Let’s Sell It Properly (2)
‘Yes! That’s it!’
The spot where Yoon-gi’s gaze was fixed was none other than the wrist of the lead actor, Taneda Hiroyuki. There were no particular accessories on it, but that was precisely why it drew Yoon-gi’s attention even more. ‘Right, it’ll be much better to create a more definitive reason for purchase!’
Just as he was about to head straight to the study, he heard Jung-ah calling out to him.
“Oppa!”
Jung-ah came running over and hugged him, even though they were in the middle of filming.
“Cut! Cut!”
The director hurriedly called for a cut, and in an instant, every eye on the set was focused on Yoon-gi.
“Oops, I was going to watch quietly and leave, but our Jung-ah spotted me.”
“Why, are you leaving already!”
Jung-ah looked so cute with her slight pout that Yoon-gi couldn’t help but smile like a doting father. ‘I’d like to play around for a while longer like this, but I can’t, can I?’
Yoon-gi’s public identity was the owner of the YK Group and a figurehead chairman. And this studio belonged to MEV, a subsidiary of YK. Furthermore, Jung-ah was Yoon-gi’s younger sister. As such, there was zero chance anyone here would dare say anything to Yoon-gi and Jung-ah’s faces.
However, Yoon-gi decided to be considerate of the others.
“You don’t want Oppa to go home?”
“Yeah!”
At the sight of Jung-ah’s face brightening, Yoon-gi found himself thinking of the child he would have in the future. If his younger sister was this cute, how much more precious would his own child feel?
However, hiding his satisfied smile, Yoon-gi put on a feigned troubled expression for Jung-ah.
“If I do that, I think something a bit disappointing will happen.”
“Why?”
“I was planning to buy a cake to eat with you on my way home. Does Jung-ah not want to eat cake?”
Since she was young, Jung-ah absolutely loved sweets. At Yoon-gi’s words, she swallowed hard, looking conflicted.
“Jung-ah, I’ll have a delicious cake ready at home, so when you’re done filming later, come home and eat it with me. Okay?”
“Then, I want a strawberry cake!”
“Got it!”
Yoon-gi made a slight fuss, patted Jung-ah’s head, and walked out of the studio on purpose. Just before leaving, he whispered to a nearby bodyguard, instructing him to call the director out of the studio.
At the director’s words, the staff began to take care of their personal business, including bathroom breaks, and Yoon-gi quietly entered the director’s office with the director.
“You were a bit flustered because of Jung-ah just now, weren’t you?”
At Yoon-gi’s smiling remark, the director looked slightly embarrassed.
“It’s not that I didn’t feel that way at all, but Jung-ah is still young, after all.”
Since this movie was being made under Yoon-gi’s direct command, the director exercised his social skills and gave an appropriate response. However, Yoon-gi had no intention of smoothing things over with just his authority.
“Jung-ah just likes her family so much, so please understand a little. I’m sure it’ll fade on its own as she gets older, won’t it?”
Hearing this, the director smiled and nodded.
“Yes, I believe so as well.”
It was a conversation that could only exist if one party was the absolute superior. If Jung-ah hadn’t been Yoon-gi’s sister but just an ordinary child actor from a common family, she would have been scolded severely. No, she might have even lost her chance to stand in front of a screen forever.
‘If I end the conversation here, it’ll just be a talk between a superior and a subordinate.’
To prevent that, Yoon-gi pulled an envelope of money from his pocket.
“Use this for a staff dinner, and use the rest for your own activity expenses, Director.”
“Oh, no, why would you do this... It’s alright!”
Even as he said that, the director’s eyes were already following the slightly thick envelope. ‘What would happen if I didn’t give it here?’ The mischievous thought crossed his mind again. In fact, hadn’t everyone thought about this at least once in their lives? Like stopping when the other person says, “Oh, it’s alright.”
However, Yoon-gi was certainly not the type to put such thoughts into action.
“When you work as a director, you must have many occasions to spend money on those around you, so please take it. It’s not a bribe; it’s for activity and maintenance of dignity. There’s no reason you can’t accept it.”
At Yoon-gi’s persistent gesture, the director pretended to give in, accepted the envelope with both hands, and bowed.
“Oh, thank you. I will definitely treat the staff to a dinner.”
If Yoon-gi had put a small amount of money in, the director would have just bought them some jajangmyeon and kept the rest, but since it contained a decent amount of money, the staff would be eating ribs today.
“Then, please continue to take good care of Jung-ah. I would be very grateful if you could make sure others look after her well, too.”
“Oh, of course. Please rest easy.”
The conversation flowed so naturally, even though Yoon-gi was a minor. Yoon-gi was truly a person suited to be a chaebol, or rather, a business leader.
The person Yoon-gi called for after returning to his study was none other than Fernandez. For the first time in a while, Yoon-gi and Fernandez had a meeting alone in the study.
“It’s been quite a while since we talked just the two of us like this.”
Fernandez looked truly lost in nostalgia. In reality, it had already been several years since Fernandez started working by Yoon-gi’s side.
“Hmm? A long time? We definitely met just a while ago when we adjusted your salary...”
As Yoon-gi brought it up, Fernandez hurriedly waved his hands.
“Ah, no! I mean, in terms of work-related matters.”
Yoon-gi gave a mischievous smile at Fernandez, who was smiling awkwardly without realizing it.
“You were going to revert your salary back to the original if you had forgotten about our last meeting, weren’t you?”
“Th-that alone...! How long has it been since it was raised, how could you cut it?”
Fernandez’s tearful expression was merely him playing along with Yoon-gi, and since Yoon-gi knew that, he decided to stop the teasing there.
“I’m joking. By the way, are you happy with the raise?”
“Yes, I am very satisfied!”
Fernandez’s face was practically wearing the word ‘content’.
“Then I’m glad.”
“You actually treated me properly. When I heard the news that Rianna had come to Korea, I really welcomed it with open arms!”
The moment Yoon-gi hired Rianna, Fernandez started receiving a salary worthy of a top aide at YK Group. While the treatment Harvard graduates received from Yoon-gi was by no means bad, Fernandez was receiving overwhelming compensation compared to other foreign talents because of the achievements he had already established.
“Honestly, there were times when I thought about working at Gensler, but now I like it here better than back then. To be honest, even if the nightmare-related issues were resolved right now, I don’t think I would ever leave YK.”
As the best thing Yoon-gi could hear flowed from Fernandez, Yoon-gi wore a very satisfied expression.
“I’m grateful you said that. I hope you continue to work hard for YK in the future.”
“Of course.”
With Fernandez bowing his head slightly, the light initial greeting ended. Therefore, it was time to get to the point.
“Fernandez.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
“I want you to design a bracelet.”
“A bracelet? What is the purpose?”
“It’s a cheap accessory.”
“A cheap accessory? The moment I design it, it won’t be cheap anymore, will it?”
“That is exactly the strength of our YK.”
Why are luxury goods expensive? It is because of the brand image. And this brand image is heavily influenced by who the manufacturer is. If another company tried to copy what Yoon-gi had in mind, the unit cost would go up because of the need to find a designer. However, since Fernandez was already a fixed cost at YK, no additional costs would be incurred by having him take on this task. Thus, the nonsensical definition of a ‘cheap accessory designed by a top-tier designer’ was established.
“You know I’m filming a movie called God of Pachinko, right?”
“Ah, yes. I am well aware.”
“The protagonist in that movie will wear a bracelet on his wrist. A bracelet, you know?”
Yoon-gi ordered a bracelet that felt similar to a watch but lacked the watch face.
“Hmm, then it would be good for me to read the script for God of Pachinko once. Is that possible?”
“By all means. I’ll contact MEV, so go and read it comfortably.”
“Understood. Then I will read the script and come up with a design.”
“Good. Then, I’ll summarize it for you one last time. First, a watch-type bracelet. Second, it must be wearable by both men and women. Third, it should not be burdensome for any adult to wear, regardless of age. Fourth, the production cost must not exceed 10,000 yen. You should be fine if you just follow these.”
Fernandez looked momentarily flustered and asked back.
“...Can I do that?”
“You can’t?”
Yoon-gi looked rather puzzled. For a moment, Fernandez imagined his salary being cut in half.
“Ah, no! I can do it!”
“I trust you.”
Fernandez felt as if he had read the words ‘salary’ and ‘labor’ in Yoon-gi’s grinning eyes.
Having read the script for God of Pachinko, Fernandez went as far as to obtain and watch several videos of movies that were hits in Japan. Of course, it wasn’t that Fernandez knew Japanese. However, he could grasp the feeling just from the expressions, movements, and situations of the characters in the videos, and that was exactly the information Fernandez wanted.
‘Hmm, Japanese movies basically have exaggerated emotions.’
Certainly a genius of sensation, Fernandez grasped the characteristics of the Japanese film industry in an instant. It was ‘exaggeration of emotions.’ It wasn’t particularly difficult; you could just think of it as saying “Woooooooow! That’s amaaaaaaazing!” instead of just “Wow, that’s great!” as in Korean movies.
‘Japanese people seem to live by hiding their emotions in general.’
Once again, Fernandez’s analysis was almost perfect. In reality, what Koreans who have lived in Japan commonly say is that Japan is different in the front and the back. Even if they say it’s fine to your face, they will definitely talk behind your back later. Of course, such cases happened occasionally in Korea, too. However, it was much worse in Japan. Would it be easy to understand if you thought that a straightforward Korean person would feel like they were going to die of frustration if they went to Japan?
‘Since it’s a bracelet that will appear in a movie, the characters’ reactions will naturally be similar. And looking at the price range you set, you definitely have plans to sell it later, right? So I can’t use a design that’s too complex, either.’
Countless blueprints began to appear in Fernandez’s mind. And as the blueprints began to gather in one place, a design for producing the bracelet slowly began to take shape.
‘No matter how much it appears in a movie, considering it will be sold later, I can’t use colors that are too flashy or dull. So red, black, and yellow are out. And white is also excluded because there’s a high possibility of defects during production. And since the color preferences between men and women should be similar, what’s left is green, I suppose. A bright green... No, a deep emerald color would be better.’
After drafting the basic shape and colors, Fernandez thought he was missing something.
‘What is it? I’m missing something...’
A moment later, Fernandez realized what it was and hurriedly called Yoon-gi.
“Chairman, how are you going to produce this? It’s no use even if I design it if we can’t produce it.”
Yoon-gi’s reply over the phone was perfectly calm.
“We can just buy a factory, can’t we?”