As if he was struck by an electric shock, Yonggu flinched monetarily at Hyunwoo’s remarks.
Though Hyunwoo said very briefly, Yonggu felt as if he saw a new world before his eyes.
Hyunwoo continued, “And I think the couple upstairs will be careful, too. If you are close to them, they will also act thoughtfully.”
Yonggu and Minhye nodded their heads before they knew.
In fact, it was nonsense to try to control the children. So, it would be much easier to take their noise positively rather than trying to control them.
When Yonggu and Minhye made a serious expression, Hyunwoo giggled at that.
“Hey, what are you doing? Open the door.”
“Oh, I forgot.”
Only they did Yonggu push the door button and open it.
Thanks to the visit of Hyunwoo’s party, the noise from upstairs was much lower now. Most likely the children were careful not to make a lot of noise.
A drinking session began soon. They were not awkward anymore, chatting and laughing freely. In particular, the young guys tried their best to win over the women’s hearts.
The women were now aggressive in showing their feelings. If they found their partners to their liking, it seemed as if they wanted to spend the whole night together.
They were interested in Hyunwoo, in particular, because his company Ani & Funny as well as KOVE DREAM was so famous.
But Hyunwoo wasn’t interested in them at all.
In fact, he made lots of efforts to soothe Suji’s troubled heart. Suji might have felt his efforts were not enough as he was terribly busy, but he did his best in a given situation.
But Suji was not moved at all. It seemed that she had completely split with Hyunwoo.
She was not dating another man. She didn’t meet even Jungsu, who she used to meet from time to time.
In other words, she didn’t split with Hyunwoo because she found another man. She was just disappointed at Hyunwoo himself.
That made Hyunwoo stressed out all the more because he was not confident he could be the type of man that she wanted. He could not be confident of leading a happy life while holding back his desire to pursue what he liked.
Probably, Suji would say the same. It would be far from a happy life if she had to forcibly adjust her life to that of her partner against her will.
After all, Hyunwoo decided to leave it to fate. If Suji was to be the woman of Hyunwoo’s fate, either of them would change at the end of the day. If that’s the case, they could meet. If not, they would have to give up on each other.
“What are you pondering so deeply?” asked a woman next to Hyunwoo, poking in his ribs.
Turning his head, he found her face was flushed as if she was drunk.
“Haha, it’s nothing.”
“It’s our turn,” said the woman.
They were playing the skinship game. Other couples were done, waiting for Hyunwoo’s couple to make physical contact.
Of course, it was Yonggu and Minhye who made deep physical contact by using major parts of their bodies.
Hyunwoo’s partner seemed to wait for his deep kiss.
But he didn’t feel up to it because she was more interested in his Ani & Funny and KOVE DREAM than in him.
“I have a girlfriend…” said Hyunwoo.
“That doesn’t matter. This is just a game,” she said.
“Yea, that’s right. Don’t play like an old-fashioned man!” seconded Yonggu.
Hyunwoo agonized over the thought, but it didn’t last long. As she and Yonggu said, this was just a game. No matter how intense their physical contact was, they would not force him to take off his clothes.
Yea, I don’t have to make a big deal out of this. I should not ruin the atmosphere here.
Then he just went along with what she wanted him to do. Everybody yelled for joy and watched him and his partner.
Another game ensued, which was lead them to make more physical contact. Hyunwoo sometimes won and sometimes lost, placing himself at the mercy of the game.
After playing the game for a while, he furtively stood up.
“Phew, let me go out for fresh air. Yonggu, let’s go out together. I’ve got something to tell you.”
“Sure, no problem.”
Both grabbed a canned beer and came out.
They sat on the bench in front of the apartment unit.
Hyunwoo opened his mouth first, “How is your business doing?”
When Hyunwoo brought up the topic of business, Yonggu drank as if he was thirsty.
“In fact, business is not good right now. Before I quit, Space Design just maintained the status quo, but it’s in the red now.”
“What matters is not now, but the future of your business. Do you see any prospect of turning it in the black?”
Yonggu shook his head.
“Design Room, our rival, is too aggressive in their sales approach. They just keep lowering the prices of their furniture even though they know they will suffer a big loss.”
“I see. It looks like Design Room wants to kill its rival Space Design first.”
“That’s what I guess.”
Yonggu let out a sigh again. Though Hyunwoo expected it, Space Design was in a more serious situation than he thought.
“Do you mind if I invest in your company?”
“Well, do you think my business can suddenly go into the black with your investment?” asked Yonggu with a smile.
“If I invest, your business will succeed.”
Yonggu opened his eyes wide at that because he felt Hyunwoo had a good idea.
“I’ve got have a surefire item that will make your business go into the black. This is something that Design Room can never imitate.”
“Really? What is it?” demanded Yonggu.
Hyunwoo gave him a slight hint.
“Didn’t you feel anything unusual when you went upstairs?”
Yonggu seemed to think about it for a moment and shook his head.
“Upstairs? I have no idea.”
“When you looked around the children’s room, didn’t you notice anything?”
“Oh, the children’s room? Ah~”
Only then did Yonggu feel there was something special there. Namely, their room was decorated with the animation characters of Garbage World and Tuti & Angelica, etc.
Yonggu could realize Hyunwoo’s point when he pointed out that Design Room would never imitate this. They would be immediately charged with violations of copyrights if they used the animation characters without Hyunwoo’s permission.
Hyunwoo giggled, saying, “Let me invest 2 billion won. I think that’s enough to invest in your new items.”
“Thanks. In fact, we were in financial difficulty because of insufficient funding.”
Yonggu’s face brightened. He seemed to feel Space Design was already out of the crisis.
Hyunwoo was also confident of the success of Space Design.
“Spread the rumor, man,” said Hyunwoo.
“Which rumor?”
“The rumor that KOVE DREAM and Ani & Funny made an aggressive investment in Space Design. That kind of rumor itself will raise the business confidence of Space Design a lot. It’s not just the business confidence of Space Design. Lots of people will begin to show interest in Space Design with the question mark ‘Why?’, which will naturally promote its new items.”
Yonggu’s eyes opened wider.
“You’re a genius, man!”
Smiling at his compliment, he said, “By the way, can you do me a favor?”
“Sure. Tell me anything,” said Yonggu positively as if he was ready to pick a star in the sky and give it to him.
“Can you find a good technician in LED lighting? As Aurum and Space Design are related to interior work, I think you might know somebody in that field.”
“Of course, I can check it out. Why do you need them?”
Hyunwoo briefed him about DF Technology in Vietnam.
“I see. If that’s the case, I think I have to find those who are not working. I can’t take away those who have a job now.”
“Sure.”
Yonggu made a painful expression. Those with good technical skills had a regular job, while those who were not competent enough showed meager skills.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes as if he found someone he knew.
“Just visit Hanbit Lighting. It went bankrupt recently. Though the factory was small, its technical prowess was good enough.”
Hearing his explanation, Hyunwoo learned that it had to go bankrupt, sandwiched between Japanese products boasting high technical refinement and cheap Chinese products.
“I know the previous owner of Hanbit Lighting. Let me call him in advance if you want to see him.”
“Thanks.”
“Let me go home now as I’m tired. In fact, I don’t like physical contact with strange women like this. See you on your wedding day.”
“Got it. Take care.”
Several days later, there was the wedding ceremony of Yonggu and Minhye in Ansan. After stopping by Ani & Funny and Haenim School, he headed for the wedding hall.
He saw Suji among the guests. When he approached her to say hi, she avoided him furtively. Many acquaintances of his came to him to say hi, so he could not pay any more attention to her.
While he was exchanging greetings with them, he suddenly stopped. An unexpected person asked to shake hands with him: Sangho Oh.
“It’s been a long time since I met you. You’re very famous these days,” said Sangho.
Sangho was not someone Hyunwoo wanted to see, but he had no reason to avoid him.
Hyunwoo held his hand and asked casually,
“Long time, no see. How is your business doing?”
“Business?”
Sangho tried to back out, as if he didn’t get it.
But Hyunwoo already heard from Byongwon Kang that he acted meanly.
“Design Room, you’re affiliated with it, right?”
At that moment, he flinched. Obviously he seemed to think Hyunwoo was unaware of that.
“Why are you so surprised? Did you think I didn’t know your mean act? Wasn’t it you who scouted Byongwon Kang and Younghwan Koh from Aurum?”
Sangho’s eyes opened wider. He seemed embarrassed but regained composure soon.
“Hahaha. You’re really good at intelligence. I don’t have any reason to hide if you know that already, but I’m a man of integrity.”
Hyunwoo made a bitter smile at that.
“Of course, I don’t think that’s shameful, but how can you say that when you took away key figures from your previous company?”
“Did I take them away? No way; they chose Design Room on their own will. And their compensation is much better. I’m their savior from their position.”
Sangho said proudly.
But Hyunwoo just feigned a smile.
He recognized that Design Room was superior to Space Design in terms of size, sales, and public recognition.
But its debts were snowballing, and given the current business practices, they would never be in the black.
Of course, it would be a different story if Space Design went bankrupt and disappeared. But that was its wishful thinking.
At least one month later, Space Design will release a new item, along with the press release that Hyunwoo’s Ani & Funny and KOVE DREAM has made a joint investment.
Hyunwoo was curious about Sangho’s facial expression then.
Besides, Design Room would find it hard to win contracts sponsoring furniture items on TV programs. As Hyunwoo expected, Design Room was pretty stingy about acting as a sponsor of those programs with poor ratings.
Hyunwoo giggled and said, “I wish you good luck, Sangho. Hope your company can make a smash hit next year.”
“I wish you good luck, too,” said Sangho, disappearing with a confident look.
As if he was struck by an electric shock, Yonggu flinched monetarily at Hyunwoo’s remarks.
Though Hyunwoo said very briefly, Yonggu felt as if he saw a new world before his eyes.
Hyunwoo continued, “And I think the couple upstairs will be careful, too. If you are close to them, they will also act thoughtfully.”
Yonggu and Minhye nodded their heads before they knew.
In fact, it was nonsense to try to control the children. So, it would be much easier to take their noise positively rather than trying to control them.
When Yonggu and Minhye made a serious expression, Hyunwoo giggled at that.
“Hey, what are you doing? Open the door.”
“Oh, I forgot.”
Only they did Yonggu push the door button and open it.
Thanks to the visit of Hyunwoo’s party, the noise from upstairs was much lower now. Most likely the children were careful not to make a lot of noise.
A drinking session began soon. They were not awkward anymore, chatting and laughing freely. In particular, the young guys tried their best to win over the women’s hearts.
The women were now aggressive in showing their feelings. If they found their partners to their liking, it seemed as if they wanted to spend the whole night together.
They were interested in Hyunwoo, in particular, because his company Ani & Funny as well as KOVE DREAM was so famous.
But Hyunwoo wasn’t interested in them at all.
In fact, he made lots of efforts to soothe Suji’s troubled heart. Suji might have felt his efforts were not enough as he was terribly busy, but he did his best in a given situation.
But Suji was not moved at all. It seemed that she had completely split with Hyunwoo.
She was not dating another man. She didn’t meet even Jungsu, who she used to meet from time to time.
In other words, she didn’t split with Hyunwoo because she found another man. She was just disappointed at Hyunwoo himself.
That made Hyunwoo stressed out all the more because he was not confident he could be the type of man that she wanted. He could not be confident of leading a happy life while holding back his desire to pursue what he liked.
Probably, Suji would say the same. It would be far from a happy life if she had to forcibly adjust her life to that of her partner against her will.
After all, Hyunwoo decided to leave it to fate. If Suji was to be the woman of Hyunwoo’s fate, either of them would change at the end of the day. If that’s the case, they could meet. If not, they would have to give up on each other.
“What are you pondering so deeply?” asked a woman next to Hyunwoo, poking in his ribs.
Turning his head, he found her face was flushed as if she was drunk.
“Haha, it’s nothing.”
“It’s our turn,” said the woman.
They were playing the skinship game. Other couples were done, waiting for Hyunwoo’s couple to make physical contact.
Of course, it was Yonggu and Minhye who made deep physical contact by using major parts of their bodies.
Hyunwoo’s partner seemed to wait for his deep kiss.
But he didn’t feel up to it because she was more interested in his Ani & Funny and KOVE DREAM than in him.
“I have a girlfriend…” said Hyunwoo.
“That doesn’t matter. This is just a game,” she said.
“Yea, that’s right. Don’t play like an old-fashioned man!” seconded Yonggu.
Hyunwoo agonized over the thought, but it didn’t last long. As she and Yonggu said, this was just a game. No matter how intense their physical contact was, they would not force him to take off his clothes.
Yea, I don’t have to make a big deal out of this. I should not ruin the atmosphere here.
Then he just went along with what she wanted him to do. Everybody yelled for joy and watched him and his partner.
Another game ensued, which was lead them to make more physical contact. Hyunwoo sometimes won and sometimes lost, placing himself at the mercy of the game.
After playing the game for a while, he furtively stood up.
“Phew, let me go out for fresh air. Yonggu, let’s go out together. I’ve got something to tell you.”
“Sure, no problem.”
Both grabbed a canned beer and came out.
They sat on the bench in front of the apartment unit.
Hyunwoo opened his mouth first, “How is your business doing?”
When Hyunwoo brought up the topic of business, Yonggu drank as if he was thirsty.
“In fact, business is not good right now. Before I quit, Space Design just maintained the status quo, but it’s in the red now.”
“What matters is not now, but the future of your business. Do you see any prospect of turning it in the black?”
Yonggu shook his head.
“Design Room, our rival, is too aggressive in their sales approach. They just keep lowering the prices of their furniture even though they know they will suffer a big loss.”
“I see. It looks like Design Room wants to kill its rival Space Design first.”
“That’s what I guess.”
Yonggu let out a sigh again. Though Hyunwoo expected it, Space Design was in a more serious situation than he thought.
“Do you mind if I invest in your company?”
“Well, do you think my business can suddenly go into the black with your investment?” asked Yonggu with a smile.
“If I invest, your business will succeed.”
Yonggu opened his eyes wide at that because he felt Hyunwoo had a good idea.
“I’ve got have a surefire item that will make your business go into the black. This is something that Design Room can never imitate.”
“Really? What is it?” demanded Yonggu.
Hyunwoo gave him a slight hint.
“Didn’t you feel anything unusual when you went upstairs?”
Yonggu seemed to think about it for a moment and shook his head.
“Upstairs? I have no idea.”
“When you looked around the children’s room, didn’t you notice anything?”
“Oh, the children’s room? Ah~”
Only then did Yonggu feel there was something special there. Namely, their room was decorated with the animation characters of Garbage World and Tuti & Angelica, etc.
Yonggu could realize Hyunwoo’s point when he pointed out that Design Room would never imitate this. They would be immediately charged with violations of copyrights if they used the animation characters without Hyunwoo’s permission.
Hyunwoo giggled, saying, “Let me invest 2 billion won. I think that’s enough to invest in your new items.”
“Thanks. In fact, we were in financial difficulty because of insufficient funding.”
Yonggu’s face brightened. He seemed to feel Space Design was already out of the crisis.
Hyunwoo was also confident of the success of Space Design.
“Spread the rumor, man,” said Hyunwoo.
“Which rumor?”
“The rumor that KOVE DREAM and Ani & Funny made an aggressive investment in Space Design. That kind of rumor itself will raise the business confidence of Space Design a lot. It’s not just the business confidence of Space Design. Lots of people will begin to show interest in Space Design with the question mark ‘Why?’, which will naturally promote its new items.”
Yonggu’s eyes opened wider.
“You’re a genius, man!”
Smiling at his compliment, he said, “By the way, can you do me a favor?”
“Sure. Tell me anything,” said Yonggu positively as if he was ready to pick a star in the sky and give it to him.
“Can you find a good technician in LED lighting? As Aurum and Space Design are related to interior work, I think you might know somebody in that field.”
“Of course, I can check it out. Why do you need them?”
Hyunwoo briefed him about DF Technology in Vietnam.
“I see. If that’s the case, I think I have to find those who are not working. I can’t take away those who have a job now.”
“Sure.”
Yonggu made a painful expression. Those with good technical skills had a regular job, while those who were not competent enough showed meager skills.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes as if he found someone he knew.
“Just visit Hanbit Lighting. It went bankrupt recently. Though the factory was small, its technical prowess was good enough.”
Hearing his explanation, Hyunwoo learned that it had to go bankrupt, sandwiched between Japanese products boasting high technical refinement and cheap Chinese products.
“I know the previous owner of Hanbit Lighting. Let me call him in advance if you want to see him.”
“Thanks.”
“Let me go home now as I’m tired. In fact, I don’t like physical contact with strange women like this. See you on your wedding day.”
“Got it. Take care.”
Several days later, there was the wedding ceremony of Yonggu and Minhye in Ansan. After stopping by Ani & Funny and Haenim School, he headed for the wedding hall.
He saw Suji among the guests. When he approached her to say hi, she avoided him furtively. Many acquaintances of his came to him to say hi, so he could not pay any more attention to her.
While he was exchanging greetings with them, he suddenly stopped. An unexpected person asked to shake hands with him: Sangho Oh.
“It’s been a long time since I met you. You’re very famous these days,” said Sangho.
Sangho was not someone Hyunwoo wanted to see, but he had no reason to avoid him.
Hyunwoo held his hand and asked casually,
“Long time, no see. How is your business doing?”
“Business?”
Sangho tried to back out, as if he didn’t get it.
But Hyunwoo already heard from Byongwon Kang that he acted meanly.
“Design Room, you’re affiliated with it, right?”
At that moment, he flinched. Obviously he seemed to think Hyunwoo was unaware of that.
“Why are you so surprised? Did you think I didn’t know your mean act? Wasn’t it you who scouted Byongwon Kang and Younghwan Koh from Aurum?”
Sangho’s eyes opened wider. He seemed embarrassed but regained composure soon.
“Hahaha. You’re really good at intelligence. I don’t have any reason to hide if you know that already, but I’m a man of integrity.”
Hyunwoo made a bitter smile at that.
“Of course, I don’t think that’s shameful, but how can you say that when you took away key figures from your previous company?”
“Did I take them away? No way; they chose Design Room on their own will. And their compensation is much better. I’m their savior from their position.”
Sangho said proudly.
But Hyunwoo just feigned a smile.
He recognized that Design Room was superior to Space Design in terms of size, sales, and public recognition.
But its debts were snowballing, and given the current business practices, they would never be in the black.
Of course, it would be a different story if Space Design went bankrupt and disappeared. But that was its wishful thinking.
At least one month later, Space Design will release a new item, along with the press release that Hyunwoo’s Ani & Funny and KOVE DREAM has made a joint investment.
Hyunwoo was curious about Sangho’s facial expression then.
Besides, Design Room would find it hard to win contracts sponsoring furniture items on TV programs. As Hyunwoo expected, Design Room was pretty stingy about acting as a sponsor of those programs with poor ratings.
Hyunwoo giggled and said, “I wish you good luck, Sangho. Hope your company can make a smash hit next year.”
“I wish you good luck, too,” said Sangho, disappearing with a confident look.
