As the cold dawn air lifted, bright sunlight poured dazzlingly over the wide tarmac of LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York.
After several days of steady snowfall, the skies had finally cleared—so vividly blue that yesterday's gloomy weather felt like a distant memory.
A black limousine, escorted by a Cadillac Escalade, glided smoothly across the airfield before coming to a stop beside a Gulfstream IV private jet painted in Norton Blue and Crystal White.
From the Escalade, Baucus, a burly black bodyguard, stepped out first. His sharp eyes swept over the surroundings before he opened the limousine's rear door.
A moment later, Seok-won emerged—wearing Ray-Ban sunglasses and a cashmere coat.
Holding the door, he glanced at Baucus and offered a faint smile.
"You've done well during our stay in the U.S."
"Just doing my job, sir."
Baucus replied with a grin. Seok-won gave his shoulder a light pat before walking toward the jet, joined by Han Ji-sung, who had stepped out from the passenger seat.
They ascended the lowered stairway leading up to the aircraft.
"Welcome aboard, Chairman."
Andrea, standing by the entrance, greeted him with a charming smile.
"Take good care of us on the flight back to Seoul," Seok-won said, returning the nod.
"Of course, sir. I'll make sure it's a safe and comfortable journey."
Andrea replied with her usual poise, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Stepping into the private jet, Seok-won was greeted by a wave of gentle warmth — the heater had clearly been running in advance. The interior, dressed in elegant white tones, exuded quiet luxury.
When Seok-won handed over his cashmere coat, Andrea gracefully hung it on a rack and placed it neatly inside the wardrobe.
Meanwhile, Seok-won took his usual seat — a spacious window-side single chair he always chose when flying. Leaning back comfortably, he gazed through the rounded cabin window, spotting Baucus still standing beside the massive Escalade, remaining at his post until the jet would finally take off.
At that moment, Andrea stepped closer.
"We'll be taking off in about ten minutes. Is there anything else you'd like before departure?"
"Once we're in the air, bring me a whiskey on the rocks."
"Of course, sir."
As Andrea walked away, a soft vibration came from Seok-won's pocket. He pulled out his phone and answered.
[I'm glad you haven't taken off yet.]
It was Landon's voice. Leaning back in his seat, Seok-won asked calmly:
"What's going on?"
[Nothing urgent, sir. I just wanted to inform you that there's a party interested in acquiring part of our Cisco holdings through a block deal.]
"That's good news. Selling through a block deal will let us unload the shares without shaking up the market."
[Exactly. Since all our holdings are in high-profile dot-com companies, several firms have expressed interest the moment they heard we were selling.]
"The more buyers we have, the better the price we can command."
Holding the phone to his ear, Seok-won asked,
"Who's the one looking to buy the Cisco shares?"
Landon replied immediately:
[It's Lone Star Fund.]
"...!"
[They're a private equity fund based in Dallas, Texas — not on Wall Street — so you may not be too familiar with them. They're a fairly large global fund involved in multiple sectors, including real estate.]
The name caught Seok-won off guard for a moment.
It was no wonder — for any Korean, Lone Star was a name impossible to forget.
Quickly regaining his composure, Seok-won tightened his grip on the phone.
"So, you're saying Lone Star wants to buy part of our Cisco stake."
[That's right. Not the entire amount, but they've sent a letter of intent to purchase 5% of our holdings.]
A glint of curiosity flickered in Seok-won's eyes.
"Five percent? What's the value of that?"
[Based on yesterday's closing price, they've offered a 10% premium, totaling $23.1275 billion for the stake.]
"That's a substantial sum. Does Lone Star even have that much liquidity?"
[I'm not sure of the details, but it seems most of the capital will be borrowed from financial institutions, using the acquired shares as collateral.]
"So, they're planning a leveraged buyout, then."
Even though Lone Star was a major private equity group with numerous affiliated funds under its umbrella, raising over twenty billion dollars in pure cash would have been impossible — so the explanation made sense.
Sensing a slight change in Seok-won's tone, Landon hesitated, then asked cautiously:
[If you're uncomfortable working with Lone Star, we have plenty of other interested buyers. We can decline their offer and negotiate elsewhere.]
"No, that's fine. Proceed with the block deal with Lone Star."
[Are you sure about that, sir?]
Landon's voice carried a note of uncertainty, as though double-checking a decision that felt heavier than it appeared.
"Of course. We can be flexible with the terms if needed—just make sure the deal goes through."
Seok-won's eagerness to see the block deal with Lone Star succeed puzzled Landon.
[Is it really necessary to push that hard?]
"Besides Cisco, we have dot-com stocks in Yahoo, Microsoft, and SoftBank to sell as well. If we want everything cleared before March, we need to move quickly."
Landon didn't press further. He suspected that even if he asked, Seok-won wouldn't reveal the true reason, so he let it go.
[Understood. I'll proceed with the block deal with Lone Star, assuming you've approved it.]
"Do that."
After a few more words, Seok-won ended the call and set his phone down. Andrea, seemingly waiting for him, stepped closer.
"We'll be taking off shortly. Please fasten your seatbelt."
Seok-won gave a small nod, located his seatbelt, and clicked it into place.
Andrea smiled and left him to settle in. Nestling into the plush seat, Seok-won muttered to himself:
"Lone Star, of all firms, buying our Cisco shares… this is going to get interesting."
As a company emblematic of the dot-com boom, Cisco was destined to experience a catastrophic drop once the bubble burst.
"If my memory serves, the decline was up to 90% from the peak."
In other words, shares bought for over $20 billion could shrink to just a tenth of their value.
"Moreover, since they're using borrowed funds rather than their own capital, the impact will be even greater."
—It was obvious that before the shares even fell by 90%, the financial institutions that had lent the money would forcibly liquidate the purchased Cisco stake.
"Even if the forced liquidation occurs, by that point the entire market will be gripped by fear. It'll be almost impossible to sell properly."
In any scenario, it was certain that Lone Star Fund would record astronomical losses.
"Who knows—they might even lose all their fund capital and go bankrupt over this."
If that happened, the scandal of buying Korea Exchange Bank cheaply, avoiding taxes, and angering the Korean public a few years later would never occur—so it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
"I was ready to punish them if they tried the same trick with Korea Exchange Bank again. But now they're voluntarily buying a ticking bomb at a high price. This is like solving the problem without lifting a finger."
Seok-won's lips curled into a pleased smile as he leaned back in his seat, clearly satisfied with how events were unfolding.
***
Choi Ho-geun, wearing a white dress shirt and a purple tie, with a folder tucked under his arm, strode into the Fund Operations Department office.
He scanned the room, where employees were finalizing the day's stock market transactions, and barked loudly:
"We have a meeting, so finish closing out your trades and stay here!"
Hong Jae-hee, dressed in a two-piece suit, turned wide-eyed.
"All of a sudden? You didn't mention anything earlier."
Yoo Seok-hyun, seated in his chair, looked equally puzzled.
"Is it going to be a long meeting?"
Choi Ho-geun narrowed his eyes at their reactions.
"What's the matter? You two have a date tonight or something?"
Both Hong and Yoo hesitated, unable to answer immediately, clearly flustered.
As if expecting this, Choi Ho-geun placed a hand on his hip and said firmly:
"This is important, so the date can wait."
"…Yes."
"Understood."
Seeing the two respond with unusually weak voices, Choi Ho-geun clicked his tongue in disapproval.
"At work, you focus on work. Back in my day…"
Seeing their two senior colleagues stuck under Choi Ho-geun's scolding, Noh Hee-won quickly slid her hand under the desk and typed a message on her phone to her friends, letting them know she wouldn't be able to make it to their plans today.
'No way I can get out of here.'
It had been a while since their last gathering, but it seemed she would have to miss it.
"Anyway, work hard, got it?"
"Ugh… I think my ears are bleeding… sir…"
"Jae-hee, are you okay?"
Choi Ho-geun shot a disapproving glare at Hong Jae-hee, who was pretending to be fragile, and Yoo Seok-hyun, who was fussing over her. Seeing the pair together made him nearly boil with frustration—he could feel his blood pressure rising.
Sighing inwardly, Choi Ho-geun started to turn back toward his desk, only to furrow his brow at a strange sense of something missing.
"What… did I forget something?"
Then he noticed Jung Hwan-yeop sitting quietly at his desk, unusually silent for someone who normally couldn't keep his mouth shut for even a moment. Jung Hwan-yeop was smirking to himself for some unknown reason.
Choi Ho-geun frowned as if he'd seen something he shouldn't have.
"And what are you grinning at now?"
Hong Jae-hee glanced at Jung Hwan-yeop and answered on his behalf.
"Ever since he heard that all of our Modunet shares were sold to the California Public Employee Pension Fund, he's been like that."
Choi Ho-geun's expression twisted further in confusion.
"And what does that have to do with you?"
"No, sir, just hear me out."
Jung Hwan-yeop spun his chair around, a wide grin spreading across his face.
"With this deal, the company—or rather, the chairman—made over 700 billion won in profits, right?"
"Of course. We acquired the Modunet stake sold in the block deal for 5.5 billion won before it went public, so that's how the profit came about."
Even as he answered, Choi Ho-geun couldn't help but admire Seok-won's keen insight in spotting a company poised for a jackpot.
"Anyway, since the jackpot hit big, I suppose some crumbs will fall to us, like last time with Gold Bank?"
Realizing Jung Hwan-yeop was hinting at a bonus, Choi Ho-geun shot him a look of exasperation.
"Ugh, you little brat! The company made a profit through smart venture investing—what are you expecting?"
"Still, such a huge profit… surely there must be something, right?"
Jung Hwan-yeop clasped his hands like in prayer, his eyes sparkling, which immediately made Choi Ho-geun frown.
"You just got your year-end bonus. Don't expect more. Spend that time searching stocks harder and improving your returns so you can earn your bonus legitimately."
"Ah, I'm just allowed a little hope, aren't I? No need to be so harsh."
Jung Hwan-yeop pouted slightly, muttering under his breath.
"And you know I had the highest returns this month anyway."
"Yes, very well done."
Choi Ho-geun gave a reluctant word of praise before turning to the rest of the team.
"If you don't want to stay late, finish up quickly and gather in the conference room!"
"Tch, you only hate me."
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
In the midst of it, Choi Ho-geun, with his uncanny hearing, narrowed his eyes at Jung Hwan-yeop, who quickly averted his gaze and pretended to be busy with something else.
"I didn't say anything! Come on, everyone, what are you doing? Didn't you hear the manager? Finish your settlements quickly and gather!"
Clearly guilty, Jung Hwan-yeop's nervous behavior made it obvious to everyone. Choi Ho-geun pressed one hand to his forehead and groaned in exasperation.
"I swear, it's because of that guy that I'm aging… I'm really aging."