Feeling like I might have misheard, I looked at Taekgyu again, who repeated, “You take 80 percent. I’ll take 20 percent.”
After a moment, I regained my composure and asked, “Are you serious?”
“Of course, I am serious.”
I still couldn’t grasp the situation.
“Why the sudden change? Weren’t we planning to split everything evenly until just now?”
“That was before. But do you plan to go all the way with it?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
Taekgyu calmly explained, “Think about it. Precognition is real. With that ability, you can make as much money as you want. Initially, I put up most of the capital while you provided the foresight, but now you have capital too. Eventually, if we split the capital equally and you do all the work, does it make sense to split the profits evenly?”
“That’s…”
As he said, with the newfound capital of 336 billion won, it was entirely possible for me to invest on my own.
Despite that, extending a hand to Taekgyu was a better choice for several reasons beyond just friendship or loyalty.
While 672 billion won was an unimaginable sum for ordinary people, in the financial market where trillions moved, it was still a modest amount.
It was more advantageous for me to move as one entity than to split this sum into two and operate independently.
“But I’m still willing to give up 30 percent of my stake?”
From the total perspective, it’s 30 percent, but from his standpoint, it’s 60 percent—over 200 billion won in value.
Taekgyu smiled, “Putting money where it can grow is investing, right? That’s why I want to invest in you. Even if I give up around 200 billion now, the 20 percent of future profits from OTK Company belongs to me, right?”
“But what if we don’t make any profits in the future?”
“However, it doesn’t matter. It’s money that we won’t even be able to use until we die. The fact that we earned this much is all thanks to you. Even if I made a hundred billion from one thing, I thought it was a huge success.”
I feel the same way too.
I never imagined making over 50 times the profit in one shot.
“You’re not going to invest just once or twice in the future, you’re going to see it through to the end. If you’re going to lead it, you’ll need that much stake.”
“If it’s 80%, then I’ll end up running the company.”
Taekgyu said, placing his hand on my shoulder.
“That’s right. From now on, you’re the manager of OTK Company. You’re studying management, so you’ll do well in running it, right?”
Although Noona said so, it had only been a year.
I sighed and replied.
“If someone hears that, they might think I have an MBA.”
“Why pursue American pro basketball? What’s that for?”
“… That’s the NBA.”
There was no hint of hesitation in Taekgyu’s expression. He had already made up his mind.
Does the vision of me becoming CEO of OTK Company mean this?
“Do you have no regrets?”
To my question, Taekgyu responded firmly.
“Of course not.”
Hmm, I felt ashamed for even momentarily doubting my friend.
At first, when I heard the suggestion to invest together, I thought it was nonsense. But ultimately, Taekgyu was right.
Suddenly, I had this thought.
Perhaps he is the one looking at this situation most objectively?
I nodded my head.
“Okay. Let’s do that.”
With this, the ownership issue was resolved.
—
“What about dinner?”
“I ordered from a Chinese restaurant.”
“…”
Please let’s eat.
As the jjajangmyeon, jjamppong, and tangsuyuk arrived, we took our seats in front of the TV. It had become a routine to watch the news while having dinner.
The news began with the discontinuation of the L6 model.
Smartphones are one of Korea’s major export items. With the fallout from the discontinuation of the L6 model, it was clear that the trade balance would worsen starting from this month.
Seosung Electronics immediately began refunds and exchanges after the announcement.
Once again, over six million L6 units had been sold until now, with refund amounts totaling over 6 trillion won. It was expected that this would lead to considerable losses for Seosung Electronics.
However, surprisingly, the demand for refunds was less than 5%. Most consumers chose exchanges over refunds.
While Enpil only releases a premium phone once a year, Seosung Electronics offers not just the premium L series but also quarterly releases of mid-range K series and J series.
Though the discontinuation of the premium phone was a bitter pill to swallow, the swift implementation of the exchange program using different lineup models was well received.
The balanced lineup proved its strength.
The high brand loyalty of Seosung Electronics’ customers also played a significant role in this.
Thanks to this, Seosung Electronics could breathe a sigh of relief. With institutional buying pouring in at option expiration dates, Seosung Electronics saw a significant rise the next day, fueled by foreign buying, climbing nearly 5% again.
Although still far from its previous levels, it was a sign of recovery from the shock. It’s quite an achievement to weather a crisis of this magnitude that could have spelled disaster for most companies.
This must be the true capability of Seosung Electronics, right?
After the news related to the L6 ended, there was a report on Christmas. The reporter went to Myeongdong, where a large tree was set up, to share the Christmas spirit with the viewers.
“By the way, Christmas is coming next week.”
“Oh?”
When did time fly by so quickly?
When I was in the military, the time that used to drag on suddenly flowed at the speed of light after my discharge.
Taekgyu asked me, looking at me, “What did you do last Christmas?”
“Well, I think I was cleaning up the trash falling from the sky.”
I asked Taekgyu, “What about you?”
“I had dinner with your mother.”
“Oh…”
Worrying about my mother being alone on Christmas, I called Taekgyu. Without a lover or friends to meet, Taekgyu immediately ran to our house upon my request.
Still, there would be no one else but him who would take care of our mother on Christmas.
“Already Christmas.”
I need to hurry a bit.
I told Taekgyu, “Send 800 million to my account first.”
We decided to transfer the investment capital to Korea first. Out of 13.8 billion, my share is 800 million and Taekgyu’s share is 13 billion.
“Can you receive all that at once?”
“We need to handle the taxes properly. Let’s sort out the tax for the previous 500 million sent as well.”
It’s better to eliminate potential problems in advance.
“Wait. Where could the money I received from my sister before be?”
After rummaging through the desk for a moment, Taekgyu picked up a note hidden under the food bowls. On the white paper stained with kimchi soup was the name ‘Yoo Sung-moo, Golden Gate Gangnam Branch Manager’ written with a contact number.
“But what do you want to do with that money?”
“I want to buy some Christmas gifts.”
—
Located on the outskirts of Dongtan, Future Real Estate.
It was two years ago that Joo Mi-young obtained her real estate agent license and opened a real estate agency. She had worked hard, but establishing herself was not easy.
Joo Mi-young let out a sigh inwardly.
“I barely made it this month. In order to not fall behind on rent, I need to close some deals.”
As she was thinking this, a young man with a bag slung over his shoulder walked in.
“Welcome.”
“Hello.”
She quickly made him a cup of instant coffee and placed it in front of him.
Judging by his age and attire, he seemed like a university student looking for a studio apartment. The commission for handling a studio apartment lease was a few hundred thousand won. Even so, she desperately needed deals like that now.
This time, she must make sure to close the deal!
Smiling, Joo Mi-young spoke.
“Are you looking for a studio apartment? There happens to be a nice one available. It’s a new studio apartment with a good landlord, and the rent is affordable. How about going to see it now?”
The young man shook his head.
“I’m looking into houses. How much is the average house price in this area?”
“Usually for house rentals…”
“I’m not looking to rent, but to buy.”
“Oh?”
“I want to buy a house.”
Buy a house?
Joo Mi-young was taken aback but kindly began to explain.
“Prices for houses vary greatly depending on the location, size of the land, and the building. Some may go for 300 million, while there are also luxury homes that exceed 1 billion.”
The young man pointed outside the glass window.
“Then how much would that house cost?”
There was an old two-story house where his finger was pointing.
“Roughly around 500 to 600 million.”
The young man nodded in understanding.
“I want to buy that house.”
Judging by his expression, it didn’t seem like he was joking.
‘Is he really planning to buy the house?’
The brokerage fee alone for a sales contract is in the millions of won. Just closing one deal was as good as a month’s worth of work.
Joo Mi-young’s expression brightened.
“If there’s a similar house on the market, I’ll look into it.”
To which the young man responded.
“No. I want to buy that house.”
“······Really?”
After a moment, Joo Mi-young understood what the young man meant.
‘He doesn’t want any other house but that specific one?’
Bewildered, Joo Mi-young said,
“That house is not on the market.”
“I know. But what if we offer more than the market price? The owner might still consider selling, right?”
“That could be so, but…,” trailed off Joo Mi-young.
Why pay more for that specific house than its market value when he could buy a better one? What was the reason that made him so determined to buy that particular house?
As Joo Mi-young pondered, the young man unzipped the bag beside him.
“Since the market price is 600 million, let’s go for around 800 million.”
What the young man took out from his bag was a bundle of 50,000 won bills. Six bundles were neatly placed on the table.
One bundle is 5 million won…
“30 million won?”
Surprised, Joo Mi-young was told by the young man,
“If the deal goes well, I’ll give this money as a commission fee.”
Seeing the money piled on the table, Joo Mi-young swallowed nervously.
“This is amazing!”
TL/n: Taek-gyu might be a bit dumb at times but he’s such a nice friend.
