NFS 1.6

“Team Leader Joo, you often go to the animal shelter, right? Later, later I might…”

Go there too. The shop owner couldn’t get out the last words. She thought she had cried all she could, but her throat choked up again. Seung-ha quietly watched her wait, then slowly spoke.

“Yes, please come visit within the next 50 years.”

Though his tone remained indifferent, the shop owner strangely felt comforted. She blinked several times at her welling tears and smiled.

“Yes, alright. I’ll call once before the final takeover.”

She turned quickly, not wanting to show her tears, and Seung-ha watched until she went inside the shop before turning away. Because pets have short lifespans, he had seen several people go through partings while doing this job.

Getting in his car parked in the alley and driving out to the main road, Seung-ha thought again. No death is ever okay, regardless of the subject. Dogs, cats, birds, even fish. He stopped briefly to merge onto the road when he noticed a game portal advertisement on the large building’s electronic billboard across from him.

‘Million’

Seung-ha watched the advertisement indifferently before merging into the now quiet road. However, he soon stopped at a signal, and a bus stopped in the lane right next to him. As he happened to glance over, he saw an advertisement for a currently popular game on the bus. It was Million’s game. Million is everywhere. He briefly thought of Seo Ahn-jae whom he met a few days ago, but quickly turned his gaze forward and muttered,

“Wonder how much money it costs to advertise like that. Is it effective?”

As the traffic light changed, the cars slowly began to move. Seung-ha joined the line of trailing vehicles while thinking of his next destination.

***

“What do you mean by saying you look like someone important to the client?”

At his friend’s question, So-jun turned his gaze away from the man’s retreating figure in front of the pet shop. He started to answer his friend quickly but hesitated. He wasn’t supposed to reveal any information about clients. If that got out, his face would be next. But this much should be okay… So-jun’s itching mouth twitched before he lowered his voice to his friend.

“He seems to substitute me for someone when he does that act.”

“Who?”

I don’t know, but. So-jun looked around and lowered his voice further.

“The second requirement from that client from the start was what to call him during the act. I had to call him ‘hyung’ (older brother).”

***

There are people who are more level-headed than others. Secretary Choi’s father used to shake his head saying they were ‘a breed born with low brain temperatures’ and that life would only go downhill from the moment one made such a person their enemy. That they’d never rise again until the day they died.

Fortunately, Secretary Choi had such a person as an ally. Well, technically not an ally since he was a company superior, but at least not an enemy. Although Secretary Choi appeared outwardly calm and people called him robotic and emotionless, his inside was completely different. He suffered from chronic gastritis from constantly suppressing his surging anger and irritation.

But those level-headed people took most things in stride. Instead of getting flustered when problems arose, they quickly found alternatives to break through situations. CEO Seo, Secretary Choi’s superior, was this type, and this attitude was rooted in confidence. He had the conviction that no matter what major problem arose in the company, he could ultimately solve it and turn the situation to his advantage.

This influenced those around him, creating a belief that “if it’s CEO Seo, he has a way.” In fact, there had been no failures in his life. Even when it seemed he had hit major problems, everything ended in his victory as time passed. Sometimes one wondered if there had ever been anything that didn’t go his way.

“Acquiring DSB Shopping is the best option. No matter how revolutionary our developing shopping platform is, it’s useless if no one uses it. Besides, what’s important is data, data. What we’re buying is their accumulated massive data. Time is of the essence in this field – how long would it take to grow a shopping mall and collect that data? Ha, that would just be throwing money away.”

Executive Director Hwang, who had been recruited into the company a year and a half ago, looked around at the people and clearly conveyed his opinion. In particular, he was staring intently at Director Park of the Strategic Development Team, who was in charge of developing and preparing the new shopping platform. Perhaps it was because Executive Director Hwang’s unique way of raising the end of his sentences sounded like ridicule, Director Park’s expression hardened. In addition, Executive Director Hwang tapped the table with the tip of his pen, tap, tap, tap, while looking at the other person. It was an annoying act, but Director Park managed to suppress his anger and expressed his opinion.

“Even though DSB Shopping has expressed its intention to sell, the amount they’re asking for is too high. Have you seen the report on the feasibility of the acquisition? It’s not worth investing that much…”

“Ah, you mean the report made with data from that nameless research institute?”

This time the mockery was clear enough for anyone to notice. Secretary Choi maintained his poker face, but internally cursed Executive Director Hwang. Here he goes again, that guy. He was always like this. He always thought he was right, and he treated other people’s opinions like garbage with his mocking eyes and tone.

When he first came to Million as Executive Director, everyone had high expectations due to his career background. He had worked at renowned companies overseas with good performance and many connections. But after joining with an incredible compensation package, he surprisingly relied more on intuition than data. Though his intuition might be based on experience, his dismissal of other opinions was frowned upon.

Secretary Choi had long suspected that this highly-paid talent might not be worth the money. Of course, Executive Director Hwang had made significant contributions early on by expanding into overseas markets through his connections. But there were rumors that this was actually due to the capabilities of his wife, General Manager Erin, who was recruited along with him.

If this was true, Executive Director Hwang was just a human disaster wasting money. Surely CEO Seo must know this too. Secretary Choi glanced at him curiously throughout the meeting. CEO Seo just occasionally smiled at Executive Director Hwang’s showing off. Even now, he was smiling as if amused.

“I hear Tencoin from China has expressed interest in acquiring DSB Shopping. CEO Seo, we need to act quickly.”

Ahn-jae was still smiling but seemed to want to end the meeting as he stood up with his tablet PC. Seeing this, Executive Director Hwang frowned disapprovingly and called out “CEO Seo” again. Ahn-jae responded lightly while standing.

“Let’s look into it more. DSB Shopping is the one who should be anxious, not us.”

“But Tencoin…”

“Isn’t Tencoin the last company that needs to be anxious?”

Executive Director Hwang still looked displeased but didn’t pursue it further. After all, this young kid before him was the CEO. That’s when Ahn-jae casually asked,

“How is General Manager Erin doing?”

Executive Director Hwang stopped mid-rise and looked back. Erin had quit Million early this year and had been at her family home in America for several months. The official reason was health issues, but the real cause was conflict with Executive Director Hwang.

“Erin is… doing well.”

Ahn-jae showed that usual slight smile before turning to leave. It was a smile that could charm anyone, but Executive Director Hwang watched him leave with visible displeasure in his eyes. Such a young kid, really. But Executive Director Hwang had seen several such young IT company CEOs in America.

They all grew their companies successfully with overflowing passion and never knowing when to give up, but when things grew beyond their control, they all invariably panicked. Since they started with small businesses where they needed to be hands-on with everything, they showed their youthful inexperience when growth made control impossible. He actually thought Ahn-jae would be similar.

Million had excellent prospects, and with its rapidly growing scale, he thought he could manipulate the young CEO within a year. But Seo Ahn-jae was different. He didn’t get excited easily. Sure, he got angry and flustered, and occasionally, no, often acted like a jerk. But he was never someone Executive Director Hwang could shake. That’s why he was getting anxious lately. Can’t figure out what that bastard is thinking.

“DSB Shopping has too much debt. I can’t find any unique merits specific to DSB.”

Director Park, who usually didn’t question decisions much, seemed worried enough about this matter to follow Ahn-jae to his office, prepared to get scolded. Secretary Choi tried to stop him with uncomfortable eyes, but for some reason, Ahn-jae told him to let Director Park in.

Having been here for over four years, Director Park knew Ahn-jae was no pushover. His brilliant mind wasn’t limited to software development. From hiring people to dealing with situations where they were falling behind competitors – everything was like code to him. Like completing detailed source code, everything seemed perfectly arranged in his head up to the final output.

Of course, the results were always surprisingly impressive. Even if it took time, he ultimately achieved what he wanted. It took Director Park several years after joining to realize this. That’s why he thought Ahn-jae’s interest in Executive Director Hwang’s comments must have some meaning, but he couldn’t shake his uneasiness. So despite knowing how much the increasingly busy Ahn-jae hated wasting time this year, he had to follow him like this.

Although Ahn-jae could sometimes be chillingly cold enough to make one’s hair stand on end, this time he let him into his office without much comment, making Director Park think it might be his chance. Anxious to persuade him, Director Park laid out the risks of this venture. Ahn-jae let him talk while taking a suit from the coat rack in one corner of his office, throwing it on the sofa, and pulling his shirt off over his head.

“There are traps in the data provided by DSB Shopping. If you look closely at their figures…”

Director Park started to quickly cite numbers but unconsciously stopped speaking when he saw Ahn-jae’s bare upper body. Besides his tall height, his muscular build was enough to mesmerize even another man. While one usually get used to seeing good-looking people daily, with Seo Ahn-jae, his handsomeness often surprised people anew even after seeing him every day.

“Keep talking. I’m listening.”

“Ah, yes, so…”

Director Park tried to recall the figures he was about to mention while watching Ahn-jae slip his arms into a white shirt. Being an IT company, Million had a casual dress code, and Ahn-jae usually came to work in casual clothes. But as the company grew and he had more external appointments, he often changed into suits he kept in his office before leaving.

“We analyzed their finances with the accounting team. They’re really suspicious…”

Director Park’s words trailed off again as Ahn-jae took off his pants and draped them over the sofa back. Ahem, Director Park cleared his throat unnecessarily and turned his gaze away while spilling out necessary words, unsure if what he was saying was coming out properly.

“So, DSB’s asking price for the sale is ridiculous. Honestly, even though Sangong Bank, the creditors’ representative, mentioned the possibility of additional funding support, I suspect this might just be bait for the sale.”

Director Park looked back at Ahn-jae. He was now turning up his shirt collar and putting on his tie. His familiar hand movements skillfully made the loops and adjusted the shape even without a mirror. It was nothing special, just something every man has done countless times, but again Director Park found himself staring blankly at the sight.

“Is that all?”

At the indifferent question, Director Park nodded in embarrassment. As he did so, he observed Ahn-jae’s transformation again. Just changing clothes had completely altered his image from moments ago. They say the position makes the person, but with Ahn-jae, it always seemed like his inherently brilliant self was merely showing its true colors thanks to the position.

The gray suit pants and black dress shirt had the same effect. The softness disappeared, revealing his true self that one dared not approach casually. Though he was a familiar superior he’d known for years, somehow he felt more and more like a stranger as time passed. Ahn-jae glanced at him while picking up his jacket.

“You can go.”

Ahn-jae’s casual tone was sometimes so cold it felt dismissive. Director Park wondered if it was just his inferiority complex making him imagine things, but he bowed silently and left his office. The frustration of wanting to ask what he thought about what he’d said was choking him. Hesitating unnecessarily, he spoke to Secretary Choi.

“CEO Seo is busy these days, right?”

“As always.”

“Well, I guess it’s good for the company if the CEO is busy with work.”

When Secretary Choi just stared at him without much response, Director Park left the CEO’s office with an awkward expression. Secretary Choi slightly regretted not offering a word of comfort as he watched him leave with slumped shoulders. Though not a founding member, Director Park had strong company loyalty from weathering crises together as the company grew. A hundred times more than Executive Director Hwang, anyway. Secretary Choi muttered internally as he entered Ahn-jae’s room.

“Sir, you need to leave now…”