The CBO Hunt Begins
“We’re going to the place by the back gate, right?”
“Yeah. Our department really loves that spot. Right?”
Just saying “the place by the back gate” was enough for everyone to know which bar I meant.
We weren’t chattering nonstop, but every so often we stole glances at one another, making sure everyone was still keeping up.
Just walking past those old familiar signs made it sink in all over again that I really had regressed.
I’d come all this way back through time, and yet somehow this bar still felt this familiar.
“Wow. There are a ton of people from our department here.”
“There really are.”
We made our way slowly toward a table that was already fully set up with drinks and food.
Korea University’s Computer Engineering Department was overwhelmingly male.
It was the kind of department where guys didn’t suddenly start taking interest in one another, showering each other with compliments, or getting in each other’s faces for no reason.
Because of that, everyone tended to go all out together at events like the freshman welcome party, but outside of those, there weren’t many chances to naturally become close with the people you wanted to know a little better.
Put differently, it meant that when the welcome party came around, you could become friendly with the people you wanted to know surprisingly quickly.
“Ooh, look who showed up—our batch geniuses!”
“What, are you all suffering from main-character syndrome or something? Why are you this late?”
“We thought maybe you guys were so busy studying together that you’d stopped coming to places like this.”
“What are you talking about? You came in the end, didn’t you?”
By the time we arrived at the welcome party, quite a few people had already gathered and were deep into their drinking.
Plenty of familiar faces greeted us warmly, but I headed straight for the table where the transfer students were seated.
For the one spot in this noisy, crowded drinking party where the atmosphere was just a little awkward.
That was where the person I wanted to meet was sitting.
“Hello, everyone. I’m Kim Siwon. I entered early, so I’m twenty-three already, but among my classmates we’re all just friends.”
I sat down as naturally as if I belonged there, and the transfer students looked at me with clearly unfamiliar expressions.
The others who had followed behind me also looked at me in confusion, then, one by one, found their own seats.
They must have been making that face because they hadn’t realized that when I said we should drink with the transfer students, I meant we should actually go up to them from the start.
“Huh? Weren’t there supposed to be four of us transfer students?”
“Oh, we’re not transfer students. We just came because we wanted to get to know you guys too.”
“Ah. I see. Um... where are the cups?”
“Boss, can we get six cups over here?”
While we waited to get our drinks, we each gave a quick introduction.
It turned into a gathering of people from a wide range of ages, mixing regular transfer students and department transfer students alike.
Still, the age gap was only about ten years at most overall, so there was no real problem with how the drinking session flowed.
From my perspective, having already lived past the age of thirty-five, it was even less of an issue.
“By the way, earlier you guys were calling us geniuses from your batch. Why is that?”
Once the conversation had loosened up a bit, one of the transfer students asked us a question.
We exchanged slightly awkward looks for a moment, then answered.
“We’re ranked first through sixth in our class.”
“What?”
“He’s first, I’m second, then third, fourth, fifth, and sixth. The order basically just keeps shifting among us, so that’s what people call us.”
At that, the transfer students stared at us with rather shocked expressions.
Feeling a little self-conscious, we all downed a shot of the liquor in front of us.
“But how did the six of you end up this close?”
“We’re in a startup club together.”
“Wow, I really wanted to join a startup club when I came here too!”
Just then, perfectly on cue, the exact person I wanted showed interest in our startup club.
Lee Seonghun.
A computer engineering major who was a bit of an oddball, wandering into business department electives just to fill his general education credits.
Even now, among all those guys in plaid shirts, he was the only one who’d dressed with effortless style while still looking understated.
Maybe because he had such good overall taste, in my previous life he became the CBO of an IT startup and helped drive it all the way up to a mid-sized enterprise.
Even after that, he’d joined several other startups and helped bring about successful exits.
“Then, hyung, why don’t you give our club some thought? We’re preparing for Capstone Design right now, so if you apply to join tomorrow, that’d probably be perfect.”
I couldn’t afford to let talent like this slip through my fingers.
I had to bring him into our company—no, our club—no matter what.
“Huh? Then wouldn’t I just be riding along without doing anything?”
“Not at all. We’re actually in a situation where we need one more person specifically for the business side. If you’re interested in that too, let us know.”
I swept my eyes across the faces of my clubmates.
The others were nodding vigorously in agreement with what I’d said.
I’d already told them ahead of time that we needed someone to handle business matters, so none of them seemed caught off guard by the direction this was taking.
Besides, they’d all been feeling bad about the way I’d been making the PowerPoints alone and dealing with professors by myself.
“I’m interested. Actually, I used to take business department classes as electives at my previous university too.”
I know.
But I put on a look that said I didn’t.
“Really? Are you thinking about a double major, then?”
“Oh, no. That would make credit requirements way too hard, so I just take the business classes that sound interesting.”
I tried to look surprised too, but everyone else was so genuinely shocked that my reaction got buried right away.
“You’re saying you take business classes because they seem fun?”
“Not just general-education classes, but actual business major courses?”
“If you’re a non-major, wouldn’t all the easy classes already be full, leaving only the hard ones?”
“Haha. Still, they’re interesting. And useful.”
“Wow. You’re exactly the kind of person we need right now. Please join us.”
“Just come by tomorrow and hear us out, at least. Our idea’s solid.”
“That sounds great to me! Where should I go tomorrow?”
Even more than I’d expected, our club members were warmly receptive to Lee Seonghun, and without needing me to say another word, they threw themselves into getting close to him.
“By the way, if you were first in the class, do you learn development separately too?”
“What kind of professors teach your major fundamentals?”
“Oh, I don’t study separately. I just pay close attention in class. I also look up quizzes and practice them online.”
“Quizzes online?”
Meanwhile, I kept drawing the conversation along so the other transfer students wouldn’t feel left out.
Thanks to that, the atmosphere around our table stayed lively too.
It was a genuinely enjoyable, comfortable gathering.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been able to drink this at ease.
Before regressing, I used to drink just to get drunk. I’d never been able to drink while actually communicating with people like this.
Right. We’d already gotten something out of tonight, so for once, let’s just enjoy ourselves without holding back.
“To our lives, let’s fight on! Cheers?”
“Our lives? Yeah, our lives—fighting!”
“Chaaaers!!”
“Ugh, I really let loose too much yesterday.”
“Yeah. You were basically eating like a freshman yesterday.”
“Still, I got pretty close to Seonghun-hyung, so he’ll come here. That’s all thanks to me.”
“How is that thanks to you? Kim Siwon was the one who recruited him.”
The next day, the club room was thick with hangovers.
It almost felt like the smell of alcohol was drifting up from somewhere.
On top of that, everyone except me had gone well past their limits, so they were practically hunched over their laptops while eating ramen.
Of course, they still had work to do, which meant everyone’s keyboards were clicking away.
“Kim Siwon, why are you so fine?”
“Because I drank within my limits. You all should just sleep. You can’t do anything in that state anyway.”
“What do you mean we can’t do anything? We’ve been surviving school assignments in this condition too.”
Even while groaning like zombies, the club members kept working with a sense of responsibility that was impressive in more ways than one.
“Next time you drink, at least eat first or have some water while you’re at it.”
“Ugh, my dad said the exact same thing today.”
Well, it wasn’t exactly the same as hearing it from your father, but it was advice from someone who had lived a bit of life.
“Drink the sports drink I bought too. Don’t sit there whining that your stomach hurts because you only ate ramen.”
“Seriously, Kim Siwon sounds like such an old man today.”
Knock, knock, knock.
Just as everyone was half dead on their feet, a knock rang out three times from the club room door.
Then someone opened the door with bright, eager eyes.
It was Lee Seonghun, looking incredibly shy.
“S-so, you told me to come join the club. Yesterday. I, um, remember that, right?”
Seonghun looked extremely tense.
More precisely, he seemed worried we might have only invited him while drunk the night before.
“Oh, our CBO has arrived!”
“Welcome, welcome!”
“We’ve all been waiting for you to show up, hyung.”
All of us zombies sprang up at once to welcome him.
Seonghun—no, Seonghun-hyung—must have gone home before midnight, because he looked far better than we did.
“What happened to all your dark circles?”
“We’ve got something urgent we’re working on right now.”
“What are you working on?”
“Hyung, come over here first. I’ll explain what’s going on.”
I brought the bewildered-looking Seonghun-hyung over and explained our current Capstone Design plan.
What market we were targeting, what product we were making, what angle we’d use to appeal to people, what we could expect from which professors during Capstone Design, and so on.
And finally, why we were making an app related to stray dogs.
“I heard you made all of this by yourself yesterday. Is that right?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Did you also take business department classes?”
That was Seonghun-hyung’s first reaction.
Genuine admiration and surprise.
“I didn’t take business classes.”
“Really? This seems way better than most business students’ assignments.”
That was probably true.
How much experience did I have with government grants and investment pitches by now?
But obviously, I couldn’t say that.
“Thanks. But now I need your help making our product stand out even more.”
“Oh, got it. I’ll give it my best shot.”
Seonghun-hyung was talking to me, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the materials.
His gaze, packed with half astonishment and half curiosity, was shining with real excitement.
“Then could you help us supplement the materials and PPT starting today? I’ve already handled the CAGR calculations at least.”
“Ah, sure. First, just give me a guide on what I can do right away. I’ll make it as good as I can.”
Thankfully, he wasn’t startled by being thrown into actual work right away.
Instead, he simply smiled with a look of anticipation.
“I heard some startup clubs are territorial and don’t give people anything to do, but you guys don’t have any of that at all, huh?”
“With this much work, how could we afford to be territorial? We’re counting on you, hyung.”
“As long as the product is good enough, the business side should go smoothly.”
Seonghun-hyung took my USB immediately, checked the materials one by one, and began filling out his own blank PowerPoint.
It was amazing how quickly he started shaping a business strategy despite being someone who’d just been brought in on the spot.
“The targeting, marketing message, and everything else are already so well put together that there’s not much for me to do.”
As he said that, he was already building out a presentation of more than ten slides in no time at all.
The blank PPT I’d prepared had only been three pages long, but the way he developed it so quickly looked effortlessly polished.
“Hyung, have you done startup clubs before?”
“No. I did take on a bunch of government support projects on my own, though. I also listened to a lot of lectures about how to write business plans.”
Ah. That explained why he was so capable.
“Just make it comfortably for now, and tell me later once the direction gets settled. Before the final version gets too detailed. We still need to discuss the overall direction with the team.”
“Ah, right. Okay.”
Thanks to our perfectly divided roles, the whole team was able to finish the project at a brisk pace.
Because of that, we were able to send all the preparatory materials to Professor Shin Dongjin ahead of time, the day before we were scheduled to meet him.
That meant we wouldn’t have to fumble through files on the day itself; instead, we could visit the professor with a much more prepared appearance.
If he opened the materials in advance, he’d probably be shocked by how far beyond typical college-student work they were.
I was honestly looking forward to seeing the expression on Professor Shin Dongjin’s face tomorrow.