236. impression
From the day after Hoyoung proposed, things went by swiftly.
The first thing Sumin and I did was get permission from the parents of both families to get married.
At the home in Hannam-dong, where he moved after a long time, Ho-young told his parents that he wanted to marry Su-min, and the parents all welcomed him with open arms.
Hoyoung’s age is now thirty.
It was all the more welcome news because according to common sense in the late 1990s, when you turned 30, your time for marriage was filling up.
And at Su-min’s house, where he passed on the next day, Ho-young was uncharacteristically nervous after a long time.
Ho-yeong, who skillfully gives presentations in front of hundreds or thousands of people without showing any sign of trembling, but the road to get their marriage license was difficult for him too.
Hoyoung said, ‘Father. Please allow me to marry your daughter!’
Contrary to Hoyeong’s concerns, Sumin’s father readily agreed.
Of course, Hoyoung is one of the richest people in Korea, and he is also a businessman with great abilities, but it is because Hoyoung’s personality that Hoyoung showed when he was often with Sumin’s parents was already recognized by Sumin’s parents.
“Yes, you can do all the preparations for the wedding as you wish, so choose comfortably. When are we going to see our wedding dress? yes i get it I’ll set aside time for that.”
Unfortunately, Ho-young had no choice but to focus on her work, leaving most of the wedding preparations to Su-min.
‘The best way not to fight in wedding preparation is to let the bride do what she wants.’
There was also Lee Jin-chan’s appropriate advice, so it went well anyway.
Of course, Lee Jin-chan never forgot to say, ‘You should never say that you like anything while leaving it alone, you have to pretend to be worried enough and then say it’s good.’ In the midst of going through safely (?), 1998 was also passing by quickly.
And in 1999, Hoyoung decided to focus on other things.
.
.
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Hoyoung reigned as a telecommunications conglomerate in name and reality in Korea.
Looking at the world from a broader perspective, Hoyoung was already an IT conglomerate, not just a telecommunication conglomerate, but in Korea, his name was now more known as the chairman of the Hermes Group beyond Cronos.
The Hermes group was virtually dominating the telecommunications world in Korea.
Although several years have passed since its inception, the number of ADSL wired communication customers continued to grow, and the momentum was such that it seemed that all of Korea’s population would soon be using the Internet.
There was nothing more to say about wireless communication, and other than Hermes, Korea Telecom was trying to attract customers, but the ratio was only 20% compared to Hermes.
“Okay, have you all gathered?”
end of 98.
Hoyoung summoned all the leaders in charge of Hermes’ wireline.
Kim Joo-jung, who is doing a great job as president of Hermes, as well as Mason, who came to Korea and is actively researching.
It is a collection of all those who are so busy that it is difficult to gather in one place.
“It seems like it’s been a long time since you asked everyone to gather like this.”
“Iknow, right. We’ve seen each other often separately, but it seems like it’s been almost a year since we met at once like this.”
Hoyoung eliminated ostentation as much as possible according to company policy.
In addition to various events such as the closing and opening ceremonies, even the rituals were eliminated.
Even Ho-young, who had the title of president, went only with Mi-ru, who was his assistant and bodyguard, so the people under him naturally did the same.
That is why the current Hermes Group has been able to become the most flexible and free-spirited company among large corporations in Korea.
“The reason I made this gathering is simple. Everyone is busy, so let’s talk quickly and break up.”
“Yep. All right.”
Hoyoung smiled and continued talking when he saw the leaders all answering like one mouth.
“The 20th century is almost over. I only have a little over a year left.”
“That’s right. Time seems to go faster these days.”
Mason answered in poor Korean.
He also lived in Korea for several years.
Thanks to his hard work, he was able to speak and listen to a certain level of Korean.
“I have a service I want to implement nationwide on January 1, 2000. And we’re almost ready. So in 1999, I wanted to talk face-to-face with everyone because I wanted them all to focus on this business.”
“If it’s that business…?”
Some looked like they didn’t know at all, and some looked like they knew what Hoyoung wanted to say.
“ADSL is a service that has made us the best in the telecommunications industry for several years. But I just can’t be satisfied with this speed.”
“Does that mean we are going to start distributing optical lan technology in earnest?”
“you’re right.”
Everyone nodded their heads at Hoyoung’s affirmation.
Optical LAN technology itself was virtually perfected several years ago.
Everyone in the company knew that there was an optical cable connected directly from the main server to Hoyoung’s house in Bundang.
“Mason, may I ask for an explanation?”
“yes. From now on, I will explain. Oh, I’m not familiar with Korean, so can I speak in English?”
everyone agreed
This is because everyone has polished their English skills to the level of native speakers thanks to Hoyoung’s repeated emphasis.
In addition, whenever there was a need to study at an overseas university, Hoyoung sent me to an American university for a year or two to study in the United States.
It was because Hoyoung firmly believed that having good technology was the best way for a company to grow.
Of course, it was natural that the company would pay for all expenses.
Thanks to such a process, even if Mason spoke English comfortably, everyone could understand.
“It is a technology that has been completed a long time ago, but what I said that it has not reached the commercialization stage is the price issue of optical cables, their repeaters, and base stations to be installed in the middle. The communication technology itself is good, but it cost astronomical amounts of money to install physical cables, so it was impossible to commercialize it.”
This was something everyone here was familiar with.
But Mason continued with a triumphant face.
“However, thanks to joint research with several companies that the chairman acquired and grouped into the Hermes Group, we were able to develop a new technology that could lower the price to 1/5 of the existing price, and a clinical trial was started just a few days ago. it’s over.”
When Mason finished speaking, everyone couldn’t hide their admiration.
This is because the completion of optical cable technology was something everyone had been waiting for.
Internet users have already adapted to the speed of ADSL and long for even faster speed, so CS about speed quality was occurring.
Hoyeong’s acquisition of a steel company and a construction company also played a huge role in lowering the cost of installing optical cables.
Construction companies such as base stations, power poles, and fiber optic cables are much cheaper than telecommunication companies when they are carried out, but stronger and more stable construction was possible, and the iron parts that went into them were directly produced by steel companies, which could lead to this result. could
“So, in 1999, our first goal is to lay optical cables nationwide. I don’t care how much money it costs or how many people I need. Please focus on installing optical cables all over the country, even island areas, within one year with the maximum capacity you can!”
“Yep!”
Everyone responded loudly to Hoyoung’s powerful spell.
The goals for 1999 were simple, but ambitious.
.
There was a clear reason why Hoyoung was rushing to install the optical cable.
‘2000. If you set the goal of launching a smartphone by then, you should prepare high-speed Wi-Fi throughout the country by then.’
Of course, it was clear that smartphones would be equipped with LTE technology and could be used at incredibly high speeds, not 3G as now, but no matter how fast wireless communication was, it was clear that the number of people using Wi-Fi would be even greater.
Carriers Wireless communication inevitably incurs costs for consumers.
Consumers are cost sensitive.
So, even in the distant future, there were far more people who installed wireless Wi-Fi routers on the wired Internet and used smartphones using Wi-Fi at home.
‘Fast wired internet is necessary for fast Wi-Fi, and the correct answer is to accelerate the introduction of optical LAN in the end.’
Hoyoung thought there was only one answer to this question.
The problem of installing fiber optic LANs across the country is not a problem that can be solved by bypassing or through clever ideas.
Right attack method.
It was a problem that had to be confronted head-on, as the dictionary meant.
And now, there was a better reason to introduce optical LAN first.
‘Currently, other wired communication companies, except for Korea Telecom, are unable to install all of the ADSL communication networks nationwide, let alone optical LAN.’
Currently, other telecommunications companies, except for Hermes, are not doing so well.
In the first place, ADSL or optical LAN requires money to physically connect wired, but they lacked that much capital, and since Hermes monopolizes most of the Internet subscribers, they do not generate much revenue, making it even more difficult to expand. was
‘It will be sufficient if we monopolize optical LAN first in Hermes, and then allow other companies to use our temporary network after a while.’
An overwhelmingly rapid launch of a revolutionary service.
This was the most principled way for Hoyoung to dominate the market.
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The last day of 1998.
Hoyeong was sitting on a sofa in a room and staring at the curtains.
throb-
Ho-young is rarely nervous or emotionally fluctuated, but even today he couldn’t calm his trembling heart.
‘What is this, why are you so nervous?’
The place where Hoyeong is now is a wedding dress shop in Cheongdam.
He was waiting for Sumin to change into a wedding dress.
‘This is exactly as I saw it on TV.’
The sofa on which Hoyeong was sitting looked like an audience seat, and the place where the curtains were drawn looked like a stage.
And if you wait a bit, the curtain will split on both sides, and Sumin in a wedding dress will appear in it.
“Groom. Are you ready? The first outfit is open.”
The head of the dress shop, who seemed like a nice person, spoke to Hoyeong with a smile on her face and then opened the curtains with a chuckle.
And inside it stood Sumin wearing a pure white dress.
“Wow···. ah···.”
For a moment, Hoyoung was stunned and just stared at her.
He was reenacting the moment he had seen in movies or dramas, but he couldn’t even recall that fact.
“Why are you not talking? Strange?”
“uh? Oh no!”
Hoyeong, who was distracted by Sumin’s question, stuttered without realizing it.
“Didn’t you say that your wife-to-be is pretty when she wears a wedding dress?”
“It’s really pretty. really.”
“Oops. thank you really.”
Hoyeong is close to a talker, but today, for some reason, she couldn’t say a word.
“I already showed everything with the groom’s expression, but my bride is mischievous.”
“haha. That, right?”
Thanks to the help of the head of the dress shop who came in just in time, Hoyoung laughed awkwardly, and Sumin, who saw it, laughed briskly.
“Now, if you have taken a good look at this dress, remember it well in your head. I will wear it a second time, so please wait for the groom.”
Sumin and the chief disappear again through the curtain.
Hoyoung exhaled a long breath and sat down on the sofa at the same time.
But suddenly.
Took-
Hoyoung stopped crying and shed a single tear.
“ah···.”
Hoyoung could count on one hand the memories of crying over the decades.
The first day he returns to the past.
Once after receiving a meal from Mrs. Lee Gil-nyeo, the owner of the boarding house, and once again while holding hands with Lee Jin-chan when Cronos finally surpassed Microsoft.
Hoyeong is similar now to then… No, I realized that I was deeply moved beyond compare to that time.
“after···.”
But he took a deep breath and held back the tears that were about to spill out.
I didn’t want to show my crying like today.
Especially for Sumin.
Today, I wanted to show only a happy and joyful image.
and promised
Next time she opens the curtains and shows up, let’s not hold back saying she’s the most beautiful in the world.