belongs to the same breed as the chairman…….
Ma Sang-hoon was inflating James’s nature far beyond reality.
“How many boxes did you put in the gift earlier?”
“…….”
He had put five apple boxes in there, but somehow it already felt like too little.
That cash must not have interested him at all.
The true contents of the apple boxes were crisp stacks of bills.
“...I may have been a little short. I apologize, Chairman.”
“Oh? That’s the second apology I’ve heard from you today. Do I need to go buy a lottery ticket?”
At the chairman’s joke, Ma Sang-hoon couldn’t hold back a laugh. Thanks to that, the tension eased out of his shoulders at last.
“Heh. I’ll prepare something more appropriate next time. I guess I gave him cash for no reason.”
“Mistakes are part of the human condition. Since he’s the man who’s going to marry our daughter, take good care of him from now on.”
“Yes, Chairman. I’ll see to it without the slightest shortage.”
On the way home, James felt a little hungry. He had originally meant to have dinner with Chairman Kim, but the chairman had sent him back, saying there was too much on his plate for him to sit down and eat.
“Maybe I should eat an apple.”
With that absurd amount of apples spread across five boxes, he might end up eating nothing but apples for days. If he didn’t want them to rot and go to waste, he had better start now.
Riiip.
While driving, James moved his mana, tore the tape off one of the apple boxes in the trunk, and lifted one of the items inside to the front of the car.
Clunk.
He caught it without even looking, then gave it a sidelong glance when the texture in his hand felt wrong.
“Who are you? ...Where did the apples go?”
What he was holding was not an apple, but a wad of cash.
“I was going to have Colt eat three boxes of them…….”
The remaining two boxes had been meant for him, but it didn’t look like he’d need them.
Screech.
James stopped the car, parked by the roadside, and sent a brief text message.
[Thank you for the allowance, Chairman. I’ll buy lots of delicious food with Suji.]
Even cash packed into apple boxes was just pocket money to James. He already had piles of hard-to-dispose-of dollars filling his inventory, so the cash didn’t feel all that special.
Vroom.
He started the car again and headed home.
Still, now that they’re gone, I kind of miss them. Maybe I should stop and buy just one box of apples.
James’s car turned toward the supermarket. This time, he really was going to buy apples.