Taste the Failure (2)
Naturally, the mother’s gaze drifted toward the television, and a moment later, she opened her mouth. “Just study.” It was a very short reply. Unless it was something costing a mere 100 or 200 won, she wasn’t a mother whose household finances were stable enough to buy an item costing over 60,000 won. She used studying as an excuse to reject the child’s wish. However, the child didn’t give up and began to pester her again. “Buy it! I said buy it for me!” “I told you, no!” Finally, the child burst into tears. “Waaaaah! Buy it! Buy it! Waaaaaaah!”
The sound of the child crying was so loud it felt like it would tear the store apart. The other customers who had entered afterward covered their ears and frowned, and some even left. “Buy it! I said buy it for me!” “You little brat, who did you take after to be this stubborn!” The mother began to smack the crying child’s bottom with her palm, and finally, the child began to writhe on the floor, letting out a piercing, hysterical wail. Then, a foul odor spread.
“This kid really!!” Following the child’s body, which had soaked the lower part of their overalls, a yellow dotted line began to be drawn on the floor. The mother eventually screamed and dragged the child out. “What are you doing, why aren’t you cleaning it up quickly!” At the store manager’s shouting, the staff began to scramble to clean the floor, but the customers who had already been fed up with the child’s crying didn’t return, and the mother also left without buying anything.
“Director, will it be… okay?” At the manager’s words, Jung Taeryong took out a handkerchief, wiped his forehead, and forced a smile. “It will be fine. The people who were just here must have been poor people who happened to wander in.” “I suppose so, right? I will just trust you, Director.” The powerful status of being the eldest grandson of the group. Because of that, the manager couldn’t bring himself to be annoyed with Jung Taeryong and chose the route of flattery. However, the sight Jung Taeryong saw that day was not much different from the very first scene he witnessed. Children pestering their parents to buy game consoles, and parents refusing, even going so far as to hit them. Thinking this store was strange, he checked numerous other stores, but things were no different elsewhere. In fact, because other customers who came to buy different items frowned and left due to the children’s pestering, it ended up having a negative impact on sales. The loss seen in the stores operated by Daehan Group during that single day was truly at a massive level.
Jung Taeryong had speculated that parents with means would easily buy a game console for their children. However, households without means used studying as an excuse, and households with means truly used studying as the reason, so they didn’t buy the Famicom at all. Thanks to this, Jung Taeryong experienced an extreme failure that day, the likes of which he had never experienced in his life.
“Taeryong.” The Chairman of Daehan Group, Jung Gangpil. Jung Gangpil was an elderly man with a bit of a paunch and a thick head of snow-white hair. He wore round, rimless glasses and, in a way, looked like a benevolent old man. However, contrary to this outward appearance, Jung Gangpil was a businessman to the bone. No, in the first place, someone who wasn’t cold-hearted wouldn’t have become the chairman of such a group. As such, the gaze Jung Gangpil directed at Jung Taeryong was by no means gentle.
“Yes, Grandfather.” Jung Taeryong also swallowed hard at Jung Gangpil’s attitude and quietly lowered his head. “I trusted you and gave you full support for this task because you have handled the work you were assigned well until now. Do you know that?” “Yes, I do.” “But that does not justify failure. No matter how well you did in the past, you cannot recover from a current failure.” “……Yes.” “In step with your success, I ignored the public eye and allowed you to hold the title of Managing Director at the young age of 25, and depending on the situation, I was thinking of having you quickly inaugurated as Vice President.” “Grandfather…….” “However, how should I think of you, who have failed like this now? You seem to be struggling even with the position of Managing Director.” “G-Grandfather!” “Shut up!”
At Jung Gangpil’s sharp rebuke, Jung Taeryong flinched and took a step back. “People make a mistake. They say that because they have achieved something, they won’t be held accountable for failure. But there is something those guys don’t know. That they have already been rewarded for what they achieved. But you failed? Then, naturally, you must cough up the price of that failure. Before long, I will remove you from the position of Managing Director at Daehan Chemical……” “Grandfather! I haven’t failed!”
At Jung Taeryong’s desperate shout, Jung Gangpil frowned but waited for an answer. “What do you mean by that?” “The reason you are angry right now is because there is no way to dispose of the 50,000 Famicoms, isn’t it?” “Don’t tell me you’re thinking of a clearance sale? You aren’t trying to persuade me with that, are you?” “Of course not. I had two plans from the beginning regarding the disposal of the Famicoms. The first was for Daehan Group to carry out promotional activities.” “But that failed for all to see. Then what is the second plan?” “Passing them off to YK Department Store.” “Passing them off?” “Yes.”
Jung Taeryong spilled everything he knew and planned, starting with the fact that Ryu Geun-tae had contacted Nintendo in Japan. “So, you’re going to pressure YK Department Store, which failed to keep its promise to JSD regarding external investment, while simultaneously dumping the Famicom inventory on them? If that happens, won’t it be revealed that Daehan Group is the subject of this pressure?” “It doesn’t matter if it’s revealed. In the first place, now that they’ve failed to keep their promise to JSD, YK Department Store’s scale will shrink. It is a clear fact that they will not be able to maintain the same relationship with JSD as before.” “What if YK Department Store has already finished its external investment?” “I have consistently monitored Ryu Geun-tae, Choi Cheol-kyu, and Choi Yoon-gi of YK Department Store. That will absolutely not happen. Perhaps it would be good to check with JSD.” “Good, I will check.”
Jung Gangpil began to dial the phone in front of him, as if to show Jung Taeryong. And a moment later. “Ah, Chief of the Presidential Security Service, it’s me. Jung Gangpil. Yes, have you been well?” A moderate daily conversation. A moment later, Jung Gangpil brought up the main point. “That aside, Chief. It’s nothing else, but how did the foreign investment for YK Department Store go? Yes, ah, yes. You say there’s no news yet? I understand.” After finishing even the closing conversation, Jung Gangpil hung up the receiver with a somewhat relaxed expression. “It seems the answer is that they haven’t been able to come up with a viable alternative yet.” “You saw it, right? Now YK Department Store will have to take on our inventory, and they will have to hand over their shares as well. I will definitely make them cough up YK Department Store’s shares.”
At the words of his grandson, who was full of spirit, Jung Gangpil laughed heartily, stood up, and patted his grandson’s back. “Yes, I’m sorry. I briefly forgot the fact that you are capable. From next time, I will listen to your answer before getting angry.” “No, it’s fine. Since you pushed me so hard, you must have had high expectations. I will definitely live up to your expectations.” “Good, good. Why don’t we have a meal together for the first time in a while?” “That sounds great.”
It was truly a heartwarming scene of a grandfather and grandson. And so, time flowed once again, and it became December 31st.
“Is that so? I understand.” Jung Gangpil, who hung up the receiver, called the Chief of Staff with an expression in which not even 1% of affection could be felt. “Did you call for me?” “Effective immediately, relieve Taeryong of his position and find a place to reassign him to in the provinces.” “If it’s the provinces, does it matter if it’s not just an affiliate but also a primary vendor?” “It doesn’t matter.” “I understand.”
The Chief of Staff, who knew his master’s personality well, didn’t say anything else and left the chairman’s office immediately. And about 40 minutes later, the phone rang, and word was relayed to Jung Gangpil that his grandson, Jung Taeryong, wished to see him. “Tell him to come in.” A moment later, his grandson, Jung Taeryong, burst through the door of the chairman’s office, looking as if he were out of breath. “Grandfather, what on earth does it mean that I’m being relieved of my position?!” “Are you asking because you don’t know!”
He had been calm just a moment ago, but upon seeing his grandson’s face, Jung Gangpil, as if his temper had flared, let out a roar. “I really don’t know. This matter is also being resolved well!” A fact Jung Taeryong was completely unaware of. Jung Gangpil informed him of it. “I just spoke with JSD! YK Department Store has invested over 20 billion yen in the computer industry, including Sega in Japan!!” “Yes? What is that……” “I don’t know if it’s Sega or whatever, but didn’t you say YK Department Store was trying to invest in Nintendo? How on earth did you monitor them! I asked if they invested in Nintendo, but they said they didn’t invest in that at all!!”
Jung Gangpil stood up, slamming his fist onto his desk. The sound of the impact audibly conveyed just how furious Jung Gangpil was. “T-that can’t be……. I saw with my own eyes that they were fixated only on Nintendo before returning to the country. Afterward, Ryu Geun-tae and Choi Yoon-gi returned, and although Ryu Geun-tae occasionally left for Japan, he never went to any other company.” “Are you going to make excuses even when the results have come out like this? There’s no need to listen further. You failed and caused massive damage to Daehan Group. Go down to the provinces for a while and ruminate on your mistakes!” “Grandfather! It must be a misunderstanding!”
As his grandson took a step forward to express his opinion, Jung Gangpil stood up and, with thumping footsteps, stood in front of Jung Taeryong, shouting calmly at first, and then ending with a roar. “A misunderstanding. Reality is cold. 50,000 Famicoms, the game packs needed for them, the costs spent advertising the Famicoms, and the operating losses of each branch. You caused a loss well over 5 billion won. Be grateful that I’m not sending you to China!” “Grandfather!” “Someone outside! Drag this guy out!”
In the end, Jung Taeryong was led by Jung Gangpil’s bodyguards and thrown out of the chairman’s office, no, completely out of the building. “Let go! Let go, I said! Do you know who I am?!” Jung Taeryong struggled to enter the building again, but he couldn’t overcome the strength of the bodyguards, and in the end, he had no choice but to collapse on the ground outside the building, gasping for air. “Damn it! What on earth happened!”
He couldn’t know the details, but if his grandfather’s words were true, it was clearly a fact that YK Department Store had finished a massive investment somewhere. ‘I can’t collapse like this. I can’t go to the provinces like this!!’ The rage that had been spewing like an active volcano from Jung Taeryong’s body suddenly vanished completely. And a smile formed. ‘Yes, it’s not all over yet. There is a breakthrough……!’ Jung Taeryong returned home and began to dial the number for YK Department Store.
“No, to think a precious person would come to such a shabby place……, I am truly glad. I was actually in trouble because I had no connections with other large corporations.” At Ryu Geun-tae’s hospitality, Jung Taeryong inwardly wore a triumphant expression and smiled back. “It’s a pleasure. I was planning to visit once, but I’ve only managed to come now that the year is almost over. It seems the department store is packed with customers today because it’s the end of the year, so thank you very much for making time in your busy schedule.” “Not at all. The staff does the selling, and I’m free. Would you like some coffee?” “That would be great.”
It was a truly heartwarming atmosphere. A warm scene, like a couple wearing matching wool gloves and scarves, was created in the president’s office of YK Department Store, and a moment later, when two cups of coffee were placed on the table, both of them drank a sip of coffee without anyone going first, and the heartwarming atmosphere continued. “Come to think of it, I think I’ve been quite successful too. To be sitting face-to-face and drinking coffee with someone who is the eldest grandson of Daehan Group. Hahaha!” “Oh my, I heard you are someone who can even have a private meeting with Director JSD, so that is truly an overstatement.”
Jung Taeryong thought Ryu Geun-tae didn’t know that Daehan Group had bribed JSD and kept laughing inwardly. ‘There might be a possibility.’ Many kind words and small talk followed. Judging that they had become close enough, Jung Taeryong brought up the main point of why he had come here today. “I heard that YK Department Store is very interested in the game industry, is that correct?” It was a question from Jung Taeryong, who was burning with impatience. At that question, Ryu Geun-tae smiled broadly and replied. “No, not at all.”