Hollywood (1)
"Did you miss me?"
Though it had been less than five minutes since they’d parted ways, a smile bloomed on Merrill’s face. "Why are you standing here?"
"What, you don't like me being here?"
Merrill shook her head violently. "You know that’s not it!"
Yoon-gi chuckled, satisfied by her intense reaction, and turned her body so she was facing him. "I thought I’d miss you too much, so I decided to head to the States as well."
"Really?" Merrill’s face brightened instantly.
"Just kidding."
The moment he said it, her face plummeted into gloom.
"But I am going to the States, for real."
Her face lit up again.
'They’re entertaining, aren't they?'
Having regained much of his composure thanks to Choi Deok-bae’s tongue-clicking, Yoon-gi put on a sheepish expression and continued his explanation. "It’s true I have business in the States, but I moved my schedule up because I wanted to fly with you."
"Yoon!" Merrill threw her arms around him, and thanks to that, the two of them ended up filming a scene straight out of a drama right there in the airport.
"Ahem! Ahem! Please show me your tickets!"
At the gate agent’s annoyed voice, Merrill bowed her head, her face turning bright red as she handed over the tickets. A moment later, it was the gate agent who was bowing their head, feeling guilty for their earlier attitude. After all, Merrill and Yoon-gi’s tickets were for first class.
"Well then, I’m really going."
"Yeah, work hard."
"You too."
Having enjoyed their time in first class, Yoon-gi and Merrill parted with a light kiss. Thanks to that, Yoon-gi was able to start his work in the States in peak condition.
"Being a bodyguard must be really tough," Yoon-gi remarked as he climbed into the limousine waiting outside the airport, causing Cha Pil-gyu to offer a wry smile.
"It’s fine. I’m used to it now."
In truth, the people who suffered the most from the influence Yoon-gi and Merrill had on their surroundings were undoubtedly the bodyguards. It was hard enough to endure the "love beams" they radiated whenever they met. But money comes before everything, and the salary—which was so thick it made a heavy, crisp sound every time he fanned it—allowed them to endure anything.
Among them, Cha Pil-gyu had certainly achieved the greatest success. While there was no official rank for him within YK due to his status as a bodyguard, there wasn't a single close aide who could ignore his existence.
"How was first class?" As Yoon-gi’s value rose, the need for a bodyguard in first class had arisen, and that seat was naturally Cha Pil-gyu’s.
"Ha... it was truly, truly the best. A stewardess even gave me her phone number."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes. I really thought to myself, 'So this is what it’s like to have a day like this in my life.'"
As soon as Yoon-gi discovered the oil field, he had drastically raised Cha Pil-gyu’s salary. If the old Cha Pil-gyu had been a bodyguard belonging to YK Department Store, the current Cha Pil-gyu was the bodyguard of the 'tycoon Choi Yoon-gi.' Furthermore, since they were using former U.S. soldiers as bodyguards, their base salaries were high, and paying Cha Pil-gyu less than them was never a consideration for Yoon-gi.
"Try contacting her when we get back to Korea. You’re at the age where you should be thinking about marriage, right, Pil-gyu hyung?"
It was an era where men in their mid-to-late twenties thought about marriage. Cha Pil-gyu was at the prime age for it, but he shook his head.
"Nah, who am I to... I think she only gave me the number because I was sitting in first class, but I was just tagging along."
Yoon-gi shook his head. "You’re thinking about it wrong, hyung. Unless you have an astronomical amount of money, you need a certain level of looks to get a phone number. So, you can have some confidence."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Mediocre money can’t overcome a lack of looks. But decent looks can overcome mediocre money."
"Hmm~, now that you say that, I’m suddenly feeling confident."
"I told you to have confidence."
However, Cha Pil-gyu ultimately shook his head again.
"Still, I think it’s better not to contact her."
"Why?"
"Because I have to provide security."
"Aigoo..." At Yoon-gi’s sigh, Cha Pil-gyu smiled.
"Honestly, I’m so grateful to you, Chairman."
"Is that so?"
"Of course. Honestly, there would be no problem if you fired me now, but you’re still employing me as your chief bodyguard. Honestly, I... I shed a few tears at home. I was so moved."
Yoon-gi and Cha Pil-gyu both smiled, neither knowing who started it first.
"Once I hire someone, I stick with them to the end unless they act out of line. Of course, if you neglect your training and your physical abilities drop too much, or if you can’t focus on your work and can no longer provide security, I’ll send you to a position that treats you appropriately. But right now, there’s no reason for that at all."
"...That sounds like a very scary thing to say, somehow."
"As long as you aren't doing your job poorly on purpose, you’ll never have any reason to feel unfairly treated."
At Yoon-gi’s confident words, Cha Pil-gyu thought about other cases for a moment, but since he couldn't find a case to refute it, he nodded several times and then asked, "By the way, where are we going this time?"
The limousine was moving. Since there were cars with bodyguards in front and behind, and the driver was also a former U.S. soldier with experience in the Vietnam War, Cha Pil-gyu was able to sit in the backseat with Yoon-gi. That was why they could have this casual chat. Yoon-gi, who had quietly let Choi Deok-bae’s words slide by, answered with a grin.
"Hollywood!"
"Look who it is. My future employer!"
At the welcome from Andrew, a former graduate student currently working as a math assistant professor at Harvard, Yoon-gi hugged him, and they celebrated their reunion.
"Hey! That’s so disrespectful! Yoon is a person who is now a million light-years away from us!" scolded Lianna, who was working as an architecture assistant professor at Harvard. However, Yoon-gi pulled away from the hug with Andrew and shook his head.
"Does a person change just because they have a lot of money? Don’t worry about it."
"See? I think I know Yoon-gi better than you do!" As Andrew puffed up his nose, Lianna pinched it.
"Ack! Hey, hey, hey! My nose is going to collapse!"
"From an architecture student’s perspective, it’s not going to collapse," she retorted.
Eventually, Andrew was only able to escape Lianna after his nose turned bright red, and he immediately put as much distance between them as possible.
"Ugh... seriously, I’m worried about who you’re going to marry later, I really am."
"Don’t worry. I’m planning on going off with someone just fine on my own, you know?"
Yoon-gi, who had been listening to their conversation, tilted his head and asked, "Weren't you two dating?"
"They say strong denial is strong affirmation..."
The two looked at each other with looks of extreme disgust and quickly changed the subject.
"Anyway, what’s up? Are you here to hire me, by any chance?" At Andrew’s sparkling-eyed question, Yoon-gi shook his head.
"No. But it seems you’re very eager to be hired?"
"My employer has become a billionaire, so of course I’m waiting to be hired. At the very least, the treatment will be guaranteed, right?"
This time, Lianna scolded him. "Hmph, you have to have the skills to get the treatment."
"Hey, are you saying I don't have skills? Me?"
If he was an assistant professor at Harvard, his skills were already verified. That was why Andrew’s pride was immense.
"No matter how I look at it, you two seem like you’re dating..."
At Yoon-gi’s teasing words, the two looked at each other with looks of extreme disgust again, and soon returned to the main topic.
'As expected, rather than stopping these two, this method seems to be the way to make them focus on the topic.'
Yoon-gi, who was nodding inwardly, confirmed that their gazes were focused on him and opened his mouth again.
"Actually, I’m planning to recruit the graduate students I’ve been sponsoring soon. Come to think of it, I think I could recruit the architecture side right away. Lianna, how about you? If I call you, would you be willing to come to Korea right away?"
If Fernandez had heard this, he likely would have desperately wanted it, saying, "Please! Please! Please!" Fernandez’s salary was still a pittance in American terms. If Lianna came? Fernandez would also receive a salary worthy of a top-5 position.
"I’d welcome it. Honestly, I’m not an assistant professor because I want to be, but because I’m waiting for you to call me."
"Wow, I should tell the university president."
"Tell him or not, who cares? Yoon-gi, you’re going to take me, right?"
At Yoon-gi’s nod, Lianna cheered, and Andrew just smacked his lips.
"Andrew hyung, just hold on a little longer. If I take Lianna, I’ll secretly raise only your living expenses."
"Really?"
"Of course."
Yoon-gi then quickly looked at Lianna. "Lianna, are you really going to come to Korea? If you are, come back with me when I return."
"That soon?"
"Should I give you some time?"
"Yeah, I should at least wrap things up before I go."
"I understand. Then I’ll make an official request through the company, so start clearing up your affairs starting today."
"Got it!"
At Lianna’s genuinely happy appearance, Yoon-gi smiled for a moment before bringing up the main point.
"Actually, the reason I came this time is because I have something to ask you two."
"What is it? Math?"
"As if that would be it!!"
Andrew tried to fight back at Lianna’s scolding, but after confirming Yoon-gi’s silent signal, he just quietly waited for Yoon-gi to speak.
"It’s nothing else, but do you happen to know any experts in the film industry? If possible, I’d like someone who can give me a proper tour of Hollywood and who is well-informed about movies currently in production in the U.S."
Yoon-gi’s specific request. Then Andrew looked at Lianna and said, "If it’s a request like this, it’s definitely USC, right?"
USC. The name of the 'University of Southern California,' it was the top university in the U.S. if you were to rank them by film-related programs. Director George Lucas of Star Wars was a USC graduate. In addition to him, directors and producers of movies everyone had heard of at least once had graduated from USC, so it was certain that it was the most suitable university for Yoon-gi’s current request. Of course, Yoon-gi didn't know that at all.
"USC?"
"Yes. It’s the top university in our country when it comes to film-related studies. If you think a movie is famous in the U.S., there’s a high probability it’s from USC, so you can trust it."
Seeing that Lianna didn't tackle him, Yoon-gi, who thought it was 100 percent certain, nodded.
"If you recommend it like that, I can trust it too. But, do you happen to have any connections there?"
Lianna shook her head, but Andrew nodded.
"Yes. A high school classmate of mine went there. They should be working in Hollywood now, right? They sang about Hollywood, Hollywood all through high school."
'Jackpot!' If Yoon-gi had been the old laborer, he probably would have shouted that.
"Then, would you happen to be able to set up a meeting as soon as possible?"
At this point, Andrew put on a troubled expression.
"Contacting them isn't hard, but setting up a meeting as soon as possible, well...?"
Although Andrew showed a difficult reaction, Yoon-gi was someone who knew better than anyone how to resolve such situations.