12 Hours After

Translator: Khan

Editor: RED

“You deceitful man!” Ji-hoon looked at me with a throbbing expression.

I raised my hands and said to him. “Ji-hoon, listen to my story.”

But Ji-hoon couldn’t calm down his excitement. “Don’t you remember when we gave up on our start-ups because we didn’t have much money?”

‘How couldn’t I remember that?’ I answered him, “$50,000!”

“Yes, $50,000. At that time, we had all the ideas, but gave them up on them because we didn’t have $50,000!”

“Yes…”

Ji-hoon said, pointing to the expensive items in my room. “What’s this? What about that chair? What about that computer? Those things on that desk are $10,000!”

I understood this guy’s anger. We gave up on our dreams because of money.

“No, Ji-hoon. Take your time. You know what my parents do. And you came to my hometown. Don’t you remember? I was born into a poor family?”

When I brought up the old story, Ji-hoon’s excitement finally tampered down a bit.

“Oh, it was… it was… That’s right…” Ji-hoon came to my house during vacation. He had a meal at our little more than 99 square-meter house and rode in an old Korean car, my father’s car.

“Then, this is… What is it? What the hell?”

I made my brain work. ‘What should I say? Shall I just be honest?’

But then Ji-hoon suddenly opened his eyes wide and said, “Hey, maybe…”

‘Maybe?’

“Did you buy Bitcoin?”

It was an unexpected question. By the way, I didn’t think it was a bad idea to go with that story. If I said I had increased my money by the stock trading and got the Lotto grand prize five times, it would be a little hard for him to believe.

“Oh, yeah… That’s right. I bought some Bitcoin, in the early days of that.”

I made up a story that I saw somewhere on the Internet and told him as much as I could remember.

“I have a friend who majored in computer among my high school alumni… He told me to buy some Bitcoins before I went to the military, so that I might get a great hit. It was about when I was about to go to the army. I left to join the army after drinking with the money from my part-time job, but there was only $30 left in my account… and I bought it.”

“So?”

“And I forgot. Of course, I didn’t remember when I was in the army, and I was busy going back to school after I left the army. I forgot, but I after I found out on the news recently I remembered I had some Bitcoin. So when I looked through the old computer, I found the Bitcoin…”

“Huh…” Ji-hoon flung out his tongue as if he didn’t believe it. I raised my hands and said, pointing to my studio. “I just sold it. The result is this studio.”

Ji-hoon looked at me for a moment and exclaimed, “Brother…”

“Huh?”

“That’s great! Really!”

I thought inside, It’s good to call you, too.

Ji-hoon had been a very pure and nice guy for a long time. I was a person who personally thought that if I wanted to see a person’s bare face, I should see him drunk. This guy used to drink with me every day in college, and would speak from his heart every time, “Let’s try our best. We can do it. My parents won’t be able to help me beyond college. I’m sorry. The last time I went to your house… Your sister is pretty. Does she have a boyfriend?”

Though he was a little far from subtle or refined, he was naturally a good man. Our school had traditionally been stronger in the liberal arts majors than the sciences, but Ji-hoon had always been a top student at the department of business administration. He was also known for his amazing ideas and knowledge in the start-up club where we met. However, basically, I didn’t have any money.

“So how have you been? I heard you were working somewhere last time.”

“I… I started my own business after all.”

“Really?”

“I started a business invested in by the people around me. But then the idea couldn’t be revealed to others.”

The item we had tried to start was meaningless as soon as we told someone. So we couldn’t even get an investor. In this industry, investors were often forced to take an idea and throw them away.

“But… I just got an investment due to my academic background and my activities at the start-up club. It was a small amount.”

“So?”

“Do you know Mawith?”

“Ah… I think I’ve heard of it.” Mawith was an investment firm formed by large companies, specializing in start-ups.

“But the information was leaked. They started the exact same thing as our business, with greater capital. Of course, we were pushed away, because we didn’t have any money.”

“Ah…”

Ji-hoon said, dropping his head. “So, in a word, I’m doomed. Actually, I was at work today, but… the last remaining developer said he would pull out because he did not receive a month’s pay. So, I just scraped the money out of my account and sent it to him.”

I said, patting him on the shoulder. “It’s okay. If you failed this time, if you try again…”

“But it’s not easy, especially in our country… If someone fails in other countries once, they think he’ll do well next time. However, if someone fails in our country once, they think he will fail again. So I was intending to contact you, not today, but tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.”

“Why?”

“Why? To get a job. You had an interview and got a job; I was going to ask you that. But… I didn’t think you would be coming out with slippers to Gangnam Station.”

I nodded, “Yes, I did…”

While I was being robbed at work, he was living hard, too. The difference was that I had been incredibly lucky. I said, tapping Ji Hoon on the shoulder.

“But don’t be too depressed. I’ll be the new investor.”

“Yes?”

“It’s as I said. I know you well. You were supposed to be a success. You’re going to do better now because you’ve failed once.”

Ji-hoon looked at me with his big eyes. “Brother! Thank you just for talking! Brother!” Ji-hoon acted like he was crying at me.

I talked to him on the back. “Yes, but also, I have a favor to ask you.”

“What’s that? Just name it. I’ll help you with everything.”

“Yes, that’s good. Let’s go out and talk about it.”

“Yes!”

In the end, we decided to unite again. I dressed up moderately and went out the door with Ji-hoon. I was standing in front of the elevator, pressing the down button and waiting for a moment.

“How did you get in here?”

“I picked this place because it was my favorite one, my taste here.”

“I see—”

Then the elevator door opened and a beautiful woman in a black dress appeared. My other neighbor, the landlord, Lee Ah-young. I greeted her first. “Hello.”

She also looked at Ji-hoon and me. “Oh, hello.” She greeted us with a small burp and passed us by. As she did, there was a faint smell of alcohol, along with the smell of perfume.

‘Did she have a glass of wine somewhere?’

I got into the elevator thinking that way and pressed the first floor and waited for the elevator to close.

But as soon as the elevator door closed, Ji-hoon shook his fists again and said, “Wow, who’s that woman? Do you know her?”

“Why?”

“She is so pretty…”

“Oh… yes. I was very surprised when I first saw her. She is very pretty with her pride and elegance.”

“Ah, such a beautiful lady lives here. You look like you are rich now. Seriously. Your neighbor is a celebrity!”

I said, shaking my head, “She’s not a celebrity.”

“Well, I think she could be a celebrity?”

“I’ve searched, too, but she is not an entertainer. She’s just the owner of the building. I’m paying monthly rent from her, too.”

“Monthly rent?” Ji-hoon looked at me with a look of disappointment.

“Yes, the rent is monthly… Let’s go talk.”

————————

“So you want to set up an investment company,” Ji-hoon said, turning over the well-cooked meat on the fire.

“Yes. The kind of company that aims to merge with other companies.”

“There’s a special purpose acquisition company or something like that.”

“I know, but I’m not going to do that, but I’m going to continue to raise capital and invest, and I’m going to own a lot of other companies in the long run. I want to start a parent company like that, okay? I want you to do it for me.”

“That’s what I can do for you. I’ve already set up a company. By the way, how rich are you?”

My assets were not what they were. My current account had about $8,900,000, but that would be more than $10,000,000 in a week or two, anyway. In fact, my biggest asset was my position as a Platinum-Class subscriber of 12 Hours After, rather than money.

When I didn’t answer, Ji-hoon started to calculate by himself. “I met you after you went back to school. And you joined the army… If you got Bitcoin worth $30, then…”

“No, just know I’m rich.” I took a shot of Soju to keep him from calculating. “Cheers!”

We did a one-shot, the same thing in our school days, without anyone to say anything about it. Our start-up club inherited the old club style of our seniors until us, and if we hit the glass, it was a one-shot.

“Ch…”

We filled each other with empty glasses. This alcohol reminded me of the old days. We were going to be Steve Jobs, or Bill Gates.

The days when there was no money and only dreams were there. Since then, we’d all seen bitterness in reality, but now we didn’t have to. Now I had the power to make my dream come true. I was on my way.

Without touching his favorite meat, Ji-hoon told me carefully, “Hey, brother, I would like to prepare the start-up for you, but…”

“But?”

“My parents told me to get a job now, so… I’m a little worried. I’ve been without an income for a while.”

‘Oh, that’s the story.’ I heard a word and understood his situation in a heartbeat. But at the same time, I also realized that Ji-hoon didn’t understand my situation well. I raised my glass and said, “Hey. That’s enough. You’re worrying about some money in front of me. I’ll give it to you. Your salary.”

“Really?”

“Yes, you don’t have to worry about getting a job. You’ll get paid to work. Um… I will give you $5,000 a month, enough?”

Ji Hoon’s eyes grew bigger in what I said.

“$5,000 a month?” Ji Hoon’s hand, still holding a Soju cup, shook a little.

I put my glass to the trembling glass lightly and said, “Yes. I’ll give you that much. Do your best.”

Ji-hoon replied in a slightly emotional voice, “Brother, I’ll do my best to be loyal.”