RR 47
[047] Playing to Strengths
“You…! You didn’t just try something, did you? Why did you submit a letter of intent to acquire?”
Lee Hak-jae shouted the moment he opened the office door and stepped in.
Oh Se-hyun chuckled at the sight, gathering his bag.
Their gazes were like a hot bath and a cold bath.
“Come on, you’re old enough now… calm down.”
“Don’t change the subject!”
“If you’re acting like this because of my broadcast, rewatch the interview carefully before losing your temper. I thought it through after seeing your grandson trying to help his grandfather.”
“What did you say?”
“Go back and crunch the numbers again. You’ve profited. Ah, of course, you’ll have to spend a bit more money. But it will be much more advantageous when persuading the review committee.”
Lee Hak-jae could only stare blankly at Oh Se-hyun.
“I’m busy, so I’ll be going now… I have a meeting with the creditors.”
Watching him leave the office, Lee Hak-jae snapped out of his daze and pulled out his phone.
“Find the broadcast with Miracle’s Oh Se-hyun. I need to watch it again on the way back to the chairman’s house.”
Lee Hak-jae sat in the back seat of the car, feeling the heavy weight of the laptop on his lap, and replayed the interview video several times.
It didn’t take long to understand what kind of help it was.
If Chairman Jin and Oh Se-hyun were separated, Oh was just a sudden competitor. But if Oh Se-hyun, having grasped Chairman Jin’s intention, stepped in, he was firmly playing the role of amplifying public opinion.
Lee Hak-jae closed the laptop and let out a wry chuckle in disbelief.
“Haha, well, this is something. I’ve become a mindless idiot out of nowhere.”
As if sensing that his wry chuckle was a laugh of discovery, the driver sped up the car, heading towards Chairman Jin’s house.
He cleared his throat once and entered the study, where Chairman Jin was deep in thought.
“Chairman.”
“Hak-jae. This doesn’t seem like something to just get angry about. It might even be a good fire starter…”
“Yes. CEO Oh’s intention was also to become fuel.”
“What? He said that himself?”
“Yes. He said it was a joint work of the two, created by Do-jun wanting to help the Chairman.”
Chairman Jin’s mouth fell open when his grandson’s name was mentioned, but then he finally burst out laughing.
“Hahahaha. Good heavens… Everyone else is busy with bloodshot eyes trying to take my money, but my grandson even mobilizes an American investment company to help me? What a thoughtful boy!”
Lee Hak-jae waited for Chairman Jin’s laughter to subside.
When the firewood burns brightly, that’s when you should cook the rice. If you miss the timing, only ashes remain. There was a lot to do.
“Tomorrow, I plan to release critical articles about Miracle Investment all at once. We’ll fill them with sensational words like ‘corporate raider who only thinks about money,’ ‘danger of speculative capital,’ and ‘national wealth outflow.'”
“And?”
“I plan to send our people to every broadcasting station’s debate program. We’ll secure five or six economics professors to emphasize the same line of argument…”
“And subtly insert Daehyun’s name?”
“Yes. Daehyun Group already has sufficient steel mills, so their insistence on acquiring Hando Steel can only be seen as them targeting Hando Steel’s land. Aren’t they actually aiming to build and sell apartments? If we just throw that out there, they’ll naturally be lumped together.”
Chairman Jin slapped his knee.
“Yes. That’s it! This timing is truly exquisite. I found it a bit difficult to attack Daehyun from the start, but Oh Se-hyun opened the floodgates and even gave us an opportunity. Chairman Joo must be feeling a chill down his spine. Haha.”
“But there’s also a problem. We need to raise the acquisition price a bit.”
Perhaps because of the money, Chairman Jin stopped laughing.
“Why did that Oh Se-hyun say such unnecessary things?”
2.5 trillion won.
The acquisition amount that Miracle Investment had publicly disclosed.
This amount would become an absolute figure and would continue to shackle Sunyang.
Moreover, if Daehyun Group also bid 2.3 trillion won, it would be difficult to bid under 2 trillion won.
To avoid being embroiled in favoritism controversies, they had to bid over 2 trillion won to give the creditors a justifiable reason.
“He probably couldn’t help it. To emphasize that they’re overseas speculative capital, they need to show off their money. Would a genuine bidder say something like that?”
“For now, let’s see how the atmosphere plays out until the final bid. If it really seems impossible, we’ll adjust to 2 trillion won.”
“Yes. Then I’ll call the PR team and prepare.”
“Alright. Good work.”
Chairman Jin, left alone, felt as light as if he could fly. Thanks to the joy a clever grandson brought him in his old age, he felt ten years younger.
.
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A New Chapter at Seoul National University
Sammi Group, ranked 26th among chaebols with total assets of 2.5378 trillion won and revenues of 1.4925 trillion won, officially went bankrupt on March 19th, unable to cover a mere 1.119 billion won in bills.
Unaware that this was just the beginning, South Korea’s eyes and ears were focused on the trials of the two former presidents rather than the economic crisis.
But I wasn’t interested in either of them right now. What I cared about was the freshman welcome party tomorrow.
I had attended a couple of classes after the entrance ceremony, but it was quite uncomfortable.
Perhaps because of the Suneung interview, everyone glanced at me, whispering among themselves, but not a single student spoke to me. Some seniors even came to the lecture hall just to gawk at me and then disappeared.
I thought attending the welcome party and breaking the ice with my classmates and seniors would improve things. Since everyone already knew me, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to prepare a small event.
The next day, I arrived at school late in the afternoon, attended a couple of hours of lectures, and then headed to the student union cafeteria, the venue for the welcome party starting at 6 PM.
The number of law students was nearly 400, but less than half attended.
Every year, half of those who pass the bar exam are from Seoul National University. Since most students here aim solely for the bar exam from the moment they enter, few regularly attended school events.
Did I overprepare the event?
As I sat down at a table in the corner of the cafeteria, the students around me glanced at me again. They seemed surprised that I had attended.
On the table, there were bottles of soju, beer, and a few soft drinks, and on the gas burner were a pot and a grill. It looked like they were going to grill samgyeopsal.
The noisy areas were filled with seniors, while awkwardness flowed among the freshmen.
If I only had the memories of being a third-generation chaebol, would I have come to a place like this and sat awkwardly?
Just as I was asking myself, someone grabbed the microphone.
“Welcome, everyone. I’m a ’95학번 (class of ’95)…”
After the introduction by the third-year class representative and greetings from the professors, the freshmen’s self-introductions began.
They mentioned their high schools and a characteristic or nickname that would make an impression on seniors and classmates, then passed the microphone.
These were good times, even then.
Most of the freshmen were from out of town. It wasn’t yet a world where wealthy children from Gangnam monopolized prestigious universities; it was a reasonably egalitarian world where dragons could emerge from ditches, and top academic performance in rural high schools was enough to get into prestigious universities. For now, at least.
When my turn came, I stood up and took the microphone. The entire student cafeteria froze as if on cue; the murmuring stopped, and everyone’s gaze fixed on me.
I bowed my head in greeting, then looked at the class representative and said.
“Senior. Can I speak a little longer?”
“Huh? Ah… uh, sure.”
“Thank you.”
I bowed my head again.
“Many of you probably already know me. I’m Jin Do-jun, lucky enough to have a wealthy grandfather. Thanks to him, I’m easily standing here.”
Some smiled, while others remained expressionless. Everyone knew that this wasn’t a place one could enter just by being rich.
“I want to become close to my classmates and seniors without awkwardness, but it’s not easy. So, I thought I’d use my special skill.”
Everyone’s curiosity was piqued at the mention of a “special skill.”
“Senior. Does giving small gifts to schoolmates and seniors count as bribery?”
The class representative was startled by my sudden question but stammered out an answer.
“Th-that’s not it. Bribery is whether there’s quid pro quo, but in this case, the only possible quid pro quo from seniors or classmates is an abstract, intangible one like friendship.”
“I see. Then, if I give an expensive gift to a professor, does that constitute bribery?”
The professors burst out laughing, and one professor shouted.
“Unfortunately, it does. Professors hold the weapon of grades. And grades aren’t abstract. Haha.”
“That’s a relief.”
The cafeteria was filled with laughter. Now, even the students’ eyes had become expectant because of the word “gift.”
I smiled and took out my cell phone from my pocket.
Everyone was surprised again.
They might have assumed a third-generation chaebol would naturally have a cell phone, but it was still an unfamiliar time for a university freshman to be carrying one.
I quickly dialed a pager number and waited.
At the cafeteria entrance, men in suits pushed carts laden with boxes.
“To be honest, I learned my special skill from my grandfather. It’s about winning favor with gifts. And always prepare gifts that exceed expectations.”
As the men handed a box to each student, everyone let out a collective gasp.
“This is Sunyang’s new laptop, launching next month. It’s Pentium MMX class and features an Intel chip. The RAM is 128MB, and the hard drive capacity is an amazing 6GB. It also has an 8x CD-ROM…”
No one was listening to my explanation.
Everyone was busy tearing open their laptop boxes, and even the professors were distracted by watching.
Helplessly, I put down the microphone and waited for this moment of excitement to pass.
.
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Grandfather’s Approval and a Lesson in Marketing
“What? 200 new laptops?”
“Yes.”
“You rascal. Do you know how much that costs?”
“The retail price is roughly 3 million won, so it would be about 600 million won.”
“You’re giving that to the kids? Just to win some favor?”
Grandfather glared at me with a surprised expression, as if dumbfounded.
“To win favor, to make them my allies… and also to get a tremendous amount of advertising.”
“What? Advertising?”
“The laptop carried by Seoul National University law students, the best talent pool in Korea. The rumor will spread throughout the school. The image will be imprinted that it’s a laptop not just for office workers but also for university students.”
Grandfather pondered my intention, then tilted his head.
“That alone won’t be enough for advertising. Anyway, it’s just within the school…”
“We need to follow up.”
“Follow up?”
“We missed the new semester timing because of slow development, didn’t we? We’ll do a special discount for university students, an academy event. And film some commercials with Seoul National University as the backdrop.”
In Grandfather’s mind, he was already envisioning an advertisement featuring the iconic front gate of Seoul National University.
I seized the moment and delivered the decisive blow.
“If you think it’s a waste, I’ll buy them with my own money. You know that 600 million won is pocket change for me.”
“You rascal! Are you trying to make this old man seem stingy?”
He glared for a moment, then his expression softened again.
“But Do-jun. Why only 200? Aren’t there about 400 students in the law department?”
“I heard only about half attended the freshman welcome party. We should only give them to those who attended.”
“Why is that?”
“Differentiation. Those who attended, those who didn’t. They can’t be treated the same. Those who didn’t attend should hit their foreheads in regret. It will firmly implant the idea that rewards can only be gained by those who follow me.”
Grandfather slapped his knee.
“Exactly! To make a horse move, a carrot is more effective than a whip. Hahaha.”
.
.
The freshman welcome party was more enjoyable than any before. I could feel people even moderating their drinking, perhaps out of fear of losing their laptops.
And Assistant Manager Kim Yoon-suk quietly approached me and handed me a note.
It was a list of those who had refused my gift.
They were worth keeping an eye on.
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