We visited a barbecue restaurant as an after-party to commemorate the successful completion of WHTS Company’s first corporate briefing.
“Everyone, on a good day like today, you have to run all the way, right? Is that correct?”
“you’re right!”
“Who’s the one with the glass half full? I’m watching everything. Come on, fill it up. When you’re ready, I’ll toast you. Hmmm, WHTS Company’s winning streak!”
“for!”
“for!”
Starting with Park Tae-sik, several employees create a lively atmosphere.
I hate noise at drinking parties, but a fun day like today was an exception.
‘Sometimes a noisy dinner like this isn’t bad.’
The electric car reservations made public at the company briefing session hit the jackpot.
At the same time as the announcement, the Tesla homepage started to stumble, and within 5 minutes the reservation page was completely unloaded.
According to Tesla’s announcement, the server that can accommodate up to 1 million people was completely down, so it was possible to guess its popularity.
‘Not all of the people in the crowd were electric car reservations, but that’s not the point.’
As Tesla reservations began, most of the crowds gathered were acorn coin investors.
He said he was curious about how he could reserve a car with virtual currency, so he logged on with half expectation and half curiosity.
From noble mtl dot com
Here, real buyers who were waiting for the reservation to start, and merchants who took the front seat of the reservation number and tried to sell it for a higher price, flocked to the server, and the server was stretched out.
“In the future, our automotive business team will be very busy. However, your treatment will be better as well! Please trust only Park Tae-sik and follow me!”
“Oh oh! You look great!”
“I will follow only the director!”
Since the automotive business team was a new department, the morale of the employees was the most important.
There were bound to be concerns about whether the place I was assigned to was a job, whether the treatment was better than before, whether a promotion was possible, and so on.
However, seeing that Park Tae-shik has already joined forces with the staff and even passed the drinks, it seems there is no need to worry about that.
“I need to know one affinity.”
I quietly get up and leave the restaurant.
When I open the door leading to the ground and come out, the cool night air greets me. Out of habit, he took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.
“this.”
no lighter in pocket
Just in time, cigarette smoke comes from the back of the restaurant building. With the intention of borrowing a fire, he goes to the smoke and meets a completely unexpected person.
“Soyoung?”
Startled, she dropped the cigarette she was holding onto the floor.
“Did Soyoung smoke too? We worked together for over a year, but we didn’t know it completely.”
“Ah, that, that… … .”
Lee So-yeong avoids her gaze and squeezes her hair, then lets out a deep sigh.
“I heard that the image of women who smoke is not very good in Korea… … .”
“What does that matter? As long as you like So-young, that’s fine.”
I pick up the cigarette Lee So-young dropped, light it and give it back.
She takes a cigarette and looks at me.
“why? Would you like a new one?”
“Oh, no. That’s Okay.”
There is no conversation for a moment, only cigarette smoke disperses in the air. She only held the cigarette until the end, but did not bring it to her mouth.
An awkward silence continues.
inconvenient. I was wondering if I had anything to say, but I remembered what I said earlier.
“Come to think of it, it’s already been over a year.”
“What?”
“It’s been over a year since I met So-yeong.”
“ah… … .”
“Do you remember the day we first met? The day Soyoung gave a virtual currency lecture at the university auditorium.”
She immediately nods, as if not thinking about it.
“Do you remember? The reaction to my lecture was really bad, but the CEO came and complimented me.”
“I just said it was great because the content of the talk was great. Others did not recognize the pearl in the mud.”
“Don’t give it too much air.”
“It’s not about boosting it, it’s about the result, isn’t it? Because our acorn overwhelmingly surpassed Buterin’s Ethereum, which we lectured together.”
“Yes, because the CEO had the ability, this result came out.”
Even without me, Lee So-young is a genius who created her own virtual currency and achieved great success.
I just jumped on her abilities.
This was a kind of debt for me. Even because of this responsibility, I had to achieve greater success than I do now.
“I think I was really lucky to have met So-yeong at that time.”
“I am not that great.”
“I chose So-young because of my discerning eyes, so you must be a great person.”
“It’s been a while since I heard that.”
She smiles and pats my arm.
“Soyoung, you have to stay with me all the time.”
She looks up at me with surprised eyes. Judging by the slightly reddened cheeks, it seems that the alcohol has come up belatedly.
Come to think of it, I think my face has been a little hot since a while ago.
“… … .”
she stares me in the eye I don’t avert my gaze either.
Red lips twitch and seduce me. It was such a coveted lips that you would fall in love just by looking at it.
Permission was not required. When I approach first, the lips also come towards me.
She closes her eyes as they get close enough to feel each other’s breath.
The car that was trying to touch each other like that.
“CEO! Representative Shin Woo-hyuk!”
A voice coming from the store entrance brought us into reality.
Hesitantly, we looked at each other, but she ran off to the other side, blushing first.
“Great. Timing kills.”
When I went to the entrance of the store, one of the employees saw me and ran to see me.
“oh! CEO! You are here.”
“What is it?”
Employees are startled and look frightened. I guess I answered too harshly.
“Tell me what is going on.”
“Ah, that’s me… … .”
He looks at me again and squeezes out his words.
“Tesler’s Elon CEO said he just boarded a plane to Korea.”
* * *
“oh! Daniel! nice to meet you! Really, really nice to meet you!”
Elon, who came out of the arrivals hall at the airport, greeted me several times and held my hand.
There were already reporters around, so our appearance had to be baptized with a huge flash.
“welcome. It took a lot of hard work to come this far.”
“When good things happen, like this one, no matter how far you go, it’s effortless at all. Hot hot hot!”
After exchanging brief greetings, we quickly moved to the airport parking lot.
A pre-prepared car was parked in the parking lot.
“Oh! Rolls Royce! Is this Daniel’s car?”
“you’re right.”
“It’s a nice car, but it’s far from Daniel’s smart image.”
“It’s not smart, it’s a car for rich people.”
Elon immediately understands the meaning of my words and smiles.
“We will send you our electric car. It will be a car that fits Daniel’s image perfectly.”
We got into the back seat side by side. The back seat of the Rolls-Royce was more spacious than that of a regular car, so we could talk about work comfortably.
“Why did you suddenly come to Korea?”
“I came because of the reservation I made this time. It was so unbelievably popular.”
After the electric vehicle reservation page was paralyzed due to a surge of reservations, Tesla was able to restore the reservation page in half a day.
“I heard that close to 60,000 people have completed the reservation process.”
“hahahaha. It was.”
It was unprecedented that 60,000 people made reservations in just two hours.
Even after such a huge success, Elon’s face was more embarrassing than joy.
“Did you not like the virtual currency deposit system?”
“That is absolutely not the case. Why would you hate a popular method? We will gradually apply the deposit system not only in Korea but also in other regions.”
“Good news.”
Elon paused for a while and then carefully took the rhyme.
“Me, by the way. We have something to apologize for.”
“Tell me.”
“We received 60,000 reservations this time, but we never expected that many people would come.”
I understand. I didn’t know that there would be so many people making reservations.
“So originally, we were preparing about 3,000 units… … .”
He wets his parched lips and vomits out the words.
“I will be honest. Tesla can’t afford to produce the 60,000 cars it has been booked for.”
“Then how many units can you ship?”
“I don’t think we will be able to ship even one in Korea this year.”
I received an order for 60,000 units, but not even one unit is shipped?
Originally, it was normal for me to jump up and make a fuss at this point. But I just nod my head slightly without changing my expression.
“okay.”
Elon opened his eyes wide as if my reaction was unexpected.
“Are you still okay?”
“Of course it’s not okay. But what if it can’t be shipped?”
“Thank you for your understanding.”
Elon expresses his gratitude over and over again. To him, I would look like a grown man.
But it’s not that I don’t react because I’m an adult. I knew from the start that Tesla wouldn’t give me a car.
Tesla’s annual production is about 80,000 units.
It won’t change much next year either. With this amount of production, it would be difficult to beat the volume in the United States.
In fact, the time when Tesla vehicles were officially delivered to Korea was over this year, and it was near the middle of next year.
“There is not even one unit shipped this year… … Even if I understand, Korean customers will explode with dissatisfaction. Of course, the number of cancellations will also pour.”
It hit a lot of publicity saying that it sold 60,000 units in two hours, but when reservation cancellations poured in, it was a big blow to Tesla’s image.
Elon knew that, so he came to me.
“Can’t the WHTS Company appease the Korean reservations?”
“hmm… … It’s not that there’s no way, but there’s no choice but to put a lot of pressure on our side.”
“I know it’s shameless, but please.”
I deliberately pause for a while, then tilt my head vaguely. It was neither nodding nor shaking.
“Then you have to promise us two things at Tesla.”
“which… … ?”
“First, you must entrust the sales and management of Tesla vehicles in Korea to the WHTS Company.”
“Of course you have to do that.”
“Second, you have to hand over the reservations by at least next year.”
As mentioned earlier, Tesla barely produces 80,000 units a year. It was virtually impossible to assign 60,000 units to Korea.
“About half, 30,000 units… … It seems possible.”
“I don’t think it’s possible, but you have to promise me at least half of it. If the delivery of the vehicle is delayed until next year, I will also be in trouble.”
Elon struggled to nod his head as he pondered over and over again.
For him, it was an inevitable choice as he did not want to miss the 60,000 units reserved this time.
“great. Mr. Elon made a promise, so I will do my best.”
“phew… … I wish you well.”
Unlike Elon, who sighed in succession, I had no worries about delays in shipping.
Why? In Korea, it was obvious that a third party would intervene and create an excuse for delay in shipment even if I did not have to work.