The Famous Millionaire

“What the heck? You want to share my room?” said Hyunwoo, expressing a blank look. It was as if he got stabbed in the back by Jinhon Kwak. Hyunwoo was embarrassed.

On the other hand, though, Hyunwoo felt Jinhon was commendable in a way. Instead of hiding behind his shyness Jinhon came forward and expressed his wish to share Hyunwoo’s room.

Hyunwoo didn’t feel sensitive to sharing the room. He was not the type of person who couldn’t sleep because someone was beside him.

“Got it,” said Hyunwoo, giving a green light to Jinhon’s request.

Lying on the bed, they talked about various topics, and the main topic naturally revolved around Jinhon’s music.

“What is your dream?”

“Well, I want to continue my music career to the end of my life. I just want to perform music with my congenial friends without worrying about anything.”

“How come your dream is so simple?”

“What about your dream, then?”

“Well, my dream is to get the returns from my investment in people like you. Hahaha.”

“Is that all? I think your dream is more simple than mine.”

“Really? In my mind, mine is more ambitious than yours.”

“That’s because you don’t know well enough. Do you know how difficult it is to meet people with congenial minds? And you really can’t make a living unless you hit gold.”

“Don’t you think you should have a dream such as being a millionaire with music?”

“Well, I can make some money enough to sustain myself. Of course, the more money, the better, but music is more important to me,” said Jinhon.

Hyunwoo felt good to hear what he said. At least his passion for music was pure.

He also agreed with Jinhon’s remarks that it was difficult to meet congenial friends.

When he thought as far as that, he suddenly thought of Raymon, the black guy who lived next to his room at the lodge in Seoul while he was an employee with Space Design.

Like Jinhon, Raymon’s passion for music was enthusiastic.

Come to think of it, Raymon’s deep husky voice was pretty unique.

He felt Raymon, Jinhon, and Angela, his Vietnamese girlfriend would be a great mix.

“Hey, Jinhon. Don’t you want to add a singer to your music video?”

“Singer? Which one are you talking about?”

He told Jinhon about Raymon in detail. Jinhon listened to him with great interest but declined.

“Maybe next time I can do with him, but this time I want to make the music video with Angela alone.”

Hyunwoo giggled at that.

The next morning Jinhon was going out with Angela with the excuse that he wanted to have her practice to participate in his music video ‘Duckling Fly’ as soon as possible.

“Where are you going to take her?”

“As you know, I attend an alternative music school. So, it’s equipped with good practice rooms. If I pay 200,000 won per month, I can use the room indefinitely.”

“Really? Let me know when you’re done with practicing. You might need some big money if you rent a recording studio.”

“Well, we have a recording studio at our school. They give us a 30% discount for the students. I think I can record for 200,000 won if Angela is fully prepared. Besides, there is a dance practice room there, too.”

“Great school! Good for you.”

“See you later then.”

Jinhon went with Angela to the alternative school, and Hyunwoo went to the animation office in Bono-dong.

***

Manager Kim went into the president’s room, holding a USB.

“I’ve done a thorough analysis of it.”

As if he was expecting that, the president sat on the sofa, with a notebook powered up.

Inserting the USB, Kim said, “I think we can submit two entries under our name.”

BNB was the biggest video media company in Korea. It was so big and competitive that almost all the video productions for the TV networks were made by BNB, but there was a popular backlash against the company. Because of its monopolistic business practices, other video companies couldn’t get access to the market, let alone their growth.

So, BNB thought of some other tricks to avoid the criticism by creating sub-companies with different names such as Q1, Skyview, and Goldview.

BNB submitted to the Talent Donation Broadcasting Company a total of four animation works under the name of its four subsidiaries, but Manager Kim mentioned only two, not four.

“Why are there only two?”

“I guess there will be competition in the categories of social security and history, and I feel our entries have less chance of being chosen this time.”

“Competition? Which company is competing with us?”

“It’s called Ani & Funny.”

It was new to the president.

“Really? Okay, then. Only submit competitive entries.”

Manager Kim played two videos in a row. One of them was ‘Tuti & Angelica’ submitted by Ani & Funny. The animation work in the history area was produced by Skyview, which the president felt was clearly inferior in terms of its contents and video quality.

The president frowned and said, “Ani & Funny? I’ve never heard of it.”

“Based on my research, the company was founded this year. It has just a little over ten employees, and many of them are part-timers, and the full-time staff is only six.”

“How come such a company made this kind of animation work so quickly? Find out who the core players of the company are and pay a premium to scout them. By the way, did you work it out well with Producer Hwang?”

“Well, Hwang is trying to wash his hands of this deal, citing his difficult position. It looks like the selection of the final animation candidates will be made not by individuals but by the committee, starting next year.”

“Is he reneging because he feels this is the final year to get kickbacks from us?”

“That might be one cause, but the problem is Reporter Jaeyol Song.”

“Reporter Jaeyol Song? Who is he?”

“He’s a veteran reporter with Korea Broadcasting. It seems he is covering any possible secret deal in the selection process.”

“Why is the Korea Broadcasting broadcaster going around for such coverage? Does he want to get some kickbacks for that?”

“Looks like he is backing Ani & Funny.”

“Damn it. Why are there so many blowflies gathering like this? Don’t care about Song. Give a little more bribe to Producer Hwang. You know how big a loss we can incur when we lose a slot in their TV programs, don’t you?”

“Got it.”

***

“Hey, everybody. Come over here. I’ve got some assignments for you,” said Hyunwoo, calling the kids of Ani & Funny.

Inserting the USB on the computer, he played the music and video, which featured the main song of the music video and various dancing motions.

Jinhon’s song was played again, which surprised everyone there. And the dancing featured in the video was exceptional. The video had a story in itself like this: some garbage is scared when dumped at the waste site, but it gained confidence with the help of its friends and becomes the light of the world by changing to recycled products.

Jinhon already had a detailed plan on the insertion of specific dancing portions in the music video.

The music and dancing were very pleasant and refreshing, which suggested the natural and freewheeling style was the life of the music video.

Watching the music video material Jinhon gave him, Hyunwoo was greatly impressed.

Wow, he really did a good job. I feel it’s going to be a big hit.

The Ani & Funny kids seemed to agree with him.

“Can you make it like this one?” asked Hyunwoo.

Nodding their heads, they said confidently, “Absolutely. Though it will take some time, we can make it.”

Hyunwoo wanted to have this music video produced by these amateur kids. So, he made sure not only the music and dancing but also the video was made by Ani & Funny kids alone.

They were pretty enthusiastic. When they ran into difficulties, the professional staff working with them kindly solved the problem. Thanks to their work, the Ani & Funny kids’ capabilities improved daily, though the progress in their animation work was slow.

Several days later, Jinhon visited Hyunwoo’s office with Angela. Another student from the alternative school accompanied them.

It had been almost 15 days since Angela, the orphaned Vietnamese girl, arrived in Korea. As she, along with her friends, visited the main office in Bono-dong every weekend, they knew each other very well.

In particular, Angela was popular among them because of her pure and beautiful image. Though Jungah was pretty, she was nothing, compared to Angela.

“Finally, we’re done with recording the music video.”

“Already? In about 15 days?”

“Angela is a genius. After listening to the music, she instantly memorized it and showed the appropriate feelings and mood perfectly,” said Jinhon, praising her.

With hearty laughter, Hyunwoo said, “Ha ha ha. Got it, dude. As you are praising her, let me listen.”

When the music was played, the staff in the office opened their eyes wide. They looked at each other full of surprise as if they couldn’t believe it because of Angela’s clear and dreamlike voice which perfectly matched with the song ‘Duckling Fly.’

The peculiar sound coming out of the milk bottle musical instrument was also exceptionally appealing. The rhythm itself was very exciting, which made the listeners dance to its tune before they knew it.

Added to the tune was the singing of the duet Jinhon and Angela who made a fantastic harmony, which was another great attraction of the song.

Even when the music was over, Hyunwoo made an absent expression for a moment until he was prodded by Jinhon.

“Can you play the next song?” demanded Jinhon.

“Oh… I forgot. Sure.”

Hyunwoo refreshed his mind and played other versions of the music video.

Like Jinhon said, every version was different. For example, one version was serious while the other was exciting. There were four versions int total.

Hyunwoo liked all of them, the fruits of Jinhon and Angela’s toil and sweat, but he liked the fourth one best, which Jinhon made light and playful.

In particular, he felt good about that portion in which they laughed playfully at each other.

After enjoying the music videos, Hyunwoo thumbed up and praised them, “This is really the best I’ve ever seen. Yea, the best music video!”