"We're here."
From the back, Choi Ho-geun pulled out his wallet and handed a 10,000 won bill to the taxi driver.
"Keep the change."
"Oh, thank you very much."
As he got out of the taxi, the driver popped open the trunk and helped him unload his bags.
Since the trip had ended up being longer than planned — and with all the gifts he'd picked up — he now had two large suitcases and a backpack, more than he'd left with.
Once the taxi drove away, Choi Ho-geun slung the backpack over his shoulders and wheeled the two suitcases into the apartment building's shared entrance.
Fortunately, the elevator was already on the first floor. After riding it up, he stepped out into the long hallway of a typical apartment complex.
He stopped in front of his apartment door and, heart fluttering a bit, rang the doorbell.
Before long, his wife's voice came through the intercom.
"Who is it?"
"It's me, honey."
[Oh my, it's you?]
"Yeah."
Hurried footsteps approached, and then the front door swung open. His wife, Go Jung-sook, greeted him with a beaming smile.
"Welcome home!"
The familiar scent of home hit him at the entrance, and Choi Ho-geun couldn't help but smile.
Now it finally felt like he was truly home.
"Where are the kids?"
"It's still school hours, isn't it?"
"Oh, right."
He scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile.
His wife gave him a little side-eye and spoke with mock annoyance.
"You come home after months away and the first thing you ask about is the kids? Didn't you miss me at all?"
Seeing his wife standing there in her apron with her arms crossed, every instinct as a married man screamed "DANGER."
If he wasn't careful, he'd be getting an earful on day one back from abroad.
Choi Ho-geun quickly scrambled to fix the situation.
"Of course I missed you! I missed you so much."
"Hmph. Doesn't sound convincing."
Breaking a nervous sweat, he suddenly remembered the gift Seok-won had given him — and lit up like he'd just found an escape route.
"Come on, I'm serious. Just hold on a second."
He immediately opened the large suitcase he'd bought in the U.S. and pulled out a paper shopping bag from inside.
"Here. This is for you."
Go Jung-sook, who had been pretending to pout, widened her eyes the moment she saw the large Gucci logo on the shopping bag.
"Oh my! What is this?"
Seeing her sudden interest, Choi Ho-geun replied smugly.
"What do you think it is? I went to a department store in New York, and I thought of you — so I splurged."
"Really?"
"Of course. I heard it hasn't even launched in Korea yet—it's a brand-new model."
Choi Ho-geun puffed out his chest with pride, as if he had never once hesitated.
"Wow! What's gotten into you? You actually bought me such a thoughtful gift?"
Watching his excited wife take the box out of the paper shopping bag, Choi apologized silently in his heart to Seok-won.
'Boss… I'm sorry.'
In truth, he'd never even stepped into a Gucci store—everything had been arranged by Seok-won. But still, his wife was happy. That was what mattered, right?
When she finally opened the box, a brown Gucci handbag sparkled in the light, with the brand's signature print and gold horsebit detailing gleaming on the surface.
"Oh my gosh! It's beautiful!"
Clasping her hands together with a squeal of delight, she dashed to the mirror, her face lit up with a smile as she held the bag in her hand, then slung it over her shoulder, twirling like she was on a runway.
'If I'd known she'd love it this much, I should've bought her a couple bags long ago.'
Seeing her so overjoyed, Choi thought to himself with a sheepish smile.
Truthfully, for someone in Choi's position, it wasn't out of the question to splurge on a designer bag once a year—for anniversaries or birthdays.
But between the constant demands of work and putting the kids first, he had to admit, he hadn't been able to pay much attention to his wife.
Even this time, he'd picked up a bunch of extra things for the kids beyond what she'd asked, while for her, he had only bought some cosmetics.
That made him feel even more guilty—and grateful to Seok-won for the handbag.
"Wasn't this really expensive?"
His wife, cheeks flushed with excitement, clutched the bag to her chest and asked with sparkling eyes.
Choi coughed awkwardly, trying to keep up the act.
"It was a little pricey, but nothing I can't handle."
"Honey…"
When he saw the emotion welling up in her eyes, Choi turned his head away, suddenly finding it hard to meet her gaze.
Her heartfelt reaction made him feel oddly guilty—as if he was lying, which, of course… he was.
Soon, she began gently placing the handbag back in its box, humming softly as she walked over with a shy smile.
"I'll go wash up real quick, so wait here, okay?"
"Huh?"
Choi blinked in confusion—he was just about to ask for dinner, starving after his long flight.
"The kids won't be back from school for a while. Now's our chance."
"Wait… I just got home, I'm tired, I haven't even washed up yet… maybe dinner first…"
But his wife wasn't listening. Instead, she gave him a wink—yes, an actual wink.
"Get ready. Tonight's going to be special."
He could almost hear a pink heart popping next to her words. A chill ran down his spine.
"H-Honey! I've been on a long flight, I'm exhausted, I haven't even—"
"Then how about we shower together?"
"…!"
Now pale as a ghost, Choi shook his head desperately—but she was already walking away.
"Let's make it feel like our honeymoon again. I'll run the bath. You get undressed, okay?"
Humming a little tune, she disappeared into the bathroom.
The sound of running water echoed through the apartment as Choi slumped down onto the couch like a man defeated.
"Why… why is the story going in this direction…"
He had just gotten home, and already he wanted to leave again.
***
Hannam-dong, Seoul.
A sleek black Mercedes sedan glided to a stop in front of a grand mansion, surrounded by tall stone walls.
As the chauffeur quickly opened the car door, Chairman Park Tae-hong stepped out, followed by his eldest son, President Park Jin-hyung.
Crossing the wide lawn carpeted with well-kept grass, they entered the main house, where Madam Jo Deok-rye—dressed in a simple home dress and pearl necklace—stood waiting alongside her second son, Seok-won.
"You must be tired. Welcome home."
Chairman Park gave a curt nod before glancing at his younger son.
"You're here."
"Yes, Father. I hope you've been well."
"Me? Always the same."
Chairman Park said this casually as he removed his shoes and stepped inside.
"It's been a while, Hyung."
Seok-won greeted his older brother as he followed in.
President Park Jin-hyung smiled warmly, giving his brother a pat on the shoulder.
"So, how did things go in the States?"
"Well enough."
Having long since stopped worrying about his younger brother—who could handle everything himself, sometimes even better than he could—Jin-hyung replied with relaxed ease.
"Knowing you were coming, I bet Mom went all out with dinner tonight."
"I saw the table and thought it was someone's birthday or something."
"Haha. I figured as much—took a digestive before I got here."
Unlike the strained relationships often seen among siblings in chaebol families, the two brothers chatted easily as they made their way into the living room.
Before long, they were seated side by side at the dining table, just as Seok-won had said, in front of a lavish spread.
Complimenting the ever-improving cooking skills of Gunsan-daek, the longtime family cook, the three men shared a warm and cheerful meal. Afterward, they moved to the study.
"Here's your tea."
Gunsan-daek placed warm tea in front of each of them before leaving the room. Chairman Park clicked his tongue in mild irritation.
"I'd prefer coffee, but the moment I'm home, it's always this stuff."
He picked up the ginger tea with a less-than-pleased expression.
"It's because she worries about your throat, Father."
Jin-hyung chuckled as he spoke, but his father snorted in response.
"When it's your time, it's your time. What's the point of living forever if you can't even drink what you want?"
It wasn't just ginger tea—his wife made sure to rotate through every "healthy" brew imaginable: cinnamon, omija, jujube, balloon flower root… Even the occasional foul-smelling traditional medicine showed up. It was no small burden on the one drinking it all.
Still, for all his grumbling, he didn't ask for coffee instead. He simply sipped his ginger tea with a resigned sigh—proof that even Park Tae-hong couldn't resist his wife's will.
'He still does whatever Mom tells him.'
Watching this familiar scene unfold, Seok-won smiled quietly to himself.
Leaning back in his chair after putting down his cup, Chairman Park looked at Seok-won, his tone turning a little more serious.
"You've probably heard—Samo Group recently declared bankruptcy and entered court receivership."
"Yes."
Samo Group had originally started out in the cooking oil business. Over time, it expanded into the lumber industry and further grew its presence through ventures into shipping and specialty steel, eventually becoming a major conglomerate.
Following the collapse of Hanse Group, the fall of Samo Group—ranked 26th among Korea's largest business groups—fueled growing fears of a chain-reaction crisis throughout the corporate world.
Chairman Park Tae-hong felt the impact of this bankruptcy even more acutely, especially since Samo Group operated Uni Department Store in Busan.
"They were heavily in debt due to aggressive expansion and the downturn in specialty steel, sure. But they sold their specialty steel facilities to POSCO just last year and secured liquidity of over 700 billion won. I thought they were in the clear. Their sudden collapse really came as a shock."
At his eldest son's comment, Chairman Park gave a small nod.
Then, as if by habit, he reached for the wooden box on the table, pulled out a cigarette, placed it between his lips, and lit it.
"It's all a ripple effect from Hanbo Group's collapse. It dried up the money supply in the market."
In truth, Samo Group had made significant progress in restructuring over the past two years, even bringing its debt ratio down to 100%.
But with the banks having suffered massive losses from Hanbo Group's default—billions of won in unrecoverable loans—they began tightening lending and refused to extend maturities. With no other options, Samo Group was forced to declare bankruptcy.
Seok-won, who had seen this coming, responded calmly.
"Their biggest misfortune was probably using the same main bank as Hanse Group."
Sitting across from him, President Park Jin-hyung's expression stiffened as he asked,
"Is this situation going to keep getting worse?"
Chairman Park also looked to Seok-won, cigarette between his fingers, waiting for his response.
Receiving both their gazes, Seok-won replied seriously, his tone resolute.
"This isn't even the real storm. What we're seeing now is just the wind and rain before the typhoon hits."
Startled, both Park Jin-hyung and Chairman Park raised their eyebrows in surprise.
Chairman Park, who had been leaning back, straightened in his seat and asked again.
"You're saying there's a bigger typhoon coming?"
Seok-won nodded gravely.
"Yes. Do you really think only those two groups are facing liquidity crises? I don't believe that for a second. Most domestic corporations expanded recklessly during the three-low boom—low interest, low oil prices, and low exchange rates. That means there are plenty of companies sitting on ticking time bombs, and we don't know when they'll go off."
Chairman Park's face turned grim as he agreed.
"You're right. If we hadn't listened to you, we would've gone ahead with expanding the China plant and taken on a mountain of debt ourselves."
"Exactly. Just imagining where we'd be now if we hadn't taken Seok-won's advice makes me shudder."
Chairman Park still felt a chill run down his spine every time he recalled that moment. If he'd dismissed Seok-won's warning and pushed through with the expansion, the company could have been in serious trouble.
Turning to his second son with a gentler gaze, Chairman Park said,
"That's why I wanted your input. With the exchange rate in our favor, I was thinking of converting some of our dollar reserves and using them to partially repay the loan that's due next month. What do you think?"
Seok-won frowned slightly.
"Did the bank ask for repayment?"
"No, not exactly. But they said that if we voluntarily repay part of the principal, they could lower the additional interest rate they plan to apply when we extend the loan."
With loan interest rates spiking in the wake of the corporate failures, it was a tempting offer.
But Seok-won didn't even need a moment to think.
"No. We absolutely must not sell our dollars right now."