It was only after seeing Park Jin-hyuk’s calm expression, so unlike his own, that Lee Jong-moo realized the young man hadn’t misspoke.
“You know, don’t you? Exactly what it is you’re trying to do.”
“I’m asking because I know. Wouldn’t that be obvious?”
“Right. Yes. You must have asked because you knew.”
Lee Jong-moo fell silent.
Park Jin-hyuk waited patiently for him to speak again.
Countless calculations were undoubtedly running through the old man’s head right now.
He would be weighing what Jin-hyuk was trying to do, the benefits of helping him, and the potential damage Dongjeong Industries would face if he failed.
Assuming various variables, Lee Jong-moo seemed to be calculating what would ultimately benefit Dongjeong Industries.
After thinking for a long time, Lee Jong-moo finally spoke slowly.
“Do you have confidence?”
“I’m moving because I don’t. If I had confidence, I wouldn’t have felt the need to put Dongjeong Industries at the forefront.”
“True. In your current situation, saying you were confident would actually be a lie.”
Lee Jong-moo nodded at Jin-hyuk’s honest words.
In this situation, beating one’s chest and claiming to be confident would be no different from deceiving the other party.
It was easier for the listener to judge when someone was as blunt as Park Jin-hyuk.
Feeling much more at ease, Lee Jong-moo spoke to him.
“Is it enough if we purchase the shares and hand them over to you?”
“It will pass through one more place. I plan to establish an investment company. I’ll support Dongjeong Industries through that company, and Dongjeong Industries can sign a contract with them.”
“Not only are you putting us at the front, but you’re also planning to add an investment company as an extra layer. Do you think your father won’t find out?”
“He’ll find out eventually. But it doesn’t matter. By the time he realizes it, I’ll have already gained the strength to resist him.”
“I don’t understand.”
Lee Jong-moo shook his head.
His goal for today’s meeting was to entice Park Jin-hyuk and extract the money in his pockets.
However, a few simple lines of dialogue had shifted the theme of the meeting.
Lee Jong-moo had become more interested in what Park Jin-hyuk was trying to do than in soliciting an investment.
“It’s normal that you don’t understand.”
“Yes. Even I think I’m normal. Why are you thinking this way? If you just spoke properly with your father, everything would pass to you anyway. Why are you trying to do something so unnecessary? Something that would upset your father if he found out?”
“That’s right. That’s what normal people think is ‘normal.’ But by my standards, that isn’t the case.”
Park Jin-hyuk finished speaking and briefly recalled his time as Yu Jeong-geol.
The past of one of the companies Yu Jeong-geol had worked for flashed through his mind.
Jin-hyuk had worked with the president’s son.
Everyone acknowledged the son as the next president. Since his abilities were also quite decent, no one worried about the company’s future.
But it only took once.
Due to a disagreement, the president kicked his son out of the company.
It wasn’t as if he had another son or other options, but the president suddenly became greedy, as if he intended to stay in power and run the company for thousands of years.
As a result, the company’s fortunes collapsed within one year, and the employees scattered.
The former employees had whispered among themselves, wondering if the president had simply become greedy once the time came to actually hand over his seat.
And Jin-hyuk agreed with those words.
It was said that power is not shared even with one’s son. He believed it was never easy for someone who held power to step down.
If that was the case for the president’s son he worked with as Yu Jeong-geol, then it was even more so for him, as he had clashed with Park Jun-man several times.
He had even hindered things Park Jun-man intended to do, so there were more than one or two instances where his father would have felt slighted.
Park Jin-hyuk was making preparations based on what he had experienced.
“Still, DS operates on the principle of eldest son succession, so he won’t be able to get rid of you easily.”
“That’s a principle my grandfather made. It’s not a principle my father made. And I’m not the type of person to rest easy on such empty words.”
Lee Jong-moo nodded.
Even he was over eighty years old and still hadn’t handed everything over to his daughter.
So, he didn’t think Park Jun-man, who was nearing sixty, would hand everything over to his son just because his health was a bit poor.
He could understand why Park Jin-hyuk was preparing.
“Fine. You may use Dongjeong Industries.”
At Lee Jong-moo’s words, Park Jin-hyuk’s sharp nerves relaxed, and he smiled.
“No, that’s not it. Why are you saying that? Let me clarify once more. Since I am the one helping Dongjeong Industries, Dongjeong Industries doesn’t have a choice in the matter. You shouldn’t keep speaking as if Dongjeong Industries is doing something for me. It’s not like I absolutely need Dongjeong Industries.”
“Urgh.”
It wasn’t intentional, but Lee Jong-moo had reflexively tried to elevate Dongjeong Industries to an equal position—or even to the position of someone helping Jin-hyuk.
However, even though it was a comment one could have easily brushed past, Park Jin-hyuk called him out on it.
It was an attitude that refused to tolerate any excuses later on.
“I understand. You help me. Then I will work according to your request.”
“Good. If you come at it like ê·¸hat, I’ll feel like helping you. By next week, the acquisition of Novo by DS Pharma will be in its final stages. Send your people after that. Then you’ll get what you want.”
“Yes. Understood.”
As Park Jin-hyuk finished speaking and prepared to stand up, Lee Jong-moo looked at him intently.
“It seems you’re working too hard. Take it easy and rest.”
“I don’t have the luxury of resting right now. I haven’t built up enough in the past, so I have to move diligently now to make up for it.”
In the past, Park Jin-hyuk had no foundation whatsoever.
Because of that, he had been pushed around here and there, eventually facing a life-threatening crisis at the hands of his stepmother.
The current Park Jin-hyuk did not want to let that happen again.
‘If anyone is going to be holding a knife to a throat, it will be me. I will never be the one shaking.’
“If you only pull the string tight like that, it might snap. I heard you haven’t even been meeting women lately? I used to worry because you met too many, but now I’m worried because you don’t meet any at all.”
“I have so much work to do. Where would I find the time to meet women?”
“I heard your father tried to push Cheongwoo’s eldest daughter on you to set up a deal with them.”
“That happened quite a while ago.”
“Was she not to your liking?”
“It’s not a matter of liking or not. She’s just someone who has nothing to do with me.”
“Right. You’re stubborn as a mule, so there’s no point in pushing someone you don’t like. But don’t forget that marriage is also a tool for business. Even though I hate your father for losing my eldest child, I don’t resent him. If I were in his position, I would have taken a second wife too. Difficulties always arise in business. Preparing something that can help you when that happens is one strategy, so don’t be too stubborn.”
Park Jin-hyuk stood up as he listened to Lee Jong-moo.
Since his business was done, he felt no need to listen to such useless talk.
“Take a good look at the chemical division that fellow is bringing. Your father isn’t being greedy for no reason.”
“If he brings the chemical division, he’ll want something in return, won’t he?”
“Hahaha. Of course. There must be something given in exchange.”
“Then I have no interest in receiving it. Unless Cheongwoo is desperate to sell off their daughter, they’ll demand something equivalent to that chemical division… My father isn’t the type of person to give away what’s in his pocket just to get a chemical division. Especially when it comes with the shackles of marriage. If you’re that greedy for Cheongwoo’s chemical division, we have Hyeon-uk at home. Why don’t you try arranging it for him?”
“He’s only worth pushing toward Cheongwoo because he’s you. If I pushed that fellow toward Cheongwoo, they’d ask if I’ve gone senile.”
Seeing Lee Jong-moo look displeased at the mention of his cousin’s name, Park Jin-hyuk gave a polite bow.
“Then I’ll be going now. I would appreciate it if you focused only on Ramchatann from now on, Chairman. It’s not just a few pennies, but a project involving 1 trillion won, so even I’m a bit worried.”
“If you’re that worried, would you like to take charge of it?”
“Hahaha. Why are you like this? You know what I’m in charge of and where I’m headed.”
He was indirectly saying that his scale had changed too much to handle just Dongjeong Industries.
Lee Jong-moo gave a bitter smile at Jin-hyuk’s words.
“I regret the time I spent debating whether or not to bring you in when you were lying down. Back when you had nothing… I should have brought you in then.”
“I’ll take my leave now. I’ll see you next time.”
Park Jin-hyuk bowed again and turned around this time without even waiting for the chairman’s response.
Lee Jong-moo couldn’t take his eyes off Park Jin-hyuk’s retreating back.
***
“The market’s judgment is accurate. A few days ago, the market showed a negative view of DS Pharma’s acquisition of Novo, but it is turning positive following news that Novo has new drugs entering clinical trials soon and other new drug development projects in the pipeline.”
“So that means DS Pharma’s weakness in new drug development will be resolved, right?”
“Correct. I think all of this might be the achievement of Executive Director Park Jin-hyuk.”
“An achievement by Executive Director Park Jin-hyuk?”
“Yes. Novo. It’s a company with a very unfamiliar name. It’s extremely difficult to discover a company with such core technology. But Executive Director Park Jin-hyuk managed it, invested boldly, and became the largest shareholder. Although he didn’t participate in ownership or management, he was able to maintain a close relationship with the original founding members because of it. Based on that, he created a foothold for DS Pharma to acquire them. Isn’t this a build-up that anyone would see as meticulous? It makes one think that Park Jin-hyuk, who pulled this off, is a genius of acquisition negotiations.”
An expert who had been voicing negative opinions just a short while ago was now pouring out praise from a positive stance.
The viewers wouldn’t know, but this attitude was also something Park Jin-hyuk had intended.
He had followed the principle that a positive impression following a negative one leaves a stronger impact on people than a negative one following a positive one.
People were inherently prone to negative thinking.
It was human instinct to be infinitely benevolent to oneself while holding others to a strict standard.
Therefore, one gains empathy by agreeing with the negative view of an opponent.
Then, by switching stances and praising them, people marvel at facts they didn’t know and change their perspective.
Public opinion was shifting exactly as Park Jin-hyuk intended.
“Actually, the price DS Pharma is paying to acquire Novo can be seen as very favorable to DS Pharma in some respects.”
“Are you saying the $1 billion acquisition price is cheap?”
“That’s right. Although it amounts to about 1.2 trillion won in our currency, I want to confidently say that this is a cheap amount.”
“Why is that?”
“It’s because of the special nature of new drugs. Once a new drug is developed and marketed, you’re granted exclusive rights for a limited time. I dare say the profits earned through that drug during that period are astronomical sums that ordinary people can’t even imagine.”
“But doesn’t Novo only have one new drug?”
“It’s because they only have one that an acquisition for $1 billion is possible. If they had two or three, they’d be something you couldn’t even bid on for $1 billion. And secondly, this is a result achieved by the largest shareholder, Executive Director Park Jin-hyuk, making many concessions.”
“Concessions?”
“Yes. In fact, from Executive Director Park Jin-hyuk’s perspective, there was no reason to sell his shares in Novo. It was certain that the value would continue to rise if he held onto them. And according to some media outlets, Bayer had even approached him with a proposal to acquire his shares. However, it seems he thought it was better for the country to keep it within the nation rather than handing it over to a foreign company. This is what I call true patriotism.”
Even the thick-skinned Park Jin-hyuk couldn’t stand it anymore and turned off the screen.
Unable to lift his head, Park Jin-hyuk squirmed and said, “They did well, but tell them not to overdo it. Patriotism, my foot. Why are they exaggerating so much?”
“You might be embarrassed, but I don’t think building an image like this is a bad thing.”
“I know. I know our country loves the word ‘patriotism’ very much. But… it’s just… it’s embarrassing.”
Even the shameless Park Jin-hyuk couldn’t bear the current situation; he laughed and turned his head away.
Kim Jun-woo slipped away, sensing Park Jin-hyuk’s uncharacteristic reaction.
The acquisition of Novo by DS Pharma was now entering its final stages.
Since the behind-the-scenes negotiations were over, all that was left was to finalize the paperwork, and even that was proceeding without major issues. It had reached the point where they only needed to announce the acquisition.
By acquiring Novo, DS Pharma secured both production and development capabilities.
Before long, DS Pharma transformed into a pharmaceutical company that transcended the domestic Korean level, possessing drugs with global sales potential.
***
*Knock, knock.*
“Come in.”
At Park Jin-hyuk’s call, the door opened and Gyeong Dae-yong walked in, greeting him.
“I’m back.”
“Good work. I heard you were arriving today, but did you come straight from the airport?”
Park Jin-hyuk approached Gyeong Dae-yong and welcomed him warmly, noting how exhausted he looked.
Gyeong Dae-yong walked toward the sofa with the sincerely welcoming Park Jin-hyuk.
“Yes. I came straight here. I thought you would be curious.”
“How could I not be? Please, have a seat. Sit down and tell me.”
On the surface, Gyeong Dae-yong had gone to Austria to finalize the acquisition negotiations.
However, since the main party of the negotiations was in Seoul and the minor details could be handled by subordinates, there was no real need for him to move.
But there was a part Gyeong Dae-yong absolutely had to confirm and discuss in person, which was why he had boarded the flight to Austria himself.
“After speaking with the Novo side, I had them shift the development direction.”
As soon as he sat on the sofa, Gyeong Dae-yong told Park Jin-hyuk exactly what he was most curious about.
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