Chapter 114

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I just can’t understand him!
said Youngsu, clicking his tongue.
If anyone could get promoted to the manager, he or she would try to go even to hell to get it, but Hyunwoo said he would give it a thought.
But Daebong could understand Hyunwoo’s position a bit. He was a bigger man than he thought.
He’s a rich guy anyway. He’s not the type of guy who dwells on some money or the title of a manager.
Going back home after leaving the office, Hyunwoo was confused with complicated thoughts. The luxury department of Aurum or his own Ani & Funny was not an easy business, but what made Hyunwoo nervous more than anything else was his father’s research.
Though his father didn’t produce any tangible outcomes and there was little sign of progress yet, what really mattered to him was the spirit of his father. Hyunwoo felt that his father’s glittering eyes had regained life. In particular, his father had become more energetic since the general affairs manager visited for sanitary inspection. His father and Kuroda confirmed each other’s willingness to share their research, which made his father all the more passionate about his research.
Of course, Kuroda’s expertise will be of great help to his father, but what’s more important for him was the restoration of his confidence. His father had the confidence that he would succeed by all means.
Then the timeframe that Hyunwoo had in mind might be advanced much earlier than expected. He had to prepare himself for that possibility.
The biggest portion of his preparation is money, of course. Though his father didn’t need it right now, he would need lots of money when his research reached a certain level.
With respect to his father’s research project, Hyunwoo thought of his stocks of N&C in Vietnam. If he sold the stocks, he could rake in cash worth 10 billion won, and he could get a loan with his stocks as the collateral. That was the only way he could secure the amount of money needed for his father’s research, but that was also the last resort he could turn to. Hyunwoo didn’t feel 10 billion won was enough to fund his father’s research because of Singyoung. Though his father said he would not take any revenge against Singyoung, the company would react differently. If they found out about his father resuming his research, they would try all sorts of methods to disrupt it. To deter Singyoung’s continued attack, he needed a constant source of funding that would never stop.
So, Hyunwoo thought about a variety of methods on how to secure those funds. He thought about N&C Korea and his mother’s food factory, but they were too small to fight against Singyoung.
He needed some other method to deter Singyoung’s destructive attack.
The most desirable method was Ani & Funny’s hitting the jackpot. Given the unique feature of the animation business, even one successful animation production could be the source of enormous funds that Hyunwoo wants. It was like a dream, but far from an impossible thing. Someday, Hyunwoo would make it happen.
The problem was the duration of the research, as his father said. How many hours would he have to spend to produce successful results?
Hyunwoo wanted to advance it as much as possible. He wanted to get the 50 million won in subsidies allocated by Ansan city government next February as the springboard for Ani & Funny.
When he thought as far as that, Hyunwoo felt he couldn’t leave Ansan all the more.
Hyunwoo let out a sigh, murmuring, Phew… the president can understand my situation, I guess.
Several days later Daebong called Hyunwoo again to his office.
And he asked for his final decision,
I think I gave you enough time to think over the issue. It’s a bit funny for the president like me to ask for an employee’s opinion, but that means I highly appreciate your capabilities.

Minhye, who came to his office in advance, waiting for him,
The office setting will be completed by the end of this year. You’ll be reporting to work on Jan. 8 at the Seoul headquarters of Space Design, so be ready.

It looked like she was unilaterally notifying him of the decision, thinking little about Hyunwoo’s possible rejection.
Hyunwoo nodded his head,
Got it. I’ll report to the headquarters on Jan. 8 then.

Daebong and Minhye gave him a satisfactory smile on their faces. In particular, Minhye clenched her fist before she knew it. She was so curious about him. He looked like a person with thousands of secrets, but she could not approach him easily. Basically, she was in a different section at Aurum, but now the chance has finally come for her to get close to him.
Minhye will find out everything about him, such as how he could captivate a famous TV talent’s heart or why he was not easily moved by that attractive bait of super speedy promotion.
She was confident, of course.
But Hyunwoo made a bombshell announcement as if he wanted to crush her imagination all at once,
I’ve one condition, though.


Condition?

Not only Minhye but also Daebong flinched at that. How can an employee mention a condition when the president announced personnel appointments?
What he said next was more shocking.

Just two months. I’ll work only two months at Space Design and then quit.


Quit?


What are you talking about? Why all of a sudden are you…?

They almost stood up. Hyunwoo’s statement like that was so unexpected.
They felt as if he stabbed them in the back.

Actually, I’ve been thinking about it for some time, so after hard thinking, I decided to help Space Design until it can stand on its own feet. One month is too short, but two months is enough, I think.


Two months is too short,
said Minhye, raising her voice. She wanted to make him her boyfriend before he quit, but two months was too short for that.
Hyunwoo shook his head,
Space Design must stand on its own feet within two months by all means. Otherwise, it will likely be a big nuance like the luxury department.

Hyunwoo’s observation was right in Daebong’s opinion.
Daebong invested a lot of money in the new corporation. Given that sales and marketing were the key lifelines of the new corporate, he would have to spend more money in the days ahead. Unless the new corporation stood on its own feet and made profits, it would likely run into big difficulties, even putting Aurum at risk.
And Hyunwoo’s condition was not for any compromise, but a unilateral declaration.
Actually, he gave as many as two months, given the situation of the company and the president. Daebong might have felt bad about his statement, but felt thankful to him.
Nodding his head, Daebong said,
Your decision is really regrettable, but there is nothing I can do about. And I appreciate your warm consideration of the company, too.


Daddy!
Minhye again raised her voice. She was at a loss of what to do.
Daebong scolded her,
There is no point in throwing a tantrum, Minhye.

Minhye let out a sigh. She wanted to say something, but couldn’t because of her father’s stern statement.
Looking at Hyunwoo, Daebong said,
Though we’ve got only two months to stay together, time is not that important. Let’s try to make great memories between us. And let’s keep this to ourselves. I don’t think they will feel good about your quitting. Rather it will depress their morale.

At the moment, Hyunwoo thought he did well to share his resignation only with Suji Min.
In fact, he met Suji yesterday to discuss the issue. For whatever reason, as he promised to her not to move to Space Design, he had to explain to her why he changed his mind.
Suji didn’t want him to move, but when he gave her a detailed explanation, she understood him, after all. She was more than shocked to hear he would quit after two months of his working for Space Design, but it was Hyunwoo’s personal decision that Suji could not meddle in, and he asked her to keep it secret. Now, Daebong thought the same thing.

Got it, sir. I’ll keep it secret. Thanks a lot for your understanding.

Hyunwoo left out of the president’s office.
Looking at him from behind, Minhye let out a sigh once again.
When Hyunwoo came back to the office, everybody looked at him.
In particular, Youngsu cast a sharp glance at him, and his voice was also hysterical.

So, how did you decide?


I’ve decided to move to the headquarters of Space Design,
said Hyunwoo smoothly.
Youngsu instantly changed his stern expression and laughed uproariously,
Hahaha, you should. Good decision!

Looking at him, Hyunwoo let out a sigh. Youngsu would soon learn about his decision to quit after two months of service at Space Design.
As soon as he sat down, Suji glanced at him. She seemed to ask him about the outcome of his meeting with the president, given her narrowing her brow.
Hyunwoo gently nodded his head subtly, at which Suji smiled and then lowered her head as if she was overlooking the files.
All had been decided for Hyunwoo.
One month at Aurum and two months at Space Design. After spending all his energy for the next three months, Hyunwoo would be able to get off his chest the sense of great burden toward Daebong.
And one more thing, Hyunwoo’s next assignment at Space Design would be sales activities.
In other words, he would be meeting with TV soap opera producers and writers to persuade them to turn to Space Design’s products as part of the sponsorship.
The more actively he engaged them, the wider network he would cultivate, which would be of great help to his Ani & Funny business, too.
In other words, working hard for Space Design would also be beneficial to Ani & Funny.
When he thought as far as that, he grinned because he began to think about everything in terms of working for Ani & Funny.
Hyunwoo fell into a habitual routine at Aurum. Though he was physically tired, there was nothing challenging there because he had been doing the same thing every day.
The staff members of N&C Korea were all doing their work very well, so Hyunwoo didn’t need to bother about it, and he also didn’t need to meddle in his mother’s business. Naturally, he tended to pay the most attention to Ani & Funny.
Suddenly, he thought of Gyungsu.
Gyungsu, the animation producer, was excellent in animation technique but also he was widely experienced in the field. Hyunwoo felt Gyungsu could guide Anifan kids in the right direction with his extensive experience. What they needed was not any technical capability but the right direction of their animation work.
Speak of the devil and he will appear, as the saying went, it was Gyungsu calling when Hyunwoo picked up his cell phone after the first buzz.
As soon as Hyunwoo answered it, Gyungsu let out a long sigh,
Phew~ After all, we went bust.

At the moment, Hyunwoo could sense what happened to him because he heard from Gyungsu sometime ago that his animation venture was in financial stress.
Finally, his company went bankrupt.
Hyunwoo had nothing to say. He didn’t know how to comfort Gyungsu, except for meeting and drinking soju with him, face to face.

Where are you now, brother? Let me come over.