Rest (7)
The next day.
Sena and her friends got up early, ate breakfast, and headed for Disneyland in the car the hotel had arranged for them.
“Have fun.”
“Yeah. I’ll be back.”
Then I got in the car with Sid and headed to Prisoner.
Sid grinned. “Thanks to you, Hyung, I get to see Prisoner too.”
“Even if it weren’t me, they’d have welcomed you with open arms.”
Who would hate a visit from the CEO of Snow Crash?
“How’s work? Going well?”
“Yeah. I’m having fun.”
“Don’t push yourself too hard.”
If this guy collapsed, Snow Crash would have to close its doors.
Sid seemed to remember something. “About your little sister, Hyung.”
“Sena?”
“Yeah. She doesn’t speak English?”
“Nope. She can’t. She doesn’t study.”
“I see.”
I asked him casually, “You don’t hate her, do you?”
“Huh? Why would I hate her?”
“You used to say you hated Rolf Buchi because he was an idiot.”
Sid snorted. “That was because he was stupid and still acted like he was smart.”
“Ah…”
Come to think of it, by Sid’s standards, who in the world wasn’t stupid?
And if I thought about it, Rolf Buchi was a fraud, but he really was close to a genius.
“You’re siblings, but she’s different from you, Hyung.”
“She really doesn’t think about anything.”
“Then isn’t that a good thing?”
“Is it?”
“Yeah.”
Now that I thought about it, hadn’t he said he liked zombie movies because zombies didn’t think?
And Sena, too, didn’t think about anything.
…
Was my little sister basically on the same level as a zombie?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The Prisoner studio was located in Burbank, near Los Angeles.
When I went inside, CEO Simon Linus greeted us warmly.
“Welcome.”
“This place has changed a lot since before.”
Back then it had looked like nothing more than a warehouse, but now it had moved into a proper building.
Prisoner had originally been just another mediocre B-movie company, but the situation changed when Zombienado 2 became a massive hit.
It did huge business not only on OTT and cable TV, but also in theaters, and because it beat Perfectnado, which had been released around the same time, its name recognition rose sharply as well.
Thanks to that, Prisoner had grown into a fairly substantial studio.
Now, beyond the Zombienado series, it was also hiring other directors and staff to produce different B-movies.
If they sold their stake now, they might make twenty times what they’d invested.
Of course, I had no intention of selling.
“When we first took the investment, I didn’t realize Continue Capital was such a big deal.”
I smiled. “Well, back then, it really wasn’t.”
But now it had become a globally famous private equity firm. Thanks to that, Prisoner had drawn attention right along with it.
It was probably the largest among B-movie studios now.
Sid looked around. “Where’s Director Sanchez?”
“He’ll be here any minute. Ah! There he is.”
The meeting room door opened, and a heavyset Hispanic man walked in.
It was Director Fernando Sanchez.
I made the introductions. “You probably already know this, but this is Director Fernando Sanchez. And this is Snow Crash CEO Sid Lucas.”
“It’s a pleasure. I’m Sanchez.”
Sid stood and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m a huge fan of yours. I’ve watched Zombienado hundreds of times.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Snow Crash was a giant company, one of the biggest in Silicon Valley, and the largest of the privately held firms.
So of course he was pleased to hear that the CEO of such a company was his fan.
I listened as the two of them talked about future production plans.
“Now that we finally have some breathing room, we’re planning to make films in a number of genres we haven’t been able to try before.”
When Hollywood produced a blockbuster, it poured in enormous amounts of capital and manpower. Making one film could cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
Because so many interests were tangled together—investors, production companies, distributors, and so on—it was hard to try anything new.
B-movies, on the other hand, were free from those constraints.
Since the production budget was small to begin with, the risk of failure was small too. That meant they could attempt all kinds of things Hollywood studios couldn’t.
I told them, “Make the movies you want to make, the way you want to make them. Continue Capital won’t interfere at all.”
At that, Director Sanchez’s face lit up.
“Understood. I’ve been thinking of putting more investment in and making a few horror films as well.”
Sid asked, “Zombie movies too?”
“That’s on the table as well. Come to think of it, there have been some interesting zombie films coming out in Korea lately.”
Sid nodded. “Ah, yeah. I’ve seen them. They weren’t as good as Zombienado, but they were fun.”
“The way they interpret zombies is a little different from the American approach, so I’ve been watching them with interest. There’s a lot to learn.”
His voice was overflowing with affection for movies, especially zombie films.
Sid said with an innocent look, “Is there anything I can help with? If you need it, I can even make a program for you.”
“Huh! Really?”
“Yes.”
The film industry was closely tied to IT. Big data and AI were used not only in CGI, but also in production and promotion.
Sid Lucas was currently the top genius programmer in Silicon Valley.
For someone like that to offer to make a program for Prisoner, they had every reason to be thrilled.
CEO Linus quickly said, “If we had a program that could implement CGI, it would save us a great deal of money and time. And it would be wonderful if we had something that could analyze audience reactions.”
“I’ll make one,” Sid said.
“Thank you.”
Director Sanchez looked as though he didn’t know what to do with himself.
Zombienado was a little absurd, sure, but he was a director with real sense and ability.
In the first place, a director who was good at making B-movies had a high chance of being good at A-grade films too. In fact, he would later make a blockbuster that went on to surpass Star Wars and become an enormous hit.
Sid kept firing off questions, and Director Sanchez answered them kindly.
“That part comes in around the fifth film, so if you knew it now it would ruin the fun. Should I tell you anyway?”
“No. Then I’ll wait until then.”
It was the first time I’d seen Sid talk so happily with someone else.
I watched them with quiet satisfaction.
When I founded Continue Capital, I had split up the little money we had and invested in Prisoner for one reason only: to win Sid’s favor.
It had all been for this moment.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
After the meeting ended, we headed straight to the airport.
“You’re leaving right away?”
“Yes. I’ve got a lot to do.”
The core of Snow Crash was the AI Mimir and Sid Lucas.
Without Sid, Snow Crash couldn’t function properly.
“Take care on the way back.”
“Yeah. See you next time.”
After sending Sid off, I waited for Sena and her friends to come back.
They returned late that night.
Apparently they’d gone in when Disneyland opened and had enjoyed themselves until closing.
“Was it fun?”
Sena laughed brightly. “Yeah. It was amazing. Star Wars is still the best.”
Probably because they’d bought them at Disneyland, they were all wearing character headbands and carrying piles of plushies and merchandise. Sena had apparently still not given up on her Jedi dream, because she’d bought a lightsaber.
If I’d known she’d be this happy, I should have brought her sooner.
Maybe I should set aside a date and take everyone to Orlando sometime?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The next morning, we spent a few hours shopping while touring the streets of LA together.
Unlike New York, with its dense forest of skyscrapers, LA had many low, old buildings.
“For some reason, this street feels familiar.”
“You’ve probably seen it in a movie or two.”
Because Hollywood was nearby, the city was often used as a filming location. In fact, a movie was being shot over on one side of the street.
For lunch, I took them to O’Connor Burger.
“Wow! This is the famous O’Connor Burger?”
“I heard it’s one of the top three burger chains in America.”
“I heard it’s incredibly good.”
“I wish they’d bring it to Korea too.”
Continue Capital held 70 percent of O’Connor Burger’s shares. In practical terms, you could call it my company.
After we ate, I took the kids to the airport.
A private jet I’d booked in advance was waiting at Los Angeles International Airport.
Before we said goodbye, I told Sena, “Be good to Mom and Dad. Don’t give Mom a hard time.”
“When have I ever given her a hard time?”
“Oh! You sound like you’re giving her a hard time right now.”
“That’s because I wasn’t giving her a hard time, and then you said I was.”
“Anyway, be good. Got it?”
Sena wore a confident expression. “Don’t worry, just trust me. I’m the one who keeps our family’s mood alive, remember?”
…
Wasn’t she the troublemaker?
The reason she had been obedient to my words this time—at least on the surface—was because, separate from what she received at home, I had decided to give her 250,000 won a month as spending money.
“I’m going to call Mom now and then and check whether you’re behaving. If she says you’re not, no allowance.”
“Ah, why? Why don’t you trust your little sister at all?”
What exactly about you should I trust?
“Contact me when you land in Korea.”
“Okay.”
Sena’s friends bowed to me.
“Thanks to you, we had so much fun.”
“We really appreciated everything.”
“Thank you so much.”
Sena held out a small shopping bag.
“Here, take this.”
“What is it?”
“We pooled our money and bought you a present.”
When I looked inside, it was vitamins and all kinds of nutritional supplements.
“You’re rich, so I’m sure you already have all the good stuff. Don’t just make money, take care of your health too.”
“Wow, what’s with this…”
Honestly, I was a little moved.
She’d actually thought about her brother’s health.
“You probably don’t have much money either.”
The other girls said,
“It’s fine.”
“Thanks to Oppa, we didn’t spend any of the money we exchanged, so we still have it all.”
“Thanks.”
I’d better remember to take them.
Sojin came closer and said in a small voice, “I’ll call you later, Oppa.”
“Yeah, sure.”
When she looked shy like that, it felt like she might actually like me…
Well, if Sena said she didn’t, then she didn’t.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Sena boarded the private jet with her friends.
All of them wore expressions mixed with satisfaction and regret.
“That was seriously like a dream.”
“When I sent the photos to my parents, they didn’t even believe me.”
“My brother kept asking why I didn’t bring him.”
Han Sena puffed out her chest.
Ah! This is nice, having an older brother who makes money.
Thanks to that, she had made unforgettable memories with her friends.
Jung Sojin asked, “Who was that person who was with Miru Oppa yesterday?”
“Right. Miru Oppa seemed to take really good care of him.”
“Was he someone important?”
Han Sena nodded.
“He does programming? Or something like that. He works for some company in Silicon Valley called Snow Flower or whatever.”
“Wow. Then he must be super smart.”
Han Sena snickered. “Ah! But I think that guy’s kind of stupid.”
“What do you mean?”
“When they shook hands, Oppa joked that stupidity might be contagious.”
…
For a moment, silence fell.
Jo Yookyung cautiously opened her mouth. “Sena, that probably means…”
Park Yejin jabbed her in the side as if to tell her not to say anything, and Jo Yookyung quickly shut her mouth.
“Hm? Why?”
“Ah, nothing.”
Sometimes it was better not to know the truth.
The private jet flew toward Korea.