Money Likes Me Too - Chapter 43



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Episode 43.

As the end of the year approached, Nam Hyeon-seung became extremely busy.

‘I wish I had ten bodies.’

The Baedal tribe grew bigger and bigger by the day. They even started mass media marketing. The TV commercial started with the copy, “It’s this delicious and fast, why don’t you eat ○○○ and get full?”

The response was good.

Thanks to this, counteroffers from venture capitals that wanted to invest poured in. Among them were Goldman Sachs and venture capitals with formidable portfolios like Atos Ventures.

The amount was relatively small, in the hundreds of billions. They were all rejected.

“Representative.”

“why?”

“Today is the last day. It’s December 31st. You have to make a decision.”

I knew it.

“Okay, thanks for pointing that out.”

There was a reason. It was all because of Kang Si-Hyeon.

It was around this time last year. We had a $500 million investment offer. And it came from two sources: the Saudi sovereign wealth fund and Loft Fund. It was a name that would tempt anyone in business.

There was a clue there.

1. To be decided by midnight (Korean time) on January 1, 2014.

2. Choose only one of the two.

3. If Cocoa joins this table, then it must choose one of the three.

These were the three.

So I talked to Kang Si-hyeon.

‘It’s not 5 billion or 50 billion. It’s a whopping 500 billion.’

“Know one thing. The day you invest 500 billion is the day ‘Baedal Nation’ becomes ‘Cocoa Talk Delivery.’”

I waited.

There was no word. They didn’t even send a term sheet (investment proposal), which is not legally binding.

I should have just asked one question. But I didn’t.

I was in the position of receiving investment. I thought it was too much to ask for an investment of over 500 billion won first. There was no reason to ask. I just had to choose between PIF or Loft Bank before the deadline.

You might be curious to see how far Kang Si-hyeon’s unresponsiveness will go.

It was frustrating.

‘Have you forgotten?’

There’s just over a day left.

If you don’t say anything after the deadline, you will have to choose one of the two. Once you choose, you will have exclusive negotiation rights and you will no longer be able to talk to Cocoa.

A few days ago, I received an unexpected text message.

[Kwon Hyuk-jae] I’m going to hold a year-end party by lightning for the first time in a while. The date is 12/31. The location is Hwapyeong City Cocoa Tower. Only those who have time are welcome to come.

The place is strange.

‘Why peace all of a sudden?’

It didn’t matter if I asked that question. I called Kang Si-hyeon right away.

“Have you seen Kotok?”

– Oh, that. I gave permission because it was Hyukjae’s request, but why do you want to go? Should we go together?

As expected, he had a familiar look on his face.

– Come down.

I had no intention of going.

But Kang Si-hyeon came out like that. I thought I should stop by and see his face. If I did well, I could bring up that story, I had that kind of calculation.

It was easy to get there since it was in the same building.

“What is this!”

As I opened the door and went in, Kwon Hyuk-jae’s reaction was sharp.

“Aren’t these two representatives of the unicorn companies in South Korea? It is an honor for all the students of our Shinwha University 99 Business School! In particular, CEO Kang Si-Hyeon, who is here today, calculated all the expenses!”

Cheers erupted.

“Don’t overdo it.”

“It’s not an over, it’s a fact. Welcome.”

It was well prepared. It wasn’t like the lightning of a pub when I was a freshman in society. I even called for a buffet. Classical music was playing softly.

There were quite a few people who came.

The atmosphere has ripened.

‘When will we talk?’

While I was thinking about that while looking at Kang Si-hyeon, I heard a whispering voice next to me. ‘That bastard Shin Woo-young is coming?’ It was a name I had forgotten. The voice of the guy who had ignored me during the difficult early days of Baedal’s Nation came to mind.

“You wouldn’t come out, would you? After all that nonsense.”

“Right? If you had any shame, you wouldn’t show your face.”

What are you talking about? asked Nam Hyeonseung.

“It’s nothing, why?”

The guys who were talking as if they were listening took a step back. Nam Hyun-seung asked again. The guys eventually confessed everything. It was simple. The story was that Shin Woo-young had been fired from the company. He had caused the company a huge loss due to an absurd mistake.

I shrugged my shoulders inwardly. It was so bland.

That was when.

“Huh, huh?”

They say even a tiger will come when you call it, but Shin Woo-young was standing in the doorway with an awkward look on his face.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

“Haha, how are you?”

“······.”

No one answered Shin Woo-young’s question.

“I know. I’m shameless. I came here once. But the only thing I’ll have left is my friends. Isn’t that right?”

“······That’s right, but I don’t think that’s something you should say.”

“Yeah. I know that too.”

The guy scooped up some food and went to the table. He looked hungry. The seat next to Nam Hyun-seung happened to be empty. Not knowing that it was a real hell, the guy sat down. Nam Hyun-seung thought it was a cruel fate.

It was before I even picked up the spoon.

“Wooyoung.”

“huh?”

“Don’t you know who I am?”

Shin Woo-young raised his head at Nam Hyeon-seung’s words. Now he realizes.

“Tongue, Hyunseung-ah.”

Nam Hyeonseung smiled faintly.

“How have you been? Judging from your behavior, you don’t seem to be doing well.”

“I’m sorry. I apologize for what happened in the past.”

“No. You don’t have to apologize. I feel like I’ve already heard it, so I don’t want to hear any more.”

Nam Hyun-seung dismissed him as he looked like he was going to cry. He took out a business card from his bosom and handed it to Shin Woo-young.

“You told me before, right? If you ever get fired, you’ll come to me. Did that really happen?”

“······.”

“Take this.”

[CEO Go Man-seop] A question mark appeared in Shin Woo-young’s eyes.

“what’s this?”

“A job opening. I need one.”

“What? Really?”

Nam Hyun-seung spoke to Shin Woo-young’s brightened face without changing his expression at all.

“The owner of the convenience store where I used to work. He’s a nice guy. If you call him my friend, he’ll treat you well. I’ll teach you all the know-how. It’s the best favor I can do for you, so feel free to accept it.”

I was on my way back.

“Hahaha, did you see that face?”

It was the first time I saw Nam Hyun-seung looking so excited. He must have had some drinks, he was laughing breathlessly the whole time he was walking.

“I’m crying, I’m crying.”

“Yeah, it was fun.”

“Hey, Kang Si-hyeon. Thanks to you, I’m able to experience all these things. Thank you.”

There’s nothing to be thankful for.

“Kang Si-Hyeon.”

Nam Hyeonseung called me again.

“You know what I wanted to ask? Now you have to answer.”

“Are you talking about investing?”

“Yeah. You knew about it but you were pretending not to know?”

It’s not that I’ve turned a blind eye to it. It just happened that way. One reason was the continued opposition of Director Han. But not anymore.

“Okay. I will. Invest.”

“What amount?”

I had to ask shamelessly, so I could reject the other two offers.

“500 billion won. Isn’t that even dollars?”

Nam Hyeonseung nodded his head vigorously.

“good.”

“Thank you, investor.”

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“Okay, so leave that out.”

Nam Hyun-seung’s face brightened again. I added.

“It’s good to focus on scale-up in the future, but I also want you to pay attention to the last mile (the final stage of delivery). We’ll talk about it in detail when we sign the contract anyway. Don’t skimp on money. (Emphasis added.) In the world of delivery, there may be hundreds of thousands of deliveries a day, but for the person eating it, it could be their first meal of the day.”

Nam Hyeon-seung was moved.

“That’s a great saying. Where did you see it? Peter Thiel? Peter Drucker?”

These were the names of Silicon Valley gurus that anyone who has started a startup would have heard at least once.

“No.”

“Then who is it?”

I thought about it carefully. The idea came to mind on and off.

“Ah! It was ! A cartoon! I saw it there.”

***

At the Loftbank headquarters in Tokyo, New Year’s Day is a holiday, but the Legend Fund office on the top floor is packed.

“Thank you for your hard work in the new year.”

Son Byeong-hwa passed by, patting the shoulders of his employees. An executive approached him.

“Mr. Chairman, I have something to report.”

“Come in and talk.”

I had something to ask anyway.

“What happened?”

After taking his seat, Son Byeong-hwa was the first to speak. He didn’t show it in front of his employees, but inside, he was anxious about news from Korea.

“Us? Right?”

“that is···.”

“Please tell me quickly. I’m going crazy from the frustration.”

The executive’s hesitant reply was truly shocking. He said that Baedal’s people had sent a polite letter of refusal via fax.

“Not five hundred or five thousand, but five hundred million dollars. That’s over five hundred billion yen. How can you refuse that?”

“······.“

“Okay, I understand. I’ll go out and see.”

I sent out the executives. I calmed down.

Yes, that’s right.

There was no way it was Cocoa. There was also news of a big acquisition recently. Common sense tells us that there was no way they could afford to spend another 500 million dollars.

In the end, the answer was Yasir.

‘Ahem, big. This guy is really.’

The choice is yours. I had no complaints. But shouldn’t there be at least a word of greeting? It’s already lunchtime in Riyadh. There was plenty of time to contact him.

I picked up my phone and looked for the number. My pride was hurt.

– Who is that?

Yasir’s gruff voice, which had thrown manners aside, came across the continent.

“Why are you asking when you already know?”

– Ah, that’s Mr. Son’s voice. So, did you enjoy your meal?

What is this? A new style of apology?

“The tteokguk was delicious. What are you talking about out of the blue?”

– It’s a story about the delivery people. Are you going to get rid of Shichimi? I’m saying this because it seems like it’s stuck to Mr. Son.

“No, that’s what I should be saying. Just now······.

Then something crossed my mind. Perhaps.

“Just a moment.”

Son Byeong-hwa lowered his voice.

– Wait, what?

“Did Sheikh Khalid also receive the letter?”

– Then I received it and left.

Yasir also felt something strange. His voice had become much quieter.

– Mr. Sondo?

The misunderstanding has been resolved.

They both groaned at the same time. Suddenly, they felt uneasy. They had been taken advantage of by a small company like Cocoa. It was impossible.

There was silence. The expensive international phone call charges were all gone.

“What are you going to do?”

Son Byeong-hwa broke the silence.

– What can I do? Just let it go.

In fact, Yasir was secretly thinking that it was a good thing. Crown Prince Abdullah’s position was constantly being shaken. It was a time when he had to stay as quiet as possible. Every little investment could become a problem.

“Sheikh Khalid. Will you listen to me?”

– Tell me.

“Can’t we just let this go? I have a good idea. There is a social commerce company in Korea called Pangku. Cocoa is involved here too.”

– So?

“Let’s join hands and eat this. This time, we won’t be able to move. Even if we can’t, about 1 to 2 billion dollars will be enough…”

Yasir suddenly intervened.

– Wait, wait. Mr. Son. Chijijik. The call status seems to be, Chijijik. This is not good. Chijijik. I’m hanging up. ······

Bam, the phone call was disconnected.

‘That sizzling sound just now, did it sound like it was made with my mouth?’

It was strange. Son Byeong-hwa tilted his head.

But, it doesn’t matter.

‘You can do it alone.’

On January 1, 2014, the fighting spirit of Loftbank Chairman Son Byeong-hwa was boiling. It was the start of the second round.

***

The year 2014 is the year of Gap-o (甲午).

Cocoa Tower residents who used the Hwapyung Market were surprised by the app UI that changed noticeably over time.

‘Why is this happening all of a sudden? Did you receive seed investment?’

‘That’s right. There’s also a plan for heavy users. Honestly, isn’t it surprising?’

The number of users has expanded to all citizens of Hwapyung. A voting system has also been created to filter out vendors who pretend to be good sellers by registering illegally. The customer center function, which was previously ineffective, has also begun to function normally.

A resident of the neighboring county who had come to visit Hwapyeong called.

– We live in a neighboring county. Could you please open it up so we can use it too?

Won Jin-ju received it.

“It’s still difficult. I’m sorry. However, we will do our best to make the app better by reflecting your valuable suggestions. Dear Customer.”

She put the phone down. A manager teased her.

“Is part-time work fun?”

“Chief!”

A section chief shut his mouth at the shrill voice. One of the RM team members working next to him started giggling, but then became quiet at Won Jin-ju’s laser.

“I’ll be sourcing it soon. I didn’t know it would turn out this well.”

Won Jin-ju grumbled.

“Is that guy who created the app, Hyun Young-bin, going to work in the new office?”

“yes.”

“Ms. Jinju will be moving there soon too?”

“What are you talking about? Not right now.”

“It doesn’t matter to me whether it’s right now or not. Please take good care of the new employee handover. Or, if you can help me with the work by going back and forth between the two offices, that would be appreciated.”

“That’s nonsense,” Won Jin-ju snorted.

“I don’t think that will happen.”

“why?”

“The CEO said that if I leave, he won’t hire any new employees.”

At those words, one of the managers was startled.

“what?”

This is what I thought, Makgeolli. Won Jin-ju, who had turned the tables, spoke in a triumphant voice.

“You’ve been comfortable thanks to me, right? Try to work hard.”

“So why?”

“How would you know? Ask the CEO.”

One manager swallowed his tears.

‘Why only to me!’

There was no use telling Kang Si-hyeon, who had no way of changing her mind. She swallowed her tears and glared at Won Jin-ju, who was answering the phone at Hwapyung Market again.

There was a commotion outside.

‘That’s Director Han’s voice.’

We have added more than a dozen people to the strategic planning department. The team has also grown since 2014. We have also increased personnel expenses significantly.

I was planning to leave Han Jang-soo’s co-working partner position vacant for the time being.

Anyway, there was no work to do. The corporate card business was something that the finance team could handle. One person, Han Jang-soo, was enough to take on the role of secretary.

The company also planned to significantly increase the annual salary of each executive.

‘This is all punishment for opposing my work.’

I laughed when I thought of the surprised face of the director.

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