[Merrill Land (3)]
"No, that won't be necessary." Yoon-gi spat out the words with a chilling, clinical detachment. Naturally, Joseph found himself in an awkward spot.
"Ah... my apologies. Actually, I have a boil on my backside, so it's quite difficult for me to stand up and sit back down..." Joseph awkwardly rose from his seat and approached Yoon-gi, bowing his waist as he reached out a hand. "But you've stood up now, haven't you?"
Another icy sentence from Yoon-gi’s lips. Even though the conference room wasn't properly heated during the winter, Joseph broke into a cold sweat. The reason for the lack of heat was, of course, Yoon-gi.
Well, Yoon-gi did take Joseph's hand. But.
"Use this." As soon as the handshake ended, Yoon-gi pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Joseph. "Pardon?" "We just shook hands, shouldn't you wipe your hand?" "Huk...!" "Ah, right. I suppose you wouldn't want to use the handkerchief I gave you."
Yoon-gi glanced at his white bodyguard. The bodyguard couldn't hide his snickering as he handed over his own handkerchief to Joseph. "N-no, it's fine! I'm not the kind of guy who wipes his hand just because he shook someone's!"
A desperate lie spilled out. Yoon-gi just shrugged, as if to say, "Suit yourself." He then looked at Joseph, who had returned to his seat. "Doesn't it hurt?" "Ugh!" Joseph, forced to pretend his perfectly healthy backside was in pain, was having a miserable time.
"Well, I don't think we need drinks, so let's get straight to the point. I want to use Disney's characters for the amusement park I'm building in Korea."
"Y-yes! O-of course, you should! Absolutely."
Joseph's attitude was night and day compared to their first meeting. It was no wonder; an employee had just reported to him that Yoon-gi had discovered an oil field worth 21 billion dollars. As of 1987, Disney's value was over 10 billion dollars. Before unlocking his full potential, Yoon-gi's assets had been insufficient to negotiate on equal footing with Disney—even at the highest valuation, he was only worth 4 trillion won. Furthermore, in this era of low oil prices, Yoon-gi's assets should have been valued much, much, much lower, but Disney's value was over 7 trillion won. Of course, there is a massive difference between an individual having trillion-won assets and a corporation being worth trillions, but unless that individual invested all their money into Disney, Disney was clearly in the superior position. To truly control Disney, one would need to secure over 51 percent of the shares.
But now, Yoon-gi's estimated assets were over 14 trillion won. Joseph had thought, "We have the upper hand," when they first met, but the reality was that he had no choice but to grovel now. If Yoon-gi wanted to harm Disney, he would only suffer minor damage, not major losses.
"Ah!" Yoon-gi suddenly exclaimed, and Joseph’s head snapped up. "Yes?" "I shouldn't just talk about character usage rights; I might as well buy some Disney stock while I'm at it. That would make things proceed faster, wouldn't it? I'll be back soon."
Yoon-gi stood up and walked out without even listening to Joseph’s response. Racial discrimination? In capitalism, money is power.
The fact that Yoon-gi had discovered a second oil field naturally spread throughout Korea. The media went into a frenzy once again. The amount was a staggering 14 trillion won or more. In this era, Korea didn't even have a chaebol with 1 trillion won in assets, let alone 10 trillion. Even by 2020 standards, the richest person in South Korea had about 20 trillion won. Of course, if you accounted for hidden assets, that number would be much higher, but based on public assets, Yoon-gi would rank second in South Korea even by 2020 standards. And this was without accounting for inflation. If inflation were considered, Yoon-gi would have become a billionaire surpassing not only the South Korea of the 2020s but even Mansour.
'Should I buy Manchester City?' It was a joke, of course, but Yoon-gi felt the weight of his exposed wealth.
"Right? We could have Messi playing in Seoul, Neymar in Busan, Mbappe in Daegu, and Hazard in Pohang."
"Puhahaha."
The biggest difference between having money and not having it? It’s whether you can turn your imagination into reality. For ordinary office workers, when they want a luxury wallet, those who can afford it don't think twice about waiting a few months. Because they can buy it whenever they want. But those who can't afford it suffer insane stress until they save up the money. Even when they save it, they can't easily buy it. Because there are too many places that money needs to go. In that sense, Yoon-gi was truly happy.
'I should share this happiness with others.'
Thinking this, Yoon-gi pulled a tangerine from a bowl on the conference table and began peeling it. Since it didn't look like a jujube, Choi Deok-bae wore a satisfied expression. A moment later, his close associates, led by Ryu Geun-tae, entered the conference room. While not everyone could attend due to circumstances, most were present.
"Oh, tangerines. Yoon-gi, you've been eating a lot of tangerines lately?" Choi Cheol-kyu also picked one up and sat down. Peeling a tangerine doesn't take long. As he sat, part of the peel came off, and Choi Cheol-kyu pulled out a slice.
"Merrill has been craving sour things lately."
"Puhut!"
Choi Cheol-kyu, who had just been chewing on a tangerine, choked, and the sound of coughing echoed through the study. It wasn't just Choi Cheol-kyu; the others were the same.
Surely most people know what that means, right?
"Kuh-huk! Yoon-gi, do you even know what that means?"
Yoon-gi shrugged. "Ah, don't worry. I checked just in case, and it wasn't that. I guess it's just her preference."
"Uh... um..."
"I'm of the opinion that if it happens, great, and if not, we'll see in time. By the way, it would be great if it did happen. Immensely."
Yoon-gi grinned and started eating his tangerine again. A moment later, the associates finally composed themselves, and soon only the sound of peeling tangerines filled the room. After all, with the boss, Yoon-gi, busy eating, what else were they going to do?
"Phew, that was good. Oh, I have some good news for you all."
At Yoon-gi’s words, Jo Cheong-woo stood up and handed each person an envelope with a smile he couldn't hide.
"What is this?" Ryu Geun-tae asked.
"Open it."
At Yoon-gi’s words, accompanied by a smile, everyone carefully opened the envelopes to check the contents.
"Huk!"
Inside were, surprisingly, documents related to gift taxes.
"You've all worked hard. Why don't you spend some money lavishly for once?"
Yoon-gi had gifted his associates a whopping 10 billion won each. And that was 10 billion won after taxes. 10 billion won is just a number, but in this era, it was equivalent to 30 billion won in simple currency value compared to the 2010s. Giving that to each of his associates was something no chaebol head could logically do. Is there any head in the country who has paid a 10-billion-won bonus out of personal assets rather than company capital? Absolutely not. In original history, JD gave 1.8 billion won to JSD, who took the fall for his crimes. But Yoon-gi just gave them 10 billion.
"M-m-m-my god..." Ryu Geun-tae’s hands trembled. The other associates were the same. It was an amount they couldn't logically believe. They were indeed the people who had been loyal to Yoon-gi since the early days of YK. But giving them 10 billion won was a completely different story. Since many of the things they did could technically have been done by others, the meaning behind this 10 billion won was significant. Of course, some might criticize Yoon-gi. [He raked in 14 trillion, but only gives 10 billion?] But not a single person in that room thought that. Because a rich person sharing their wealth with others carried immense meaning.
"Is there anyone who wants to retire after receiving that money? If you've earned enough and want to rest, you can. Rest is important for people, too."
At Yoon-gi’s shrugging words, everyone was startled and shook their heads frantically.
As if they were crazy enough to quit here.
"I paid 3 billion won to President Ma Seok-il. Does anyone have any complaints?"
Yoon-gi grinned at the answer and said to everyone, "Spend that money however you like. I don't like subordinates who hoard wealth. Hoarding for a reason is fine, but those who just save money without spending it will receive a bonus next time that is incomparably smaller than everyone else's."
Yoon-gi didn't stop there but continued quickly. "YK executives need to know how to spend money stylishly. Just like me."
"H-have you spent money recently?" Ryu Geun-tae asked, his voice trembling.
Yoon-gi nodded. "Of course. I bought 5 percent of Disney stock, and I'm building an amusement park."
"B-but isn't that all for the group...?"
"No. I'm planning to name the amusement park 'Merrill Land'."
If it had been just a normal meeting, a subordinate might have worried he was being a doting husband, but at this moment, there was no one who would dare oppose Yoon-gi. 'Merrill Land!' It couldn't be anything else. If nothing else, everyone would agree that 'Deokbae Land' was out of the question. The name of the amusement park: confirmed as Merrill Land!
Late February 1988. What meaning did this day have? It was none other than Yoon-gi’s university entrance ceremony! Naturally, Yoon-gi had been accepted into Seoul National University. However, Yoon-gi entered university one year later than Won-hee and Jin-soo. Originally, Yoon-gi should have entered university in the spring of 1987. But he had given up on university entrance at the very last minute after taking the main exam. Because the February Democratic Uprising had occurred, and he was too busy. Since it wasn't a situation where he absolutely had to go to university, this strategic choice was possible, and Yoon-gi had asked for understanding from Won-hee and Jin-soo.
Won-hee and Jin-soo were currently sophomores at Seoul National University. Won-hee, having excellent grades, was majoring in Business Administration, and Jin-soo, whose grades were relatively lacking, was majoring in Physical Education, utilizing his physical abilities. Even though he had studied hard, Jin-soo’s physical talent far exceeded his academic talent, so a general department was beyond his reach. But even for a physical education department, Seoul National University was still Seoul National University. And finally, the three of them had kept the promise they had made since they were young.
Today, the entrance ceremony. Yoon-gi was preparing to give a speech as the top-ranking student at Seoul National University's entrance ceremony. It was a speech that the university president had personally contacted him to request. So, Yoon-gi stood on the podium in a sharp suit and looked out at the other students. The gazes were varied. Gazes of admiration, envy, jealousy, and dislike. Feeling the colorful array of gazes, Yoon-gi fully satisfied his desire for attention.
'Ah, thrilling. This is why I love being the center of attention.'
Of course, Yoon-gi didn't intend to end it with just this much attention. "Hello, everyone. As you all know, I am Choi Yoon-gi, the chairman of YK. And I am also a fellow student who has entered Seoul National University with you all."
Yoon-gi’s words continued. "Because I ranked first, I ended up giving this entrance speech. It’s truly a joyous occasion. But honestly, I don't know how long I should speak. So, I’ve decided to take two hours of your time today. When I was in L.A..."