The Famous Millionaire

“That’s right. He’s the same person who sent us a story about Gandhi for the first time when we serialized Tuti & Angelica in Story Mecca. James Lee translated it into Korean. Can you take a look?” said Kyungsu.

He then printed out a piece of paper titled ‘Journey at Dawn.’

“Was his story good enough?”

“In my opinion, it’s excellent. I’m going to have Suhyim review it later.”

Hyunwoo read the story, which was as follows:

There were two boys and one girl who had a special dream in common. It was about their going on a journey to a different world at dawn, regardless of their will, when everybody was still asleep. That world, closely affiliated with the human world, could be put the latter in danger when the villains make the former evil. So, the two boys and one girl joined their hands to fight against them to save that world.

That Indian sent five stories as samples, which were all good. They were not only interesting but also instructional.

The only thing Hyunwoo felt lacking was that the characters were not attractive. But they were too good to be discarded.

Suddenly, he got curious about that Indian man. Maybe he could be of great help to Ani & Funny.

If it’s possible, Hyunwoo would fly to India to meet that man, but that was less effective.

Instead, it would be much better to invite him to Korea.

After turning it over in his mind, Hyunwoo sent a message to him in person:

<Hello.

My name is Hyunwoo Jang, president of Ani & Funny.

I read your story ‘Journey at Dawn’ with interest. Very interesting story with a good subject.

But I’m more interested in you than the story. Can you come to Korea if you’re available?

If you decide to come, let me foot the bill for you. And I’ll prepare some gifts for you,too.

I look forward to meeting you.>

It was a week later when Chatulbuz sent him a reply.

As expected, he showed active interest in visiting Korea. Besides, he was an animation major, a perfect match with Ani & Funny.

He gave a detailed introduction about himself in the message.

He was a 23-year-old man, who just graduated from college. As he was more interested in doing business than finding a job, he was planning to start an animation enterprise with two friends.

He said he would love to visit Korea with his friends.

Hyunwoo had no reason to refuse Chatulbuz’s request.

He called Yellow Balloon to arrange the tickets for the three Indian men.

Chatulbuz seemed to be a very impatient man, who said he could even today fly to Korea.

It was one week later when he and his friends arrived at the Ani & Funny office. As they were fluent in English, there was no communication problem among them.

After a brief exchange of greetings, they brought up the main topic. Though Hyunwoo asked them to take a rest from the fatigue of their journey by going on a tour first, Chatulbuz said,

“Well, I would like to discuss our business first. I think we can go on a tour with a light heart after that.”

“That makes sense, hahaha.” said Hyunwoo.

Then they gathered at Hyunwoo’s office for discussion.

Hyunwoo was open to Chatulbuz and his friends’ contract status. They could resettle in Korea and work like Yu Zuung, or run the local branch of Ani & Funny in India.

Chatulbuz frankly said, “To be honest, we would like to live in India. As I said in the message, it’s our dream to do animation business in India.”

Nodding his head, Hyunwoo explained to him about the activities of the Ani & Funny branch.

Of course, Hyunwoo didn’t want a carbon copy of the Vietnam in India.

He would have Chatulbuz and his friends focus on developing stories while the Vietnamese branch was simply involved in drawing the pictures of the stories.

But Chatulbuz had a different opinion.

“There are lots of students studying animation in India. If I get a chance, I would like to open a branch in my country like the Vietnam branch.”

“If you want to do it, I guess the India branch will handle two things, developing stories and animation production. Won’t you give it a try? Let me support you strongly.”

They brightened their faces at his suggestion.

“Okay. If you go back, send me a project proposal on the India branch. Let me review it first and decide how much I will invest. You’ll be compensated, based on your performance, just like the Vietnamese branch.”

“Got it. Thanks for the opportunity.”

“As you have come to Korea, why don’t you stop by our Vietnamese branch for an observation tour? I think your visit will help you launch the Indian branch. Let me foot the bill for you, of course.”

“Thanks a lot.”

Chatulbuz and his friends were full of enthusiasm, which helped them and Hyunwoo reach an agreement easily.

Under the agreement, Ani & Funny would control the India branch with the same condition as that of the Vietnam branch and recognize the copyrights of their own stories or characters to a certain degree.

“The copyrights fee might be much less than you think because we have to revise your stories and characters on our end. As you know, a little difference in the atmosphere of animation works often affects the results of their success.”

“We know that, of course. We’ll always try to learn and work really hard.”

After he was done discussing with them, Hyunwoo arranged for them to go on a tour.

In the meantime, he asked Ani & Funny staff a happy question.

“Is there anyone who wants to join Chatulbuz’s company’s tour of our Vietnam branch?”

“Me!”

“Me, too!”

Hyunwoo wanted to send all of them but could not do so, given the situation.

Giggling at them, Hyunwoo said, “Let me send two this time. And I’ll make the decision on my own.”

Hyunwoo looked around his staff. Everybody was looking at him with sparkling eyes.

Kyungsu, Sanggyu, and James Lee already had been to Vietnam.

Hyunwoo fixed his eyes on Myunghun and Jihoon, who were lacking in creative ability despite their excellent work.

Besides, they seemed rather spent up as Yu Zuung was absent from the office recently as she busily worked as a dancer of the music video ‘Temptation” these days.

Yu Zuung became a big star that they could not even covet at all. Though they felt heartbroken, they had to give up Yu Zuung.

Hyunwoo hoped their trip to Vietnam could help them refresh their minds.

“Jihun and Myunghun, you’re selected for the Vietnamese trip this time.”

They were so overjoyed.

In particular, Myunghun was more interested in Vietnamese girls than the Vietnam branch.

“By the way, are there so many beautiful girls in Vietnam?”

Jihun also looked at Hyunwoo with a great curiosity. It seemed he was preoccupied with finding a girl who looked like Yu Zuung.

“Well, you might find one there. I wish you good luck!”

And then he called Ngun secretly.

“Hey, are there any girls there interested in Korean men?”

“Yeah. Any reason for asking that?”

“Well, two young staff here are flying there for an observation tour. They are good-hearted and competent. Can you introduce them to nice girls if they’re available? Who knows they might be good lovers later.”

“Hahaha. Got it.”

Chatulbuz came back after a four-day-five-night tour.

Right after that, they flew to Vietnam with Myunghun and Jihun.

Hyunwoo saw them off at Incheon International Airport.

“Wish all of you good luck!”

Several days later Hyunwoo had a call from Jaeyun Hong, the team manager of Story Mecca. As the creation of a new website for animations, Animoon, was almost done, he called Hyunwoo almost every day.

“Did you fix the mistake?” asked Hyunwoo.

“Yes, I did. It was a trifling mistake, after all.”

“Good. No other mistake?”

“So far, I haven’t found any other mistake. I’m going to test it one more time, and then move on to the final test.”

“Good job!”

Hyunwoo was relieved that he found and fixed the mistake.

But he was still full of anxiety because he could not secure good movie content that would determine the success or failure of the new site. He tried his best to persuade more companies to participate, but they were not cooperative. They thought they would play second fiddle to Ani & Funny.

“Phew. how can I persuade them?”

As the new Animoon site was nearing completion, Hyunwoo grew more and more anxious over the matter.

Suddenly, he hit upon an idea.

“Yea, Seoul Broadcasting!”

In fact, Ani & Funny drew lots of attention from the public as much as KOVE DREAM. In some respects, Ani & Funny generated more attention because of the widely popular Duckling Fly, Garbage World as well as Tuti & Angelica. Recently, the music video ‘Temptation’ made a smash hit.

But Hyunwoo had not made any special program on Ani & Funny up until now. If he offered a relevant program idea to Seoul Broadcasting, it would instantly show a big interest.