Finance and industry are the two wings of the economy.
Traditionally, South Korea has had a strong industrial capital. Chaebols have also largely grown based on industrial capital.
We have primarily earned money through finance so far, thus we have had little connection with industrial capital.
However, we own stakes in dozens of domestic and foreign companies. At some point, we will inevitably collide in some way.
The issue is timing.
Unless we have no intention of joining hands with them from the start, we must prepare before that time comes.
“Noona, are you okay?”
At Taekgyu’s words, Hyunjoo Noona opened her eyes that had been closed for a moment. She usually looked tired, but today she seemed particularly exhausted.
“Are you okay?”
Hyunjoo Noona took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes.
“I’ve been unable to sleep for days due to taking over work and learning new things.”
“Why didn’t you nap, even on the plane?”
“I had documents to go through.”
She truly is a workaholic. Even if I were told to do the same, I don’t think I could.
Taekgyu said, “You have a lot of money, so why do you need to suffer like this?”
Thanks to the continuously growing assets of OTK Company, Hyunjoo Noona’s assets have also exceeded 1 trillion won. No matter how high the salary of a branch manager is, compared to the assets owned, it’s like comparing a new shoestring to the blood of a horse.
As if it were obvious, Hyunjoo Noona said, “Because I enjoy what I do.”
Although she helps with our work, Hyunjoo Noona’s identity is fundamentally that of a financial expert. Isn’t it that she wants to climb to the top in her own way at the world’s best investment bank?
“Oh! Have you found a building suitable for the headquarters?”
“Not yet.”
They have the money, but the problem is the lack of available properties.
For buildings worth over a trillion won, individuals rarely own them. Most are owned by corporations, PEFs, SWFs, etc.
Since the financial crisis, as the economy has recovered, not only in Seoul but also in major cities worldwide, commercial building prices have been steadily rising. Therefore, unless there is an urgent need for cash, people are reluctant to sell.
Hyunjoo Noona pointed to the building next door. “What about moving to the building next door?”
“Next building?”
Next to this building, there is a twin building that looks exactly the same. It is also owned by Golden Gate.
“If you’re interested, we can sell it.”
Surprised, I asked, “Can my sister make the decision?”
“It’s a decision made by the Asia branch manager. It’s still under their ownership. I heard about it just before coming here.”
Golden Gate operates each branch independently. While they are under the control of the headquarters, giving maximum authority to the branch manager is a characteristic.
“The price?”
“500 billion won. We need to discuss the details of the contract further.”
Taekgyu was shocked. “Why is it so expensive?”
Hyunjoo sister lit a cigarette. “It’s not extremely expensive, considering the market price in the area. Are you planning to cheat everyone we know?”
“Aren’t transactions between acquaintances more dangerous?”
That’s not a wrong statement. That’s why one should be more cautious when dealing with people they know.
“Is there a specific reason for selling it?”
“We needed funds urgently to establish the Korean branch. Apart from that, you can consider it as a gesture of consideration towards our trading partners.”
Unlike standardized apartments, buildings vary greatly in price depending on factors such as location, land area, number of floors, construction method, and year built.
Isn’t this location and size good enough?
Thinking like that, suddenly 500 billion won started to feel very cheap.
If I didn’t have money, I might have hesitated a bit. Thanks to my time in the UK, my wallet had become thick. With that much money, buying a building is easy.
Most importantly, it’s hard to find a property like this in Gangnam.
Currently, K Company has only 15 employees. Even if we hire more, one or two floors would be enough. Unless thousands of people like at Golden Gate work there, it’s unrealistic to fill the entire building.
Still, we could gradually lease the space to companies that hold shares in the future. Or we could continue renting out spaces like we do now.
Without much hesitation, I nodded my head.
“I’ll purchase it under K Company’s name. Noona, please coordinate the details.”
Hyunjoo Noona nodded as if she had expected that.
“Got it. You can move into the vacant floor first. The offices currently occupied have lease contracts ending within a year, so we can gradually ask them to move out.”
Taekgyu commented in amazement, “So we’re becoming the landlord? The one above the landlord?”
“That’s right.”
It dawned on me that this was the first building our company was buying under its name. It was also our first investment in physical assets.
Thinking about it, we had been too indifferent to real estate all this time. While stocks and dollars are good, real estate has its own appeal.
Next to the Golden Gate Building is the OTK Company Building …
Isn’t the view quite nice?
Ellie clapped her hands together and said, “That’s great. We’ll see each other more often once we become neighbors.”
Hyunjoo Noona cut in bluntly, “What are you talking about? It’s going to be chaotic until we establish the Korean branch. Ellie, don’t think about leaving work early and work with me.”
“Eek.”
Ellie pouted, and we burst into laughter.
Final exams were over.
Although I hadn’t studied much, I could manage the tests with the knowledge I had acquired. Coming out after the exams, I saw Kyeongil and Minyoung with juniors.
Kyeongil looked at me and said, “Did you do well on the exam? Did you know Gi Hong senior is coming later?”
“You told me a few days ago.”
“We agreed to meet at the pub in front of the school by 6 o’clock. The Economics students are going crazy saying they will join us.”
“Why?”
“Why do you think? They want to hear about Brexit.”
“Ah.”
K Company has been doing well even before, but after Brexit, they stood shoulder to shoulder with large financial companies.
How many financial companies in Korea have a capital exceeding 5 trillion won?
Thanks to this, the stock price of K Company was rising day by day among the seniors. Currently, Golden Gate is the first choice for foreign employment applications, and K Company is the first choice for Korean applications.
Minyoung said, “Senior Gihong spent all his money today. Aren’t you curious about the story of Brexit?”
It is rare to find someone who knows as well as me what happened that day. The incidents at K Company were relayed to me several times by Senior Sangyeop.
Of course, it would be entertaining to hear it directly from Senior Gihong.
While chatting with the kids, a man in his late twenties wearing a suit approached. It was none other than Senior Gihong.
“Have you come, senior?”
Senior Gihong greeted me warmly, “Kang Jinhoo! Long time no see, young man.”
I also greeted him warmly, “Long time no see, senior. Have you been well?”
“Of course.”
Since I only met Senior Sangyeop separately outside of the company, I hadn’t seen his face for a while.
As soon as we met, Senior Gihong started boasting about the company.
“Do you know we bought a building in Gangnam this time?”
“The Twin Towers on Teheran Road, right?”
I bought it, so there was no way I wouldn’t know.
“Yes, that’s right. Now that’s going to be K Company’s headquarters. The CEO told me to work together with him when we bought it. He said we would buy a building on Teheran Road and move in within a few years. That dream came true in a year and a half.”
Minyoung and Kyeongil said, “We saw it in the news. Golden Gate was sold, right?”
“Wasn’t it very expensive?”
“Well, it’s peanuts compared to the money we’ve made. So, we just bought it with cash without any loans.”
“If someone heard, they’d think you bought it yourself.”
Senior Gi-Hong rested his hand on my shoulder and said, “Jin-hoo, you should graduate soon and come under my wing.”
“Me?”
“Don’t worry about learning the job. What’s good about having a senior? I will teach you everything from scratch. If you learn from me, you’ll quickly adapt to the work.”
I said with a smile, “I feel secure having a senior like you.”
I meant it.
Seeing a dedicated employee like this makes me proud as a supervisor. I feel like I want to raise his salary.
As senior Gi-Hong kept boasting about the company, a group of students gathered around us.
“Are you Senior Jung Gi-Hong?”
“Yes, who are you…?”
At that moment, a male student bowed and said, “Hello, senior. We are junior students from the Mathematics Department. Can we follow you? We’d like to hear about the achievements of our senior in Mathematics, Senior Park Sang-Yeop.”
“Of course. If you’re a representative and juniors, you’re no different from my own juniors. Didn’t you know that the Business Department and the Mathematics Department are like one big family?”
Since when?
Wasn’t Business a liberal arts major and Mathematics a science major?
Senior Gi-Hong coolly exclaimed, “I’m paying for everything today, so call over the Math students too!”
Upon hearing this, the Math students hesitated.
“Thank you, senior!”
Just the students gathered here must be dozens. If we add those who will join us at the pub later, would it not exceed a hundred?
Was this senior always this generous?
“The alcohol bill might not be cheap.”
In response to me, senior Gi-Hong confidently pulled out a card from his pocket.
“Don’t worry. The representative provided this card for when meeting juniors. This is the K Company corporate card!”
“Wow!”
Unlike the cheering crowd, I was shocked inside.
Having a corporate card is practically the same as spending my own money!
No wonder they were so loud. Suddenly, the desire to raise my salary vanished.
“Let’s go, guys!”
Senior Ki-hong took the lead, and the others followed eagerly.
“Aren’t you coming?”
Turning my head, I saw Seon-ah standing there.
She was wearing skinny jeans that accentuated her figure, high-heeled sandals, a plain white t-shirt, and had her long hair tied up. Her slender neck and well-defined collarbones were exposed.
Even though she didn’t dress up for the exams, she was still attractive enough to make passing male students turn their heads.
Every time I see her, I can’t help but think, she’s really beautiful.
It’s amazing to think we used to date.
“Exams over?”
“Yeah, just now.”
“It’s finally vacation time.”
“Yeah.”
The conversation continued meaninglessly.
As Seon-ah looked at Senior Ki-hong, then she turned her gaze towards me.
“Do you remember when we met at that gathering where Ki-hong senior was present?”
“Why?”
Of course I remember. It was our first meeting after we broke up.
In a calm voice, Seon-ah asked, “What happened after that?”
“Um?”
Although I didn’t reveal it when we dated, Seon-ah was perceptive. She easily noticed even the smallest details others would miss. It was more of an intuition than a judgment from rational calculation.
Seon-ah asked again, “What are you hiding?”
Instead of answering, I asked, “Why are you curious? Whatever happened to me or whatever I’m hiding, it’s none of your concern, right?”
Her expression wavered at my words.
“You…”
Seon-ah seemed like she was about to say something, but someone else’s voice interrupted.
“Jin-hoo Senior!”
When I turned around, Yuri was waving her hand.
Yuri approached us in an instant and said with a smile, “Did you do well on the exam? It feels so good now that it’s over. If it’s not something urgent, Jin-hoo Senior, can I borrow you for a moment?”
The flow of the conversation was disrupted.
Seon-ah nodded her head.
“Let’s talk later.”
I pretended to give in and was led by Yuri’s hand. Did she deliberately show up knowing that I was in a tough situation?
Thinking that way, Yuri quickly asked, “It’s the start of vacation today, what are you going to do, Senior? Do you have any plans?”
I nodded.
“Yeah. I’m going to the U.S. with a friend to have fun.”
Yuri crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.
“What? Is that true?”
“Yeah.”
Going to the U.S. is indeed true.
But it’s not for leisure.
***
“Go Jun-hyung watched a man and a woman conversing outside the classroom window. Suddenly, he recalled their chance encounter back in school.
Since then, he had felt something strange but didn’t pay much attention to it. However, events that warranted concern kept happening.
The guy whose family had gone bankrupt before military service now lives in a house in Gangnam with friends, driving a Porsche Panamera. At a back-to-school party, he boldly placed $5 million on the table against the son of the Master Chicken CEO. Later, Go Jun-hyung heard that he was helped by a senior club member who was now the CEO of K Company.
“Was it because he’s close to his junior?” a passing dog chuckled.
Withdrawing $5 million from a bank is not easy, even for a conglomerate. There was clearly something between them.
Initially, K Company started as a venture capital firm, expanding funds through gift options. Park Sang-yeop had exceptional investment intuition, making big money in derivative markets and successfully betting the company’s entire assets during Brexit.
Yet, there was a point that he just couldn’t understand.
“How did someone who left school with debts to major companies manage to raise investment funds?”
If he had traded through domestic securities firms, he could have obtained information through connections. However, K Company only traded through Golden Gate, whose client information protection is strict.
A friend’s older sister became the head of Golden Gate’s Asia branch and then the Korea branch manager, while the senior club member turned K Company into a giant. K Company traded through Golden Gate and recently purchased a building owned by Golden Gate.
‘Kang Jin-hu, Park Sang-yeop, Oh Taek-gyu, Oh Hyun-joo, K Company, Golden Gate…’
Even with these cursory findings, there were several oddities. Most bothersome was that Seon-ah was showing interest in that guy again.
Go Jun-hyung made a call somewhere.
“Could you find out more about the person I’m talking about, please?”
Lets goo