Chapter 474: Juyoung Hong (1)

My whole family looked at me with bewildered expressions as if what I said was absurd and unexpected.

Without caring about their reaction, however, I continued.

“So give my brother and sister everything you have reserved for me. I can build a business group bigger than Myongjin on my own. Of course, you don’t have to worry because I will keep working with Myongjin when I succeed in building one.”

Actually, I was going to confide in them about many of the ideas that I had in mind.

I was really willing to do so, but I soon stopped thinking about it because doing so would be something like an apocalypse.

In the previous iteration, I had witnessed the earth being ruined, so I didn’t have to live diligently, save money for my future, or abide by the law and rules. And that’s what Jiwon Lee told me as well.

So I chose not to tell the truth to my family because keeping them in the dark might be better.

Anyway, my family members showed mixed reactions to what I said.

“Cough!”

“Lol!”

“Hahahaha!”

My father, who usually looked serious, spat out the coffee in his mouth, and my elder brother who was reticent like my father, burst out into laughter while covering his mouth with hands. My sister also laughed her head off, leaning against the chair.

Even my mother laughed loudly.

“Oh boy, my stomach hurts because I laughed so much!”

My father, mother and elder brother quickly stopped laughing, but my sister was still howling with laughter. She was literally in tears from laughing so hard.

Slap!

No wonder she was slapped by my mother on the shoulder.

But she didn’t stop laughing.

“Hahaha! Dad, mom, and brother! He’s so funny, isn’t he? Don’t hold back your laughter! You might get sick if you keep holding it!”

Anyway, it didn’t seem like my declaration that day got through to them correctly, but I felt happy because it made them laugh a lot. Besides, I told them what I wanted to say.

In the living room that evening.

Chairman Hong, who lay in bed to sleep, said to wife Hyeyoung Lee instead of hitting the sack right away, “Juyoung has changed a lot.”

“You bet. But I like him much better now.”

“…”

He didn’t respond to her answer because he was of the same mind.

That’s why he never mentioned anything about studying to Juyoung.

In other words, he thought that as far as the future of the Myongjin Group was concerned, his elder son Kiyoung and daughter Suyoung would take care of it well.

And he was willing to fully support Juyoung if he wanted to be an actor or singer instead of a businessman, for he was a cute younger son.

But Chairman Hong had no choice but to worry about Juyoung because unlike the other proud or even conceited sons of the chairmen of the other business conglomerates, he didn’t look confident or strong enough. That’s why he forced his younger son to study harder. He was willing to hand over a couple of subsidiaries of the Myongjin Business Group to Juyoung for his survival, so he needed to cultivate Juyoung’s ability to run the companies. And he thought that was his duty as his father.

Recalling Juyoung’s announcement earlier in the evening, Chairman Hong smiled once again before going to sleep. To be honest, it was his greatest wish that his younger son could be confident without being discouraged or frustrated by those who were smarter than him in school.

The next day Director Sok stopped by Chairman Hong’s house in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul, even though it was the weekend, because he had some documents from Japan that Chairman Hong should sign urgently.

While he was waiting in the living room after talking to the butler about his urgent meeting with the chairman, he saw Juyoung coming down the stairs from the second floor. He was surprised to see Juyoung at first because had changed a lot.

Actually, Chairman Hong’s residence here housed lots of people including Hong’s family members, housemaids, his chauffeur and his bodyguards. Director Sok had heard the same thing from them recently, that Juyoung had really changed a lot.

Director Sok could confirm with his own eyes that he really changed when he, who usually hesitated to speak to him, confidently initiated a conversation with him.

“It’s been a while, sir.”

“Hi, good morning, Juyoung.”

“Well, it’s good morning for me, but not for you since you have to work on weekends. It looks like my father is not a good chairman. He should make sure that his employees take a rest on weekends.”

“…”

Director Sok could not help but be very surprised upon hearing that.

Juyoung would not have dared to crack a joke like that in the past.

He even asked, “By the way, is brother Sejin doing well?”

“Oh, sure.”

“Why don’t you have him join the Myongjin Group instead of giving him a hard time? Since you are my father’s right-hand man, he should be able to benefit from his father, right?”

“Hahaha!” Director Sok couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Juyoung said, “You don’t have to be a man of perfect integrity. You have been serving my father for ten, or almost twenty years. You are fully qualified to use your position to benefit your son!”

“Thank you for your nice words.”

He nodded at me rather than refuting me. He could not take his eyes off Juyoung who passed by him casually after saying that.

At that moment, Director Sok heard his voice again.

“Oh, if you know someone you can trust, please send him to me. I hope he is smart and that his lips are as sealed as an oyster. I don’t care about other things.”

“Got it.” Director Sok didn’t ask why.

Then he followed the butler to the chairman’s study room, then handed the documents to him, who also worked on weekends.

Director Sok said, “Mito Precision Machinery notified us only an hour ago that it would be difficult for them to satisfy the export volume of the Myongjin Group next month.”

“An hour ago? Even on the weekend?”

“Yes.”

“Damn it!”

Chairman Hong gnawed his teeth a bit because he knew what that meant.

It was none other than the issue of rebate.

In fact, Mito Precision Machinery was not a small machinery company, but one of the top three precision machinery companies in Japan. So it was a lie that they could not satisfy Myongjin’s export volume next month because they agreed with Myongjin about the production and order volume at the beginning of the year.

Chairman Hong said, “First, ask them about what they want, and negotiate. But the bottom line is 2% at most. No more than that!”

“Sure.”

“And we can’t play into their hands forever, so check out any other company in the Netherlands. Also try to find one in the domestic market.”

“Understood.”

Chairman Hong knew that Myongjin was far inferior as far as the basic structure of the group was concerned, so he gave Director Sok such instructions since he could not solve this issue in a day or two.

After that, the chairman gestured at him to leave the study, but then looked at him questioningly because he would not leave.

As if he was waiting for a chance, Director Sok said, “A little while ago, Juyoung asked me to hire a good and smart guy for him.”

“Really”

“Yes. So I answered yes.”

“Hmm…got it. It’s up to you.”