12 Hours After

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

The alarm rang. I opened my eyes, stretched my hand and turned off the alarm by grabbing the cell phone that the alarm was ringing on. If I turned off the alarm, today’s date would come out: July 12, 2019.

‘Well… I have to go to work today.’ Today, I had an important item, the regular report of Invictus Investment, to review and evaluate the investments made by it.

I got out of bed. The blanket rolled up, and I felt a sense of resistance. Looking next to me, Lee Ah-young held my blanket like a baby. I lifted the quilt, covered her bare shoulders, and stood up from my side.

At that time, a sharp pain went past my waist. “Ugh…” I got out of bed, patting my back like a 90-year-old old man. I’d been on vacation for a week, back for two days. I’d been doing too much lately. I looked at the clock. It was 7:40 and I saw Lee Ah-young still lying on my bed. No matter how romantic we were, I should have my own time at 8:55.

‘I’ll go to work early and get an email from work.’ Thinking so, I went to the bathroom and took a shower first. When I came out of the living room, Lee Ah-young was rubbing her eyes. I asked her, “Are you awake?”

“Uh… are you going to work today?”

“Yes. I have something important to do today.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, I’ll go to work first, so get some more sleep.”

“What about breakfast?”

“There’s a toast house in front of the company. I’m going to eat there.”

“Toast? Wait a minute. I’ll do it for you.”

“What? We don’t have bread or a toast machine in my apartment.”

She got out of bed and said, packing her underwear, “It’s all in my room.”

“… yes.”

I went to the dressing room, got dressed, picked out my watch, put on my skin lotion and roughly styled my hair, and packed my bag with my Wi-Pad and laptop. I was ready to go to work, and looking at my watch, it was 8:30. It was only two blocks from the office. It was very close, but now I had to leave to get an email.

As soon as I thought, ‘I have to get out of here now,’ my room’s keyword was pressed. Soon the door opened, and Lee Ah-young brought a toast cut for good use on a plate, and a cup of strong coffee.

“Not late, oppa.”

“Oh. I think I can eat this and go.”

But toast was a bit unique. Bread was the same bread, but the toppings were sp,e that I couldn’t see in Korean franchises. There were things like strawberries and blackberries on the nuts.

“What’s this? It’s unusual.”

“It’s original Chicago style.”

Chicago was where she had been studying abroad. I took a bite of it and it was delicious. The maple syrup on the bread went well with toppings.

“Well, it’s delicious.”

“That’s it, right?”

Whether the Chicago style was compatible with my taste, or it was because of the sensibility of the only daughter of a food company, anyway, it was really delicious. Thanks to the taste of toast, and the short time, I quickly finished the toast.

“It’s delicious. Thank you. Thanks for setting it up.”

Lee Ah-young curled up and smiled cutely.

I drank all the remaining coffee and told her, “I’ll go. You’re going to…”

“I am on vacation.”

“You are a student; that’s good. I’ll get out.”

She kissed me on the cheek and said, “I wish you a pleasant day, oppa.” She acted like she was trying to see me off at my house.

“… Aren’t you going home?”

“Ah… I thought I’d watch the drama of a newly married couple.”

She smiled and walked out the door with me. Then she went into her room and said, “Well, I hope you do well.”

I said to her, reaching out my hand, “Yes.”

——————————————-

I went to work at our office after a long time. Secretary Seo was in front of the door of the president’s office, as usual. When he saw me, he stood up and asked, “How was your vacation?”

“I got a little tan, right?”

“Yes. And…” He glanced up and down at me. “You went to rest, but somehow… you look more tired than usual.”

“Hmm? Really?”

As I asked, he said, with a slightly insidious smile, “It seems that your energy has been sucked out…”

At times like this, He was Seo Ji-hoon, my junior in college, not Secretary Seo.

“You…” I slapped him on the shoulder with my fist.

He said, running away, “Hahaha, I’m joking. I’m joking.”

I also smiled and said to him, “What about you? Where have you been on vacation?”

“Bangkok.”

“Bangkok? Thailand?”

“No. Just in the room. I was just at home.”

“Why? You’d better go abroad when I go out. I gave you enough of a bonus, right?”

That was true. I gave my entire staff a vacation bonus for this holiday season. Vice President Jang and Secretary Seo were directly given thirty thousand dollars each.

“Oh, that’s well saved for my future.”

I said with my arms crossed, “What’s wrong with you? You should use it. Do you have any problems with your family? Did your parents give security for someone?”

Secretary Seo shook his head at my words, “No.”

“Let me know if there’s anything like that. I’ll take care of it all if it can be solved with money.”

“No, that’s not what happened. You know that. I prefer playing at home to going somewhere.”

Well, he’d been a houseboy for a long time. I had raised his salary from five thousand to ten thousand dollars a month. His annual salary had already exceeded a hundred thousand dollars. Of course, I paid a lot of year-end bonus and vacation bonus. I was very careful not to cause any problems by skimping on money.

“… yes. But don’t stay home too long and get out of there. You should go out and have a new experience.”

He smiled and said, “Yes, boss.”

“So, when is today’s meeting with the presidents?”

” At eleven o’clock.”

“Well. Yeah. Don’t make the presidents who come in advance wait too long… Just call them into the president’s office. I will have a little talk with them.”

“Yes, boss.”

———————–

I spent my time going into the president’s office, getting emails as usual, and trading by myself. Before eleven o’clock, the presidents of our subsidiaries arrived here, one by one. The first to come was Ahn Yong-kyun, president of Blue E&M. He came half an hour earlier than his appointment time.

“Hello, CEO Han. How have you been?”

“Oh, yes. How are you?”

We greeted each other. More than that, I could see a little box he was holding.

“Yes, it’s… it’s red ginseng. I was worried that you might be sick in the summer heat.”

“Ah… yes.”

He humbled to himself the most among the presidents of subsidiaries I’d ever invested in. I thought it was because he was in the most financially demanding position.

“Secretary Seo.” I made a gesture for Secretary Seo and received the red ginseng gift. I was not interested in these things, but if I would give it to my parents, they would like it.

“How are you doing these days?”

“As a result of intensive pushes of Fantasy War Ground, the share of our company in the game market has jumped from 7% to 12%.”

“Oh, that’s great!”

The Internet broadcasting market was growing every year. Top company European TV had also had its stock price go up a lot recently. Blue E&M also rode the wave and recently watched its share price soar.

“Sit down.” I offered him a seat, but a second visitor Shin Dong-woo, CEO of Kai Games, came in.

“How have you been, CEO Han?”

“Yes, you’re busy these days, right?”

He said with a big smile, “Yes, a little…”

He had to be pretty busy, not a little bit. Fantasy War Ground was such a big hit that it was booming all over the world. He must have been very, very busy managing the company or traveling abroad. There was nothing to say about the stock price. The company’s market capital, which was only a hundred and twenty million dollars when I had taken over, was now eight hundred million. It had risen more than six times. As a result, it had become the best investment for me and for the Invictus Investment.

CEO Shin Dong-woo also shook hands with Ahn Yong-kyun, who was first here. “President Oh is here, too. How are you?”

“Oh, yes, I’m doing great, thanks to you.”

The two had already been acquainted: one was making games and one was broadcasting, as I had instructed, so I arranged the collaboration earlier.

“You two are here, and we’ll soon have three more. Let’s go to the meeting room.” I led the two to the ready-to-be convention hall.

On the way, Vice President Jang joined me, too. “Ah, you are here, presidents?”

At 9:45, the third person, my personal best friend, Kwon Oh-hyuk, president of OH Entertainment, arrived.

“How are you?” He came up and bowed his head to me. He looked at the two presidents who were there first. “Oh, I’m late. I’m sorry. Presidents.” He said hello to me one more time.

“No. You’re early.” He was not late, but two other presidents came very early.

I greeted him, “How are you these days?”

“You know, boss. The preview of “I’m Going to See You Tomorrow” was very good. The audience liked it, and the critics raised their thumbs.”

“Oh, really?”

“I’m Going to See You Tomorrow” was a melodramatic film starring Oh Hyun-joo, the star of OH Entertainment. The movie they had cranked in last year was about to be released.

I nodded, “That’s great! How is Ms. Oh?”

“Yes, of course. She’s greatly looking forward to this movie. She thinks it will be the most successful film of her own career.”

“Oh, really? I’ll see it to fill her expectations.”

He lowered his head several times and showed me his shiny bald head. “Oh, thank you very much, boss. I’ll give a word to Hyun-joo.”

I nodded, “Yes, please.”

After the three existing presidents took their places, I looked around them and said, “Oh, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but there are two more people coming today. First is Chung So-young, president of the media company Oracle News, and next is Shin Jae-eun, chairman of Hyun Young Pharmaceutical.”

Everyone had no response when “Oracle News” came out, but when it came to Hyun Young Pharmaceutical, their eyes changed slightly. To be sure, the ten-million-dollar Internet newspaper company and a billion-dollar mid-sized pharmaceutical company seemed to have different weight. Around 10:50, two CEOs appeared in the conference room, as I had predicted.

A woman in her forties was first, contrasting with three middle-aged men. Chung So-young, CEO of Oracle News, greeted me in a lively voice, “Hello, CEO Han!”

She had something mature sexy to fit in her forties. Red lipstick and red suit looked really good on her. It was also fair to say that the three CEOs who were here first couldn’t take their eyes off her.

‘Everyone has a wife and children… Come to think of it, President Kwon is single.’

She just happened to sit next to Kwon Oh-hyuk. I thought they looked good together.

‘Is CEO Chung married?’ I was not sure.

Finally, at 10:55, Shin Jae-eun, chairman of Hyun Young Pharmaceutical, in his sixties with perfect gray hair, made his appearance. The contract with Hyun Young Pharmaceutical was not yet finished, but since the agreement had already been reached verbally, he decided to come to greet me and other presidents. “Hello, CEO Han. And a lot of bosses.”

When he came in, Ahn Yong-kyun, president of Blue E&M, quickly stepped aside and said, “Sit here, Mr. Chairman.” Then he went to the last seat and sat down.

Chairman Shin Jae-eun sat in the seat without saying a word.

With this, the CEOs of a total of five listed companies and one media company I invested in, gathered together. I said, gathering my hands together, “Good to see you, ladies and gentlemen.”