The Visit of Shanghai Media & Zhonghua Media to Korea (5)
About ten minutes later, a man in his early seventies — tallish and somewhat gaunt — entered the banquet hall with his entourage, accompanied by a beauty whose features looked rather more Western than Wang Mimi's.
In all, they numbered seventeen.
Four of them were seated at the head table, while the rest took up two additional tables.
Introductions soon began at the head table.
The three central figures on the Chinese side were Chairman Xu Jiayin of Zhonghua Media Group, his daughter Xu Linhong, CEO of Zhonghua Music, and Wu Gangdun, the president of Zhonghua TV.
On Young-hoon's side, Kim Jong-seok, serving as interpreter, introduced Chairman Choi and the others to the visitors.
Before long, the banquet was underway in earnest.
Strangely enough, however, the guests' attention seemed focused less on Five Girls' songs than on the drama itself.
For some reason, this was a turn of events no one had anticipated.
The truth was that the Chinese group already held a firm share of the music market, but lagged behind Shanghai Media in TV, film, and other fields.
Which was probably why their greatest interest lay in importing a Korean TV drama to make up the difference.
Young-hoon couldn't help feeling a little slighted, but the real banquet was only just beginning.
He agonized over whether to bring out his trump card in the face of the chilly atmosphere from the Zhonghua Media Group side.
In the end, following a discreet glance from Chairman Jang, he reluctantly set the elixir down on the table.
In that instant, a flicker of disappointment crossed Chairman Xu Jiayin's face.
Young-hoon's pride was stung as well, but he paid it no mind, quietly pouring the elixir into a wine glass and offering it to the chairman.
Chairman Xu Jiayin was utterly miserable at that moment.
The mere fact that he had come to Korea for the same purpose as that Wang family brute from Shanghai Media Group was enough to sour his mood.
What's more, when he had landed in Korea yesterday and heard that the head of Sinabro Production had gone to greet the Wang family, he had nearly turned his plane around.
He had only calmed down a little upon learning that they would at least show their faces at the banquet to honor him.
So his plan for today had been to sign the drama licensing contract with Sinabro Production and then go enjoy Seoul's nightlife.
But this tiny Korean production company hadn't wanted to stamp the contract on the spot.
They had asked for more time to deliberate and pushed the signing off until tomorrow.
Then his youngest daughter had pestered him so relentlessly — we simply must meet that group, Five Girls, as soon as possible — that he'd found himself showing up at this banquet at all.
And what did he see upon arrival? Two old men in their seventies and some fellow who looked to be in his late twenties seated at the head table. Absurd.
That a green young whippersnapper was presiding over this gathering rubbed him the wrong way too.
And the final straw: the young man had the gall to pour some ordinary-looking wine and offer it to him.
He had been dragged to a seat he never wanted, enduring this humiliation — his blood pressure was rising to the point where his lid was about to blow clean off.
On top of it all, the two old fogies kept shooting him looks that said hurry up and taste it already.
Ah, fine.
It's not like one sip will kill me. Might as well drink it.
Chairman Xu Jiayin was a devoted drinker, but wine was the one liquor he had never cared for.
He preferred potent sorghum liquor to anything weak, so at first he politely declined, saying he wouldn't drink.
But they insisted he try just one sip.
As if it would change my mind. We'll see about that.
Resigned, he touched his tongue to it, meaning only to take the barest taste.
Huh? This is... not an ordinary liquor.
He realized instinctively that, just as the old men across the table had claimed, this was something extraordinary.
He was a lifelong devotee of the bottle himself, with opinions of his own about drink — and yet in seventy years of living, he had never tasted anything like this.
The flavor clung to the mouth beautifully, and the aroma seemed to belong to heaven itself.
There was certainly a reason that young man had urged him to drink.
This was clearly no cheap bottle.
Then Chairman Xu Jiayin very nearly fainted when he heard what the old man called Chairman Jang had to say.
That this was no ordinary wine, but an elixir truly good for a man.
That a single glass kept its effects for four or five days, and that one could go a solid five or six rounds in a single night.
The old man who'd said it claimed that since drinking this elixir himself, he went at it every day until the other party collapsed from exhaustion.
I had no idea Korean tall tales were this spectacular.
But as though understanding his disbelief, they said the effects would manifest after just one hour.
They claimed it returned his body to the springtime of his twenties — fine, he could wait and see.
When he asked how much a bottle cost, they said roughly 30 billion won in Korean money.
In other words, about 180 million yuan.
No liquor on this earth cost that much.
Unless, of course, it wasn't liquor at all, but an elixir.
But when he considered that such a treasure had been set before him, every ounce of his earlier displeasure vanished in an instant.
Then the other old man started saying something more.
Even the interpreter wore a stunned expression as he relayed it.
Apparently, if one drank four or five glasses of this elixir, one's body would grow at least ten years younger.
The old man who'd said it claimed he himself had drunk this wine, grown younger, and returned to the body of a man in his early fifties.
Come to think of it, his skin did have a certain luster, and there were barely any wrinkles to be seen.
If that were true, then 30 billion won was pocket change.
Forget the drama contract and everything else — he wanted to buy ten bottles of this stuff and be done with it.
That Wang family brute had surely tasted this elixir before him.
If only I'd known, we should have been the ones to meet these people first. A day late. What a waste.
As Chairman Xu Jiayin's expression brightened considerably, the banquet hall began, from that moment, to blaze with warmth.
Five Girls took the stage to promote themselves and belted out "A Loving Heart," "After Farewell," and even their new single, Returned Love.
Chairman Xu Jiayin was something of a layman when it came to music, but the moment he heard the songs, he caught the unmistakable scent of a megahit.
So he boldly went all in, right then and there.
He declared that come what may, they would purchase the rights to the songs.
The Wang family had surely heard the songs yesterday and left a tip.
He pondered how much he should give, then quietly asked the young man seated across from him.
The young man held up a single finger.
Knowing the Wang family's character, they wouldn't have given a mere 100,000 yuan.
At least a million yuan — but since it was a team, not one person, they wouldn't have stopped at a million either.
So at minimum, 5 million yuan... Ah, whatever. Spend a little more.
When Five Girls finished their songs, Chairman Xu Jiayin summoned them to his table and handed each member a check for 2 million yuan (about 340 million won) as a gratuity — five checks in all.
He'd just gotten his hands on a 30-billion-won elixir, after all; 1.7 billion was pocket change by comparison.
The banquet carried on merrily from there.
At last, the one hour Chairman Jang had promised was nearly up.
Whoa~!!
He could feel his manhood swelling, heavy and thick.
It was bigger even than it had been in his twenties.
Chairman Xu Jiayin shed a single tear as he beheld it.
He had thought he'd never see it again — and yet youth had come back to him.
Mwahahaha! I've swallowed countless vigor tonics over the years, but compared to this elixir, they're a firefly before a full moon.
He wanted to fly back to China as fast as possible and put it to use on his lover.
But no — one must observe propriety.
His youngest daughter was sitting right beside him, after all.
They say the effects last four or five days... just hold out a little longer.
Toward the end of the banquet, the young man handed him a bottle of wine as a gift, telling him to drink it whenever the need arose back in China.
Truly a thoughtful, admirable young man.
It was agreed they would meet again at the hotel the next morning for more practical discussions, and with that the banquet came to a close.
The moment the Chinese delegation was confirmed to have gone up to their hotel, Chairman Jang and Chairman Choi bolted for their cars and sped off like the wind.
What the two chairmen would be up to was plain as day.
They would be fighting a fierce battle of their own tonight, deep into the small hours.
Five Girls had earned close to 2.6 billion won over two days.
While some were splashing money around by serving elixir as wine, these girls were raking it in with a pitchfork.
"Su-min, you made a lot of money, huh? Buy your oppa some beef sometime."
"Duh! For you, oppa, I'll catch a whole cow. Let's pick a day, any day. Hohohoho."
"That's the spirit. Everyone worked hard today — go back to the dorm and get some real rest."
"You've worked hard too, boss."
"Oppa, let's catch up soon."
Five Girls climbed into the car Kyeong-hwan was driving and headed back to their lodging.
Kyeong-hwan looked wistful, as if he was once again sorry to have missed out on the magic wine.
The last of the party agreed to meet back at the hotel lobby at 10:10 the next morning and dispersed.
Up in her hotel room, Xu Linhong reflected that the evening had gone far better than expected.
All the way to the banquet hall, she had been subjected to a running litany of complaints from her father — that she shouldn't attend at all, that the songs weren't worth her time, on and on.
Xu Linhong cared far more about the song rights than the drama licensing, so she simply could not afford to dismiss this banquet.
When she entered the hall, the head table held two old men, one man who looked to be in his late twenties, and an interpreter.
Her father kept grumbling about this and that, whatever his grievance was, and she was beginning to sense real danger — if things kept going this direction, buying the music rights would be well and truly off the table.
This Mr. Kim apparently read the sour mood too, because he produced a bottle of wine and offered it to her father.
Then a wave of unease swept over her.
Look at it however she might, that was cheap plonk.
She worried it might be pouring fuel on the fire of her father's already foul temper.
But the moment her father drank the wine, his expression flipped one hundred and eighty degrees.
Xu Linhong had had plenty of opportunities to develop a palate during her studies in America, and considered herself something of a wine connoisseur.
Even she had never tasted a wine this good in her entire life.
But something was odd about her father's expression.
He clung to the wine as if someone might snatch it from him at any moment.
Puzzled, she asked Mr. Kim, seated across the table, what the wine cost.
A staggering 30 billion won, apparently.
However delicious it might be, 30 billion won was simply not feasible.
Yet even hearing that figure, her father's attitude did not change one bit.
Good for men or not, 30 billion won had to be too much — but her father was acting positively aggressive about it, as if he intended to buy ten bottles or more.
Her father, thoroughly warmed up now, requested songs from Five Girls.
He had already heard two of their tracks and knew full well they were good, but hearing the singers perform them live gave him a wholly different impression.
He was so overcome he felt tears about to spill.
The songs sent a person's emotions surging.
It was as if they had sold their souls to a demon to make this music.
They existed on a different plane from anything else out there.
And they seemed perfectly suited to Chinese sensibilities, too.
This smelled like a titanic, colossal, once-in-a-lifetime hit.
Then came the astonishing revelation.
The lyricist and composer of all three songs was the man seated right there — Mr. Kim.
And strangely, he suddenly looked more masculine and more handsome than before.
If she could have this man all to herself, it would be nothing for Zhonghua Music to stand astride the entire world.
An undeniable hunger flared up in Xu Linhong's eyes.
Her father grew only more carried away, handing Five Girls a gratuity of 2 million yuan apiece and declaring that come what may, they would purchase the rights to the songs.
She agreed wholeheartedly and threw her enthusiastic support behind it.
But there was a formidable rival in the picture.
It would mean war with Shanghai Music — and clearly, money was the only answer.
She and that witch Wang Mimi were going to have to settle this properly, once and for all.
Before long the banquet ended, and Mr. Kim presented her father with a bottle of wine as a gift.
She could not forget the look on her father's face at that moment.
It was unmistakably the expression of a man determined to have an affair behind her mother's back.
If her mother ever found out, he'd be a dead man — and somehow, watching him, she felt almost sorry for the old fool.
Chaos reigned in the Five Girls van on the way back to the dorm as well.
The money they'd pulled in over two days came to nearly 3 billion won.
Even setting aside the company's share, each of them looked to receive close to 300 million won.
And the breakthrough into China was just a bonus.
Going by the reactions of the two group chairmen, success was a done deal — a persimmon ripe for the picking.
She was beginning to understand why Young-hoon oppa had hounded them to study foreign languages.
All hail Young-hoon oppa.
But the mood in the van had turned considerably cooler than before.
The way that woman Xu Linhong had looked at Young-hoon oppa was anything but innocent.
It was not the least bit pleasant to keep gaining rivals at every turn.
From now on, she decided, it was time to keep a much tighter watch on Young-hoon oppa.
Young-hoon got home a little earlier than the night before.
Whether she was too absorbed in a drama to notice, Su-jin barely acknowledged his existence even when he walked in.
I'm going to have to give that brat a piece of my mind sooner or later.
Young-hoon showered and lay down on his bed.
He'd left work earlier than usual, yet his body felt heavier.
He'd always known that dealing with people was no easy business, but these two days had drained him more than most.
He felt like he was running entirely on the elixir's fumes.
Still, it had been worth it.
He had drawn the passionate interest of China's top two media groups.
A broad, paved road stretched ahead of his business now.
Reining in the excitement that tugged the corners of his mouth upward all on their own, he closed his eyes.
And so another day slipped by.
Early in the morning, Young-hoon woke and stepped out of his room — and for once, Su-jin didn't nag him.
Did she not see me coming in drunk last night? Well then — lucky me.
He cadged the breakfast Su-jin had made and headed to the office.
Once again, he was first through the door.
And once again, the day was as busy as the last.
Since the meeting with Zhonghua Media Group was set to begin at 10:30 a.m., he needed to leave the office by 9:30 at the latest.
Today it was Park Dae-ri's turn to come in to work in person.
So Young-hoon had no choice but to go to the break room, get a cup of machine coffee, mix in some Magic Seasoning, and drink it down.
Mmm~ when it comes to coffee, magic coffee is the only way.
As always, a text arrived from President Lee Jae-man. It had become as much a part of the daily routine as anything else.
While Young-hoon was trading texts with Jae-man, Jin-man arrived at the office and came over to him, lowering his voice.
"It's Park Dae-ri today, isn't it?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Park Dae-ri said he's coming into the office today. Kim Section Chief and Kim Dae-ri will be heading out on field duty shortly. Am I right? Come on, you know everything — loop me in too. Deputy Hong worked me over yesterday afternoon; I thought I was going to die."
"I told you to come in late, didn't I?"
"The calls kept coming in — what was I supposed to do? I stalled and stalled, but I still had to pick up in the end."
As Jin-man poured out his litany of complaints, that Deputy Hong character showed up for work.
Had the sun risen in the west? For once, the guy came in a little earlier than usual.
Then, spotting Young-hoon, he flashed a greasy smile and started spouting nonsense.
"Kim Dae-ri, not so easy to slip out early today, is it? Hahahahaha!"
Why is that punk acting like this today? Did he swallow rat poison or something?
Somehow, it felt like a morning with an ill omen hanging over it.