Senior Kihong said as if he was frustrated.
"During the IMF period, many domestic companies were sold to foreign capital at low prices. Seosung Electronics, which was sold for 30,000 or 50,000 won per share at the time, is now worth over 1.4 million won. Since the 2008 financial crisis, foreign IBs have completed restructuring and are making aggressive investments again, so what are Korean IBs doing now? Why can't we do that? It's the 4th industrial revolution, it's fintech, it's blockchain. The world is changing every day. "If finance fails to follow the trend properly and falls behind, something similar to before will happen again."
Senior Kihong continued to speak with his tongue half twisted.
"There are great entrepreneurs, but there are no great investors. That's the reality in this country. But now we need people like that in our country too. So we must compete proudly with foreign capital.
This isn't just about having money.
Developed countries have a history and culture of capitalism spanning hundreds of years. On the other hand, Korea's finance industry is now in its infancy.
"Will that day ever come?"
Senior Kihong said with a wry smile in response to my question.
"Kkeuk, that's fine. "You never know."
While we were laughing and drinking, someone's cell phone rang.
Tiriring!
Yuri picked up her cell phone and answered the call.
"I'm currently at Hankook Pocha with senior Kihong and other seniors. yes. "You can come inside."
After a short call, Yuri put down the phone.
"who is this?"
Yuri answered Gyeongil's question calmly.
"Senior Seon-ah.
"She was originally supposed to see me today, but since I said i was having drinks with you seniors, she said she would come here."
"what!?"
Everyone was surprised by those words.
Minyoung spoke as if reprimanding.
"Why did you call Seon-ah here?"
Yuri looked like she didn't know what was going on.
"why? "shouldn't I have called her?"
"Well, that is..."
Everyone's eyes turned to me at once.
In fact, I was the most embarrassed person right now.
damn! What do I do? Should I just run away? Should I hide in the bathroom?
As I thought so, the bar door opened and a woman in a white coat came inside.
For a woman, she is tall, has a slender and curvy body, a small face, big eyes, white skin, and long straight hair.
I looked at her with a surprised expression, and her eyes widened as if she was also surprised.
"Yoon Seon-ah..."
"Kang Jinhu?"
It was our first meeting after breaking up.
* * *
The drinking party was extremely awkward.
Crack!
Senior Kihong said, tapping the table with his chopsticks.
"Now, it's been a while since we met. Why is the mood like this? Let's have a drink. Cheers!"
Glasses clinked together.
I pretended to drink soju and glanced at Suna. She chatted with people around her as if nothing was wrong.
Was i the the only person who cared about our relationship?
I think I would feel more at ease if I got drunk.
I kept drinking. As I was pouring another drink into my empty glass, Suna gently held out the cell phone that was on the table towards me.
It said this:
[Do you want to go for coffee?]
* * *
After leaving the drinking party, I sat down at a 24-hour cafe.
Even though it was late, the place was quite full. A couple who appeared to be students were studying with their TOEIC books open. It seemed like they were planning to study together all night today.
Suna took the two cups of coffee I ordered and sat down across from me.
I decided to take it easy.
Anyway, when I returned to school, we would have no choice but to run into each other at school.
It is not uncommon for students to date and break up with each other within the department. If people stopped seeing each other because of that, a lot of people would have dropped out every year.
The fact that i had a relationship in the sacred hall of intelligence in the first place is a problem in itself. I should have just focused on studying hard.
It was Seona who spoke first.
"long time no see."
"Yeah."
If you think about it, it's been almost two years.
"Did you have a good time in the military?"
"It was a good ."
If you remove the fact the I suffered alot and that (I almost died once).
The first time we met was at the new student welcome party. Among her classmates Suna clearly stood out.
Beyond just being pretty, Suna had a charm that drew attention.
Everyone, regardless of whether they were a classmate or a senior, was interested in her. Probably everyone wanted to date her.
Surprisingly, the person she chose was me.
We were the department's official couple and stayed together all semester. When I think about it now, those were really happy times.
But towards the end of the first year. There was a problem at my father's company.
My father was running around like crazy trying to save the company, and my mother couldn't sleep because of worry. Even if I didn't know much about the company's situation, I could easily tell that things were going badly.
In the end, the company went bankrupt and my father collapsed.
Bankruptcy, illness, mourning, moving... I don't even know what happened. It was around that time that Suna brought up the idea of breaking up.
I didn't even dare try to hold on, so we parted ways.
Except for a few bad things that happened along the way, we got along well and broke up just like any other couple.
"Are you doing well with that senior?"
I remembered a male senior who came to visit for a while during the school festival. It was my first time seeing him in person, but I had heard a lot about him before. This is because he was such a famous senior.
Go Junhyung.
He is the third son of GH Construction, one of the affiliates of a large corporation. I only saw him briefly, but he seemed handsome and personable.
Not long after I took a leave of absence from school and enlisted, I heard from Minyoung.
Sunah is dating that senior.
She nodded.
"huh. how are you."
Hmm, how are you doing?
Suddenly, this question occurred to me. Since when did she date that senior? Was it even before she broke up with me?
I wanted to ask her, but I stopped when I saw the ring on her left hand.
What does it mean even if find out about it now?
It's been a while since we met, but her face was the same as before. However, her clothes, bag accessories, etc. have all changed.
The makeup and clothes were sophisticated, and the watch, bag, shoe, etc. all looked like luxury goods.
"A lot has changed."
Sunah smiled bitterly.
"Because a lot of time has passed."
Two years is quite a long time for a college student.
What did I do during that long time?
"······."
I worked hard to protect my country.
I am proud of myself for fulfilling my national defense duty.
After hesitating for a moment, Seon-ah spoke carefully.
"I'm sorry for asking you to break up when you were having a hard time."
"Well, it's all in the past."
Sunah spoke in a calm voice.
"Jinhu. "I really liked you."
When I hear this, I suddenly feel moved.
I asked because I was dumbfounded.
"What does that mean?"
"It may sound strange, but it's true. From the first time I saw you, you seemed different from other kids. You always felt lively and had confidence that you could do anything. "That's why I liked you."
"Then why did you ask to break up?"
Even without listening, I could roughly understand the reason. Maybe it's because our house is ruined.
"I just took the opportunity when it came."
"What opportunity? A chance to date a rich boy?"
Seona shook her head.
"I have nothing to say even if you criticize me like that. Because I was the one who asked to break up first. But I want to make my dream come true."
"······dream?"
What does this mean?
I didn't really understand what she said.
Seon-ah, who saw my expression, smiled slightly as if she knew that would happen.
"I'll leave first."
Sunah picked up her bag and stood up.
I reached out my hand to grab her, but stopped. Instead, I asked her question.
"What is that dream you're talking about?"
Suna turned her head to look at me and answered briefly.
"success."
* * *
Instead of going back to the drinking party, I bought a bottle of soju and a bag of snacks at a nearby convenience store and sat under the parasol.
"ha."
The night air was chilly, and white breath came out of my mouth.
As I drank soju alone, I thought about my father who passed away.
Our house was taken over before the funeral was even held. My mother asked our relatives for help, but no one helped us. And then Suna announced our breakup.
It felt like everything was falling apart. But I had no time to be sad. Because the living had to survive somehow.
Time passed so frantically. While I was in the military, My mother did all kinds of dirty work.
Fortunately, unexpected luck came a few days ago. The game character I sold when I was in middle school was worth 1.24 billion won and came back to me.
"Success..."
What on earth is success?
That moment.
A hologram appeared before my eyes.
"······."
what's this?
OTK Company is a paper company created by Taek-gyu in a tax haven. Since it is a one-person corporation, the CEO is naturally Taek-gyu.
But why am I the CEO?
I looked blankly at the hologram.
What does this mean? Am I going to become the CEO of the company Taek-gyu created?
The hologram disappeared before my eyes.
I knew intuitively that this was something that would happen in the near future.
The past is already gone. No matter what you do, you can't change what has already happened. But the future has not come yet.
The future can change depending on my choices. And now is the moment of choice.
"OTK Company CEO Kang Jin-hoo..."
Is this the path I should take?
It felt like a strong conviction was hitting my head. I don't know what the process will be like or what will be at the end...
But i felt like giving it a try.
* * *
After getting out of the taxi, I opened the front door and entered the house.
Taek-gyu was asleep curled up on the sofa with all the lights on.
"hey! Wake up! hurry!"
After shaking him a few times, Taekgyu forced his eyes to open.
"Ugh! "I was sleeping well, why did you wake me up?"
Taekgyu looked at my face and said.
"How much alcohol did you drink? "If you're drunk, go to your house, dude."
"Give me your hand."
"huh?"
Taekgyu held out his hand as if he didn't understand what was happening.
I held that hand tightly.
"Hey! what are you doing?"
"I shook it, so we're doing this together."
The expression on his face was as if he was making noises like banging on a pole while he was sleeping.
"Well, what are we going to do now?"
Anything"