12 Hours After

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

December twenty-fifth, 2021, Christmas….

South Korea had been hit by the cold economic crisis from China, but nevertheless, trees were hung and carols were in the air all over Seoul. I went on a date with Ah-young to Jongro. The first in a long time. I had been busy working for a while, running up and down between my penthouse and the company, and I was a little stuffy.

Ah-young had said to me, "Do you want to go to Myeongdong Cathedral with me?"

Ah-young had no religion, but the atmosphere around Myeongdong Cathedral on Christmas Day was good. So I went down to the old streets of Jongro with her, having a meal, drinking coffee, stopping by Myeongdong Cathedral to pray, and enjoying a date. It even snowed a little, a White Christmas, and was more picturesque.

"This is good, oppa, isn't it?"

"Yes. It's better because it's snowing."

There were so many people around Myeongdong Cathedral on Christmas. There were many believers who came to pray, but there were also many couples who came to enjoy a date, just like us. Watching so many people, I inwardly thought, 'Couldn't someone recognize me?'

However, it didn't happen. Some people looked at our couple, but they were mostly looking at Ah-young.

"Wow, that woman's pretty."

"Hey, did you see that? Isn't she a celebrity?"

It was like that every time. I was famous in my own way, but I was only popular among investors and businessmen, and didn't seem very well known to the general public. In the first place, I was only famous for the title, "Han Sang-hoon, a genius stock investor from a poor family and a rich man," so few people could match Han Sang-hoon by looking at my face. When someone looked at me on the street, they would consider me a "social beginner from a rich family".

'Wouldn't this be the last winter to be able to walk around the streets like this?'

In a few months, it would be known that our company had taken a selling position in China well before the July crash, and that I had become the richest person in Korea. 'People usually remember only the first place, they do not know the second and third place.'

When it was known that I had made more than thirty-three billion dollars by anticipating the fall of China, now having more money than any conglomerate owner, people would remember my name and even my face. Everyone would want to know who the title of Korea's richest man belonged to.

That would make me difficult to get around like this. If anyone said, "The richest man in Korea is going there," they would try to see my face at least once. Maybe some people would be willing to do something weird. All of a sudden, they would ask for a handout, or threaten me...

'Well, come to think of it, that's really bad...'

It was a little sad to think it would be even harder to walk down such a normal street anymore. But, I'd already become the richest man in the Republic of Korea. This was a kind of tax that followed fame. Wasn't there a man who acted like that to Ah-young? She paid taxes on beauty, and I paid taxes on the title of Korea's richest man. It was unavoidable. Maybe it was the same thing as fate.

Four years ago, on the crosswalk to work, this may have been scheduled the moment I picked up the flyer that told me I was not going to be scolded for being late today...

'Fate... I can't help it. I can't help it.' As I thought about it, Ah-young asked me, "Oppa, what are you thinking?"

I answered roughly. "Uh? No. Maybe it's snowing, so I thought it was nice to have warm days."

Ah-young might be a little disappointed to know that it would be difficult to have such a normal date in the future.

"Well, I see. I will go to the bathroom, wait here." Ah-young left the words and went into a building in the Myeongdong Cathedral.

I watched her go and thought, 'We should go abroad for our date next year.'

"Huh?" A man in his forties with short hair and glasses looked at me. I looked back at him. When our eyes met, he opened his wide. "Isn't it CEO Han Sang-hoon?"

There was a person who had recognized me after all. I had thought that no one would recognize me, but when there was someone who knew me, I felt I was going to be bothered.

I thought, 'Shall I pretend I don't know?'

But he spoke with a tone of conviction, "Invictus... is right, isn't it?"

I thought it impossible to tell a lie, so I looked around and spoke a little lower, "That's right."

The man was quick-witted. When I showed that I didn't like crowds, he also quieted down. "Nice to meet you, Mr. CEO. I'm reporter Ko Yoo-sung for the Jungdo Economy News."

As he was a reporter for the economy, he had recognized me. He went on to say, "I saw you from a distance the other day, don't you remember me?"

I shook my head. While working at the company, I sometimes ran into reporters, but I couldn't remember where I had seen him at all. "I am sorry, I don't remember you."

"When President Joo Sung-won was mayor of Seoul, you came to receive the prize. I saw you then, a year or two years ago. Haha!"

"Oh, you did." I gave a cursory answer and tried to leave. Ah-young was in the bathroom right now, but she would be back soon. Not all of them, but some reporters would dig into other people's private lives whenever they could to make money, just like the paparazzi who were chasing Oh Hyun-joo, and the loyal dogs of Lee Won-jae of the Daewon Daily News.

Sure enough, he asked me questions. "This incident in China has had a huge impact on our country. Many companies in Yeouido have been in trouble this time. Didn't Invictus Investment invest in China?"

As a reporter for the economy, it was an economic question, but I didn't really intend to take an interview. I didn't want to go around saying I was the richest man in Korea."

I told him roughly, "Well, I've invested in China." It wasn't a lie, but it omitted the direction of investment.

"Oh, did you? You must have had a pretty big loss..."

But when the question came out, I saw from a distance that Ah-young was coming out of the building she had entered. As before, I didn't want Ah-young to become famous.

I said with a slight nod, "Yes, but I don't want to be interviewed here. I'm here to play."

He wanted to ask me something more, but I walked away from him and toward Ah-young. After I ignored him, he didn't follow me any further.

Ah-young asked me, "Do you know him?"

I shook my head and said, "He is a reporter. Let's go. Don't show your face. You might appear on the Internet news."

"There doesn't seem to be a camera or anything."

I glanced at him. He was watching me from afar, but his look was a bit strange. As Ah-young said, there didn't seem to be any camera.

Needless to say, the reporter Ko Yoo-sung wrote an article about me. I received it the next morning. As usual, I wrote my name on the news 12 Days After, and I got a strange piece of news. [Did Han Sang-hoon, who has been on a roll, take a big loss from investments in China?]

There had been no such news in the future news so far, but the coincidence made on Christmas Day seemed to have created a new butterfly effect. I read the article.

[... CEO Han Sang-hoon is known to have suffered a huge loss from his investment in China. CEO Han Sang-hoon, who became a big investor in the investment industry after a series of big hits such as Kai Games, Hyun Young Pharmaceutical, and FutureSync, made a large-scale investment in China, and recently lost most of the money he has earned so far, falling to the Great Chinese Depression… Faced with such difficulties, he visited Myeongdong Cathedral to pray for the power of his faith.]

I put my hands on my forehead as I saw the article. He spun a novel out of nothing.

'I said a word or two of that... Did he write this?'

On the one hand, it was amazing, and on the other, I thought it could be true. It was only natural that an investment company had lost money in the last half year, and it was not a new story. In addition, I somewhat answered him, so as to be misunderstood. Of course, it was wrong to write about me with such words.

'Yeah, this article will have some view counts. I'm sure there are a lot of people who want to see me go bankrupt.'

As usual, the public was very fond of stories about those went bankrupt. They didn't like to show it outright, but it was a very popular thing for them to say that someone who had been doing well went bankrupt. A young man in his early thirties, who was from a poor family and had been on a roll, was the target of jealousy. If I went to the Internet, I could easily see people who made bad comments about me.

- The company he worked for and his educational background are all second grade; it seems like he was just lucky.-

- I think he has good employees. I heard that the person below him, Vice President Jang, deals with all the practical affairs.-

- He was a lucky guy. That's it.-

I thought about the article. 'Shall I stop it from coming out? It's not true...'

On the contrary, however, it would be more dramatic if the article that I was bankrupt came out first, and the news came out that I became the richest person in Korea later. I could screw those who thought, 'Oh, he is bankrupt. I already knew he is going to be like that.'

'Yes, let's leave it alone. Now I'm a celebrity, but I can't always have good news, can I?'

This is what all the heads of the nation's large corporations were going through. Once they do something, they had to live with the bad comments.

-----------------------------

The day after Christmas, the news did not come up yet. It took time to write and publish a story. But, strangely enough, someone knew first that the news would come out.

Tiriri tiriri tiriri… I got a call from Lee Won-jae of Daewon Daily News. I took it without much thought. He used to say hello to me at the end of the year, even when everything was okay.

"How are you, Mr. CEO?"

"I'm fine. What about you?"

"I'm doing well, too. By the way..." He hesitated for a moment and then went on. "There is a piece of strange news."

The word 'strange news' got me straight to the point. He seemed to have received the news before anyone else, despite not being an affiliate of the Daewon Daily News.

He went on. "CEO Han has lost a lot of money by investing in China..."

I thought to myself as I listened to it, 'Why? If it's real, are you going to cut me off?'

But then, something passed through my mind. Maybe this stupid false news might be helpful for me.