Chapter 2

"Actually, the stock market is so volatile that it's quite difficult to say. The stock prices are changing every moment, you know."

Upon hearing this, I burst out laughing.

"Hahaha. Still, give me a rough estimate. There's an upper and lower limit to stock prices, so they don't fluctuate wildly like coins. What's there to hide?"

"..."

Park Sung-soo looked slightly flustered.

He seemed surprised by the boldness of the 22-year-old college student's reaction.

"Just tell me based on the stock market opening time this morning."

When I added this, Park Sung-soo scratched his head.

He then glanced at Go Hyun-wook.

'It seems the succession process for Hyun-wook is going smoothly without any threats. Even though he's in his 20s, he must face many challenges.'

Just by seeing Park Sung-soo's cautious look, I got that feeling.

Indeed, he was a different kind of person from a young age.

The education for a successor of a large corporation is not easy.

Moreover, L Group is known for its hierarchical structure, far surpassing other companies.

"Um... I'm sorry. I didn't expect you to ask that, so I didn't do the calculations."

Park Sung-soo said.

Tch. What a joke.

If I were the CEO, I would fire a legal team leader who talks like this right away.

But there's a reason he can answer like this.

He doesn't want to tell me the exact amount.

I can only think that he's pretending to be clueless for his boss's sake.

"Is that so?"

I answered with a slightly sarcastic tone.

Then Go Hyun-wook smiled slightly but didn't say anything.

"Since the chairman owned a wide variety of stocks, just tell me about the main ones."

"Yes. In fact, the chairman owned a wide variety of stocks. There are 72 of them."

"Then, you mean 3 percent of all of them?"

"Yes. It's stated that way."

"Hmm."

"So, it's a bit difficult to list all 72 of them here..."

Park Sung-soo had a troubled look on his face.

His intention to reveal less about the amounts and types of stocks was clear.

"Tell me about the biggest ones the chairman, I mean, my father, owned."

I said this and added,

"Focus on the L Group subsidiaries. Of course, he must have owned stocks in companies not named L as well."

"Hmm. That kid must have done a lot of studying."

Go Hyun-seok muttered.

"Shut up!"

Go Hyun-wook's voice was sharp but low.

"He's just like his mother. He pretends to be innocent, but once you peel back a layer, he's as stubborn as..."

Go Hyun-seok lowered his voice and muttered. But I could hear everything.

"Tell him."

Go Hyun-wook said to the hesitant Park Sung-soo.

"First, 4.9 percent of L Electronics, 5.1 percent of L Motors, and 39 percent of L Life."

"..."

I swallowed hard.

It's a misconception to think that a CEO would own more than half of the company's shares.

They usually spread their shares among their children as much as possible.

Even if we're blood-related, why would I know the status of my father's stock holdings, given that we hadn't been in contact for years?

I expected that he had set it around 3-4 percent for each subsidiary.

But 39 percent of L Life?

What was the market capitalization of L Life these days?

Wait, L Electronics has a smaller stake, but each share is more valuable.

'This doesn't add up...'

"Father's shares add up to about 4 trillion. So, 3 percent of that would be about 1.2 trillion."

Go Hyun-wook said.

"..."

I was momentarily at a loss for words.

That's a lot of money.

Cash assets are nothing. 1.256 trillion if you add the 56 billion in cash inheritance?

Did he leave me that much?

To an illegitimate child he hadn't seen for nearly 10 years?

"When was the will written?"

I asked Park Jeong-soo.

"15 years ago. In April 2006."

"Ah."

That makes sense.

At that time, my father wasn't the chairman of L Group or the legitimate successor.

But the situation dramatically changed, and he eventually inherited the entire L Group. It took less than a year and a half for everything to turn upside down.

'Back then, my father probably didn't think his 3 percent of shares would be worth over 100 billion.'

I nodded.

"Can I go to the bathroom for a moment?"

"Huh? Sure."

Go Hyun-wook answered.

"Phew! Did you feel the urge to pee when you calculated the amount? It's too much money for you. Did you win the lottery? Not the Korean one, but the American one."

Go Hyun-seok teased.

"Yes, I suddenly felt the urge to pee."

"Huh?"

I readily agreed, and Go Hyun-seok was taken aback.

"Yes. I have a habit of feeling the urge to pee when money is mentioned. Since you know this, it must be a family trait, right?"

I smiled and said.

"What?"

Go Hyun-seok's eyes widened.

"I'll be right back."

"Huh... That brat is still as cheeky as ever. He looks like a parasite's older brother."

Ignoring Go Hyun-seok's muttering, I headed to the bathroom.

Of course, I wasn't really feeling the urge to pee.

Once in the bathroom, I sat on the toilet and started searching the internet.

I looked up the shares held by my father, Chairman Jang, and the asset values of L Electronics and L Life, which I thought would be the most valuable.

"Hmm. As expected."

In just a minute, I gathered a lot of information.

It was a highly publicized issue regarding the inheritance of L Group.

From Park Sung-soo's attitude, it was clear that he was trying to pull some tricks even while executing the inheritance.

My mother was a new actress who was forced to retire from the entertainment industry when she became pregnant with my father's child, me.

And I, his son, am now a 22-year-old college junior.

I lived on the child support my father sent, but when he fell ill, it almost stopped, and I lived in poverty.

They probably thought there was no need to hide their intentions from someone like me.

They probably thought that if Go Hyun-wook showed a friendly face and said a few kind words, I would smile and agree to all their demands.

"Hmm. How annoying."

I muttered this as I was about to put my phone back in my pocket.

- Buzz. Buzz.

Huh? What's this?

A vibration pattern different from KakaoTalk or Facebook.

Curious, I unlocked my phone and checked the notification.

- New subscriber.

"Huh? What's this?"

When I clicked the notification, I could see the content.

My YouTube channel had 1 subscriber.

"Seriously... How can there be a subscriber for a channel that hasn't even uploaded a video? What a waste of time."

I muttered and put my phone back in my pocket.

Then I suddenly realized something.

Huh? At this timing?

I took out my phone again and stared blankly at the bathroom exit.

Are they starting to investigate me?

Subscribers: 3

Five minutes later, I returned to the CEO's office.

"Did you poop? That took a while."

Go Hyun-seok sneered.

No one in this room would think I only went to pee.

"Didn't you talk to someone?"

"..."

I didn't answer.

"Did you and your mother hire a lawyer or something? To get a little more..."

"Hey!"

Go Hyun-wook shouted, cutting him off.

He was probably going to say, "To get a little more out of it."

If that had come out, the friendly atmosphere Go Hyun-wook was trying to maintain would have been ruined.

"I didn't hire anyone."

When I said this firmly, Go Hyun-seok flinched.

"Oh, okay."

Suddenly serious, he was taken aback.

Go Hyun-seok has always been like that.

Go Hyun-wook is tall and, while not exceptionally handsome, he has a dignified presence.

He benefits from always maintaining a friendly face.

Actually, people like him are often the worst. But Go Hyun-wook and I haven't had any major conflicts.

However, Go Hyun-seok, being the 'second son' in the shadows, is neither tall nor well-featured.

In short, he's ugly.

His mother isn't that bad-looking, though.

His heart is also ugly, and he used to bully me openly.

I remember being introduced to him as my brother by my father and being naive enough to be happy about it.

Go Hyun-wook treated me like a pet, and Go Hyun-seok couldn't wait to eat me.

I got along well with Hyun-min, who is my age... but because of that, he is excluded from this gathering.

"Alright. Then, let me talk a bit."

Go Hyun-wook glanced at Park Sung-soo and spoke.

They probably came up with a strategy while I was in the bathroom.

My reaction must have been quite different from what they expected.

'I was trying to be patient, but that Go Hyun-seok just can't keep his mouth shut.'

"Yes."

I smiled and answered, maintaining a friendly attitude towards Go Hyun-wook.

"Recently, our country has changed a lot, hasn't it?"

"That's true. I'm not sure what you mean, though."

"These days, there's a lot of interest in the inheritance of large corporations. In the past, the media could be pressured to keep quiet about inheritance, but now it doesn't work at all."

Go Hyun-wook said with a wry smile.

"That's true."

"So, the succession process of our L Group is almost being broadcast live to the entire nation."

"Yes, I've seen a lot of it on the news."

I nodded.

"Right? Since you're involved, you must have paid close attention."

Go Hyun-wook asked, testing the waters.

"Not really. To be honest, I didn't think it was closely related to me."

"Hmm."

Go Hyun-seok snickered.

"Anyway, let's get to the point. I have an interesting story to tell."

Go Hyun-wook said.

"Yes."

"While people mock North Korea for its hereditary system, they don't find it shameful for corporations to be inherited in South Korea."

"Um, that's a good point. Who said that?"

"..."

Seeing that I agreed, Go Hyun-wook's eyebrows twitched.

"I'm studying at Wharton, and a German friend I met there said that. He asked if Steve Jobs or Bill Gates left their companies to their children."

"Haha. That's interesting. He's quite global."

I laughed.

"Yeah. But it was a bit funny to hear that from a German."

"Why?"

"Germany is famous for its family-owned businesses. BMW is a typical example of a family succession company."

"Oh, is that so? But the fact that the term 'family business' is used suggests that passing a business to family is a special case in the West. In Korea, we don't even use the term 'family business' because all businesses are family-owned."

"..."

"Wow, when did you become such a sharp talker?"

Go Hyun-seok grumbled.

"Hahaha. You're exaggerating, but it's true that my speaking skills have improved a lot since we last met."

Go Hyun-wook laughed and defused his brother's comment.

"Anyway, that mindset is gradually spreading in Korea. We're in our 20s. There's no need to fight this trend."

"Yes..."