The Greatest Conglomerate Ever With the American Lottery

16. You’re such a good guy, aren’t you?

At the end of August, after two months in Korea, I boarded a plane back to Los Angeles.

The nursery was in the hands of Ki-dong and Seon, so there wouldn’t be any problems until we moved.

Mr. Kim introduced us to a new place near the newly built military barracks in Bakdal-dong, Anyang City, which was not too far from the old nursery school, so the older children didn’t have to transfer, and most importantly, the site was spacious, so if we could just build a building, we could have a much more comfortable life than before.

This would be enough to make the monk feel at ease in the other world.

“Hey, Brother!”

“You out?”

I walked out of the departure hall of the sh*tty LAX airport, and George was there to greet me.

“How’s life in Korea been, Alex?”

“Well, I took care of my family and repaid my benefactor.”

“You had a benefactor?”

“Yeah.”

Not exactly an earthly one.

“So, George, is the house all settled?”

“Of course! I got a great house!”

“Where?”

“It’s called Rancho Palos Verdes, it’s built on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, it’s a rich neighborhood and the views are amazing!”

“Really? Let’s go!”

“Okay!”

After driving for over 40 minutes in George’s car, I could smell the ocean through the open windows.

After another 10 minutes, the house came into view.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!”

“Hmph, isn’t it?”

The house, built about 100 meters off the cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, was stunning.

The freshly built swimming pool that was over 20 meters long, the clean and stylish design, and most importantly, the unobstructed view of the Pacific Ocean made my jaw drop.

“The total land area is 4,000 square meters (1,210 square feet), with one basement and two floors above ground, three rooms on the first floor and three on the second, and nine restrooms. As for the amenities, as you can see, there’s a nice pool, a large spa, a home gym, and a theater in the basement.”

“Whew! How much is this?”

I’m guessing it can’t be $20 million.

“Eighteen million dollars.”

“That’s all you do?”

“What do you mean, other than that? I know LA is a lot cheaper than San Francisco, but it’s still ridiculously expensive.”

“No. If we go to the rich neighborhood in Gangnam, Seoul, a luxury villa that’s less than 500 square meters goes for over 10 million dollars.”

“Really? What kind of house costs that much?”

“Well, the land mass of Woncheon is small and the population is large, so there’s no way around it.”

“Anyway, this house is 18 million dollars. Of course, if you wanted to buy a house like this in a place like San Francisco, it would cost two to three times as much.”

“So it’s still cheap here?”

“You keep saying it’s cheap, but it’s not. This is Boonville, Boonville. Sure, it’s not a super-rich neighborhood, but there are plenty of homes for under $10 million.”

“Okay, okay.”

I continued to look at houses, and the more I looked, the more I was impressed.

I went to a home gym, which turned out to be just another fitness center.

“I’ve added more equipment to the gym, you should be working out, right?”

“Hmph, good for you.”

A few minutes later, while I’m looking at the house, George comes over with an East Asian-looking lady and a couple Mexicans.

“Alex, say hello. This is Jenny Chung, she’s Korean like you.”

“Oh! Hi, nice to meet you.”

“Ho-ho-ho! I heard you were looking for someone to do Korean food, so I guess you’re Korean after all?”

“hahahahaha! After all, Korean people need to eat Korean food to feel energized, right? My name is Alex, but feel free to call me Alex.”

“Yeah, okay, feel free to call me Jenny too, and if you want to eat Korean food, you can ask me anything. It’s all good.”

“Wow, that’s really nice to hear, isn’t it?”

It was.

I was already worried about food.

After greeting the Mexicans who would be taking care of the house, including the garden, George dragged me out to the garden again.

“Say hello. These are the guys from the Aegis Company I used to work for.”

These were the men who would be guarding me in America.

“This is Harry, the team leader, followed by Nick, Aaron, Trent, Connor, Kyle, and Mason, all Green Berets, as you requested.”

“Nice to meet you, boss.”

“Nice to meet you all. Take care.”

“There’s seven of us, six of us, not including Harry, who’s the team leader. We’ll have three groups of two, guarding around the clock.”

“So there will be two at night?”

“Yeah, that’s why they’ll be on duty 24 hours a day, and they’ll take turns sleeping at night, so one of the rooms on the first floor will be for them, I understand.”

“Okay, okay. Let’s take a break and talk.”

“Yeah.”

Once we were sitting on the terrace with George, Jenny brought us cold beers.

“Isn’t seven people too many?”

“That’s the way the Aegis Company’s VIP personal security program works. Otherwise, I’d have to go with a cheaper program, but then I’d have to compromise.”

“Oh, well, I guess I’ll take it. How much does it cost?”

“$800,000 for a one-year contract.”

Considering they were all Green Berets, it was surprisingly cheap.

“That’s cheaper than I thought.”

“The company takes about 30%, and the rest is the salaries of the operatives. Harry, the team leader, makes about $100,000 a year, and the operatives make about $70,000 to $80,000.”

“That’s all you get?”

“You’ve been rich for so long, your eyes are so high. You don’t go to war, you’re in the United States, it’s safe. Bodyguarding doesn’t pay that much. You have to be near a war zone to make money.”

“Hmm, I see.”

“But, Alex.”

“Why?”

“I need a favor.”

“Go ahead.”

“I’m embarrassed to tell you this, but Aegis Company is having a rough patch. The boss asked me if I’d be willing to pay the full annual security fee up front, in exchange for a 5% discount.”

“He wants the full amount up front? Is that too much to ask?”

“Yeah, it’s basically a 10% down payment with the rest paid in monthly installments. If that’s too much for you, don’t listen.”

“Hmmm.”

Why is PMC so difficult?

Isn’t this basically the same thing as a staffing agency?

They find you a job and take a 30% cut, so it shouldn’t be too hard.

Anyway, I liked Aegis President George’s company management policy that he said before, so this is where I left my bodyguard.

I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to help them out.

This is the company that’s going to protect my life, and I don’t want to be stingy.

“Okay. Tell them they can do that.”

“Really? Thanks, Alex. It was actually hard, and I felt like I was the only one who got away with it.”

“hahahaha, asshole, it’s a 5% discount, so just tell him to be a good bodyguard.”

“Hmph, don’t worry about that. I only brought the best of the best.”

“Good job. Oh, by the way! Where are you staying?”

“Me? I’m staying downtown.”

“Well, you’re all alone, so why don’t you come stay with me instead of paying overpriced rent? I have plenty of rooms available, don’t I?”

“Can I?”

“Sure! You’re my brother, right?”

“Alex! You’re such a good guy, aren’t you?”

“Asshole! Do you realize that now?”

“hahahahaha!”

“hahahahaha!”

Favorite?

I’ve just added one more free bodyguard to my arsenal, and I’ll take care of all your other needs day and night!

Hmph!

I spent the next couple of days filling my new home with all the little bits and bobs, and then I was off to New York.

With George, of course.

“Hey, George.”

“Why?”

“Do you usually follow your friends on business trips?”

“Yeah, that’s the rule, because if anything happens to you during the contract, they’re going to get sued, and if they get sued, they’re screwed.”

“Huh.”

Goddamn America was a litigious country.

I’m going to New York for a business trip and I’ll be back in a few days, so even if I tell my bodyguards to just take a break, I’ll come even if I die.

They said it was part of the deal.

The problem was, these guys were paying for the trip.

George and I were flying first class, obviously.

Our bodyguard buddies say we can just fly economy, but what’s the big deal?

I mean, after all, I was once in uniform, and he was just a coworker not too long ago, right?

Also, are they big or small?

Are you flying economy so you can be a pain in the ass?

In the end, I had to cut up the business class seats of the four bodyguards who were supposed to follow me, and the hotel booked me a deluxe room at the luxury hotel I had booked.

That’s a lot of lost money.

“Youngsik!”

“Cheol-sik, you bastard!”

“hahahahaha! Nice to see you!”

“hahahahaha! How many years has it been, four years?”

I met my friend Young-sik.

This is the same guy who lied to my dad, but in reality, he was just a genius, not even close to a genius.

He was the top of his class before immigrating to Korea after his freshman year of high school, and when he got to the U.S., he went on to get a Harvard MBA and became a very successful person on Wall Street.

In a word, me.

“Kya, the soju you drink in America tastes good!”

“Kya, this soju I drink with my balls buddy, I can’t taste it with the sheeple!”

It wasn’t even 5:00 p.m., and we moved to a Korean restaurant that Young-sik sometimes goes to, where he started selling soju.

“How come you’ve been so out of touch? Even Jung-hoon said it’s been over three years since he’s heard from you?”

“Oh, I’m so sorry. Actually, I started my own company, so I’ve been busy these past few years.”

“You started your own company? At your age?”

“Age doesn’t matter on this floor, does it? Track record?”

“Huh! I thought you were still at Goldman?”

“I’ve been out of there and independent for two years.”

“What kind of firm?”

“What’s that on Wall Street, an investment firm?”

“Whoa, you guys have a nice house, but with what money?”

“With my money? With other people’s money? Of course, I have some of my own money in there.”

“I don’t know about you, but how much do you manage?”

“It’s still small now, maybe three billion dollars?”

“Deaaah!”

You started your own investment firm when you were thirty-one, and you already have three billion dollars under management?

That’s small?

This guy was a real genius!

“Hey, don’t get carried away! Three billion dollars is nothing on Wall Street!”

“You’re crazy! You’re f*cking crazy!”

“Seriously, what about you? You said you’re going to go into a sh*tty small business and roll around like a dog, but what’s up with this? You don’t look like the kind of guy that would roll around in a small business, do you?”

“Hmph, is that so?”

“What? Look at you, what’s that watch, Vacheron Constantin?”

You definitely recognize a successful guy.

“I’m kind of successful, too.”

“Not a bit, what the hell happened to you?”

“I’ll tell you later. Somehow I ended up in America, got a green card, and made some money.”

“By any chance, is that bodyguard over there at the end of the bar eating pork belly with your friend George?”

“Uh, how’d you know?”

“How’d you know, asshole? Your friend, and those pork chops he’s eating with, don’t look like the type to roll their eyes and make a living at it, do they?”

“Is that so?”

He’s unnecessarily sharp.

“By the way, you need to help me.”

“With what?”

“Well, I’ve got some money, and I could use it—.”

“No!”

“Huh? What don’t you want?”

“I’m really sorry for you, but I have a business rule: I never get involved with family and friends’ money.”

“Is that so?”

“I’m sorry, Cheol-Sik, but I won’t ask you how you made your money either. You’re not a friend the moment you start talking about money with your friends. That’s a rule I never break—.”

“You lucky bastard, you grew up in America without me!”

“What, you bastard?”

“Because I’m an alumnus of yours.”

I also have a rule of not discussing money with friends.

So, even in those dirty days, I never borrowed a thousand won note.

I just asked for it.

“Huh? And what did you want me to help you with?”

“I want you to help me save someone, okay?”

“What? People?”

I said with a chuckle, and Young-sik asked in disbelief.