Chapter 65

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Kim Hyungdae was about to talk down to Hyunwoo and say, ‘What did you say?’ but used honorifics as if he had sensed something strange.
Pretending not to know his relationship with his elder brother Hyungsun, Hyunwoo asked again as if he wanted to confirm their relationship.

Are you not Kim Hyungsun’s younger brother, president of Sangwon Foods?


Do you know my brother, sir?

That was enough, Hyunwoo thought. It was certain that he was Kim’s brother.
With a bright smile, Hyunwoo held out his hand.

I’m your brother’s alumni. Some time ago I met him at an alumni meeting. You look much different from your brother, so I almost didn’t recognize you. Nice to meet you.


Ah, nice to see you, sir.

Feeling dumbfounded, Kim held out both of his hands to grab Hyunwoo’s hand. He lowered his head a bit because Hyunwoo was his brother’s alumni.
Hyunwoo touched his shoulder, saying,

What a coincidence! As you’re Kim Hyungsun’s brother, can I talk down to you comfortably?


Yes, of course,
said Kim. Though Kim made an expression of denial, he reluctantly nodded his head.
Come to think of it, though, Kim didn’t like the way things had worked out like this. He felt as if he was in a rivalry with Hyunwoo regardless of whether he was his brother’s alumni or not. He felt like he was losing to Hyunwoo if he lowered his head.
Raising his head, Kim changed his tone, saying,

Wait a minute. I don’t think it’s right.


Uh? Not right? What’re you talking about?


You’re a friend of my brother, so what does it matter to me? I don’t think it’s good manners for you to talk down to me like this.

Hyunwoo was a bit embarrassed. In his heart he thought, ‘What a messed-up family! How can he refuse to accept my hospitality, who is none other than his brother’s high school alumni? What should I do if he insists on rejecting it?’

Really? Okay, then. Let’s stop it. Suji, what are you going to do? Let me go away if you have something to talk about with him.

Stunned by Hyunwoo’s remarks, she held his forearm tightly, saying,

No, I don’t have anything to say. Please take me home.


Hey, Suji. Why are you mean to me? Shall we talk a bit?

Kim approached her aggressively and tried to get hold of her wrist when she was backing off.
And then he stopped because Hyunwoo stopped him by raising his hand.
Hyunwoo’s eyes were sharp.

Why are you meddling with our matter? Are you her sweetheart?
asked Kim.
Then Suji replied as if to intercept Kim’s question,

Yes, he is my sweetheart!

Kim’s eyes opened wide at her surprising reply. Hyunwoo was surprised, with his jaw dropping.
But he calmed down because he could figure out her intentions. Suji felt Kim would give up if she said so.
It seemed very much effective. Speechless, Kim looked at both of them alternately.

What? Have you been avoiding me because of this chauffeur? Are you such a low-grade girl?


Don’t talk rudely like that. Hyunwoo oppa is ten times as good as you.

Kim was at a loss for words again. He just stared at her frighteningly and then got in his car.
Suji tugged his collar again, saying,

Let’s go. I’d like to go home quickly.

And then she walked quickly, and Hyunwoo walked in tandem.

Thanks.


You’re welcome. By the way, how come you had a date with such a bastard?


No, it’s not a date. I just met him two or three times through my friend’s introduction. I thought he was not my type, so I stopped contacting him. But he kept following me like a leech.

Hearing her explanation, he could understand what had been going on between them. In particular, as he was Kim Hyungsun’s brother, Hyunwoo could figure it out more easily. Though they looked different, their character was the same. As far as women were concerned, Kim Hyungsun had an obsessive mentality like his younger brother.

This is my house. Goodbye for now,
said Suji.

Okay, see you tomorrow.

Waving his hand, Hyunwoo turned back without any hesitation.
When he arrived home, it was already past midnight.
Though it was not that late for Hyunwoo, it was to his parents, especially to his mother. She needed to go to bed early because she had to wake up early in the morning every day.
He cautiously opened the porch to not wake up his mother.
As soon as he opened it, however, he heard her snoring, which indicated how tired she was.
She didn’t snore usually. However, she began snoring recently because of her hard work at the side dish store.
Suddenly, he thought of Hyunmin, that cook boy with the House of Happiness. Though he looked like a mountain thief, he was said to be very kind-hearted. Hyunwoo felt Hyunwoo would be of big help to her if he joined the store.
‘I’m going to tell her in the evening.’
Hyunwoo’s suggestion made her eyes open wide.

Hire a cook?


Well, he is not yet good enough to be called a cook. Just think of him as an intern. He can learn while helping you,
said Hyunwoo, with Hyunmin in mind.
His mother made an embarrassing expression on her face, though. Though her side dish store was not in the red, it didn’t make enough to hire a cook.
Hyunwoo could understand her worries.
However, the reason he wanted to have her mother hire Hyunmin was not just for her own sake. Jaeyoung, the baker with the House of Happiness, and Hyunmin were not yet ready to go off into the world to get a job. They need to build more skills.
Hyunwoo wanted to make his mother’s side dish store a springboard for Hyunmin’s jump into the world. That would not only help reduce her work but also offer him a springboard.
After listening to Hyunwoo’s explanation carefully, she was persuaded at last.

Let me think about it if that’s your intention. Let me go and see him at the House of Happiness if I can find the time.


Good decision, mom.

With a light heart, Hyunwoo was done with eating dinner. He then went out as a chaffeur during the evening.
Gyungsu was waiting from him in a red small car in front of his house. As it was early in the morning, they didn’t have many request calls. Hyunwoo began to talk with him inside the car until they got a call. Actually, Hyunwoo had something to say to him before he left his house.

Brother, is it difficult to make money as an animator?


There is nothing easy in this world. Why are you asking that out of the blue?


I know a place called the House of Happiness…

Hyunwoo told him about the animation club of the orphanage. He said though their dream was to be an animator, there were no talent donors and financial supporters.
Then he asked Gyunsu passingly,

Can you take some time out this weekend?


Do you want me to donate my talent?


Yes. Is it hard for you?

Hyunwoo could find out his answer from his look.
After thinking a bit, Gyungsu shook his head and said,

As you know, I’m working part-time even on weekends.

Of course, Hyunwoo knew that. Strictly speaking, it was not part-time.
It was a manual job that required him to work on a construction site. He earned about 90,000 won by working from dawn till the afternoon. As he was physically weak, he only worked on Saturdays and had to lie in bed as an aftereffect on Sunday. Because of that, he didn’t work as a chaffeur on weekends. In Hyunwoo’s mind, Gyungsu working like that didn’t seem effective, but it was his judgement call. As he was financially stressed, he might think of even that money he made on weekends as valuable.

As an animator, what quality skills do you have to master? Drawing pictures? Or using computers well?


You can’t neglect any of what you have just mentioned. But there are many technical guys in the market, so what’s important is one’s creativity.


Creativity?’

For example, let’s talk about characters. There are many who can draw existing characters beautifully, but there are few who can create characters that exist in this world. In particular, the story is important.

While listening to his explanation, Hyunwoo recalled the animation that the Anifan Club members of the orphanage made. The animation video was clearly coarse and not refined, but the characters were original. They said they thought of the characters while looking at the stuff in the trash. By Gyunsu’s logic, they were already talented because they had created characters that didn’t exist in this world. The characters were also very cute.
Above all, the story was excellent. Though it had only one episode, the seven-minute animation was so interesting that Hyunwoo had been completely carried away. If it were backed up by technical supplements, such as drawings and programs, it could be an excellent animation.

Then, we can call them geniuses. I was really impressed by the characters and the story,
said Hyunwoo.

Was it that good?
asked Gyungsu.
Hyunwoo nodded his head, adding,
I thought it so regrettable for them to waste their talent.


You can think about them in terms of management. The thing is whether you can find a company that can manage them.


Management?


It’s like an entertainment company. They bring in those with talents when they’re young and then train them for several years before helping them debut as a singer or actor.

Hyunwoo easily understood it.
But it was not something Hyunwoo could dabble in. He had nothing to do with animation, and he could not make a contract with them for money.
What wasimportant was a systematic program to train them. If Hyunwoo wanted to help them, he had to connect them to such a company.
‘Where can I find such a company?’
Coming back home, he kept thinking about it. He couldn’t erase the images of the Anifan kids’ enthusiastic vigor on animation from his mind.
‘How much would they love it if they received a computer and a 3D animation program as gifts? It would be even better if they had an animation teacher.’
Hyunwoo thought that it might be the start of a genuine relationship with them, not a coincidence.
‘Can I just help them?’
Actually, Hyunwoo had no reason not to do so.
Hyunwoo’s wealth was growing fast for the past few months. Though he hasn’t cashed out yet, he could take home 4.5 billion won if he sold his N&C stocks. As the stocks were on the high at the moment, the value of his stocks increased by tens of millions of won every day.
He also had the money he received from Aurum as award money. Though it was in the form of company stock, it was more than 9,000 won per stock. In addition, he was making lots of profits from N&C Korea. He received more than 2 million won per month from the dealers Paek Sungwoo had made contracts with and about 4.5 million won from the dealers he made a deal with by himself. Overall, Hyunwoo’s monthly income was almost 10 million won.
In that respect, the additional income he made as a chauffeur was meager.
He heard that it would cost between 5-6 million won to buy a computer and the 3D program, which was not that burdensome to him.
The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to help them. Finally, he clenched his fist.
‘Sure, let me help them. Why am I making money? Isn’t it because I want to make good use of it? Instead of leaving the money unused like this, let me help the kids even if I lose the money.’
In fact, he had nothing to lose.
It was for his own benefit, too. If they could become successful with his help, he could feel a great sense of reward by just watching them grow.
And who knows? Like he did to Yu Nami, the little help he offered to the kids today could come as a big reward to him later. Of course, he shouldn’t expect anything like that from them.
Still, there was one obstacle in resolving the kid’s issue.
‘There is clearly a limit to the kids’ improving their skills by studying among themselves. They need an animation teacher.’
But hiring a teacher was another matter. It should not be a one-time tutoring, and the payment to the teacher would be substantial if it was to continue.
‘How much does it cost? The teacher will ask for more than 2 million won for tutoring on weekends only, won’t he?’
As the teacher was a specialist in a technical field, his tutoring fee would be high per session. And the session on weekends would be much higher, Hyunwoo thought.
‘I wish Gyunsu gave up his manual work on weekends and worked as a tutor for the kids. Uh? Gyunsu as the animation teacher?’
Hyunwoo sprang to his feet before he knew it.

Sure, let me ask him to work as a tutor instead of a manual worker.