RR 22
[022] Covertly, for More Money 2.
“Father, will you prevent me from doing what I want, even if you don’t approve of it?”
“Of course not! Whatever our Do-jun does, Dad will always support and help you.”
“Even if I want to be the CEO of a company bigger than Grandfather’s?”
Father suddenly burst into laughter.
“Hahaha. Oh dear, what to do? Our Do-jun’s dream is so big that I don’t think Dad can help you with anything?”
I expected at least a polite offer to help with anything, but wasn’t he being too honest with a son who dreamed of a company bigger than Korea’s top enterprise?
“You can.”
“What?”
“You can help me plenty.”
Father’s laughter instantly vanished, and he became serious.
“How? Let me tell you now, Dad isn’t interested in running a company. You know that, right?”
“You know a lot of people who can help.”
“Me? No. I don’t know many people in the Sunyang Group. Chief Secretary Lee Hak-jae is about it. But he’s not free enough to help you.”
“You just said earlier that you studied business in England… Don’t you have any friends you studied with?”
Father was once again speechless.
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.
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An Unexpected Meeting
“Well, who is this? Hey! Jin Yun-gi! It’s been ages!”
“Oh, come on, it hasn’t even been a year. Why are you so exaggerated?”
It’s a habit of someone who always has to pretend to be pleased when meeting clients. Especially when those clients are high rollers who manage hundreds of millions of won.
Oh Se-hyun, a friend Jin Yun-gi occasionally met for a soju, was the Korea representative for PowerShares, a global asset management firm.
PowerShares was founded in 1935 and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. It boasted over seven thousand professional investment personnel, had branches in 40 countries, and managed assets totaling 120 billion dollars.
It was, quite literally, an empire of money.
Oh Se-hyun was an exceptionally talented individual, having become the youngest representative in PowerShares’ Asia-Pacific region.
He was two years older than Jin Yun-gi, but since they primarily conversed in English when they met in England, they had been close friends for a long time.
“What wind blew you to contact me first? What, did you get some extra cash to entrust to me?”
“You idiot, don’t you know my situation? At this age, a jobless idler who lives off his father’s allowance – where would I get money to entrust?”
“Isn’t that allowance about ten times my annual salary? Use half and entrust half to me. I’ll make it grow for you.”
“You commoners don’t understand the spending habits of second-generation chaebols like me. No matter how much there is, it’s never enough.”
A friend who didn’t take offense even when spoken to sarcastically.
That was their relationship.
“Alright, why is a penniless man looking for me?”
“Because of my son.”
“Son? You idiot, if it’s a child issue, go see a school teacher. What kind of advice can a money-lender like me give?”
“It just happened. My second son wants to be an entrepreneur like his grandfather and asked for help.”
“Second son? The second one is Do-jun? Right? Isn’t he still in elementary school?”
“That’s right. Fifth grade.”
“Wow. That kid is amazing, isn’t he? Did you put him in gifted education? He’s not the kind of son you’d expect from a jobless father.”
Oh Se-hyun playfully slapped Jin Yun-gi’s shoulder, laughing with a sense of wonder. But Jin Yun-gi couldn’t laugh.
“Indeed. The kid has grown up so much. Sometimes, he’s more serious than me, so I can’t just brush it off.”
“So? What can I do for you?”
“Just have a meal with him and advise him not to rush his career path too much. Tell him that management or business are still far in the future, so he should enjoy himself and have fun for now.”
“The Chairman’s grandson is different, huh? I have to nag my son every day to study hard and get into a good university.”
“Envious, aren’t you? Heh heh.”
At Jin Yun-gi’s laugh, Oh Se-hyun raised his fist again.
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A Child’s Proposition
“I dislike people who show off their money, and I can’t stand kids who are born with a silver spoon, but your father was different. You’re the first person who made me think a human could be this pure.”
“Hey! Can’t you stop swearing in front of the kids?”
“Ah, sorry. I’ve just gotten used to pandering to new money. Heh heh.”
The person Father brought was quite interesting.
PowerShares was an enormous place. In 30 years, wouldn’t it be a super asset management firm handling 800 trillion won annually?
It was speculative capital that could ruin an entire Southeast Asian country without breaking a sweat. Yet, the Korea representative looked somewhat scruffy and lacked any sharp appearance, not what you’d expect from someone in that position.
He chatted cheerfully throughout the meal, appearing like an ordinary neighborhood uncle.
“I’ll take my leave first.”
Brother Sang-jun quickly finished his meal and went upstairs.
He must be entering puberty already.
These days, he barely spoke at home. It was that stage, and even our parents were starting to walk on eggshells around him.
As the meal was nearing its end, Father began to signal his friend with his eyes.
“By the way, Do-jun. You want to be a businessman when you grow up?”
“Yes.”
“Like your grandfather?”
“A bigger businessman than my grandfather.”
“Sunyang Group is the biggest in Korea… a bigger company, huh? That’s quite ambitious, isn’t it?”
“It’s not ambition; it’s a dream.”
“Is the ambition from your grandfather and the dreaming from your father?”
Suddenly, Oh Se-hyun’s eyes lit up.
“Yun-gi. Can Do-jun and I talk alone?”
When Father nodded, Oh Se-hyun rose from the table.
“Do-jun. Listen carefully to what Uncle has to say.”
Father said with a smile.
Oh Se-hyun entered my room, quickly glanced around, then pulled up a chair.
“Not messy at all, very neat.”
It was clear he was assessing my personality by looking at my well-organized room.
“Alright, Do-jun. Ask me anything you’re curious about. You might not think so, but this uncle here is quite successful.”
If he was the Korea representative of the world’s largest asset management firm, he wasn’t just “quite successful”; he was incredibly successful.
For now, pretending to be ignorant, I asked my first question.
“Are you also the CEO of a big company, Uncle?”
“Yes. The CEO of a very big company. But I’m a little different from your grandfather. I’m a person who helps rich people become even richer.”
“Then you must meet a lot of wealthy people, Uncle?”
“Something like that.”
“Then, talking with those clients, you must hear a lot of stories about how to make money, right?”
“What? Oh my… That’s sharp, isn’t it? They said you weren’t childlike, and it’s true. Haha.”
He burst into hearty laughter. Let’s see how long that laughter lasts.
“I’m tight-lipped. As you said, if I were to blab about the stories of rich people, I wouldn’t last long in this job. Rumors spread quickly. And I don’t ask for details either.”
It was also a professional ethic. Rich people have many secrets. Even if you glimpse a part of those secrets, you must keep quiet to avoid being ostracized from the industry.
“Then you’ll keep my story a secret too, right?”
“Wow, I’m getting surprised a lot by an elementary schooler today. You’re quite unique. But you’re not my client. Why would I keep it a secret?”
“Huh? Didn’t Father tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
Oh Se-hyun blinked, completely bewildered.
“My money. I have 14 billion won in my account right now, and more than 10 billion won will come in when I sell the remaining land. Wouldn’t that be enough to be your client?”
Oh Se-hyun just blinked. He would probably never be more surprised in his entire life.
When people hear something unrealistic, they initially dismiss it as nonsense. But once they realize it’s true, based on the speaker’s credibility, their mind goes blank.
So they just stand there with their mouths agape, unable to say anything.
The greater the shock, the longer the silence.
In my past life, there were many minor heirs who became rich through stock gifts from chaebols, but it wasn’t to this extent.
Moreover, even in my past life, most of the minor heirs were stock millionaires who received inherited shares, and the amount was only a few tens of billions of won at most.
The money I have now, 30 years from now, would be worth well over 100 billion won at least.
It was utterly unrealistic to believe that a 12-year-old kid possessed it.
I waited for Oh Se-hyun to regain his composure and open his mouth.
It was almost five minutes later that his stammering words were heard.
“F-f-fourteen billion…?”
“More than 10 billion won will come in by the end of this year.”
“Is it all, all the money your grandfather gave you?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“You just said it, Uncle. You don’t ask your clients for details.”
“Th-that’s right. You’re right. I asked something I shouldn’t have.”
I handed him the bankbook as Oh Se-hyun, still reeling from the shock, continued to stammer.
“This is my bankbook. You can check it.”
While Oh Se-hyun verified the numbers on my bankbook multiple times, I decided how to proceed to the next stage.
I couldn’t keep pretending to be a child forever. To move forward, I would have to let my true nature show a little.
“This… I didn’t come here for this today…”
Oh Se-hyun scratched his head and let out a hollow laugh.
“I wanted to give some good advice to my friend’s son… but now I really don’t feel like it.”
The professional instinct of an asset manager.
There were mountains of places to invest, but never enough money to invest. With such a huge sum dangling before his eyes, his desire would surely squirm.
“Your father asked me to. To tell you to grow slowly. For arts like painting, music, and sports, it’s good to nurture talent from a young age, but for management, business, or making money, it’s about age… It’s normal to start when you’re an adult.”
“I saw on the news that in America, there was a kid who earned two thousand dollars selling stamps at 12 and made a lot of money selling newspaper subscriptions in high school?”
“Trading and business are different. Anyway, what are you planning to do with this money?”
“What would you like me to do, Uncle?”
One thing I learned from Chairman Jin, my grandfather!
You should be the listener, not the explainer.
You should be the one who listens, chooses, and decides.
I had already decided where to use this money, but I also needed to hear the opinion of the best asset manager.
Because the more information, the better.
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