Chapter 45: The Anonymous Backer

Cha Sung-jun let out a hollow laugh.

“I secured so many construction projects in the Middle East, so how did the construction company’s finances end up like this?”

The more he pored over Taeseong Construction’s ledgers, the more baffled he became.

“How on earth was this company being run? And Father just let it get to this state?”

It was so absurd that Cha Sung-jun snapped the ledger shut.

Instead, he picked up the phone.

-Hello?

“Father, it’s Sung-jun. I’m calling about Taeseong Construction’s cash reserves. Do you have a moment to talk?”

-Yoon-sung was in charge, so there were bound to be losses. But your tone sounds like it’s really bad. How bad is it?

“At this rate, even if we win the Subway Line 2 construction, we won’t be able to see it through to completion.”

-What? It’s that serious?

“There’s another problem, too. The expected cost for Subway Line 2 is about 180 billion won. Even if the government pays out the full contract amount, a loss is expected.”

A sigh traveled over the phone from Chairman Cha.

-Yes, we’ll have to bear at least 30 billion in losses. But we’ll get the land lots for development in return.

Land lots for development refer to land acquired and managed or sold by the project operator to offset the construction costs incurred in urban development projects.

-We’ll have to sell those lots to cover the shortfall in construction expenses.

But those lots are paid out later.

Usually, only after a subway station is built and a significant number of buildings go up does the land price begin to skyrocket.

So even if we sell those lots, it’ll be tough to get their full value.

-Even so, everyone’s desperate to win the Subway Line 2 project.

“Yes, because if they secure land near the future subway stations and then sell it off, they’ll make a killing.”

-The loss will more than be covered from that.

“Father, I’m thinking of selling that information to secure construction funds.”

-Hmm. That won’t be easy.

“People saw firsthand how the land prices skyrocketed around the Subway Line 1 stations. High-ranking government officials will definitely want a safe slush fund.”

-That’s something to discuss after we win the Subway Line 2 bid. In the bidding review, the construction company’s cash reserves are a critical factor.

“That’s why it’s become such an urgent problem that needs to be solved immediately.”

Cha Sung-jun forced down a sigh.

“It looks like I’ll have to liquidate my private assets and inject them into Taeseong Construction.”

-How much do you even have in private assets?

“Did you forget? I went around the country building hotels and resorts, and put up roads, too. At that time, I bought land around the sites and resold it, so I managed to pad my pockets quite a bit.”

-That still won’t be nearly enough. Should I introduce you to some bank presidents?

“The banks are your resource, aren’t they, Father? I know that if you want to acquire Taeseong Chemical, you’ll need to scrape together all the affiliate funds and max out the bank loans, and even then it’ll be tough.”

Chairman Cha let out a low sigh.

-So what are you going to do? Say you liquidate your private assets—what about the rest of the money?

“I’ll probably have to borrow from private lenders.”

A sigh drifted over the phone once again.

Of all the troubles in life, nothing is as frustrating and daunting as money problems.

That’s true even when running a large company.

-By the way. Oh, President Oh of Hyunmu Construction called earlier. He said he’ll wire the balance to Taeseong Construction’s account by tomorrow, so hurry up and hand over the land title.

“What?”

-The Suseo-dong apartment site, you know. You managed to sell that land to President Oh—the biggest paranoid in Hyunmu Construction—at full price.

That meant a lump sum of cash was about to be deposited into Taeseong Construction’s account.

-Good job. How on earth did you pull it off? President Oh isn’t someone who’s easily fooled. I’ve never seen him so eager to close a deal.

“……”

Father, that’s what I’d like to know.

What on earth happened?

I never sold the Suseo-dong apartment site to President Oh of Hyunmu Construction.

-Sung-jun, don’t mess around with private loans. I’ll arrange the money myself.

“You will, Father? How?”

-I’ll just give up on acquiring Taeseong Chemical.

* * *

After stopping by Taeseong Department Store and arriving at our house in Hannam-dong, it was already evening.

“I’m home.”

“Oh, my precious baby!”

“Grandpa!”

“Yes, Grandpa’s here!”

My grandfather, who had been smoking in the garden, ran over with a big grin and swept me up in his arms.

He hooked his hands under my armpits and spun me around several times.

“Oh, I’m too dizzy to keep spinning.”

“Hehehe.”

“You haven’t eaten dinner yet, right? Your grandmother cooked up all sorts of tasty dishes. Go eat quickly.”

“Thank you. Grandpa, let’s eat together.”

“No, Grandpa needs to talk with your dad for a bit.”

So that’s what it was about—Taeseong Construction.

Grandfather went upstairs to the study.

Honestly, I wanted to follow, but now that Mom had caught me, I had no choice but to sit down for dinner quietly.

“Junhyuk, what have you been doing all day?”

“...I went to meet the neighborhood bosses.”

I can’t exactly say I was out delivering invitations to the movers and shakers of the previous era.

“What did you do with them? Was it fun?”

“...Just watched a shell game for a while.”

I can’t exactly say I spent the day gambling at an illegal den, either.

“Pffft!”

“Pfft!”

Uncle Cheol-gu and Yoo Jong-tae, who were eating with me, spat out their rice.

Now’s the time to eat whatever’s given, hot or cold, and get away fast!

I kept my chopsticks moving, pretending not to notice.

‘Hey, Guardian Spirit!’

[Again?]

After spending all day peeking at cards, the Grim Reaper looked even more haggard, his dark circles even deeper.

[...Let me rest a bit.]

‘You can rest when you’re dead.’

[Ugh... Shared vision!]

* * *

The first thing that stood out in Father’s study was the mountain of documents stacked on his desk.

Father was practically buried in paperwork, and only looked up when he noticed someone had come in.

He looked haggard from working around the clock without rest.

“You’re here?”

“Are you working so hard you didn’t even notice me come in? Are you working through dinner?”

“I’m sorry, there’s just too much backlog, as you can see.”

“You don’t need to apologize. I’m the one who should be sorry. You’ve had to deal with so much because of your useless uncle.”

Grandfather gently patted Father’s shoulder.

“Work if you must, but always eat your meals. Everything we do is to make a living.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Sit here. Your mother made all sorts of food when she heard you were coming.”

Grandfather took out a seven-tiered lunchbox and set it on the table in the reception room.

“For your mother’s sake, at least take a bite.”

Only then did Father get up and move to the sofa in the reception room.

He offered the seat of honor to Grandfather and prepared tea himself.

“I’m sorry, Father. I feel awful that you have to give up on Taeseong Chemical after raising it so well, all because of me.”

“That’s enough. Hundreds of companies are created and disappear every year. Losing a company or two is nothing in this business.”

Grandfather quietly gazed down at the tea Father handed him.

“You can always build another company. But family—once lost, you can never get back.”

It was warm honey tea, steaming in the cup.

“I tried to arrange a solid marriage alliance for you because I wanted only good things for you, my child. I just wanted you to have one more reliable support.”

Grandfather blew on his tea and took a careful sip.

“But even a provincial governor is powerless if the other side refuses. What good is a powerful in-law if you don’t want it? As long as you’re happy, nothing else matters.”

“Thank you, Father. I promise to repay this loss someday.”

“No need. The company’s enough trouble without us squabbling over gains and losses. Let’s not be so cold with each other in our family.”

Grandfather grinned.

“I lived through the war, you know. Those were hard times. I lost every foundation I had and started from scratch. Losing a few companies now is nothing to me.”

“Father…”

“When I was exhausted and worn out, it was my wife and children who got me back on my feet. Just seeing their sleeping faces made my fatigue melt away and gave me the strength to face tomorrow.”

Grandfather seemed lost in reminiscence, recalling those days.

“You’re enduring all this hardship to protect your own family—I understand better than anyone. If nothing else, I’ll always be on your side.”

“I’m sorry, Father.”

“Taeseong Chemical was meant for you from the start, anyway. If you don’t want it, I have no regrets. So don’t look so guilty.”

Grandfather drained his honey tea in one go and set the cup down.

“I didn’t actually put that much money into it anyway. Consider it a cheap lesson and let go of the past. From now on, let’s prepare for the future.”

“Yes, Father.”

“The year-end party. You’ll meet Woo-kwang there. I intend to make a grand declaration.”

“A declaration?”

“The engagement is off anyway. At this year-end party, I’ll introduce my daughter-in-law and grandson, and cleanly sever ties with Woo-kwang. I won’t let my precious grandson be treated as an illegitimate or dirty bastard.”

Grandfather looked relieved.

“You should also proudly show everyone the people you chose, and what Taeseong stands for. I’ll throw all my support behind this subway project.”

“Thank you, Father.”

“Make sure to dazzle everyone. I don’t want to see your wife and son gossiped about.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Good. Let’s just show the hope and potential Taeseong Construction can create.”

“I’ll make sure everyone is confident that Taeseong will win this subway project.”

“Good. Stocks are always about investing in the future. If things look promising, money and people will follow. People go with the trend. All we have to do is make Taeseong the trend.”

Grandfather placed a piece of bulgogi atop Father’s rice in the lunchbox.

“After the year-end party, let’s have a quiet New Year’s breakfast together as a family. You should introduce your wife and son to everyone. It wouldn’t be right for the family to be left in the dark.”

“Yes, I’ll do that.”

Grandfather nodded.

“So don’t worry about anything else, just focus on preparing for the subway project. I’ll deal with Woo-kwang myself.”

He had already sent out the threatening notes to sway public opinion.

“The funding problem too, I’ll take care of the private lenders—”

It was then.

Ding-dong! Ding-dong ding-dong!

Secretary Kim strode into the study without hesitation.

“Chairman, sir, Young Master. I brought the money.”

The Taeseong Group security staff set down a safe and heavy travel bags they had brought in.

Thunk!

“There’s about 3 billion won in cash here.”

“Three billion?”

“All of it in cash?”

Three billion won—the equivalent of several luxury apartments in Gangnam.

It looked like they had gone around collecting from every safe mentioned in the IOUs.

Secretary Kim spoke.

“An investor says he’ll invest about 5 billion won in Taeseong Construction.”

“Investor?”

Grandfather and Father shot to their feet at the same time.

“Explain exactly what’s going on here!”

“What are the investment terms? Who is the investor?”

Secretary Kim smiled gently.

“I’m sorry, but the investor wishes to remain silent. But he said you’ll be able to meet the other investors at the year-end party.”

“At the year-end party? There are more investors?”

“Yes. Now that such a generous investor has appeared, Taeseong Construction’s funding problem should be resolved to some degree.”

“Excellent! Then let’s raise the stakes even more!”

Grandfather clenched both fists.

“Secretary Kim, bring me the FKI directory!”

“Yes, sir.”

“And the directory of senior government officials, too!”

“Yes, sir.”

“And President Oh of Hyunmu Construction—”

“The investor said he’s already gotten prior approval from the owner of Hyunmu Hotel.”

“Really?”

Grandfather’s face lit up with delight.

“That’s wonderful! How can things go so smoothly? It’s as if heaven itself is helping us.”

* * *

I cut off the shared vision with the Grim Reaper.

‘Investor.’

That one word Secretary Kim chose pierced me to the core.

‘An anonymous investor. A sponsor who can set the investment terms. Someone with enough authority to exercise force if necessary.’

Not bad.

Being tied up by the limitations of a seven-year-old was so frustrating.

Even to get a single invitation or take a seat at the gambling table, I needed to use an agent.

—So that Taeseong’s name isn’t tarnished.

—So that the fact I’m a seven-year-old kid doesn’t stand out.

I could only rely on Yoo Jong-tae and Uncle Cheol-gu’s help so many times.

It was annoying, thinking I couldn’t keep doing this forever.

‘What if I started an investment company?’

I paced in my room for a long time.

The deeper the night grew, the deeper my thoughts became.

And so, the year-end party arrived.