Chapter 15, Meeting
Chapter 15, Meeting
The daily routine was almost over in the late evening.
I finished the mountain of dishes, folded the laundry from the dryer with military precision, and put it in the drawers.
After running the vacuum cleaner for a refreshing finish, beads of sweat formed on my forehead.
The life of a Home Security Guard is surprisingly just as grueling as working outside.
"The life of a full-time homemaker is tougher than I thought."
Having finished all the housework, I buried myself deep into the living room sofa, let out a long sigh, and looked at my phone.
"Sigh... You worked hard today, Kim Jae-jun."
I comforted myself and turned on the screen.
It was my stock brokerage app.
Recently, along with managing the YouTube channel, I've been steadily increasing my money by trading stocks.
As soon as I saw the numbers, vitality returned to my tired body, and the corners of my mouth twitched.
I had about 40 million won, which I'd scraped together from my military savings and the matching grant.
After rolling that money over and over with the advice from the AI App...
I had somehow gathered about 100 million won.
It had become a hobby to check the red-tinted profit rate window every morning when I woke up.
'100 million won, huh.'
It's certainly a huge amount of money for a guy who just turned twenty-one.
While others are just entering college and working part-time jobs to earn pocket money, I have 100 million won sitting in my account.
"Heh heh."
I felt so proud.
Without realizing it, I was sitting on the sofa, looking at my smartphone, and grinning like a pervert.
"Our youngest. Why are you grinning like that all by yourself? You're going to burn a hole through the screen."
My eldest sister, who returned home late, flopped down next to me as soon as she finished her shower.
Her face was full of fatigue as she shook the water from her wet hair with a towel.
"Ahem... It's nothing."
There was no need to hide it from my eldest sister.
"I've been trading some stocks recently, and it went well, so I made some money. I was just looking at that."
"Our Jae-jun is quite something, huh?"
My eldest sister praised me, ruffling my hair as if she found me adorable.
It was her signature touch she'd used whenever she praised me since I was little.
Then, she added with a slightly serious and worried face.
"Still, don't make investments with too high a return. Okay?"
"Investments with high returns?"
"It means that if the profit is high, the risk of losing it is also high. Don't put money into dangerous things."
"Aha... well, about that..."
In the first place, risk doesn't exist in my investments.
If I had to describe it, it's low-return, low-risk.
"Our youngest's seed money is the money you saved from your military salary and savings, right? It's money you made by grinding away your early twenties in the mountains. Don't spend it recklessly; save it."
"Got it. I'll keep that in mind."
As I nodded obediently, my eldest sister smiled softly, looking relieved.
Just as she was about to pick up the remote with the towel draped around her neck, a thought occurred to me, and I spoke up first.
"Oh, right. Noona."
"Yeah?"
"Have you ever seen Ha-young's channel?"
I asked since it crossed my mind.
Since my second niece, Baek Ha-young, has been filming mukbang YouTube videos lately.
I was probing cautiously in case she got caught by Mom and suffered the disaster of having her channel deleted.
At my question, my eldest sister chuckled and draped the towel over her shoulders.
"Of course I've seen it. Would a mom not watch her daughter's channel?"
"...Really?"
"I watch Ha-rin's channel every day, not just Ha-young's. I even set up notifications."
Mom really is a mom.
Just as I was about to nod.
"You're the one doing all the editing for them, right, Jae-jun?"
I felt like I'd been hit in the back of the head with a blunt object.
"...Ah, you knew?"
Where did it leak from?
The second sister?
If the eldest sister had threatened her, the second sister probably couldn't help it...
Seeing my reaction, my eldest sister tapped my shoulder as if she were dumbfounded.
"Our youngest. Your eldest sister is a tax accountant, you know? My eye for detail is no joke, even if I do say so myself."
"Was it that obvious?"
"Ever since the day you declared you'd work as an editor, the quality of the videos on Ha-rin's channel changed overnight. The cuts were clean, and the sound effects were unusual, so how could I not know?"
I had no rebuttal after hearing that.
Because the videos previously uploaded to Baek Ha-rin's channel were uploaded without any editing.
"And I know that Ha-rin, that kid, is monetizing it too."
"Hmm..."
I couldn't deny that either.
Indeed, a mother is a being who sees through everything about her children.
Usually, if it seems like parents don't know about their children's affairs, it's either that they actually know everything but are pretending not to, or it's something they will soon know perfectly.
The relationship between parent and child is one where quantum mechanics doesn't exist.
"But Noona."
"Yeah."
"If you knew, why didn't you pretend to know? I thought you would've given us a smack on the back for not studying and doing other things."
At my question, my eldest sister leaned back into the sofa and said quietly.
"You must never tell Ha-rin and Ha-young that I noticed, okay?"
"Why?"
"I don't want the kids to stop doing what they like or feel burdened because of me."
"What if they cause trouble?"
"I'm leaving them be because I trust that they won't cause any major trouble since you're supporting them well from behind."
Oh...
Parental love.
A mother is indeed a mother.
That warm heart that silently watches from behind as her children are happy.
As I nodded with an admiring reaction, my eldest sister stroked my hair again.
"You're the same, Jae-jun."
"..."
"You're my youngest brother, but to me, you're no different from my own child. I think of you as my first child, so if anything happens, don't struggle alone and always rely on your Noona. Okay?"
My heart swelled, and my face turned slightly red at the warmth in Noona's words.
"Yeah. Got it. Thank you, Noona."
I nodded, hiding my shyness.
At the same time, I asked something I was curious about to lighten the emotional mood.
"Then, by any chance, can I set up monetization for Ha-young's channel? The view counts were pretty decent."
"Monetization?"
The forehead of my eldest sister, who had been wearing a benevolent mother's smile until just a moment ago, instantly furrowed.
"A kid who's only in her second year of middle school, and she wants to monetize? Absolutely not."
"Uh, uh..."
"If she gets a taste of big money at a young age, she'll get pretentious and develop bad habits. I give her enough allowance, so just leave Ha-young's channel as a hobby."
Hmm, I guess Ha-young isn't ready yet.
It's a shame that one source of income was blocked, but since it's my eldest sister's educational policy, I had no choice but to follow it.
The next morning.
Our house was noisy from the morning after my eldest sister left for work.
"Uncle! How is this outfit? Doesn't it look too casual? It's a meeting with a large corporation, should I wear a suit? Ah, but a suit doesn't fit my channel concept at all!"
Baek Ha-rin was going in and out of my room, changing her clothes three times and making a fuss.
It was obvious she was terrified because it was her first official business meeting.
"Just wear something casual. Are you going to an interview or something?"
At my grumbling, Baek Ha-rin settled on a neat shirt and a tennis skirt.
Even to me, her uncle, it was a pretty and well-suited outfit.
Afterwards, Baek Ha-rin and I headed to a quiet and luxurious coffee shop near our home in Gangnam.
"Hoo... Sss... Haa..."
On the way to the coffee shop.
Baek Ha-rin had been taking huge deep breaths next to me ever since we left the house.
Her breathing was so loud that I was getting out of breath just walking next to her.
Anyone would think she was already going into the headquarters studio of a large corporation to film an advertisement in front of dozens of cameras.
"Hey. Calm down. Who's going to eat you?"
I stopped walking, reached out, and slapped Baek Ha-rin's butt.
"Ah! Why are you hitting me!"
"Your breathing is so rough that I'm getting nervous too, so calm down."
At my scolding, Baek Ha-rin rubbed her butt and glared at me.
"Uncle, you can say that easily because it's not your business! We're meeting people from a huge conglomerate's marketing team, aren't you nervous at all?"
"I'm not. They don't have my leash, and we don't have anything to lose, so why would I be nervous?"
Baek Ha-rin shook her head as if she were dumbfounded by my nonchalant answer.
As we shared such trivial conversation, we arrived in front of the coffee shop, which was the meeting place.
I peeked inside through the glass window.
I could see a man and a woman in neat suits sitting side by side at a window seat inside.
Thin document folders and a tablet PC were placed on the table.
Hmm, they are definitely advertisement managers.
"Ha-rin. I'll order the drinks, so you go ahead, say hello, and sit down."
"Huh? I have to go alone? Go with me!"
Baek Ha-rin whined, gripping my sleeve tightly.
I was going to, but my smartphone vibrated briefly, and a text message arrived.
[This is the Daehan Electronics Marketing Team.]
[We arrived first and ordered the drinks in advance, so you just need to pick them up at the counter.]
[Please come comfortably.]
They are very sensible.
Employees of large corporations are indeed different.
"They said they already ordered the drinks. They said we just need to pick them up. Let's go together."
I grabbed the tray with two cold Americanos that had been paid for in advance and headed to the seat.
As we approached the table, Baek Ha-rin bowed her head first, looking hesitant.
I also put the tray down on the table and naturally pulled out the chair opposite them and sat down.
As soon as I sat down, the two people sitting across from us stood up with bright smiles and began to greet us by taking out their business cards.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Manager Choi Tae-hyung from the Daehan Electronics Marketing Team, and this is Assistant Manager Lee Min-ji next to me."
The man in the suit was the Manager, and the woman was the Assistant Manager.
We didn't have business cards, but we received the greeting with a light bow.
"Ah, hello. I'm Baek Ha-rin from the Harin-geongdyu channel."
First, Baek Ha-rin introduced herself clearly in a slightly nervous voice.
Following that, I opened my mouth calmly with a relaxed smile.
"Hello. I'm Kim Jae-jun, in charge of editing and business management for the Harin-geongdyu channel."
As soon as my grand introduction ended, the Manager looked at me with slight interest and asked.
"Ah, we heard in our email exchange beforehand that you were the editor, but seeing you come out here together... are you two family?"
"Yes. That's right."
At my answer, the Assistant Manager next to him tilted her head slightly and added cautiously.
"But seeing as the surnames are different, it doesn't look like you're siblings... Are you cousins? You do look vaguely alike."
At that question, I chuckled and answered nonchalantly.
"No. I'm her uncle, and she's my niece."
"Pardon?"
"Excuse me?"
At my answer, not only the Manager but also the Assistant Manager tilted their heads.
Their expressions were as if they thought I had cracked a lame joke to ease the tension at the meeting.
They must think it's a joke.
I took a long sip of the iced Americano on the table and added calmly.
"I was born late. Even though our ages are similar, we are indeed uncle and niece."
"Ah...!"
"Really? Wow, that's really fascinating! I honestly thought you were peers or college seniors and juniors!"
Only then did the Manager and Assistant Manager, realizing my words were true, laugh out loud, saying it was fascinating.
The stiff and awkward atmosphere typical of a business meeting instantly dissolved into a friendly one thanks to my extraordinary family tree story.
'Hmm, this is Article 1 of the method for smooth negotiation that the AI App taught me.'
Relieving the other party's tension and forming a friendly atmosphere.
If you lower the other party's guard, it becomes much easier to take the lead in the main negotiation.
'It worked very well.'
There are still a few things left, though.
I should use them at the right timing.