Chapter 142: You Damaged the Fruit I Was Going to Eat

Lukas, introduced by Na Min-ho of Sile Hub, was a big data analytics company. Founded in Santa Cruz, California, by people with careers at Netscape and Ready Force, it was a company founded by people who were seniors to Na Min-ho.

They envisioned a business supplying software that used big data to formulate corporate management strategies, improve operational efficiency, manage performance, and visualize market predictions. However, there were limits to attracting investment with such a paper-only business strategy.

So they personally visited various investment firms in California, but they couldn’t find a place willing to invest based solely on paper strategies. Discouraged, a Korean company reached out to them. That company was also a startup, just like Lukas.

Since other firms had already set foot in the more promising investment targets, their choice fell on Lukas. Desperate for funding, Lukas accepted money from the Korean investment firm and was able to start its business.

But founding the company didn’t immediately lead to results. They hired people as needed, secured an office, and then devoted themselves to developing technology to visualize their big data—until they exhausted all the investment funds.

To keep the business going, they needed more funds, but the initial investors cut off support when results failed to materialize over time. This turned into a stumbling block. Hearing that their angel investor had turned away, no one else came to evaluate their technology. Having rashly accepted investment without proper assessment, they now faced the risk of disappearing from the market.

Na Min-ho, who had taken note of their technical capabilities, approached Jinhyuk Park during the groundbreaking ceremony and introduced him to Lukas.

“There’s a good company apart from the friends I brought along.”

At a separate meeting, Jinhyuk Park accepted a brochure from Na Min-ho. He also heard the add-on that if investment continued, they could show good results. However, Jinhyuk Park wasn’t the type to decide on investment based on a brochure or Na Min-ho’s praise. He had only one evaluation criterion: he believed only in the value he saw himself.

And in his eyes, he saw the value of Lukas.

[Chapter 4]

It was a company with no properly implemented technology—everything existed only on paper. Yet the value Jinhyuk saw in Lukas showed him, in enormous numbers, that this was the place.

‘This is exactly it.’

Jinhyuk had thought while investing in Sile Hub that he wanted to invest in this kind of company. And he believed that for a company like this, investment shouldn’t be the end. His judgment was that, like Sile Hub, they should go beyond investment and acquire it.

So he checked which Korean company had invested in Lukas and learned it was Cheongwoo Venture Investment.

“Cheongwoo Venture Investment is currently in a state of halting new investments. They were thinking of either just carrying on with their existing portfolio or transferring their equity and winding down the company… You want that one?”

“What makes you so suspicious?”

“If you’re targeting it, that means you’ve seen something we haven’t. How could I not be suspicious? It means I could be missing a gold mine.”

Jinhyuk smiled faintly at Junhwan Han’s words.

“What good is a gold nugget in your pocket? To someone who can’t recognize it, a gold nugget is the same as a rock. Isn’t it better to hand it to someone who needs it and get a debt wiped clean?”

Junhwan Han’s mind wavered greatly at his words. He thought perhaps if Jinhyuk had denied it, tried to hide it, or shown no sign of being found out, things might have flowed more easily. Then he might not have made a decision right away and could have checked what they had missed.

But Jinhyuk instead admitted it and called Cheongwoo the one that couldn’t recognize a gold nugget. And he was offering a chance to make up for failing to recognize it.

‘Wipe the debt?’

Strictly speaking, what he considered a debt was an uncertain future. By handing over Cheongwoo Energy, others thought Cheongwoo had made a major concession to DS.

Yet Jinhyuk flatly called it a debt and demanded Cheongwoo Venture Investment as an opportunity to clear that debt. Faced with Jinhyuk’s firm stance, Junhwan felt that a future which seemed unlikely to happen might actually become reality. And the desire to clear the debt when the opportunity came grew stronger.

“Then can I trust that you won’t say anything, no matter what happens at Cheongwoo Energy?”

“There will be a lot of talk from people around you. But just let the talk pass as talk. As I said a moment ago, Cheongwoo only needs to make its stance clear.”

“Then wouldn’t you not need to hand over Cheongwoo Venture Investment?”

“No. Others might let it end with words, but I won’t. Where do you think you incurred a debt? Do you think the debt is to DS? The debt is to me. Because you wounded the fruit I was trying to eat.”

Junhwan looked at Jinhyuk with a baffled expression. Jinhyuk’s words were not something to just brush aside. They amounted to a blatant display of ambition toward DS.

“Surely you’re not… going to confront Chairman Park?”

“If not that, why else would I have asked you for shares, Chairman Han?”

“I thought you just wanted to strengthen control… I thought you and the Chairman had a decent relationship. Was I wrong?”

“Relationship? It’s just ordinary. You could see it as a king who doesn’t want to give up his country and a crown prince who wants to sit on the throne as soon as possible.”

A king and a crown prince could never have a good relationship when it came to the throne. Jinhyuk had just declared to Junhwan that he would fight his father, Junman Park, over the throne.

Junhwan let out a deep sigh at his words.

“This is serious. I get the feeling that Ji-yeon is getting involved in a complicated mess.”

“Don’t worry. For Ji-yeon, whether it’s where I am or here at Cheongwoo, it’ll all be equally complicated.”

Junhwan gave a bitter smile at Jinhyuk’s words because he agreed. And he felt a pang in his heart that his wish for her to leave complicated places and live a comfortable life seemed far off.

“Are you confident?”

“I believe the tides have already turned since our chairman chose Cheongwoo Energy.”

“Cheongwoo Energy. Are you certain?”

“I’m certain. That will turn out to be the losing move.”

The smile and slyness that Junhwan had shown when Jinhyuk first entered were nowhere to be found. The exact expression Jinhyuk had imagined when he first saw Junhwan’s smiling face now appeared. Bewilderment and regret settled over Junhwan’s face.

“Cheongwoo will not intervene.”

“You’ve already intervened plenty. And I don’t want any further intervention. This is the maximum Cheongwoo can do.”

“I feel like you’re using my child.”

“I won’t deny that. And didn’t you say that yourself, Chairman? That love hasn’t been a factor in marriage for less than a hundred years.”

Junhwan closed his eyes. What he had said was true, but that wasn’t the intention. Still, he couldn’t deny it now. Even if other meaning was implied, the words were the same.

“What will you do? Have you decided?”

“Fine. Do it that way. But pay a fair price and go through with the acquisition so there are no complaints later.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not someone who likes hearing noise afterward either.”

Feeling satisfied that the negotiations were wrapped up, Jinhyuk picked up his cold teacup and moistened his throat. For Junhwan, this moment might have been about deciding his daughter’s life, but for Jinhyuk, it was about securing a foothold to acquire Lukas. He felt content at having gotten the chance to take hold of a good company.

—

For several days, the market had been abuzz over the swap deal between Cheongwoo Energy and DS Technology.

“The market reaction is largely in DS’s favor,” Junwoo Kim reported to Jinhyuk about the transaction between Cheongwoo Energy and DS Technology. “They’re highly valuing the stable profit from embracing Cheongwoo Energy and the acceleration gained in the Brazil business. As a result, DS’s stock price has been on a steady rise.”

“How much has it gone up?”

“It’s risen about 30% compared to when the Brazil power plant project was announced.”

“That’s too much, isn’t it?”

“That’s why President Park of JH Asset has ordered Dongjeong Industries to temporarily halt its stake purchase.”

“Good. Just tell them to wait a little longer. Buy when the stock price drops, and step back when it’s risen like this. There’s no need to follow and buy aggressively. We still have plenty of time.”

As Jinhyuk spoke to Junwoo, he remembered something and raised a finger.

“Wait. Instead of that, redirect part of the stake-purchase funds to invest in Lukas.”

“Lukas? You mean the company that Na Min-ho, CTO of Sile Hub, recommended last time?”

“Right. How’s the acquisition of Cheongwoo Venture Investment going?”

“I’ve received a report that the acquisition will be finalized soon.”

“Good. Then combine the equity Cheongwoo Venture Investment holds with the new investment money, and set the course to take over ownership. If you add the condition that management and technology are guaranteed, they won’t feel much resistance. In fact, if you emphasize that they can run the company stably, the acquisition negotiations might go smoothly.”

Jinhyuk had appointed Na Min-ho as CTO of Sile Hub. And following Na Min-ho’s recommendation, he had placed Frank Miller, who had shown results at IBM, in the CEO position to oversee management. This signaled that DS, including himself, would not interfere.

Jinhyuk judged that the reason Sile Hub was so valuable was due to the people who founded it and the engineers there. So he didn’t want to meddle and ruin the value of a good company. He intended to apply the same judgment to Lukas.

“Tell them that investment will continue, so they should fully leverage their capabilities.”

“Sir, wouldn’t it be better to send a director-level person from our side? If they mismanage or use the funds carelessly, they could blow through your capital.”

“Mismanagement? In my eyes, mismanagement is right here.”

Jinhyuk flicked a document lying nearby.

“Are these still like this?”

Junwoo turned his head to see what Jinhyuk was pointing at. On it was a promotional plan proposed by DS Electronics in cooperation with DS Telecom.

“What’s not to your liking, sir?”

“Take your phone out of your pocket.”

At the sudden request, Junwoo pulled out his phone and showed it to Jinhyuk.

“Right? It’s a Glory phone, isn’t it?”

“Huh? I’m not sure what you mean.”

“I have a Glory too.”

Jinhyuk also took out his phone from his pocket and showed it to Junwoo. Junwoo looked at Jinhyuk with a face that showed he still didn’t understand what was wrong with the Glory phone.

Jinhyuk held up the phone and examined it from all angles.

“Pungjeong Electronics’ Glory phone. Isn’t this what everyone uses these days unless they have a Hustle phone?”

“Yes. In the past, many manufacturers made phones, but the industry has been restructured and smaller phone companies disappeared. It’s safe to say the global market is a duopoly between Glory phones and Hustle phones.”

“We’re making phones, but people don’t even know it. So every quarter, we’re in the red. How much is the loss this time?”

“They say it’s improved a bit, but based on Q3 and Q4, they’re talking about a loss of 200 billion won.”

“Right. What’s the point of making fat profits selling TVs, refrigerators, and air conditioners when the phone division eats it all up?”

“Are you thinking of DS Electronics next?”

Junwoo thought Jinhyuk was referring to the next move after DS Telecom. But contrary to his thinking, Jinhyuk shook his head.

“There’s no reason for me to move to DS Electronics from here. I’ve come back enough. I’m planning to move directly to headquarters next. I’ve gained enough power.”

“Then why are you bringing up DS Electronics?”

“I’d like to pretend not to notice, but when they bring something like this as a business plan, I can’t help but say something.”

A few days ago, Jinhyuk had received a report on a promotion to be conducted jointly with DS Electronics. Normally, any joint promotion with DS Electronics had to be reported to him first. But because Jinhyuk was busy with meetings about the Brazil power plant project, he had only received a brief report, and the details came to him after the promotion was finalized.

“I trusted them and left it in their hands, and they bring this as a promotion? Seriously. This is what I call mismanagement.”

Jinhyuk tossed the business plan for the promotion in front of Junwoo, who picked it up and checked the contents. The plan was to bundle a new phone released by DS Electronics with a special rate plan from DS Telecom for sale. To Junwoo, it looked like the same thing as previous promotions.

“What good is it to show tens of billions in losses every quarter? Nothing changes. The affiliates protect it like a safe rice bowl, so they churn out this garbage and call it a phone. I’m curious whether the people at the top even carry their own company’s phones.”

“It’s true that DS Electronics’ phone brand has lost a lot of trust among ordinary consumers.”

“It’s not just ‘a lot.’ Grab ten random people on the street and ask. Maybe one of them uses our phone? The other nine all use phones from other companies, and five or six of them probably don’t even know that DS still makes phones.”

Junwoo had no reply, as he knew this all too well. It was an open secret within the company that DS was selling TVs to pay the salaries of the phone division employees.

“This time, let’s take a good look at the faces of those guys at DS Electronics. The ones who planned and approved this promotion. And have all the decision-makers come in.”

“Should I call them right away?”

“Yeah. Call them right away. I’m very curious to see what kind of faces they have.”

Upon receiving Jinhyuk’s order, Junwoo immediately went out and summoned all the relevant people from DS Telecom’s mobile communications division and DS Electronics.