How a Chaebol Becomes an Insider (1)
"Excuse me?"
Yoon-gi couldn't help but make an awkward expression at the words coming through the receiver. "I'd forgotten about it. Merrill Land."
The money Yoon-gi had invested in Merrill Land was truly an astronomical sum. It certainly wasn't a small amount of money even for Yoon-gi, but he had genuinely forgotten about it. He hadn't paid much attention, thinking, 'It'll be finished eventually if I just wait.' Still, the news of its completion brought a lively stimulation to Yoon-gi, who had been feeling bored for a change.
"Hahaha..., I have been a bit busy lately. But if it's completed, does that mean it can be opened at any time?"
Hearing the answer, Yoon-gi smirked and spoke into the receiver.
"Don't open it right away, just wait a little bit."
Yoon-gi went straight into the master bedroom to find Merrill, who was lying on the bed. She was lying on her stomach, reading a book. Yoon-gi draped his body over hers.
"Aing, it's still daytime."
Merrill shook her body, feeling shy, but she didn't push Yoon-gi away.
"Since when have we cared about the time?"
Merrill's neck flushed red in an instant. Yoon-gi whispered into her ear.
"I got a call that Merrill Land is finished."
Merrill's face turned red for a different reason. "Seriously, can't you change the name?"
To be honest, Merrill was embarrassed. An amusement park named Merrill Land? Of course, it wasn't that she hated it entirely. She was touched by how much her husband must love her to name an amusement park after her. As a wife, Merrill felt proud, but as someone with social anxiety, Yoon-gi's actions were a bit burdensome.
"Then, should we change it to Merrill World?"
"No, that's not what I mean...!"
As Merrill wiggled her body to try and turn over, Yoon-gi lifted himself slightly to make it easier for her. Thus, the position was completed with Merrill lying on the bed looking up at Yoon-gi. Merrill touched Yoon-gi's face with both hands and opened her mouth with an affectionate gaze.
"Honestly..., thank you.... I'm just embarrassed, that's all."
"Just with words?"
At Yoon-gi's smirk, Merrill wrapped her arms around both sides of his head. Then, she pulled him in, and their lips met naturally. However, that was it. It couldn't be helped.
"Oppa! Oppa! Oppa!"
The door burst open suddenly. Yoon-gi was currently at his mansion in Yongin. He had given front door keys to his parents, his grandfather, Guster, Merrill's parents, and Jung-ah, and Jung-ah had appeared completely out of the blue.
"Eek!"
Merrill hurriedly pushed Yoon-gi away, and Yoon-gi also turned around with an awkward expression and spoke to Jung-ah.
"Uh, uh? Jung-ah. W-what are you doing here?"
Jung-ah smiled brightly at Yoon-gi and Merrill and opened her mouth.
"Am I getting a niece or nephew now?"
It was something they never imagined would come out of Jung-ah's mouth. Because of that, both Yoon-gi and Merrill were startled and jumped up.
"Jung-ah, who did you hear that from?"
"Who told you such a thing?!"
When both of them reacted at the same time, Jung-ah answered, wondering why Yoon-gi and Merrill were reacting so intensely.
"Huh? Dad said so. He said that if a man and a woman lie in one bed, a baby is made. If it's Oppa and Merrill Unnie's baby, isn't that my niece or nephew?"
"*Sigh.*"
Yoon-gi and Merrill both let out a sigh of relief, and Yoon-gi, having thought of one thing, asked Jung-ah again.
"And nothing happened to Father who said that?"
Jung-ah shook her head. "No, Mom hit his back and Dad cried."
Merrill chuckled to herself, perhaps imagining the muscular Choi Cheol-ho crying, and Yoon-gi gave a bitter smile.
"Father, really.... Anyway, Jung-ah, what's up?"
"Grandfather told me the amusement park is all built!"
As soon as Jung-ah finished speaking, Choi Ki-hyun appeared from the hallway.
"Oh my!"
Merrill, who hadn't really been doing anything, pulled the blanket up, and Choi Ki-hyun also hurriedly turned his head.
"Grandfather, you don't need to turn your head."
"Huh? Ah..., that's a relief. Jung-ah was talking about it so casually that I thought it was okay to just come in, but I was surprised when my granddaughter-in-law suddenly pulled the blanket up."
Hearing that, Merrill put down the blanket she had been holding with an awkward laugh.
"Anyway, you two. The amusement park is all built, are you not going to take Jung-ah?"
"Of course we were going to take her! Our family has to be the first visitors to the amusement park."
As Yoon-gi jumped up and answered, Jung-ah squealed and jumped around. Then, a moment later, she ran to Yoon-gi and gave him a big kiss on the cheek that made a popping sound.
"Oppa, you're the best!"
'Jung-ah is still so cute.'
Yoon-gi patted Jung-ah's head and got out of bed, and Merrill followed him up.
"Oh, Oppa!"
"Yeah?"
"Can I bring my friends?"
As of 1988, Jung-ah was in the 4th grade of elementary school. As such, it had become rare for her to spend her entire day with her family like before.
'Jung-ah is definitely good at acting.'
Seeing Jung-ah, who had gotten into another car while chatting away with her friends, Yoon-gi felt proud. Showing the side her family wants in front of her family, and the side her friends want in front of her friends. This meant her social skills were truly outstanding, so Yoon-gi was very satisfied with just that.
"It's really great that there's no traffic this time."
At the words of Choi Ki-hyun, who was in the same car, Choi Cheol-ho nodded.
"That's true. Back then, oh..., I really thought I was going to die."
Even if it was the weekend, it was natural that a regular weekend couldn't be compared to Christmas. Therefore, the trip down to Daejeon was very smooth.
"Ah, it's a bit of a shame that the road isn't blocked like this."
At his son Choi Cheol-ho's words, Choi Ki-hyun asked curiously.
"What's a shame?"
"There's no reason to stop at a rest area. Mmm~, I want to eat potato skewers and drink beer."
At his son's honest expression of desire, Choi Ki-hyun also chuckled.
"Anyway, Jung-ah will be playing with her friends today, so it wouldn't be bad to have a drink together."
"Oh, really?"
Choi Cheol-ho said this while checking his wife Park Yeon-ji's reaction. Then, Park Yeon-ji gave a bitter smile and nodded. As her father-in-law said, Jung-ah had friends to play with today.
"Then, let's take a break at that rest area."
A rest area time for Choi Cheol-ho. Seeing Choi Cheol-ho smiling affectionately at the beer and potato skewers bought at the rest area, Choi Ki-hyun, Park Yeon-ji, Yoon-gi, and Merrill all couldn't help but smile warmly.
And as some time passed, Yoon-gi and his family were able to arrive at Merrill Land.
"Wow, it's really incredibly huge."
Choi Ki-hyun couldn't help but stick out his tongue as soon as he got out of the parking lot. In fact, the scale of Merrill Land was truly enormous.
"The total area is 6 square kilometers."
"Huh? 6 square kilometers?"
As Choi Ki-hyun tilted his head at the expression that was hard to understand, Yoon-gi used a very intuitive expression.
"1/100th of the land of Daejeon is Merrill Land."
"Gasp!"
Choi Ki-hyun was truly surprised. To the level where the alcohol from the beer he had just drunk in the car vanished completely. It was 1/100th of Daejeon. It was definitely a scale that transcended imagination. If you think about it in terms of the future, it was 4 times the size of Everland.
"Of course, the inside isn't completely packed. Over 70 percent of the land was purchased in advance in preparation for expansion plans. What we call completed now is only the first phase of the plan. The remaining sections are currently separated."
In reality, amusement parks eventually need expansion or remodeling as time passes. That's why Yoon-gi had secured a large site from the beginning.
"Phew..., in the old days, there was a saying 'land rich,' but my grandson isn't 'land rich,' he's a 'land chaebol'."
At Choi Ki-hyun's words, everyone laughed and nodded. And a moment later.
[[[Kyaaaaaa!]]]
As soon as Jung-ah and her friends got out of the car, they started jumping around and instinctively began running toward the entrance of the amusement park.
"Oppa! Hurry! Hurry!"
When Jung-ah called him from quite a distance away, Yoon-gi smiled and quickened his pace.
"She's looking for you, not us..."
At Park Yeon-ji's strangely disappointed words, Choi Cheol-ho chimed in.
"Do you know how I feel now? Ouch!"
The life and screams of Choi Cheol-ho, whose back was never safe. Yoon-gi entered Merrill Land with his family.
"Chairman, greetings."
The person appointed as the president of Merrill Land was none other than Jo Yoon-tae. He was a person who had held the title of director at the Shin-sang Group and was a close aide to Kang Seok-ho. If Jo Yoon-tae had been a little younger, he would have been active in the Soviet Union following Kang Seok-ho, but Jo Yoon-tae was a bit too old to be active in the Soviet Union. Therefore, he had been employed at YK domestically until now, and this time, he was officially appointed as the president of Merrill Land.
In the past, his hair had just started to show signs of frost, but now his hair was covered in frost, and the nasolabial folds on his face had deepened. However, as if to prove that there were no problems in terms of work, Jo Yoon-tae bowed his waist toward Yoon-gi with a reverent attitude.
"Please take good care of the operation of Merrill Land in the future."
"Of course. I will operate it to the best of my ability. And please enjoy your day today."
Now that Yoon-gi was visiting with his family, there were no problems with the operation of Merrill Land.
"Things like parades would be difficult, right?"
At Yoon-gi's question, Jo Yoon-tae bowed his head.
"I apologize. It is difficult to do that right away. However, if you wish, Chairman..."
Yoon-gi shook his head.
"No, it's fine. Those people are resting too, so they would feel bad if I called them. I'm satisfied just being able to ride the rides to my heart's content."
Yoon-gi smirked and finished his greeting with Jo Yoon-tae. And finally.
"Jung-ah!"
"Yeah, Oppa!"
"Have fun!"
At Yoon-gi's words, Jung-ah's friends bowed 90 degrees toward Yoon-gi.
[[[Thank you!!!]]]
Watching Jung-ah racing through the amusement park with her three friends, Yoon-gi said to two of his bodyguards.
"Please make sure they don't get lost."
"Understood."
The senior bodyguard answered, and a moment later, the two ran toward the group of Jung-ah who were disappearing into the distance. On this day, Jung-ah really rode every single ride with her friends excitedly without waiting even a minute. And Yoon-gi stayed on the Ferris wheel with Merrill for a long time.
Merrill Land was truly fantastic. Merrill Land itself was fantastic, and the things Yoon-gi experienced at Merrill Land were also truly fantastic. Yoon-gi said to Choi Deok-bae, who was grumbling slightly.
'But I made a character product for you, didn't I?'
Yoon-gi had designed Choi Deok-bae as an SD character and made a doll. Since Choi Deok-bae was also satisfied with the doll that turned out cuter than expected, his grumbling had decreased significantly compared to when he first named it Merrill Land.
"Chairman, then should I operate it according to these guidelines?"
It had been a few days since Jung-ah had finished playing at the amusement park with her friends. Yoon-gi had just given instructions to Jo Yoon-tae regarding the operation of Merrill Land.
"Ah, right."
Yoon-gi suddenly remembered something.
"Is there anything you would like to add?"
"Make sure not to accept general visitors every Wednesday."