12 Hours After

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

I lay on the bench and looked at the Wi-Pad. What was on the screen was the company that would be my fourth takeover target.

[Semi-annual Report of Hyun Young Pharmaceutical]

It was a mid-sized pharmaceutical company with a total capital of one billion dollars, listed on the KOSPI in 1985. However, the semi-annual report was very unfavorable. The financial statements were loaded with red numbers indicating a deficit. Although its operating profit was still ongoing, the expense of the research and development budget was going to be enormous.

‘But… that is until this year.’ Joint therapy, which had in development for five years at a cost of hundreds of million dollars, would be approved by the U.S. FDA early next year. It was widely believed that their market capital would be at least double. That widely-accepted theory would come true. I knew that.

‘Chairman Shin Jae-eun and his family’s stakes are 25.4%… If they are roughly converted, that will be about two hundred and fifty million dollars. So I need to have more than that to be recognized by 12 Hours After as a major shareholder… A foreign investment firm, JM Partners, has 9.8%, Duri Investment & Securities has 7%, and pensions and funds have 3%…’

We had already talked with JM Partners and Duri Investment & Securities. From the two investment firms, we would buy up their shares with a five percent premium, while the remaining shortfall would be increased with a third party-allocated paid-in capital increase. The only problem was that Chairman Shin Jae-eun was worried about management interference. “I know CEO Han Sang-hoon is a good investor, but we don’t want to be under anyone.”

I understood that. It had been listed for fifty years, in business since the time of the Japanese colonial rule, when it had sold an ointment in Hanyang. If a complete stranger came in here with his money and said, “Hand it over,” they would not hand it over easily. So, we had to sweat quite a bit to explain that we would not touch management and it was just for investment purposes.

However, Chairman Shin Jae-eun held out to the end saying, “I can’t believe it. You’re going to spend over $300,000,000, and just let it go?”

‘Whew! Should we buy it at market price? Shall we fight it out with a real hostile M&A?’ We’d been through a crisis like that.

“Look at Kai Games, Blue E&M, and OH Entertainment. We have never touched their management.” Thanks to Mr. Jang’s persistent persuasion, we finally got his consent, “… Let’s do it, then.”

It was a relief. If we had tried to do a hostile M&A, we would have paid at least double the money. If we fought with the collateral of Kai Games, which was running toward a market capital of a billion dollars, we would have won in the end, but only the others caught in between would have gotten good things.

‘All right, then, as soon as I take this over, I’ll be in the Master Class…’

There was one more good thing about Hyun Young Pharmaceutical; it had another forty-million-dollar subsidiary called Hyun Young Bio Farm on the KOSDAQ. Although it was a small company, it was still a listed company. Hyun Young Bio Farm’s major shareholder was Hyun Young Pharmaceutical, and I was Hyun Young Pharmaceutical’s major shareholder. Naturally, I became the one who ruled the two companies. This point was clearly approved by the Customer Service.

‘Okay, then, this is done.’ I picked up a glass of green mojito from the small podium beside the bench and took a sip. Then, I turned on the MTS.

‘Let’s see how it’s going?’ But then, two white hands with red manicures came down on the Wi-Pad.

“Ah…” The moment I was checking, the Wi-Pad disappeared from my hands. As I lifted my head, there stood Lee Ah-young, wearing a red bikini, with her hand on her waist.

“You decided not to work here, oppa.”

I naturally shifted my eyes to her fantastic figure. Even in plain clothes, she was super glamorous, her body having excellent lines. As she was wearing a bikini, she was a beauty herself. In addition, the emerald beaches spread out in the background, and looking at the seagulls flying around was a gorgeous picture.

She was right. It was not good to be here for summer vacation and think about work. I had to rest when I took a break, and I would be able to work well when I went back to work. I stood up from the bench and said, “Ahh… Yeah. Sorry.”

She spoke to me with her hands on her waist, “One more time, and it’ll be confiscated.”

She had a slight frown on her face; it was rather cute. I stood up and said, “I got it. I got it.”

She said, pulling my hand, “Let’s go play at the beach, together.”

I headed for the beach, which was naturally lit up by her gentle touch. This was Hawaii. It was a place with a beautiful view of heaven and earth, and I had fun with Lee Ah-young, who had become my girlfriend here, leaving things off my head. It was simple to explain how she became a girlfriend.

At that time, she had said, “I’ll buy you another meal.” And I had said, “All right, if you don’t drink.” We met again with text messages, ate and talked together, and became more and more friendly. Living right next door, we sometimes visited each other’s place, exchanged texts, dated again and again, and ended up like this.

“Oppa, borrow that one, a couple-tube, that will be fun!”

I didn’t know it until we got to know each other, but she was a brighter person than I had thought. On purpose, she had a high-handed attitude for strangers. She told me that she was shy and that she was wary of the people she met. She had been arrogant when she wanted to be close to someone.

Well, it was okay. She was good to me anyway, and she was cute and charming. Of course, she was the peak of her appearance and physical beauty, which kept other women out of touch. I jumped into the sea with her, holding a couple-tube.

Above the sky was a warm sun and blue sky, and below was a clear sea where starfish could be seen. The waves went up and down pleasantly. I mumbled, holding Ah-young’s hand, “Ha, I think this is heaven.”

It was true. The place was good, and a person with me was good. I felt as if I was in heaven. I heard her voice in my ears. “Me too, oppa.”

——————————–

I walked through Honolulu with pineapple juice in one hand and Lee Ah-young in the other. As a world-class resort, there were plenty of things to see in the city. I looked at it and asked her, “So, what do you want to eat for dinner?” I was pretty hungry after playing in the water all day.

She asked me the other way round, “Oppa, did you happen to see that program? Do you know Gourmet Street, which was broadcast some time ago? The edition in Hawaii?”

I tilted my head. “Well, I think I’ve heard of it…” I didn’t know what it was, because there were so many Mukbangs (eating shows) going on these days.

“It’s a delicious restaurant, and it cooks all kinds of fresh seafood in Hawaiian style.”

“Oh, really?”

Most of the trip schedule had been arranged by her. I had been busy trading and working at the company every day, but she had a lot of time, because it was her vacation. She didn’t complain about scheduling the trip by herself.

“Then, I’ll arrange all the hotels and restaurants, oppa.” She loved to choose such things. That fit me well, as I was annoyed with doing such things.

“They mix tuna that they caught up the same day in Hawaii with a special sauce to make Poke.”

She was very aware of gastronomy and knew what was delicious and so on. If I thought about it, it was fair to say, it was gone now, but when she was a child she was the only heir to Go-young Food. What was surprising was that she was also a glutton. She hid it a little bit for a while, whether she was ashamed of it during the first half of the romance, but she soon revealed it.

“Do you want me to order this one, too? I think you’re going to feel it’s a little bit short.”

She ate more than a man, using my excuse. It was amazing to watch her eat a lot, but she didn’t gain any weight even though she ate so much. I thought it was important to be born in shape.

She said to me, hopping in place, “It’s expected, isn’t it?”

‘Whatever I eat, it’s delicious to eat with her.’ Then, while we were walking toward the restaurant, she paused for a moment. She raised her head and looked from place to place.

“Well, this is it, you see it?”

I said while picking up my cell phone, “What did you say the name of the restaurant was?”

‘Turning on Google Maps, I’ll know where it is.’

But instead of giving me the name of the restaurant, she approached a lady on the street and asked in perfect native English, “Excuse me, is there a Nicor’s Peer 38 around here?”

“Thanks. Bye.” After chatting with the local lady for a long time, she wrapped her arms around me again.

“Let’s go, oppa. We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

I told her, “I envy you.”

“What?”

“Your fluent English.”

I heard that she went to America to study, not only in college but also in elementary school. Four years in elementary school, four years in college, eight years in total. When she was in college, she went to America to study art, but when she was in elementary school, she went there to learn English. As she learned it when she was young, her pronunciation was really good.

I helped out with chores at my father’s training center at that age. She was born to a rich family, but I was born to a poor family. Now I had more money, but some things would not change for life.

“Well, you’ll do well after a few months.”

I shook my head and said, “Well, is it even possible in a few months?” I’d already tried it in the hope of advancing into the U.S. or abroad in the future.

“I’ll teach you. I’ll stick around you like this.”

I said with a slight smile, “Huh… Yeah.”

I walked down the street with her again. She peeped at the cell phone I was holding. I put my cellphone in my pants, which I had turned on to look for Google Maps earlier. She didn’t really like me looking at my cell phone. It was my fault. I kept checking stock prices even after I had come to Hawaii. Although it was a habit of stock investors, I felt sorry about that, too. I thought while putting my cell phone in, ‘Well, I made an algorithm to trade automatically, so it’ll work, but…’

Before I went on vacation, I had programmed the stocks to be traded automatically without me. Even without me, my computer would buy stocks according to the good news written in my calendar and sell them when they went to a certain price. Of course, it was not as good as doing it myself, so I was giving up about a hundred thousand dollars a day.

I was rich, and Ah-young was rich, too. Therefore, we did not spare any travel expenses from hotel to eating and playing, but in fact, the biggest expense was that I didn’t trade the stocks myself. However, I decided to take it. If I did care that much for the money, I wouldn’t be able to take a vacation for the rest of my life.

‘A hundred-thousand-dollar per day vacation… What an expensive vacation.’ But it was cheap at the price. There were a fancy Honolulu City and an ultimate beauty holding my arm. For this, a hundred thousand dollars every day was cheap at the price.