Recruiting Talent
◈ TALENT ACQUISITION ◈
Ki-hyun was one of those rare people who prided himself on knowing more about coffee than almost anyone else in Korea.
Only moments ago, he had been passing by where Young-hoon and his companions were talking when he happened to overhear them discussing a coffee business.
As far as he was concerned, the Korean coffee industry sat at the very center of a red ocean — a business tailor-made for burning through your money if you weren't careful. That was exactly why he decided to talk them out of it.
"I'm sorry, but I couldn't help overhearing your conversation, and I gathered you're preparing to enter the coffee business."
"If that's the case, I'd strongly urge you to think it over one more time."
"The truth is, I tried to go big in coffee myself three or four years ago and crashed and burned. Now I'm barely scraping by running this one little coffee shop."
"Coffee is not a business you can succeed at just because you have money. It takes real skill and hard-won know-how. I've watched plenty of people throw money at it blind and go under — I'm one of them. I only spoke up as a fan of Five Girls, so please don't take it the wrong way."
Young-hoon's interest was piqued by the revelation that Ki-hyun had actually run a coffee business in the past.
"If you don't mind my asking, Mr. Kim Gi-hyun — how much do you actually know about coffee?"
Ki-hyun possessed knowledge deep enough that he could talk about coffee until the sun came up, and for a moment he couldn't resist showing off a little.
"Me? Well, for starters, I hold a Level 1 Barista certification. I even majored in barista studies at university."
"To study coffee properly, I've traveled to every major coffee-producing region in the world. So yes — I'd confidently say I know more about coffee than just about anyone."
"Then let me ask you one thing, Mr. Kim. If we processed coffee here in Korea and exported it overseas — would we have a chance of winning?"
"If it tastes good, what's the problem? But honestly, I don't think processing it domestically gives you much of a shot. There are simply too many companies out there with overwhelming global competitiveness."
At that, Young-hoon turned to Assistant Manager Park.
"Hey, Park — if we mixed the Magical Herb Powder into the coffee, would we have a shot?"
"Is that even a question? Hell yes. Enough talk, though — let the taste speak for itself. You said your name was Mr. Kim, right? How about you brew us one cup with your finest, most premium beans?"
Ki-hyun felt the three of them came across as slightly suspicious — con artists, almost. But this was supposedly the owner of Five Girls' agency, so he decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. He'd personally seen them with Five Girls just a few days ago, so with a what the hell attitude, he brewed a cup of coffee and handed it to Young-hoon.
Young-hoon pulled the Magic Seasoning from his bag, blended the tiniest pinch into the coffee, and handed the cup back to Ki-hyun.
"Don't say a word. Just have a taste."
Ki-hyun took a sip without thinking.
And in that instant, he couldn't think at all.
As a coffee obsessive, he had tasted nearly every famous coffee the world had to offer. But this — this was a brave new world he had never once experienced in his life. It existed on a completely different plane from anything he had ever tasted.
"Whoa. This is... incredible. I have never, in my entire life, tasted coffee this good. What on earth did you put in this?"
"Just a small pinch of a herb powder I obtained in the countryside. It's completely harmless to the human body. Now, Mr. Kim Gi-hyun, let me ask you once more. With flavor like this — if we took on the world market, would we have a chance?"
"Absolutely. If this taste holds, we'd devour the global coffee market whole. Although... coffee operates on economies of scale, so a small-scale factory wouldn't stand much of a chance. Could you tell me roughly how much capital would be invested?"
"How does more than one trillion won sound? Surely that's enough for a fighting chance?"
In that moment, Young-hoon caught sight of Ki-hyun's eyes flashing bright with excitement.
Jackpot. This is the guy to recruit for the coffee business. Chairman Choi's going to love this.
"First, may I have one of your business cards, Mr. Kim? I'm here on other business today, but I'd like to meet again soon and have a much deeper conversation."
Ki-hyun handed over his card and practically floated back to his station, humming with excitement. It was as if he could suddenly take another run at the dream he'd once given up on.
A little while later, when four o'clock rolled around, President Lee Jae-man pushed open the door of the coffee shop and walked in. Seeing two strangers beside Young-hoon, a look of momentary confusion crossed his face.
Young-hoon read the unease behind his expression and, worried that Manager Kim and Assistant Manager Park might feel awkward, hurried to introduce them.
"President Lee, let me introduce the two gentlemen here. This is my senior colleague from our company, Manager Kim Jong-seok, and this is Assistant Manager Park Sung-ho, my old classmate. Please, everyone — introduce yourselves."
The three men exchanged brief greetings and took their seats.
"President Lee, please hear me out without jumping to any conclusions. I'd like to explain why I brought these two gentlemen along to meet you."
"As you know, Girin Entertainment keeps growing in size by the day. Forgive me for saying so bluntly, but running this company entirely on your own is simply impossible. That's why you need people to support you."
Carefully watching the president's face so as not to offend him, Young-hoon chose his words as he continued.
"These men spent years managing organizations systematically at a major corporation. If we combine their expertise with what you've built, Girin Entertainment can grow into a world-class company. That's why I've invited both of them to join us."
"Manager Kim Jong-seok speaks both Chinese and English at nearly native level. His Japanese isn't quite native, but it's more than enough to hold a smooth conversation with a Japanese counterpart. And as for Assistant Manager Park — well, he's just... good at English."
For some reason, he felt the weight of Assistant Manager Park's wounded stare boring into him, but Young-hoon explained his reasons for recruiting the two men as honestly as he could.
His worry, however, turned out to be for nothing.
Lately, Lee Jae-man had been running himself ragged over Five Girls. Back when the company was small, he'd somehow managed to steer it through everything, but with the schedule suddenly exploding, running the operation alone had become unbearable.
He'd secretly been wishing to hire more staff — and now Young-hoon had offered first. He was simply grateful.
"Thank you so much, Mr. Kim. To be honest, that's the very thing I came here hoping to discuss with you today."
"My education was short, and I spent most of my career as a road manager, so when it comes to corporate management, I'm practically illiterate. And these days the workload is burying us — Ms. Yoo Hyun-kyung and I simply can't keep up anymore. I was going to ask you to either come by the office more often, or let me hire some people."
"Well, that works out nicely, then. And there's one more thing you should know, President Lee..."
"Girin Entertainment will eventually be incorporated as a subsidiary of YH Corporation, where I serve as CEO."
"You mean it would become part of a company where Chairman Choi and Chairman Jang are shareholders?"
"Yes, exactly. It should happen within a year or two."
"Then this really is wonderful news. Being under a big umbrella is the best possible position for us. Back when we were a tiny agency, people looked down on us constantly. These days Five Girls has turned us into the ones holding the power, but relationships like that can flip in an instant."
Young-hoon decided to nail down the terms of employment for Manager Kim and Assistant Manager Park with Lee Jae-man right then and there.
"I'll leave you and these two to work out their salaries and ranks in a separate discussion. No matter what, make sure their pay comes out to at least one and a half times what they earn at their current company. In exchange, I won't be taking a salary. Let's leave it at that for today, and meet again sometime this week to sign a formal contract covering compensation and the rest. One condition — for the time being, these two will keep a double life like mine. Mornings at LK Electronics, afternoons at Girin Entertainment. Their affairs there aren't quite settled yet."
"Mr. Kim, there's a problem. Tomorrow, when Shanghai Media Group and China Media Group visit Sinabro Production, they're going to want to meet with us. I don't speak English, and I certainly don't speak Chinese. And I can't exactly ask Sinabro Production for help — I'm in quite a bind."
"Ah, right — that issue. Just a moment, President Lee."
Young-hoon turned to Manager Kim and Assistant Manager Park.
"You've already decided to quit the company anyway — how about you join our side starting tomorrow? No, actually, starting today?"
"I've wrung every last ounce of affection out of that place anyway, so from me it's a yes. Assistant Manager Park, what about you?"
"I vote yes, unconditionally. Do you have any idea how much I love the entertainment industry? I'll treat this as my true calling and work my tail off."
"Then we have a meeting with Sinabro Production today — you two will join us starting from that. Is there anything else we need to discuss?"
"Yes, Mr. Kim. The people coming from China won't be flying over just to glimpse Five Girls' faces. Their companies will almost certainly want to discuss purchasing the master recordings and other matters, and push to sign contracts — but we don't have a single international lawyer we can rely on."
"I'll take care of that. I can just ask Chairman Jang or Chairman Choi to find someone."
"If you'll handle it, that's a great relief, sir."
Meanwhile, without anyone noticing, Mr. Kim Gi-hyun had crept up nearby. When his eyes met Young-hoon's dead-on, he scratched his head and opened his mouth, sounding almost apologetic.
"Um — I swear I wasn't trying to eavesdrop on you on purpose. I was just passing by, and the words 'international lawyer' caught my ear. You see, my father is a lawyer — the managing partner of a firm called Kim & Park. So if you're struggling to find someone, you could always ask my father."
"Honestly, I've been dying to join the coffee business you mentioned, Mr. Kim. If I ask my father for a favor on your behalf, he'll hear me out."
Assistant Manager Park jumped at the name, blurting out before he could stop himself.
"Did you say Kim & Park? That's one of the top five law firms in Korea — is that actually true?"
"Yes, it is. I'm his only son."
"Park, if what Mr. Kim says is true, that connection could be a huge help to us down the road."
Young-hoon had already firmly resolved to bring Ki-hyun into the fold. But to have yet another connection quietly fall into his lap like this — it almost felt like the arrangement of fate itself.
"As I said before, I'll set up a meeting sometime this week, and we can go over the details then. In the meantime, could you speak with your father about what we've discussed and ask whether he'd be willing to take us on? Assistant Manager Park — confirm with Mr. Kim and report back to me by tomorrow."
"Yes, sir. I'll ask my father tonight and contact Assistant Manager Park tomorrow morning."
Assistant Manager Park found it strange that Young-hoon had suddenly switched to formal speech with him, and asked, eyes full of curiosity.
"Whoa, what's with the sudden politeness—"
"Formal speech in official settings, casual everywhere else. Okay?"
"Yeah, works for me."
Young-hoon then extended the same request about forms of address to President Lee and Manager Kim.
"I think we need to settle on how we address each other, starting now. When we meet the people from Sinabro Production today, if everyone's calling each other something different, it's going to look sloppy. What are your thoughts, President Lee?"
Jae-man agreed that locking in temporary titles quickly was the sensible move.
"Then how about Manager Kim as Division Head, and Assistant Manager Park as Team Leader?"
Manager Kim and Assistant Manager Park answered in unison.
"Sounds good to me."
"Well, that wraps up the main business — shall we go take a look at the office?"
Young-hoon and his two companions followed President Lee on a tour of the building that would serve as the new office, checking on the progress of the interior renovation. After that, they stopped by the Five Girls dorm and gave it a thorough once-over before heading to Sinabro Production in Cheongdam-dong.