“YongHo, YongHo is here?”
Dave asked the information desk with the stuttering Korean he learned a little.
“Sorry?”
“Lee YongHo. Me, look, for him.”
Finally, the staff seemed to have understood and started looking through the register. Dave’s trio, who were completely clad in tourist clothes, were enough to attract people’s attention.
Lunch time.
The people who were coming back from lunch all directed their gazes to the 3 foreigners who had blue eyes.
Jessie’s voice had become sharp as she couldn’t bear it anymore.
“Hey, you can only do this?”
“There’s no other solution. This person will find him soon enough.”
Dave spoke while pointing at the staff. The staff’s mind was also chaotic after receiving Dave’s questions. He couldn’t understand the majority of the English conversation happening in front of him.
His head was full of thoughts to send them somewhere after solving the problem quickly.
When YongHo came back to the company after eating lunch, a few familiar people appeared in his eyes.
“Eh? Isn’t that Dave?”
At YongHo’s words, Son SeokHo also narrowed his eyes and looked towards the information desk.
“That’s true. Why is he here?”
Na DaeBang was only confused at the names he heard for the first time. YongHo saw that so he briefly explained about Dave.
Na DaeBang, who heard the explanation, couldn’t help but be surprised. He didn’t know about the NetFlax Prize, but he knew very well about the company called NetFlax.
He didn’t seem to believe that the person who took first place in competition held by that very company wsa YongHo, who was right next to him.
“If you have that much ability, then do you really need to commute to this company? And why didn’t the company say anything about this? If it’s that big of an achievement, the company would have used it for publicity…”
Na DaeBang asked YongHo as if he was really curious. YongHo also didn’t know why the company stayed silent about it.
Before he met Son SeokHo, he didn’t even know about the NetFlax Prize, so he only thought that it was a competition known by programming mania, and people who had interest in recommendation algorithms amongst those mania too.
“Well, they must have their reasons……”
YongHo passed it without thinking much.
Should I go overseas? He already thought a lot about this. He considered this while talking with An ByungHoon while in Mirae, and also while he didn’t even have a chance for interview after he was fired.
It wasn’t like he had no thoughts of going overseas.
Poor English skills.
The worry that the bug window may disappear without warning.
And the responsibility as a sole child – these made him hesitate in his choice.
Just in time, Jessie, who was in front of the information desk, found YongHo after looking around for a while. Then she strongly waved her hands as if she became alive.
“What are you doing all the way here?”
YongHo asked without being able to hide his surprise. He felt more odd than delightful thinking why they were here.
It wasn’t only YongHo. Son SeokHo was the same.
“I just wanted to meet you. I was bored too.”
Dave shrugged his shoulders as if it was nothing at all. It seemed that he himself was the only one here who didn’t feel that this was absolutely a big shock.
“Then why didn’t you contact me beforehand?”
“That… I lost your contact info.”
YongHo had a surge of emotion and his eyes turned red after looking at Dave’s figure who was scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.
Would anyone take a 10 hour flight journey to see him without the contact information? YongHo was thankful to Dave for coming to look for him.
“Who am I for you to come looking for me?”
“We’re friends.”
YongHo had another surge of emotion when he heard Dave saying ‘friends’ so confidently.
It wasn’t like they could communicate perfectly either. They also couldn’t communicate when they met in the NetFlax Prize. Now, thanks to YongHo regularly studying English after the competition, he could spit out some words using a simple combination of words that he knew.
Even now, Son SeokHo translated between them.
Even when they couldn’t communicate properly, Dave came looking for him.
Friends.
Perhaps due to the recent reality of SungGyu becoming distanced from him, even though he received a lot of help from him, he was thankful that Dave called him ‘friend’ even though they only met for a short period of time.
The things the NetFlax Prize gave him wasn’t only prize money. Perhaps it left him a friend, bigger than just money.
While YongHo was submerged in his emotions, Na DaeBang also couldn’t hide his surprise.
Na DaeBang was pointing James with his fingers. The tip of his fingers were trembling as if he had autism.
“Uh? Aren’t you James Polo?”
“……?”
James pointed at himself and said with his body. At that, Jessie repeated his words.
*Smash*
She didn’t forget to smash James’ back. Her meaning was to stop being embarassed.
“He said if you know him.”
“I know, I do! He’s really famous amongst infra engineers!”
Na DaeBang spoke with fluent English. His pronunciation was better than Son SeokHo’s.
Infra engineers.
They were people who suggested plans on how to buy which hardware to construct what type of server.
At that moment, YongHo was thinking something completely different.
‘Only my…. English skills are crap.’
YongHo fell into self loathing at Na DaeBang’s English skills.
A brief time later, Son SeokHo’s phone started ringing. It was Jeong DanBi. Son SeokHo asked the people while looking at them after ending the call.
“She said for us to meet in the conference room… If you have time, would you like to have a look around our office?”
“Good.”
Dave coolly agreed to Son SeokHo’s words. If Dave agreed, James and Jessie followed so he didn’t even need to ask them.
The reason Son SeokHo invited Dave & Co. to the office was due to his expectation that he may hear something good from them. They were senior data engineers from the biggest global online shopping mall, ‘Jungle’.
He was curious about what their opinions were after they had a look at how Korean people worked.
And like that, they moved to where the smart shopping strategy team was located.
***
“…Who?”
Jeong DanBi asked the people who were entering the conference room. It wasn’t only Jeong DanBi, everyone was curious of their identities.
Their gazes were directed towards 3 people – Jessie, Dave and James – of the people who entered the room.
The one who answered was Son SeokHo.
“They are senior developers from ‘Jungle’ we met from the NetFlax Prize.”
At Son SeokHo’s words, the majority showed the same reaction.
Surprise.
Jungle’s annual sales boasted of multiple times that of Shinseki. The weight of the positions – ‘senior developers’ – weren’t light at all.
“Wh, why would people like that be……”
“I brought them here to see if they would advise us on anything after looking at how we work. They were also curious about how Korean people worked too.”
At Son SeokHo’s confidence, some people nodded their heads unintentionally in agreement. They thought if they were from Jungle, there wouldn’t be any problems with them listening.
However, Jeong DanBi wasn’t the same.
“Even so… I don’t think it’s appropriate to show the inner works of our company to outsiders like this.”
Son SeokHo shook his head after looking at Jeong DanBi speaking carefully.
“If you gathered us like this so suddenly, then there must be a problem. A problem would only be solved if we meet our heads together, it won’t be solved at all if we keep hiding it.”
At Son SeokHo’s stubbornness, Jeong DanBi had to take a step back. It was as he said: a conference due to an unexpected problem.
She judged that this problem wouldn’t become any trouble even if outsiders heard it.
After hearing Jeong DanBi’s words, some people inside the room sighed.
They were tackled in whatever they were doing. They used any method possible to be selected by team leader Jeong DanBi, but the reality wasn’t as they imagined.
Regret.
This was the emotion which covered everyone’s moods other than Son SeokHo, YongHo, Na DaeBang and Heo JiHoon. At the base of that regret was distrust in Jeong DanBi.
The crumbling mood of the team.
This became a bigger problem than not being able to purchase a server now.
From time to time, Na DaeBang volunteered to translate and he explained towards the Dave trio. He wanted to look good in front of James.
After hearing the story, Dave looked at the people as if it was absurd.
No problem.
“What’s the problem? You just need to decrease it by 50%.”
Even the people who couldn’t speak English understood words like ‘No problem’. However, the words after that weren’t understood by them. YongHo was the same.
“We also looked into it, but it’s not that simple.”
Jeong DanBi spoke politely, in her own way. Her pride was hurt when they said like it was so simple but she did her best to be polite.
Very simple.
“It’s very simple for us though?”
They also understood the words ‘Very simple’.
“James, isn’t it true?”
At Dave’s question, James nodded his head. Na DaeBang made an expression as if it was expected.
James Polo.
He was the owner of a blog which was treated like a holy land amongst infra engineers.
***
“So you’re saying we should buy second-hand ones from ebuy or alibama?”
James nodded instead of answering. Unlike his appearance, he was very shy. He was embarrassed with a figure that was comparable to Na DaeBang who had muscles all over his body.
Instead of James, Jessie continued.
“We can get the CPU, RAM, storage and the rack mounted server (a type of server). According to what I heard, I think you’re trying to construct a CDN server… There will be no problems if we buy in large quantities to make up for the products being second hand.”
At Jessie’s words, Dave smiled while looking at the people as if it was obvious.
“See? James here is a guy who joined during the initial stages of Jungle when they were constructing the server. He’s very credible so you don’t have to worry.”
At Dave’s confident tone, no one could talk back. Na DaeBang, who was translating on the side suddenly raised his hand.
“Me!”
“Yes?”
“I will assist sir James in constructing the server!”
Na DaeBang acted as if it was already decided that James was going to construct the server. Jeong DanBi shook her head and spoke.
“Even so, it’s not appropriate to leave it to outsiders…”
At Jeong DanBi’s words, Son SeokHo stepped out. His strong will to accomplish this could be seen from his face.
“Then why don’t we contract them like we do with outsourcing? Is it alright with you, Dave?”
“Of course. We came on a leave of absence anyway. So we’re good if you want to give us work.”
When Dave agreed, Jeong DanBi had no choice but to take a step back. They needed this to work anyway.
“Then, please give me your estimation.”
Jeong DanBi spoke as if she couldn’t help it. As soon as those words were said, James started sorting out various hardware specifications needed for the server construction on Excel and the main job of the smart shopping strategy team became purchasing equipment from ebuy and alibama.
“YongHo, YongHo is here?”
Dave asked the information desk with the stuttering Korean he learned a little.
“Sorry?”
“Lee YongHo. Me, look, for him.”
Finally, the staff seemed to have understood and started looking through the register. Dave’s trio, who were completely clad in tourist clothes, were enough to attract people’s attention.
Lunch time.
The people who were coming back from lunch all directed their gazes to the 3 foreigners who had blue eyes.
Jessie’s voice had become sharp as she couldn’t bear it anymore.
“Hey, you can only do this?”
“There’s no other solution. This person will find him soon enough.”
Dave spoke while pointing at the staff. The staff’s mind was also chaotic after receiving Dave’s questions. He couldn’t understand the majority of the English conversation happening in front of him.
His head was full of thoughts to send them somewhere after solving the problem quickly.
When YongHo came back to the company after eating lunch, a few familiar people appeared in his eyes.
“Eh? Isn’t that Dave?”
At YongHo’s words, Son SeokHo also narrowed his eyes and looked towards the information desk.
“That’s true. Why is he here?”
Na DaeBang was only confused at the names he heard for the first time. YongHo saw that so he briefly explained about Dave.
Na DaeBang, who heard the explanation, couldn’t help but be surprised. He didn’t know about the NetFlax Prize, but he knew very well about the company called NetFlax.
He didn’t seem to believe that the person who took first place in competition held by that very company wsa YongHo, who was right next to him.
“If you have that much ability, then do you really need to commute to this company? And why didn’t the company say anything about this? If it’s that big of an achievement, the company would have used it for publicity…”
Na DaeBang asked YongHo as if he was really curious. YongHo also didn’t know why the company stayed silent about it.
Before he met Son SeokHo, he didn’t even know about the NetFlax Prize, so he only thought that it was a competition known by programming mania, and people who had interest in recommendation algorithms amongst those mania too.
“Well, they must have their reasons……”
YongHo passed it without thinking much.
Should I go overseas? He already thought a lot about this. He considered this while talking with An ByungHoon while in Mirae, and also while he didn’t even have a chance for interview after he was fired.
It wasn’t like he had no thoughts of going overseas.
Poor English skills.
The worry that the bug window may disappear without warning.
And the responsibility as a sole child – these made him hesitate in his choice.
Just in time, Jessie, who was in front of the information desk, found YongHo after looking around for a while. Then she strongly waved her hands as if she became alive.
“What are you doing all the way here?”
YongHo asked without being able to hide his surprise. He felt more odd than delightful thinking why they were here.
It wasn’t only YongHo. Son SeokHo was the same.
“I just wanted to meet you. I was bored too.”
Dave shrugged his shoulders as if it was nothing at all. It seemed that he himself was the only one here who didn’t feel that this was absolutely a big shock.
“Then why didn’t you contact me beforehand?”
“That… I lost your contact info.”
YongHo had a surge of emotion and his eyes turned red after looking at Dave’s figure who was scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.
Would anyone take a 10 hour flight journey to see him without the contact information? YongHo was thankful to Dave for coming to look for him.
“Who am I for you to come looking for me?”
“We’re friends.”
YongHo had another surge of emotion when he heard Dave saying ‘friends’ so confidently.
It wasn’t like they could communicate perfectly either. They also couldn’t communicate when they met in the NetFlax Prize. Now, thanks to YongHo regularly studying English after the competition, he could spit out some words using a simple combination of words that he knew.
Even now, Son SeokHo translated between them.
Even when they couldn’t communicate properly, Dave came looking for him.
Friends.
Perhaps due to the recent reality of SungGyu becoming distanced from him, even though he received a lot of help from him, he was thankful that Dave called him ‘friend’ even though they only met for a short period of time.
The things the NetFlax Prize gave him wasn’t only prize money. Perhaps it left him a friend, bigger than just money.
While YongHo was submerged in his emotions, Na DaeBang also couldn’t hide his surprise.
Na DaeBang was pointing James with his fingers. The tip of his fingers were trembling as if he had autism.
“Uh? Aren’t you James Polo?”
“……?”
James pointed at himself and said with his body. At that, Jessie repeated his words.
*Smash*
She didn’t forget to smash James’ back. Her meaning was to stop being embarassed.
“He said if you know him.”
“I know, I do! He’s really famous amongst infra engineers!”
Na DaeBang spoke with fluent English. His pronunciation was better than Son SeokHo’s.
Infra engineers.
They were people who suggested plans on how to buy which hardware to construct what type of server.
At that moment, YongHo was thinking something completely different.
‘Only my…. English skills are crap.’
YongHo fell into self loathing at Na DaeBang’s English skills.
A brief time later, Son SeokHo’s phone started ringing. It was Jeong DanBi. Son SeokHo asked the people while looking at them after ending the call.
“She said for us to meet in the conference room… If you have time, would you like to have a look around our office?”
“Good.”
Dave coolly agreed to Son SeokHo’s words. If Dave agreed, James and Jessie followed so he didn’t even need to ask them.
The reason Son SeokHo invited Dave & Co. to the office was due to his expectation that he may hear something good from them. They were senior data engineers from the biggest global online shopping mall, ‘Jungle’.
He was curious about what their opinions were after they had a look at how Korean people worked.
And like that, they moved to where the smart shopping strategy team was located.
***
“…Who?”
Jeong DanBi asked the people who were entering the conference room. It wasn’t only Jeong DanBi, everyone was curious of their identities.
Their gazes were directed towards 3 people – Jessie, Dave and James – of the people who entered the room.
The one who answered was Son SeokHo.
“They are senior developers from ‘Jungle’ we met from the NetFlax Prize.”
At Son SeokHo’s words, the majority showed the same reaction.
Surprise.
Jungle’s annual sales boasted of multiple times that of Shinseki. The weight of the positions – ‘senior developers’ – weren’t light at all.
“Wh, why would people like that be……”
“I brought them here to see if they would advise us on anything after looking at how we work. They were also curious about how Korean people worked too.”
At Son SeokHo’s confidence, some people nodded their heads unintentionally in agreement. They thought if they were from Jungle, there wouldn’t be any problems with them listening.
However, Jeong DanBi wasn’t the same.
“Even so… I don’t think it’s appropriate to show the inner works of our company to outsiders like this.”
Son SeokHo shook his head after looking at Jeong DanBi speaking carefully.
“If you gathered us like this so suddenly, then there must be a problem. A problem would only be solved if we meet our heads together, it won’t be solved at all if we keep hiding it.”
At Son SeokHo’s stubbornness, Jeong DanBi had to take a step back. It was as he said: a conference due to an unexpected problem.
She judged that this problem wouldn’t become any trouble even if outsiders heard it.
After hearing Jeong DanBi’s words, some people inside the room sighed.
They were tackled in whatever they were doing. They used any method possible to be selected by team leader Jeong DanBi, but the reality wasn’t as they imagined.
Regret.
This was the emotion which covered everyone’s moods other than Son SeokHo, YongHo, Na DaeBang and Heo JiHoon. At the base of that regret was distrust in Jeong DanBi.
The crumbling mood of the team.
This became a bigger problem than not being able to purchase a server now.
From time to time, Na DaeBang volunteered to translate and he explained towards the Dave trio. He wanted to look good in front of James.
After hearing the story, Dave looked at the people as if it was absurd.
No problem.
“What’s the problem? You just need to decrease it by 50%.”
Even the people who couldn’t speak English understood words like ‘No problem’. However, the words after that weren’t understood by them. YongHo was the same.
“We also looked into it, but it’s not that simple.”
Jeong DanBi spoke politely, in her own way. Her pride was hurt when they said like it was so simple but she did her best to be polite.
Very simple.
“It’s very simple for us though?”
They also understood the words ‘Very simple’.
“James, isn’t it true?”
At Dave’s question, James nodded his head. Na DaeBang made an expression as if it was expected.
James Polo.
He was the owner of a blog which was treated like a holy land amongst infra engineers.
***
“So you’re saying we should buy second-hand ones from ebuy or alibama?”
James nodded instead of answering. Unlike his appearance, he was very shy. He was embarrassed with a figure that was comparable to Na DaeBang who had muscles all over his body.
Instead of James, Jessie continued.
“We can get the CPU, RAM, storage and the rack mounted server (a type of server). According to what I heard, I think you’re trying to construct a CDN server… There will be no problems if we buy in large quantities to make up for the products being second hand.”
At Jessie’s words, Dave smiled while looking at the people as if it was obvious.
“See? James here is a guy who joined during the initial stages of Jungle when they were constructing the server. He’s very credible so you don’t have to worry.”
At Dave’s confident tone, no one could talk back. Na DaeBang, who was translating on the side suddenly raised his hand.
“Me!”
“Yes?”
“I will assist sir James in constructing the server!”
Na DaeBang acted as if it was already decided that James was going to construct the server. Jeong DanBi shook her head and spoke.
“Even so, it’s not appropriate to leave it to outsiders…”
At Jeong DanBi’s words, Son SeokHo stepped out. His strong will to accomplish this could be seen from his face.
“Then why don’t we contract them like we do with outsourcing? Is it alright with you, Dave?”
“Of course. We came on a leave of absence anyway. So we’re good if you want to give us work.”
When Dave agreed, Jeong DanBi had no choice but to take a step back. They needed this to work anyway.
“Then, please give me your estimation.”
Jeong DanBi spoke as if she couldn’t help it. As soon as those words were said, James started sorting out various hardware specifications needed for the server construction on Excel and the main job of the smart shopping strategy team became purchasing equipment from ebuy and alibama.
