The Chairman Who Wants to Play and Eat

Chapter 28. Was I the only one enjoying this fun?

It was my turn.

“…Then, Hyun Sang-yoon from Seonghyeon Group? Can you answer my question?”

Chairman Son Kyung-heon’s gaze turned towards me.

The chairman of Daewoon,

A giant who has played a pivotal role in decades of business history, the one who established the ‘Daewoon Myth’ that became the cornerstone of South Korea’s economic development,

His question indeed resonated deeply.

And,

‘Those two successfully defended against his sharp questions.’

Just looking at Chairman Son’s expression, I could tell.

The two before me, Park Jae-il and Jin Jeong-hoon, had both flunked in their ability to read the future landscape and respond to sudden changes in circumstances.

They had successfully proven their incompetence under the pressure of a heavyweight.

Impressive.

It’s a bit strange, but it’s commendable.

‘I can’t lose either.’

A strong move must be met with a strong move.

There’s a way to just hesitate like them and give a careless answer that leads to disappointment, but it’s already too late for me to do that.

I need to find a better way.

‘Think, Hyun Sang-yoon. Think. You can do it.’

In the meantime,

“Are you planning to not answer at all?”

Chairman Son’s question was repeated. There was a tone of disappointment.

“No, I have an answer.”

“I hope it’s better than the previous two. Otherwise, I think I’ll be quite disappointed. That would make mediation all the more difficult.”

“······.”

“If I like the answer, who knows? The situation might change.”

At those casually thrown words, the expressions of the two chairmen, Jeongsang and Geosan, crumpled.

The faces of Park Jae-il and Jin Jeong-hoon, sitting behind, turned bright red.

No.

That’s a misunderstanding.

Friends, you’ve done enough.

‘Now it’s your turn to watch. Pay close attention.’

I spoke up.

“Even if the great driver started first, it would have been hard to win against the other three. Geosan, Jeongsang, and our Seonghyeon have know-how in the electronics industry, but Daeyun is at a complete zero base.”

“That’s true. But let me ask you this: is that difference really that significant?”

“It is.”

“Is the difference that big?”

He repeated.

“Do you really think so? After all, all three of them are still in a position where they can’t even make VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) yet.”

As expected, he was not ordinary.

He had a precise grasp of the current state of Korea’s semiconductor industry.

Still, my answer remained the same.

“Yes, I believe so.”

“Have you ever heard our Daewoon’s motto?”

Chairman Son changed the subject.

“It can be done, right?”

“That’s right. That’s it. I believe that if you push through to the end, there’s nothing that can’t be achieved. The same goes for semiconductors. Do you really think Daewoon lacks the money or capability to overcome that kind of difference?”

“Of course, I don’t think that.”

“But?”

You need to answer well. Everything depends on this.

“The problem is the sunk costs of excessive competition. If several companies hadn’t challenged at the same time, it wouldn’t have been necessary to incur such large, unnecessary expenses.”

“Unnecessary expenses?”

At those words, Chairman Son’s eyebrows twitched.

Now’s the moment.

“I believe it’s money that doesn’t need to be spent right away. After all, once the competition is over, you can choose between the normal semiconductors or the giant semiconductors that will be available at a low price. I don’t think Daewoon needs to spend money right now.”

This is it.

A perfect strike.

With a single statement, I provocatively challenged the three chairmen of Daewoon, Jeongsung, and Geosan.

Normally, such words would be impossible to say.

I shouldn’t say them.

The only person I should risk my reputation for is my grandfather, Chairman Hyun, not the other chairmen.

Moreover, if one of them is Son Kyung-heon, it’s even more so.

But that principle only applies before someone like Park Jae-il or Jin Jeong-hoon makes their move.

Now is different.

I must do whatever it takes. This is not the time to hold back.

What I envision is this.

“No, Chairman Hyun. Did you hear? Your grandchild is telling me that you lack the ability to create a semiconductor company, so you should just sit back and wait for the other companies to fail, sucking your thumb, is that not so?”

“Oh dear, Chairman Son. My foolish grandchild has made a grave mistake by not knowing what to say and what not to say. I will send him far away so that he can never appear in such a precious place again. Please forgive me. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

But,

What a surprise,

“Ha ha ha ha!”

The sudden burst of laughter changed the situation.

Perhaps forgetting that this was an official gathering, Chairman Son began to laugh heartily.

“Chairman Hyun, Chairman Hyun. Hahaha! Did you just hear what he said?”

“What do you mean?”

Grandfather Chairman Hyun asked.

“I’m talking about what your grandson said. This kid really surprises me. All this time, was Chairman Hyun the only one enjoying this kind of fun? I thought he was just saying it because he had succeeded in various projects on his own, but now I see. It seems it wasn’t a lie after all. Hahaha!”

He hardly stopped laughing.

“Haha!”

And soon, that laughter infected Chairman Hyun.

And the faces of the other two,

Chairman Park Beom-sik and Chairman Jin Yeong-kyu turned bright red.

They finally realized.

With just my one remark, they had fallen into the role of incompetent chairmen who would fail in competition and end up selling their semiconductor company. (Whether that was true or not.)

Chairman Son spoke.

“Gentlemen, it seems you’re feeling a bit defeated right now. What do you think?”

Chairman Park was the first to react angrily.

“Defeated? I don’t think so.”

“Neither do I. For our Geosan Semiconductor to eventually succeed, to hear such unfortunate words about another company so boldly…”

Chairman Jin tried to chime in, but Chairman Son stopped him.

“Calm down. Wasn’t this all just for fun from the beginning?”

“…”

“He knows that too, and isn’t he just responding with an even bigger provocation? The Federation of Korean Industries is no joke, and did you really think I would side with whoever wins this little fight between the grandchildren?”

He didn’t even hide the fact that it was Chairman Park’s instigation.

There was no response.

“Isn’t this all just a joke? Isn’t that right, everyone?”

Chairman Son skillfully shifted the atmosphere. Only then did the other chairmen, who had been silent, begin to speak.

“Of course. Absolutely.”

“Certainly. You’re right.”

“I was wondering why you suddenly started looking for the second and third generations from the beginning, and it seems you were secretly organizing such a fun event. Hehe, well done.”

Standing, I was watching this entire situation unfold.

Was all of this just a joke?

Then what about me?

What have I done until now? What was my mistake? The Gangnam building?

I wasn’t joking.

It was while I was sulking inwardly with these thoughts that Chairman Son suddenly turned towards me.

“Hey, you’re an interesting friend.”

Was he calling me?

“Listen closely to what I say. Let’s see if it really turns out that way in the future. If it doesn’t, you better be prepared!”

But you just said it was a joke?!

Yet, judging by his expression, Chairman Son seemed to find this situation merely amusing.

······I did not.

*

‘·····You better be prepared.’

That’s how that phrase sounded to me.

‘If that’s true, you’ll have to be ready not just for the current boundaries of Seonghyeon, but also for the position of the head of a global conglomerate that extends beyond Korea. I’ll make it happen. Hahaha.’

There’s no nightmare worse than this.

A chill runs down my spine.

Just managing one grandfather is overwhelming enough, and now another person, Daewoon Son Kyun-hun, has attached himself to me.

I had heard the rumors.

“Sorry, but I need to ask you something about the construction costs for the Narathiwat Highway in Thailand. Do you have a moment? Oh, it’s three in the morning?”

“It’s three twelve, Chairman.”

“Good. Then there’s plenty of time to answer. I’ll start asking now. The local weather is… humidity…”

I had heard that this was how he treated those around him.

He was truly a bulldozer.

Now that I think that the arrow might come back to me, I already feel a chill running down my back.

By the way,

‘Who would have thought it would come to this?’

What happened at the Federation of Korean Industries spread quickly.

Later, I heard that the idea to call in young second and third generations in their twenties as observers and throw difficult questions at them came from Park Jae-il, the third generation of the Jeong Sang Group.

‘As expected.’

He told his grandfather, Chairman Park Beom-sik, and upon hearing that, Chairman Park proposed an emergency board meeting while simultaneously suggesting the idea to Chairman Son Kyun-hun of Daewoon.

No wonder I had a hunch something was off.

It’s definitely Park Jae-il.

He’s a friend who knows how to set the stage properly.

‘That bumbling appearance, it felt more real than just an act.’

And what about Jin Jeong-hoon?

He summoned true courage for his future. His name isn’t Jin Jeong-hoon for nothing.

I’ve learned a lot.

As a result, those two friends,

and I, unfortunately, have yet to reach the desired outcome.

“Sir, have you risen?”

It was Lee Beom-seok, the assistant, waiting at the doorway of my room to take me to the Gangnam Second Headquarters, since I had no morning classes.

“Yes, Assistant Lee.”

“Have you heard? The rumors about you have already spread like wildfire.”

“…Again? What do you mean?”

“Can I speak frankly?”

“Since you asked.”

He smiled slightly. He seemed to be waiting for my instructions.

“The audacious young blood who discerned the true intent behind Chairman Da-eun’s difficult question and deliberately knocked down Chairman Son with an even more bewildering and provocative answer? In summary, that’s about it.”

…I shouldn’t have asked.

‘I should have just followed Park Jae-il and Jin Jeong-hoon.’

I made a big mistake trying to get ahead too hastily.

I need to learn from this failure to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

“Sir, you truly are remarkable.”

“Let’s just go.”

I cut him off.

I didn’t want to hear any more.

I stepped into the company.

I went up to the office.

It was early.

Even at Seonghyeon Electronics, notorious for its early start times, the workaholic, Team Leader Ha Hyeong-soo, greeted me as if I were the second to arrive.

Behind him, a tuft of hair peeked out from the densely stacked computers.

Professor Eo Nam-jun.

He volunteered to come to work to add our Seonghyeon TF office to the research and development network, which has KIDC and the Korean University lab as its nodes.

“Professor!”

I approached from behind. There was no response.

“Professor!”

“······.”

From noble mtl dot com

“Professor!”

“Ah! Yes!”

Only then did he seem startled.

“Ah! The IMP you helped me with last time is currently being used to attempt a connection at SIDC. KT has allocated a high-quality line capable of 1,200 bps communication, but since that’s not a fast speed, the time it takes to send and receive packets is somewhat…”

In other words, he was saying not to disturb him because he was working hard.

“Understood. Got it.”

“Professor, you haven’t moved from that spot for over a week now.”

Deputy Manager Ha, who had come over, chimed in.

Now that I looked, there were crumbs and empty drink bottles scattered around Professor Eo.

It seemed to have a bit of a smell too.

How long had it been,

“Hmm?”

Professor Eo made a sound that shouldn’t be heard in the lab. At that sound, all the seated employees turned to look.

They were curious about what was happening.

No one stood up. It seemed they had been through this a few times already.

But,

“This works. This really works!”

This time it was for real.

With a beeping sound, the monitor lit up.

Professor Eo jumped up from his seat, making an unusually loud noise.

“What do you mean?”

I approached him.

“Just now, our Seonghyeon computer successfully connected with the KIDC computer. Look at this. These characters weren’t typed here; they were sent directly from KIDC, way over in Gyeongsang-do!”

And indeed, a few characters appeared on the monitor.

HELLO SHCOM.

Exactly ten characters.

“Through a network built with our own technology, sending those ten characters to a place hundreds of kilometers away is a first in our country, and we are the second in the world. We did it!”

I patted his shoulder, overwhelmed with emotion.

“Great job!”

“It’s nothing. This is all thanks to Seong-hyun, who made a significant investment for today, and to you, Hyun-sawon! Thank you, thank you!”

Anyway, he was the kind of person who only offered lip service when he was in a good mood.

I felt a slight pang in my stomach.

It’s okay.

A small success for a big failure.

This much is permissible.

The 32-bit UNIX computer remains.

There, I can recover all the successes I’ve accumulated in one go. Then it will be 1:1.

Now, there will be no one to hinder me.

At that moment, KIDC.

This place was also filled with a festive atmosphere.

“Messages have just been received from Seong-hyun and Korea University!”

“We did it! We are the first in the country!”

Director Seo Jung-gil’s eyes welled up as he gazed at the nine characters [HELLO KIDC] vividly displayed on the monitor.

It was for this day.

He had spent countless nights awake for today. He had sacrificed holidays to dedicate himself.

It felt like a simultaneous reward.

‘But without Seong-hyun’s last bit of help, this timeline wouldn’t have been accelerated so much.’

He was not someone who forgot gratitude.

He remembered.

The soft voice of Seong-hyun Hyun-sang-yoon, who had suggested they walk that path together.

The first step was a success.

The long-awaited goal of internet connectivity had been achieved.

But there was still a long way to go.

The next step would undoubtedly be the development of the country’s first 32-bit UNIX computer.

“I will definitely repay you. I will definitely.”

By any means necessary,

Even if it means my body shatters, I will make it happen, firmly resolved in my heart, thought the head of Seo.