Chapter 27
I met Jamie again a few days later. She did not question why she had to issue me a Jeon-il corporate credit card since she had already noticed that Jeon-il was not a transparent company. For the price of fame and wealth, Jamie would connive in illegal activities. The plastic corporate credit card was the first step. My concerns about money completely disappeared after receiving that card with Jeon-il’s name on it.
I instructed her, “Always have cash ready in the linked account. Also, you won’t receive any reports on the usage of money.”
Jeon-il’s money was all mine but not mine at the same time. These were the company’s funds that should be used for company matters alone. The moment these funds were used for any personal reasons, it became embezzlement.
Jamie didn’t even blink as if she had already anticipated the situation.
She smiled, “This country is good for business. I knew it already, but the more I find out, the more I like it.” fre(e)webno(v)el
I was wondering what she meant when Jamie followed up by mentioning the best accounting and law firms in Korea: Samwoo Accountings and Kim & Park Law Firm.
“It looks like these two firms solve most of the issues in Korea, and I confirmed their capabilities. I hired them as the first step for Jeon-il,” Jamie handed over two profile files.
She had employed Cho Dae-Hwan as the accounting director and Park Choong-Sik as the legal director. They were the top in their fields and were executive partners. In a few years, they were expected to be promoted to vice-CEO or CEO. However, they gave up those positions and joined Jeon-il in just a few days. They couldn’t make illegal things legal, but they were able to make them look legitimate.
Jamie looked straight at me, “But they set conditions. They won’t move until the headquarters of Jeon-il receives funds. They are insuring themselves because they are not entirely sure that fifteen billion dollars of foreign exchange is coming into this country.”
“You don’t need to worry about that. The money will come in step by step,” I reassured her while holding the corporate card.
Jamie must have grasped the situation in Korea in the past few days.
“Are you excited?” I asked frankly, then Jamie nodded.
“Do you think I can handle it?” She questioned.
I replied, “I believe that position makes the person.”
“Thank you for giving me an opportunity like this. I won’t let you down. I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” she said.
She was in meetings all day today, and the first one was with the Secretary of Civil Affairs at the Blue House. The current President, whose term ended yesterday, and the new President-elect were waiting for her.
“You must mention that the real estate market should open as soon as possible,” I said as she stood up.
***
“For the first time in history, the regime of the ruling party changed, and the President-elect won this election in his fourth attempt. However, he has encountered the burden of boosting our economy instead of celebrating his victory. Today’s first news was about the press conference the President-elect held at the Blue House.”
The footage was shown after the anchor’s briefing, and Jamie appeared from the beginning of the video. She was holding hands with the President-elect after shaking hands with the current President. Based on the short clip, the main star was Jamie, not the President-elect.
Jeon-il Investments was mentioned at the end of the press conference on the news. The overall tone was that the new government succeeded in attracting large-scale investments that were worth fifteen billion dollars and would continue doing this to overcome the foreign exchange crisis.
The following day was Saturday. For the first time, Jamie came to my office, and she flinched a bit since the first things she saw were my exercise equipment. Her reaction didn’t differ much from Jonathan’s.
“Congratulations, Jamie. You’ve become the most sought person in the political and business fields in Korea,” I told Jamie while she was busy looking around the office.
She responded, “Oh gosh, I can’t even go back to my hotel once I head out because of the crowd in the lobby.”
All of Korea’s leading figures wanted to meet her, and that was why she had appeared here with her face hidden with a hood.
“The two directors I mentioned yesterday confirmed that they will work for us,” she said.
Cho Dae-Hwan from Samwoo Accountings and Park Choong-Sik from Kim & Park Law Firm had quickly made their decisions. They sniffed out power and money faster than anyone else.
“And my colleagues will enter Korea this evening. I have also concluded negotiations with real estate advisory companies here. I just need to find a place for my office…”
Jamie’s eyes widened as she looked at the exercise equipment. She carefully glanced through the walls and windows and continued talking as she stood by the window that had a view of the street.
“Do you know that this lovely building is for sale now? But its market price will keep falling.”
“You should be careful with the timing. It shouldn’t be too fast or too slow,” I responded.
“At least the hotel business is booming in Korea. All my old competitors are here,” she said.
As she said, the five-star hotels in Gangnam were busy. This situation was called Firesale. It referred to selling furniture at a bargain price after a house burnt down. However, Korea’s situation was worse. The flames were spreading, becoming stronger like wildfire. The animals ran away from the fire, and charred corpses were left where the flames had swept.
It was heaven for eagles since they just had to choose which prey was juicier and better baked. There was so much food that the eagles had no reason to fight. Even while they were thinking, the flames spread even further and newly cooked food was scattered all over the place.
“My specialty is real estate, but I find it lacking to only invest in it. This opportunity won’t come again,” Jamie said.
She was looking up at the upper floor of the building across the street. There were employees working hard in their offices. How many would be able to survive in this field?
“Ethan,” she called me.
Ethan was the name I presented to her in the fake business card.
She asked, “Are your clients only interested in real estate in Korea?”
It was an inevitable question.
“All they care about is the number, the profit. You don’t have to limit yourself to real estate, but as you know, the investments come with responsibility,” I said.
She responded, “There will be a high return in this country. Even kids can become chairman if they have enough dollars. Then, I will take your words as permission to expand my investments to other companies.”
I nodded. In the original history, big shares of the major Korean firms fell into the mouths of foreign eagles anyway.
Jamie had eyes burning with ambition, and she seemed ready to fly as the largest eagle in the sky.
“I reviewed your special orders whenever I had time, and I couldn’t think of anything to say about these. Most of them were far from what you mentioned, and with Seoul’s real estate…”
Jamie was about to continue her long and obvious explanation.
“I understand that you want to show me your dedication, but please stop there,” I said.
Naturally, Jamie stared at me to understand what I was doing and the unusual situations surrounding her. However, she couldn’t keep contact with my eyes for too long. Right now, I needed?to make her feel pressured. Such an atmosphere didn’t come from the words I said; instead, it came from the deadly aura in my eyes. My bloodthirsty gaze had formed based on the amount of blood I covered up and the number of corpses I stepped on in the battle. I could have the eyes of a killer whenever I wanted.
There was no need to even speak to threaten her since Jamie gulped and showed me with an awkward smile.
“I…must have been too excited, right?” Jamie carefully asked.
“I understand. If you want to expand your investments to firms…” I said.
“Yes,” she seemed to fully comprehend the rules between us.
“I recommend you look at the corporate loan teams of the three major banks as your recruits for headhunting. Please bring me the preliminary list,” I continued.
***
On the last day of the year, my father came home drunk. He had not told us, but it was when he was sentenced to a forced honorary resignation at a young age due to the IMF crisis. I still remember the day when my father came in with the help of my mother. However, my father came in alone with a big smile today.
Puff.
The smell of alcohol came out of my father's deep breath. He sat on the porch without taking off his shoes. Then, he called for mother out loud. He laid down on the floor as mother took off his shoes, and she looked at him with a worried look on her face that said that the inevitable bad news had come.
Mother suddenly became aware of my presence, and hurriedly blocked my father’s lips that were about to open.
“Get a hold of yourself. Seon-Hu is right next to us,” she said.
My mother had sensed that a dark shadow had fallen on our family, and she didn’t want me to know that Father had gotten fired.
“Can I move to another company? Hiccup.?Can I?” What my father shouted was very different from my mother’s expectation.
“That's up to you. Seon-Hu’s right there. How much did you drink?” She was concerned.
“Your husband will move to a better company! Those bastards are the problem! Hahaha… Haha!”
I couldn’t tell if my father was crying or laughing.
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