Chapter 9. College Classmates (2)

Around noon, the atmosphere naturally turned to farewells.

Drinking until dawn is only possible when you're in college. Jin Se-yeon briefly chatted with someone on her phone. The girls next to her asked,

"Hey! You said he's coming to pick you up because he's nearby? Who is it?"

"Could it be your boyfriend?"

"Oh! Jin Se-yeon, do you have a boyfriend?"

Jin Se-yeon shook her head.

"Boyfriend? No, just an older brother I know."

"But if he's coming to pick you up, aren't you dating?"

"No, we're not."

"What does he do?"

When her friends all asked at once, Jin Se-yeon reluctantly answered,

"He works at his father's company now."

"Where is his father's company?"

"Premier Asset Management. His father is the vice president there."

While it might be unfamiliar to the general public, as economics majors, they all knew the name Premier.

"Wow! Premier!"

"They're doing really well lately."

"Premier? A private equity fund?"

"They're the hottest private equity fund right now."

"Isn't that company known for giving generous bonuses?"

"Vice president's son! That's a big deal."

"How did you meet him?"

As soon as the topic of dating came up, the conversation shifted in that direction.

"Try calling him over."

"I'm curious about him."

Choi Han-byeol nudged Ha Kyung-tae and said,

"You used to like Se-yeon and confessed to her, right?"

Ha Kyung-tae, flustered, replied,

"Oh, that was a long time ago."

The others chimed in teasingly,

"That's right. You confessed to her when you were drunk."

"After she rejected you, you didn't attend lectures for two days."

"I thought you had dropped out."

Ha Kyung-tae pointed at me and said,

"Se-yeon has had many confessions. You, Mi-ru, also confessed to her."

"..."

Why are you dragging me into this all of a sudden?

Jin Se-yeon looked at me with a smile.

I said, drinking my alcohol,

"Yeah, that's right."

I used to really like her, but now it doesn't bother me at all. Time really does heal all wounds.

A moment later, a man in his late twenties wearing glasses appeared.

"Hello. I hope I'm not interrupting your fun with your friends."

He was of average height with a plain appearance, but he had clear skin and a good impression. His expressions and actions exuded confidence and prudence.

He introduced himself and handed out his business card.

"My name is Im Jun-il."

The card read, "Head of the International Bond Team, Premier Asset Management."

The friends all asked him questions at once.

"Wow! As a team leader, you must know a lot about investments."

"I recently started investing in stocks. Are there any good stocks right now?"

"Is Premier hiring new employees?"

"If I want to go into private equity, what should I do...?"

He answered their various questions kindly.

From this, he seemed like a solid and reliable person. One common trait of scammers is that they don't look like scammers.

Currently, the minimum investment for Premier Fund is 100 million won, but in two years, it will be reduced to 10 million won.

Due to its consistent and stable returns over several years, many people invested, making it a national fund.

Three of the people here have invested a significant amount of money based on his words alone.

Park Jeong-yeon asked,

"Are you dating Se-yeon?"

Jin Se-yeon quickly shook her head.

"Just a close older brother."

As she said, they aren't dating yet. But they will be in the future.

Compared to us, who are still in the early stages of our careers, Im Jun-il seemed more mature. He looked quite tall the first time I saw him, but now he seems to be of average build.

Indeed, people look different depending on the perspective from which you see them.

In the warm atmosphere, I said to him,

"Hello. I'm currently writing a report on Premier Fund. Could I ask you a few questions?"

"Report?"

"Yes. I work as an RA at DA Securities."

"Oh! I see."

"Since it's my first report, I want to do a good job."

Im Jun-il nodded readily.

"Feel free to ask. Since Se-yeon is your friend, I should help you."

"Most investment products have high stability but low returns, but Premier Fund is different."

"That's the biggest strength of Premier Fund. There are very few companies in the world that can consistently provide stable returns like ours."

His confident demeanor was impressive.

"Actually, I have some doubts about that."

"Doubts?"

"Despite the poor performance of bond funds recently, Premier has been consistently achieving high returns. Compared to other funds that only invest in AAA-rated bonds, Premier's returns seem excessively high."

The other classmates said,

"What's so strange about that?"

"If the returns are good, that's a good thing."

"What's the problem?"

Im Jun-il smiled.

"I've never heard anyone say that high returns are a problem. Of course, we only select high-quality, high-interest bonds for investment."

"That's odd. Stability and returns usually have an inverse relationship. There aren't many such bonds in the market. If it's a short-term thing, it might be possible, but can it be sustained long-term?"

His eyes slightly changed.

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

"I'm wondering if you're investing the assets elsewhere."

At this point, I don't know how involved he is in the company's operations, but if he's smart, he must know about the bad debts and the diversion of assets.

"What do you mean?"

"Actually, I heard a rumor that Premier Fund might have bad debts."

For a moment, his expression twitched.

Unlike 2.5 years later, only a few people, including me and Sung Yoon-a, have noticed this. Of course, there are no rumors yet.

Im Jun-il showed an openly displeased expression.

"Where did you hear such a false rumor?"

After the Premier scandal broke, he fled overseas with Vice President Im Tae-hoon and was later extradited to Korea, where he was sentenced to three years in prison for embezzlement.

To get three years for embezzling hundreds of billions is quite a light sentence.

This is why there are so many scammers in Korea.

Noticing the worsening atmosphere, my friends tried to calm me down.

"Hey, why are you like that?"

"Mi-ru, you seem drunk."

Ha Kyung-tae joked,

"Are you still in love with Se-yeon?"

"..."

This guy still can't read the room.

I continued, ignoring him,

"You know, there are so many fraud cases in the financial sector these days. Scammers are everywhere. So, I'm being extra cautious when writing my report."

His face hardened at my words.

"Scammers? Are you talking about me?"

I drank the remaining beer in my glass and said,

"Of course not. But are you sure you have nothing to hide?"

Im Jun-il's expression twisted, and Jin Se-yeon suddenly stood up and shouted at me,

"Hey! Han Mi-ru! Stop it!"

The room fell silent for a moment.

Everyone was looking at me with shocked expressions. They must think I'm ruining the celebration.

Jin Se-yeon looked very angry.

There's no point in continuing this conversation here. Everyone will soon know I was right.

I've said what I needed to say.

I gathered my things and stood up.

"I must have said some unnecessary things because I'm drunk. I'll leave first."

As I walked out of the shop and down the stairs, a woman's voice called out from behind.

"Did you have to do that at a celebration?"

I turned to see Ji-yu standing there.

She looked at me sharply and said,

"I hope you apologize to Se-yeon for what you did today."

She's angry?

She looks more cute than scary.

I smiled.

"Why are you smiling?"

"No reason."

She always seemed so nice on TV, but she has quite a strong personality.

I told her,

"Wait a week."

"Excuse me?"

"If you still think I'm wrong after a week, call me and I'll apologize."

She looked confused.

"Do you really think he's a scammer?"

I asked, feigning surprise,

"Or do you think I did it out of jealousy? Do I look that petty?"

Ji-yu waved her hand.

"No, no, that's not it, but..."

"..."

What's not it? You were thinking that.

She must care a lot about Se-yeon to speak to me like this despite her celebrity image.

Impressed by her concern for her cousin, I gave her some advice.

"Try to avoid featuring in CeeLab's songs."

She looked surprised.

"Excuse me? What do you mean?"

"I heard from an analyst in the entertainment industry that the rumors about him aren't good."

"What kind of rumors?"

"He has some issues with women. It might blow up in a few months, so it's better to keep your distance to avoid getting hurt."

She bit her lip.

"How do you know so much about other people?"

This might just sound like idle gossip right now. Whether she believes me or not is up to her.

"You'll see if I'm right or wrong."

* * *

After Han Mi-ru left.

The friends all looked shocked and said,

"Why was she like that?"

"Why did she start a fight out of nowhere?"

"What does a new RA know to act like that?"

"She must be very drunk."

"Is she really still in love with Se-yeon?"

Ji-yu, who had been listening, immediately stood up and said she would leave first.

Ha Kyung-tae said to Im Jun-il,

"Mi-ru is just drunk. Don't take it to heart."

"I'm fine."

Im Jun-il tried to act calm, but he wasn't.

'What does she know?'

Contrary to what was known, Premier was investing in risky assets and siphoning off the profits through shell companies.

However, only a few people in the company knew about this.

He himself didn't know the full extent of the operation, only that a portion of the assets was being handled this way.

'New employee, right?'

Given Premier's fame, there were many rumors. Rumors about good and bad news always abound in the market.

The information a new employee could get is limited.

From the reactions of those around him, he could guess the situation.

'She must have pieced together some rumors she heard to try to look knowledgeable in front of the girls.'

There was no need to report this to anyone.

Im Jun-il quickly erased Han Mi-ru's words from his mind.