An Expensive Conversation
“Huh? A hundred million?”
“A hundred million?”
“Yes. One hundred million.”
From the very start of the first meeting, the moment the talk turned to the signing bonus and usage fees, the team froze.
Even after the number came out, everyone clearly couldn’t hide how shocked they were.
All at once, they began murmuring to each other in little whispers about the 100 million won figure.
Only Manager Na Inbeom and I kept our composure through the whole conversation.
“If the signing bonus is 100 million, does that mean you’ll pay it this year if we draw up the contract this year?”
“That’s correct. For any revenue generated after launch that exceeds 100 million won, we’ll settle it properly.”
With that outrageous offer delivered in such a calm tone, I kept my poker face and continued the conversation.
Only then did the rest of the team quickly start stealing glances at one another and carefully managing their expressions.
“Understood. But the exclusive rights part seems like something we should decide very carefully, so would it be all right if we take our time and consider it?”
“Yes. Please review it internally at your own pace and let us know.”
One hundred million was certainly a large sum.
Even if it wasn’t a huge amount in the context of the entire market, it was a perfectly reasonable figure at our current stage.
It was a 100 million won signing bonus for us, a team that had produced absolutely nothing yet.
If I hadn’t seen so many startups get crushed by exclusive contracts in my past life, I might have been tempted too.
“Then should we talk about the options again?”
Manager Na Inbeom brought up the next agenda item with the same cool, matter-of-fact air, as if none of this concerned him much either.
“Honestly, I think running both options in parallel would be fine. In the case of a lump-sum payment system, it would also let us invest based on cash-like assets, and offering a discount by installment would be good for expecting long-term returns.”
“You’re also fine with the revenue-sharing part with us?”
“Yes. I think it’s at an appropriate level.”
The conversation about everything except the exclusivity clause went incredibly smoothly.
Even though they were a company with no direct stake in us, I could tell they were taking our situation into consideration from every angle.
And before long, we were talking calmly about the contract itself.
“Thank you. I’ll keep everything you’ve said in mind and get the contract drafted so we can move forward.”
Once contract talk actually came up, all the team members turned their eyes on me.
They were sparkling, like something straight out of an animation.
They seemed excited at the prospect of moving such a big deal along so easily.
“Yes. Once the contract is sent over, we’ll also be able to move quickly on our internal review.”
But I made an effort not to rush to judgment.
Honestly, I wanted to write up the contract and sign it right this second.
The terms were that good.
I had worried a little that they might stab us in the back like JH Medical, but for a startup like us, it was astonishing that they were offering terms almost at the level of a related company.
Still, I forced myself to hold back so I wouldn’t look too desperate.
“Then I’ll look forward to seeing you again. I’ll email you to propose the schedule for our next meeting.”
“Yes. See you next time.”
The meeting was wrapped up in less than an hour, since everyone kept saying yes.
There was no small talk at all, so it really had been a compact meeting.
“Mr. Siwon. Aren’t you saying yes to everything a little too easily?”
The moment Manager Na Inbeom left the conference room, a worried comment slipped out.
It was Ha Juwon.
I flashed her a grin.
“If you saw the contract JH offered us, you wouldn’t say that.”
At my words, everyone laughed awkwardly.
They seemed to be taking the whole situation at face value, thinking, roughly, Oh, so it’s good, huh?
“For a while, we’re not likely to see contract terms this good again.”
So I explained the situation a little more plainly.
Then everyone’s eyes widened openly.
It seemed they’d all unconsciously been carrying a prejudice against Manager Na Inbeom because of his cold tone and expression.
“Con artists are usually better at pretending to be nice, you know.”
“Are Manager Na Inbeom’s terms warm and fuzzy?”
“Pretty much.”
I added one more important point.
“And right now, the other side is a foreign company.”
The faces of one or two quick-witted people visibly brightened.
I didn’t need to explain any further.
“Then we can brag that we’ve formed a partnership with a global company, and maybe even make a global deal with their headquarters?”
“If it’s something they’re integrating with one of their own new products, then the clinical trial and approval costs could drop a lot too.”
I nodded and pointed out the additional advantages.
“On top of that, companies this big pour a lot into research. We could even end up with global papers coming out of it.”
“They’ll pay us and write papers too?!”
Only then did the whole team finally cheer with genuine excitement.
I wondered if I was only talking up the positives, but the truth was that there really didn’t seem to be any negatives in sight.
We’d still need to receive the actual contract and have Badugi review it, but at least based on what we’d heard verbally, the terms were truly favorable to us.
“Is BRK trying to snatch up our product because JH is their competitor? Like, they want to take it away right in front of them?”
“Who knows? Either way, this is definitely a good sign so far.”
“Then should we have a company dinner tonight?!”
“Get changed and pack your things. We’re going.”
A good day was clearly on its way.
“Ahh, Mr. Siwon, you always stop drinking right before you’re about to get drunk again~”
“Right? It’s not like you’re skipping the drinks, so how does he not get drunk like that~”
As expected of a dinner outing for young people, everyone was plastered.
It was past midnight, and maybe because everyone was stuffed, they barely touched the expensive side dishes.
“It’s better if the CEO doesn’t get drunk and do something stupid.”
“Come on, even if Mr. Siwon got drunk and did something stupid, what could he possibly do?”
Complain while drunk on Mapo Bridge and get hauled off to the police station?
I almost answered with brutal honesty out of reflex, but I held it in and laughed instead.
Now that I was at the point where drinking until I blacked out wasn’t fun anymore, the fact that getting pleasantly tipsy was more enjoyable had become its own kind of happiness.
“Anyway, let’s head home soon. It’s late.”
“It’s not even one yet!”
“Then I’ll leave you my card, so eat and drink whatever you want. I’m heading out first.”
“Eeeeh~”
Crash!
We were in the middle of a noisy, peaceful argument among ourselves when a real commotion broke out at the next table.
“I told you!! If you say that kind of thing again, I won’t leave you alone!!”
It was a fight between drunk customers.
The restaurant fell silent in an instant, and everyone cautiously turned to stare at that table.
“Did he just throw a glass?”
“They’d been fighting pretty badly for a while.”
“Don’t look. I already called it in. The police will be here soon.”
Even the team members, who had been swaying around half out of it, instinctively grabbed onto their senses and whispered among themselves while watching the situation.
“You crazy bastard, what the hell?! Did you just throw that at me?!”
“I threw it at you! At you!! Huh?! Why?!”
The restaurant staff had no idea what to do about the troublemakers.
They could only try to calm them down in tiny voices.
Once glasses started flying at a table packed with breakable glassware, it was naturally hard to stop them.
“When are the police getting here? This is about to turn into a disaster.”
Everyone in the restaurant looked at one another with anxious faces.
It made no difference to the drunk men, whose fight only escalated further as they started shoving each other.
“You two! Separate now!”
After a moment, the restaurant door was flung open and two police officers strode straight in.
“What the hell! Who are you?!”
One of the drunk men shouted, still half out of his mind, but the officers went right up to them and began calming them down at once.
“If you keep causing a disturbance, this will become a problem. Separate now, both of you.”
One of the officers caught my eye.
He looked very young.
Someone familiar.
Someone I was sure I had met somewhere before.
“Do Hyeonjin?”
I said the name that had surfaced in my head out loud.
The officer glanced over at me.
The moment our eyes met, I remembered exactly who he was.
Those bright eyes.
He was definitely the police officer who had saved me in my last life.
“Don’t get distracted. Get this guy under control!”
“Yes, sir!”
After taking a brief look at me, Do Hyeonjin went right back to doing his job as a police officer.
Watching him clumsily but earnestly subdue the drunk men brought that day’s Do Hyeonjin rushing back to mind even more clearly.
To think I’d run into the officer who had comforted me after I’d made a mess of things, and even handed me his business card, right here.
“You started police work really early.”
I watched the back of Do Hyeonjin as he dragged the drunk men away, my eyes full of admiration.
“Why are you staring like that? Do you know him?”
Apparently finding it odd that I was just blankly watching one police officer, Yoo Jiwon beside me asked in confusion.
“No, I just thought he seems like an incredibly kind person.”
I brushed it off and drained the remaining alcohol from my glass.
He was the benefactor who had saved my life and made it possible for me to live this life.
It was amazing to run into such a benefactor again so much sooner than I’d expected.
“I’m really leaving now! I’m leaving my card. Eat and go as you like!”
“Why? Don’t you have anything on tomorrow morning?”
“I’ve got somewhere I need to stop by tomorrow morning!”
I ought to do a little good deed as the grateful little magpie for once.
＊＊＊
My plan was very simple.
I was going to buy some reasonably pricey food and drinks, then take them to the police station and hand them out.
To Do Hyeonjin and the other officers, too.
That police station had practically saved me in my last life, so I was planning to run a small thank-you project of my own.
I also figured it would make me look far more like a decent citizen than barging in and forcing something onto a police officer I’d just met.
But the plan didn’t work nearly as well as I’d expected.
“Huh? Why did you buy this for us?”
“Last night, some people were causing a scene in a bar, and your station handled them really well, so...”
“Were you the store owner? Or the person who called it in?”
“No. Neither of those.”
“Then how did you know the place you’re talking about was this station and not another one?”
What I had overlooked was that this was a police station.
They were people who saw every kind of crazy case imaginable, and they obviously weren’t going to accept a loaf of bread or snacks that hadn’t even been sealed.
Besides, the fact that I’d come here this specifically would probably have seemed suspicious in itself.
Yeah. Now that I thought about it, there really were a lot of suspicious parts.
“Um, I’m seriously just the CEO of a startup. I really brought this because I wanted to thank you. I’m not some weird guy.”
The longer my excuse went on, the colder the officers’ eyes became.
“All right, but we’re not allowed to accept this kind of thing in principle. If you got hauled in here later, it could make things awkward for us.”
That had been a really bad idea.
Badugi had been flashing the message Seriously? on my phone the whole time for a reason.
Give up and leave already. Before you look even more suspicious.
Right. I was starting to look suspicious.
I’d tried to avoid seeming shady by not giving anything only to Do Hyeonjin and instead buying snacks and drinks for everyone here and there.
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
“Ah, no, you don’t need to apologize. You bought these for us, after all.”
At my apology, everyone in the station gave awkward laughs, clearly embarrassed for me.
After we exchanged a round of awkward farewells and fidgeted our way toward leaving, a cheerful voice came from behind me.
“Huh? What’s this. Did we order bread?”
It was Do Hyeonjin.