Chapter 32:
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[T/N: Please take note of words in italics, they are personae's thoughts.]This chapter is dedicated to all readers and supporters of this translation. Thanks for your love and understanding! XOXO❤~
"Last time, you asked me to have a drink of soju, so I thought it was a cart bar or pork belly restaurant. Ha ha."
"Is there anything like sashimi with soju?"
When Lee Hak-jae, who met with him again at a luxury Japanese restaurant, stably gave a cool answer, Oh Se-hyun felt relieved enough to empty his glass faster.
"I'll have to pay for today's drink. We've made a deal of 24 billion won, so the commission is quite high.”
As soon as he signed the contract to hand over the commercial district of Bundang to Sunyang Construction, the money was transferred directly into Dojun's bank account.
"Since Sunyang has dealt with all the tax issues, can we do it once?"
"If the head of the department contacts me, I will come running back to you. Ha ha."
Lee Hak-jae held out a glass of alcohol to Oh Se-hyun, who revealed a cool smile.
"Why don't we give you a bigger deal? Are you interested?"
Oh Se-hyun's hand trembled a little as he received the glass he was offered. The bigger case was the Sunyang Group.
Lee Hak-jae's warning came to his mind.
Having the intention to use Dojun to immerse his foot in Soonyang Group.
The idea of raising the ransom.
A man with a doubt like that suddenly making a new proposal?
Could it be a bait?
"I'll start by making sure I can handle it first, right?”
"It's a little less than 200 billion."
Clink—
In the end, the glass slipped down from his hand.
However, Oh Se-hyun did not even feel as though he had dropped something, and was speechless with his jaws ajar.
Two hundred billion…
Last year's national budget was 22.6 trillion won. It was an unrealistic astronomical figure, which was close to 1% of the government's budget.
Seeing Oh Se-hyun's blank expression, Lee Hak-jae's face folded in a strange smile. He seemed a little contemptuous and conceited.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I was so surprised…"
Oh Se-hyun hurriedly wiped the beads off his face with a towel and breathed.
"It seems too difficult to handle."
"It's difficult. Oh, don't get me wrong. I don't mean I won't take it. In other words, there is no place to invest that much money in Korea. I have to split it numerous times and make a distributed investment…"
"How is it in a foreign country? For example, where Dojun invested. I think we can get on there."
Lee Hak-jae's words almost made Oh Se-hyun's knees grow weak. He already knew what he wanted.
"It's too difficult."
"What's the matter?"
"I can't tell you the details, but Dojun's funds went into a third-party investment company through Power Shares' U.S. headquarters. Moreover, the companies Dojun invested in are not large enough to receive an enormous investment of 200 billion won."
Lee Hak-jae's eyes flashed when he heard that it was a third-party investment company, but he did not ask in detail; because he knew that Oh Se-hyun wasn't going to explain in detail anyway.
"It'll be safe, right?"
This was the most he could ask.
But one thing was clear. Dojun's money was not buried in the huge company called Power Shares, but moved independently.
"There is no safe investment. It's about taking risks. Dojun's risk is within control, so don't worry."
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Then Oh Se-hyun asked indirectly after telling him not to worry,
"That 200 billion. Is it money that you don't have to make a profit? Conservation of the principal is the most important and should not be buried in long-term investment, and money that can be got whenever necessary… Is that right?"
When I mentioned the most important principle of slush funds, Lee Hak-jae couldn't help but laugh.
He was a quick witted fellow.
When Lee Hak-jae nodded lightly, Oh Se-hyun tilted his head.
"Then, wouldn't it be better to keep it in Korea? There is a Korean bank that has a much better interest rate than the United States, right?"
Lee Hak-jae only smiled instead of answering.
If you pay a commission of 200 billion won, you get hundreds of millions of won. He is not a great man who can't even calculate this.
However, he suggested the best option for his customers without hesitation, forgetting his own interests.
He's a lot better than I thought.
"As you said, it's not money to earn interest. In fact, we also often need money in the United States, so we were trying to move some."
It also meant that the U.S. business was getting bigger. As it grew, black money was often needed more and more.
"I see. I'll review it first and let you know the final proposal."
It was a polite and exemplary answer, but in Oh Se-hyun's heart, he was already rejected. There was no need to worry about taking over the black money of Soonyang Group.
This was because he was also a successful person in the top 1% who was not too nasty.
* * *
"I don't know why you want to see this, but I got it from New York. Take a look."
I quickly snatched some of the documents Oh Se-hyun held out.
"Will you show it to your father? Is it possible to import movies?"
I nodded half-heartedly and began to check my contractual relationship.
However, as soon as I saw the work that I had my eye on the most, I almost cursed.
Damn it, UIP direct ship!
The movie, 'GHOST', which was going to dominate the world's box office in 1990, had already been confirmed as a domestic distribution by UIP, a direct distribution company that began distributing in Korea last year.
If my father's film company was in charge of domestic distribution, I could shout out loud to the theater owners and insert the film my father produced... It was disappointing.
But I saw a movie that caught my eye again.
HOME ALONE.
"Uncle, is this movie in production?"
"What?"
Oh Se-hyun took a look at the movie list for a while and then flipped through the documents.
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"This? It says production holding. Look at the last page. No, wait a minute."
He slowly started to read and explain, probably thinking tht the densely written English was burdensome for me.
"Well, it's a small family movie… The director is a rookie, the main character is a rookie... Wait, the main character is a kid, just like you."
Oh stopped talking and started reading the rest of the documents.
"You can take this out."
Oh Se-hyun shook his head slightly as he threw the documents on the desk.
"Why?"
"Warner Brothers decided to make it for $14 million, but the budget for the production cost went up sharply. So it was handed over to 20th Century Fox and is under review now."
"Wouldn't you still make it?"
"Well? I don't know much about this side. But it's creaking from the beginning of the production, so it can't go well, right?”
It was good. Even that worked well, too.
I thought I still had a chance, so I didn't even notice any other movies. Even if it was a hit movie like Total Recall and Die Hard 2, the distribution rights in Korea were no longer satisfactory.
"Uncle, will you go to Miracle after you're done with the land in Bundang?"
"Soon. Why?"
The way he looked at me was strange, as if he had already guessed.
"I'm thinking about investing in this movie."
Sure enough, he let out a sigh first.
"Do-joon, stock and movie investment are completely different games. If the stock price falls, you lose money, but if the movie doesn't go beyond the break-even point, you just lose it. There's no timing to get out.”
This time, there was no justification or explanation to persuade.
Anxious director, leading actor, and family film, but huge production costs. It was apparently suicide for major U.S. filmmakers to pour money into movies that they hesitate to do.
Oh Se-hyun's concern with a firm face was a natural reaction.
But we had to take advantage of this opportunity. Miracle Investment could not miss the golden opportunity to imprint its name on Hollywood as a film investor.
Of course, dozens of times the profit followed as a bonus.
"Uncle."
"I do not object to this. This is not an investment. It's a gamble. It's already lost at face value."
Oh Se-hyun blocked me in advance, so I threw the last card.
"This is the last time. I won't say anything about investment from now on. Can't I do this?"
"Dojun!"
At last, he even raised his voice. I understood his reaction, but I was getting irritated.
"It's unearned income from selling the land. I don't need it, and it's my money even if it's ruined. I promised my parents that I would do what I wanted to do. Also, there is no problem if all the money operated by Miracle disappears. My grandfather is the richest man in our country, don't you think so?"
Oh Se-hyun's expression changed from moment to moment with my subdued voice.
He seemed to have realized the distance between himself and me, who met my grandfather well.
A world that ends with a single outcry even if you lose a large amount of money of about 20 billion won.
A world where companies worth hundreds of billions of won are forgiven with a few years of probation.
They are alien-like beings who look at money from a completely different perspective from ordinary people—who lose their jobs for hundreds of millions or tens of millions of won due to misjudgment.
That was the chaebol family.
Oh Se-hyun stood up, taking the documents scattered on the table.
"What you want is to invest as much money as possible in this movie, right?"
It was a cold tone with no familiarity. I, too, answered business-likely.
"That's right."
"Yes, I'll do as you please."
"Oh, one more thing."
"What's that?"
"We need to secure Korean distribution rights."
"We may be the only investors, but that's no problem. Anything else?"
"There isn't. I'll take care of it and report it as soon as possible."
I think he was very angry because he gave more strength to the word "report".
However, his displeasure would melt away upon seeing the year-end box office.
* * *
Oh Se-hyun's expression as he left Do-jun's house was still not good.
The reason why Do-jun was so stubborn is fully understandable. It came from the thought that if his father's film company went wrong, he would be hated more by his grandfather.
I understand he wants to help his father by importing American movies, but it is reckless.
"After… The damage this time is going to be a big blow.”
Oh Se-hyun was a professional.
Even if the reason for the large loss was the reckless judgement of the customer, he had no intention of avoiding responsibility. He was a person who had a sense of duty to make up for the damage with his own ability.
"Damn it, Jin's family only brings you a lot of troubles."
In order to recover losses from movie investment, Lee Hak-jae's proposed slush fund must be accepted.
It would be possible to roll about 100 billion won for a year. Oh Se-hyun drove to Sunyang Group's headquarters.
***
When Microsoft released Windows 3.0, it quickly encroached on the PC market. The company's stock price also rose rapidly.
Dell Computer, which was listed for 30 cents, also broke records day after day, and its stock price skyrocketed.
Thanks to this, Oh Se-hyun, who was very angry with me, smiled broadly and rather comforted me that the loss of $8 million or 5.6 billion invested in "HOME ALONE" would be enough to be made up in a few years.
On the contrary, Korean stocks plunged.
In Japan, it was due to regulations on the total amount of loans implemented in April to end the bubble economy. This was just the beginning.
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It was implemented at the peak of the Japanese bubble economy, and the Japanese economy began to sink into an endless abyss.
The establishment of diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union culminated in the North's greatest achievement, and on October 3, Germany, which had been divided into East and West since World War II, was finally reunified after 45 years.
From this point on, as Eastern European countries, which were satellites of the Soviet Union, turned into capitalist systems in large numbers, the tedious Cold War ended virtually in this year.
Now, the entire global community has entered an era of capitalism.
From November 16, when HOME ALONE was released, Oh might have been the only person in Korea who nervously watched the film's score.
Oh Se-hyun, who called New York every day to check the box office, visited me on New Year's Day in 1991.
"Maybe you are the richest person in the world among national students. Except for Arab royalty."
The paper he gave me was full of numbers, and at the end, the number $200 million was circled in red.
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