Money Likes Me Too - Chapter 96



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Episode 96.

Stella phone, my goodness.

It is Samsung’s flagship smartphone brand that divides the market along with Apple’s iPhone.

It was an offer I could never accept. I just accepted the offer.

‘If it were free, then I wouldn’t mind, but it wouldn’t be possible.’

Stella Phone has 10% of the North American market. If it were to install CocoaTalk, its market share would skyrocket.

It’s not just a North American problem.

The global model Stella phone is ranked first in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. If I had been fooled without knowing, I would have been fooled, but I had no intention of seeing it happen with my eyes open.

‘If you treat me carelessly, I’ll cut off your nose with your eyes open.’

This is a strategic trick worthy of a conglomerate leader. He almost got into trouble after giving me a ride on a plane once.

For now, I decided to talk to the staff about the specifics.

“Then let’s talk again later.”

Fortunately, Lee Yong-jae did not come out and say he would make a decision right away.

“Shall we meet again?”

“Of course. We will have many opportunities to meet in the future. But you should think carefully about it. This is an unusual offer that I am making first.”

He then mentioned that the opening game opponent for Seongsam Pumas at Daegu Stadium has been decided to be our Cocoa Buddies, and that he will be stepping on the mound that day as the ceremonial first pitcher for the first time in a long time.

Are you saying that we should wait until that day to make a decision?

‘I’ve already decided.’

Anyway, that’s how the meeting ended that day. I returned to the office and called Im Kyung-jun.

There was something more important than Stella’s phone.

“Poem?”

There were dark circles under his eyes.

We have to carry out KSH Holdings’ original business and the baseball team takeover at the same time. It’s going to be a pain in the ass. It was a complete failure. This is the punishment for carelessly destroying the value of our cocoa.

I answered calmly.

“Isn’t Cocoa supposed to have a home stadium too?”

“Yes. It’s Jamsil.”

“Jamsil? Isn’t that the GH Duos home stadium?”

Actually, I didn’t know much about baseball.

“The predecessor of our Cocoa Buddies, Dosan Bears, has been using Jamsil Stadium with GH Duos. The stadium is very large, and it was the only baseball stadium in Seoul before Gocheok Sky Dome was built.”

I didn’t know that either.

“Aha, I see.”

“yes.”

“If it’s Gocheok Dome, is that the place where the Neptune Veterans play?”

But there was one thing I knew. Lim Kyung-jun nodded. While I was lost in thought for a moment, he looked at me.

“I will prepare the pitch.”

He tried to leave the place, but my attention had already turned away from the poem.

“We share the stadium······.”

“Why is that······.”

Lim Kyung-jun’s voice trembled with anxiety.

‘Can’t we just make one more?’

There was only one place for my thoughts to go. Before I knew it, a loud Eureka sound reverberated through the chairman’s office.

“Mr. Lim.”

“yes?”

“Have you ever thought about building a dome stadium?”

“yes?”

This time, Lim Kyung-jun’s rebuttal echoed through the chairman’s office. No one heard it except me.

* * *

Lim Kyung-jun’s shoulders slumped as he entered the KSH office.

“President Lim.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Why, then should I just call you Executive Director Lim?”

Neither of them were to his liking. Lim Kyung-jun sat down in his seat. Still, it was the most comfortable seat.

I clicked the mouse.

Titty, tiddick.

The chart appeared before my eyes. It felt like my blocked breathing hole was cleared.

‘This is it.’

His eyes came back to life.

“As expected, Kyung-jun. When you sit down in that spot, you return to the gaze of a beast. Earlier, you looked like a rat that trembled in front of a lion and ran away.”

Lim Kyung-jun shrugged his shoulders at the joke and complained.

“What should I do?”

“what.”

Also, did you come here because you received an order from the chairman? Anyway, Lee Jong-seok was like a ghost. Lim Kyung-jun brought up the story about the stadium.

“So what?”

Lee Jong-suk shrugged.

“So what? Is it that easy to build a stadium?”

“It’s not easy. But we have money. Did Gocheok cost about 200 billion? Then, shouldn’t we start with a generous budget of about 500 billion?”

Lim Kyung-jun asked back with a bewildered expression.

“Who doesn’t know that?”

“then?”

“Where are you going to build it? Are you going to build it in Seoul? Are you going to tear down Jamsil Stadium?”

“Why did you destroy Jamsil Stadium?”

“So then where are you going to build it?”

Lee Jong-suk answered Im Kyung-jun’s question in one word.

“Peace.”

“yes?”

“There is plenty of land in peace. Let’s build a dome.”

“Our Cocoa Buddies are strictly a Seoul-based team. How can we build a stadium in Hwapyeong? How can we move our home ground?”

“You can move it. But you don’t have to move it, right?”

Lee Jong-suk then dismissed the idea, saying that the stadium could just be used as a second-team stadium or a sub-stadium.

“Does that make sense?”

“What if it doesn’t work? What can you do?”

Lim Kyung-jun was speechless at Lee Jong-seok’s words.

But when I thought about it, that’s right. Lee Jong-seok was right. There’s nothing he can do. And there was no instruction on where to build it. You can just build it and then throw it away. Chairman Kang won’t care anyway.

Thinking that way made me feel better.

“And by the way.”

Lee Jong-suk continued speaking.

“Our Chairman Kang is not the kind of person who would not tear down Jamsil in Seoul. Perhaps after building the Hwapyong Stadium, he will tear down Jamsil and build a new one?”

Im Kyung-jun stuck out his tongue at his words, which made him think of Kang Si-hyeon without realizing it. There was no one in the world he could trust.

* * *

There is no one in the world that can be trusted, and that includes Pangku’s Lee Seok-hwan.

“Do you need money, Seok-Hwan?”

On the plane back to Seoul, I kept repeating Lee Chung-jae’s advice. He was a man who had once swallowed up Korea, even though he had failed. Lee Chung-jae had a clear grasp of the situation he was in.

‘That, that······.’

‘I know. I know. There’s no way to make money anymore.’

‘But additional investment from Loftbank······.’

‘Mr. Seok-Hwan, you know very well why Loftbank’s Son Byeong-Hwa is urging you to go public. It’s an exit strategy. He doesn’t care what happens to Pangku. He just needs to recover the money he invested.’

He relaxed his stiff shoulders.

‘Ugh.’

It was a headache knowing that what Lee Chung-jae said was true.

Son Byeong-hwa said he just needed to get the money back. He said he wouldn’t do that, but he never knows what will happen in the future.

But Lee Seok-hwan himself is different.

If Son Byung-hwa and Legend Fund realize their profits, Pangku’s shareholding structure will be divided into several major shareholders. They will wander around at the shareholders’ meeting, having no place to go. Of course, they still have more than 50% of the voting rights. However, if there are several major shareholders with more than 10%, they can easily cause trouble for the company.

I didn’t like that.

If there was a better way, I wanted to go there.

That’s exactly what Lee Chung-jae said.

‘I’ll tell you a good way. Mr. Seok-Hwan should follow the delivery model of the nation.’

After entering the cocoa market, the Baedal people experienced record-breaking growth.

The financial structure has become more sound. This is natural since a delivery startup that was already a cash cow has joined hands with an even bigger cash cow.

It’s the opposite of Pangku.

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The accumulated deficit due to continued investment has already exceeded 5 trillion won. The only thing it had was a monopoly on the Korean market. If investment does not continue, it may be difficult to maintain full management rights.

‘Let’s talk.’

Finally, he picked up the phone. It was Loftbank Son Byeong-hwa’s direct number.

– Seok-Hwan Sang?

“This is Lee Seok-hwan. Chairman Son.”

– Oh, why at this hour?

It was a slightly absurd tone.

It was now time for Son Byeong-hwa to read comics. I also knew that he didn’t like being disturbed. But I couldn’t help but call him.

“I’m calling to see if we can get more investment this time.”

– Investment?

It’s a shaky tone.

After a long time, his voice came over the phone.

– I think we can do something about 2 trillion won. I also have to watch out for shareholders, so it would be difficult to invest solely in Loft Bank. I will talk to the members of Legend Fund. But don’t expect more than that.

2 trillion?

That’s not enough. It’s like peeing on your own feet.

But since Son Byeong-hwa is acting like that, there is nothing more to say. Asking for a raise is also ugly. More than being ugly, it is a weakness that is revealed later.

He spoke in a tone of resignation.

“Okay, I understand. Thank you.”

– Thank you for your understanding.

The call was disconnected.

Should I really do as Lee Chung-jae says? His eyes turned to the monitor. Just then, a news feed arrived.

[ Cocoa’s Big New Year’s Gift? ‘Tesla Electric Cars Given to All Employees’······ Everyone Surprised by Korea’s First 1 Trillion Won Gift. ]

‘Unlike anyone else, that is.’

The difference between someone who burns 1 trillion won as a New Year’s gift and someone who hesitates to invest 2 trillion won. I think we all know this by now.

The only ones who didn’t know were Son Byeong-hwa and himself.

‘It’s different now.’

All that remained was his determination.

* * *

Every day was a battle at Tesla Korea headquarters.

It was the same for Ben Kim, the CEO. He was facing the most war-like days since he changed jobs.

‘Order for 10,000 units?’

That was Tesla headquarters’ response when I first placed my order. They had no answer other than to say yes.

Thanks to this, it achieved the world’s number one monthly sales.

It wasn’t just 1st place. It was an unrivaled world record that nearly doubled the 2nd place.

Elon Musk even tweeted about it.

——

Elon.musk ··· March 1, 2018 (March 1, 2018)

@KOKOA bought their crews 10,000 tesla cars. Crazy!

(Cocoa buys Tesla cars for his employees. That’s crazy!)

——

I was running around so much that my legs were starting to feel numb. I was sitting in the corporate office taking a short break.

I was browsing my news feed and an article caught my eye.

[ Apple Store in Korea finally? ······ ‘Apple Store’ opens in Garosu-gil, Gangnam. ]

‘Apple Store?’

It’s a Korean branch of a foreign company. Although the industry is different, I can’t help but be interested.

Even Apple Korea is like that right now. It’s a company where colleagues who once worked together at ASW are working.

Brrrr, brrrr.

[ Alex Kwon ]

He was a friend who was an executive at ASW Korea. When I saw him calling, I realized that he was not a gentleman either.

“What’s going on today, Alex?”

– I just called. I heard you’re busy these days.

“It’s not just that I’m busy. It’s crazy. I don’t even have time to eat.”

He couldn’t have just called. What’s the real reason?

I had a rough idea.

Alex must have heard the news of Tesla Korea’s explosive performance. That must be why he couldn’t speak first. The one who spoke first should speak more.

It was an unwritten rule of sales.

– Ben.

Eventually Alex confessed.

– Did you hear that we opened a store on Garosu-gil?

“I heard.”

– I’m standing in line, but I’m not getting the results I’d like. Ben, can you tell me what you did?

Tesla cars are several times more expensive than Apple products, yet they have achieved world-class performance. I wonder what the secret is.

If it were the original, I can’t say.

‘The secret is in your mouth?’

But now things are a little different. The answer is cocoa. Cocoa wants more partners.

“I can tell you the answer.”

– really?

Alex smiled.

“But before that, there’s someone I need to introduce you to, Alex. Do you have a minute?”

– As much time as you want. But who are you?

“The person who bought me a car. I think he could blow away all your worries in one go. I think he’d be happy to meet you too.”

Just as Tesla has found a home in peace, I figured Apple could do the same.

And he was right.

* * *

Eventually, Seongsam Lee Yongjae heard unexpected news.

[ Apple Store, opening in Hwapyeong-si, Gyeonggi-do? ······ Where is the ‘Hwapyeong-si’ that won the second store, beating out competitive commercial districts such as Yeouido, Myeongdong, and Jamsil? (Comprehensive) ]

I knew it.

‘You were so indifferent to the story about Stella’s phone, but you were talking to Apple behind the scenes?’

Somehow, it didn’t make sense,

He hit his innocent knee.

Now he couldn’t give up. It was Apple, not someone else. He immediately called a meeting of executives.

It was late, but all the executives were seated on time.

“Thank you all for coming.”

“No, Vice President!”

The conference room at Seongsam headquarters was full, with space for over a hundred people. Lee Yongjae spoke his first words to them.

“There is one month left until the opening match of Seongsam Futures.”

“······.”

The executives also heard a brief explanation.

At the meeting with Kang Si-hyeon of Cocoa, Vice Chairman Lee was the first to bring up the topic of Tesla Gigafactory construction bidding.

In return, they even proposed a partnership with CocoaTalk, but they didn’t get a good response. I know all about it.

Up to that point, it’s not a problem.

Isn’t that what business is all about? There’s no reason why Cocoa has to be with Seongsam.

But what’s the sudden mood change for the opening ceremony?

As the saying goes, there’s only one month left. It’s not like I’m roasting beans over a lightning fire, so there’s no reason to be in such a hurry all of a sudden.

Lee Yong-jae’s words were even more unexpected.

“Until then, come up with a proposal that will pique the interest of Cocoa Kang Si-Hyeon. You have one month. We’re going to meet at the opening game, so please don’t leave me with nothing to say to Kang Si-Hyeon. That is, if you don’t want to lose to Apple.”

Everyone just blinked. The last words struck their minds.

‘If you don’t want to lose to Apple.’

All they knew was one thing.

Don’t misunderstand Lee Yong-jae’s words just because he seems mild-mannered. One of the things he hates the most in the world is Apple. If he loses in a fight with Apple, it’s the end.

‘This is a big problem.’

‘I guess I’ll have to repeat that I’ve been dead for a month now.’

If you lose a war, you have to give up your position. That is the virtue of an officer.

“Do you all understand what I said?”

“Of course, Vice President!”

They answered with one voice.

There is not much time now.

It’s already been a week since March. The opening game has been decided. It’s early April.

As instructed by Lee Yong-jae, no matter what, a plausible picture had to be created within that period.

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