Though darkness had settled thick over the hour, the lights in the Ilhyeon Group chairman’s office burned bright.
Seated there, Seong-ho was in the middle of explaining to Tak-hyeon what had happened at the Ministry of Finance and Economy. Arms folded, his back not resting against the chair, Tak-hyeon rocked slowly as he listened. Having heard him out in silence, Tak-hyeon stopped his rocking and looked at Seong-ho.
“So you agreed to forgive 3.5 trillion in debt, and of the remaining 7 trillion, to convert 3 trillion through a debt-for-equity swap?”
“Yes. We convert 3 trillion into Doa Motors shares, and three years from now we acquire the creditors’ shares—that’s how we settle the acquisition.”
Tak-hyeon nodded slowly and said,
“Indeed, done this way, we acquire Doa Motors without laying out a single won. And with 3.5 trillion in debt forgiveness promised, we’re acquiring it with money added on top…”
“Are you satisfied?”
“Satisfied, you ask?”
Unfolding his arms, Tak-hyeon spread his hands out to either side.
“Who else could have brought back a better result than this? Even I couldn’t be sure of it. Cutting the debt is a matter of course, so set that aside—but to acquire it right now, without spending a single won, through the equity swap? Where is there anything better than that? Well done.”
Tak-hyeon praised him.
Seong-ho dipped his head slightly at the praise and laid out the finer points.
“When we acquire the 3 trillion in shares, I attached an option that we buy at the share price as of the contract, wherever the price may have moved by then.”
“Even if the price falls, you acquire at the contract-date price?”
Tak-hyeon posed the question with a smile tugging at his lips.
“That’s not bad either. It means that even if it rises, we still buy at the contract price.”
“In exchange, the funds needed for the acquisition will be lent to us by the creditors, Modu Bank included.”
“Hahaha.”
Tak-hyeon burst into loud laughter.
“So the equity swap was nothing but for show.”
“Yes. It’s merely a stopgap to reduce the debt and clear the capital-erosion state. What they truly want is to turn the loans bound up in Doa Motors—loans they’ve no idea when or how they’ll ever recover—over onto us.”
“And what do you think? Is this enough, in your view?”
Still smiling, Tak-hyeon asked Seong-ho about the fruits of the agreement.
Seong-ho nodded and answered,
“To my judgment, I’ve brought back the best concession they were capable of accepting. The debt-forgiveness scale grew a full trillion beyond what we’d anticipated, and since no money is required up front, the burden of the acquisition has dropped considerably. We also secured the union’s concession, so we can proceed with the plan to cut 4,500 workers. On top of that, even a thing like the equity swap—designed to favor the creditors—turns to our gain once time has passed.”
“Turns to our gain?”
“Since we acquire at the contract share price even if it rises, there’s nothing in it that’s bad for us. Because Doa Motors’ stock will never fall any lower than it is now.”
Owing to the insolvency crisis, Doa Motors’ share price had bored through the floor, past the basement, and plunged all the way to the earth’s core. For the price to fall further from here was as good as saying the company had gone under—so from the Ilhyeon Group’s standpoint, there was no way to lose.
Slapping his knee with his hand, Tak-hyeon gave an instruction to Chief Do-beom Hwang.
“Have a car readied.”
“A car, sir?”
Chief Do-beom looked at Tak-hyeon with a gaze that asked where he meant to go at this late hour.
At Do-beom’s look, Tak-hyeon glanced at Seong-ho and said with a smile,
“This fellow’s carried it this far, so I ought to handle the finish myself. Send word that I’ll be coming into the Blue House.”
“Now, sir?”
“Say there’s something to discuss regarding Doa Motors, and they’ll come out to talk even in their pajamas, so don’t fret—just make the call.”
“Understood.”
Do-beom bowed his head, conveying that he’d follow the instruction.
Tak-hyeon wore a satisfied expression at his answer.
“So Doa Motors finally comes into my hands. And for free, at that. Hahaha.”
Seong-ho smiled toward Tak-hyeon and shook his head. Perhaps his delight was beyond what words could hold, for Tak-hyeon kept bursting into laughter as he rose from his seat.
“I’ll go strike the bargain with the President and come back.”
“The President won’t be able to say anything to the contrary either.”
“Of course he mustn’t.”
Tak-hyeon looked at Seong-ho, who was rising to his feet after him, and said,
“I hear he’s drawing up some scheme—a ‘Big Deal’ or a ‘Small Deal,’ whatever it is. To push that through, he’s in a position where he has to clear away Doa Motors first, so what could he possibly object to? If anything, he’s in a position to thank us.”
At the words “Big Deal,” Seong-ho recalled that former life. And, calling to mind the Ilhyeon Group’s “Big Deal” of the former life, he sank briefly into thought.
Tak-hyeon watched the momentarily thoughtful Seong-ho and smiled faintly. It pleased him, the way Seong-ho would organize his thinking on the spot from a single prompt tossed his way.
“I’ll be off, then. You head home now too.”
“Yes, Chairman. Go safely.”
“Right. And on Sunday, you tell the whole family, in front of everyone yourself, about what’s happened.”
“Understood.”
When Seong-ho bowed his head, showing he’d follow the instruction, Tak-hyeon gazed at him quietly and opened his mouth.
“And why is there still no news of a child? Only the two of you have none, and that doesn’t look well either. See to your home as much as to company work.”
Seong-ho, who’d been bowing his head, lifted it with a startled face.
Tak-hyeon looked at the Seong-ho staring at him in surprise, then turned his body.
“Now I really am going.”
Leaving those words behind, Tak-hyeon walked out through the door where Do-beom was waiting. The master of the room opened the door and left the chairman’s office, and Seong-ho, left alone, stood in the middle of it, still wearing a startled face.
“…He spoke of a child?”
At Tak-hyeon’s mention of a child, Seong-ho couldn’t settle his startled heart. Because telling him to have a child soon was as good as saying he meant to accept Seong-ho fully as family.
Feeling that Tak-hyeon’s testing had drawn near its end, Seong-ho paced the chairman’s office for a long while, unable to compose the emotion swelling up in him.
On the fourth day since the Doa Motors issue had struck the market, the Ilhyeon Group and the Blue House each issued statements.
[Ilhyeon Group Declares Participation in Doa Motors Bidding]
[Doa Motors Bankruptcy Out of the Question; Sale to Proceed as Scheduled]
At the very hour the announcement came from the Ilhyeon Group that it would take part in the Doa Motors bidding, word came from the Blue House that the sale would proceed as scheduled.
Seeing the two announcements, people could infer a single conclusion. Whether Ilhyeon had made the first proposal, or the Blue House had asked it of Ilhyeon, there was no telling. But at any rate, they came to understand that Ilhyeon and the Blue House had exchanged an understanding over Doa Motors, and that the conclusion had been reached: the Ilhyeon Group was tapped as Doa Motors’ new owner.
The market let out a sigh of relief. It wasn’t that the acquisition had been decided—only word that Ilhyeon would participate in the bidding—yet the Ilhyeon Group’s entry carried enough weight that, on this alone, it felt as though Doa Motors’ new owner had already been chosen.
Just as Tak-hyeon had instructed, Seong-ho spoke about the Doa Motors acquisition on Sunday, before the whole gathered family.
Mun-jong and the others all looked at Seong-ho with startled faces.
“They really said they’d forgive the debt?”
“It’s true no money’s needed right away, through the equity swap?”
“The union approved cutting workers?”
Mun-jong and the rest poured questions at Seong-ho. Deciding to acquire Doa Motors was a great feat in itself, but the terms that had come attached were so staggering that it seemed almost laughable to speak of it as mere “achievement.”
“One question at a time, please. The debt forgiveness? Yes. They agreed to 3.5 trillion. That no money is needed up front is also true. After the acquisition, we plan to carry out cuts at a level of 4,500 workers total.”
“What in the…”
Mun-jong turned to Tak-hyeon with a flustered face.
Having quietly watched his children’s astonishment, Tak-hyeon opened his mouth toward the Mun-jong who looked to him.
“I’ve finished talking with President Dae-sang Kim. We’ll acquire Doa Motors, so from now on you take charge of the acquisition work.”
Given the instruction, Mun-jong showed no reaction at all, as if his power had been cut.
Tak-hyeon looked at the frozen Mun-jong with a pitying gaze and raised his voice.
“What’s the matter? Don’t you want to?”
At Tak-hyeon’s voice, which struck the ears like a slap, Mun-jong came to his senses and answered hurriedly.
“No. I was just so startled my wits left me for a moment. I’ll prepare and proceed at once.”
Tak-hyeon looked at Mun-jong with a gaze that seemed less than pleased, then said to the children present,
“All of you, bear this in mind. This Doa Motors matter is as good as an enormous opportunity for us. Not only can we completely overtake Sunwoo, which has been splitting the domestic market with us—we’ve been handed a chance to widen our foothold into overseas markets. Every one of you take an interest in Doa Motors, and if Vice-Chairman Lee asks for help, run to it barefoot if you must.”
“Father, then who gets the auto company?”
At Jeong-eun’s question, Yeong-su Cha, seated beside her, tugged at her sleeve.
Jeong-eun flung off the sleeve he was tugging.
“What?”
“This isn’t the place for that kind of talk…”
“What about this place?”
Jeong-eun looked around at the family furrowing their brows at her and raised her voice.
“Am I the only one who thought of it? Speak up. Brother. Aren’t you curious whose hands Doa Motors falls into?”
“Nngh…”
When Jeong-eun pointed at Mun-jong, he let out an uncomfortable groan and turned his head away.
At that, Jeong-eun shifted her gaze to Sang-jong.
“What about you, second brother? Aren’t you curious?”
“Do you really have to bring that up in this of all places?”
“It’s because it’s this place that I’m saying it.”
Jeong-eun turned her gaze to Tak-hyeon and said,
“Father. Tell us clearly.”
“Clearly say what?”
“If Ilhyeon Motors acquires even Doa Motors, Ilhyeon Construction becomes a laughably small weight class by comparison. It’ll surely grow no less than Ilhyeon Electronics.”
“It would.”
“Exactly. So I’m asking you to decide who gets to hold it.”
“You seem more interested in the rice at the funeral than in the Doa Motors acquisition.”
“It’s not funeral rice—it’s reality.”
Jeong-eun didn’t so much as twitch an eyebrow even while saying something so brazen.
“Father. Telling the youngest to manage Ilhyeon Department Store on top of Ilhyeon Hotel—isn’t that you meaning to hand the hotel and the department store over as the youngest’s share?”
At Jeong-eun’s question, Tak-hyeon said nothing at all. But those present could tell that Tak-hyeon’s silence was as good as an answer.
Wearing a face that said she’d known it all along, Jeong-eun shot a sidelong glance at Gyeong-eun—who looked mortified and at a loss—and went on.
“Well, that much I’ll grant, since Kim’s done this and that to please you, Father. I won’t be greedy over even that. And second brother.”
When Sang-jong’s name came up, the gazes of those present turned to him.
“Being driven out of Construction and then coming back to Construction—isn’t that because Ilhyeon Construction is, in the end, second brother’s share?”
“You…”
Sang-jong started to scold Jeong-eun, then stopped and studied Tak-hyeon’s face. He did think Ilhyeon Construction was his. But he was curious how Tak-hyeon saw it. Wanting to know that, Sang-jong held off on scolding Jeong-eun and read Tak-hyeon’s expression, trying to grasp his intent.
When Sang-jong said nothing, Jeong-eun carried on.
“Setting aside the youngest and second brother, Chang-jong and I aren’t decided. So naturally I can’t help but be curious.”
“Dear.”
Cha, reading the other family members’ faces, grabbed her sleeve to stop her.
Jeong-eun swung her hand off even harder than before and shouted at him.
“Enough! You think Father’s going to give you Ilhyeon Electronics? Sitting in the electronics vice-president’s chair does you no good at all. And this is my family’s business, so you just listen quietly. Block my words one more time and I won’t let it go!”
Irritated that he’d cut her off twice now, Jeong-eun shouted without a care for the other family members seated there. Then she turned back to Tak-hyeon and asked again.
“Chang-jong at least has a place on the company’s books, so grant him that—but what about me? It’s not as if you don’t know why I’m carrying on like this.”
Perhaps the frustration had risen all the way to the top of her head, for Jeong-eun even got to her feet.
Tak-hyeon looked up at her for a moment from his seat. And rather than answering Jeong-eun’s question, he first tossed a question to Seong-ho.
“Where is there an empty seat in the company right now?”
At Tak-hyeon’s question, the ears of those present pricked up. They’d gotten the feeling that Tak-hyeon had, at last, responded to Jeong-eun’s wailing.
Seong-ho, who’d been sitting quietly, felt the gazes gathered on him and looked up at Jeong-eun.
I’d been wondering how to toss it to her—this works out nicely.
Seong-ho had already devised an antlion pit for her and had been puzzling over how to drop her in. Watching Jeong-eun fret and strain to fall into the pit of her own accord, Seong-ho answered Tak-hyeon’s question.
“As it happens, the president’s seat at Ilhyeon Card—which has just finished restructuring—is vacant.”
Seong-ho set the well-made antlion pit down in front of Jeong-eun.
(End of Chapter 132)