InkBound
patreon
CH303 | GSI
🕑 Added 2025-08-27 10:25:37 +0000 UTCStill in awe, the group stepped off the bus as it came to a stop. Waiting for them with a warm smile was a tall, blonde woman.
“Welcome aboard. We’re delighted to have you.”
Dressed in a beige trench coat with leather gloves and her hair swept up in a neat bun, the striking woman was Bella, the private jet’s flight attendant.
She had the glamorous figure of a fashion model and greeted them in slightly accented but impressively fluent Korean. The group couldn't help but stare in surprise.
It was hard not to be taken aback—a stunning foreign woman speaking Korean so naturally.
“This is Miss Bella, our flight attendant,” Han Ji-sung introduced.
Choi Ho-geun gave her a polite, slightly awkward smile.
“Oh, thank you for welcoming us.”
The rest of the team nodded and bowed slightly, still intrigued by her presence.
Bella responded with a soft smile and raised one arm, gesturing toward the lowered boarding stairs.
“Please, board this way.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Carrying their bags, Choi Ho-geun and his team cautiously stepped into the private jet—for most of them, their first time on one.
What immediately caught their eyes was the opulent interior—wood paneling and leather upholstery from floor to ceiling.
It looked more like a luxury hotel penthouse than the inside of an aircraft, and the entire group stood in silent awe.
Even the plush cream-colored carpet that covered the floor looked so clean it made them hesitate to step on it with their shoes.
“Wow… planes can look like this inside?”
“This is basically a flying hotel.”
Hong Jae-hee and Yoo Seok-hyun looked around in amazement.
“No kidding. This makes first class feel like economy. I’d be fine sleeping right here on the floor,” Jung Hwan-yeop added, pushing up his sunglasses as his eyes widened in admiration.
Even Choi Ho-geun, though trying not to show it, couldn’t help glancing around with curiosity.
Han Ji-sung smiled inwardly—he’d seen the same reaction from just about everyone the first time they stepped inside.
“The President is seated up front,” he informed them.
Snapping back to attention, Choi Ho-geun and the others quickly set down their bags and followed him forward to offer their greetings.
Guided by Han Ji-sung, they moved toward the front of the cabin, where Seok-won sat comfortably in a wide beige leather seat—far more spacious than any first-class seat—with a laptop open on the table in front of him.
“Sir,” Choi Ho-geun said, straightening his posture and stepping forward.
Seok-won turned his head. Wearing a crisp white shirt with no tie, he offered a faint smile as he looked at them.
“You’re here. First time on a private jet, I take it?”
“Yes, sir. I never imagined we’d be flying in something this incredible.”
The rest of the staff standing behind him nodded in agreement.
“It’s a long flight to New York. Since we’ll be in the air a while, don’t worry about me—just relax and make yourselves comfortable.”
“Yes, sir.”
Even though they said they’d relax, having Seok-won himself on board made it impossible not to feel a bit cautious.
“If you’re curious about anything, ask Assistant Manager Han. And Bella, our dedicated flight attendant, can speak some Korean—so you shouldn’t have any trouble,” Seok-won said before turning his attention back to his laptop.
Han Ji-sung picked up from there and addressed the group.
“There’s plenty of space, so feel free to sit wherever you’re most comfortable.”
Choi Ho-geun and the team stowed their luggage in the overhead compartments and took seats in pairs, diagonally behind Seok-won. There were enough seats for each person to sit alone, but since it was the first overseas trip for most of them, they naturally stuck close together.
Sitting by the window, Hong Jae-hee ran her fingers over the buttery-soft leather seat, which felt even more plush than her couch back home, then let out a small sigh.
“I should’ve brought my camera.”
“To take souvenir photos?” asked Yoo Seok-hyun, seated next to her.
“Of course! When will I ever get to fly on a private jet again?”
Yoo chuckled.
“Well, it is the President's personal jet. Odds are we’ll be flying it again on the way back, right?”
“Oh! You’re right! I have to take pictures next time.”
Jae-hee clapped her hands as if sealing a personal vow.
Up front, Jung Hwan-yeop kept glancing around with wide eyes. He leaned toward Choi Ho-geun and whispered,
“He acts so down-to-earth, I sometimes forget—but yeah, he's on a whole different level.”
“Quit gawking like some country bumpkin. You’re making it obvious,” Ho-geun muttered back, rolling his eyes.
“Tsk. Why is it always me you scold?” Jung pouted, then cast a quick glance toward Bella, who was now closing the boarding door. His expression morphed into one of dreamy admiration.
“But seriously… isn't the flight attendant gorgeous? She looks like she walked straight out of a magazine. I bet they only hire the prettiest people for private jets. And her Korean’s solid, too. Totally my type.”
Choi Ho-geun shot him a look of disbelief, as if to say, Here we go again.
“Let me just say this in advance: don’t embarrass yourself trying to flirt. Keep it professional.”
“Oh, c’mon, you really think I’d get rejected?”
“Like anyone would say yes to a date with someone like you,” Choi Ho-geun scoffed.
“What’s wrong with me?” Jung Hwan-yeop shot back, clearly offended.
Ho-geun let out a long sigh.
“If you studied Korean, you should know your place. And if you studied math, you should know your limits.”
“They say even the toughest tree will fall if you chop it ten times!”
“Yeah? And you’re no lumberjack, so quit going on about trees already.”
Rubbing his temples, Ho-geun added,
“Even with trees, you need to size them up first. If you just swing your axe at anything, you’ll end up breaking the blade. I’m telling you—just drop it.”
“You’re seriously underestimating me,” Hwan-yeop muttered.
“Underestimating? No one knows you better than I do, punk.”
Hwan-yeop let out a huff of frustration.
“Now I really want to get her number, just to prove you wrong. Watch me.”
“Do whatever you want. Just don’t come crying to me over drinks when you get rejected.”
“You must’ve forgotten my nickname—Yeouido's Casanova. One look at me and the ladies’ hearts flutter.”
“You sure it’s not their fists that start twitching?”
Ho-geun replied dryly, expression flat.
“If you’re such a catch, why are you still single?”
“I’m not single because I can’t get married. I just don’t want to break too many hearts by settling down.”
“Idiot.”
Just as their playful bickering hit its stride, Bella appeared beside them with a smile.
“We’ll be taking off shortly. Please fasten your seatbelts.”
“Oh, uh—yes, of course.”
Startled by how close she was, Jung Hwan-yeop blushed and couldn’t quite meet her eyes.
Choi Ho-geun caught the whole thing and smirked knowingly.
“Yeah, good luck getting that number,” he muttered.
Soon after, the Gulfstream IV carrying the group pulled away from the parking apron and, guided by the control tower, slowly made its way toward the runway.
At the holding point, the engines roared to full power, and the jet surged forward down the long stretch of tarmac, speeding past 300 km/h before powerfully lifting off and soaring into the blue sky.
*
Seongbuk-dong, Seoul.
Chairman Chun Sung-deok, a major figure in Myeong-dong's private loan market, sat cross-legged on the ondol-heated floor in traditional Korean hanbok, a pair of reading glasses perched on his nose, scanning the early edition of the next morning’s newspaper that had just come off the press.
Just then, he heard someone approaching from outside, followed by the voice of his butler, Oh Tae-min.
“Chairman, may I come in for a moment?”
Sliding open the traditional paper door, Oh Tae-min stepped in and took a seat on the cushion across from the lacquered reading desk. Chairman Chun removed his glasses and asked,
“What is it?”
Meeting his gaze, Oh Tae-min spoke in a calm, even tone.
“It seems Hanbo Group is planning to sell off some of its real estate to ease the cash crunch caused by the construction of their Dangjin steel mill.”
Chairman Chun furrowed his brow slightly as he sat atop a thick silk cushion.
“They’re selling off property?”
“Yes, sir.”
Chun's voice dropped slightly as he asked again.
“What exactly are they putting on the market?”
“It’s not officially confirmed yet, but there’s word they’re planning to list the Hanbo Construction building in Seosomun, a 40,000-pyeong apartment site in Jangji-dong, Songpa District, and an 11,000-pyeong site in Gaepo-dong.”
“Those are all large, prime assets... If Chairman Choi is willing to part with them—he treats his real estate like gold—then it’s true what they say. Their financial situation must really be in trouble.”
Having risen to 18th among Korea’s top conglomerates through the construction industry, Hanbo Group had been ambitiously pursuing a massive project: reclaiming over a million pyeong of oceanfront in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province, to build the world’s fifth-largest steel mill, with an annual output of 8 million tons.
However, the project’s construction cost, initially estimated at 2.7 trillion won, had ballooned to 5.7 trillion won, and with even its core construction business now mired in a downturn, the group was facing a severe cash crisis.
“In addition to the real estate sales, they’re reportedly planning to issue another 70 billion won in corporate bonds next month.”
“Also to cover construction costs for the Dangjin steel plant, I assume?”
“Yes, sir.”
Chairman Chun Sung-deok tapped his fingers on the lacquered reading desk, thinking for a moment before he spoke again.
“They said Hanbo Steel’s debt exceeded 4 trillion won compared to last year, right?”
Oh Tae-min responded immediately to the question, which sounded more like a muttered thought.
“As of last month, it surpassed 4.5 trillion won.”
“So it’s increased by over 100 billion won again in that short time…”
“The second phase of construction currently underway is nearly twice the scale of the first phase, which was completed in June. Naturally, their borrowings have grown.”
Chairman Chun clicked his tongue in disapproval.
“Tsk. It’s like pouring water into a bottomless pit.”
“Still, won’t things improve once both phases are completed and the steel plant is fully operational next March?”
“You really believe that?”
Chun let out a dismissive snort.
“They say that plant in Dangjin will produce 8 million tons of molten iron a year. Maybe that’s good news during a booming economy, but in times like these, where are they going to sell all that steel?”
“……”
“And unlike other factories, you can’t just shut down a blast furnace when inventory piles up. That makes it even more of a headache. On top of that, they’ve racked up massive debt just to build the facility… So really, they only have one option.”
“You mean… they’ll start dumping the inventory?”
“You think creditors will just sit back and watch after all that money was spent building the plant, only for operations to stall from the start?”
“True… I suppose they wouldn’t.”
Even Oh Tae-min had to nod. If it were him, he’d likely pressure them for repayment too, worried about not getting his money back.
“At this rate, they might go bankrupt before they even get the chance to deal with the debt.”
Just half a year ago, no one would have believed a top-20 chaebol like Hanbo Group could go under.
But with the construction industry in a prolonged slump and their financials deteriorating rapidly, that possibility no longer seemed far-fetched.
Chairman Chun thought back to Seok-won, the second son of Chairman Park, who had visited months ago with a bold proposal: give up his stake in the Mido Department Store in exchange for a bet.
“Maybe that kid was right—Hanbo Group could really go down.”
He muttered in a heavy tone, and a similarly grave expression crept across Oh Tae-min’s face.
“To be honest, when President Park suggested we dump all our Hanbo Group bonds, I thought it was too hasty… but now, it looks like that was a very wise move.”
“Yeah. If I’d ignored his warning and held onto those bonds, I’d be in quite a mess right now.”
In fact, as rumors of Hanbo Group’s worsening financials spread, their corporate bonds—not just in steel but across all affiliates—were being traded at over a 10% discount.
“I knew from the start that he wasn’t just some ordinary kid… and it looks like my instincts were right. Seems I’ve lost this bet.”
A pleased expression, rather than displeasure, appeared on Chairman Chun Sung-deok’s face as he calmly acknowledged his loss.
