Chairman Michael, Hogu #2
While waiting for the elixir to take effect, Young-hoon laid out the purposes of this American visit one by one.
"The first reason we've come to see you, Chairman Michael, is to restore your youth. While Chairman Wang was handling his acquisition deal, he learned of your situation and asked us to help you as well."
At those words, Chairman Michael bowed his head toward Chairman Wang Chenchen in gratitude. He seemed well-versed in the courtesies of the East.
"And secondly, we hope to take the elixir you just drank, downgrade it so that it retains the same taste without the potency, and distribute it in America as a wine and liquor line—along with products that similarly enhance the flavor of coffee and tea."
As Young-hoon's explanation continued, Chairman Michael sensed something enormous taking shape. Even downgraded to preserve only the taste with none of the effects, it was clearly a product any wine lover would covet. And if the same effect could be applied to the coffee every American drank, it would hold the entire beverage market in the palm of its hand.
But Young-hoon's ambitions didn't end there.
"The next topic concerns entertainment—and frankly, this is the area most directly relevant to you, Chairman Michael. I currently run an entertainment agency in Korea, and I want to determine whether the songs recorded by our artists could succeed in the American market."
"Hmm, I'm well aware that Korean artists have been making a global splash lately. If the music is good, there should be real promise. Forgive me, but may I ask the name of the artist?"
"Yes—it's a girl group called Five Girls, currently making major waves in Korea through a drama OST. Personally, I'm confident they'd go over well in America too. Along with that, I'm preparing to produce a drama of my own, which is why I've come to ask for your judgment on whether it could work in the US market."
It was certainly content that Chairman Michael couldn't help but be interested in. And yet he found himself unable to focus on the conversation.
Because while listening to Young-hoon's presentation, he could feel something stirring in his own body. The thing that had long since faded into uselessness—good for nothing but waste removal—was beginning to stiffen and rise.
Granted, Viagra could have managed an erection or two, but his personal physician had prescribed against it, warning that it would strain his heart, and so he'd assumed the days of its use were behind him forever. As a result, Chairman Michael's sex life had come to an end six months ago.
He had planned to stop troubling his head over business, travel the world with young mistresses, and enjoy his twilight years—but that plan had turned entirely to foam on the waves. From that moment on, all Chairman Michael had left was irritation and rage.
The sale of his broadcasting shares, which had been in progress for a year, had soured and collapsed out of pure spite. To Shanghai Media Group, which had been moving smoothly toward a contract, it must have been an absurd turn of events—but there was nothing they could do about it either.
And yet now, change had come to the very thing responsible for all his troubles.
He had heard the explanation beforehand, but he'd been only half convinced. No such miracle drug could possibly exist, he'd thought. But it was no lie.
Wasn't the elixir's power proving itself through his own body at this very moment? His manhood looked sturdier now than it had in the prime of his twenties, and its size brooked no comparison at all.
A cry of overwhelming emotion escaped Chairman Michael's lips.
"Th-this is... it's really mine! Just as Chairman Jang said, the effects are starting to appear. But how long will they last?"
"It'll last at least four or five days, so take your time and enjoy it."
At Chairman Jang's assured answer, Chairman Michael could hardly contain his joy. His mind filled with nothing but the desire to put it to use right away.
"I understand. I'll test it thoroughly tonight. But I haven't had time to prepare for my guests—could I ask you to wait just one day? It would hardly be polite to receive you so carelessly..."
Chairman Jang answered on everyone's behalf.
"Hehe, don't worry about that. After such a long flight, we're all jet-lagged and exhausted anyway. We'd like to return to the hotel and rest properly tonight."
"Haha, forgive my impatience... I suppose it's because my lost youth is coming back to me."
"I understand the feeling perfectly. I was the same when I first drank the elixir."
And so the dinner banquet came to a swift close. After promising to meet again the next morning at the PBS broadcasting station, Young-hoon's party returned to their hotel.
Back in the hotel room, the second round of the go-stop that had been cut short on the plane got underway. This time, Chairman Jang's son-in-law, Smith, joined in as well, turning it into a three-way match between Korea, China, and America.
Lawyer Smith knew perfectly well how to play go-stop. Perhaps from years of playing matgo with his wife—Chairman Jang's daughter—he'd built up both experience and skill, and he proved every bit as formidable as Director Park.
By the time the game wound down at midnight, China's Chairman Wang and America's Smith had split the winnings nearly down the middle, and the players from go-stop's so-called mother country had all been thoroughly crushed.
Carrying the bitter ache of defeat in his chest, Young-hoon returned to his room and went to bed. A painful first night in America passed him by.
Whether it was the time difference or not, he hadn't slept deeply, but thanks to the elixir his body didn't feel particularly weary. Young-hoon called for room service, ate a light breakfast, and headed down to the lobby a little ahead of the appointed time.
There, waiting for Young-hoon's party in the lobby, stood Chairman Michael—a man who had no business being up and about. The cane he'd been clutching last night had been thrown out somewhere, and he stood straight-backed, greeting them warmly.
"Haha! Did you sleep well last night, CEO Kim?"
"Yes, very comfortably indeed. You look like a different man entirely."
"Haha! After drinking that wine Chairman Wang gave me yesterday, I seem to be feeling its effects right now. And just as Chairman Choi said, I ran the full course of the game without holding anything back. It's all thanks to you, CEO Kim."
While Young-hoon and Chairman Michael chatted, the rest of the party gathered. Chairman Michael exchanged greetings with each person in turn, offering his thanks for their gift of a new life. Then the group boarded the car Chairman Michael had arranged and set off for downtown LA, where the PBS network was located.
Arriving at Chairman Michael's office, they got down to serious business. Interpretation duties were to alternate between Lawyer Smith and Director Park.
"Let me once again extend my gratitude to all of you, Chairman Wang included."
At that, Chairman Jang redirected the thanks to Young-hoon's share.
"All of that is thanks to CEO Kim Young-hoon. Everyone here, except for my son-in-law, has been granted a new life by CEO Kim."
"CEO Kim, there's something I'm curious about... Does one drink of the elixir you gave me yesterday grant youth for a lifetime?"
"Not quite. It should be taken regularly. If you want to enjoy a satisfying life every day, you'll need a glass a week."
"So one glass of wine gives me a week of bedroom vitality and about a month of maintained youth in body age, then?"
"We don't have precise research results on that yet, but that's roughly my guess—though it naturally varies from person to person. What we have confirmed is that the younger you are, the smaller the degree to which your body age decreases. But that particular effect doesn't seem to depend on age at all. The potency slowly diminishes from the first day after drinking to the last, and that varies by individual. The shortest it lasts is five days; at the longest, seven or eight."
"Wow, bravo! Chairman Wang has truly given me a gift of the gods!"
"Hehe, it wasn't my gift. I purchased it from CEO Kim here and gave it to you. So it's CEO Kim you should be thanking."
Chairman Michael thanked Young-hoon once more, then threw out the most important question of all.
"Then, CEO Kim—if I were to purchase this elixir, how many bottles could you sell me? And what would the price be?"
"This elixir is made from the rarest ingredients under heaven, so my annual supply runs to only around a hundred bottles. Since many people need it, I can't make any absolute promises—but I can promise you one bottle a year. As for the price, I'm thinking in the neighborhood of forty million dollars."
"If a single bottle is enough for three or four years of youth, then ten million a year seems awfully cheap, doesn't it?"
"You may think so, but I have no intention of charging more. I simply wish to help those who truly need it."
"Then may I introduce my friends to you?"
"By all means—but please only introduce people who genuinely need the elixir. They must, above all, have the financial means to back it up. And I'd ask that they all be people who can keep a secret."
"Haha, don't you worry. Absolute discretion goes without saying in matters like these. I'll bring my friends to Korea myself before long."
Young-hoon decided the elixir talk had gone far enough—it was time to get down to real business.
"Chairman Michael, I haven't had my coffee this morning, and I think I'm short on caffeine. Might I trouble you for a cup?"
"Oh dear, how careless of me! I've been so excited I forgot all about serving my guests. Right away."
"Then I have one small request—could you bring one more cup than there are people here?"
"Of course. I'll have my secretary take care of it."
Chairman Michael immediately called his secretary and placed the order. While the coffee was being prepared, he asked slyly,
"Requesting one extra cup of coffee... I take it there's something else here that will surprise me?"
"Haha... sharp as ever. Wait just a moment and you'll understand why."
Shortly after, the secretary arrived with the coffee. Young-hoon asked her to gather the cups in front of him, then took the Magical Herb Powder from his bag and sprinkled a small amount into every cup except one, stirring each to just the right blend. He then handed Chairman Michael one cup of the herb-powder coffee and one cup of plain coffee.
The only people who found Young-hoon's behavior strange were Chairman Michael and Smith, Chairman Jang's son-in-law. The rest showed no particular reaction—they already knew the powers of the herb powder.
"Chairman Michael, please first drink the coffee the secretary brought, and then try the one I've given you."
"Haha, now this is intriguing. But I drink this blend every morning and know its taste well, so it seems to me that Lawyer Smith would be the better judge for comparison. What do you say?"
"Excellent. As you say, Lawyer Smith is in the most objective position to render a verdict."
And so Lawyer Smith found himself an experimental subject out of nowhere. But with chairmen standing all around him, he had no veto to exercise. Besides, he too felt a powerful curiosity, so without the slightest hesitation he raised the cup.
The coffee the secretary had brought carried a refined flavor, befitting the blend Chairman Michael favored—soft on the palate, with the mellow aroma of premium beans. It was exquisite. Lawyer Smith enjoyed fine coffee himself, but this was on another level entirely.
After savoring the lingering taste for a moment, Lawyer Smith reached for the cup into which Young-hoon had added something. Having missed out on yesterday's wine, he brought the cup to his lips with careful anticipation, wondering what magical flavor awaited him.
He held a slow sip in his mouth, then swallowed—and for a moment, he couldn't speak.
The coffee he'd just drunk had certainly been excellent. But it couldn't begin to compare with this one. From the instant it touched his tongue until it slid down his throat, it was as though a cool breeze swept through and wrapped around his brain. He found himself questioning whether what he'd just drunk was even coffee at all.
At the sight of Lawyer Smith frozen solid without a word, Chairman Michael's expectations swelled, and he gulped down his own coffee. In the same instant, he too went stiff from head to toe, like a mannequin.
Yesterday's wine had been one thing—but this coffee was a revolution. No, if anything, he felt it was worth even more than the wine. Whatever anyone said, the difference in demand between wine and coffee was enormous, and a coffee that every single American drank was bound to have a far greater ripple effect.
Watching Chairman Michael and Lawyer Smith stand speechless, Young-hoon allowed himself a knowing smile and posed his question.
"Could the two of you describe how the coffee tasted?"
A beat of silence passed before the two men finally steadied their emotions and spoke.
"Hehe, I've been drinking this coffee for over twenty years. I'm rather particular, so I've always insisted on only the finest. But this coffee you've handed me, CEO Kim—I've never seen its like on this earth. There's simply nothing to compare it to. This is a serious problem. I don't think I'll be able to stomach any other coffee from now on."
"Hmm, I love coffee too, and the first cup was quite excellent. But the second cup was delicious beyond imagination."
Having obtained the satisfying answers he wanted, Young-hoon felt his faith in the herb powder he'd mixed reaffirmed once more. And at the same time, he pulled out an irresistible, honey-sweet proposal.
"Then let me ask you this, Chairman Michael. If I were to produce this coffee and export it to America—would I have a winning hand?"