12 Hours After

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

“There is no need to greet each other; let’s talk about our business.” Tak Mun-su sat in front of me and looked at me with his hands together.

“Our business? What do you mean?”

“The business between you and me.”

“… What happened to Mr. Tak and me?” I pretended not to know.

“Wasn’t the tax investigation by the independent counsel all your intended work?” he challenged me directly.

‘… Was he notified? No, the president wouldn’t have opened his mouth, so… it’s a guess, or maybe he’s sounding me out.’

Thinking that, I stared at him and said, “The intended work? Isn’t that government’s job? What authority would I have as CEO of an investment firm to plan a tax investigation or an independent counsel?”

He also gazed at my face and replied, “I was surprised, too. How did you make the VIP move…” To his surprise, he seemed to think of me as the mastermind behind the regime. There was no evidence, but he made such a conclusion with the circumstances alone. It was so amazing.

‘But if I say no, what can he do?’

I shook my head and said, “I can’t believe I made the VIP move. It’s nonsense. Of course, I’ve been hoping for that a little bit. I hoped Suyeon Group would get into a bit of trouble.”

He stared at me. I also stared at him.

“It was natural. Your Suyeon Group cut off advertising to our subsidiary, and cut off our distribution business, right? How would I like such a company? I told you. If Suyeon Group has Invictus Investment as an enemy, we have no choice but to have Suyeon Group as an enemy, as well. Therefore, I…” I blurred my words. “I had that wish. I want the government to step out and hold the ring on the big companies. But it happened BY ACCIDENT.” I deliberately cut off the word ‘by accident’. I never said, ‘I’m controlling the president,’ but I showed my real intentions a little bit.

Tak Mun-su listened to me and said, holding hands together, “I apologize for that.”

I was quite surprised to hear that. ‘Is this guy apologizing?’ It was not like him.

‘He must have been scared of the special prosecutor.’ I thought, as he kept talking.

“I just ordered my employees to press you to get the upper hand in the bid to take over Ullim Electronics. By the way, the lower ones were so loyal that… That’s how it turned out. When I finished acquiring Ullim Electronics, I was going to let it go.”

He looked like he was dropping his tail slightly. To be sure, even if he was the vice chairman of a large company, the prosecution and the National Tax Service seemed to be something he feared. But I didn’t like his words much, either.

‘Aha, he insists that he didn’t do anything wrong, but it was his followers’ fault, and he was going to let us go after the acquisition? Bah! How do I know if it’s true or not?’ I looked at him with sharp eyes.

“As I said before, Ullim Electronics has a good synergy with our Suyeon Electronics. It’s something we’re dealing with right now.”

I laughed inwardly at the words. ‘Yes, I know. So, I decided to buy Suyeon Electronics as a whole.’ But that was still a secret…

“The growth potential of Ullim Electronics was something that we couldn’t miss, either. Wouldn’t it be natural for an investment company to seek profit?” I replied to him.

Although we didn’t intend to take over Ullim Electronics anyway, our company had yet to pull out of the acquisition race, by all appearances. We called 1.7 billion dollars, two hundred million dollars lower than the 1.9 billion-dollar-bid made by Suyeon Electronics, and it meant that we were already out of the deal since I knew the result, but I was trying to keep the eyes of Tak Mun-su while remaining tense until the end.

Tak Mun-su said with a slight tone down, “Yes, I understand that, but CEO Han Sang-hoon, think about it. Did we have to be blush like this? I just wanted to get along with you, and buy the company cheap. Then, wouldn’t it be nice if I put more ads in your company? If you’d been on my side, our group would have been able to help your company in its entirety.”

‘Bah! He is funny. He can’t help me. I’m richer than he is, son of a bitch.’

While I thought that, he continued, “I’ve heard that you’ve become a rich man worth thirty billion dollars. You didn’t invest directly in China, but you put a short-sale in assets. That’s great. Now that you’re officially the richest man in Korea, you need to get help from the Korean business community to run the money.”

I opened my eyes slightly. Although there was a difference of fifteen billion dollars, he knew that I had become the richest person in Korea.

‘… He knew it.’

In fact, it was unstoppable. The number of people who knew that I had become a rich man with forty-five billion dollars had gradually increased. Besides the last four directors, I showed the other directors the data myself. In addition, I had recently converted foreign currency into Korean money after realizing the profits. It was not a dime or two, but big money, billions of dollars. This was why rumors, even if not accurate data, had been circulating.

‘It’s only a month and a half before it’s published. It was fast, so he apologized… and did he come in with a little bend of the knee?’

No matter how much I thought about it, he was not a character who would say ‘I apologize for that.’

As long as I was found out, I said without any further notice. “So, now that I’m stronger, you’ll come out cooperative. Is that it? Even though you’re strong on the weak and weak on the strong, this is very awkward, Vice Chairman.”

When I made a public accusation against him, he opened his eyes wide and came back to his true face. “You’ve become stronger? That’s not true. Of course, I know you have a lot of cash. But that’s not all. You’re still young, so you don’t know, but the power of our Suyeon Group is not just what you see.”

“Aha, is that so?”

He told me when I was sarcastic. “Okay, I was going to say good things, but I can’t help it. I don’t know how you persuaded the VIP, but we’re not afraid of the VIP in the first place. The independent counsel and the tax investigation will both end up in the right line. I know you tried to hold me back with it, but Suyeon Group isn’t that easy. That’s it, okay?”

I already knew that because I’d been searching the future news under the name ‘Tak Mun-su’. The independent counsel and tax investigation bombs poured into Suyeon Group would be delayed for several months before paying a few million dollars in fines. I didn’t know the details, but all of them on stage, whether they were prosecutors, judges, lawmakers or NTS chief, would be directly or indirectly influenced by the Suyeon Group.

No matter who the president was, he seemed to have been unable to take it out. Suyeon Group’s illegal succession had smelled very awful, but it had already been concluded under the previous administration as “legitimate.”

‘The law of our country is extremely difficult to bring back and overturn once again, if I don’t use my hands.’

I spoke to him, “Vice Chairman Tak seems to know the outcome of the prosecution’s investigation…”

He lifted his chin slightly and gave a pompous look, as if the prosecutor was in his hands. I said another word to that face, “Anything can change, according to my instructions.”

Then, his eyes changed slightly. Secretary Park had already done the body search, and now I spoke to his face. “I’m going to be honest. Suyeon Group is great. There’s a lot of connections in the political and business circles, like a cancer cell. But I have the power to cut it off. The prosecutor? They are scary. But you know what? Why is the prosecutor so scared? It’s because no one comes out with fault. On the contrary, if I investigate them, will there be nothing? Who’s up there? The chief prosecutor? Something like that? Even when the president comes, he can’t stop me. Do you understand?”

He was staring at me, overwhelmed by my words.

“Didn’t your beloved cousin tell you, ‘Don’t fight with Han Sang-hoon?’”

When the mention of his cousin came out, his face changed instantly.

I said, looking at his face like that, “You should have listened. At least you should have avoided me. No matter what I was, you couldn’t just stand still after declaring a war.”

“No… I didn’t mean to make you an enemy.”

“I didn’t want to make an enemy of you, either.”

“No, then why? Is it because of Ullim Electronics? I’ll give it up.”

“No, it’s not because of the Ullim Electronics. I have forty-five billion dollars, and there are lots of things to invest in all over the world.”

“Then why? Why would you do that?”

Then I opened my one hand and said, tapping on the other wrist with it. “Don’t try to fool me, because I hate it a lot.”

He looked as if he had seen a ghost. “How do you know…”

‘He only showed me once in reality.’

Recalling the Crow’s dream, Tak Joon-gi even said to Tak Mun-su: “He’s hiding something. How did he cook the prosecution and the reporters? He knew all the information I thought I was in perfect control of.”

If he had taken that remark a bit more seriously, he wouldn’t have had to turn me into an enemy like this. But with that remark, Tak Mun-soo said so at that time: “Huh? Han Sang-hoon… he’s a funny guy. I’ll have to meet him too.”

‘I’m a funny guy? But he doesn’t know I’m using magical powers.’

Tak Mun-su gave me a wild excuse. “It’s just a habit of my hand. It’s just…”

I shook my head and said, “If you’re not being honest with me, I don’t need to talk about it.” I turned my head and said, “Secretary Park. I think I’m done talking to the Vice Chairman, so… take him outside.”

But then, he interrupted us, “Wait, I’m not finished yet!”

‘What else do you have to say?’ I looked at him.

Then he went on, “I know you’re buying a stake of Suyeon Construction and Suyeon Electronics. That’s why you spread the rumor of my father, right?”

I thought as I listened to him. ‘… He knows this, too. Does he have a firm belief or is there any evidence? It doesn’t matter either way.’

“Let’s say yes. Then, what can you do as my enemy?”

“I don’t know why you’re eyeing our company, but it’s stupid, I assure you.”

“… why?”

“Our company will never give the largest shareholder’s position to you. National Pension Service? Good. It wouldn’t happen even if they took your side. All right? Let’s not lose steam in this useless fight, and if you want to fight to the end, I have no choice but to show you the true power of Suyeon Group. Understand?”

I paused for a while after hearing his words, not because I was scared of his threats, but because the words “the true power of Suyeon Group” were interesting.

“… Okay. Let’s see,” I said, my arms crossed.

“Okay, that’s how you’re going to end it, right?”

I said bluntly, “I will decide depending on what you do.” It was a very honest answer. The fate of Tak Mun-su was going to be decided upon by my decision. If he did well, he’d pay inheritance taxes, run the company again with half of the Suyeon Group, and if he didn’t do well, I’d send him to jail with the maximum murder charge.

Tak Mun-su glanced at me, then opened the door and left the president’s office.

Even after I said “I will decide depending on what you do”, it was a bad start. I grinned behind him as I watched him leave.