Jeong JinYong was receiving a report. Whilst being serious, he was smiling as if something good had happened.
“The design team sure has done it.”
“Yes. They said that they’re going to America next week for the award ceremony.”
“I heard that Lee YongHo’s role was not small.”
“The design award compet.i.tion held by Koogle also sees the practicality of the design. The practicality is judged according to how low of a hardware performance it can run in. so the developers are also to attend the ceremony.”
“Yes. Everyone’s worked hard.”
Jeong JinYong nodded his head while reading the report. Then he calmly called the head secretary.
“Head secretary.”
“Yes, sir.”
“But why wasn’t I told that Lee YongHo had won the NetFlax Prize?”
For a moment, the head secretary’s face paled as if his breath stopped. His tightly shut lips looked as if predicting the future.
“How many years have you worked now?”
“…8, 8 years, sir.”
“Thank you for your work. Tell the human resources team to put all the secretaries on the waiting list on your way out.”
“……”
When the head secretary didn’t leave, Jeong JinYong stared at the head secretary calmly after taking his eyes off the report.
At Jeong JinYong’s gaze, the head secretary barely managed to stop his legs from trembling.
“I…It was on my orders.”
“Didn’t you hear me saying to get out?”
The next day, the secretaries numbering 50 were put into waiting lists with ‘Negligence during duty’ as the pretext.
While somebody was leaving the company, YongHo also had left Korea and was stepping onto the land of California.
At the time he received the NetFlax Prize, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it was solely due to his bug window. However, it wasn’t like that now.
There was the ability from the bug window, but YongHo’s own ability had played a big role in receiving the prize. He put effort into not using the bug window, and although a little, it was showing its results.
‘The bug window may disappear anytime.’
While YongHo was in his thoughts, Yu SoHyun, who was sitting on the same table as him, looked towards YongHo.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Oh… I thought that team leader is so pretty today.” (T/N: No, author! Don’t make MC a gigolo, please…)
YongHo exaggerated his body movements while speaking as if he really admired her. It was the truth as well. Yu SoHyun put on her best clothes for the award ceremony.
She called everyone’s attention to herself with her smooth legs peeking out from the deep plunged, flowing dress.
“R, really?”
At Yu SoHyun, who blushed a little, YongHo just smiled and looked at her – thinking that she was a girl no matter how grand she acted, and how cold she looked.
The award ceremony started soon.
As YongHo had already experienced this kind of thing once, he wasn’t that nervous. Moreover, he could understand more English than last time.
Although… he was quite awkward when he couldn’t understand the jokes that people talked about…
‘Is it just me who’s not finding it funny……?’
What was more depressing that even Yu SoHyun, next to him, was laughing as if she understood those jokes.
‘My English is lacking… a lot.’
However, he could figure out the names of the people that he was talking to.
Jeff Done.
The person who achieved optimization on the G1.
The item which received the grand prize was shocking.
The sense of dimension that the design produced made one’s mouth open in shock. However, what was more miraculous that such a design was running on the G1.
While developing, he had never even considered G1. He uploaded his own app on the G1 in the venue.
-An unknown error has occurred.
And it crashed.
‘Just how much optimization did he do?’
At the shock, he couldn’t take his eyes off Jeff Done. He had a horse-like long face. His chin was shaved neatly. And next to him was a bald man.
“That person is Jonathan Hive.”
Yu SoHyun was looking with an admirative gaze. He may be a famous person within the design world but YongHo didn’t know him,
The two grand prize winners went up to the stage and showed their bright smiles
‘I should greet them.’
World’s best programmer.
In YongHo’s eyes, he looked greater than Son SeokHo.
YongHo approached first to greet. Jeff Done also seemed to know about YongHo who received the runner-up prize.
“It was impressive.”
Yu SoHyun didn’t know to separate from Jonathan Hive. Jeff Done spoke a lot but YongHo couldn’t understand most of it.
He barely managed to hear that it was impressive.
As Jeff Done was surrounded by a lot of people, there was no more time nor opportunity to talk more.
YongHo had to be satisfied adding him on Fadebook. (T/N: that’s… new…)
Yu SoHyun still seemed to be unable to let go of the excitement.
“I still can’t believe it. Haa… No way.”
“I, is it that much?”
At YongHo’s words, Yu SoHyun shook her index finger.
“It’s not just ‘that much’. He’s a Shakespeare-level person in the design world.”
“…Anyway, what are you going to do, now that the official schedule is over? I have a friend to meet.”
YongHo scheduled to meet with Dave now that he was here. Moreover, this time, when he said that he received Koogle’s design award, Dave showed even more excitement than YongHo.
“You can’t even speak English very well… Can you go alone?”
At Yu SoHyun’s worried words, YongHo was embarra.s.sed. What Yu SoHyun was surprised at when she arrived in America, wasn’t just meeting Jonathan Hive.
YongHo had shown an English ability below her expectations.
As he had exceptional ability that was better than anyone she knew, she thought that he would also have good English.
However, he didn’t.
Instead, it was below her expectations.
“If you come with me, then that’s good for me.”
And so the two headed to the restaurant in the city where they promised to meet.
“YongHo!”
A handsome white man ran into YongHo.
Dave.
YongHo seemed to suffocate as he tried to pull Dave’s arms, which were clinging around YongHo’s neck.
However, just the height differed by about 10 cm. There was no choice but to keep that situation for some time.
“Is the one on your side your girlfriend?”
Dave looked at Yu SoHyun with a curious gaze. Jessie and James, who followed him like pencil and paper, also had lights in their eyes.
“N, no.”
YongHo waved his hand and looked at Yu SoHyun. He was worried that she would be offended.
“It’s an honor to be seen like that, though?”
This time, Yu SoHyun took the role of translator between them. The company, who had met after a long time, chatted.
“YongHo, did you think about it? If I write a recommendation, you will enter our company immediately. Moreover, if it’s with your ability, then you might not even need my recommendation.”
Dave took out the topic on employment in America again. Rather than YongHo, Yu SoHyun seemed to take more interest in this.
YongHo sipped the white wine in front of him once.
“How’s America? Do you think my ability will improve if I come here?”
“Silicon Valley. This is where the brains of the world gather. A place of dreams to any programmers. Improving ability? Rather than that, it’s a gathering of people who can’t improve their ability any further.”
“……”
At Dave’s words, YongHo couldn’t counter argue. He was at Silicon Valley which he had only seen in TVs.
In his university days
The fantasy of achieving success as a business in Silicon Valley he dreamt of in his school days, weren’t a dream anymore.
“Think about it carefully. YongHo’s still young. You have infinite possibilities. I want you to not under evaluate your own ability.”
YongHo didn’t say anything and sipped the cup of wine again. Yu SoHyun, who was at his side, also just calmly lookeed at YongHo.
Finishing development and releasing didn’t mean that the work ended.
Especially if it was a customer service, and if it was a client at the forefront of customer service, it needed a stabilization period.
Moreover, an enormous development load was loaded on Na DaeBang, Na DaeBang looked at YongHo with resentment in his eyes.
“S, s...o...b..e!”
The person who was delighted the most when YongHo came back to the team was Na DaeBang. In a program that YongHo develops, there wouldn’t be any bugs unless the part he did overlapped with another person’s or he mistyped.
However, that wasn’t the case with the library that Na DaeBang developed. It was a library that would be the core of project OH, but as the number of users increased, bugs started appearing as well.
YongHo was also busy with the development of the UI so he didn’t have any spare power to look over the library made by Na DaeBang.
“O, okay. Let’s do it together.”
“I already let you go once, haven’t I? But you again went to the design team……”
Na DaeBang’s eyes were producing flames. YongHo could only calm him down after repeatedly saying that he wouldn’t be dispatched anywhere from now on.
-Koogle’s Design Award Winner.
-The Design That Captivates The Heart, Captivates The Customers
-Online Shopping Mall S, where you can wear the clothes themselves.
While YongHo was working hard in the office, Shinseki also advertised the S Mall enthusiastically.
The amount of money that was used to update the performances of the S Mall was below 500 million (≈435,000 USD) even after counting salaries and trivial expenses.
But the sum of money they used in marketing was 5 billion (≈4.35 million USD). And half of that was due to casting a famous celebrity.
“… We used 500 million to develop this and they used 5 billion to advertise… Isn’t that strange?”
Son SeokHo asked while looking at the advert that appeared on his smartphone. Na DaeBang, and YongHo, who was with him also looked at the advert in the screen.
A beautiful celebrity, who one would recognize just from the name, was emitting her grace.
“The development fees are 500 million, and 5 billion for advertising… It really does feel like the main and the sub has switched.”
Na DaeBang replied while sipping the coffee.
“But isn’t the number of users increasing thanks to this person?”
As YongHo said, the number of users and the profit was clearly increasing. Whether it was due to the effect of the advert the celebrity appeared in, or whether it was due to the exceptional award-winning design, or whether due to efforts of the programmers behind it, the fact that profits were increasing through the OH System didn’t tchange.
At this rate, at the end of the year, it wouldn’t be strange to achieve the 100 billion objective at the end of the year.
“This is another call. Let’s go up.”
After Son SeokHo received the call he stood up. As the number of users increased, various kinds of problems were occurring. YongHo couldn’t forget the words ‘Silicon Valley’ even while being soaked in his everyday life.
-Thank you until now.
With that t.i.tle, an e-mail was sent to every employee in the company. The sender was the design team leader Yu SoHyun,
The long article had the contents that she would leave the company.
“You’re going to America?”
“Yes. Thanks to Mr. YongHo, now that I’ve acquired a new line on my résumé, I don’t think it’s necessary to stay in a stifling place like this.”
Yu SoHyun had an expression of satisfaction. He could know how the position of the design team leader was in a big company.
At Yu SoHyun’s reaction, who expressed being refreshed rather than being disappointed, YongHo became confused and asked.
“What I got is that you felt that the position of the team leader in a big company… wasn’t that satisfying?”
He had already expected something, when he heard the repeated words of thanks when it was decided that they will receive an award. However, he didn’t know that she would leave the company so suddenly.
“Perhaps due to being scouted for that position… It wasn’t that easy. Rather than learning and earning, I felt like I was used and consumed continuously, I guess? I’m planning to refine my ability in a design school in this opportunity.”
Yu SoHyun seemed to have resolved herself, as she left no way out. However, Yu SoHyun didn’t only feel refreshed.
There was one thing that she was disappointed with.
“Call me any time. I want to work with you again. And please think about Mr. Dave’s proposal carefully as well. If you do come, then you have to call me first, okay?”
Yu SoHyun made a bright smile towards YongHo. At that moment, he felt dizzy.
She was incomparable to the celebrity on the advert.
YongHo was subconsciously nodding his head.
“Then shall we shake hands for one last time?”
From the hand he grabbed, he could feel smoothness. He didn’t want to let go, but he had no choice but to let go.