69. Have I forgotten who I am now?
After I decided to develop the vaccine myself, I hired Dr. Min as the vice president of the medical division of Karma Holdings.
In fact, it seemed like a good idea to send it to the Jung-Hwa Foundation, since it was almost entirely for public benefit rather than for profit, but that would have made it impossible for the work to proceed.
As a social welfare corporation, the Jeonghwa Foundation is extremely restricted from conducting for-profit business.
In the end, President Nam Won-jeong controls it from above, creating a place in Karma.
Vice President Min Myung-ki immediately recruited a team of former government employees who specialized in epidemiology and infectious diseases who had left of their own volition during the MERS outbreak, and added a few people with experience in the private sector because Nam Jung-won said it would be difficult to hire only government employees.
“iBiorlogix?”
“Yes, the pharmaceutical company that best suits our purposes. They’re still young, less than a decade old, but their technology is solid and they’re making quite a splash. They’ve developed or are developing vaccines for cholera, typhoid, and more. They went public a few years ago.”
“What do you think, VP Min?”
“I’m in favor. I checked with them, and they have a lot of technology. It seems like a good fit for developing a coronavirus vaccine, which is what we’re aiming for. Plus, any company bigger than us would be too big to bring in, and too small to develop.”
“Mr. Nam, how much do you think it would cost?”
“I think it will be quite a bit. The founder’s stake is small, but there are a few institutional investors holding on to it, so I think we’ll need to invest more than 100 billion won to secure a 50% stake in a short period of time.”
“We don’t have time. Secure control even if it costs more money.”
“Okay, Mr. Chairman.”
There was no time to play games with tens of billions of won.
“Just take control and let us do what we want, and then tender the rest of the shares and delist them. I don’t want to interfere from the sidelines.”
“hahahaha! Okay, as long as we get control, it’s not urgent, so we’ll take care of it this year.”
“Then do that, and Vice President Min, please take care of securing the vaccine, as well as other prevention and treatment devices. If you need anything, you can always talk to Mr. Nam.”
“Thank you. I’ll do my best.”
With that, I felt like I had done all I could for now.
It was safe to say that I was doing something right because I didn’t have any nightmares after coming to Korea and diving into this job in earnest.
Tiri-ri-ring! Ti-ri-ri-ring!
From nob le mt l. co m
Just as I was thinking that I should finally get back to the States, my phone rang.
What? Mom?
Mom?
“Yes, Mom.”
– Son!
“Yes, mom, I got your call, but don’t yell at me.”
My mom’s voice has been getting louder lately, and I’m wondering if she’s having trouble hearing.
I should take her to the doctor for a checkup.
– You son of a b*tch, do you hear what you’re saying to my mom?
“Oh, it’s not like that. Why?”
– Do you have a minute?
“Now? I just finished a busy day, nothing special.”
– Great. I’m in Somi and Roche’s room right now, shopping, so come out and eat with me.
“Show, shopping?”
My worst fear is waiting for girls to go shopping.
– Yeah, let’s go out to eat before you go to the States and buy some tilas for you.
“…”
I paused for a moment.
The urge to lie and say I’m busy and run away was welling up in me.
A meal would be fine, but shopping was a definite no-no.
“Oh, no, mom. I have plenty of time. Why don’t we just eat?”
– That’s me. Isn’t that what a good son does?
“Yes—.”
I am a good son.
It’s really hard to be a good son.
But what can I do?
My mom is thinking of me.
I suddenly transformed into zombie mode and ran into President Nam Won-jeong as I was leaving the office.
“What’s wrong, Mr. Nam? Why are you looking so down?”
“My mother and sister are shopping, and they asked me to come out—.”
“aaah! Fuhahahahaha!”
“Don’t laugh.”
“Yikes, I know how you feel. You’re having a hard time.”
“…”
I walked down to the underground parking lot and got into a waiting car.
“Preferably.”
“Yes, Mr. Chairman.”
“Go to the Jamsil branch of Roche Department Store.”
“Yes, Mr. Chairman.”
After establishing the security company, I don’t drive when I come to Korea.
Mr. Lee Sang-cheol is the chairman, but he doesn’t want me to travel alone, so he sends an employee as a driver and bodyguard.
The person who is assigned to me when I come to Korea is Jeong Sun-ho, who is driving the car now, and he is two years younger than me, in a different battalion, but he was my military junior.
That’s why I feel comfortable talking to him.
“Sun-ho.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Is it worth it?”
“Awww, our company is the best!”
“Really?”
“Yes, Mr. Chairman. I get the best treatment on this floor, and they don’t do anything weird. I’m always grateful to you, Mr. Chairman.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear it. Keep up the good work, and you’ll have plenty of opportunities.”
“Thank you.”
“Oh, by the way, do you have a girlfriend?”
“Sure, Mr. Chairman. How old am I?”
“…”
How old is she?
She’s two years younger than me, so she must be thirty-three.
“I’m sorry, I don’t have a girl at this age.”
“Sin, I’m sorry.”
I asked unnecessarily.
Where’s my girl, anyway?
“Son!”
“Brother!”
“Ooh, glare!”
Mom and Somi were carrying shopping bags in both hands, as I suspected they had done a lot of shopping.
As if that weren’t enough, they were also in the hands of secretary Im Kyung, who Mom had hired to be her bodyguard and secretary while she worked at the foundation.
They must have spent half a day shopping, but the three women didn’t look tired, and their faces were glowing, so much so that I was dazzled.
“Is the chairman here?”
“Uh, this secretary. I’m having a hard time.”
“Ho-ho-ho! Trouble? You can do this every day.”
“…”
This secretary was also a woman.
But if you think of her as any other woman, you’re going to get a big nose.
She was the company commander of the 707th Special Forces Women’s Company, which was disbanded in 2015 in favor of equal treatment with men, and even then, she was the first woman to lead an all-male special forces team.
She is also a master of Krav Maga, the Israeli martial art we adopted.
That’s my mom.
Brigadier General Lee Sang-cheol picked and chose her.
The secretary, Lee Im-kyung, was almost acting as a butler in the house while being close to my mother, and my mother seemed to think of her as her eldest daughter, so I couldn’t help myself.
Of course, she had her own bodyguards, but because she was so overwhelmed, she organized a team of female soldiers from the special forces to guard her separately.
They were also managed by the secretary Yim Kyung.
“Mom, have you finished shopping?”
“No, I have to buy your clothes now, don’t I?”
“I have a lot of clothes, can we stop buying them?”
“Why? Don’t you like the clothes I buy for you?”
“Ha—.”
The fact that I was trying to outwit my mom was unreasonable in the first place.
I dragged her around for over an hour and bought a few of my own clothes.
“Okay, okay, okay?”
“Just one more—.”
“Mom, please—.”
Apparently my desperate prayers worked, and my mom decided to stop and eat.
I sighed and took the escalator to the restaurant level, but as I passed by the baby and children’s section, I saw a big commotion going on at the baby clothing section.
The baby and children’s section of Beck’s store is almost unified.
Without realizing it, I got off the escalator and walked towards the direction of the commotion.
“Get down! Boil!”
What the hell is that, a pig slap?
“Get down! Boil her! It’s your wife!”
Where people are gathered.
It’s a brand store of Daesung Apparel.
This atmosphere is very familiar.
Even without seeing it, I knew something was going to happen.
I hurriedly went to the store, and it was me.
A fat lady in her 50s who looked like she had eaten a couple of pigs was screaming at the top of her lungs, and the store manager was crying with her head down.
And I knew her well.
Manager Byun Jung-hee.
She had worked at U-child for almost 20 years, and Dae-sung was brought in by Director Park Jin-ho.
At the age of 30, she lost her husband and started working as a store salesperson to raise her children, and now she is a manager.
This means that there’s a very high probability that the pig with the bad ass pants is a black consumer.
“Get down! Are you disrespecting me, or do you want me to put you out of business?”
“Sir—. I’m sorry, so please—.”
“Get down!”
I couldn’t stand it anymore as I watched Ms. Byun’s knees slowly bend.
I grabbed her shoulders as her knees slowly bent.
“Manager, don’t boil!”
“Go, Team Leader Kang?”
Manager Byun Jung-hee looked at me in surprise, as if she had seen a ghost.
“Yes, it’s me, manager. Long time no see?”
“Black, black, black!”
When the manager saw me, her legs buckled and she sobbed against me.
“It’s okay, Mr. Manager. I’ll take care of it, just get back in the back.”
“How—.”
“Have you forgotten who I am?”
“Ah—.”
Manager Byun went from crying to smiling and quietly slipped into the back.
It was probably the first time she had seen me since I won the U.S. Powerball lottery and had a farewell party when I left the company, but she was well aware of the position I was in now.
That’s when the pig’s snout slapped me in the ear.
“Who are you!”
Is this crazy woman half right?
“I’m the guy from the brand headquarters?”
“Onya, I’m glad to see you! I don’t want to do business with you! I want out of your store!”
“Wait! Auntie!”
“What? Auntie? No, to whom does this bastard dare?”
“What? You bastard? I mean, to whom does this auntie dare?”
“Hey you—.”
“Write!”
I glared, taking a step closer.
“Swear at me one more time. Will you not stand still?”
Most men are intimidated when I use impressions.
I’m no match for a pig of a woman.
“Hey, profit!”
“Tell me what’s going on. We need to know so we can fix it, don’t you think, customer!”
“I bought my grandson’s clothes yesterday, that b*tch gave him clothes that don’t fit him, how much did my grandson get hurt trying to fit him into the little clothes!”
“Ha—.”
What are you talking about?
Do they put razors in baby clothes these days?
I mean, if it doesn’t fit, don’t you just return it for an exchange or a refund?
“Manager, what do you mean?”
“This customer bought a baby space suit yesterday and said it was a few months old, so we gave it to her accordingly, but she came in today and said she wanted a smaller size—.”
“No, but then I can just give her a refund or an exchange, right?”
“I said I’m sorry and I’ll do that, but she said she was hurt while dressing the baby and wants to compensate me for the damage—.”
“What, what?”
“I told her that’s not our policy, and she started yelling and cursing and—. Told me to get down on my knees—.”
“Whoa!”
I’ve seen a lot of sh*t in my time as a sales team leader, but this pig of a woman?