12 Hours After Chapter 101

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

I listened intently . If reporter Kang Joo-hyuk said something here, I might ferret out a dark secret above it .

Reporter Kang Joo-hyuk said in a trembling voice, “No, I don't know… I don't know, but CEO Han…”

Maybe because of his fear, I thought he was a little out of his mind .

I spoke in a calm voice as much as I could, “Yes . Say it . ”

“Could I… see you in person?”

“In person?”

“Yes . ”

“That's nice . I was going to buy you a meal, but…”

“Where… where there are many people… did you say you live in Gangnam?”

“Yes, it's near Gangnam Station . ”

He continued to speak in a trembling voice, “Oh, I see . I see . Gangnam Station is crowded . That's great . That's great . I'll get back to you . Let's meet and talk in person . ”

“… yes . ”

After I finished my phone call, I looked at my cell phone for a moment . 'A devil must be afraid to be dragged down to Hell . ' However, there was not much I could do to help him . The corruption had already been exposed, and investors across the country were rushing in with knives and forks for Bisang Construction . The stock price of Bisang Construction would inevitably be expected to fall for some time even after hitting the lower limit price .

That was not the only thing .

'Jinyang Development, where they made a downward bet, would bring in not only institutional investors, foreign investors, but also ants who smelled the sweets . In this case, ants are scarier because they irrationally buy the stock and hoard it until it the bubble bursts .

'The losses are fixed . This is already spilled water . There's no way I can help him…

'Of course, I may spare him if I pay my own money to make up for the losses on the other end . But that's ridiculous . With that money, I would rather give support to children starving to death in Africa on the other side of the world . Even if he stretches over my trouser legs, there is no turning back . He knows that, too, if he's sane .

'Now that I heard his voice, I think he's out of his mind, and he's calling me… It doesn't mean anything . The only way he can live is to turn himself in and go to jail . That might be better . He could at least save his life if he were in jail .

'In American drama, when they go to prison, they die by another inmate . Well, our prisons aren't that bad . The next time I meet him… I'll have to try and persuade him that way, “Turn yourself into the police and confess everything you have done to manipulate stock prices in the past . Tell them who the owners of the money are and pay for the price of sin . Then at least you won't be buried in the hills or forced to kill yourself . ”

'Then, Lee Ah-young's parents will also be able to recover their honor . She may also shed the depression caused by her parents' death .

'The news must be a better gift for her than any flowers…'

I put down my cell phone, thinking pleasant thoughts .

“Mayor Joo Sung-won himself said that there was corruption in the selection process of a business operator . ”

I lay on the sofa and watched the news with my chin up . In the end, the corruption news on the selection of the business operator was carried by the nine o'clock news . As a political magnate, the focus was more geared toward the Mayor Joo Sung-won and who had taken bribes, rather than Bisang Construction and Jung Gi-woong, who had given them .

It was all done by subordinates of Mayor Joo Sung-won, but the news reported the reaction of politicians and the ones of the public .

“The opposition parties have strongly insisted that Mayor Joo Sung-won is responsible . ”

“Joo Sung-won, the mayor of Seoul, should take responsibility for the incident and step down on his own…”

“People are showing some mixed reactions to the incident . ”

“Maybe the mayor is responsible, too . ”

“There are a lot of Seoul government officials, and he can't know everything, can he? I think it's more believable that he exposed it on his own . ”

I looked at it and thought, 'That's what I expected, too . '

Mayor Joo Sung-won's move, where he hit first, was not bad . I nodded and found the remote control . Well, I'd seen all the news I wanted to see, so…

“This is the following news . There's a disclosure that stock price manipulators have intervened in the stock of Bisang Construction, in the corruption case of the Old City Regeneration Project . I'm a reporter, Jeon Gook-jin . ”

Such news came out . '… what?' I watched more alertly .

In the news, a modulated voice and the reporter's voice alternated .

“After all… it's going to be Bisang Construction . Let's buy it for six months, pass it on to the ants and leave . ”

“You've known this since six months ago?”

“Yes . Yes . … since six months ago…”

But I was familiar with that modulated voice .

“One informant, who asked for anonymity, revealed the specific operation schedule and methods . ”

“It was all… it was all a squeeze-and-pitch go-stop . It was done by talking to government officials . Being selected as a business operator… Competitors should also be invited to become bridesmaids, and then choose Bisang Construction, so let's double the share price and come out . Like that . ”

'… this guy… reporter Kang Joo-hyuk?'

Reporter Kang Joo-hyuk, who had talked on the phone earlier, was overloaded despite his voice modulation .

“He said the corruption case turned the operation into a blister . ”

“It… should have gone to the upper limit price today, but it went to the lower limit price, so it was ruined . Who's going to take responsibility? Who's that?”

I thought he was the one who stammered his voice and repeated the same thing twice .

'Has he made up his mind to expose it all to the media?'

Perhaps this was wiser . The last time, we looked at the case of Go-young Food, where public power did not protect citizens, either . It would have been difficult for the forces to use its power if he were to make the matter public this way . He was a reporter, so maybe this side was easier and more comfortable…

“In addition to the case of corruption, stock price manipulation… There's a constant stream of noise surrounding Bisang Construction . I'm reporter Jeon Gook-jin, for BKS News . ”

I watched all the news with my eyes wide . At the end of the news, my cell phone rang . It was Secretary Seo . I took it .

“Yes, what?”

“Boss, we're in trouble . ” Secretary Seo made a slight fuss .

“Why?”

“The prosecution says… our company will be investigated about the stock price manipulation as well . ”

“Ah . ” Come to think of it, our company was also involved . Our company also traded Bisang Construction, although we moved in the opposite direction from the operational forces . I said bluntly, “Yeah . Okay . So when are they coming? The prosecutors . ”

“They'll be here tomorrow . ”

“So I'll see you tomorrow when I get to work . ”

As I spoke calmly, Seo's voice was also slightly lowered, “Yes, boss… By the way, are you okay?”

“Well, our company… almost lost it . ”

Our company was clean . I'd already anticipated this scenario . We had also sold all the shares of Bisang Construction before the surge, like we didn't know there was going to be a spike .

“Well, I'll see you tomorrow . ”

“Yes . ”

A middle-aged man asked me, “So, CEO Han Sang-hoon, you ordered a short stock sale because you didn't think Bisang Construction would be selected?”

His eyes glared at me .

'You are the prosecutor and your look is great . ' I said, thinking about that, “Yes . I thought Jinyang Development and Hanbit Construction were much more likely than Bisang Construction . Therefore, it was too much to expect the share price of Bisang Construction to rise by fifty percent . It was definitely a bubble and I wanted to make a falling bet… I ordered a short stock sale . ”

He said, looking at the share price of Bisang Construction, which was at the lower limit price of -30% . “So you did it . You must have made a lot of money today, right?”

After all, we were the final winners .

“Yes, but… until yesterday morning, it was a loss . And then the corruption news broke, and I was lucky to make a dime . ”

I turned my head and looked at Vice President Jang beside me, eye to eye . “That's why I've been discussing this with Jang all weekend . I told him what to do when the loss got bigger . Isn't that right, Jang?”

Vice President Jang also nodded and carried on, “I really thought we were going to lose money . After the announcement of the business operator selection over the weekend, I thought we were in trouble . So I talked to the boss on the phone and discussed how to reduce the loss . If you look it up, you'll have the call record . It's okay for you to listen to the conversation . ”

We had certainly exchanged such calls on the weekend .

'What should I do with the short stock sale, boss?

'It's okay . Sometimes we lose money when we invest . '

It was hard to believe that someone who lost on the gambling used such a trick . The prosecutor also confirmed the point and nodded .

A man, who appeared to be an investigator for the prosecution, brought in a lot of papers and said, “I've talked to the team about the short stock sale, and they said they were still waiting on Monday afternoon to buy back . They tried to buy back after the news on Monday, but they couldn't because it went to the lower limit price so fast . ”

Upon receiving the report, the middle-aged prosecutor nodded, “Yes, I see . You almost lost your money, but the disclosure came out and you made a fortune…”

The disclosure was done by me, but that process was beyond anyone's knowledge . They would not look for me when I exposed massive corruption in the first place . Mayor Joo Sung-won, the leading candidate for the next presidential election, was protecting me .

“Yes, thank you . ”

This was going to be neat . I watched them go out of the company with my arms crossed . Vice President Jang went after them . I watched him for a moment .

'What's wrong with him?'

Then, about ten minutes later, he came back and told me, “I don't think it's going to be any problem at all . The prosecution has decided to devote its energy to tracking down those who bought stocks rather than us . ”

I guessed he had followed the prosecutor and been told that . “Really?”

“Yes . He said those who have manipulated the stock prices this time are quite a big force . I think the prosecutor is very interested in them . ”

That was great . In fact, Newsmaker Kang Joo-hyuk was nothing more than a long-term horse . Tak Joon-gi, Lee Won-jun, and Lee Won-jae should be brought up, so the case should be solved properly . I thought of the three men in a prison uniform . It was quite a contrast to holding a glass of champagne at Garden Envy .

'They have to pay for their sins . ' That was when I was thinking about it . My cell phone rang once more . When I looked at it, the caller was Lee Won-jae of Daewon Daily News .

It was Kaiji .

'Oh, I am a popular man . ' With such a thought, I took my cell phone and headed for my office .

Chapter end