Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Separated by the Charles River, Harvard and MIT, two of the most prestigious universities in the United States, stand facing each other.
Founded in 1636, Harvard University is the oldest and most prestigious university in the U.S., with over 100 buildings, large and small, centered around Harvard Yard. It has produced eight U.S. presidents and countless other prominent figures, instilling a strong sense of pride in its students and alumni. This strong bond underpins a vast alumni network that extends like a web across Arican politics and business, making it easier for Harvard graduates to secure success in society.
One of the reasons Seok-won, who had returned to the past and inhabited this body, continued his studies at Harvard was precisely because of this powerful network.
New students at Harvard spend their first sester in dormitories at Harvard Yard before choosing one of the 12 houses where they will live until graduation. Although it wasn't mandatory to live on campus, most students opted to stay, making the dormitories the starting point of Harvard's extensive alumni network.
Kirkland House, located near the Charles River, was one of the many dormitories on Harvard's campus, housing over a thousand students. On the second floor of the dormitory, built in a Gothic style with red bricks and arched windows, a man with ssy brown hair was sitting on the floor of a double room, which had a single bed, desk, and wardrobe on each side of the opposing walls.
The man, dressed in a stretched-out T-shirt and wearing glasses like a typical nerd, was Roy, Seok-won's roommate. He appeared to be no older than 22 or 23, with a youthful face, but his expression beca serious whenever he was assembling computer parts.
"Alright, done!"
Amidst a ss of power supplies, an Intel CPU attached to a motherboard, and various cables strewn across the floor, Roy raised his screwdriver triumphantly. Although companies like Apple and IBM were selling personal computers, they were expensive, making it difficult for budget-conscious students to afford them. So many students chose to buy parts and build their computers. However, not everyone knew how to assemble a computer, so Roy made a decent side inco by taking on such tasks for others.
While he was expertly tightening the screws on the case and cleaning its surface, there was a knock at the dormitory door.
"It's open, co in."
Assuming it was the person who had asked him to assemble the computer, Roy, still sitting on the floor, raised his voice in response. The door opened, and two Asian n in suits, looking out of place on campus, walked into the room.
They were employees from Daehung Group's U.S. branch, sent by Chairman Park Tae-hong to find Seok-won. The middle-aged man with horn-rimd glasses was Sohn Dong-sung, the branch manager, and the slightly younger man beside him was Assistant Manager Yang Se-jung.
"Excuse , may I ask you sothing?"
Yang Se-jung spoke in English, and only then did Roy look up and turn around.
"Oh?"
Roy recognized them imdiately, as they had also co to handle matters during the shooting incident a month ago.
"Are you looking for Luke?"
Luke was Seok-won's English na.
"Yes, we are."
"He's not in the dorm right now."
"Is he in class?"
"No, he said he had sothing to do and left a few days ago, saying he wouldn't be back for a while."
Yang Se-jung was shocked, as was Sohn Dong-sung.
"So, you're saying the young master isn't at the university right now?"
Sohn Dong-sung asked urgently, but Roy's expression was indifferent.
"Probably not."
"Do you know when he'll be back?"
"How would I know?"
Roy, seemingly annoyed by having to deal with these two n, replied curtly, "If you don't have any more questions, please leave. As you can see, I have work to do."
He pointed at the computer he had just finished assembling with the screwdriver.
Noticing the scattered items Roy had laid out while working, Sohn Dong-sung finally realized the situation and said,
"Oh, I apologize for the inconvenience."
Ignoring Roy's gesture to leave, Sohn Dong-sung and Yang Se-jung exited the room.
Walking through the wide hall adorned with ornate ceilings, Yang Se-jung glanced at his superior and asked,
"What should we do now?"
Sohn Dong-sung sighed heavily. It was a difficult situation—having co all this way on Chairman Park Tae-hong's orders to et Seok-won, only to find that he wasn't there. And even his roommate didn't know where he had gone. Sighing again, Sohn Dong-sung rubbed his face with his hand.
"We'll have to report back to Seoul first."
***
Manhattan, New York, USA.
About a 10-minute walk from Central Park, in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, stood a 54-story skyscraper clad in white marble. This was the headquarters of Salomon Brothers, one of the top five investnt banks in the United States.
Seok-won, who had stepped out of a black Cadillac Escalade, entered the spacious marble-floored lobby through a large revolving door, accompanied by Landon, who carried a briefcase.
As they approached the information desk, which had the Salomon Brothers logo prominently displayed on the wall behind it, a slender female employee greeted them.
"How may I assist you?"
"We have a eting with Mr. Cox. Could you confirm that for us?"
The employee, after checking the mos attached under her desk, straightened up with a businesslike smile.
"He'll be with you shortly. Please take a seat on the sofa and wait."
"Certainly."
As the employee picked up the internal phone, the two n sat on the cream-colored sofa in the lobby.
Glancing at the busy employees and visitors of Salomon Brothers passing by, Landon lowered his voice and spoke to Seok-won, who was sitting across from him.
"Are you really planning to go through with this investnt?"
While Landon's face was full of concern, Seok-won nodded calmly.
"That's why we're here, isn't it?"
"Of course, but… you could lose everything in one go."
"On the other hand, if the bet pays off, it'll be a huge jackpot."
Seeing Seok-won's confident smile, Landon couldn't understand what he was relying on.
They had been waiting for a while when a pleasant-looking white man in his mid-30s walked over to them.
"Are you Mr. Park, by any chance?"
"Yes."
When Seok-won responded, the man, wearing a friendly smile, handed over his business card.
"Nice to et you. I'm Cox, in charge of derivatives at Salomon Brothers."
Seok-won took out a business card holder with a luxury logo from his inner pocket and exchanged cards with Cox.
"Seok-won Park."
The newly-made business card was in dark navy with gold lettering, giving it a sophisticated design.
Seok-won then introduced Landon, who was standing next to him.
"This is my legal counsel who's helping with this deal."
"Landon."
Landon handed over his card and exchanged greetings with Cox. After politely storing the business cards, Cox discreetly scanned the two n and then, in a friendly manner, guided them.
"Please follow
to the eting room."
They followed Cox to an elevator and moved to a eting room upstairs. The room they were guided to was of moderate size and simply decorated, with a particularly notable view. Through the large glass wall directly opposite the entrance, the densely packed skyscrapers of Manhattan could be seen, promising a spectacular night view.
In the eting room, a middle-aged white man with dark hair and a young Latino man were seated at the long table. They both stood up to greet Seok-won and Landon as they entered.
"This is Mr. Paulson, the head of our departnt."
Cox introduced the middle-aged man dressed in a high-end tailored suit first.
"Paulson."
"Seok-won Park. Just call
Mr. Park."
Paulson slightly smiled as he shook hands with Seok-won.
"I was a bit surprised to see soone so young arrive, contrary to my expectations."
"Is that so? But age doesn't matter when it cos to making deals."
Paulson's eyes lit up with interest, impressed by Seok-won's unflappable deanor.
"You're right."
After finishing introductions with the Latino lawyer, who introduced himself as Pablo, Seok-won and Landon took their seats.
On the eting table were glass cups with paper covers and Evian water bottles, one for each person.
"If you need any other drinks, just let us know. We can also bring you cookies or chocolates if you'd like."
Paulson made a light-hearted joke, saying that people often looked for such things when etings ran long.
"No, thank you."
When Seok-won declined, Paulson nodded leisurely.
"Then let's get right to the point."
Seok-won nodded, and when he turned his head, Landon pulled a thin file from his briefcase and placed it in front of Paulson.
"This is the contract summarizing our conditions."
Paulson had already received a copy beforehand and briefly skimd through the docunt before passing it to Pablo on his left. Then he looked at Seok-won and said,
"You want to open a leveraged account for both pound futures and spot trading."
"Yes."
"I heard you want a 10x leverage, but that's going to be difficult."
Knowing from the start that the contract wouldn't be easy, Seok-won maintained his composure without any visible change in expression.
"And why is that?"
Paulson replied in a gentle yet firm tone,
"This is our first transaction, and increasing the leverage also increases the risk."
"A 10x leverage isn't that unusual. I thought an investnt bank as prominent as Salomon Brothers would have more guts, but it seems not."
Despite the blatant provocation, Paulson, who had plenty of experience on Wall Street, responded calmly,
"Ten billion dollars is not a small sum. And frankly, as this is our first transaction, there's no reason for us to bear the risk for you."
Looking at Seok-won, Paulson offered a compromise.
"We can probably go up to 5x. Would that be acceptable?"
Without hesitation, Seok-won shook his head.
"The leverage I need is 10x."
"Alright, then we can allow 6x. This is our final offer."
Paulson spoke in a polite yet businesslike tone.
"You'll find it difficult to get better terms elsewhere."
Paulson's deanor indicated that he wouldn't lose anything even if the deal didn't go through. Normally, this would be the point where most people would start to get anxious, but not Seok-won. Instead, he offered a new suggestion as if he had expected this all along, without changing his expression.
"The issue is trust, right?"
"Well, I won't deny it. If this deal goes well, we'll be more flexible with the leverage in future transactions."
"Then how about this."
Paulson leaned back in his chair, indicating that Seok-won should continue.
"Set the leverage at 10x, but raise the commission to 7%, with two months' worth paid upfront."
"…"
Paulson remained indifferent to the 1% increase in the proposed commission but leaned forward, intrigued by what Seok-won said next.
"If we set a margin call at an 8% increase from the average sell price, Salomon Brothers would have nothing to lose."
"A margin call condition at 8%?"
"Yes."
A margin call was when a bank or broker demanded additional funds be deposited if the account's equity dropped below a certain level due to losses. If the investor couldn't et the margin call, the bank or broker could liquidate the position to cover the losses.
"If we do that, even if the contract is liquidated, the losses won't exceed the $1 billion collateral."
As Seok-won pointed out, Salomon Brothers wouldn't be at risk, as the collateral would cover any losses, and they would still earn a significant commission.
After a brief exchange of whispers with Cox, Paulson looked directly at Seok-won with a serious expression.
"If we set the margin call at 7%, I might consider it."
"Eight percent. If that's unacceptable, we'll call off the deal."
But Seok-won firmly drew the line, showing he was serious about walking away if necessary.
Paulson quickly did the ntal calculations and, realizing the deal was still profitable, smiled and offered his hand.
Seok-won inwardly scoffed but outwardly maintained a smile as he shook Paulson's hand.
TL/n -
You can read the Auxillary Chapters of An Investor Who See Future novel where I've explained various financial terms.
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