"We'll be landing at LaGuardia Airport shortly. Please fasten your seatbelt again."
At Bella's words, spoken as she approached from the side, Seok-won removed his eye mask. He had been reclining with his legs stretched out, resting comfortably on the angled seat.
Turning his head toward the round porthole window next to him, he saw thick clouds blanketing the sky beneath the clear blue above.
"There are a lot of clouds, but there's no rain or snow, so there shouldn't be any issues with the landing."
"That's a relief."
As Seok-won straightened his seat back into an upright position, he responded, and Bella gave a slight smile before moving toward another row.
Hearing her voice in the background, asking the other passengers to fasten their seatbelts, Seok-won rolled up his sleeve and checked the Rolex Submariner on his wrist. It was just past 11 a.m.
He gently rolled his shoulders and stretched his neck from side to side.
Even though it was a private jet, flying nearly fifteen hours nonstop was still draining.
Thinking he'd run a warm bath and soak for a while once they reached the hotel, Seok-won reached for his seatbelt and clicked the buckle into place.
Before long, the Gulfstream IV jet carrying their group arrived in the airspace above LaGuardia Airport, located in Queens on the eastern side of New York City.
Under the guidance of air traffic control, the aircraft made a wide turn and began a gradual descent, slipping smoothly below the thick cloud cover. Moments later, it touched down gently on the long, outstretched runway.
Following the neatly paved concrete taxiway, the jet moved to the apron and came to a full stop at the designated location, guided by a bright yellow SUV painted entirely for visibility.
"Sir! Look! We really made it to New York!"
Jung Hwan-yeop, sitting by the aisle, exclaimed with excitement as he gazed out the window at the airport scene.
It was just an airport, but the unfamiliar scenery—so clearly different from Seoul—made Choi Ho-geun's heart flutter as well.
Still, they couldn't exactly jump up and down holding hands like a pair of tourists, so Choi Ho-geun kept a straight face and deliberately scolded him.
"Quit making a scene. You're acting like a country bumpkin."
But Jung Hwan-yeop, completely unfazed, simply nudged him in the side with his elbow.
"Oh, come on. You're just as amazed as I am. Don't pretend to be all tough."
"What did you just say?"
Just as Choi Ho-geun was about to raise his voice in frustration, he suddenly remembered that Seok-won was on board with them. He quickly shut his mouth.
Despite the situation, Jung Hwan-yeop remained completely unfazed. Beaming with excitement, he threw his hand into the air and shouted enthusiastically, not caring who was around.
"New York! I'm here!"
Sigh...
Choi Ho-geun let out a long sigh and rubbed his forehead.
Just thinking about spending the next month stuck day and night with that guy was already giving him a headache.
Before long, the stairs were lowered, and Bella, who was standing at the exit, greeted them with a warm smile.
"Wishing you a wonderful stay in New York."
Seok-won, dressed in a cashmere coat, was the first to disembark from the private jet, escorted by Bella's farewell.
Waiting on the tarmac with sunglasses on, Landon stepped forward with arms wide open.
"Welcome, boss!"
Seok-won smiled and grasped Landon's hand firmly.
"We've talked on the phone plenty, but it's good to finally see you in person."
"Likewise."
"You're not just happy because you don't have to stay up late for calls anymore, are you?"
"Haha—well, I can't exactly say that's not part of it," Landon replied with a sheepish grin.
"Oh, right. There are a few people I'd like to introduce you to."
Just then, Choi Ho-geun and the rest of the staff began to disembark. Seok-won turned and gestured for them to come closer.
As they approached, Landon looked them over with friendly curiosity.
"These are the employees you mentioned you were bringing with you?"
"That's right," Seok-won replied.
Landon greeted them first, his tone warm and welcoming.
"Nice to meet you all. I'm Landon Shore, managing the Eldorado Fund on behalf of the boss."
Caught off guard by the sudden approach of a foreigner, Department Head Choi Ho-geun looked startled.
"Uh... yes. Thank you. I'm Choi Ho-geun, department head at Daeheung Venture Capital."
Like many Koreans, Choi was confident with grammar but struggled with spoken English. He awkwardly mustered his conversation skills, forcing a smile as he shook Landon's hand. Then he turned and introduced the staff standing behind him, their expressions tense and anxious.
"These are the colleagues I work with."
Jung Hwan-yeop bowed stiffly.
"I'm Jung Hwan-yeop."
"Hong Jae-hee."
"I'm Yoo Seok-hyun."
Landon shook hands with each of them one by one, offering a polite nod before turning back to Seok-won.
"It's cold out—shall we head to the hotel first?"
"Good idea," Seok-won replied with a nod.
Landon led the group toward a Bell 412 helicopter parked not far from the runway.
Equipped with two powerful 900-horsepower turboshaft engines and stretching 13 meters in length, the Bell 412 could seat up to 13 passengers—more than enough for the entire party.
Seeing where they were headed, Jung Hwan-yeop's eyes widened. He quickly moved closer to Choi Ho-geun and whispered in a hushed voice.
"Sir… don't tell me we're taking that?"
"...Looks like it," Choi replied, clearly as surprised as Jung was.
"I mean, I expected the private jet, sure—but taking a helicopter in New York too? Our CEO's on a whole different level."
Normally, Choi Ho-geun would've scolded him for making a fuss, but this time, even he found himself nodding in agreement without thinking.
Following behind, Hong Jae-hee and Yoo Seok-hyun were just as stunned.
"Whoa! Are we actually taking a helicopter?"
"Looks like it…"
"This is seriously amazing, isn't it?"
"Exactly. I mean, when would we ever get the chance to ride in a helicopter again?"
Yoo Seok-hyun, both excited and slightly anxious about his first helicopter ride, continued walking toward the aircraft with a mixed expression.
Moments later, the Bell 412 helicopter lifted gently into the sky, its powerful rotors kicking up a strong downdraft.
Wearing noise-canceling headsets, Choi Ho-geun and the others looked down through the windows, their faces lit with wonder as they took in the wide East River and the dense sprawl of New York's cityscape below.
Watching them, a faint smile formed on Seok-won's lips.
Then he turned to Landon, who was seated beside him, and asked,
"President Clinton, now that he's won re-election, is starting to form his second-term economic team, right?"
Meeting Seok-won's gaze, Landon nodded.
"Yes. The structure is nearly finalized. An official announcement is expected sometime in the second week of December."
"I heard quite a few of the current advisors have expressed their intention to step down, so I expected the reshuffle to take longer."
"Well, it's a second-term administration—so they have a deep bench of talent already connected to the White House. I doubt filling the vacancies was too difficult."
"True enough."
Seok-won gave a small nod, then continued.
"What's your read on the economic direction for the second term?"
"As promised during the campaign, it looks like they'll focus on reducing the fiscal deficit, stabilizing inflation, and cutting unemployment."
"Inflation control, sure—but cutting the deficit while also reducing unemployment? That sounds like a contradiction."
Reducing the fiscal deficit essentially meant cutting government spending, which typically made job creation harder.
"That's why they're likely planning to push for greater market access abroad, with the goal of boosting domestic employment."
"You mean they'll pressure trade partners with surpluses against the U.S.?"
"That's right. There's even talk that the U.S. will target Asian countries—especially those whose trade surpluses with the U.S. have surged in recent years—as the main focus for export expansion efforts."
No matter how much the U.S. was the world's largest consumer market or how essential trade deficits were for maintaining the dollar's dominance, running a trade deficit of over a hundred billion dollars annually was bound to feel like a heavy burden.
And with the deficit growing year by year, it was only natural for it to become an even greater source of concern.
But really, the U.S. brought this on itself.
Under the Clinton administration's push for so-called free trade and globalization, corporations began shutting down expensive American factories and shifting their production bases en masse to lower-cost countries in Asia and South America. That naturally led to reduced exports and increased imports.
On top of that, the deliberate maintenance of a strong dollar made imported goods cheaper, further eroding the competitiveness of domestically produced American products.
And now, after creating the very conditions for the problem, they're applying trade pressure and blaming others for the deficit? It's absurd.
Then again, this sort of outrageous move was only possible because the U.S. was a superpower.
In fact, that kind of pressure might have been one of the triggers for the looming Asian financial crisis.
When the crisis first erupted in Thailand, the U.S. could have stepped in, as it had during the Mexican crisis, and contained the shock before it spread across Asia.
But instead, it stood by and let the crisis spiral out of control—as if it were deliberately trying to teach a lesson.
As a result, hedge funds represented by Wall Street made massive profits, while Asian nations on the brink of national bankruptcy ended up buying hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of U.S. Treasury bonds to rebuild their foreign reserves.
That, in turn, allowed the U.S. government to offload its debt and solve its fiscal deficit problems almost effortlessly—meaning the plan had worked out exactly as intended.
"Oh, and I also heard they're planning to scale up the aggressive informatization strategy that was so successful in the first term. They'll be making major investments in IT venture development and internet infrastructure."
Seok-won's eyes gleamed with interest.
"Then we can expect another surge in IT stock prices."
"That's exactly what Wall Street thinks. There's a strong buying trend for IT stocks, especially Cisco and similar companies."
"It's practically a public announcement from the White House that stock prices will rise. Not buying in would be the real mistake."
In that sense, it could be said that the U.S. government was the one that first ignited the IT bubble that set the late 1990s ablaze.
"So we're thinking of increasing our trading exposure in the IT sector as well."
"Not a bad idea. If the White House follows through with its massive investment in internet infrastructure, companies like Sun Microsystems, WorldCom, and Dell Computers are likely to benefit. Let's allocate more resources to those."
"Understood."
Knowing better than anyone how sharp Seok-won's insights were, Landon didn't take the suggestions lightly. He made a mental note of each company mentioned, committing them firmly to memory.
As they continued their conversation, Seok-won suddenly thought that the current situation bore a striking resemblance to what would unfold some thirty years later, when Donald Trump would become president.
The scale may have been different, but the patterns were eerily similar—trade pressure to reduce deficits, the rise of revolutionary technologies like the internet and AI. On the surface, it all seemed different, yet the parallels were uncanny.
It made him think the old adage was true—history really did repeat itself.
While Seok-won and Landon chatted, the helicopter carrying their group flew along the East River, cutting across New York City. Before long, they were soaring above Manhattan.
As the Empire State Building rose tall on their left, the helicopter began to descend. It landed smoothly on the rooftop helipad of the Plaza Hotel—Seok-won's own property—bringing their journey to a safe and stylish end.
TL/n -
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