Playing to Strengths
“Hey, you! You didn’t just submit that letter of intent on a whim, did you? What’s your game?”
As soon as Lee Hak-jae burst into the office, he was shouting. Oh Se-hyun, who was calmly packing his bag, couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight.
Their eyes met, one fiery, the other icy.
“Come on, you’re old enough to know better. Calm down a bit.”
“Don’t change the subject!”
“If you’re upset because of my broadcast, watch the interview again. I was just trying to help your grandson out.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Go back and crunch the numbers again. You’ll see it’s beneficial. Sure, you’ll have to spend a bit more, but it’ll give you an edge when persuading the review board.”
Lee Hak-jae could only stare at Oh Se-hyun, dumbfounded.
“I’m busy, so I’ll be off. I have a meeting with the creditors.”
As Oh Se-hyun left the office, Lee Hak-jae snapped back to reality and pulled out his phone.
“Find me that broadcast with Miracle’s Oh Se-hyun. I need to watch it again when I get back to the chairman’s house.”
Sitting in the back of his car, Lee Hak-jae felt the weight of his laptop on his lap as he replayed the interview several times. It didn’t take long to understand the help being offered.
Separating Chairman Jin and Oh Se-hyun might make them seem like random competitors, but if Oh Se-hyun was acting on Chairman Jin’s intentions, it was a strategic move to amplify public opinion.
Closing his laptop, Lee Hak-jae let out a chuckle of disbelief.
“Well, I’ll be… I’ve become a clueless fool overnight.”
Sensing that his laughter was one of realization, the driver sped up towards Chairman Jin’s residence.
Clearing his throat, Lee Hak-jae entered the study where Chairman Jin was deep in thought.
“Chairman.”
“Hak-jae, this isn’t something to get angry about. It might actually be a good catalyst.”
“Yes, Oh Se-hyun’s intention was to be the kindling.”
“What? Did he say that himself?”
“Yes, he said it was a collaboration between him and Do-jun to help you.”
Chairman Jin’s mouth fell open at the mention of his grandson’s name, but he soon burst into laughter.
“Ha ha ha! While everyone else is trying to siphon off my money, my grandson is rallying an American investment firm to help me? What a remarkable kid!”
Lee Hak-jae waited for Chairman Jin’s laughter to subside. You have to cook the rice while the fire is hot. Miss the timing, and all you’ll have left is ash. There’s much to be done.
“I’m planning to release a slew of negative articles about Miracle Investment tomorrow. We’ll paint them as nothing but money-hungry corporate raiders, highlighting the dangers of speculative capital and the risk of national wealth being drained.”
“And then?”
“We’ll send our people to every debate program on the networks. We’ll bring in half a dozen economics professors to hammer home the same narrative…”
“And slip in the name Daehyun?”
“Yes. Daehyun Group already has enough steel mills, so why would they want to acquire more? It must be for the land, to build and sell apartments. Once we plant that idea, it’ll naturally be lumped together.”
Chairman Jin clapped his knee.
“Exactly! The timing is perfect. It was tricky to go after Daehyun from the start, but Oh Se-hyun opened the door and handed us the opportunity. Chairman Joo must be feeling the sting. Ha ha.”
“But there’s a problem. We’ll have to raise the acquisition price a bit.”
Chairman Jin’s laughter stopped at the mention of money.
“Why did Oh Se-hyun have to go and say something unnecessary?”
2.5 trillion won.
The acquisition amount that Miracle Investment publicly announced.
This figure would become a benchmark, forever tying Sunyang’s hands.
And if Daehyun Group bids 2.3 trillion won, it would be hard to bid below 2 trillion won.
To avoid accusations of favoritism, they would need to bid over 2 trillion won to justify it to the creditors.
“He probably had no choice. To emphasize the foreign speculative capital angle, they needed to show they were willing to spend big. A real bidder wouldn’t say such things, would they?”
“Let’s see how things play out until the final bid. If it seems impossible, we’ll match it at 2 trillion won.”
“Understood. I’ll call in the PR team to prepare.”
“Alright. Good work.”
Left alone, Chairman Jin felt as light as a feather. Thanks to his clever grandson, he felt ten years younger.
On March 19, Sammi Group, ranked 26th among conglomerates with total assets of 2.5378 trillion won and sales of 1.4925 trillion won, was declared bankrupt because it couldn’t cover a mere 11.19 billion won promissory note.
Unaware that the real crisis hadn’t even begun, South Korea was more focused on the trials of two former presidents than the economic turmoil.
But I had no interest in either. My mind was on the freshman welcome party happening tomorrow.
Since the entrance ceremony, attending a few classes had been uncomfortable. Because of my interview after the college entrance exam, everyone kept glancing at me, whispering in groups, but not a single person approached me. Even some seniors came to the lecture hall just to gawk at me.
I figured that if I went to the welcome party and mingled with my peers and seniors, things might improve. Since everyone already knew who I was, I thought a small event might not be a bad idea.
The next day, I arrived at school in the late afternoon, attended a couple of lectures, and then headed to the student union cafeteria where the welcome party was set to start at 6 PM.
Although there were nearly 400 law students, less than half showed up. Every year, half of those who pass the bar exam are from Seoul National University. Most students focus solely on the bar exam from the moment they enter, so few attend school events regularly.
Did I overdo it with the event preparation?
As I took a seat at a corner table, I noticed others glancing my way. They seemed surprised that I had shown up.
On the table were bottles of soju, beer, and soft drinks, along with a pot and grill on a gas burner. It looked like they were planning to grill some pork belly.
The noisy areas were where the seniors gathered, while the freshmen sat in awkward silence.
If I only had the memories of a third-generation chaebol, would I be sitting here awkwardly?
As I pondered this, someone grabbed the microphone.
“Hello, everyone. I’m from the class of ‘95…”
After the third-year class representative introduced himself and the professors gave their greetings, it was time for the freshmen to introduce themselves.
They mentioned their high schools and shared unique traits or nicknames to make an impression before passing the microphone.
It was a good time back then.
Most freshmen were from the provinces. It wasn’t yet a world where the wealthy kids from Gangnam monopolized prestigious universities. It was still a somewhat equal world where a top student from a provincial high school could make it to a top university. For now, at least.
When it was my turn, I stood up and took the microphone. The entire cafeteria seemed to freeze, the murmuring stopped, and all eyes were on me.
After bowing my head in greeting, I looked at the class representative.
“Senior, is it okay if I speak a bit longer?”
“Huh? Oh… uh, sure.”
“Thank you.”
I bowed my head again.
“Many of you probably already know me. I’m Jin Do-jun, lucky enough to have a wealthy grandfather. Thanks to him, I’m standing here today.”
Some smiled, while others remained expressionless. Everyone knew that money alone couldn’t get you into this place.
“I want to get along with my peers and seniors, but it’s not easy. So, I thought I’d play to my strengths.”
At the mention of playing to my strengths, everyone perked up with curiosity.
“Senior, would giving a small gift to my schoolmates and seniors count as bribery?”
The class representative was startled by my sudden question but stammered out a response.
“N-no, it’s not. Bribery involves an exchange, and in this case, the only thing seniors or peers can offer is the intangible reward of friendship.”
“I see. Then, would giving an expensive gift to a professor constitute bribery?”
The professors burst into laughter, and one shouted out.
“Unfortunately, yes. Professors hold the power of grades, and grades aren’t intangible. Ha ha.”
“That’s a relief.”
The cafeteria was filled with laughter. Now, the students’ eyes were alight with anticipation at the mention of gifts.
Smiling, I pulled out my cell phone from my pocket.
Once again, everyone was surprised.
While it was expected that a third-generation chaebol would have a cell phone, it was still an unusual sight for a college freshman to carry one.
I quickly dialed a pager number and waited.
Men in suits entered the cafeteria, pushing carts piled high with boxes.
“To be honest, I learned my strength from my grandfather. Winning people over with gifts. And always preparing something beyond expectations.”
As the men handed out boxes to the students, they let out gasps of excitement.
“These are next month’s release of Sunyang laptops. They come with a Pentium MMX processor and an Intel chip. The RAM is 128MB, and the hard drive is a whopping 6GB. It also has an 8x CD-ROM…”
No one was listening to my explanation.
Everyone was too busy unboxing their laptops, and even the professors were caught up in the excitement.
I had no choice but to put down the microphone and wait for the frenzy to pass.
“What? Two hundred new laptops?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have any idea how much that costs?”
“With a retail price of around 3 million won each, it comes to about 600 million won.”
“And you’re just giving them away to win some favor?”
“Yes.”
Grandfather looked at me with a mix of disbelief and surprise in his eyes.
“Win them over, get them on our side… and create a massive buzz.”
“What? Buzz?”
“Imagine this: the top students of Korea, the law students at Seoul National University, all carrying our laptops. The word will spread like wildfire on campus. It’ll change the perception that laptops are just for professionals—students can have them too.”
He pondered my suggestion, tilting his head slightly.
“That alone won’t make for effective advertising. It’s limited to the campus…”
“We need a follow-up.”
“A follow-up?”
“We missed the start of the semester due to development delays. So, we launch a special student discount, an academic event. Maybe even shoot some ads on the Seoul National campus.”
I could see him already envisioning an ad featuring the iconic main gate of the university.
Seizing the moment, I delivered the final blow.
“If you’re hesitant, I’ll buy them myself. You know six hundred million won is pocket change for me.”
“You rascal! Are you trying to make your grandfather look stingy?”
He glared at me briefly before his expression softened.
“But Do-jun, why only 200 units? Aren’t there about 400 law students?”
“I heard only about half attend the freshman welcome party. We should only give them to those who show up.”
“Why’s that?”
“It’s about differentiation. Those who attend and those who don’t shouldn’t be treated the same. The ones who skip should regret it, realizing that rewards come to those who stick with me.”
Grandfather slapped his knee in agreement.
“Exactly! To motivate people, carrots work better than sticks. Ha ha ha.”
The freshman welcome party was more lively than ever. People were even moderating their drinking, worried about losing their laptops.
Later, Deputy Kim Yoon-seok quietly approached me and handed over a note.
It was a list of those who had refused my gift.
These were individuals worth keeping an eye on.