As the Chief Secretary, Bae Ji-han oversees appointments and operations at the Presidential Office. In other words, he can be seen as a close confidant of the president.
Why did such a person suddenly appear in this place?
Bae Ji-han smiled and spoke.
“I apologize for not informing you earlier. I’ve heard quite a bit about you, Representative of K Company. I felt strongly that I wanted to meet you, so I asked Officer Chae for his assistance.”
When Park Sang-yeop turned to glance at his friend, Chae Min-sik offered an awkward smile.
‘Did he suggest this meeting for this purpose?’
The Blue House had secretly conducted an investigation into all Korean university students working within government departments. They found out that Chae Min-sik, an officer at the Ministry of Finance, was a classmate of Park Sang-yeop and fairly close to him.
Unaware of the circumstances, Chae Min-sik was called to the Minister of Finance’s office, where he first met Bae Ji-han. As a mere officer, he could not refuse a request from the Blue House, so he immediately arranged the meeting.
Sensing the unusual situation, Park Sang-yeop considered leaving but changed his mind.
‘Let me hear what he has to say.’
“Please, have a seat.”
Bae Ji-han sat next to Chae Min-sik.
“You must be busy with national affairs. What brought you here?”
“Haha, no matter how busy I am, I should drop everything to attend an occasion like this.”
Seeing that the atmosphere wasn’t particularly bad, Chae Min-sik looked relieved.
Bae Ji-han cheerfully added, “I’ve come a long way and am rather thirsty. Could I have a drink as well?”
Park Sang-yeop filled his glass generously. From appearance, Bae Ji-han seemed amiable with a friendly personality, but that was merely surface level.
Having kept an eye on the political realm, he knew Bae Ji-han’s true nature well. Bae Ji-han leveraged his connection to the president to intervene in appointments at the Blue House and engaged in various abuses of power. Even the ruling party leaders had to watch their step around him.
After a few drinks, Bae Ji-han’s face quickly turned red.
“Indeed, as someone in big business, you drink quite heartily. I can’t compare to you. Haha.”
Bae Ji-han suddenly seemed to have a thought and spoke to Chae Min-sik.
“Ah! Could you tell the driver outside that it might take a while, so he can eat first?”
Asking him to relay that message instead of just calling suggests he wants Chae to step out for a moment.
“Understood. Please take your time in the conversation.”
Chae Min-sik immediately caught on and got up from his seat.
Once he left, Park Sang-yeop loosened his tie comfortably.
“Was it sent by the President?”
To the direct question, Bae Ji-han didn’t deny it and calmly nodded.
“That’s correct. The President has significant interest in you, Representative Park Sang-yeop.”
“Why is that?”
“It doesn’t matter who runs a small corner store. If it goes bankrupt, nothing major happens. However, if a company like OTK Company encounters issues, it’s a national concern. Such businesses should be managed by capable individuals, not inexperienced ones. For example, someone like you, Representative Park Sang-yeop.”
The two clinked their glasses.
“I’d like to hear the specifics.”
“There are always various problems in business: tax evasion, corruption, embezzlement, etc.”
“And if there are none?”
“Then we can create some, can’t we?”
“…….”
Are they suggesting to fabricate charges despite being innocent?
“Even if that’s the case, it would be difficult for me to become the representative of OTK Company. There’s also Vice President Oh Taek-gyu and Senior Oh Hyun-joo.”
“At the very least, I can help you fully acquire K Company.”
As he listened, he began to understand why he was chosen. The core of OTK Company, aside from Kang Jin-hoo, consists of Oh Taek-gyu, Oh Hyun-joo, and himself.
‘Among them, I must be the easiest to manipulate.’
“Are you telling me to betray you?”
Bae Ji-han spoke in a subtle tone while observing Park Sang-yeop’s expression.
“What do you mean by betrayal? Since you’re a man, don’t you have that level of ambition?”
“It seems you’re mistaken.”
“Pardon?”
He wasn’t under Kang Jin-hoo because of a lack of ambition; on the contrary, he was overflowing with it.
“Do you know the current value of OTK Company?”
“About 50 trillion won, I would guess.”
“You’re well-informed.”
It all started with the 13 billion won from selling Bantcoin. In just a few years, that mere 13 billion had turned into 50 trillion.
What would this 50 trillion be worth in a few years?
In his view, it wasn’t impossible for OTK Company to surpass NFTs and Google to become the world’s number one by market cap.
“Isn’t this all possible thanks to people like you, CEO Park, supporting from the sidelines?”
The L6 explosion, venture capital, Brexit, Ronald’s election, and more.
It would be hard to believe that a single young man in his twenties accomplished all those monumental tasks alone. Naturally, one would assume there were others’ contributions.
Park Sang-yeop took a sip of his drink and said, “You know there’s been a lot of noise recently about cryptocurrencies?”
“Oh! You’re referring to virtual currencies like Bantcoin.”
“Yes, exactly.”
Bae Ji-han nodded.
“I know. It’s been in the news a lot.”
At the beginning of the year, Bantcoin was hovering around the $1,000 mark. In just one or two months, it suddenly soared to more than double that.
While Bantcoin’s surge was impressive, new coins, commonly known as altcoins, would skyrocket overnight, making the situation even more daunting.
The representative is none other than Ethereum.
The sudden surge in cryptocurrency prices has been reported in the news daily, prompting people to open accounts on exchanges and dive into investments.
Though largely unknown to the outside world, after Brexit, K Company invested $1 billion in cryptocurrencies.
They increased their stake in the exchange to 85% and bought new cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum. They also rented sites in China and Iceland to set up mining facilities and mine coins.
Currently, the value of the coins held by K Company exceeds $2 billion.
All of this happened due to Kang Jin-hoo’s directive.
Park Sang-yeop had been keeping an eye on the cryptocurrency market for a while, but he never imagined making such a large-scale investment.
Without Kang Jin-hoo’s orders, he probably would have limited himself to a few million dollars at most.
“This is the difference between classes.”
Park Sang-yeop didn’t start investing after receiving structured education in economics and investment. He happened to come across stocks and became utterly fascinated.
He applied his mathematical analysis methods to investing, achieving major successes multiple times. At that point, he was quite confident, believing that with just capital, he could multiply his investments.
However, that arrogance led to significant failure.
Initially, he couldn’t understand why he failed. Now, however, he has a vague understanding.
At first glance, the market seems to operate on rational logic. But beneath it lies madness and fear.
When things are stable, there are no issues. However, the moment there’s a slight tremor, madness and fear can surge through any opening.
How many can truly see the truth within that chaos?
Insight and judgment can be cultivated through effort, but inspiration and intuition are innate.
Park Sang-yeop knew well that he lacked those traits. But Kang Jin-hoo was different.
With an eye for opportunity, the ability to predict the future, and the guts to put everything on the line.
That was not the realm of reason or thought, but truly the realm of intuition and art. And only Kang Jin-hoo resided within that domain.
“Even Oh Hyun-joo and Park Sang-yeop, who are considered geniuses, are merely following his instructions.
They will never truly understand what kind of being Kang Jin-hoo is. So, I guess that’s why they’re babbling such nonsense here.
Realizing that there was no need to listen any longer, Park Sang-yeop smiled and said,
‘Could you fill my glass, please?’
‘Haha, of course.’
Bae Ji-han filled the glass to the brim.
Then Park Sang-yeop lifted the glass and splashed it onto the other person’s face.
Splash!
Bae Ji-han, suddenly drenched in alcohol, was taken aback.
‘What the…’
Park Sang-yeop chuckled and said,
‘Ah, I’m sorry. My hand slipped by mistake.’
He took out his wallet from his pocket, placed four 50,000 won bills on the table, and stood up.
‘I’ve got something to do, so I’ll be leaving now. I’ll pay for what I consumed. Use the rest for laundry expenses.’
As he stepped outside the restaurant, Chae Min-sik was smoking a cigarette with the driver. He turned to Park Sang-yeop and asked,
‘Why are you leaving already? Did you finish your conversation?’
‘No. I threw the drink at him for talking nonsense and left.’
‘What?’
‘I’m going.’
Chae Min-sik quickly chased after him and grabbed his shoulder.
‘Are you crazy? Go back and apologize.’
‘Let go of me.’
‘Huh?'”
Park Sang-yeop turned his head and said in a low voice, “Are you deaf? Take your hand away, you jerk.”
Feeling fear, Chae Min-sik quickly withdrew his hand and stepped back.
“Hey, why are you acting like this with a friend?”
Park Sang-yeop laughed in disbelief. “Friend? Someone like you isn’t even a friend, you piece of trash. Don’t contact me again.”
Having said what he needed, he started to walk away when he heard Chae Min-sik shout from behind, “Hey! Park Sang-yeop! You’re making a mistake!”
Without looking back, Park Sang-yeop raised his middle finger.
***
I, Taek-gyu, Hyun-joo, Ellie, and Henry gathered together to listen to Sang-yeop’s story.
When we heard that the Chief Secretary of the Blue House had appeared and tried to coax him while he was out drinking with friends, everyone’s expression turned serious.
“That sounds like a good offer. Why did you turn it down?”
At my question, Sang-yeop shook his head.
“If you believe everything a politician says, you’re a fool. No matter how good the golden egg is, would you really split open the belly of the goose that lays it?”
“Do I look like a goose that lays golden eggs?”
“More than that. Maybe an ostrich?”
Sang-yeop’s joke eased the tension a bit.
Taek-gyu spoke up. “I knew they’d try something, but this is too blatant.”
“Right.”
It was entirely predictable that if the attempt failed, the fact of the coercion would come to light.
Hyun-joo took a drag from her cigarette. “It means they don’t care if it gets out. The frightening thing about this method is that it works even if it fails.”
Once you know the truth, it’s hard not to worry. If Sang-yeop was approached, it means that others could be as well.
But there’s no straightforward way to respond. There’s no way to monitor whether employees are in contact with government officials or not.
Is there anyone in this world without weaknesses or greed? Someone will inevitably fall for the coercion.
“For now, we should assume that all basic information is flowing over to them,” I said.
Like when I arrive at work, when I leave, who I meet, and so on.
“By the way, the things that guy in the presidency does are downright trashy.”
Park Si-hyeong pretended to be bold, but he actually had a petty personality that remembered even the smallest details.
After the primary election, all the dissenters within the party were purged, and those lawmakers who supported the opposing candidate were either denied nominations or strategically placed in difficult constituencies to ensure their defeat.
Park Si-hyeong, elected with a high approval rate, had ruled as an imperial president. No one dared to lower their head in front of him.
However, following our counterattack, he found himself in the worst political crisis since taking office. Ultimately, he had to sacrifice two close aides and even apologize to the public for the first time.
This was probably the greatest humiliation he had faced since becoming president. Naturally, he wouldn’t forget that grudge.
The problem lies in the substantial power wielded by the president.
Although his approval ratings plummeted and he faced a crisis at that time, it was now all in the past. The Korean Gada Party still held the position of the leading party, and President Park Si-hyeong’s approval ratings remained over 50%.
The opposition parties, which should be holding the government and ruling party in check, were engaged in internal strife.
Ellie said, “Things have been quiet since then. Why are they moving again?”
“It seems the acquisition of Seosung SB has stirred things up again,” I replied.
They must have decided they couldn’t stay idle any longer.
“What should we do?” I asked.
Hyun-joo, exhaling cigarette smoke, suggested, “Reaching out first for reconciliation might be an option.”
“How so?” I inquired.
“Give some work to PAS.”
Since PAS produces plastic interior materials and airbags, it could easily receive subcontract work from CarOS.
“Will they accept such an offer?” Taek-gyu asked reproachfully.
“What do you think of the president? If it makes money, he’d even forgive his parents’ enemies.”
“……”
Somehow, that actually seemed likely.
“But thinking about what happened makes me reluctant. With illegal surveillance, search and seizure, and even a prosecution investigation, it feels too unfair to kneel down.
“How about we dig into PAS?”
Senior Sang-yeop asked.
“Are you suggesting we uncover the ownership structure? You know that Park Si-hyeong doesn’t own a single share in his name.”
The relationship between Park Si-hyeong and PAS had been problematic since the Korean party primary, leading to several investigations. However, it was brushed off because he claimed not to hold any shares.
“Putting that aside, let’s analyze the products, mergers and acquisitions, and transaction processes closely. Didn’t they say that in business, there are always various issues?”
Sometimes, an attack is the best defense.
Fortunately, I have connections in American politics. They won’t be able to pull off anything ridiculous like before.
“The rest, we’ll respond as the situation evolves.”
Sağlam bir bomba kurup alıp tüm parasını patlatmak gerek