The Bubble's Straw Mat (1)
"Ugh, sob, sob..." Cho Cheong-woo, who had been pretending to cry, suddenly brightened as if a brilliant idea had struck him. "Wait, I don't know Japanese. So..."
Yoon-gi cut him off. "It's fine."
"...Huh?"
"What problem could not knowing Japanese possibly be in this global era? Don't worry. Since Japan has such a high volume of trade with Europe and the U.S., there are actually a lot of books about Japan translated into English. Secretary Ryu had quite a hard time tracking them down."
"Argh!" Cho Cheong-woo let out an open scream, but Yoon-gi didn't find him hateful. After all, when someone is good at their job, even their more ridiculous antics tend to feel cute. Of course, Ryu Geun-tae would never feel that way about Cho Cheong-woo, neither now nor in the future.
"Well then, I'm counting on you. You'll get a bonus for this one, too."
"At least there's a bonus, thank goodness... How much time can you give me?"
"Four weeks."
"...Please, have mercy."
"Five weeks."
"Please..."
"Should I cut the bonus?"
"A-ah, no, never mind!"
Since the volume of books was smaller than last time, Cho Cheong-woo picked up another stack and left Yoon-gi's mansion. Just like before, a massive amount of books departed from Yoon-gi's home, bound for Cho Cheong-woo's house.
That was the content of the phone call I received when I picked up the phone for my third aunt last time. Since I was already pushing for my third aunt to succeed, it was something I welcomed with open arms.
Thanks to that well-timed support fire, Choi Yoon-ja was able to receive an Hermes handbag from Yoon-gi, and for a while, she became the envy of the women's association in her apartment complex. Furthermore, it had an unexpected effect: the number of people asking where they could buy one began to increase.
The speed of word-of-mouth among women's association members in the 80s was truly like the advance of Mongol cavalry. The excitement surrounding the opening of YK Department Store began to spread quickly and noisily.
"Ughhh..." At 6:00 AM, Yoon-gi lay flat on his bed, then began rolling left and right. His face was filled with deep concern. As soon as he heard the voice, Yoon-gi bowed twice in front of the jujubes. Choi Deok-bae, who had been struggling to hold onto the wall, was eventually dragged by the power of the ancestral rite and forced to put a jujube in his mouth, shedding tears immediately after.
"If you do that again, next time I'll just give you dried jujubes."
"That's why I'm telling you to read the room and make jokes that fit the situation."
He wouldn't mind if Yoon-gi were the one being teased, but Yoon-gi reacted sensitively whenever people he cherished were involved. The most sensitive were his parents, then his grandfather, and recently, Merrill was approaching that level. Was she on par with Ryu Geun-tae and Choi Chul-kyu? Choi Deok-bae had just judged her as a mere girlfriend, but given Yoon-gi's personality of never forgetting a favor, the kindness Merrill had shown in Europe was something he could never forget for the rest of his life.
"Start learning from now on."
"Are you crazy? I still dream about the military sometimes, what are you talking about?"
"Yeah. It's the curse of Korean men. You can never be free from the military for life."
"If I had to put it into words, think of it like not holding an ancestral rite for your grandfather for a long time, and then when you finally do, you only put out jujubes."
"The same goes for King Gojong, though."
Choi Deok-bae nodded and opened his mouth again. Yoon-gi shook his head.
"That's not it. It's just that the Japanese economy is currently in a massive boom. If you consider the future revenue of YK Department Store and the stock listing of Microsoft, I think I could make a fortune and get out a few years before the bubble bursts."
"I vaguely remember it crashing in the 90s, so I think if I cash out everything by the end of '89, it should be fine."
"Growing corn on land that should have oil wells is manageable thanks to my maternal grandfather and mother, and as for Korea, I can handle it by running around myself, but Japan isn't easy. I need to inject financial assets into Japan later to buy land and take the capital gains, but I need someone to do that work for me."
"Right. It's too wasteful to send Secretary Ryu or my uncle to Japan."
"Are you serious?"
Yoon-gi momentarily thought about touching the jujubes, but thinking that might be going too far, he just let out a sigh.
"Anyway, I'm worried."
"Advice?"
"What is it?"
At Yoon-gi's question, asked with the desperation of someone clutching at straws, Choi Deok-bae answered nonchalantly, as if Yoon-gi were asking for something incredibly obvious.
Feeling as if he'd been hit on the head with a hammer after hearing Choi Deok-bae's words, Yoon-gi felt the world expand once more. Consequently, Yoon-gi went straight to Samwoo Heavy Industries. Seeing his son visit the company voluntarily for the first time in his life, Choi Cheol-ho was so excited he ran to the office where Yoon-gi was waiting, his traditional socks flapping.
"Son! What brings you here?"
Though he was in his late 40s, Choi Cheol-ho's body was still covered in solid, bronze-colored muscle. Even the aides standing next to him in suits were the same. They were clearly wearing suits, but the muscles that looked like they were about to burst through the fabric were incredibly impressive. There were five such people. They couldn't all be security personnel; surely, one of them was a secretary.
"I came because I missed you, Dad."
"This kid, skipping school and everything."
"I'm doing work that's more important than that, so it's fine, right?"
"Yeah, it's fine. What's school, anyway? When I was your age, I used to carry several bags of rice on a bicycle!"
Choi Cheol-ho, who had been ruffling his son's hair, began to introduce the people standing next to him.
"These four here are my bodyguards. You probably haven't seen them before."
The four bodyguards struck poses as if they were at a bodybuilding competition and greeted Yoon-gi.
"“““Nice to meet you, Yoon-gi!!!!”””"
Even though it was their first time meeting, Yoon-gi was fascinated by their incredibly friendly greeting and asked his father, "You must have a very close relationship?"
"Of course! These guys have been guarding me for over 20 years. You can think of them as your uncles, so remember their faces and buy them some fish-shaped bread later."
At Choi Cheol-ho's words, a man with a striking mole next to his nose groaned.
"Oh my, we're on a tight budget, and you're trying to squeeze blood from a stone."
"You punk! If you buy my son fish-shaped bread, I'll just buy you real fish!"
"Forget the fish, I'd welcome fish stew."
"Ho-ho, shall we?"
"Yoon-gi, should this uncle buy you some fish-shaped bread?"
At the sheer cheerfulness of the scene, Yoon-gi burst into laughter, and everyone followed suit.
"Oh, and this guy is my chief of staff."
A man in his late 40s, with muscles even more impressive than the four bodyguards, flashed a set of white teeth that didn't match his age and held out a hand the size of a pot lid.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Cha Beom-jin, your father's friend, chief of staff, and chief of security."
"Hello!"
At Yoon-gi's cheerful greeting, Cha Beom-jin applied a bit of pressure to his handshake and then looked slightly surprised.
"Hey, your son's grip strength is incredible! How about letting him train under me?"
"Are you crazy? He's a businessman, not a bodyguard."
"Ugh, what a waste. Such a waste."
"You must be very close?"
At his son's question, Choi Cheol-ho nodded.
"These guys all rolled in the dirt with me when I was working under my father. We were even called the 'Bicycle Kings of Jongno' back in the day!"
At Choi Cheol-ho's words, everyone laughed, showing off their sturdy thighs as if to boast.
'He really is living a happy corporate life.'
Confirming that his father was happy, Yoon-gi smiled without realizing it, and Choi Cheol-ho laughed along with his son before speaking up.
"Anyway, you didn't just come to look around, did you? You came because you have a favor to ask me, right?"
Choi Cheol-ho's eyes were filled with anticipation rather than disappointment.
"Hehehe..."
At the sight of his son scratching the back of his head, Choi Cheol-ho lifted Yoon-gi—who was by no means short—as if he were moving a mannequin, and sat him down on the guest sofa in the president's office.
"Son! Tell me! What can Dad help you with?"
"Uh... can I just say it?"
Even though he knew they had a very close relationship, Yoon-gi did a final check just in case.
"Of course you can. These guys have tight lips. If they were the type to betray me and leave, they would have done it long ago. They've had countless scouts offering them high salaries, but they never left."
Seeing the five uncles standing behind his father nod in unison with expressions that said, "Of course!", Yoon-gi chuckled and brought up the main topic.
"It's nothing else, but I'm thinking of doing some business in Japan soon."
"Japan? Come to think of it, it's booming there these days, right?"
"That's right. Although, even if it's a boom, it's a boom for existing companies, not new entrants."
"Do you know what that means?"
At Choi Cheol-ho's words, Cha Beom-jin nodded.
"Of course. That's why you had me study."
"Good. Son, keep talking."
At his father's words, Yoon-gi continued.
"It's difficult for me to enter right now, but I'm going to Japan soon for the Hermes model shoot. I want to grasp the situation in Japan a bit, and I want to set up one business entity as an overseas subsidiary, but I need someone to work by my side. I thought you might have someone to recommend..."
Choi Cheol-ho jumped up from his seat, excited.
"So you're asking this Dad? Not your grandfather or your maternal grandfather, but me?"
Yoon-gi nodded with an awkward smile again. Then, Choi Cheol-ho immediately looked at Cha Beom-jin.
"Hey! It's time for you to use your strength!"