Past Life Returner - Chapter 26

A week had passed since the destruction of Hong Kong’s stock market. Yesterday, the Korean government officially requested a relief loan from the IMF. Everything was happening two weeks ahead of the original history because Korea was much more affected by the situation than other countries.

There was another piece of news. I was certain Jonathan would be the cover model for next month’s Forbes magazine and he did go back to New York for an interview with them. However there were more things for him. Jonathan contacted me afterwards.

< Seon-Hu: A list of billionaires in the world? >

< Jonathan: Yeah I won’t be able to avoid it because they can do whatever they want. They must have researched a lot. They even knew about you Sun. >

< Seon-Hu: What? >

< Jonathan: They knew about our corporate governance structure. >

< Seon-Hu: How come? Do they think they have the right to act like the IRS? >

Forbes ranked the world’s richest people in the following manner. They collected opinions from external professionals when a candidate owned a private company and they calculated the stock price at the time of the research when the candidate was a CEO of a publicized company. In the case of people who had not established firms like athletes they estimated the current total assets based on past publicly disclosed earnings. Starting next year those who illegally accumulated wealth and royal families would be excluded from the list. Our New York company of Jonathan Investments belonged to the first category.

< Seon-Hu: Do you think they know who I am? >

< Jonathan: It would’ve been already chaotic by now if they knew that. They only know that fifty one percent of New York shares belong to an unidentified John Doe. >

< Seon-Hu: That’s a problem. If Forbes knows that everyone on Wall Street would have that information. >

< Jonathan: Yeah it is a huge concern. I’ll try my best to prevent any occasions that would reveal your identity. I’m already hiring specialists in that field so don’t worry. >

< Seon-Hu: So what did you say to Forbes? >

< Jonathan: I just said whatever information they have is true. Since they already knew it I couldn’t hide it from them. >

< Seon-Hu: We will be in a tough spot if they keep digging. >

< Jonathan: I know. >

It was true because the paper companies we had separated into tax havens were not complete yet. There were jobs to do in order to make them look like real companies. What if a special tax investigation happened at this moment….

< Jonathan: You will still be hidden all the time. In other words you will be only recorded as an unidentified John Doe. >

< Seon-Hu: How much do they know about us? >

< Jonathan: That we monopolized Bangkok and that we won a bet against the major banks all over the world. >

They still didn’t know that we provoked Hong Kong and caused the destruction of their stock market. Well it was done by paper companies and accomplished by our proxies. It was also an investment that led us to this opportunity. If anyone discovered this fact the National Tax Service would conduct a special tax audit on our firm and the world would get too noisy with the greatest financial scandal at the end of 1997.

I was suddenly proud of Jonathan. He was still a baby but he followed me well even while carrying a huge burden on his shoulders. Search tinyurl.com/55ujrra4 for the original.

< Jonathan: Forbes calculated the value of the New York company as twenty-two billion dollars. As I said it was really close. So John Doe is valued at about 11.2 billion and I’m valued at 10.7 billion dollars. They will rank us at eighteenth and twentieth on the world’s richest people list. >

Jonatha became quiet. Although Forbes listed us in the top twenty we would be the top two in the world if we included the paper companies’ work on dividing and inflating our money. Jonathan’s silence meant he understood that.

***

My classmates were having such a great time as adolescents. They pretended to be old but they were still immature and young. Countries were in danger even though there were no gates or monsters killing people. If I had a child would my perspectives towards them have changed?

Anyway my homeroom teacher was the only one who mentioned the IMF and the foreign exchange crisis in the classroom. She talked about it for a long time in front of the immature kids who only cared about girls and petty fights. No one cared about it.

I found the global edition of the Forbes magazine on the stand in front of my office after school. Jonathan looked like a successful investor as he smiled at the readers while resting his chin in his hands at Wall Street’s office desk.

Forbes even called him ‘The God of Investments’ as they had not hesitated to use the word “God”. Prominent technical journals like Forbes placed meanings on each vocabulary and went through editing multiple times. Nevertheless they mentioned the word “God” more than twenty times in Jonathan’s interview. It was indeed unprecedented but no one on Wall Street would oppose Jonathan’s nickname since his New York company had succeeded in an investment that only an omniscient God or a prophet could make. The New York company’s future was brighter than ever. Even at this moment billionaires around the world were entering the firm to become our clients.

When I almost finished reading Jonathan’s interview I heard a man’s voice beside me.

“Hello” a familiar voice said.

I realized the reason why after seeing the ID card around his neck. He was a member of the foreign exchange management team at Daemin Bank. We had met a few times in the elevator.

“He looks like your colleague” he said while pointing at the magazine.

He was talking about Jonathan since he had met him a few times in the past months. However things ended there. It was hard to see the similarities between the Forbes’ handsome cover model with the often dead-tired untidy foreign man.

I just nodded and walked away. I didn’t care if he thought of me as a rude kid. There was no valid reason to build a personal relationship with anyone in this building and someone was waiting for me in the lobby.

I recognized her at first sight. She had the perfect appearance I requested. She was gorgeous as if she just popped out of a romance movie and even a thick winter coat couldn’t cover her curvy figure. The sight of her sitting on the lobby bench and reading a magazine looked like a photo shoot scene. Everyone in the building including the young security guards and people entering the lobby was busy peeping at her.

She raised her head as I stood in front of her and I shook her hand first.

“Ms. Jamie?” I asked.

Even though she looked Asian she couldn’t speak Korean because she had been born and raised in the U.S. We communicated in English.

“I have been waiting for you” I said.

I had requested three conditions for the person who would become the CEO of Jeon-il Investments. First she had to be recognized for her ability in a large real estate investment or counseling firm. Second she had to be a beautiful Asian female. Last but most importantly she had to be flexible enough to tolerate illegal transactions for her own success. I had been looking for someone who met these conditions since August and finally found her.

Looking for people who were qualified for the first two terms was easy but I had to dig past people’s lies in their resumes and use black money to obtain their trial records to see if they met the third condition. Quote unquote she was an ex-convict who had been released from prison recently. The crime was a breach of trust. She was sentenced to short-term imprisonment for professional negligence of her former employer’s embezzlement who had been the CEO of the company. People didn’t change easily even after prison.

I took her to the nearby coffee shop. Since it was her first time in Korea she stood next to me as if she was on a tour. She seemed to understand why she was called here and she enjoyed herself as she looked around the tall buildings and shopping malls. In her eyes all the real estate on the street looked like a one-time special price sale.

“Is it you?” She asked when we arrived at the coffee shop.

She realized there was no one else waiting for us and sat across from me with a big smile.

“You must be the interviewer” she looked surprised that I was so young.

“I want to ask you something first. Is there an internal decision to hire me or do I have competitors?” She asked with a daring attitude.

I responded “We wouldn’t have sent you a business ticket if it was a simple interview. We’ve already decided to hire you.”

“Hmmm…” She was in deep thought.

“Your criminal record was not a consideration” I said and Jamie opened her eyes wide as if I read her mind.

“We focused on your appearance and career experience at Wilshire Land. We needed a gorgeous Asian woman who specialized in real estate as our CEO. Fortunately we found you who met our standards at a headhunting company Jamie. I’m certain that you understand why we set beauty as a requirement” I said.

Jamie smiled attractively instead of nodding.

When she worked at Wilshire Land she had proceeded with a large-scale investment in Asia. The reason she managed it was because of her Asian beauty. In other words she would be a strategist but also a shield. Her appearance would change the negative views on Jeon-il Investment into positive ones.

“Of course your abilities are top priority and we’ve confirmed that already” I said.

Jamie’s eyes were shining since she could finally estimate the size of the firm she would join as CEO. The scale was so big that the company had to be aware of the public’s opinions on them all the time. However I was certain that the dollars we would bring to Korea would be several times higher than Jamie’s estimations.

“I still haven’t heard the company’s name” Jamie said.

“It’s called Jeon-il Investments” I replied.

“Real estate investment is their main focus right?” She questioned.

“You must have never heard of its name because it’s a new firm entering Korea. We have finished an MOU with our contracts” I answered.

She asked “How many employees are there?”

“As I’ve mentioned it has not been established yet. You can organize the team as you want. You can bring in the team you used to work with or you can purchase a Korean consulting firm. We will ensure free management within the funds” I replied.

Jamie’s shoulders shook as I expected. Her slightly clenched fist on the table also trembled. It was a great opportunity for her. I thought she would shout in joy as her lips slightly opened but she quickly regained her composure and asked “Are there any documents so I can confirm?”

“Of course” I responded.

I took out a document folder between unnecessary middle school textbooks in my bag.

“Jeon-il Investment is divided into Gold Wish Seiram Turors Ichi and Truth…” I began listing the names of major paper companies.

Jamie’s hand suddenly stopped flipping pages as she confirmed the total funds that would go into Jeon-il Investments. Her eyes became as wide as saucers.

No way. There is no way a chance like this would come to me. I’m going to be this company’s CEO? This must be a trick! Jamie thought and I could read her mind.

“I…I’ve never heard of these firms in my life” her voice shook as she pointed at the paper companies that held the large shares of Jeon-il Investments.

“They are officially investment firms that were just built recently” I said.

“Yes” she responded.

“They are located in unknown backcountry in the Bahamas Bermuda and the Netherlands. That’s all I can tell you as I have a duty to protect my clients’ secrets” I explained.

I handed Jamie a fake business name card of a paper company. She would understand it as hot money and that the dollars of the world’s rich were flowing into Korea via tax havens. Well she was not wrong.

“Also I won’t be involved in Jeon-il Investments since I trust that you will satisfy my clients solely with your performance” I added.

Lastly I took another document from the bag and gave it to Jamie.

“However there will be special instructions like this case. You must put them at top priority and purchase them. Buy it as soon as the Korean real estate market opens” I said.

Money was good but these listings were more important. They were the Korean dungeons.