Past Life Returner

The two corporations that dominated the smartphone operating system (OS) market were Googol and Berry. Googol had invented Galatea based on Linux[1], and Berry, which was rapidly emerging as an icon of innovation by creating the A-Phone, had reorganized the market with the new appliance operating system (AOS) they had developed.

Luckily, these were all in the future that had not happened yet. It would have been difficult for me to solve the phone’s password if it had been based on AOS.

“Daehoo Electronics…”

The Daehoo Group should have collapsed already. They had entered the mobile business, and my father’s phone was from them. His phone’s operating system was based on the license of a famous Finland company that was leading the current mobile market. Therefore, it was easy to unlock his phone.

Ring-

The home screen popped up with a short notification sound.

“I’m sorry, Father. I’ll take a look at it just this once,” I murmured.

I wondered what happened between Father and his friend.

Since Father was an executive in one of the three major banks, his contact list was filled with the higher-ups of society. There were multiple people with the same name, so he had put their positions beside their names. He had made a lot of calls to Jeon-il’s employees and Korean directors in the first week after his friend had asked him for help, but his frequency of calling them had reduced over time. The recent call records were instead filled with names I thought belonged to his friend and a member of the National Assembly.

「Kim Seok-Jun (Congressman)」

「Seon Kyu-il」

They had exchanged many messages, but Seon Kyu-il had been asking Father to do one thing, which was to introduce Kim Seok-Jun to Park Choong-Sik, the director of Jeon-il Group. I was relieved at that point, because I had been worried if something worse had happened to Father. It was just a small request.

Considering that my father was busy doing his friend a favor, Seon Kyu-il must have been his best friend.

Seon Kyu-il… Seon Kyu-il…

It was a familiar name. I didn’t know he was a physician, but I remembered that he was my father’s classmate from university. I was certain that he was one of the four close friends of my father, and I could even find him in my childhood pictures. My heart which had been throbbing out of concern, began to calm down.

I muttered, “This is a relief…”

***

Morning came, and we were having breakfast.

“Should I arrange it?” I asked, and both of my parents looked at me.

My father questioned, “What do you mean?”

“Don’t you remember last night? You told me everything, thinking that I was your friend,” I responded.

“I told you not to drink. You behaved so crudely in front of your son.”

Mother intervened right away, and she glared at my father as if she wanted an explanation.

“You know Kyu-Il, right? He had asked me to do something…”

Father looked at my mother and averted his eyes away from me.

He asked, “What do you mean to arrange it?”

“If you can’t set up a meeting for them, I’ll see if I can do it through my company. You know how the Jonathan Group is on the top of the financial world,” I replied.

“Haha, look at him. Hey, I have more power than you, kiddo. Hahaha.”

My father couldn’t stop laughing as if I was making a joke.

“Also, do you think that’s possible? You learned the wrong thing first.”

He was just saying that and didn’t actually mean it.

He added, “I don’t know if you remember, but he’s the one who gave you pocket money when you stopped by my office.”

“Our group’s funds are in Korea now, and I’m a portfolio manager. I know Director Park Choong-Sik,” I said.

My parents must have realized now that their young son was in the best investment group in the world. My mother had been previously glaring daggers at my father and now relaxed.

“Then, you must know his position in Korea,” Father replied.

“I heard that he’s called the President of Finance.”

The regional lawmakers couldn’t even meet him even though they were members of the National Assembly. That was why my father’s friend had asked him.

“I’m sure you know how hard it is to arrange a meeting with him. Let’s stop talking about him, and I’d like to hear about your work. You must have been discriminated against since you’re a young Asian boy.”

I couldn’t tell him that I had experienced racism from the White House and the Bilderberg Club. Instead, I told him my previous life story of living on Wall Street. I particularly told him about the privileges that Caucasians got in the U.S., but ended the conversation with the story of Kim Cheong-Soo.

Kim Cheong-Soo had become a myth in the Korean financial world, so Father knew him very well. In fact, he was happy when he said he had talked to him once over the phone.

When we were almost done with the meal, I changed the topic for the first time.

“One of our group’s clients is ‘Gold Wish,’ and I have become acquainted with them,” I said.

Then, my father stopped scooping rice.

“What is Gold Wish?” Mother asked with a pleased smile.

“Jeon-il is a group formed with foreign funds, and their largest shareholders are five companies, which are Gold Wish, Seiram, Taurus, Ichi, and Truth.”

I explained it simply so that my mother could understand.

“One of Jeon-il’s owners is a firm called Gold Wish.”

“Stay quiet for a bit,” Father looked at Mother.

“Did you meet Gold Wish?” he asked me.

“Yes,” I replied.

“They’re… so hard to meet. How..? Do they really exist in person?”

I shrugged as I wanted to leave it up to his imagination.

“I’ll arrange the meeting. The Gold Wish manager owes me, so he would happily fulfill my requests,” I said.

My father frowned.

“Tell your friend that the meeting will be scheduled soon. Also, let me know if you encounter any difficulties. I’ll help you as much as I can,” I continued.

“Mmm…”

“I’m your son, Father.”

***

「There will be good news, sir.」

Kim Seok-Jun had been looking at his phone since he had received Seon Kyu-il’s text.

Finally!

<Hello, Mr. Kim. I’m sorry to call you out of the blue.>

The person on the phone didn’t identify himself, but it was the voice of the President of Finance. Kim Seok-Jun had heard the President of Finance talk before from afar! He put his phone close to his ear.

<Seok-Jun: Hello, Director Park. I’m Kim Seok-Jun in Buan-gun[2].>

Although the person was not in front of him, Kim Seok-Jun bowed.

<Choong-Sik: Yes, I know. What’s your plan for today, Mr. Kim? Can you come to Seoul today?>

<Seok-Jun: Of course. I’ll go to you wherever you are.>

<Choong-Sik: Hmm, let’s see… It’s going to take…>

<Seok-Jun: I’ll get there in two hours, sir.>

<Choong-Sik: Then, let’s have lunch together. I’ll meet you at the office first.>

Everyone knew that Park Choong-Sik loved octopus, so Kim Seok-Jun and his secretary loaded fresh octopus that had just been caught that morning. When the secretary was about to load a box of apples[3], Kim Seok-Jun clicked his tongue.

The secretary asked, “I know, but shouldn’t you prepare just in case?”

“Then, don’t put it in Director Park’s car right away. We have to see how things go.”

“Okay, I’ll talk to his driver. You should concentrate on your legislative activity.”

The secretary handed Kim Seok-Jun a cheongsimhwan[4] as his heart was already pounding. Park Choong-Sik’s office was harder to get in than the Blue House[5]. Kim Seok-Jun sat in the back seat while his secretary sat in the passenger seat. The car moved at breakneck speed, despite the highway speed cameras.

“I’m so sorry, sir,” the secretary said.

“Nah, it wasn’t something you could do anyway,” Kim Seok-Jun replied.

“But how did you make it happen?”

“Do you know Professor Seon? He knows an executive in Jeon-il Bank who was an original member of the group. His name is Jeon-il. Isn’t that funny?”

The secretary responded, “I guess it’s right that people’s lives depend on their names.”

“Anyway, if the director doesn’t do me a favor, then you and I should give up and quit everything.”

“If he grants our request, then you’ll be re-elected for sure. You can do this, sir.”

“I hope the director gives us time to brief.” Kim Seok-Jun then looked out the window.

The secretary was also worried about that because it would be meaningless to leave after lunch when it was so hard to schedule a meeting with Park Choong-Sik.

After a few minutes, their vehicle entered Jeon-il Group’s headquarters, and all the secretary could see was the high building. Not that many people knew that this building basically controlled the entire Korean economy as Jeon-il was behind the scenes of everything. It wasn’t even because they were bribing politicians or anything. They were simply known as the mother group of Daehoo, and the top twenty conglomerates groups in Korea were in their hands. Therefore, the political world had no choice but to crawl under Jeon-il.

The secretary was nervous, and Kim Seok-Jun took another cheongsimhwan. They got out of the car together. The secretary remained in the VIP room on the first floor, and only Kim Seok-Jun took the elevator with Jeon-il’s employee.

Is this cheongsimhwan fake?

The fate of his future political career would be decided by this meeting. He arrived at the door of Park Choong-Sik’s office, and he heard a chattering sound inside. The conversation was in English, and when Kim Seok-Jun looked at the employee in confusion, the employee knocked on the door on his behalf.

Knock, knock.

The room became quiet, and Park Choong-Sik told them to come in. Kim Seok-Jun bowed as soon as he entered the office, then the moment he looked up, he became flustered. There was a woman sitting across from the director. He didn’t have time to be impressed by her beauty and could only think of her name.

Jamie… Jamie…

She was the CEO of Jeon-il.

Why is she here?

Kim Seok-Jun was certain that the cheongsimhwan his secretary had given him was fake. He was also amazed by the power of Professor Seon’s friend, who was the original member of the group.

***

I received a phone call from Jamie. It would have been impossible to talk on the line due to our fears of being eavesdropped on by the Korean government, but she began speaking freely as if she had resolved the issue. I would have realized from the upcoming year-end settlement, but Jamie must have started exercising control in OK Telecom.

<Jamie: It was because of the Saemangeum Project[6]>

It was a familiar name. Since there was no gate opened on or above that land, I was planning to purchase it in the future.

<Jamie: Kim Seok-Jun had come to ask us to help restart the construction. Are you interested in the Korean government’s business?>

<Seon-Hu: What do you think, Jamie?>

<Jamie: I don’t know in terms of profitability. I honestly think it’d be better to leave it as a mud flat rather than using it as farmland. Mr. Kim mentioned that the construction was often stopped in the past because of that reason. He also said it would be a reasonable project to revise the land into a cultural industry complex.>

<Seon-Hu: Jamie.>

<Jamie: Yes.>

<Seon-Hu: Fully support the project so that the construction can be completed as soon as possible.>

Of course, Jamie didn’t reply right away as the Saemangeum Project looked like a failure to her. It was natural for her to be skeptical of supporting something that would have no profit. I continued calmly.

<Seon-Hu: I need a huge lot in this country anyway. That’s the only place that can be trimmed and have no problem with carrying on our plan.>

<Jamie: Which plan are you talking about?>

I needed an air-raid shelter for my family, relatives, their loved ones and the military headquarters of the World Awakened Association.

<Seon-Hu: I’m going to build the world’s largest resort in this country.>

1. an operating system that directly manages a system’s hardware and resources. ☜

2. A county in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. ☜

3. I think there are bills in between each apple. It’s basically a box of bribes. ☜

4. A traditional Korean pill, formulated with herbs that stabilize excited sympathetic nerves. Koreans use this a lot when they get anxious or nervous. It’s also known as the ‘clear mind pill.’ ☜

5. The Korean equivalent of the White House ☜

6. Saemangeum Seawall is twenty-one miles long and is located in the southwestern coast of Korea. This project was commenced by the South Korean government to reclaim parts of the ocean and create industrial, tourism, and agricultural facilities. ☜