CH 12.1

Cha Yiseok looked at the number on his phone indifferently and opened his shower robe. When he came back from the shower, there were seven missed calls. It was Cha Myunghwan’s wife. He was puzzled because it was less than eight attempts as he went to the refrigerator and took out a bottle of water. It was rare for Cha Yiseok to wake up so early in the morning. His head was fuzzy, and his mouth was burning. The whereabouts of his headache were unknown, but an unknown phenomenon occurred a few days ago. A thirst that didn’t go away even when he chugged water and swallowed pills ruined his plan to wake up late. Then the phone vibrated loudly.

— Young master, it’s me. You must have woken up now.

“What’s going on?”

— Uh… It’s nothing much, but he’s asking you to call Mr. Cocaine. What should I do?

Cha Yiseok furrowed his eyebrows. If Cha Myunghwan had already walked to the gates of hell, he was going to hold the most splendid funeral, but it was a pity. He tenaciously clung to his pathetic life. However, he brightened the tone of his voice so the other person could not notice the disappointment.

“Is he awake?”

— Yes. he only woke up in the morning. He’s been like that ever since, and it’s no use trying to calm him down….

Cha Myunghwan’s voice was heard over the phone.

― Put me on! I told you to hand the phone over?! It’s frustrating! I want to speak!

As his voice rose, she spoke in a perplexed voice.

― I know it’s too early, but I need to call Mr. Cocaine right now… Does Cocaine have time in the afternoon? Young master must be busy, so we can send him a car… You just need to tell me where Mr. Cocaine lives.

“I forgot to tell you. The boss told me he would only send Cocaine once a week.”

— Yes… Apparently, people like Mr. Cocaine must be thoroughly managed at the store. But he really wants to hear Mr. Cocaine’s song, so…

Cha Yiseok twisted the neck of the water bottle, holding his phone between his shoulder and ear.

“I have an appointment today, tell my brother to endure until tomorrow. I’m also enduring it now…”

He trailed off. Enduring it? Enduring what exactly? Even though he had said that himself, it was so natural that he even felt a sense of incongruity.

After finishing the call, Cha Yiseok threw his phone on the table with his eyes raised.

———

“What did he say?”

Cha Myunghwan asked with wide eyes. When his wife hesitated, he screamed.

“That’s why you told me to put me on! Call him back!”

His wife answered.

“They said that Mr. Cocaine was sent only on a set date. Also, the young master doesn’t have time today… He said he’ll definitely bring him tomorrow, so please wait for a while.”

“So frustrating! Then shouldn’t we ask for the store’s location or phone number?”

“The young master found out through someone he knew, so he must have been cautious. It seems difficult for you to even sit right now, how do you have the mood to listen to a song?”

Although she usually accepted his stubbornness, the change in her husband’s disposition startled her. Cha Myunghwan chewed his lips and rolled his eyes. Then he shook his head and said,

“Wait. Did you say that Chairman Kim was also treated by Cocaine before? So would he know the store’s contact information?”

———

Late afternoon, in a smoke-filled residence hotel room. Five men were sitting on a sofa by a well-lit window, side-by-side. The table was littered with papers, and dirty coffee cups and ashtrays full of cigarette butts were strewn on the edge of the table.

Cha Yiseok, seated at the head of the table, walked up to his forearm with his loose tie and shirt, listening attentively to the briefing. They were all made up of internationally renowned analysts and fund managers. Their academic background was not very important, but they were talented masters who have been honed in battle in a blood-splattered world. They were talents Cha Yiseok has been keeping an eye on, and the most elite unit to defeat the Taeryung group.

Once a week, in the hotel room, they would have secret room talks all night. As a result, rumors circulated that men were having group sex. Of course, Cha Yiseok was the only one who enjoyed the messy rumors.

A man with rimless glasses spoke. He was clever and was quick to judge the situation.

“Institutional investors are dissatisfied with Taeryung’s actions after Cha Myunghwan was appointed as CEO. In the process of succession of management rights, he forcefully took over semiconductors for Cha Myunghwan’s achievements, but several bad factors overlapped, and Taeryung’s stock became undervalued. Moreover, due to allegations of accounting fraud and tax evasion, the government ahead of the presidential election may be conscious of public opinion and pay huge fines. I don’t know if Chairman Cha would like the slammer.”

Everyone laughed out loud at the absurd joke. Another man spoke.

“In the process of expanding Taeryung’s business, the debt ratio increased due to large-scale secured loans, causing the stock price to fall. It’s probably been hit by the influx of private equity a few years ago. First, we need to contact the foreign fund. They’re like ghosts, so when the Executive Director appears, it can be a good thing for the stock price, so it’ll be survivable.”

Cha Yiseok rubbed his cigarette out and said.

“Contact them. If you can get a share transfer agreement, get it. If Cha Myunghwan dies, Chairman Cha will also postpone his retirement. Then the shareholders would rather welcome it. Taeryung’s trust will be higher, and it will be more annoying than Cha Myunghwan not sitting at the CEO position.”

“In reality, successful hostile M&As are extremely rare. Even if we go in, Chairman Cha will not be taken aback.”

“That’s why I hired you all. Calculate all variables, even the extremely rare ones, and consider countermeasures. Even Cha Myunghwan would be kicked out of the grave.”

Cha Yiseok was contemplating a hostile M&A with his own worker disguised as a Hong Kong-based fund with a domestic company he created. Of course, it was being done secretly, and the prey was the Taeryung group. The men sighed or shook their heads.

“Give me a vacation. I don’t know when I’m going to see them.”

“If I had changed my underwear, I would have no wish.”

“Try not to drink until you toast. Then it will really make you ecstatic.”

Cha Yiseok pulled the USB out of his laptop and put it in a gold case. At that moment, the cell phone on the table vibrated. What appeared on the screen was the name of the boss of Paradiso. A low-pitched voice came over.

— Director Cha. This is Paradiso. Cha Myunghwan sent someone to take Yaba a while ago, but I contacted you to confirm.

“How did he find out?”

― I thought Executive Director Cha told him.

“I’ll look into it later, so send him back.”

― Oh, Yaba was already taken. In return, I was reluctant to send the kid alone, so I made Imsoo accompany him.

At that moment, Cha Yiseok straightened up. He rubbed his eyebrows with his cigarette-holding hand.

“Who told you to send him?”

The other party was silent.

“The share I give you includes the price of the cat. You had a lot of thoughts, so I thought there would be advantages, but I didn’t know that you would surprise me with such a dumb thing.”

It was obvious that the boss’s breathing was stiff. Cha Yiseok raised one eyebrow.

“If you have a hole in your mouth, try pretending to apologise or make excuses. That way, I might feel better or not.”

— I was careless. That person was too obstinate…

He licked his lips coldly. He hung up the phone without hearing any more mundane apologies. In the unusual atmosphere, the workers on the other side showed tense expressions. Cha Yiseok said while holding the papers.

“Continue.”

“Ah, yes. Taeryung has secured most of the current factory site as real estate collateral…”

There was no briefing or typeface. Cha Yiseok rubbed the back of his neck and gritted his teeth. The fact that Yaba went there alone was more annoying than the fact that Cha Myunghwan woke up, like a thorn stuck in his fingernail. Yaba was a guy who spoke whatever came to mind, so he couldn’t tell where he was going if he didn’t control him. If he makes a mistake in front of Cha Myunghwan…

Cha Yiseok rubbed out his cigarette. He got up and grabbed the jacket that was lying on the sofa.

“Stop for today. Send the rest by email.”

They stood up one after another with bewildered faces. Cha Yiseok got out of the room and went straight to the parking lot and got into the car. Squeak…! Tires scratched the floor violently and exited the parking lot.