Chapter 37
Translator: Dreamscribe
He thought it would take a bit more time.
They say when a person is blinded by greed, their reason becomes paralyzed.
Oh Jae-hyun’s desire to control the group outweighed his rationality.
“You know why I came to see you again, don’t you?”
“Yes. Because you're willing to buy the shares for 900 billion won, that’s why you came back to see me.”
“Hoo-. Are you really going to sell them for 900 billion?”
“As I told you before, I have no intention of lowering the price by even a single won.”
That sly old fox.
That man knew.
He knew that Oh Jae-hyun was backed into a corner right now.
“I’ll buy it. But I don’t have the capacity to pay 900 billion at once.”
“There seem to be a lot of wolves circling around you, President-nim?”
“Even the fund managers backed out as soon as they heard the number 900 billion.”
It was indeed a ridiculous price.
To the point where even if called a scammer, there would be no words to retort.
But that’s how pricing works.
If someone needs to buy it, then that becomes the fair price.
“But if I can’t get that share... you heard it yesterday, right? I’ll be rotting forever in the plastic factory. If only it ended there, I’d consider myself lucky. Do you think my brother will leave me alone after Father passes away?”
“Just thinking about it is dreadful.”
He pretended to care, just a bit.
“I don’t have 900 billion. But I must buy it. Then there’s only one option left.”
“...Don’t tell me you’re asking us to lend you the money?”
“Yes. Please lend it to me.”
He had somewhat expected it.
But Oh Jae-hyun’s attitude was very confident.
He knew that unless they sold it to him, they’d never get that price from anyone else.
“Just a moment. May I make a phone call first? I think I need to discuss this.”
“Aren’t you the final decision-maker, CEO Hwang? Who do you need to discuss it with?”
“Haha. On the surface, yes. But I’ve learned in life that just being the CEO doesn’t mean you hold all the decision-making power.”
It was a meaningful statement.
That meant someone had orchestrated all of this from the beginning, from behind the scenes?
‘Yeah. I knew something felt off. As expected.’
Someone else had predicted the upcoming battle for control in LK Group, secured shares at 300 billion, and now was trying to sell them at three times the price.
It didn’t make sense for the CEO of a mid-sized securities company to have set all of this up.
‘Just who the hell is it?’
He didn’t know who, but he wanted to see that smug face at least once.
***
Someone must be cursing me.
My ears were itching a little.
[Hey. How do we handle this? Now he is asking us to give them 900 billion won?]
The CEO-nim’s tone was more playful than urgent.
“They’re asking us to lend them the money?”
[Right. Since they have no way to pay 900 billion won, they're asking us for a loan now.]
“Is that even possible?”
[It is. It’s not like we’re actually handing over 900 billion in cash.]
They weren’t going to actually hand over 900 billion, but rather lend him shares worth 900 billion.
“How do you usually lend it?”
[A loan’s a loan. You take collateral and give the money. But 900 billion is a first even for me... Honestly, how many securities companies can lend 900 billion? Even KS Securities wouldn’t lend that much in cash. But in this kind of situation, we take collateral, raise the interest rate, and lend our shares. With a set repayment date.]
Still, for a group like LK, it seemed like they could scrape together 900 billion somehow.
I had decided on the triple price based on my intuition, so I naturally assumed they would pay it.
But collateral.
Collateral, huh.
What could we accept as collateral to lend our shares?
[Apparently, they spent a ton of money on the LK Tower construction recently. Since the group’s cash has dried up, Oh Jae-hyun used this opportunity to stage a coup.]
It was at that moment.
There was a spark-like sensation in the ear holding the phone, and I flinched and quickly pulled my head back.
[Jin-ho? What’s wrong?]
That wasn’t just static electricity.
It left a strong sensation even in my eardrum.
“...CEO-nim. What kind of things can we take as collateral?”
[Well, real estate, certain shares, or even subsidiaries. 900 billion is a pretty big amount.]
“What about LK Tower?”
[Wait a second. What? LK Tower?!]
At that moment, he felt again as if something had sparked between his eardrum and the phone.
Ah. This is it.
His intuition was now pointing toward LK Tower as collateral.
[Do you know how much money the group poured into LK Tower?]
“Five trillion won, right? I think.”
[Yeah. But that’s just the investment cost. Its current value easily exceeds six to seven trillion won. And now you want to take that as collateral for 900 billion?! Do you really think they’d agree to such a ridiculous deal?]
“If they’re desperate enough, wouldn’t they?”
[...]
Hyung-nim seemed speechless for a moment.
[Jin-ho, you're a really scary person.]
***
“.......”
It's unsettling.
It had been like this for several days straight.
Ever since the meeting between his second son and that thug-like CEO of the securities firm ended.
Chairman Oh had one thing stuck in his mind.
“You don’t think the second one has suddenly lost his mind and is recklessly trying to buy those shares, do you?”
He was quite angry at his second son.
Amidst the heat of a rare battle, he had finally felt the certainty of victory and let some emotional remarks slip.
He had said he would leave the second son to rot forever in the plastic factory, but that was just words. He actually planned to talk it over with the eldest and assign a proper punishment before bringing him back to work.
He was still someone with decent performance.
Especially the European hotel industry project the second son was handling, he had to be the one to wrap that up.
“He can’t buy it even if he wants to.”
“Why? Doesn’t he have those private equity fund guys clinging to him?”
“Fund people are the most meticulous with their calculations. No matter how badly they want to strip the company, 900 billion will feel like they’re getting scammed. They wouldn’t be confident they could profit from it.”
The purpose of private equity funds isn’t to run companies.
On the surface, it may look like they acquire companies to improve operations, but in reality, they’re just extracting every bit of value before tossing away the empty shell.
Of course, not all private equity funds are like that, but the majority are.
Even to such people, 900 billion was well beyond the line.
“General Manager Yang.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
“Once this matter is resolved, we need to restructure the governance system.”
“I feel the same way.”
The reason the governance structure was made so complex in the first place was, in fact, money.
Starting a business in Japan and growing it with investments from various sources had weakened their control, and to compensate for that, they had no choice but to adopt a circular shareholding system.
The problem was that compared to other companies, LK had a governance structure that was twice as complicated due to this system. And more importantly, this incident made him realize that forces he had believed to be permanently friendly could betray them at any moment.
“The eldest may be lacking, but all he needs to do is keep the seat warm. The people under him will do the work. But if something like this happens again after I die, it’ll be a disaster.”
Throughout world history, kings always passed the throne to their eldest sons.
Because the eldest was the most capable?
No. Regardless of ability, passing the throne to the eldest reduced the chance of future generations fighting over succession.
LK Group, in the past, now, and forever, must remain under the rule of the Oh family.
To do that, it was time to reexamine the governance structure.
“And contact that CEO from Kwangwoon Securities.”
“Pardon? Why him...”
“That 900 billion. I’ll buy it.”
“Chairman, you’re going to buy it?!”
“Yes. From our perspective, it looks like the second one will never be able to purchase it, but that’s exactly the kind of thinking that got us sucker-punched in the first place. Before that bastard actually does something crazy, I need to take the hit and make sure it’s secured.”
“But we don’t have the funds in the group to do that right now...”
“Check every possible source we can pull money from. Try borrowing from the funds aligned with us, reach out to friendly forces, and use the slush funds we’ve planted here and there. Whatever it takes, we must solidify our control...”
Chairman Oh stopped mid-sentence.
Suddenly, it felt as if the entire world was spinning, something wasn’t right.
“Chairman?”
“General Manager Yang. I... I...”
Then, like a puppet whose strings had been cut, Chairman Oh collapsed without strength.
“Ch-Chairman!!”
***
When Oh Jae-hyun heard that they would lend him the shares only if LK Tower was offered as collateral, he stormed out in anger.
It was a project into which LK Group had poured a staggering 5 trillion won, a matter of life and death for the company.
And yet, they wanted to use it as collateral for a 900 billion won share?
But after cooling his head a little and regaining his composure, it didn’t seem like such a bad deal.
At the moment, the guys from Kwangwoon Securities might look arrogant.
But surely, they wouldn’t actually think they could swallow up LK Tower.
It was collateral, plain and simple.
As long as he repaid on time, paid the interest properly, and as long as the company didn’t encounter major issues, it would just remain a formal collateral.
“I never imagined you’d actually think of using LK Tower as collateral. Even the banks haven’t taken LK Tower as collateral. But Kwangwoon, which is barely mid-sized? Isn’t that too greedy?”
“Yes. I also assumed, of course, that the banks had LK Tower as collateral, but they didn’t.”
“Well, that’s because the bank loans aside, we’ve poured far more money into it. There was no need to offer it as collateral.”
“That’s right. If only President Oh hadn’t picked up a sword to fight the Chairman.”
Is he trying to provoke me?
Looking down on us just because we’re mid-sized?
Oh Jae-hyun had many things he wanted to say, but he bit his lip tightly.
If he provoked them unnecessarily and they suddenly canceled the contract here, it would become troublesome again.
“It’s fortunate that you’re the President of LK Hotel. Otherwise, if you weren’t, or if you had tried to use LK Tower as collateral, the process would’ve been extremely complicated.”
“There’s nothing complicated about it. It’s just a formality anyway. Once I gain management rights and the company stabilizes, it might take some time, but I’ll repay it quickly.”
“Yes. The interest rate is quite high, so you should pay it back quickly. Haha.”
Oh Jae-hyun quickly finished signing.
He just wanted to end it fast and never see the face of this insufferable man again.
“This is the last signature on the contract, right?”
“Yes. As stipulated in the contract, this 5% share now belongs to you, President Oh. Ah, I suppose I should now address you as Chairman.”
Still, hearing the word “Chairman” did made him feel somewhat good.
“I don’t get the feeling you want to enjoy a celebratory dinner with me to commemorate our contract, not even a speck of it, so I’ll take my leave here. Congratulations, Chairman. And I look forward to working with you going forward.”
Oh Jae-hyun wanted to smack the back of Hwang Dae-woon’s head as he walked out with a smile, but he calmed himself.
Because the management control of LK Group, which he had so desperately wanted, was now in his hands.
“Director, let’s begin right away. We need to convene the board and quickly start clearing things up.”
“Yes, President- no, Chairman!”
The sword was ready.
Now, it was time to wield it.
“Wh-What are you saying?”
But before he could even unsheathe it and dance his swordplay, the situation was already over.
And in the most anticlimactic way.
“Father is in a coma?!”
“We just found out ourselves. He collapsed suddenly and hasn’t regained consciousness since.”
Could it be he collapsed from the shock of the power struggle?
No. He had already been bedridden from old age and illness.
It might seem a bit petty, but truthfully, he had indeed used his father’s weakened state as an opportunity to stage a coup.
Still, wasn’t his father speaking with full energy and throwing threats just a few days ago?
And now, suddenly!
‘Wait. If that’s the case……’
In fact, this power struggle was never really between the first and second sons, but between the father and the second son. And now, the father had collapsed.
The king on the opposing side had fallen.
The factions that had been hesitating, weighing whom to side with, would no doubt choose Oh Jae-hyun over Chairman Oh.
Which meant.
‘This 5% was completely unnecessary from the start?!’
The true winner of this fight was not Oh Jae-hyun.
It was Kwangwoon Securities, who had earned 900 billion while sitting back.
No, it was the mastermind lurking behind Kwangwoon Securities, controlling everything from the shadows.
***
[With LK Group Chairman Oh Dong-yeong still unconscious, the power struggle has effectively ended with LK Hotel president Oh Jae-hyun’s victory. The shareholders, stating that the group must no longer be shaken, gathered and appointed president Oh Jae-hyun as the new Chairman-.]
The LK Group power struggle that had stirred the nation had finally come to an end.
The game ended with Chairman Oh Dong-yeong collapsing due to illness.
Perhaps thinking that even if the Chairman regained consciousness, he would no longer be the same, all the shareholders who had supported his side shifted to president Oh Jae-hyun.
“If we’d been even a little late, we’d have been screwed for real. The timing was unbelievably perfect.”
Just as hyung-nim said, the timing was a work of art.
If we had been even slightly delayed in finalizing the contract, Oh Jae-hyun would never have borrowed the 900 billion won shares from us.
The factions supporting the Chairman would have naturally rallied behind him.
“To be honest, now that it’s over, when you said we should use LK Tower as collateral, I thought the deal was over. That bastard Oh Jae-hyun even stormed out cursing.”
“What? He cursed at you, hyung-nim?!”
“Yeah. He was pissed himself. Must’ve felt outrageous hearing a mid-sized securities company CEO like me brazenly demand LK Tower as collateral.”
“That bastard dared to insult our hyung-nim...!”
“Let it go. He got fleeced for 900 billion by us, what’s a little cursing?”
I never imagined hyung-nim would actually get cussed out by that guy.
“I’m sorry, hyung-nim. This is all my fault... I should’ve gone instead.”
“No, it’s fine. A CEO’s supposed to handle this kind of stuff. And for 900 billion? Forget the cursing, I’d smile even if he knocked out a few of my teeth. Haha. That bastard probably feels like we ripped out all his internal organs.”
Even in games, when something big happened, hyung-nim always stepped up as the Guild Master.
He was someone who truly knew how to take responsibility when the time came.
That’s probably why I always felt I could rely on him.
“I freaked out at first too. But thinking about it, it wasn’t such a bad deal for him. Sure, we took LK Tower as collateral, but if he just pays back the 900 billion, there’s no issue. He just needs to put out the immediate fire and then scrape together the funds to pay it back.”
The only issue was that Chairman Oh collapsed right after the contract was signed.
Oh Jae-hyun was probably regretting the deal with us like hell.
“But why LK Tower, of all things? Honestly, you could’ve just grabbed any one of their affiliates and used that as collateral. It’s not like he wouldn’t be able to pay.”
“I just... it came to mind suddenly. Remember, I have a unit in LK Tower?”
Even I was a bit puzzled.
Why LK Tower, of all possibilities?
There were plenty of other options, so why did my gut instinct fixate on LK Tower?
“Not that it’s likely, but if their internal situation shakes again and they face a liquidity crunch, we might just end up swallowing the whole thing.”
“I doubt that’ll happen.”
“Just fantasizing. Even if it really came into our hands, what would we do with it? It’s the tallest building in the country, plus it’s got a hotel.”
Securities firms and funds are the same.
They buy and sell. They don’t run businesses.
“Besides, now that Oh Jae-hyun’s become Chairman, he has to start making money, so he’s been working hard to attract business. He’s definitely capable. Looks like he’s already made moves internationally.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Seems like a project he’d been working on for a long time. It stalled because of the power struggle, but he’s pushing it forward again. This time, he’s trying to create a global hotel brand, focusing on Europe. I heard a lot of funds have been funneled into France.”
“Pffft-!”
Right then, I involuntarily spit out the drink I’d been sipping.
Hyung-nim was startled and started patting me on the back.
“Whoa, Jin-ho. What’s wrong? You okay? Are you sick?”
“N-No. I’m fine. I just choked a bit. I’m sorry.”
“I’m alright, but are you sure you’re okay?”
“I really am fine.”
I awkwardly wiped my mouth.
‘But what was that just now?’
The moment I heard the word "France", this unpleasant feeling surged up from deep in my gut.