Il-gyeong Dan was a displaced man, driven south from his home.
Born the child of a poor farmer in Haeju, Hwanghae Province, Il-gyeong Dan came to Seoul entirely alone during the Japanese occupation and made his money in trade.
From delivering rice at the market to peddling brassware, there was nothing Il-gyeong Dan hadn’t done in the Myeongdong market. Once he’d amassed some capital, he began lending to the merchants around him, throwing himself in earnest into the private-lending market.
In an era when monthly interest of 30 percent was commonplace, Il-gyeong Dan kept a conscience of his own, and having built up trust in the market that way, by just after Liberation he’d come to be called the foremost cash king of Myeongdong.
After the war, as the units of money grew larger, his clientele naturally shifted from individuals to businesses.
He specialized in lending money to companies in need against collateral, and pouring every won he earned into Myeongdong and Gangnam real estate, he rose all the way to the seat of Korea’s foremost real-estate magnate.
There was scarcely a soul running a business who hadn’t borrowed from Il-gyeong Dan at least once—so much so that people said not having borrowed from Il-gyeong Dan meant you’d never grown into a company worth counting.
The pawnbroker of the business world.
Il-gyeong Dan—of whom it was said that to borrow quick cash you should seek him out sooner than any bank, who had served as the money window of the entire business establishment—now stood revealed before Seong-ho.
“I heard you’ve been playing at money-lending with the companies. I had to see for myself just what sort of fellow set his spoon on my dinner table.”
Seong-ho bowed his head toward Il-gyeong Dan and said,
“My apologies. I had no intention of encroaching on your business, sir. I merely helped out of a sense of fellowship. But if it has angered you, sir, I’ll apologize once more. I’m truly sorry.”
Though Seong-ho bowed and apologized in earnest, what came flying back was a scornful snort.
“Hmph. Fellowship? You’re as brazen a rascal as I am.”
At Il-gyeong Dan’s jeer, Chung-seop, seated beside Seong-ho, went red in the face.
But the face of the man himself, Seong-ho, didn’t so much as change color.
Il-gyeong Dan regarded Seong-ho with an interested eye—a man who grasped exactly what had been said to him and yet didn’t shift his expression a hair.
Then he pointed his cane at the building owners seated across the way and said to Seong-ho,
“That lot seems to have come first, so let’s deal with them first, and you and I will talk separately.”
“Yes. Let’s do that.”
Without asking what it was they’d be discussing, Seong-ho turned at once to the owners.
“As you gentlemen can see, the situation’s a touch awkward at the moment. So I hope you’ll bear with me.”
“Not at all. We’re quite all right. Speak freely.”
The owner of the Iljae Building waved a hand on behalf of the others to signal it was fine.
The other owners seated in a row nodded, as if to say they felt the same as the Iljae Building’s owner.
Seong-ho wore a relieved expression toward the owners and put his proposal to them.
“I’ll just keep it simple. As you know, I’d like to buy your buildings.”
Finishing, Seong-ho held out a hand to Chung-seop.
Chung-seop passed him the papers set before him, and after checking them, Seong-ho handed each man the sheet that matched him.
On the papers were the prices for each building, calculated using the Juma Construction property as the benchmark.
Seong-ho spoke first, to the owners now wearing shocked faces at the papers.
“That’s the price I’m after. Whoever’s willing to sell at it, sell to me; if you don’t like it, you’re free to walk out.”
“You truly mean to buy our building for 12 billion won?”
The owner of the Iljae Building looked at Seong-ho, past bafflement and into pure disbelief.
“The price when I bought it was 30 billion. And that was 30 billion ten years ago. And you’d buy it for 12?!”
“Twelve billion, cash, paid in full on the day of contract. If you find my offer preposterous, then don’t sell. For your reference, I’ve agreed to acquire the Juma Construction building for 15 billion.”
“The Juma Construction building? You mean the one right in front of Gangnam Station?”
“That’s the one.”
Startled by Seong-ho’s words, the owners fired off another question.
“Is that true? Juma Construction agreed to hand that building over for 15 billion? As I understand it, the Juma building cost over 40 billion just to construct…”
“We signed the contract yesterday.”
“Ah!”
A gasp escaped the Iljae Building’s owner before he knew it.
Once the Juma Construction building had gone for 15 billion, Seong-ho’s offer to buy his own for 12 no longer felt so absurd.
The Iljae Building’s owner and the others closed their eyes, and Seong-ho offered them a final word.
“If you look everywhere else and find someone offering better terms than mine, I won’t hold you to it. But by the same token, I’ve no intention of raising my price by a single won, so I’d ask you to think it over carefully before you decide.”
“Really… you’ll really pay in cash, that same day?”
The Iljae Building’s owner put the last question to him.
It was something Seong-ho had stressed several times over, but as it mattered more than anything to the owner, he wanted to make certain of it once more.
“I’ll handle it however you wish. If receiving it all at once is inconvenient, I can pay in installments. If you’d like, I can wire it to a bank account—domestic or overseas, it makes no difference.”
“Overseas is possible too, you’re saying?”
“It’ll take a slightly troublesome process, but it can be done. Isn’t that right?”
When Seong-ho turned to ask Chung-seop, Chung-seop nodded.
“There are US bonds purchased under Head Kim’s name. If we liquidate those… it might take a little time, but it’s no difficult matter.”
“Then I’ll do it.”
No sooner had Chung-seop finished saying it was possible than the Iljae Building’s owner stepped up, declaring he’d make the deal.
“I’ll—”
“I’ll sell too.”
As if someone were shoving them from behind, the remaining two hurried to declare they’d sell as well, not to be outdone.
Seeing them, Seong-ho smiled faintly and said,
“Are you sure you won’t take a little more time to think it over before deciding? There’s plenty of time.”
“You may have plenty of time, Head, but we don’t.”
The Iljae Building’s owner beat a hand against his chest as if there were nothing to think twice about.
“I’d like to sell this very day. Just put the proceeds into an overseas account, as I said.”
“Same for me. I’d like all 16 billion of mine in an overseas account too.”
“For me, half and half. I’d like 7 billion in an overseas account and the other 7 in cash.”
As they each laid out their terms in turn, Seong-ho raised a hand to calm them and turned to Chung-seop.
“President Jo. Would you take these gentlemen out and get the contract paperwork in order? I’ll be talking with the Chairman in the meantime.”
“Yes, understood. Then I’ll prepare the contracts so we can sign the moment you come out.”
Hearing Chung-seop, the owners looked at Seong-ho with startled eyes.
“Today… the contract goes through today?”
“Would you rather not? If not, we can pick a better day…”
“No. We’d like to do it today.”
Worried Seong-ho might change his tune, the owners rose all at once.
And they pressed Chung-seop to hurry off and draw up the contracts.
Seong-ho smiled faintly at the sight of them and made his request of Il-gyeong Dan.
“Chairman. As you’ll have gathered, we need the staff to draw up the contracts. Might you let them back in?”
At Seong-ho’s careful request, Il-gyeong Dan raised a hand and gave the order to the man standing behind him.
“Let them in.”
“Yes, sir.”
When the burly man answered his assent, Chung-seop rose to his feet looking unburdened.
Seong-ho told Chung-seop to go get everything in order, and to the Iljae Building’s owner and the others he said he’d see them shortly.
Having thus set in motion a deal well north of 40 billion won, Seong-ho straightened himself to talk in earnest with the pawnbroker of the business world.
Once Chung-seop had led the building owners out and even the man under Il-gyeong Dan’s command had left the conference room, only Il-gyeong Dan and Seong-ho remained.
Turning his chair to face Seong-ho, Il-gyeong Dan rested his hands on his cane, looked at him, and said,
“I’ve witnessed a rare sight. Settling more than 40 billion won in a single stroke—I don’t think I’ve seen the like in all my life.”
“I’m only embarrassed to have put on such a pointless display in front of you, sir.”
“No, no.”
Il-gyeong Dan waved a hand at Seong-ho, softened somewhat from when he’d first entered the conference room, and said,
“Your hand with people is quite something too… I’ve watched that fellow Tak-hyeon since he was a boy, and you’re the spitting image of him in his younger days.”
“To be compared with you, Chairman, I can only be grateful.”
“So. You’re that fellow’s son-in-law, you said?”
Il-gyeong Dan studied Seong-ho carefully and let the corner of his mouth curl up.
“I’ve seen that fellow’s sons a few times myself, and you look more like a son than they do. Chairman Lee must be pleased to have gained a fine son-in-law.”
“Your saying so is thanks enough.”
Seong-ho dipped his head slightly at Il-gyeong Dan’s words and offered his thanks.
Then, lifting his head, he cautiously read Il-gyeong Dan’s mood and said,
“Might it be that you had your eye on the Iljae Building and the others, and I’ve cut in line ahead of you?”
“You could put it that way.”
At his words, Seong-ho bent lower than he had when giving thanks and offered Il-gyeong Dan an apology.
“Had I known you’d taken a liking to them, I would never have dared step in. If you tell me to pull my hands off even now, I’ll pull them off.”
Seong-ho said he’d give it up readily.
In truth, from the moment Il-gyeong Dan appeared, Seong-ho had been wondering whether he ought to withdraw from the building-acquisition business altogether.
The influence Il-gyeong Dan exerted over the economic and political worlds was not to be taken lightly.
In particular, so long as he lived, Il-gyeong Dan’s influence was so immense that even Tak-hyeon Lee would defer a step to him.
Seong-ho wouldn’t be ruined for the lack of two or three buildings.
He’d simply had too much money left over, seen something that looked tasty, and reached for it.
Because it wasn’t something he had to have, Seong-ho could let it go—and he judged that if giving it up instead deepened his relationship with Il-gyeong Dan, that was the better choice to make.
While he was at it, Seong-ho decided he ought to clear up the misunderstanding too.
“Lending money to companies interest-free truly held no other intent. I’ve no thought whatsoever of moving into private finance, which is your domain, Chairman. I merely supported places that could survive if they only weathered an unforeseen event. I mean to do it this once and never set foot in it again, so please forgive me.”
“Yes. From now on, whenever anyone asks, tell them just that.”
Il-gyeong Dan gripped his cane in both hands, propped his chin on them, and looked at Seong-ho.
The faint trace of a smile even played at his lips; the displeased expression was nowhere to be seen anymore.
At this side of Il-gyeong Dan, Seong-ho felt a chill instead.
Does he know everything?
It seemed as though Il-gyeong Dan knew the truth Seong-ho had hidden behind his heartfelt apology.
Watching Seong-ho’s expression gradually stiffen, Il-gyeong Dan looked on as if amused and said,
“You take the buildings, too.”
It was a shockingly easy surrender.
He lifted his chin from his hand and sat up straight in his seat.
Then, settling his back against the chair, he looked at Seong-ho and said,
“Right up until I came here, I was furious wondering who it was trying to snatch what was mine—but seeing you, that feeling’s vanished clean away.”
“And why has the feeling vanished?”
Seong-ho asked in a careful voice, curious as to the reason.
It occurred to him it might be because an even greater dislike had welled up instead.
But Il-gyeong Dan’s words were wholly unexpected.
“Because I’m glad to lay eyes on a rascal as greedy as I am.”
“Greedy… am I?”
“That’s right. Heh heh.”
Il-gyeong Dan stared holes into Seong-ho and said,
“I know full well the thinking behind your lending money to those companies. You lent it knowing they couldn’t pay it back, didn’t you? So you could gulp down the collateral they’d put up in place of the money.”
Il-gyeong Dan laid a hand on his chest and laughed.
“To other people’s eyes you might look like a good man, but not to mine. You’re a demon. A wicked demon. A demon crazed for money, same as me.”
Seong-ho felt gooseflesh rise as he listened to Il-gyeong Dan.
But that wasn’t the end of what Il-gyeong Dan had to say to raise it.
“The building-buying’s the same. From Juma Construction to that Iljae Building fellow who was sitting right here—every one of them’s desperate for money, and you’re using their weak spots to beat them down and carry off their buildings for a song. If you’re no demon, then who is?”
At Il-gyeong Dan’s words, which saw straight through everything, the smile on Seong-ho’s face slowly stiffened.
And in inverse measure to Seong-ho’s stiffening face, Il-gyeong Dan’s face filled with a smile.
He wagged a finger toward Seong-ho’s face and said,
“It’s been a long while since a fellow so wholly to my liking turned up, and I’m pleased about it—so don’t harden your face like that.”
“Pleased, you say?”
At Il-gyeong Dan’s telling him not to harden his face, Seong-ho relaxed his expression and asked, as if puzzled.
Il-gyeong Dan broke into a broad smile and nodded.
“That’s right. How could I not be pleased? These young fellows nowadays chase after money and yet show nothing but a wishy-washy attitude. Can’t for this reason, can’t for that… all excuses—but you’re not like that. When there’s something you want, you sink your teeth in like a dog and don’t let go, heedless of what becomes of the other fellow. It’s as if I’m looking at myself.”
The man who’d said he saw Tak-hyeon Lee in Seong-ho was now saying he saw himself in him.
Seong-ho looked at Il-gyeong Dan for a moment, saying nothing.
It looked like praise, but Seong-ho still couldn’t guess what the man’s true heart was.
(End of Chapter 109)