The Sunyang Affair

2.5

The next morning as Ha Rin was having her daily briefing with Jin Yang Chul, his secretary came running in. 

"All companies are dropping their prices for the 64K DRAMs"

It seemed like the semi conductor business was in trouble. One by one people came into the room trying to persuade Jin Yang Chul to give up this line of business, while Ha Rin sat silently by the side listening in while pretending to read her book. It was not unusual for her to be in the room. They thought she would not understand most of the things they were saying anyways. 

Firstly because they were all talking in Korean and secondly because they were talking with technical terms, such that even the kids of the Soonyang family could not understand. However they were not entirely correct. Ha Rin had stayed in Korea and had been in Korea long enough to be exposed to the language and although her speech was lagging behind and she had to purposefully hide her already proficient understanding of the language. Secondly due to following her parents on their numerous travels and business meeting with the estate and asset managers and other business partners, she had a broad and general understanding of business despite lacking formal training. 

She had already exposed herself a bit more to Jin Yang Chul, showing that she was worthy to be groomed into a future business leader but exposing herself at this point of time would be a gamble. Either she would get herself engaged to Jin Seong Jun before she could object or she would not be allowed to listen in anymore. None of which were desirable outcomes. However she could also further cement her position in the household and receive more guidance from Jin Yang Chul, if she proved herself to be wise.

After all the people left and there was only her and Jin Yang Chul, she decided to gamble. If she was to be engaged to Jin Seong Jun, there were ways to interfere once she was old enough.

"I would not give up the semi conductor business." Ha Rin started slowly with Jin Yang Chul being surprised.

"Why not? You heard it yourself we will be making millions of losses whether or not we lower our prices."

"You would be changing strategies and would be waiting. In the future more and more things will be automated and the demand for semi conductors will rise. To be frank with rising standards of living, paying higher wages for menial and repetitive work seems quite wasteful to me. The only thing that we are lacking is R&D. Even then it is not by much."

"The demand of semi conductors will overwhelm the US and Japan and they will not be able to keep their prices as low as now. It is not only a fad and but also their weak point. They are competing against each other in a race to the bottom. If you hold on, you may even be able to strike the moment they start falling in the market and fill the void. Regardless of the current sentiment, it is too early to determine who will monopolize the market as it is still growing rapidly"

"As for now, if there is not enough demand for our own semi conductors, just create demand. You can make Soonyang Electronics use Soonyang's own semi conductors. This will also help you notice the weaknesses and help with the research and development of the semi conductors and should be able to cover some of the losses that will occur as of now."

"However if the things I heard from my parents are true. You will regret closing this line of business latest in two years time and by then it will be even more difficult to catch up on the US and Japan."

Ha Rin stopped speaking and looked at Jin Yang Chul who was in deep thought right now. She remained quiet and kept reading her book as if she had not said anything. Time passed and once more people poured into the office. This time they were talking about the elections. Ha Rin was out of her depths regarding Korean politics. Clearly, as this family had their sticky hands in politics she would have to read up and follow along with Korean politics. Even if only to give the impression of wanting to make polite conversation with them.

As Jin Young-Ki and his siblings were leaving the room after a rather heated discussion, she heard Do Jun's voice. 

"Please tell Grandpa that I am here to pay for the vase that was broken yesterday." Ha Rin thought that that was quite brazen of him. However she intrigued and did not mind the mockery of the adults behind the door. She looked at him with interest. 

"Roh Tae Woo will become president." He said confidently amongst the voices of the adults. The contrast made him sound younger than he was but as the conversation carried on he sounded older. She could not help but stare at him until she saw that Jin Yang Chul had noticed her stare. She composed herself and looked away. When she tried to take another glance, he was gone presumably sent away.

The next series of events was odd not to say the least. The TV outside the study was turned on and whatever was said surprised Jin Yang Chul enough to also turn on the TV.

The unified candidacy was off the table, they reported on the news. The implications she could not understand until she thought back to what Do Jun said earlier. It seems like the probability of Roh Tae Woo winning the presidency got bigger. And so, Do Jun was called back and invited into the study sitting opposite to Ha Rin and next to Jin Yang Chul.

Jin Yang Chul asked the question that was burning in everyone's mind. How did Do Jun know that the two other candidates would oppose the unified candidacy?

"I would not be able to concede. That's why. Because I would get greedy." He said not backing away from his grandfather's hard look. 

If Ha Rin understood it right, the two candidates were equally strong and probably thought they had a fighting chance if they stood alone opposed to giving it up for a unified candidacy which was the popular opinion. By opposing the unified candidacy, they would be losing votes that favored the unified candidacy and dividing most of the other votes. Meanwhile the third candidate would be able to rake in more votes as an alternative for the undecided voters. Ha Rin was positively surprised by Do Jun's understanding of politics that surpassed most adults and stared at him. He looked away from his grandfather to look at her and for a moment that lasted longer than most, there was an inexplicable connection between the two that only broke when he looked back at his grandfather. 

Ha Rin felt that this was the first time since their meeting that Do Jun had acknowledged her and she could not understand why. She was not doing anything besides listening in. She had not said anything nor has she even changed her facial expression. And yet, he looked at her in recognition and she did not know why.

The conversation continued and Do Jun was about to leave but not until Jin Yang Chul had the last word.

"Let me ask you one more question."

"I believe I have already paid you for your broken vase, Grandfather."

"It is nothing difficult. It is only a quiz."

"Then there must be a prize for getting it right because it is a quiz." 

Do Jun was quite gutsy towards Jin Yang Chul something Ha Rin had not seen while here and she tried to suppress her chuckle. This pair of grandfather and grandson were alike. She narrowed her eyes just slightly as she looked at Do Jun. Too alike. 

"There is a saying that when the shrimp is squashed to death when two whales fight. Then do you think there is a way for the shrimp to beat the whales?"

The prior amusement left Ha Rin's mind. He was still hesitating about the semi conductor business and was asking his estranged grandson for an answer. To be more precise he wanted someone to confirm what he was already thinking about and Ha Rin felt a wave of complex emotions, mostly self doubt. Was her previous input lacking? Does she need to continue playing ignorant to the schemes within the family? Was she going to endure this until she was finally of age? Although so much was going through her mind, she tried to remain stoic on the outside. 

Do Jun had no answer for Jin Yang Chul's question and the latter could only lament as he looked between the two children.

"You are just like other children, after all."

(1453 Words)

A/N: Hello everyone it's been a while but the story continues. The Sunyang Affair is far from over and has only just started.