The Famous Millionaire

“Well, the second floor of the old office in Bono-dong is now vacant. It’s a bit old and not that spacious, but you can still use it as an office space. What do you think? Won’t you take it at a cheap rate?”

Bono-dong was near Hyunwoo’s house and not too far from the House of Happiness. Besides, it was cheap.

Hyunwoo’s eyes opened wide with expectation.

“You just mentioned ‘cheap.’ How cheap is it?”

“Monthly rent is 125,000 won.”

At that moment Hyonwoo just zoned out for a moment. He felt he heard it wrong, so asked again.

“What? How much did you say?”

The account manager seemed to know why Hyonwoo zoned out like that and laughed, “Ha ha. Actually, this kind of animation project is financially supported by the city government. That’s why we’re renting it out at a cheap rate. You can use it for only 125,000 won per month.”

“Are you sure?” asked Hyunwoo, as he could not believe it. It was almost like free rent, given that price, and Hyunwoo was well aware of that building in Bono-dong. It was far from narrow.

It was a two-story building of at least 100 pyong (0.08 acre). It was not that old, built almost 20 years ago, but it was strong enough to stand for another 20 years. It became vacant as there was a new city hall built several years ago.

The first floor was used as a senior center, but they only used half of it because it was too large.

“Thanks so much.”

“You’re welcome. If you want to express gratitude, please do it to reporter Jaeyol Song of Korean Broadcasting.”

After the call, Hyunwoo quickly called Jaeyol. As if waiting for his call, Jaeyol picked it up immediately but told him he didn’t have to care a bit. Hearing his explanation, however, Hyunwoo learned that he made lots of efforts dealing with the city government of Ansan.

Ansan city didn’t play any meaningful role in solving the sanitary issues of snack houses, but Jaeyol promised to report in a way that made it seem as though the city actually played some role. He even promised that he would also report about the city’s plan to expand sanitary innovation to the food factories. The city returned his favor in that they would fully support Hyunwoo’s business.

“By the way, how come we can use the space for only 125,000 won per month? The building is larger and nicer than that.”

“Oh, let me explain. As for the rental rate for state properties, we’re supposed to receive only 50 over 1,000 percent of their appraised value. However, each city government can reduce it further to revive its economy. So, in Ansan city, they charge only 1% of the appraised price.”

The appraised price of the old two-story building in Bono-dong was 150 million won, so its annual rent fee was 1.5 million won. Thus, when it was divided by 12, the final rent was 125,000 won.

“Thanks so much. I think that will be a great help to me. By the way, can you talk down to me next time? As you’re like a big brother in terms of age, I would like to treat you as a big brother,” said Hyunwoo.

“Well, I’m also happy to have a brother like you, dude. Ha ha.”

Hyunwoo hung up the phone in a jolly mood. He then headed back to Korean Broadcasting.

This time, he passed through the main gate proudly without an escort. Walking beside him was Youngsu Park, executive director of Space Design and Minhye Park, CEO of Space Design.

They waited for about thirty minutes when producer Mansoo Kim appeared.

“Did I keep you waiting long? I’m so sorry. My meeting lasted longer than I thought, and I couldn’t excuse myself.”

“Oh, never mind that,” said Minhye, showing a dignified manner befitting the CEO of Space Design.

“So, do you have the paperwork ready, right?” asked Mansoo.

“Here you are. Please take a look.”

“I guess I don’t need to as I assume you have prepared it well enough,” said Mansoo, but he still took a careful review.

“Hummm… What you demand is the same as Design Room’s. They also want assistant actress Nami Yu’s room rather than the main actor Yongjun Park’s room.”

“Really?” asked Minhye, opening her eyes wide as if stunned.

With a broad smile, Mansoo replied,”Don’t worry, though. As I promised you would have the priority in choosing the room, you get Nami’s room. Ha ha. I’ll let Design Room take Yongjun’s room instead.”

And then Mansoo looked at Hyunwoo as if he thought of something all of a sudden, and said. “By the way, Nami told me about you, Hyunwoo, saying she is very familiar with you. She told me to take good care of your favor.”

“Well, we’re close neighbors. She and I happened to meet so often so I just feel like she is my real sister,” said Hyunwoo, putting special emphasis on the word ‘real sister’ so as to avoid any misunderstanding about her relationship with him.

“Oh, I see. I wish you had told me about it early on. Then, I would not have given you so much trouble from the beginning.”

“Well, I just wanted to show you I was doing my best. As we earned the change with lots of effort, we’ll do our best.”

At that moment Mansoo looked at Hyunwoo gently, and then said with a serious look on his face, “There are a lot of people who know how to make nice and touching words, but there are few who translate their words into action, but I think you are one of them, Hyunwoo. You’re a man with many merits I have to learn.”

Blushing at his words, Hyunwoo scratched his head, saying, “I’m flattered. I can’t raise my face as you flatter me like that.”

“Not at all. I think I’ve met a very fine person. Let’s hit it off from now on, ” said Mansoo.

“Sure, I’m honored to do so,” said Hyunwoo.

Hyunwoo, Youngsu, and Minhye all had a satisfactory smile on their faces. The atmosphere was also very friendly, but there was something awkward about it with a closer look into the situation.

It should be Minhye, CEO of Space Design, who should be the right person to talk to Mansoo, but he just wanted to talk with Hyunwoo only, as if Hyunwoo was the head of the group.

Of course, nobody thought Mansoo’s act was intentional, because both of them were on friendly terms by now.

“By the way, did you know Jaeyol early on?” asked Mansoo.

“No, I saw him first here at Korea Broadcasting.”

“Then, I have no idea why he is bending over backward to help you. He even asked me to tell anybody I know in the talent donation broadcasting company to help Hyunwoo. Do they have anything on you?”

“Oh my god! Not at all, ha ha ha,” said Hyunwoo.

But Mansoo tilted his head a bit and continued, “Well, Reporter Song is a tough guy. As he is a veteran, he is very good at catching news items. If he is really making such hard efforts for you, that means he must have found something newsworthy about you.”

This time he stared at Hyunwoo with some strain in his eyes. Then, Hyunwoo began to speak his mind, scratching his head.

“As a matter of fact, I decided to treat him as my brother. I see he is a really good guy. I wanted to do the same to you for very long, but you’re too tied up with work, so I couldn’t bring it up…”

At that moment, Mansoo laughed heartily, and he was talking down to Hyunwoo in a kind tone.

“Ha ha ha. I think my judgment about you was correct. Reporter Song must have thought you’re going to be a big guy someday. I am of the same thinking. You’re a very unusual person. If you become famous later, don’t ignore me, okay?” said Mansoo jokingly, reaching his hand.

“Oh my god! How can I ignore you, brother? Ha ha”

Minhye and Young made an expectant look on their faces, hearing their conversation. It looked as if Mansoo and Hyunwoo didn’t care at all about them while they’re talking.

Suddenly Mansoo asked, “I hear you’re doing video media business.”

“Yes, animation business.”

“As you’re like my brother from now one, let me give you a piece of advice. If you really want to succeed, you have to have a very good manager who is well versed in the field. In particular, you should have one who has a good network in the broadcasting field.”

“Could you introduce one to me if you know one?”

“Well, there is one actor, former manager, appearing in my situation comedy. His name is Jinyoung Paek. You might have heard about his name.”

Hyunwoo’s eyes opened wide. Anybody living in Korea must have heard of his name.

“Do you mean that guy who was the CEO of the entertainment company JYB?”

“Yes, he was really damn good at finding and raising talented singers.”

Hyunwoo was a fan of Jinyoung Paek. Jinyoung was a versatile talent. Above all, Hyunwoo liked his challenging spirit. Jingyoung continued to knock at the US entertainment market. He challenged himself, and at the same time, he gave the singers of his company the chance to challenge themselves.

Jinyoung made a lot of success. Maybe he might be the most successful Korean entertainer in the US market in terms of the music field, but he invested too much. No matter how much money he made, he was in the red because he invested too much, and finally, he went bankrupt. That happened three years ago, but he could not make a successful comeback. Simply put, he had too much debt.

However, Hyunwoo believed Jinyoung could make a comeback with his challenging spirit. And he was too good to be neglected like that as he had such a great network in the United States.

“Can you introduce him to me?”

“Well, I just dropped the name. As the former CEO, I don’t expect him to get involved with a small animation company like yours.”

“That’s not my point, Mansoo. I really like and respect him. I’m his fan.”

“Sure, why not? Let me arrange a drinking get-together with him one of these days. Ooops, time flies so fast! I’m afraid I have an appointment, so excuse my leaving now…”

Mansoo hastily got out of the waiting room, leaving Hyunwoo, Youngsoo, and Minhye behind.

Several days later Hyunwoo had a call from Mansoo.

“Hey, brother. Do you have an appointment tonight? I have a drinking party with some of my friends in the broadcasting business, and I suddenly thought of you.”

Hyunwoo was planning to visit the shooting place of a soap opera to be broadcast by S broadcasting company, with Producer Hongsuk Na directing it. Though it was not that popular, Producer Na was rumored as a very competent director, so Hyunwoo was desperately trying to get acquainted with him, setting his eyes on his next soap opera, but what’s more important now was Hyunwoo’s relationship with Mansoo. He could have another chance to see producer Na.

“Sure, I would love to join you,” said Hyunwoo.

He called Youngsu and Minhye, who expressed their willingness to join him.

He then called Mansoo to confirm their accompaniment, and Mansoo gladly approved.

As it got dark, Hyunwoo headed to the appointment place with Youngsu and Minhye.

Though he expected it to be a luxurious place, the participants were from the broadcasting company, so it was just an ordinary restaurant.

All told, there were five gathered, including Mansoo. And there was nobody more influential than Mansoo. That made Youngsoo and Minhye a bit disappointed, but Hyunwoo was far from disappointed. Rather his heart was throbbing wildly, for he found an unexpected figure in that place.

As soon as he entered the room, Hyunwoo’s eyes popped up, “If I may ask, are you singer Jinyoung Paek?”