The smell of grilled mackerel filled the apartment. It was a scent that used to signify poverty—the cheapest fish in the market. Now, it signified comfort.
Grandpa Byung-ho picked at the fish with his chopsticks. He looked at Min-jun, then at the news on the TV. The ticker showed H-Semicon (SK Hynix): 49,500 KRW.
"It's almost 50,000," Byung-ho beamed, tapping the table. "Min-jun-ah, do you remember when we bought it at 23,000? Everyone called it a zombie. Now look at it. SK Group is investing billions. It's a national treasure."
"It's a great company," Min-jun agreed, chewing slowly.
"We should hold this until I die," Byung-ho declared. "Pass it down to your children. It’s like owning land in Gangnam in the 70s."
Min-jun put down his spoon. "Grandpa. We need to sell."
The room went quiet. His father, Dong-wook, paused mid-chew. "Sell?" Byung-ho frowned. "Why? Is something wrong? Is the chip market crashing?"
"No. H-Semicon will go higher. Maybe 60,000. Maybe 70,000 in a few years."
"Then why sell? You said 'Compound Interest is the 8th Wonder of the World'."
"Because," Min-jun took a breath. "H-Semicon is an elephant now. Elephants don't gallop. I need a cheetah."
He pulled out a folder. Hanmi Science (008930). Current Price: ~13,500 KRW.
"Drug company?" Byung-ho squinted at the name. "Hanmi? They make... what? Cold medicine?"
"They make diabetes treatments. Cancer drugs. Autoimmune therapies."
"Do they make money?"
"No. They are losing money. They spend 20% of their revenue on R&D."
Byung-ho slammed his chopsticks down. "Are you crazy? You want to sell the most profitable chip company in Korea to buy a money-losing pill factory? Have you forgotten the Hwang Woo-suk scandal? Bio is a scam!"
It was the reasonable reaction. In 2015, Korean Bio was a wasteland of broken promises. But Min-jun knew what was locked in the safe of Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s CEO.
"Grandpa," Min-jun said calmly. "Do you know what 'License Out' means?"
"No."
"It means selling the recipe, not the cookie. Hanmi has developed a platform technology called 'Lapsdiscovery'. It makes drugs last longer in the body. Global giants like Eli Lilly and Sanofi are desperate for this tech."
Min-jun leaned forward.
"In a few weeks, Hanmi will announce a deal. Not a small deal. A deal worth trillions of won. The stock won't go up 10%. It will go up 1,000%."
Byung-ho stared at his grandson. He looked at the nice apartment, the TV, the food. All bought with Min-jun's "crazy" decisions. But selling Hynix... it felt like betraying a loyal friend.
"1,000 percent?" Byung-ho whispered. "That turns 40 million into 400 million."
"And if we combine it with my cash reserves... we enter the billions."
Byung-ho sighed, a long, rattling sound. "I don't understand drugs. I don't understand Laps-whatever. But I understand you."
He pushed his plate away. "Do it. But if we lose the Hynix money... you're paying for my funeral."
March 2, 2015. Mirue Partners.
"You want to liquidate the fund's tech holdings?" Hong Ye-eun looked at Min-jun like he had grown a second head. "We are a FinTech VC. Why are we buying public bio stocks?"
"Because Mirue needs a liquidity event," Min-jun said. "We can't wait 5 years for Toss to IPO. We need working capital now to fund the Series A for Hermes and double down on Toss."
Stolen story; please report.
Min-jun pulled up the chart of Hanmi Science.
"Look at the volume," Min-jun pointed to the tiny bars at the bottom. "It's dead. Nobody is watching. The market cap is 500 billion won. It should be 5 trillion."
"That's a 10x valuation gap. Markets aren't that inefficient, Min-jun."
"They are when the information is asymmetric. The deals are signed, Ye-eun. The ink is dry. They are just waiting for the FDA filing announcements."
"How do you know? Did you hack their email too?"
"No. I read the clinical trial data registry in the US. Phase 1 results for HM71224 were posted last week. The efficacy data is off the charts. Eli Lilly needs a BTK inhibitor. The puzzle pieces fit."
Ye-eun bit her lip. She trusted Min-jun. But Bio was a graveyard. "How much?"
"Personally? I'm going all in. 400 Million KRW. For the Fund? I suggest we deploy 300 Million of our reserve cash."
"If you're wrong, we look like idiots who gambled government money on a stock tip."
"If I'm right, we become the best performing fund in the country."
Ye-eun closed her eyes. She imagined Hyuk-jae's face if they pulled this off. "Fine. But use the prop-trading account. Don't mix it with the VC equity pool."
March 3, 2015.
Min-jun sat at his desk. He sold 825 shares of H-Semicon. Exit Price: 49,800 KRW. Proceeds: ~41 Million KRW. Total Return: +112% (from 23,500).
It was a beautiful trade. A textbook value investment. Now, he was entering the casino.
Asset: Hanmi Science (008930). Order Type: Accumulate. Price Range: 13,000 - 14,000 KRW.
He couldn't buy 400 million won worth at once without spiking the price of a low-volume stock. He had to iceberg it. Buy 1,000 shares. Wait. Buy 2,000 shares. Wait.
For three days, Min-jun was the "whale" in the shallow pond of Hanmi Science. By March 6th, he was fully loaded.
Total Position: ~30,000 Shares. Average Price: 13,600 KRW. Total Cost: ~408 Million KRW.
Now, the wait.
March 19, 2015. 8:50 AM.
The morning was grey and rainy. Min-jun was brushing his teeth when his phone buzzed. And buzzed. And buzzed.
He spat out the foam and ran to his computer.
[BREAKING] Hanmi Pharmaceutical signs exclusive license deal with Eli Lilly. Deal Value: $690 Million (approx. 700 Billion KRW). Upfront Payment: $50 Million.
Min-jun exhaled. The first domino.
9:00 AM. Market Open.
Hanmi Science: 13,600 -> 17,650 (Upper Limit +30%). Volume: 5 Million Shares.
The order book was locked. There were 2 million shares on the buy side and zero sellers. It was a "Dot-Sang" (Opening at the Upper Limit).
March 20. 17,650 -> 22,900 (+30%). Another limit up.
March 21. 22,900 -> 28,000 (+22%).
In three days, Min-jun’s account had doubled. 408 Million -> 840 Million.
Grandpa Byung-ho called, screaming into the phone. "Min-jun! The TV says Hanmi is the new Samsung! Should we sell? We doubled!"
"No," Min-jun said, watching the green candles. "This is just Eli Lilly. We still have Boehringer Ingelheim. We still have Sanofi. We still have Janssen."
"There are more?"
"This is the Supercycle, Grandpa. We don't sell until the leaves turn brown."
May 2015.
The rally paused, breathed, and then exploded again. Hanmi Science hit 50,000 won in May. 60,000 won in June.
Min-jun’s net worth crossed 2 Billion KRW.
He sat in the Mirue Partners office. The vibe was electric. Their prop-trading account was up 300%. The "Creative Economy" officials were calling Ye-eun, asking for her secret. She told them it was "Deep Sector Analysis."
But Min-jun was looking at a different screen. Toss.
While he was making a fortune in Bio, Toss was burning it. With the banking blockade lifted, growth was exponential. Users: 2 Million. Server Costs: Skyrocketing. Revenue: Zero. (Toss was still subsidizing transfer fees).
They needed a Series A. A real one. Not 500 million won. They needed 10 Billion won. Korean VCs were too scared. They looked at the negative cash flow and ran away.
"We need Silicon Valley," Min-jun said to Ye-eun.
"We tried," Ye-eun said. "Sequoia passed. A16Z passed. They think the Korean market is too small and regulated."
"There is one firm," Min-jun said. "Altos Ventures. Han Kim."
"They invest in mobile," Ye-eun nodded. "But they are tough."
"We need to show them something the others don't have," Min-jun said. "We need to show them that we aren't just a transfer app. We are a bank."
Min-jun pulled up a confidential slide deck he had been working on. Project: Toss Credit Score.
"Daegwang and the banks use KCB/NICE credit scores. It's based on credit card usage. If you are a student or a housewife without a card, you are 'Thin File'. You get rejected for loans."
"So?"
"Toss sees your cash flow. We see you paying rent. We see you paying your friends. We have data the credit bureaus don't. We can build our own credit scoring model."
Min-jun's eyes burned.
"If we can underwrite loans that the banks reject... we unlock a 50 trillion won market. That's the pitch to Altos."
"Data lending," Ye-eun realized. "That's... risky."
"It's the future. Schedule the meeting with Han Kim. I'll pay for the flight."
Min-jun checked his Hanmi stock. Asset Value: 2.5 Billion KRW.
He was rich enough to fly First Class. But he booked Economy. He wasn't done building the war chest. The Sanofi deal (the 5 trillion won monster) was still coming in November.
[TRANSACTION LOG]
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Date: March 2015
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Asset: Hanmi Science (008930)
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Action: BUY (Aggressive)
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Quantity: 30,000 Shares
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Cost Basis: 13,600 KRW
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Current Price (June 2015): ~65,000 KRW
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Unrealized Gain: +377%
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Paper Wealth: ~1.95 Billion KRW.
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Status: HOLDING for the Q4 Peak.