12 Hours After

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

I sat curled up in the chair, watching the screen. On the big screen, a man in a tight black costume shouted, “The revival of Birdman Phoenix by shooting a nasty and destructive film. Children with pimples are going to cry. One billion dollars is easy to make around the world. You’re a great actor. You save people from a boring, miserable life. You surprise people, and make them laugh, and cry.”

“Whoop…” I exclaimed at it. The movie, which was showing in my private movie theater, was Birdman, a 2014 film. It received the best picture award at the Academy Awards. It was more like an art film than a commercial one, but somehow I found it new and fun every time I saw it.

Ah-young, her head against my shoulder must have had a similar idea. “It’s funny for some reason. I don’t know what they’re talking about.”

“Yes, I’ve seen this movie five times, but I can’t remember all the messages. It’s just… every time I see it, it’s always new and fresh and amazing. Is this what they call a cinematic quality?”

“Hmm.”

And then, in the meantime, I got a text message on my cell phone. It was Secretary Park. -Mr. President, we’re all here.-

I looked at the clock in the upper right. It was 10:20 a.m. ‘The appointment is at 11 a.m., but they’re forty minutes early.’ Even the latest person came forty minutes early. I told them to come slowly so I could watch a movie with Ah-young this morning, but everyone came early. They probably thought they’d look good if they showed their face even ten minutes early. It was a kind of loyalty competition. Even if I told them not to do that, they did it on their own.

‘What shall I do? Shall I make them wait as long as they want? Or… do I have to go down there?.’ I thought about for a moment, then patted Ah-young’s thigh and said, “I think I should go down. Watch the rest of it alone.”

“Huh? Already?”

“Yes, other presidents are already here.”

“Really? Can I help you?”

“No. You watch a movie. All I have to do is dress up and go down.”

“Okay, oppa.”

Heading across the living room from the private theater, I went into the bedroom and entered the dressing room inside. I chose one of the dozens of shirts hanging in my closet, put on pants, a tie, and a jacket. Then as I was going out, I suddenly saw it snowing out the window, and I put on a long coat. It was a kind of cosplay, since my home and company were in the same place, and I had no chance to get caught in the snow outside, but I donned it in respect for the season.

Dressed up, I picked up my cell phone and called Secretary Park. “Yes, I’m heading down.”

“Are you coming down now?”

“Yes, they’re all together, so I’ll give them a laugh, too.”

“Yes, boss.”

After the call, I came out of my dressing room, out of my bedroom, walked across the living room, out the front door, into the elevator across from the front door, and pressed the down button.

——————————–

“Then I’ll finish my regular report for the second half of the year.”

When Jang’s words were over, there was big applause. I glanced from side to side. President Kwon Oh-hyuk of OH Entertainment, Chairman Shin Jae-eun of Hyun Young Pharmaceutical, President Kim Jung-kyun of Blue E&M, CEO Chung So-young of Oracle News, CEO Lee Kang-hyun of FutureSync, and President Woo Hae-jin of Changhae Food and President Koo Bon-gil of Songhae Brewing who were the most recent people gathered here, were applauding enthusiastically.

‘Umm…’ I watched this for a moment. As the applause died down, I opened my mouth, “I’ve heard your report well.” I just said a word, and everyone’s eyes were on me. I went on to say, “All of you are doing great, but I’d like to ask for a few things. First, President Kwon Oh Hyuk of OH Entertainment and Jiwoo Entertainment.”

Not knowing he would be the first to be called, Kwon Oh-hyuk said with a hurried bow. “Oh yes, boss.”

“Are you trying to re-enter China for Nine Tails?”

“Yes, sir. Hanhanlyeong is being taken down and we are going to make a big leap now.”

‘Well, it’s not a very wrong story.’ I said, poking up the report in front of me. “But are you trying to set up a joint venture between Korea and China?”

“It is essential to work with the Chinese to get through the Guānxì in China.”

‘Guānxì is a Chinese word for “human networking or human relationship.” In business, it specifically means a connection with the Communist Party. As for all businesses, the entertainment business in particular is one that has to work with people, and we have to read the countenance of the Communist Party a lot. If we look disgusting to them, we can’t do business at all.

‘A few years ago, Fan Bingbing, the top star in China, was suddenly gone in a moment. It is almost impossible for a Korean entertainment company to enter China unless it cooperates with Chinese locals. Therefore, President Kwon Oh-hyuk is not wrong, if this is usual business.’

I spoke to him, “Will the establishment of a joint venture take place in… April next year?”

“Yes.”

“Well, why don’t you just slow it down a little to September.”

“September? But then it doesn’t fit my celebrities’ schedules…”

“I know. But… I think it’s better to put it off until September.”

At my words, Kwon Oh-hyuk looked a little surprised. I’d never really told him what to do in his business. This was the first time that had I intervened in management in earnest. President Kwon Oh-hyuk spoke to me with his head tilted, “But Mr. President, considering our trust…”

He seemed to be reluctant. With the lifting of Hanhanlyeong recently, celebrities from OH Entertainment and Jiwoo Entertainment were selling like hot cakes again. If a joint venture between Korea and China was established, a new world would unfold. Therefore, he was blinded by immediate interests. But I told him clearly. Although I had a close personal relationship with President Kwon, I couldn’t be that way in business.

“I think you should put it off until September next year.” Then I told him what I really thought, “The financial market may be a little unstable around the beginning of next year. That’s why I am doing this.”

Kwon nodded for now. “… yes, boss.”

He looked a little sullen at the thought of delaying his ambitious project. However, in a little while, he would thank me, as he would avoid a crisis. I then spoke to President Woo Hae-jin of Changhae Food.

“President Woo Hae-jin?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You said you were buying a frozen food factory in China.”

“Yes, boss.”

I rummaged through the report, “When is it…”

“I’ve been planning it for around June of next year.”

“Well, I’d like you to postpone that until September of next year.”

“… Shall I do so?” Woo Hae-jin seemed to have made no decision yet.

“Yes, please. Maybe you’ll get it for a little cheaper.”

“Oh yes. I’ll do as you say.”

At the end of our conversation, Koo Bon-gil, president of Songhae Brewing, asked me, “Mr. President, our company has been planning to invest in a foundry factory in Hiroshima, Japan, early next year, so should we postpone it a bit?”

“The foundry was the Makgeolli foundry, right? Are lots of Japanese people looking for it these days?”

“Yes, sir.”

I rolled my head for a moment, then replied, “That’s all right. Go ahead with the original plan.”

“Oh, yes, boss.”

“And…” I rummaged through one or two more reports, “CEO Lee Kang-hyun?” I called his name.

“Yes, Mr. President.” The young CEO popped his head out at me at the end of the table. He was the only one here who was younger than me. Though he was only one year younger, he was also the first person younger than me on this table.

I spoke to him, “How much time is left for the AI conference?”

“In twenty days, sir.”

“I see. Will it be held in Silicon Valley?”

“It will be held in San Jose,” he spoke in a rather tense voice. He was afraid I was going to tell him what to do.

“Yes, then. Have a good trip.”

“Yes?” He opened his eyes wide and replied quickly, “Ah, yes!”

The technology of FutureSync was already complete. All we had to do was promote it. Then, the world’s number one, Amazon, with a current market capital of thirteen hundred billion dollars would contact us to buy it.

‘The USA… If I have time, shall I go? AI is often found in the future news.’

After the regular report, while all the CEOs and presidents were still dressed up, the gray-haired Chairman Shin Jae-eun came to me and spoke down, “Mr. President.” He looked a little cautious.

I answered him, “Yes, Chairman Shin.”

Then he carefully pulled out the words. “Are you going to go ahead with the sale of our company’s stake?”

I said, nodding my head, “Yes. I think the seller will be chosen within a month or two.”

“But… Then… Are you taking a bad view of our company’s prospects?” He must be worried that I was selling his own company.

I shook my head, “No, that’s not why.”

‘In fact, Korean pharmaceutical stocks are highly priced, and they tend to be more expensive than sales and cashable assets with future value as collateral. So even now, there are a lot of stocks that are highly priced with such stories – they’re working on a cure for cancer, they’re on the verge of dementia treatment, and they’re cutting cancer off before they get it with gene scissors.

‘However, these things are good only when the economy is good and when they can dream. When a bank asks a company to pay back a loan immediately, the account receivables cannot be recovered, and the customer is ruined, the bubble will be the first to be burst.

‘Hyun Young Pharmaceutical is a company with some substantial results, but by that time it is likely to be swept away by the atmosphere and the prices of pharmaceutical stocks will fall as a whole.’

I sold it out of concern for that. I spoke reassuringly to the aged chairman, Shin Jae-eun. “We need to secure some cash, so we’re selling it. I think the new drug sales will continue to increase, so don’t worry too much, Chairman Shin.”

He sighed with relief, as if he had heard a fortune-teller’s story. “Oh, I see. All right, sir.”

To be honest, I didn’t know what the stock price would be like after I sold it. There was a high possibility of a fall by the middle of next year. That was why I had bought companies that sold dumplings and made drinks. They were cash-rich companies instead of bubbles.

Looking back on it, it was like just after the 1997 IMF, and during the subprime crisis of 2008, that I was able to become the richest person in Korea. When everyone was in a recession, if they had held cash, it would have been easy to get rich. Whether it had been an apartment in Gangnam, a shopping mall, or a stock, the sales had come cheap.

‘As always, we should not be disappointed that we don’t have a chance, but that we are unprepared. History repeats itself.’