The retirement everyone wants?(4)
Choi Sang-ho, managing director of Donghyun Group, chose a large, quiet Korean restaurant for dinner and told us about it.
A Benz van stopped in front of a store that looked like a home of a wealthy family without a signboard on the outside.
After returning the manager, Jeong Seo-hoon approached the front door, and the door opened sideways, and a beautiful woman in her early twenties, wearing a neat hanbok, greeted her.
“Welcome to. I will guide you.”
They never ask who you are or what your name is.
“Do you mind not checking who I came to see?”
“There will be no one in this country who does not know your face.”
The woman smiled lightly and guided us back inside.
While wearing a traditional hanbok, he had a wireless communicator in one ear. It is a bizarre combination of past and present.
It wasn’t clear, but I could roughly hear what the woman was saying.
-We are waiting for you at Moran Room. We can guide you right away. The prize is ready, let me know when it’s time to bring it in.
The woman led me to a room with a wooden intaglio signboard called ‘Peony’.
It was unusual to see the slippers made of straw sandals placed neatly.
When I tried it on, it was not really made of straw, but slippers made by twisting soft and thin threads.
Inside the peony room, with a folding screen with traditional color paintings in the background, Sang-ho Choi, the managing director, sat and waited first.
He got up from his seat and greeted Jeong Seo-hun.
“Welcome, Professor.”
“Ah, did you hear? The news is fast.”
“There is no large corporation in this country that has not focused its eyes and ears on the professor’s every move.”
Donghyun Group’s main business areas were distribution and shopping, energy chemistry, and telecommunications. Jeong Seo-hoon recalled that fact for a moment and sat down.
Just in time for the two of them to greet each other lightly, the woman who guided them entered again.
“Excuse me for a moment. I will raise the prize.”
Two more female employees dressed in hanbok came in and started filling the large table with dishes.
Looking at it, unlike the two female employees, the hanbok looks fancy and luxurious. It seems that he is more than a manager.
“How shall I serve the drink?”
“Um, Nayeon. wait for a sec. Professor, are you okay with drinking?”
“it’s okay.”
“Do you enjoy it, or is there something you want right now?”
“Red wine, please with the heaviest taste. With high alcohol content.”
As if Choi Sang-ho was a little surprised, his eyes shook slightly, then he smiled.
“Ha ha ha, the professors are strong in alcohol. Why don’t you drink wine instead of wine?”
“Today I am attracted to wine. I hardly ever saw a professor who couldn’t drink. There are people who are not physically accepted.”
“Suddenly, I have a good mood. Professor, how well do you eat?”
“Probably the best drink in Korea.”
“… … Huh.”
Choi Sang-ho, who initially took it as a joke, reacted differently to the playful expression on his face.
“You are sincere. You are still young, but you are amazing.”
“Because I’m young, it’s more simple and fresh.”
“… … hahahaha.”
Choi Sang-ho let out a slightly airy laugh.
he won’t know
After encountering the comet, how strong is Jeong Seo-hoon’s body?
After a while, a female manager named Na-yeon brought a bottle of wine and gave a lengthy explanation, while Jeong Seo-hoon pretended to listen seriously.
I wanted to order a stronger distilled liquor, but it was a decision that took into account Choi Sang-ho’s face and the atmosphere of the place.
‘It’s just like grape juice.’
The taste of alcohol is barely noticeable.
It wasn’t the alcohol that was the problem, it was the body that was getting stronger.
I think I need to pay more attention to acting than usual today.
‘Am I destined to live my life wearing a mask and acting even outside the camera?’
Emotions, whether bitter or funny, linger on the tip of the tongue, and are swallowed with red ethanol.
“I’ve been watching dramas these days. I usually don’t watch TV, but the professor’s acting was so natural that I fell in love with it without even realizing it. Did you say Jeongju? I drove it from the beginning and watched it without mind.”
“You don’t have to do it on purpose. Thank you though.”
“Isn’t it that you want to know a lot because you are someone you want to be close to? After watching all the parts of Beautiful Campus, I also watched two movies featuring professors. There are too many debut works and historical dramas, so I haven’t touched them yet.”
It was unexpected.
Of course, I thought I’d talk about room temperature nuclear fusion, but I never thought I’d bring out a drama and a movie.
At first, I thought it was ice breaking, but Choi Sang-ho talked about dramas and movies for nearly an hour while eating.
There was no mention of room-temperature nuclear fusion, papers, or Nobel Prizes.
“I heard it too. He said that during his military service, he tutored the sons and daughters of generals who couldn’t study, so they sent them to good universities.”
“It’s a mess. They weren’t friends who were particularly bad at studying.”
“Isn’t it like this? In the professor’s eyes, neither you nor him can do all of them anyway, so why don’t you just make a distinction between who is good and who isn’t?”
“… … .”
“hahahaha, it seemed like that for some reason. In fact, the company also feels a bit like that when looking down at the top 5 companies. All of the companies outside the top 10 are like acorn-kissing, right?”
Choi Sang-ho has been watching all the works starring Jeong Seo-hoon, except for the old feature films such as Illegal, Ha Geuk-sang, and The Hunter.
I seem to have properly sharpened my sword and ‘studyed’ for this spot today. It was sincerity.
“Professor EBC educational contents are also going to explode very loudly. The response of the entrance exam market right now is very hot. From what I hear, there is a lot of worry and a lot of complaints in the entrance examination academy world.”
“Complaints?”
“It seems that there is such a complaint about why large corporations come into the alley and destroy the ecosystem. Our group also heard a lot of resentment and cursed a lot while running a large mart, so it didn’t feel like a stranger.”
Choi Sang-ho secretly compared it to the group business and attempted to form a sense of sympathy with Jung Seo-hoon.
He must have drunk in moderation, he may be praising himself for being very natural.
It’s a pity for him that such intentions are so clearly visible.
“I was puzzled when I first heard that he was working as both an actor and a professor, but after watching the drama, I thought it was definitely worth it. It’s a talent too good to be buried.”
“thank you. Actually, for me, acting is more fun and rewarding than academic work.”
“But from a business point of view, it is very unfortunate. If you devote yourself to academic research, you will leave behind many achievements that will change the world.”
Are you trying to bring up the real subject?
It was a firm patience that I wanted to praise.
“Actually, I brought two request cards for the professor today.”
“Are there two?”
“Let’s have one more drink. Oh, don’t worry. Either get drunk and write a contract or not. I do this because I want to have a smooth conversation.”
Jeong Seo-hoon shared a glass with him without hesitation.
It was clear that Choi Sang-ho was already flushed and quite drunk. Even so, the pronunciation is not disturbed and the eyes are clear.
“Our group is preparing a major industry-academia collaboration project. This is a power generation improvement project prepared by Donghyun Chemical. I would like to ask the professor for the height of the fleet.”
It was a very unlikely proposition.
Because the research that Jeong Seo-hoon most desperately wanted to do was comets.
It has already published a thesis and has been recognized worldwide, but the United Nations has not yet raised the authority level of the comet.
It’s to the point where I’ve even thought about it lately, wondering if the UN couldn’t even think of a comet at all because it exploded something so big.
“The scale of the project is approximately 200 billion won. From our point of view, since it is such a large amount of money, we would like to entrust the overall project to a reliable scholar.”
“I’m working on the equations for electrostatic fusion, so I’m worried that I’ll be able to properly focus on such a big task.”
“It is enough to just look at the overall coordination and management. I would like you to think of me as an advisor with no responsibility and only authority.”
“You said there was another one. What about the second one?”
“Ah, that… … .”
Choi Sang-ho took a breath for a moment and then spoke cautiously.
“I don’t know if you know, but our group has made it to the general film this time.”
“Is there a BIC channel by any chance?”
“Yes, that’s right. It is a general program project promoted by a distant branch of the group.”
“Ah, I didn’t know that well until then. I only knew about it by hearing that there would be another comprehensive channel.”
“Because it is about jumping into the red ocean, BIC decided to sharpen and prepare. At the same time as the first broadcast, they said that they plan to seize viewers with a drama that has invested more than 50 billion won.”
He seemed to know what he was talking about.
“I strongly recommended the professor to the BIC president for the lead role. We will treat you the best. Any thoughts?”
I feel sorry for Choi Sang-ho, but it aroused interest that was incomparable to the industry-university project.
An ambitious drama prepared in line with the channel’s first launch.
Who is the writer and who is the director?
What kind of content is it, and what role do you want to give it?
“The broadcasting station will be launched next year. All that has been decided now is that more than tens of billions of won have been allocated for the production of the drama in order to leave an impressive first impression for viewers.”
Jeong Seo-hoon was a little disappointed. In the end, isn’t it a story that there is nothing prepared except for the budget?
‘I think the president is underestimating drama production too much. Just having money doesn’t mean a proper work can be made.’
When it comes to drama production, money is just a basic requirement.
It’s like a soccer ball.
You can’t play soccer without a ball. However, just having the ball does not make a great match.
The ball only helps the match to be established, but the quality of the match is ultimately what the players create.
Even after pouring jaw-dropping production costs, there are many failures that do not have even the minimum quality as well as box office success, which is a reflection of that.
‘In the end, both of them are bait.’
At first glance, appearing in a launching drama can be seen as bait to attract industry-academy projects.
But both were bait.
Jeong Seo-hun felt that way from the tense breathing that Choi Sang-ho was trying to hide with alcohol.
The dramas he appeared in, EBC educational video contents, industry-academia projects, and new comprehensive TV series launching dramas were all flashy lures.
Choi Sang-ho has never mentioned room-temperature fusion research today.
Even though Jung Seo-hoon deliberately mentioned it, it passed smoothly as if it was nothing special.
He was constantly injecting a soft and trustworthy image to get what he wanted.
As if he had poured tens of billions of dollars into buying and selling his own EBC educational video advertisement that he hadn’t even filmed yet.
Jeong Seo-hoon thought about it for a bit and decided to act as if he liked the bait.
“When the script comes out, please send it. I never want to lose a good role to someone else.”
When he deliberately put on an expression that seemed to be trying to hide his emotional agitation, Choi Sang-ho slipped a genuine smile over his glass for the first time.
* * *
“That was all bait. Even chaebols don’t do it for everyone. If it were me, I would have thought that the industry-academia collaboration project was real.”
“Well. I thought so too, but as I was leaving after eating, I realized I had missed one.”
“What, did I miss something else there?”
Ha Tae-soo, who had come to the pickup, met his gaze in the rearview mirror while driving.
“You know that woman manager. I thought he was the manager, but he turned out to be the boss.”
“Didn’t you say you were young, no, young? He said he looked like he was in his early 20s?”
“She’s the daughter of Executive Director Choi.”
Ha Tae-soo almost stepped on the brakes.
“… … wow, awesome Wait, then, did you try to sneak up on you?”
“Chief Choi doesn’t know that I noticed. I thought that woman just brought Choi to entertain me.”
“wait for a sec. Originally, didn’t Donghyun Group try to connect the vice president’s daughter with you?”
“right. Choi’s nephew.”
“That was before the thesis presentation, right? Then I open my eyes and I can’t see my older brother having you, so… … Wow, something creepy.”
“Is your brother creepy? I’m having fun.”
“Is this fun?”
Jeong Seo-hoon lightly kneaded the back of his neck and indifferently looked into the rearview mirror.
“In The Hunter, I am the heir to a conglomerate. When filming season 2, I thought it would be nice to refer to Choi. There’s a real thing right in front of you that’s good for reference, isn’t it fun then?”
“… … .”
“I want to be friends with Mr. Choi from now on.”
“I’m just trying to scare you a little.”