Chapter 27: The Stolen Idea (2)

The door to the CEO's office burst open.

Oh Seongjin hadn't done a thing wrong, and still his heart dropped through the floor.

"Sir, what do we do?"

"Why? What now?"

"The landlady called."

"I told you to say I was out on a client visit."

"That's... she said she's coming over right now."

"Hah. What a headache."

Five months of rent, unpaid. Somewhere along the way, more than half the security deposit had been eaten away. In the end, the landlady had reached for her last resort: if the overdue rent wasn't deposited by today, she would terminate the lease.

The problem was that he didn't have the money to move. Until last month, he'd actually had a little breathing room. He'd taken out another low-interest loan under the government's SME support program. Then he'd paid the staff their back wages and poured what was left into mall advertising to clear inventory, and the capital had vanished almost overnight.

If the ads had at least moved product, it wouldn't have been so bad. Weekly sales had converged on zero. Not a single unit sold.

I really thought I had it this time.

Oh Seongjin let out a sigh that seemed to want to sink the floor beneath him.

"Nothing we can do. Just put her off for now."

"Yes, sir."

The employee left. A short while later the phone rang, and Oh Seongjin drew a long breath before lifting the receiver.

"Aigoo~, ma'am. I'm so sorry I picked up late. I was on the line with a client—ahahaha."

"I know, I know. It's exactly five months, isn't it? We're pushing hard on Pangpang right now, so all that inventory sitting in the warehouse will move soon enough. The moment the sales money comes in, rent is the first thing I'll pay."

Oh Seongjin pleaded. This time, she didn't buy a word of it.

"You know how Pangpang works, ma'am. When they decide to push something, they really push it. There's still two months of deposit left, isn't there? I'm sorry, but please just give me a little more time."

"Next month? There's only ten days left. Ma'am, if you spring this on me all of a sudden..."

She was preening over a wait she'd only afforded herself because there was still deposit left to burn. In the end, the landlady delivered her ultimatum and hung up.

A dull beep. Oh Seongjin set the receiver down with a tightness in his chest.

"Hah... what the hell do I do now?"

For a while he sat there, staring blankly into space, the look of a man whose world had come apart. But his parents' faces kept rising in front of him, and he couldn't just sit still. He shoved his chair back and stood.

"Sitting here isn't going to fix anything. I'll start with the bank that gave me the loan."

For a week after that he threw everything he had at clearing inventory and chasing investment. All of it came to nothing.

It didn't matter how hard he advertised that the product was good. It didn't matter that he put it up at a price that didn't even cover cost. A small company's idea product. Nobody cared.

"Maybe I... should've just sold it back then."

When he'd joined Iljin Group's startup incubation program, Team Leader Lee Jungwan, the man in charge of him, had made a proposal.

That was what he'd said. No matter how good a product a small company put out, it would eventually be swallowed by a conglomerate. So why struggle for nothing? Hand the idea over to Iljin Group. Even in the worst case he'd walk away with three hundred million won, and he'd be far better off using that money to comfortably sketch out his next venture.

Back then he'd been young and full of fight. He'd told the man to shove that garbage and walked away from the program halfway through.

Now he regretted it.

"Heh. It turned out exactly the way he said it would."

He was sitting there lamenting his own situation, sinking into a daze, when a commotion erupted from the office floor. He opened the door of the CEO's office and stepped out to find Deputy Jeon locked in a struggle with someone on the other side of the entrance, clinging to the door for all he was worth.

"Deputy Jeon, what's going on?"

"Ah—sir."

"See? I knew it. I just knew it."

Oh.

The landlady.

Deputy Jeon faltered for a split second, and a shrill voice punched through the gap in the door. The door gave way as if it had simply collapsed, and the landlady filled the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠frame—a woman with a toad-like, thickly padded chin.

"I told you to have your things out by today. Why does this place still look like this?!"

"Ah, well, you asked us to move so suddenly... we haven't found another office yet. The moment we do, we'll—"

"I beg your pardon? Suddenly? Ha! Are you blaming me right now? I told you clearly on the phone two weeks ago!"

That piercing, high voice drove itself, syllable by syllable, straight into his eardrums.

"I've been out trying to raise money... I haven't had a moment to think."

"That's your problem, not mine. I've got a new tenant moving in tomorrow. So what are you going to do? What are you going to do, hmm?!"

"I'll find a place as fast as I possibly can."

He squeezed his eyes shut and bowed his head. He knew the talk of a new tenant was just a squeeze, a way to put the screws to him.

"Didn't I tell you? A pill dispenser? How was that ever going to make money? You sit there building useless toys like that, of course you don't make a living."

The landlady's words flew like a blade and buried themselves in Oh Seongjin's chest. He could endure any insult, any personal attack. What he could not endure was the contempt aimed at a product he had poured seven years of his life into—three years of preparation, four years after founding the company, every ounce of love he had.

His eyes snapped open. He knew it would put him even further on her bad side, and still he lifted his head to answer her.

And of all moments, that was when the door burst open and a man shouted from the threshold.

Ocheon City, Gyeonggi Province.

A shabby four-story commercial building on the outskirts of town.

"This is the address."

The founding date stamped on the business registration was already more than four years old, and yet nowhere on the worn signboard clinging to the facade was the name PharmCare written at all. It told you everything you needed to know about how hard they were wringing this company just to keep the lights on.

A nutritional supplement dispenser—or, as the product was actually sold, a pill dispensing device. The company that was about to become my first investment was right here.

Let's go in.

I stepped through the entrance and climbed the stairs—there was no elevator—until I reached Room 403.

Knock, knock.

I rapped on the old wooden door and turned the handle. Through the crack that opened, a woman's shrill voice came knifing out.

"I told you to have your things out by today. Why does this place still look like this?!"

I had a fair idea of what was happening inside, and I smiled to myself. I'd arrived at a rather exquisite moment. I didn't walk in right away. I decided to watch a little longer.

From the back-and-forth, rent was already five months overdue, and the landlady had gone as far as ordering the CEO out.

So they're strapped for cash.

A misfortune for them. An opportunity I couldn't have designed any better—the chance to acquire the company cheap.

An acquisition beat an investment any day. That way it would be a hundred percent mine. I'd thought it through all weekend. Rather than get tangled up arguing over who held how much equity, buying the company outright looked like the cleanest move. I'd even asked Attorney Jeong Ji-hyun, and she'd been of the same mind.

So I'd decided to acquire the company outright. As for a CEO, I could always bring in a professional. It wasn't a bad deal for Oh Seongjin, either. It would hurt to let go of everything he'd poured himself into, but selling to someone willing to pay a fair price beat drowning in debt until the business folded, didn't it?

Either way, he looked about one breath from going under. Pulling him out came first.

The instant Oh Seongjin, furious at the landlady's contempt for his product, lifted his head, I shoved the door open and stepped into view.

"Who said that? Who called a pill dispenser a useless toy?"

The landlady startled at the appearance of a third party. A beat later she found her voice again and snapped.

"What? And who are you, barging in on a conversation between adults?"

She took one look at how young I was and figured I worked here. Beyond her, CEO Oh Seongjin could only blink at the sudden stranger.

"I think you may not be fully in the picture, ma'am. This pill dispenser has won the Venture Innovation Award three years running. It's an extraordinary product."

"Three years running. What?"

"The Venture Innovation Award. Three consecutive years."

"That's enough! So are you going to pay the rent here, then?"

"And why would I be paying the rent here?"

The landlady snorted and dismissed me with a look.

"Then stay out of it. I'm not finished talking to the man who runs this place."

The moment she turned away, I strode forward and caught CEO Oh Seongjin.

"CEO Oh Seongjin. A pleasure to finally meet you."

"I'm sorry? You know me?"

"Of course. I came to invest in the pill dispenser."

"In-invest?"

"This isn't the place. Why don't we continue somewhere with a better atmosphere—a café, perhaps."

"Ah? Th-that's, I'm in a bit of a situation right now..."

Oh Seongjin flicked a nervous glance at the landlady, so I cut in cleanly.

"Lady. We'll have everything out of here by tomorrow, so why don't you go home and check that what's left of the deposit still covers you."

"What? I beg your pardon? Lady? Ha!"

But I'd just promised to vacate the office the way she wanted, so she couldn't quite unleash the scolding on her tongue. She could only purse her lips.

"CEO! You're definitely moving out tomorrow, yes?"

So I handled that too.

"You there—you're on staff here, I take it?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Would you look into whether any packing-and-moving companies have availability tomorrow?"

"Ah. Yes, sir."

"There. Satisfied?"

At my question the landlady looked from me to CEO Oh Seongjin and back, then issued him one last warning.

"You be out of here tomorrow!"

"Ah... yes."

Oh Seongjin answered despite himself. The landlady stormed out, her footsteps pounding through the office, and once she was gone he turned to me.

"I'm grateful for the help, but... I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met."

"Ah. I've been remiss with the introductions."

I drew out a thick gold business card, the title of CEO of Zeroes Group pressed into it in black foil, and held it out to him.

"Kang Minhyuk. I represent an investment firm."

"Ah... but how did you even know to come here..."

"It was on the website and the business registration."

That probably wasn't the question he was asking—how I'd known the office location—but he looked so wary I answered past it on purpose.

"It's a nice day. Why don't we step out for a coffee. We can take our time and talk business."

"Ah. Yes."

I nudged him at the back, and Oh Seongjin followed me out, however reluctantly. For him, any chance at all would have felt precious right now. That was only natural. He was squeezed so tight he would have had to come along even if he'd suspected I was a con man.

Once we'd settled at a café nearby, I was able to hear a full account of PharmCare's present condition. Perhaps because I'd already walked in on the standoff with the landlady, CEO Oh Seongjin explained everything calmly, without trying to hide a thing.

He had taken investment from several places, but most of it was small money, and the equity those firms held was negligible. Fortunately, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠investment contracts included a clause allowing him to return the capital and reclaim the shares. Because no one had been able to bet with any certainty on the business succeeding, the terms had been drawn up a little more flexibly than usual.

After several rounds of trial and error, the product had been finished a year ago. Since then he'd been promoting it through the website, Wstagram, shopping malls, and the rest, but consumer response had been lukewarm.

"I can guarantee the product's performance, though."

That much I was willing to grant. Resolve a few points that still needed improvement, and it would be an even better product.

I knew it was a rude question to put to someone I'd only just met. I asked it anyway.

"You've been advertising on Pangpang since last week. How much revenue has that generated so far?"

Oh Seongjin seemed to have known the question was coming. He dropped his head and answered in a voice that barely made it out of his throat.

"We haven't... sold a single unit yet."