A horse running in the plains cannot stop easily.
Acceleration.
It was because there was acceleration.
Users called more users and it accelerated. And those gathered users were producing sales.
80 billion. (≈70 million USD)
Just the sales from the OH System was 80 billion. At this rate, it would reach 100 billion without problems.
Jeong DanBi was also now dreaming sweet dreams that she can escape the clutches of Jeong JinYong.
“What are you planning to do when you leave?”
Jeong JinYong’s att.i.tude had changed from the time he treated as they were in a chairman-team leader relationship. The change in att.i.tude could be seen just from his tone of voice – It had become a level softer.
“And you said to use polite speech in the company… now you’re acting like a parent?”
Even at Jeong DanBi’s sharp words, Jeong JinYong’s expression didn’t change from being expressionless. He just silently looked at her.
“Looking at the rate, you will leave… next month.”
Rather than disappointed, he looked quite sad. However, that was just Jeong JinYong’s impression. (T/N: I don’t know what’s happening here… author’s writing is weird)
“……”
Did she perhaps read those feelings? Jeong DanBi’s sharpness toned down a bit. She quietly listened to Jeong JinYong’s words.
“Now it’s just JinHoon left.”
“……”
Even during that moment, the sales graph of the OH System was rising.
YongHo was inwardly expecting a rise in salary.
He had expectations on how much his annual salary was when he became a team leader that Jeong DanBi promised. It will definitely be higher than it is now.
‘How much should I be thinking about? It must be lower than head researcher Son’s, how high should I call?’
Like that, he was agonized about a rather high-cla.s.s problem. He had moved houses, and his ability was improving day by day.
It was too good that sometimes, he wondered if he should be happy this much.
When he checked his e-mail, there was a reply from Dave. Perhaps due to the contents being in English, it was in spam mail. Due to being busy, he hadn’t even had the time to check his e-mail, and now one week had pa.s.sed.
‘120 thousand dollars!’
The first thing that came into his eyes was the number. It was more than 120 million Korean won. It was a sum that was multiples of his current salary.
YongHo requested Dave to look into how much salary he would receive annually if he went there. And the reply was here.
120 thousand dollars.
YongHo’s worries became deeper.
And he decided.
100 billion.
The sales from the OH System.
The moment that number appeared on the intra-company sales management system, a get-together was decided.
“Everybody, thank you for your work!”
Jeong DanBi was delighted as if she couldn’t be any more delighted. A higher tone than always and the exaggerated actions that showed the excited atmosphere was showing that.
“Now! Everybody, one shot!”
While continuously shouting ‘one shot!’, YongHo emptied the liquor he had never heard of into his mouth. According to what he heard from Na DaeBang, it was a drink that was hard to find in ordinary supermarkets.
‘Mr. Na DaeBang is something too, knowing all that.’
And such questions were soon erased from YongHo’s mind. Jeong DanBi approached YongHo with a gla.s.s in her hand.
“Well, then, please receive a gla.s.s from me, our hardworking Mr. YongHo.”
Jeong DanBi poured a gla.s.s to every one of the team members as if she had become an old man.
YongHo also received the gla.s.s and emptied it in his mouth. A hot feeling came up inside his throat in less than 1 second.
“Thank you so much.”
Fssh.
A different thick smell of pheromones a.s.saulted YongHo along with the smell of alcohol.
1st was Korean beef and liquor.
2nd was karaoke.
The karaoke in Cheongdam boasted its splendor from the entrance. It was as if saying ‘what is a trash like you doing here?’ to YongHo, and he couldn’t step inside easily.
The fancy karaoke.
And under the flashy spinning lighting inside, Jeong DanBi was shining.
Jeong DanBi took the gla.s.s in her hands and tapped the table hard.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
The noisy atmosphere calmed down instantly. Everybody was worried that they might do something crazy now they were drunk.
“Well then! There will be an important announcement!”
At Jeong DanBis words, the person who was singing also put down the microphone and paid attention to Jeong DanBi.
The song coming out from the karaoke machine was also stopped by someone.
“We have achieved 100 billion won!”
Clap.
Clap clap clap.
As everyone was drunk, it was unknown who started it. They just followed along.
And after a round of applause was done, Jeong DanBi puffed her already red cheeks.
“Now! We’ve done everything we can do in Shinseki.”
Inside the karaoke, laid with marble with a chandelier lighting, only Jeong DanBi was speaking.
Everybody was looking at her.
“I! Will throw away the name of Shinseki and start anew.”
Jeong DanBi was drunk, but there was no faltering in her words. Perhaps due to the scent of alcohol pervaded the karaoke, everyone was half-conscious as if they were all drugged.
It couldn’t be denied that Jeong DanBi’s extraordinary looks played a role in that. The G.o.ddess-like appearance – she looked like an ancient Greek G.o.ddess who bestowed blessings before a war.
“There is s.p.a.ce inside the rocketship. Come on board.”
When Eric Schmidtz scouted Sheryl Sandburg, he said something similar.
-Get On A Rocketship Whenever You Get The Chance.
Jeong DanBi was trying to create a rocketship.
It was not easy to persuade his parents than he thought.
Only son.
His old parents didn’t allow their only son going to America that easily. Even if he wanted to bring them along, his parents, who had no acquaintances in America, living there was near impossible. In the end, they had to separate.
“I will definitely come back after succeeding. It won’t take that long.”
He was already acting as the head of household. His parents had no choice but to allow, albeit with difficulty, due to YongHo having a good ability to the point that he paid the debts they had, and even prepared a good house inside the city.
Son SeokHo’s reaction was similar to what YongHo was expecting.
“A place where it seems more interesting – Go to a place where it may help you more, Mr. YongHo.”
Go in a direction that you think may help.
I will prepare a place for you to come back anytime. If YongHo’s parents were the people who gave birth to him, it was Son SeokHo who made YongHo reborn in society.
And now as well, he was tapping YongHo’s shoulders like his parents, saying that he believed in him and that he could come back if he was tired whenever he wanted to.
An appreciation that could not be expressed in words.
Now, it was time to meet the last person, Jeong DanBi.
Jeong DanBi being serious was rare. She was looking at YongHo without saying anything. The stiff face seemed like she would never allow it.
“No.”
“Team leader.”
“How much did they offer you? No matter how high, I promise to offer you a higher amount.”
Jeong DanBi replied to YongHo’s words without a moment of hesitation. It was as if she was reading off a script as if she had expected this to happen.
“Money is one thing, but the reason I want to go is because there is something I can experience only if I’m there.”
“…Aren’t there a lot of things to experience as a team leader while you’re here? Moreover, if it’s head researcher Son’s ability, wouldn’t it help you, Mr. YongHo?”
YongHo hesitated to speak. However, he had already decided, YongHo chose the straight path.
“It definitely will help me if I stay here, but I want more.”
He was speaking in a roundabout way, but one thing was clear.
Now, with Son SeokHo’s ability, he cannot teach me.
He is insufficient – these were the meanings behind his words.
“……”
Jeong DanBi also expected that a day like this may come. If it was someone of YongHo’s ability, then there will be a scouting offer. However, she never thought that it was to the point that YongHo could leave the shadows of Son SeokHo.
A growth faster than her expectations.
The unexpected growth had pulled the date that Jeong DanBi was expecting.
He had come back as the core personnel after he went to Busan, Gasan, and the design team as well.
Now, he had grown up to the point that he didn’t have to stand within the shadows of Son SeokHo.
She regretted that she thought that YongHo had a pa.s.sion for learning so he wouldn’t leave while Son SeokHo was here.
“For me, team leader is the same as a savior. I will come back to help whenever you need my help.”
Jeong DanBi instinctively felt.
That the only way to make him stay is to use his affection. In her view, he was a programmer more exceptional than anyone.
It was insufficient to describe him with ‘1vs100’.
The results were already proving that.
She had to grab him.
She definitely had to grab YongHo.
“Then 1 year. I will leave the team leader position vacant so come back from America after 1 year.”
“Sorry?”
“I need your help in 1 year’s time. Even if I want to start a business I will need time to look for an office, and to recruit people… Come back in 1 year. I won’t allow anymore.”
“Team leader……”
“Didn’t you say I was your savior? This is enough, right?”
“……”
He was thankful.
In the period where n.o.body looked for him, and in the period he shivered in fear due to not being able to find employment, it was Jeong DanBi who saved him who was about to get fired and at the same time, was about to be sued with a damage suit.
Regardless of his ability, it didn’t change the fact that it was Jeong DanBi who helped him while he was in dire straits.
A help received when in difficult times is the real help.
A person who treated him to a meal when he didn’t have to worry about his meals in the near future is just a person who treated him, but a person who treated him to a meal when he didn’t have anything to eat starting the next day was called a savior.
Savior Jeong DanBi.
YongHo couldn’t reject her words, saying that she will prepare a place for him to come back in 1 year, anymore.
It wasn’t just to the point that he couldn’t reject it, but he was about to tear up from hearing it.
“1 year. Please come back.”
Jeong DanBi also seemed to have deemed that it was difficult to grab him anymore as she emphasized the words ‘1 year’. The stiff face was already relaxed.
There was only disappointment and sadness on her face.
At the news of YongHo leaving the company, the office was also experiencing chaos.
Especially, Na DaeBang’s reaction was very fierce.
“S, s...o...b..e!”
“I heard you were all lovey-dovey with HyeJin nowadays, eh?”
At YongHo’s words, Na DaeBang, who was about to run into him, stopped. After YongHo introduced them to each other, they seemed to have taken a liking to each other as they were dating despite the harsh schedule.
“Aren’t you? Bangbangy?” (T/N: Those who think it’s lewd… it’s not at all lewd in Korean)
This was the nickname that Choi HyeJin called Na DaeBang. The ‘Bang’ from the last syllable of Na DaeBang – ‘Bangbangy’. At the two’s such figures, YongHo could only be envious.
At YongHo’s words, Na DaeBang tried his best to hide his panic and spoke.
“A, anyway, how could you do this!? I even switched departments for you, and now you’re going to America?”
“Then why don’t you come to America too, Mr. DaeBang? We’ll work with James you know?”
“S, sir James? Do you think I can’t go? Please wait a little.”
At his ignited eyes, YongHo had a slightly bad premonition, but he erased it.
And now, only Son SeokHo was left.
“I will contact you.”
“Yes, thank you for your work until now. Come back anytime.”
“Thank you.”
The two’s handshake was filled with strength.
They were rea.s.sured.
That he had this kind of person as his superior.
That he had this kind of person as his junior.
The two were rea.s.sured of each other.