75. But why do I think I’ve heard this before?
“The vaccine development is going well, isn’t it?”
“Yes, Mr. Chairman. You should hear it from me.”
“In person?”
“hahahaha! I asked the representative of iBiorlogix, the vaccine developer we acquired, to come and say hello to the chairman.”
“Oh! Did you happen to see him talking to Vice President Min Myung-ki outside?”
“I see, so I’ll ask him to come in.”
“Please do.”
A few moments later, a middle-aged man in his mid-50s walked into the room with Mr. Min Myung-ki, the vice president in charge of the medical business.
“Please say hello. Mr. Baek. This is Mr. Cheol-Sik Kang, the chairman of Karma Investment, the parent company of our company, Karma Holdings, that I told you about.”
“Hello, I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m Sang-hee Baek.”
“Yes, it’s a pleasure, Mr. Baek. I’m Cheol-Sik. Please have a seat.”
“Sure, thanks.”
After a few moments of small talk, we got down to business.
“Mr. Min, I’d like to know about the status of the vaccine development.”
“I think that’s best left to Mr. Baek himself. Mr. Baek.”
“Yes, then let me tell you, the development of the coronavirus vaccine, which was ordered by the current chairman, has been underway since last May, using all of the company’s capabilities and available capacity.”
I heard.
“The basic goal of the vaccine development is to be able to preemptively respond to any new coronaviruses that may arrive in the future, that is, to develop and distribute a vaccine at the earliest possible time, no matter what strains and variants of coronaviruses occur.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“To do that, the first step is to develop a vaccine based on existing outbreaks of SARS and MERS. After all, they are beta coronaviruses like SARS and MERS, and any new coronaviruses that may arise in the future are likely to be variants or subspecies of coronaviruses.”
“Hmmm—.”
“So, if we develop a vaccine for SARS and MERS, we can respond very quickly to any new coronavirus that comes along and develop a vaccine.”
“And develop one now?”
“Yes, that’s right, we are currently developing a vaccine for SARS and MERS. We’re working with the International Vaccine Institute at Seoul National University and Seoul National University Hospital, and we’re also getting a lot of help from the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
“Oh, the government is helping too?”
I didn’t realize the government was helping.
“It’s not a situation where they can openly cooperate, but Dr. Kwon Jun-ho is helping us a lot through his connections. Thanks to him, the head of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Jung In-young, took an interest and generously provided us with the materials and samples of SARS and MERS that the National Institutes of Health had in their possession.”
“Oh! That’s very gracious of you, isn’t it?”
“hahahahaha! Vice President Min Myung-ki is also here, but the trauma of the health officials who were on the front lines during the MERS outbreak was enormous. They were so scarred.”
“Humph—.”
Vice President Min Myung-ki, who was next to him, coughed in embarrassment.
Perhaps it was Min who was the most hurt.
“Anyway, that’s why when the topic of the coronavirus comes up, he helps with both hands. General Manager Jung even took time out of his day to visit our company and give us encouragement.”
“Oh—.”
“The current development timeline is to develop a vaccine for SARS and MERS by the end of the year and go to the brink of preclinical.”
“That’s faster than I thought, is that even possible?”
“Humph, I’m sorry to keep bringing up the old story, but it’s largely due to our country’s experience with MERS.”
“Why is that?”
“Well, you may not realize it, but we’ve done quite a bit of research on MERS. The International Vaccine Institute was still working on it, so we were able to take it over and collaborate with them, and that’s why we were able to develop it so quickly.”
The impact of MERS on Korea at the time must have been significant.
“Anyway, Mr. Baek, please do your best. If you need anything, you can always tell VP Min.”
“hahahahaha, no, they’ve already supported us a lot, so we don’t need anything. First of all, they gave us a large capital increase, so we’re overflowing with money, and we’ve recruited a lot of people and replenished our equipment.”
“Okay, then I’ll rely only on you, Mr. Baek, so please work on the development with a sense of mission, and if there are good results, I’ll reward all the employees below Mr. Baek.”
“hahahahaha! Can I tell my employees about this?”
“Of course. Please tell them they can look forward to it.”
“Thank you!”
Afterwards, the team discussed measures to deal with the upcoming virus attack for a while, first sending Mr. Min and Mr. Baek out.
“Mr. Nam, the office space is looking increasingly cramped.”
Currently, Karma Holdings was renting the entire upper floor of the building that originally housed DaeSung, but it was becoming cramped as the number of employees increased.
“hahahaha, we can’t do anything about it until Magog’s building is completed. We’re renting the building next door to make up for the lack of office space.”
“When is the new building scheduled to be completed?”
“April of next year.”
“Try to push it out a little longer if you can. If anything happens, it’s going to be a setback.”
“Okay, I’ll instruct them to do so.”
“Also, this is a personal favor.”
“What is it?”
“I’m thinking we might need to move, and I was wondering if you had any suggestions. I’d like to move to a single-family home that’s a little more spacious?”
I was happy enough with where I was living, but I was a little nervous about the upcoming tribulation.
It’s a pandemic world.
I don’t want my family to live in a shared house like an apartment.
Of course, in a country where more than half of the people live in apartments, you might ask, what does that mean, but if I had the money, I could live with it.
My family is the most important thing in my life, and I want them to have a safe place to live.
“Ho-oh? Is that so? Wait a minute, even if it’s not, the chairman is coming to Korea a lot now, so we’ve found an assistant to take care of him in Korea, and he knows this kind of thing.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, he used to manage assets at Sasung. He’s a brilliant guy and a big mouth, so I’ve been targeting him for a while, but when he told me he was quitting, I snatched him up.”
“hahahaha, good for you.”
“Okay, wait a minute.”
“Okay.”
Mr. Nam gave instructions on the intercom, and a few moments later, a sturdy man entered the office and greeted him politely.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. My name is Cho Cheol-bong.”
“Yes? Cho Cheol-bong?”
“Yes—.”
“Kkkkkk!”
“…”
When I heard the name and stammered out a question, next to me, the president of Namjungwon was getting very hard.
As if he knew it would happen.
What kind of name is so colorful?
No, more than that, I’ve heard that name before.
“I’m sorry about your name, is that your real name?”
“I’ve heard that a million times in my life, but yes, it is my real name. My grandfather gave it to me.”
“Ah, yes—. But why do you think I’ve heard of it?”
“A long time ago, a flesh-colored daily newspaper published a novel in which you were the main character.”
“Ah! That’s right! A powerful man!”
“Yes—.”
Cho Chul-bong’s shoulders sagged as he admitted.
It was strangely familiar.
The powerful man novel was quite erotic.
It was almost just inside the boundaries of a roe deer novel.
Anyway, this guy must have been living under a lot of stress because of his name.
Let’s stop talking about names.
Still, I comfort him.
“Must have been hard, huh?”
“Yeah, a little—.”
“Humph, let’s stop talking about names. So, how old are you?”
“I’m 34 this year.”
“Oh, so you’re a year younger than me?”
“Yes, that’s what I understand.”
“And you’ve been working at Sasung all your life?”
“Yes, I joined the Future Strategy Office of SASUNG, and when it was disbanded, I was assigned to the secretary’s office. I worked there for eight years and was mainly responsible for group asset management.”
“And the total family assets of Sasung?”
“I was involved, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t ask about that.”
“Oh, my mistake.”
It’s not my place to ask about the Chong Shu family fortune at my former employer.
This guy has the right attitude.
That’s why I liked him.
Plus, he’s younger than me, albeit by a year, so I felt comfortable with him.
“Okay, this is nice. Let’s get along in the future.”
“Thank you. I will serve you faithfully.”
“hahahahaha, you’ve got yourself a good one, Chul-bong has been a standout since he joined the company.”
“It seems so.”
“Well, we’ll make him a separate team leader of the Holdings Asset Management team, so feel free to give him instructions, and you can call him Team Leader Joe.”
“Okay, Joe over there.”
“Yes, sir.”
“The main house where my parents and sister live is now an apartment, and it’s the house I still live in when I come to Korea.”
“Right.”
“Well, I’d like to move to a more spacious single-family home, somewhere away from the hustle and bustle.”
“What kind of neighborhood are you thinking of, and what kind of square footage are you thinking of?”
“I don’t really care about the neighborhood, because I’m only in Korea for about three or four months a year, and even when I am, I don’t stay for long, so I just want something with lots of parks, not a lot of hustle and bustle, and some accessibility to Seoul, even if it’s not Seoul. The bigger the area, the better, and preferably new construction.”
“Hmm, okay, I’ll get back to you in two days.”
“That fast?”
“I’ve already got a few candidates in my head, so I’ll just have to check them out and see what I can find.”
“Oh? You’re good at your job, aren’t you?”
“Thank you.”
The boss seemed to have a soft spot in his heart for people who responded so promptly.
It’s not frustrating.
Two days later, the team leader reported to me.
“We decided that this is the best place.”
“Seopangyo Bridge?”
“Yes, that’s right, Baekhyun-dong, Bundang-gu. It’s near where Mr. New World’s former chairman lives.”
“No, I know this place because I often go there for Hyeondo Pangyo Department Store, but are there any newly built houses here? Isn’t it already finished?”
“No, the chairman of Jongil Construction, a medium-sized construction company, first secured the land for himself to live on, and then started construction a year and a half ago, but now construction has stopped at 70% completion.”
“Why?”
“The construction is going on all day, every day.”
“Oh!”
“So it’s for sale, would you like to take a look?”
“Sure. Let’s go.”
They set off down the street and headed to Seopan Bridge.
“Oh! It’s nice.”
“It’s nice, isn’t it?”
“It’s really big, isn’t it?”
“The land area is 5,800 square meters, so it’s over 1,700 pyeong. The former chairman of New World’s house, which is considered the most expensive house in Korea, is 4,400 square meters. If this was completed, it would have changed the housing hierarchy in Korea.”
It was really nice.
There were many parks around, the land was square, and the surrounding neighborhoods were all large luxury homes, so it had good infrastructure, but it was quiet.
“A 70% fairness rate?”
“Yeah, we’re just going to make some design changes and start construction, and you’ll be able to move in next February.”
I like this, too.
I could move in quickly.
“How much is it?”
“The land alone is worth 30 billion won, but the landlord is in a hurry, so he’s selling it for 25 billion won, but it’s too big to move out. Even if you include the cost of the unfinished house, I think you can buy it for 25 billion.”
“Thirty billion!”
“What? What do you mean 30 billion?”
“Buy it for 30 billion.”
“No, not that much—.”
“It’s a home for me and my family. I don’t want to hear that you bought it on someone else’s hard earned cash.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Let’s buy it, fix it up, and get to work.”
“Yes, sir.”
It’s a happy house, and I wanted to pay full price for it.
I don’t want to be resented and cheated.