Chapter 269: Cost and Benefit (1)
Park Eun-Soo placed the empty cup down and said to Kang Ra-Eun and Seo Yi-Seo expressionlessly, “I should be going now.”
Rush hour had passed, and he couldn’t stay here forever since he had his own job to do. Ra-Eun also judged that she would not be able to hold Eun-Soo any longer than she already had, so she decided to send him on his way.
“Have a safe trip home, Team Leader Park.”
“Thank you. I apologize once again for the visit so early in the morning.”
“It’s okay. Please don’t mind it.”
Ra-Eun and Yi-Seo saw him out to the front door and went back inside after seeing his car leaving the complex.
“That gentleman... He seems like he would also be serious in private,” Yi-Seo expressed.
Ra-Eun smiled bitterly and replied, “You’re exactly right.”
Eun-Soo had been exactly the same both before and after Ra-Eun’s return to the past.
‘Well, I guess that’s obvious.’
Such thoughts always came to mind whenever she saw people that she had known from her past life. They were not the ones that had changed.
‘That would be me.’
The problem was that she had changed far too much.
***
Eun-Soo headed to the new home with the boxes of books that had been in Kim Han-Gyo’s study.
“Here are your books, Congressman.”
Eun-Soo entered the study, which was far smaller than the one in Han-Gyo’s previous home, and approached Han-Gyo, who was sitting blankly.
Han-Gyo turned his head toward him with difficulty and asked while sighing, “Did you meet Kang Ra-Eun?”
“Yes. She happened to be home.”
“...I’m sure she was. She had mentioned that she would be taking a break from productions for the time being.”
Han-Gyo frowned as soon as Ra-Eun’s name was mentioned. He still did not have definitive proof that she was the masked woman, but even if she wasn’t, the fact did not change that she had been the one to introduce Chairman Ji and Congresswoman Hong Oh-Yeon to each other. Whether that was intentional or by pure coincidence, that meeting had resulted in Han-Gyo’s downfall.
Hence, Han-Gyo could no longer see Ra-Eun in a good light, even if it had not been her intention in the slightest. And on top of that, he had practically handed her his previous house, so he couldn’t help but surge with rage.
“I might get hospitalized again right after I was just discharged at this rate.”
He had moved to recuperate his health, but it had only stressed him out even more. Eun-Soo stayed silent since he could not think of anything he could say in this situation.
Han-Gyo brought up something else, “Chairman Jang will be coming to see me today, apparently.”
Jang Yun-Jik was the chairman of a massive conglomerate that had its fingers in IT, biology, semiconductors, and many more industries. He was also the only one of Han-Gyo’s connections that Chairman Ji had no influence on.
“What time will he be arriving?” Eun-Soo asked.
“Between two and three. Be here with me during the meeting.”
“Yes, sir. In that case, I will be standing by here until then.”
Eun-Soo bowed and left the study so that Han-Gyo could rest.
Hwang Mi-Yeon, Han-Gyo’s wife, cautiously asked Eun-Soo as he came downstairs, “Team Leader Park. How is my husband?”
“I believe his body and mind still need some time to heal.”
Han-Gyo seemed to be extremely on edge, which was understandable considering he had lost the general election and was under investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office. Mi-Yeon sighed like her husband had.
“He should be going outside to get some fresh air instead of cooping himself up in the study... Why is he acting this way?”
They had sold their house and moved down to the countryside exactly because of the clean air, but it had been completely pointless because of the way Han-Gyo had been acting. Even so, Eun-Soo was in no position to make Han-Gyo go outside since he knew how much he was burning with rage inside.
***
Kang Ra-Hyuk visited Ra-Eun’s home once again, alone this time, and headed to the living room after devouring the lunch that Yi-Seo had made for him.
“Semiconductor stock prices skyrocketed because of the prospect of DRAM prices rising a lot. You saw it too, right?” Ra-Hyuk asked.
“Yeah, I did.”
While taking a break, Ra-Eun took a look at the stock market data that she used to look at constantly during her high school days. Like Ra-Hyuk had mentioned, semiconductor stock prices would continue to rise from this month until the end of the year.
“So, I was thinking that it would be a good idea to invest in Davins this time. We don’t have them in our portfolio yet.”
Davins was one of the two companies that fought for the top spot in Korea’s semiconductor industry. It was one of the subsidiaries of the conglomerate DOR Group.
“I saw the financial results of their second quarter and they’d been doing pretty well. Their P/E ratio is decent too.”
Ra-Eun took a bite of an apple slice as Ra-Hyuk was presenting his analysis of Davins to her.
She remarked, “Your eye for stocks has gotten a lot better compared to before.”
“Right?”
Her comment sounded rather condescending, but Ra-Hyuk did not feel bad in the slightest since his stock-trading skills were objectively nowhere near as good as Ra-Eun’s. He had picked up words like financial results, business profits and P/E Ratio all from Ra-Eun as she taught him how to choose stocks.
Ra-Hyuk had never read any books about stock trading; he had only been tutored by his little sister, but had risen to the level of being able to bring in stable profits even without her help. He was now doing fine all by himself without Ra-Eun telling him every little detail regarding what to buy, how long to hold it for, and when to sell.
The company that Ra-Hyuk had suggested, Davins, was by no means a bad company to invest in. From what she remembered of the future, their stock prices would continue to grow. However, Ra-Eun did not nod in agreement.
“You know who the chairman of DOR Group is, right?” she asked.
Ra-Hyuk answered as if it was obvious, “It’s Jang Yun-Jik, isn’t it?’
This fact alone was making Ra-Eun hesitate. Jang Yun-Jik was Han-Gyo’s financial lifeline. Han-Gyo had helped Yun-Jik’s company from going bankrupt in the past; if he had not done that, there would be no DOR Group nor Davins today. Yun-Jik owed Han-Gyo such a huge debt that he continued to support him to the very end despite the massive criticism that Han-Gyo faced. This really bothered Ra-Eun.
‘But this and that are different.’
Even though Ra-Eun hated Yun-Jik, it was a fact that they would profit from buying the stocks.
“Okay. Buy them.”
“Got it. I’ll buy them right now since they might rise again.”
“Do as you like.”
Ra-Eun once again fell into deep thought as she chewed on another apple slice.
‘I have to do something about Jang Yun-Jik too.’
Anyone was able to come back from any crisis as long as they had two things: money and power. A tiny flame was more than enough to cause a massive wildfire. Ra-Eun wanted to prevent even the tiniest spark from igniting; that was her sole purpose of having broken past the space-time continuum.
Yi-Seo called out to Ra-Eun as she was thinking, “Ra-Eun. I think you’re getting a call.”
Ra-Eun’s smartphone was flashing repeatedly while vibrating. She got up from her seat as soon as she checked the caller ID.
“I’m gonna take this call, so wait here.”
“Okay, take your time,” Ra-Hyuk gestured as if he had all the time in the world.
Ra-Eun went out into the garden to answer the call. She heard a familiar female voice.
- Hello? It’s me, Ra-Eun.
It was Vice President Park Hee-Woo. Ra-Eun coughed to clear her throat and spoke in a much more refined tone than how she had spoken to Ra-Hyuk.
“Yes, Vice President. Hello.”
Hee-Woo was not one to call without reason. She had surely called Ra-Eun to discuss something with her.
“Is there something you need from me?” Ra-Eun asked without beating around the bush. Hee-Woo, also having no intention to keep the call going for long, told Ra-Eun about why she had called.
- I have an offer that would pique your interest.
There weren’t many offers that could pique Ra-Eun's interest. The only ones that could were those related to her revenge on Han-Gyo.
“What kind of offer?” she asked.
Ra-Eun at least wanted to hear Hee-Woo out. Her offer had been about Ra-Eun’s acting career.
- There is a film production that we’re planning on investing heavily on, and I’d like to cast you as the female lead.
“Me?”
- Yes. I thought of you the moment that I read through the script. Apparently, the director had used you as inspiration for the character. It was perfect, so I told him that I would give you a call to tell you about it.
“Ohh... I see.”
‘That’s it?’ Ra-Eun thought.
It had been considerably underwhelming despite Hee-Woo claiming that it would pique her interest. Like Ra-Eun had told the reporters, she was not planning on working on a production anytime soon. It was far too premature for her to do so since her revenge had not yet been fulfilled.
Not just that, her kiss scene was on the line for her next production. Hence, she wanted to postpone starring in a production as much as possible. Retiring was also an option, since she believed that there was no more benefit in staying as a celebrity.
“I appreciate the opportunity, Vice President. But—”
- You were about to say that you’re not thinking of working on a production yet, right?
“I sure was.”
- That’s why I’m going to make you an offer that would pique your interest.
Hee-Woo still had a card up her sleeve, but Ra-Eun did not have her expectations up. Hee-Woo would need something outrageous for Ra-Eun to change her mind. However, her card had been far stronger than Ra-Eun had expected.
- Ra-Eun. You dislike Congressman Kim Han-Gyo, correct?
“Well, I guess...”
Ra-Eun did not deny it since she no longer felt the need to hide it from her closest supporters. This was the card that Hee-Woo had up her sleeve.
- If you star in this film, I will take full responsibility and sever the relationship between Congressman Kim and Chairman Jang Yun-Jik.
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