CH6 - OPEC - I

We went down to the first floor; there was a car parked there that I hadn't seen before.

*Beeep!*

The red compact car lit up and greeted us. It was none other than Taekgyu's car.

Holding a remote key, Taekgyu opened the car door and said, "Get in!"

On the car door was a large sticker of a smiling girl character holding a sword. They say it's a character from a game called Fantasy Something.

Why would anyone put a character like this on a private vehicle?

"Can I take this sticker off?"

"No, you can't. I had it shipped from Japan; it was hard to get."

"······."

Since it's not my car, I can't force him to remove it.

Taekgyu got in the driver's seat first. I sighed inwardly, opened the door covered in the girl character stickers, and got into the car.

Hmm, I feel strangely embarrassed.

The red compact car crossed the Dongho Bridge and headed north.

"Where are we going?"

"The Silon Hotel."

The Silon Hotel is a 5-star hotel located at the foot of Namsan Mountain.

In the outdoor parking lot, luxury foreign cars were lined up. Among them, there were several supercars classified as Ferraris and Lamborghinis.

Taekgyu parked the car at the hotel's main entrance. The hotel valet looked back and forth between us and the car, his eyes wide open.

It wasn't a look of disdain for riding in a compact car. It was a truly bewildered expression because he had never seen such an otaku car before!

He probably never imagined he would see this kind of car while working here.

The stares of people passing through the hotel entrance were also directed at us.

Even if I had to walk in alone from the outside, should I have done that?

Though flustered, the hotel staff politely said, "I will park the car for you."

"Yes!"

Unlike Taek-gyu confidently exiting the car, I did my best to hide my face and lower my body as I got out of the car.

Why do I feel embarrassed?

* * * *

Passing through the giant revolving door, a woman in her early thirties wearing a black high-waisted skirt, a white blouse, and black high heels stood inside.

She wore silver-framed glasses and had her hair tied back. While not a standout style, she exuded enough charm to be considered a beauty.

Taek-gyu raised his hand towards her.

"Hi! Long time no see, noona."

Checking the watch on her wrist, she remarked, "I told you to be here by 4, but you're 3 minutes late."

"Just 3 minutes late… Oops!"

As Taek-gyu tried to explain, she shot him a glance, prompting him to quickly close his mouth.

She turned her gaze towards me.

"So, Jin-hoo came too."

Taek-gyu nodded.

"He kept pestering me to bring him to see you, noona."

"…"

When did I…?

I lowered my head and greeted them.

"Long time no see, noona. Have you been well all this time?"

Hyun-joo noona smiled at me.

"So, you've been discharged from the military?"

"Yes. It was just a while ago."

"You've been through a lot. When will you graduate?"

"I went to the military after finishing my first year, so I still have a long way to go."

"How about coming to Golden Gate after graduation?"

"If they accept me, I'll go there without hesitation."

Even if it's considered a prestigious university in Korea, it's rare for someone to land a job at a global Investment Bank (IB) firm. Golden Gate might only accept one student per year across all departments.

Maybe even among the entire Golden Gate population, there might be around twenty students from Korea.

With Hyun-joo noona, we headed to the cafe on the second floor of the hotel.

The cafe had only a few tables occupied near the window, and it was generally quiet. Half of the customers were foreigners, all dressed in neat business attire.

Meanwhile, I was wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and a padded jacket. Should I have worn a suit or something?

Nevertheless, I felt better off than Taek-gyu in his casual tracksuit. Maybe I'm the only one here dressed like this.

Despite not feeling any issues himself.

I glanced between Taek-gyu and Hyun-joo noona. To a stranger, they would never think they were siblings.

But upon closer inspection, they did bear a resemblance in certain aspects.

If Taek-gyu lost some weight, changed his hairstyle, and wore proper clothes, he wouldn't look too bad, right?

A staff member approached and handed us the menu. Taek-gyu, after looking at it, was taken aback.

"Whoa! A cup of coffee is 25,000 won! Why is it so expensive? Does this make sense?"

"······."

A guy with over 10 billion won is shivering over a cup of coffee.

"Well, it must be expensive."

Taekgyu closed the menu and said to the staff.

"I'll just have water…"

Hyun-joo grabbed the menu from Taekgyu's hand.

"Jin-hoo, do you drink coffee?"

"Yes."

"Two large coffees and one lemonade, please."

After the order was placed, I asked Hyun-joo.

"When did you arrive in Korea?"

"Just now."

Her face didn't look good. She seemed to have a lot of worries and concerns on her face.

Hyun-joo looked at Taekgyu and said, "I heard Mountain Hill filed for bankruptcy. Are you okay?"

Taekgyu grinned.

"Luckily, I sold everything right before."

"R-really?"

The unexpected answer surprised Hyun-joo.

"You sold everything?"

"Yeah. I put everything in the OTK Company account. About 11.9 million dollars."

After hearing the amount, Hyun-joo seemed speechless. Although Taekgyu seemed unfazed, as a listener, it was a staggering sum.

After confirming several times, Hyun-joo's expression brightened a bit.

"Thank goodness."

It looks like she's been worrying about it all this time.

"You must have been very worried about Taekgyu."

Hyun-joo was visibly flustered at my words.

"W-what are you talking about? Why would I worry about this otaku?"

"······."

Because he's your brother.

Isn't it natural for an older sister to worry about her younger brother?

Just then, our drinks arrived.

"Ah, anyway!"

Hyun-joo fixed her expression and then handed me a note with something written on it.

"What's this?"

The note had a name and a phone number written on it.

"It's the contact information for the manager of the Golden Gate Gangnam branch. If you need to bring a large sum of money into a domestic account, contact them here to handle it. If you mention that you're Oh Hyun-Joo's brother and a junior at school, they'll know."

To transfer money from an overseas corporate account to a Korean account, procedures such as tax reporting are necessary. Can I handle the 500 million won I received over there as well?

Taekgyu put the note in his pocket.

"But you said you'd sell slowly, why did you suddenly sell everything overnight?"

"I-I just felt like selling it all of a sudden."

He mumbled vaguely, and I changed the subject.

"Did you come to Korea because of Taekgyu, by any chance?"

Hyun-joo shook her head decisively as if to prevent any misunderstanding.

"Oh, no. Absolutely not. I came solely for business reasons."

Just like other global investment banks, Golden Gate has branches all over the world. Although South Korea has a significant economic size, it's not a major focus for global investment banks. Therefore, Golden Gate only has a few branches in Korea for securities and banking operations; they do not have a full-fledged branch network there.

"Then, how long will you stay in Korea?"

"I came here for a due diligence at a company, around ten days."

Taekgyu was taken aback.

"Wow! Ten days!"

"It seems quite long."

At that, Taekgyu quickly adjusted his expression and nodded.

"Oh, no. I'm glad. So, where are you staying, sister?"

Noona Hyun-Joo pointed above with her finger.

"Up here. The whole inspection team is staying together at this place."

I looked around the hotel interiors and asked, "Isn't this place expensive?"

It's a 5-star hotel at the foot of Namsan Mountain. Even the cheapest room would cost over 500,000 won per night, right?

Hyun-Joo Noona responded as if it were inconsequential.

"It's the company's expense anyway."

Indeed, things are different at a global IB.

Beep!

The phone on the table vibrated.

"Just a moment."

Hyun-joo Noona took the phone and stood up from her seat. It took a while before she returned to her seat.

"Is there a problem?"

"It's nothing. It's about the OPEC meeting schedule."

"OPEC, huh…?"

Taekgyu quickly pretended to know.

"Isn't OPEC short for Oil Factory?"

"… "

Even if he didn't know anything else, he should know that "factory" start with an "F."

"It's a gathering of oil-producing countries, right?"

Hyun-joo noona nodded her head.

"It's the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. The OPEC meeting results are scheduled to be announced the day after tomorrow…"

And then it happened.

Something appeared before my eyes like a hologram.

What on earth?

Why am I seeing this again?

"Hey, what's wrong?"

I snapped out of it at Taekgyu's words. The hologram that was right in front of me just moments ago disappeared as if it were a lie.

Hyun-joo noona looked at me with a worried expression.

"Are you okay?"

"Oh, I was lost in thought for a moment."

I brushed it off vaguely, but Taekgyu seemed to catch on, giving me a meaningful look.

Ignoring that look, I asked Hyun-joo noona, "What kind of meeting is OPEC having?"

"They are currently gathered in Kuwait for a cutback meeting."

"A cutback?"

I was taken aback by those words.

Just now, I saw it, didn't I?

TL/n :-

OPEC is an acronym for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. It is a permanent, intergovernmental organization, created at the Baghdad Conference in September 1960 by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Currently, it has 13 members.

Algeria, Angola, UAE, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Republic of Congo, Libya, Nigeria, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea

Despite strong opposition from the US, Saudi Arabia, along with other Arab and non-Arab oil producers, formed the Organization of Petroleum Producing Countries to get the best price possible from major oil corporations. Originally, Arab nations advocated for Beirut or Baghdad to be the headquarters of the OPEC but under strong objections from Venezuela, based on neutral grounds, Geneva in Switzerland was chosen. Due to Switzerland not extending diplomatic assurances, the headquarters of OPEC was shifted to Vienna, Austria on September 1st, 1965.

By the early 1970s, OPEC's membership accounted for more than half of worldwide oil production.

OPEC plays a crucial role in shaping the oil market and ensuring stability in oil prices.