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CH256 | GSI
🕑 Added 2025-03-27 01:55:48 +0000 UTC[Mido Department Store 72,210 ▲ 1,040]
Section Chief Jung Hwan-yeop, who had rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt and was sitting at his desk, shook his head as he stared at the stock price chart displayed on his monitor.
"It looked like it might falter for a moment at the start of the session, but it ended up breaking 72,000 won after all."
Hearing his muttered remark, Assistant Manager Yoo Seok-hyeon peeked his head over the partition that reached up to his waist.
"Judging by the continuous buy orders coming in, if things go well today, it might even break through 73,000 won."
At that, Assistant Manager Hong Jae-hee, who had tied her hair back and added a touch of style with a sparkling hairpin, joined the conversation.
"The stock has already exceeded the tender offer price. Do you really think it’ll go any higher?"
Since the price had already surpassed the tender offer announced by Donghae Group, it seemed logical for the buying pressure to ease.
However, there was no sign of that happening, making Yoo Seok-hyeon's prediction seem entirely plausible.
Jung Hwan-yeop scratched his head with the Monami ballpoint pen in his hand and said,
"By the book, this is where the momentum should slow down, but expectations are still running high. Just as Yoo said, it might really break 73,000 won."
"You're referring to the expectation that our side will raise the tender offer price, right?"
"Exactly. Looks like it’s finally time to reap the rewards of all the groundwork we've laid."
Jung Hwan-yeop smirked teasingly.
Hearing this, the broad-shouldered Yoo Seok-hyeon grumbled with a sullen expression.
"Rather than raising me up, it feels more like I’ve just been cleaning up after you, Chief."
"What? After all the meals and drinks I’ve bought you, you're betraying me now? So this is why they say you should never take in a black-haired beast."
Jung Hwan-yeop exaggerated his disappointment, expressing his supposed hurt with his whole body.
It was obvious that he was just joking around, which made Yoo Seok-hyeon and Hong Jae-hee exchange awkward glances.
"What should we do?"
"What else? Just leave him be."
Just then, a sharp clicking sound came from behind them. Jung Hwan-yeop turned his head.
"What? Who—"
Standing there, looking at him with an exasperated expression, was General Manager Choi Ho-geun, wearing a deep purple tie. It was unclear when he had left his separate office.
"Yeah. I think the same thing every time I see you—that you should never take in a black-haired beast."
"Hehehe… When did you come out?"
Jung Hwan-yeop quickly lowered his head and bowed.
"I saw everything—you slacking off instead of working and dragging the others into it. What do you have to say for yourself?"
"Slacking off? No way! We were having a very constructive and diligent discussion about the future outlook of Mido Department Store's stock price."
"Yeah, sure. Very constructive."
General Manager Choi Ho-geun furrowed his brow and rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache.
With the section chief himself leading the office in goofing off, it was no wonder his headaches never went away.
"Hey, you. I swear, dealing with you makes me feel like I’m aging faster by the day. Look at this—I've even got wrinkles on my forehead now."
"Isn’t that just a natural consequence of aging? You know, what people commonly call... getting old?"
"You little—!"
Choi Ho-geun raised an eyebrow at Jung Hwan-yeop’s cheeky remark.
"I was trying to stay calm, given the circumstances, but you just had to push it, huh? Fine, today’s the day. You and I are settling this once and for all."
With that, Choi Ho-geun confidently rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt.
Judging by the way he looked ready to pummel him into dust, Jung Hwan-yeop quickly shot up from his seat and clung to his arm.
"Come on, I was just joking! Just a joke!"
"Let go. I said, let go!"
"Why are you so on edge these days? Are you going through menopause or something?"
"...What. Menopause?"
Choi Ho-geun staggered, gripping the back of his neck as he shot Jung Hwan-yeop a piercing glare.
"Oh, no."
"Was that really supposed to calm him down? He’s not just trying to provoke him on purpose?"
"Shockingly, I think he was being sincere."
Yoo Seok-hyeon and Hong Jae-hee, who had been pretending to work diligently at their monitors to avoid getting dragged into the mess, shook their heads internally.
Thanks to Jung Hwan-yeop’s inability to tell when to keep his mouth shut, it looked like the office was about to get a lot noisier.
"You just called me menopausal, didn’t you?"
As it was, watching his hairline recede day by day from excessive stress was already depressing enough.
But now he had to hear that on top of it? His blood pressure shot through the roof.
"You know what? You actually make up the biggest chunk of my stress!"
"Oh, come on, that’s a bit of an exaggeration."
"Let’s put that to the test, then. How about we sit down and have a real honest conversation?"
Choi Ho-geun clenched his teeth and shook his fist menacingly.
At last sensing real danger, Jung Hwan-yeop nervously tried to charm his way out of it, lowering himself into a cowering stance.
"Aww, come on, sir. You know I adore you."
He even went so far as to form a heart shape with his hands in an exaggerated display of fake affection.
Choi Ho-geun grimaced in utter disgust.
"Yeah, no thanks. I’d rather not receive that kind of love."
Jung Hwan-yeop put on a wounded expression, but no one paid him any attention.
"Ahem. Anyway… it’s already Tuesday. Are we really just going to sit around and do nothing at this rate?"
Jung Hwan-yeop awkwardly cleared his throat and subtly tried to change the subject.
It was obvious that he was trying to slip away like a cunning snake to avoid getting scolded, but Choi Ho-geun only narrowed his eyes and let it slide, despite knowing full well what he was doing.
“What do you mean, ‘doing nothing’? We’ve been steadily buying Mido stock.”
“Oh, come on. We’ve barely bought a little over ten thousand shares.”
“That’s still buying, isn’t it?”
“But ever since the tender offer was announced, Donghae Group has likely purchased several times that amount on the open market. Compared to that, what we’ve acquired is practically nothing.”
At that, Yoo Seok-hyeon, still seated, turned his body slightly to face them.
“Honestly, I have to agree with Section Chief Jung. While there hasn’t been a flood of sell orders, there’s still a fair amount of stock available above 70,000 won. I don’t understand why we’re holding back instead of aggressively buying.”
“Same here. It’s not like we don’t have the money.”
Even Hong Jae-hee, who usually refrained from voicing opinions, joined in.
The account they had opened at Daehung Securities for venture capital fund operations contained an enormous sum—1.6 trillion won. This included not only the 10 billion won transferred from the textile division but also additional funds recently injected by Seok-won.
Despite having access to such a massive amount of capital, they had barely touched it, which naturally raised suspicions.
Choi Ho-geun had already been briefed by Seok-won a few days ago, but since the timing wasn’t right yet, he couldn’t reveal anything. Instead, he averted his gaze slightly.
“I’m sure the president has something specific in mind.”
Jung Hwan-yeop, quick to pick up on things, narrowed his eyes and asked,
“That sounds suspicious…”
“What did you just say?”
“Are you hiding something from us?”
Choi Ho-geun felt a jolt of panic but clicked his tongue internally.
Why is his intuition only sharp at times like this?
It was baffling how his instincts kicked in only when they weren’t needed.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Maintaining an expression of complete ignorance, Choi Ho-geun feigned innocence.
But Jung Hwan-yeop wasn’t easily fooled. Instead, he gave him an even more suspicious look.
“I don’t buy it.”
Cornered, Choi Ho-geun finally lost his patience and snapped,
“Stop wasting time and get back to work!”
However, his outburst seemed to have the opposite effect. Instead of backing off, Jung Hwan-yeop leaned in closer, his curiosity now fully piqued.
“Now you’re making it even more suspicious.”
Even Yoo Seok-hyeon and Hong Jae-hee were now staring at Choi Ho-geun with questioning expressions.
“I’m telling you, there’s nothing to suspect.”
As Choi Ho-geun struggled to deny everything, a fresh, cheerful voice suddenly chimed in.
“What exactly are you guys talking about?”
Everyone turned their heads to look. As always, Seok-won walked into the asset management office with his secretary, Han Ji-sung, looking like a model straight out of a fashion magazine in his perfectly tailored suit.
Seeing him, Manager Choi Ho-geun and the employees quickly lowered their heads in greeting.
“Welcome, sir.”
“You’re all working hard.”
Seok-won returned the greeting with a light wave before stepping closer and asking,
“What were you all so engrossed in discussing?”
Choi Ho-geun let out an awkward laugh.
“Haha, it was nothing important.”
“Yes, just some small talk. We were just saying how nice the weather is today,” Section Chief Jung Hwan-yeop chimed in quickly, playing along.
Before entering the office, Seok-won had overheard bits of their conversation leaking outside. But he decided to pretend he hadn’t.
“What’s Mido’s stock price right now?”
Choi Ho-geun immediately responded.
“A moment ago, it was fluctuating around 72,200 won.”
“As expected. The market must be anticipating that we’ll raise our tender offer price again before the deadline.”
“It seems that way.”
Friday the 12th was the deadline for Donghae Group’s tender offer.
“How many investors have applied so far?”
“There are still two or three days left, so not too many. But if we don’t take any action by Thursday, we’ll likely see a sharp increase in investors submitting their shares.”
Seok-won nodded slightly.
“Well, if they’ve held Mido stock since before the M&A buzz, they’re looking at a sevenfold return. Naturally, they’d be eager to cash in.”
“Exactly. On top of that, everyone knows the current stock price is heavily inflated.”
Even though Mido Department Store was a cash cow for Daehung Group, its stock price exceeding 70,000 won was a clear case of overshooting.
Anyone could predict that once the M&A speculation died down, the price would plummet back to its previous levels.
It was obvious that investors would want to sell their shares to whoever offered the highest price before the inevitable drop.
“In that case, it’s about time we made our move.”
Hearing this, the three employees listening intently perked up, their eyes gleaming with excitement.
Finally, time for a real counterattack.
Anticipation swelled in their chests.
But what Seok-won said next completely shattered their expectations.
“Just as we discussed, start acquiring Donghae Yuryang shares from tomorrow.”
Jung Hwan-yeop, who had been cracking his knuckles in preparation for action, instinctively raised his voice in shock.
“What? You’re buying Donghae Yuryang, not Mido?”
Jung Hwan-yeop’s sudden outburst made Manager Choi Ho-geun frown and glare at him.
Unlike their earlier playful bickering, Choi’s gaze was now genuinely sharp, making Jung realize his mistake a second too late. He quickly apologized.
“S-sorry about that.”
Seok-won, unfazed, simply smiled.
“That’s right. We’re not buying Mido—we’re buying Donghae Yuryang.”
But the confusion remained.
Why would we buy shares of another company instead of defending Mido?
As Jung Hwan-yeop wrestled with the logic, a sudden realization struck him, making his eyes widen in shock.
“Wait… Are you planning a reverse M&A on Donghae Group?!”
Choi Ho-geun, who had just scolded him for interrupting earlier, let out a deep sigh.
Meanwhile, Seok-won smiled knowingly.
“You got it. I prefer offense over defense.”
“As expected of you, sir!”
The boldness of such a move perfectly aligned with Jung Hwan-yeop’s own personality, and he gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up in admiration.
Yoo Seok-hyeon and Hong Jae-hee were equally stunned by Seok-won’s audacious plan. But the thought of striking back at Donghae Group—who had been trying to steal control of Mido through underhanded means—filled them with excitement.
“Make sure we accumulate shares quietly so they don’t notice too soon. And from now on, let’s tighten security to prevent any leaks.”
“Understood.”
Jung Hwan-yeop playfully made a zipping motion over his mouth and winked.
“When it comes to keeping secrets, I’m your guy. No need to worry.”
Unlike his confident declaration, Choi Ho-geun groaned internally.
You’re exactly the one I’m worried about, you idiot.
The others seemed to share his sentiment, judging by their skeptical glances at Jung.
After issuing a few more instructions, Seok-won left the asset management office.
While he and his secretary, Han Ji-sung, waited for the elevator, he felt a vibration in his inner pocket.
Taking out his phone, he checked the caller ID before answering.
A familiar deep voice came through the receiver—it was Lee Cheol-gyun.
[Everything has been set up as per your instructions.]
Hearing the long-awaited update, Seok-won adjusted his grip on the phone and asked,
“You made sure the source of the information can’t be traced back to us, right?”
[Of course.]
“Good. Release it after the market closes today.”
[… If rumors start spreading, it could put Daehung Group at a disadvantage in the stock battle. Are you sure about this?]
At the cautious question, Seok-won smirked slightly, the phone still pressed to his ear.
“It doesn’t matter. Just do as I said.”
Lee Cheol-gyun fell silent for a brief moment before replying,
[Understood.]
As soon as the short call ended, the elevator arrived with a chime, and the doors slid open.
Seok-won slipped his phone back into his pocket and stepped into the elevator alongside his secretary.
