The Famous Millionaire

“Are you sure? Thanks so much.Thanks a million.”

Not only Hyunwoo but also Youngsu bowed to Producer Kim without caring about saving their face.

Reporter Jaeyol Song said to Hyunwoo with a satisfactory look, “Shall we move to a conference room over there? I’d like to ask a lot about you, Hyunwoo. You can join us, too, Youngsu.”

“Got it.”

Both of them followed Jaeyol to the conference room.

Before he accepted Jaeyol’s interview request, Hyunwoo called his mother, just in case.

“I’m fine. Just do what you want,” she said.

Only then did he okay Jaeyol’s request.

Hyunwoo expected Jaeyol and Producer Mansoo Kim to become his bridgehead to the people in the broadcasting business. It was important for him to have a good relationship with Jaeyol and Mansoo first.

After the interview, Hyunwoo called Kwangsoo Han of Real Film.

“Brother, do I have to wait further before you can complete the assigned program about us?”

“Almost done. I’m doing a final review of it. I think I can show you the finished production tomorrow. By the way, why did you suddenly call me? Did the broadcasting guys contact you?”

“Well, we never know when the opportunity comes along. When we’re ready, we can make use of it at any time.”

“You’re right. Let me finish it as soon as possible and show it to you.”

Back at his office Hyunwoo and Youngsu high-fived again.

Minhye Park acted as CEO at least during her business hours. She never showed any private feelings.

“Do you have any good news?”

“Finally, we obtained a sponsorship,” said Youngsu confidently.

Instantly Minhye’s face brightened. She sprang to her feet and shouted, “Yay! Great job. I think we’re already halfway there.”

“Soon they will send us the script. All we have to do is pick the studio set that we like most and make a design based on that. They also agreed to connect us to other producers. Looks like everything is going smoothly from the beginning.”

“What a good job! I thought you could make it,” said Minhye.

However, Youngsu shook his head at her praise, and said, “It’s not my credit. Totally Hyunwoo’s credit. Thanks to the sudden appearance of an “angel without a face” we easily won their hearts.”

“Angel without a face?”

When Minhye showed curiosity, Youngsu began to tell her about everything boastfully.

Minhye was really stunned. She was aware of how difficult it was to put sharing and donation into practice as she sometimes did it with her father Daebong Park.

Though it was a credit to Hyunwoo’s mother, Minhye still felt Hyunwoo was really cool.

She confirmed recently that there was little room for her to wiggle into his heart but still felt attracted to him. Her eyes looked at him and trembled like the morning star.

A bit embarrassed, Hyunwoo laughed loudly to ease his awkwardness, “Hahaha. I think that’s a good sign of business.”

Now Hyunwoo felt his heart lightened a bit. He felt as if he repaid a bit what he owed Aurum, but this was only the beginning of business in the field.

Coming to her senses quickly, Minhye went back to her CEO demeanor.

“Hey, you have to be ready to work through the night the moment we receive the script. Got it, designers? You have to finish the work as soon as possible to get the contract.”

Late that evening after they were done for the day, Minhye offered to have a get-together dinner.

“We got the sponsorship right at the end of the day. How can we pass the day without wining and dining?”

“Of course. You should treat us to a drink,” said Youngsu, who enjoyed drinking.

Though Hyunwoo wanted to bow out, not only Youngsu but also his friend Yonggu stopped him.

So, he agreed to join their first drinking session only.

However, even before the first session was over, his cell phone buzzed.

It was a call from Dukwoo Jang, Nami Yu’s boyfriend.

Hyunwoo quickly picked up the phone as he felt there was something wrong.

Though it was still early evening, Dukwoo was already drunk.

“Hey, brother. Nami is really making me crazy.”

Hyunwoo had a feeling of sinking in the pit of his stomach. He thought everything was going smoothly between Dukwoo and Nami, but apparently, it was not.

“Where are you now? Let me come to you right now.”

After the call, Hyunwoo got out of the get-together dinner. Though everybody wanted to stop him, nobody could do so.

It was quite a long distance away and cost more than 30,000 won by taxi to get there.

When Hyunwoo arrived at the bar, Dukwoo had bloodshot eyes and was much drunker than when he first called.

“What’s wrong, man? Did Nami do something mean to you?”

Dukwoo let out a long sigh before answering, “Phew. It looks like she is getting closer to the president of the entertainment company she is affiliated with. I am afraid I’ll lose her.”

“As you know, any entertainer should curry favor with the president of their company, right? Don’t you think so?”

Instead of replying, Dukwoo presented an envelope.

When Hyunwoo looked into it, there was a picture of Nami seemingly on a date with a man.

“Is he the guy Nami is getting closer to?”

“Yes, Taesu Ahn. Virgin lady-killer. Son of a bitch,” said Dukwoo.

Dukwoo launched into a torrent of slurs against Taesu. It was the first time Hyunwoo heard him cursing like that, which meant he took the situation very seriously.

“I really love Nami. I don’t want to lose her under any situation. I would give it all if I can hold her.”

“Why don’t you think Nami has also her right to choose a man. If you are chasing her crazy like that, it’s not love. Just let her know how you feel toward her and then let her decide. That’s the best policy, I think.”

“She is being deceived right now, brother. She just can’t make the right judgment on her own now.”

“You’ve got to help her, man. Don’t show her your obsession with her. Just try to show her the true colors of Taesu Ahn.”

Hyunwoo tried to persuade him, but it was in vain. Dukwoo dropped his head on the table as if he was so frustrated.

“How long is Nami’s contract with the company?”

“Three years. I know it because she discussed it with me. I barely succeeded in stopping her from signing a long-term contract at that time.”

“So, how many years passed since she signed it?”

“It started even before she got selected as Miss Korea. I guess two years and three months have passed…”

If that’s the case, she had about nine months to go. If Taesu was such a bad guy, it seemed that stopping her from extending the contract should be Dukwoo’s priority.

Hyunwoo stayed with him late into the night and comforted him, but that was not the solution.

If he could share Dukwoo’s agony a bit, that was all he could do for him.

Hyunwoo carried Dukwoo who got completely drunk on his back to a motel.

After that, he called Byungwon Kang. He wanted to call Byungwon at his office during the day, but couldn’t because of the other employees of Space Design.

Byungwon picked up the phone gladly.

Though he submitted his resignation, he was still with Aurum because he had yet to turn over his responsibilities to his successor.

“You said the company that hired you was called Design Room, right? Its sales items are the same as my company Space Design, right?”

“You’re right. I found it out only recently,” said Byungwon.

Byungwon admitted it without any reservation. And he opined that Design Room might have plagiarized the idea of Space Design.

“Somehow I felt their offer to me was so good. I regret that I accepted it.

“What’s the point of regretting it when you have already accepted it? We just do our best at work.”

After the call, Hyunwoo became more convinced about Design Room’s real intention. Design Room was not set up by somebody by accident, but with a clear purpose of beating Space Design. When he checked out the date of the founding of Design Room on its internet homepage, it was five days before Space Design had been founded.

“Oops! They got us completely.”

But that was not important at this point.

Hyunwoo felt that there had to be a parent company behind Design Room. If they set it up, regarding Space Design as its rival, its parent company would be Space Design’s most fierce competition.

Art Hill? Oh, no way!

Art Hill was much more financially stable than Aurum, which was financially pinched because of its aggressive investment recently.

***

Jaeyol showed the news director the article about ‘Hyunwoo’s Mom.’ It was based on his interview with Hyunwoo, which he fleshed out with some contents of the local paper Kyonggi Ilbo.

He asked the Ansan branch of Korea Broadcasting to take footage of Hyunwoo’s Mom’s factory, the schools and snack houses for the video material related to his report.

Checking the story, the news director showed surprise.

“Are all the contents here true?”

“Of course. Do you think I made up the story?” asked Jaeyol Song with a satisfactory smile. It looked like the news director instantly appreciated the value of the story.

“I think this is not a typical scoop.”

“What do you mean?”

“Looks like it can hit a jackpot if everything goes smoothly. What I mean is this is not a one-time news report.”

Jaeyol’s eyes popped out. The news director had a very keen sense of the news.

“I thought it was a scoop, but not as big as you thought.”

“Hey, dude. Don’t you know the president keeps talking about the four evils of society: sexual violence, school violence, domestic violence, and bad food. This is bad food selling right in front of the school. In other words, this is what the general public is most sensitive to,” the news director continued resolutely, “As soon as the video material is delivered, try to make the report as soon as possible, and put in our promise to the people when you air the main news.”

“What kind of promise do you want me to put in?”

“An in-depth report on it.”

“In-depth report?”

“Yea, it would be very difficult to find this kind of episode, and this is a very special episode. It can be a message of hope to not only the students and parents but also all people.”

Jaeyol nodded.

“The in-depth report must send the message that we at the Korea Broadcasting will spearhead the campaign to bring about innovation in the sanitary conditions of snack houses near schools across the country on the occasion of this report. Can’t you figure out my intention yet?”

Jaeyol could read his mind.

“There are lots of people with good and beautiful hearts in this world. If our report becomes the talk of the town I’m sure we will see a second, or third ‘Hyunwoo’s Mom’. The more we promote the faceless angel, the more people will pluck up their courage and come out. It’s the role of the press to cover it, isn’t it?”

“Of course. I think I can report a great story for a long time. Thank you, sir.”

“Hey, don’t be grateful to me. You have to thank the faceless angel, don’t you?”

“Really? Hahaha.”