Absinthe

Chapter 59: Twinkle Little Star

"I'll be straight-to-the-point," Vice Chairman Lee spoke, "We need you."

"Who's in charge of the project?" I asked, ignoring his comment.

"It's Cho Hanbi, Jaeyi." Gunho-hyung answered.

"Jaeyi," I repeated. "That name feels like it belongs to a different lifetime."

Minsu and Gunho-hyung exchanged looks.

"Cho Hanbi," I continued. "The guy who forced me to go and relieve myself inside the lady's room. On

my last day."

"Don't worry, Bi-Kwajang. That issue will be dealt with accordingly."

"Bi-Kwajang?" I asked. "In case you forgot, I'm no longer working for you."

"What title should we call you then?"

It really does feel like a lifetime since I last had this kind of word games with people from the corporate

world.

"Ms. Twinkle Little Star." I said. "I go by the name Twinkle now. You know, gay guys like me have fab

names like that."

Faye laughed so hard it made people from the nearby tables give us weird looks. But none of the three

gentlemen in front of us did.

"Jaeyi," Minsu-hyung said appealingly. "It's us. Your hyungs! We tried reaching you for months but you

couldn't be reached!"

"Hyung, I just told you I don't go by that name anymore. There wasn't anyone named Bee Jae Yi in the

first place. It's always been BJ Alvarez. I don't really know why I let Samsong Group dictate that much

of my life... that I actually made a new name just to fit in."

"BJ," It was Gunho-hyung this time. And although he tried pronouncing my name well, it still carried

traces of Bee Jae Yi with it. I guess that can't be helped since I've been called that more a decade.

"Ms. Twinkle," Vice Chairman Lee said, cutting Gunho-hyung short. "We need you. Let us know your

terms."

My terms? Samsong Group must be really desperate. Let's try playing his game for just a little bit

longer.

"Let's see..." I said, pretending to be deep in thought. "Fire that asshole of a CEO for what he did to

me. And fire Cho Hanbi."

"Agreed. What are your other terms?"

Wow. Let's take it up a notch, then.

"You will hire an expert from McKinney Group to restructure Samsong Holdings."

"In other words, get rid of the useless people on top?" Mr. Lee asked.

"I'm surprised that you know and have done nothing about it until now." I answered back.

I could see Minsu and Gunho hyung clenching their fists in anxiety.

"I am just the Vice Chairman of Samsong Group," he finally answered after a few minutes of silence.

"And these people that you want removed have strong ties with my father."

"And your Harvard Education also taught you that a company's workforce should look like a pyramid,

where there's a healthy ratio of people who set the company's direction at the top, to the people who

push through with the company's projects at the bottom..."

"Not a jar, where a small number of people at the bottom carry the full weight of useless men at the

top," Vice Chairman Lee said.

"Yes," I answered. "I want you to clean up Samsong Group's corporate ladder and increase the hiring

of competent female and non-heterosexual talents up to 30%."

The Vice Chairman looked deep in thought. "And what about our subsidiaries?" Nôvel(D)rama.Org's content.

"Everything else will follow, Mr. Lee." I answered. "Once it's started at the head."

"I am not my father, Ms. Twinkle. I agree to your terms. But don't expect it to happen immediately. I

require 5 years—,"

"Three." I said, cutting Mr. Lee short. "Three years. That's my condition."

Vice Chairman Lee gave out a heavy sigh. "Agreed."

Whoa. Things seem pretty shitty for him to agree to that. I need to know what exactly I'm up against

before I tell him my final condition.

"Before I tell you my final condition," I started before any of them could even begin talking. "I need to

see this new investment's FS."

Vice Chairman Lee glanced at Minsu who then spoke. "As you know, this year's not over yet so we only

have the FS until the 3rd quarter. We do have last year's, though."

He handed me a bound file in hardcover and another set of papers bound together by a flat file.

"And this year's business plan?"

I saw Minsu and Gunho-hyung exchanging looks before Vice Chairman Lee told them to hand it over.

I flipped through the pages and started scanning the financial statements, years of training and the

invaluable experience and insight of an endless nights' worth of calculating kicked into high gear.

"This company is overvalued," I said, pointing at a questionable figure scheduled for 30 years of

amortization. "Goodwill? Why pay for this premium?"

"There were rumors of a bid from LJ Electronics." Gunho-hyung explained. "At least, according to Cho

Hanbi's report."

"And you believed that, Mr. Lee?" I taunted.

"This project would have sealed my position as the next chairman of Samsong Group," he explained

calmly. "This was my plan to shut up whoever it was whispering seeds of doubt into my father's ears."

"That's why you believed him," I guessed. "And that's why it's equally important to make this project

successful?"

Vice Chairman Lee nodded.

"To outbid LJ, you proactively offered this huge sum as premium for a company that wouldn't be

making money in the next, let's see... three to five years?"

I saw the colors of Mr. Lee's face turn to white.

"This new investment, it's been steadily losing market share." I began. "And besides, this market has

been steadily reducing its product sizes. I'm sure you're aware of that."

"I studied the project after Hanbi handed it over." Minsu-hyung said. "You're right, the products have

been steadily reducing their sizes – from 250g to 185g, and most recently 160g."

I nodded. "That should have been a red flag already. It means that the players in this industry are

already having a hard time enticing market consumption and raising up the market demand."

Mr. Lee's face turned even paler still.

"And the cost of the materials has been steadily on the rise, too." I added. "China has been steadily

increasing their import of tin plates for the past 20 years, with a compound annual growth rate of 27%

as of 2020."

"What does that mean?" Mr. Lee asked.

"It means that the current price and consumption trends in your target market does not match the price

trends of your material supply." I answered briefly. "And I'm guessing it's Minsu-hyung and Gunho-

hyung who found out about this when they're drafting the projected cashflow for this year?"

My two hyungs nodded. "It looked like there will be cashflow problems because of their inventory

turnover." Minsu-hyung said.

"So we called in this company's bank to check its credit facility." Gunho-hyung said. "And we were all

shocked to learn that they're no longer willing to extend credit because of the company's risk of capital

impairment."

Holy shit. I found what the problem was! This company's inventory assets account for more than 75%

of its total assets! And this trend has been continuing since last year. This means that the company is

having an unbelievably difficult time selling its products.

No sales means no cashflow.

No cashflow means no working capital.

And the moment they start selling these products, I'm pretty sure the losses will be beyond

comprehension.

"Cho Hanbi, that fucker!"

Oops! I said it out loud. "Excuse my language."

"Help us, Twinkle."

I laughed. "I was joking about the Twinkle thing. You can call me BJ, sir."

Mr. Lee's look was that of desperation. But even if I wanted to help him, this issue is beyond my skills

now. There's no way I can solve this issue. I am a corporate finance analyst, not a CEO. I don't have

what it takes to run a company.

But, let's just play this game for one more round.

"Okay," I said. "For my last condition."

I felt Faye's hand touch my thigh under the table. She squeezed it gently and I knew she meant to

show her support.

"I want 10% of Samsong Holdings shares, no strings attached."