Chapter 99
“That pencil holder was a gift from my daughter-in-law, so it’s not company property.” Chairman Moon said.
Kim Min-sik smiled sweetly. “Oh, is that so? Then it’s not collateral. My apologies.” He placed the pencil holder back on the chairman’s desk. “Then are the chair and desk you’re using also gifts from your daughter-in-law?”
Despite his provocation, Chairman Moon smiled calmly. “Of course, these are company property. But you’re not asking me to vacate my desk and chair, are you?”
“Of course not, Chairman. I wouldn’t dare suggest you sit on the floor. It wouldn’t be proper.” Kim Min-sik chuckled. “It’s just a desk and a chair, how much could their value depreciate?”
Chairman Moon glared at him. “You’re saying that after causing such chaos?”
“Chaos?”
“Threatening to ruin Daemun Group because of some desks and chairs? What else would you call it?”
“We’re just protecting our collateral. We wouldn’t have gone this far if Daemun Group hadn’t tried anything funny.”
Chairman Moon nodded. “That’s beside the point. I’ve been meaning to talk to you. Let’s get straight to the point. We’ll pay the interest. So please stop this nonsense.”
“You’ll pay the interest?”
“Yes. We were in the wrong this time. Please forgive us, and this won’t happen again. I promise you, on my honor as chairman.”
Chairman Moon, the founder and leader of Daemun Group, had to swallow his pride.
A chaebol like Daemun Group was a complex machine with countless moving parts.
Their finances were meticulously planned months in advance, so the disruption caused by Hanho Savings Bank’s injunction was significant.
It was humiliating to bow his head to a puppet president of a second-tier bank controlled by Chinese capital, but the legal battle would take too long and cost too much. Daemun Group couldn’t afford it.
They were already struggling to stay afloat. A week of operational paralysis could be fatal.
He vowed to crush Kim Min-sik later, but for now, he had to play the role of a responsible leader willing to compromise to save his company.
“Ah, I see.”
But Kim Min-sik remained indifferent.
“Is that all? Isn’t it natural to pay interest on a loan?”
Chairman Moon suppressed his anger.
“…Of course, it’s natural. We just asked for an extension because we’re short on funds. It seems there’s been a misunderstanding. We’ll pay the interest today, so please lift the injunction.”
“But Chairman, I have a question.”
Kim Min-sik smirked.
“You have to repay the principal in five months. Can you even do that?”
“Of course, I can. I’m the chairman of Daemun Group. 200 billion won is nothing for a company with trillions of won in annual sales.”
“Really? I don’t think so.”
Chairman Moon’s eyebrows twitched.
“Are you looking down on Daemun Group?”
“Of course not. We only care about one thing: money. And…”
Kim Min-sik looked him up and down.
“Daemun Group doesn’t seem very profitable right now. We have to protect our collateral to minimize our losses.”
Chairman Moon’s anger flared, but his priority was to persuade this madman and resume normal operations.
“There won’t be any losses. I’ll even use my personal funds to repay the loan.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
Kim Min-sik shook his head.
“I can’t trust you. You know that late interest payments affect your credit rating. You should have been more careful from the beginning.”
Chairman Moon said incredulously,
“Credit rating? Are you serious…?”
“We have our rules. And you know we’re strict about deadlines. You should have known better.”
Chairman Moon’s face hardened.
“It seems you’re not here with good intentions.”
Kim Min-sik clapped his hands and smiled brightly.
“You’ve finally figured it out? I’m surprised you didn’t react sooner. I guess being a chaebol chairman isn’t easy. Your son would have been fuming by now.”
Chairman Moon finally exploded.
“You bastard! Do you know who I am? I built Daemun Group from scratch! You think you can play games with me, a puppet of Chinese capital? Head of the legal team!”
The legal team leader, who had been standing silently, jumped.
“Yes, Chairman!”
“Gather all the collateral, whatever it is, and throw it at those bastards! Give them everything they want! Money? I wouldn’t give them a single penny even if I had it! Do whatever you want with it!”
Chairman Moon fumed.
“We don’t have the money, so take the collateral! That’s what it’s for! I’ll give you everything, down to the last A4 sheet!”
Kim Min-sik said with a pitiful expression,
“You seem to be mistaken, Chairman.”
“What?”
“You can’t seize the collateral yet. You can’t take it even if you want to. Because the loan term is still five months away. Daemun Group still owns the collateral. We’re just preventing its value from decreasing. Congratulations, you still have five months to repay the loan, whether you can or not.”
Chairman Moon said with a dumbfounded expression,
“Five months? You’re going to keep this up for five months?”
“Oh, and you can’t remove or move the desks, chairs, or anything else without our permission. We don’t want them to get scratched.”
“I can’t do anything! What are you doing here?! Why did you come?!”
Chairman Moon had initially assumed that Kim Min-sik was there to negotiate.
Daemun Group was a large corporation, ranked 40th in the business world, with over ten subsidiaries.
They might be struggling now due to the economic crisis and the change in government, but under normal circumstances, they could easily crush a newly established Chinese investment company like Joongang Investment.
But Kim Min-sik’s brazen and disrespectful behavior made him wonder if he was just there to mock him.
“My purpose for coming here today?”
Kim Min-sik, who had been smiling cheerfully, suddenly turned serious, took out his phone, and handed it to Chairman Moon.
“Answer this.”
Chairman Moon, after glaring at him for a moment, snatched the phone and said impatiently,
“Hello, this is Moon Kyung-sik.”
A deep voice came from the other end of the line.
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Greetings, Chairman Moon Kyung-sik.
“Who is this?”
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This is Baek In-hwi. Have you heard of me?
“Baek In-hwi!”
The mastermind behind the Chinese capital.
The public face of the triads.
The true leader of Joongang Investment Corporation, with over 2 trillion won in assets.
A shadowy figure shrouded in rumors, whose face and voice were unknown to most.
Kim Min-sik, standing before him, was just a small part of Baek In-hwi’s operation.
Even if he wanted to ignore him, he couldn’t ignore Joongang Investment Corporation, a company with trillions of won in funds, in a capitalist world where financial power was paramount.
Especially in these times of severe cash shortage.
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It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Baek. I’m Moon Kyung-sik from Daemun Group.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I said in a low voice.
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I never thought we would actually talk on the phone. Hahaha.
I chuckled at his strangely friendly tone.
“Is that so? I should have contacted you sooner.”
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To be honest, President Kim Min-sik isn’t the easiest person to talk to. I’m glad to have the opportunity to speak with you directly.
“Speak with me directly…”
It felt good to be addressed with such respect by a chaebol chairman.
“It seems you’re having trouble communicating with President Kim Min-sik.”
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I shouldn’t be saying this in front of you, CEO Baek, but… he can be a bit stubborn.
“I see. President Kim Min-sik, you say.”
My eyes gleamed.
“He’s doing a good job. I should reward him.”
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What?
“He’s doing exactly as I instructed.”
Chairman Moon was silent for a moment and then said quietly,
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I tried to be reasonable, but this is going too far. Like dog, like owner. Let’s be reasonable, CEO Baek. Do you think you can handle the consequences?
“What do you mean?”
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Do you think Daemun Group is a pushover? Do you think you can get away with this? You might not know this since you’re from China, but the power of a chaebol in Korea is beyond your imagination. And charity begins at home. Do you think anyone, in politics or business, would side with a foreigner like you over us?
“Ah, I see.”
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You don’t sound very concerned.
“No, I’m just a bit surprised.”
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Surprised?
I smirked.
“You all have the same script. Is there a mandatory reading list for CEOs? You’re forgetting one line. ‘We have tens of thousands of employees. Do you think the government will just stand by and watch if we go bankrupt?'”
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…
I scoffed at his silence.
“I guarantee they’ll stand by. They’ll have no choice if they don’t want to see things get even uglier.”
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…What do you mean?
“Do you think I would act without a plan? Daemun Group is powerful, yes. But this is Korea. Who would side with a foreign investor over a local company? But do you know something?”
I smiled cruelly.
“What if that foreign investor has other large corporations, even bigger than Daemun Group, by the throat? You’re not the only ones who borrowed money from Hanho Savings Bank.”
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You… you bastard! Why are you doing this to us?! Do you think you’ll be safe?! Why are you going this far for a few pennies in interest?!
Chairman Moon, finally realizing the situation, started shouting, but I just scoffed.
“You should have left us alone. It’s understandable to delay interest payments for a month or two. But why did you try to bribe our bank president and create conflict?”
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What?
“Didn’t you hear? Your son tried to make a deal with our president.”
Chairman Moon remembered his son’s confident departure to secure an investment from Joongang Investment and his frustrated return, complaining about the bank president being a madman.
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Don’t tell me…
“Ask your son yourself. I guess that’s the Korean style. Trying to backstab someone who lent you money out of kindness. Then let me show you the Chinese style. Let’s see how long you can last. One month? Two months? Or…”
I raised a finger.
“One week?”