12 Hours After

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

Lee Ah-young was sitting on the sofa listening to me.

I looked at her and said, "It was Newsmaker Kang Joo-hyuk who appeared at the time. I could recognize him at a glance by the photos you had showed me. A lizardman-like impression."

She said with her eyes wide open, "Lizardman?"

"Oh, he looked like a lizard."

"Aha..."

"So I listened to him, and he leaked some information about Bisang Construction and Jinyang Development, saying Jinyang Development had a strong possibility. So I thought it was a trap." I told her the story that had been going around so far, except for the fact that I'd been receiving the future news. "In the meantime, I overheard rumors elsewhere."

"What rumors?"

"During the project, a construction company presented bribes to Seoul government officials. When I heard that, I assumed it was Bisang Construction and they were trying to tie up with the stock manipulators."

"So you put a short stock sale for Bisang Construction?" She seemed to know basic stock concepts, such as a short stock sale.

'Think of it... Go-young Food had huge short stock sales before it was delisted.'

I said, nodding my head, "Yes. If it was heard even in my ear, I was sure there would be trouble later... That was what I thought. So I ordered my company to make a big short stock sale on Bisang Construction. First of all, I thought we were going to make a big profit, and second of all, I was to fuck up the stock manipulators who'd bought a lot of these shares. Of course, everything didn't work out as expected. I thought the corruption would come to light before the announcement of a business operator."

She listened to me, her eyes blinking. She seemed to believe everything I said.

"With the announcement of Bisang Construction at the end of the week, our company began to suffer huge losses. I thought, 'Should I come forward and make a tip, even if I take a little bit risk?' But fortunately, it seemed like a righteous man reported the corruption to the Seoul City."

Of course, "a righteous man" was me, but I kept it a secret. No matter if Tak Joon-gi was the enemy of her parents, there was no need to give out unnecessary information. That was a problem for me, and it would be a burden for her, too. It was better for her not to know.

"So... after everything, the forces that invested in Bisang Construction suffered huge losses... They're fighting among themselves..."

I said, nodding my head, "Yes, it seemed that way. As a result, the most powerless Kang Joo-hyuk died, and then the next weakest, Lee Won-jun, was arrested, and the strongest, Tak Joon-gi, is... Well, he's going to lose a lot of money."

Listening to me, she asked, "...will Lee Won-jun be arrested?"

Oh, I unknowingly told her future news. I made a rough excuse, "That's what it's going to be. If you watch this... It looks like that's how the traffic is organized. Kang Joo-hyuk, his tail was cut when he died, and Lee Won-jun... he's trying to deny it, but he will fail, and Tak Joon-gi has been protected by Suyeon Group or something."

"Yes... I see..." Lee Ah-young was lost in thought as she looked at the glass of grape juice she was holding. She was thinking of complicated thoughts. One of her three enemies died, and one would be in a cell, but she was not excited.

'And revenge… of course.'

I looked at her like that and told her, "One of your enemies is dead anyway, and the other is going to jail... There's a good chance... and I'll squeeze blood out of the other one. He's a third-generation chaebol, so he's not directly harmed, but he'll be financially hurt this time. He can't do that for a while."

Not only that, once I got my Master Class, I would crush him completely, so he could never make a complete comeback.

Lee Ah-young, who was listening to me, nodded silently and asked me, "Yes, but... why did you help me get my revenge?"

I was talking excitedly so far, but I was slightly speechless there. "Well, first of all, it was helpful for our company. And after hearing your story, I've wanted to fuck up these guys at least one time. I didn't know who was going to die, and who was going to be taken to the police station."

She smiled at me a little. Then she lifted up her glass and drank all the remaining grape juice, stood up and said, "I see. I'm sorry I came all the way not giving you any notice. I was so surprised to hear the news. And I was curious. I had to come."

I gathered my lips slightly and said, nodding agreeably, "No, it's okay. The story of your parents' enemies was on the news... I'm sure if it was me, I would be here too, especially we... live right next door."

"... Thank you for your understanding, oppa. This... this is the revenge you've gained for me."

Listening to that, I opened my eyes wide, and looked at her and asked, "Well, you're not drunk after drinking grape juice, are you?"

"What?"

"It's the first time you've called me oppa while awake."

She exclaimed, her eyes jumping, "Oh, did I? Did I?"

Did the question refer to 'Did I call you oppa after drinking now'? Or, 'did I call you oppa last time?'

I didn't know what question she was asking for, but I simply answered, "Yes."

She flushed slightly, then lowered her head for a moment, then lifted it up and said, "I'm not drunk. I'll just call you oppa from now on. Is that okay?"

I liked it better, too. "Yes, please."

"Yes, oppa. I'll call you oppa from now on. When you call me, please take out Ms."

"What? You want me to take out Ms.?"

"When you call me, you say Ms. Ah-young. It's so awkward. Just make yourself comfortable and call me by my name."

"Ahah… I'll do that. Ms. Ah-young. No." I filtered her request for a moment, then corrected it. "I will, Ah-young."

She smiled at my words. At this time, when I thought about her, who had been arrogant and overbearing when I had first met her in real estate under this apartment, she really changed a lot.

"Then I'll go. I came over at night and asked... Thank you for being honest with me, oppa."

Not everything was honest, but she seemed to believe so. That was good for me and for her. I told her at the door, "Anyway, what I said today is a secret."

"I know. I... I don't talk about my parents. Don't worry about that."

She seemed to be honest. 'Usually, it's hard to share a sad story, even if we can easily share a good story with others. It's hard to bring up a story like that, because others feel pressured unless they are really trustworthy.'

'But why am I...?' Suddenly, that question came to my mind, but as she said, maybe the three times she was drunk had played a crucial role in gaining credibility. I saw her off at the front door.

"Then go in."

"Yes, oppa." She gave me a very polite and formal bow, and went right into her apartment next door. I peeked at her back and shut the door. In the corridor, I heard the sound of pressing the keypad and then the door closing.

I came back to the living room and lay down on the sofa. I could feel the body heat from the seat where Lee Ah-young was sitting just now. I thought about her for a moment. Two out of three of her enemies died or went to jail. The other one was fatally wounded.

'Will she feel a little lighter now that I've avenged them?' Come to think of it, when she left, it seemed that her shoulders were slightly raised from behind.

'Yes, not a hundred percent, but she'll feel a little less heavy about her parents.'

When I was thinking about that, my cell phone, laying on the table, rang. I went there and picked up my cell phone. There was a text message. The sender was Lee Ah-young next door.

- Oppa, I just said thank you. It's practically like you've avenged them. I'll buy you another meal. Just say anything about the menu. I've been to some famous restaurants with my friends these days.-

I looked down at it and sent a reply.

-All right, if you don't drink.-

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I heard a knock on the door.

"Yes, please come in."

Vice President Jang opened the door and came in. Sweat was beaded on his forehead.

"Oh my! Did you walk?"

He took out his handkerchief and said, tapping his forehead, "Yes, the meeting place was a nearby cafe, so I thought I'd walk a little bit, but… I am sweating like this."

I glanced out of the window. The sun was shining. "It was hot last summer, and I think it's hotter this year."

"That's right, sir."

July 2019, it was pretty hot these days. I told him, "By the way, what happened? What did they say?"

"They didn't say yes right away, but I could see they were shaken. As you said, research and development costs were so high that the deficit was huge and there were no results... I guess it was a situation where the stock price fell and bonds weren't sold. I think they'll accept our investment, if we preserve the independence of the researchers."

"Yes, I want you to be clear about that. We're not going to touch any of the research, and we're only going to focus on profitability; show them the examples of Kai Games, OH Entertainment, and Blue E&M."

"Yes, sir."

After Jang left, I patted the chair and thought, 'All right, if only these couple of companies come to me, it's Master Class...'

The aggressive search for a company to take over in order to get a Master Class had paid off. We'd done enough research, so they would take in our investment. It would give me a lot of benefits.

'All right. Everything goes on smoothly.'

After the incident of Bisang Construction and Jinyang Development, I made up my mind. It was the first achievement in two and a half months.

'Two and a half months. It is usually about ten weeks. Well, then...'

I remembered searching for the news in the past. I did a search for Lee Won-jun.

[The court sentenced Lee Won-jun to five years in prison and a fifty-million-dollar fine for manipulating stock prices in the first trial.] Information that was searched for in future news was similarly posted.

For Tak Joon-gi, similar news was on the air.

[Director Tak Joon-gi of Suyeon Travel is visiting Chengdu, China, and does a direct inspection of the travel business in China.]

'Bah! No matter how good you pretend to be okay on the outside, I know that it's rotten inside.'

Bisang Construction and Jinyang Development, as I had painted, one crashed, and one soared. My company and I had doubled our money, and by that amount, Tak Joon-gi would have lost twice as much.

"But this is not all, you son of a bitch. You did such an awful thing, and you're going on a trip to China?"

'If I get Master Class, I'll give you one more spanking. So I'm going to put you in the same prison as Lee Won-jun. Even if you went on a trip to China, you won't be able to go to your grandfather's memorial service, you son of a bitch.'

I looked out the window thinking that. And then, there was a phone call. I answered the phone, "Yes, Secretary Seo, what?"

Beyond the phone, I heard Secretary Seo's voice, "Boss. Your girlfriend's here."