Chapter 221: Chapter 215

When Hyunwoo talked about his business, James had a sullen expression on his face.

“I realized there was a big difference between me working as an employee and me running a company. They recognized my ability when I was an employee, but when I have come to run a company, I really find it hard to make profits in business.”

“As you know, one smash hit can bring you lots of money in the animation world. I hope the day will come soon.”

Hyunwoo tried to comfort him, but James shook his head.

“No, I think I made the wrong choice. In fact, I had a couple of excellent animation projects, but they failed to make a hit. I’m out of money. If I can’t make a success with the current animations, I’m thinking of closing business.”

James spent lots of time for his convenience. He stayed with Hyunwoo late at night and gave him a ride to the head office of Tony World the next morning.

Hyunwoo felt thankful for his hospitality and felt sorry for him at the same time.

Thanks to his help, Hyunwoo pulled off the contract without any difficulty.

The conditions of the contract were satisfactory.

Even though it was not the exclusive right, they offered 10 million dollars as the contract money, plus 10% of its ordinary profits.

James saw him off at the airport. While waiting for the flight, Hyunwoo talked with James about business.

“I’m afraid I will close business sooner or later.”

“Then you’re going back to the status of an employee, right?”

“I guess so. I’m a bit worried, though. I’m thinking about whether I should stay here or go back to Korea.”

“What about your family?”

“Well, I’m unmarried, haha.”

He said his parents and relatives were in Korea. He immigrated to America with a challenging spirit alone. Though he was not good at business, his challenging spirit was commendable.

“If I may ask, I wonder if I can join the Ani & Funny when I go back to Korea. I am confident I am quite competent in creating storyboards.”

Actually, Hyunwoo needed more talents in that field.

The problem was how to verify James’s ability.

“Though I’m the owner of Ani & Funny, I don’t make the hiring decision on my own. Let me go back and discuss with my staff. I’ll let you know.”

“Got it. Please let me know.”

“Sure, will do.”

As soon as he arrived in Korea, Hyunwoo called Suji first. When he departed for Los Angeles, he called her whenever he had free time.

Thanks to his efforts, she answered the phone in a cheerful voice.

Nodding his head, Hyunwoo thought to himself, Yea. There is nothing I couldn’t do when I tried. Suji wanted my attention, above all. I wish I had made more efforts for her attention.

Back home, he took a shower and then left to pick up Suji.

They drove to Anmyon Island. Though the vacation time was almost over, there were lots of cars on the road leading to the island.

When they arrived at the island, it happened to be sunset.

Hugging her from behind, he was watching the horizon that was getting red with the setting sun. Though they didn’t talk, they felt they could feel each other’s hearts.

Over dinner, they chatted away in a good mood.

Suddenly, he asked her as if something came to his mind, “How about running around our village in the morning?”

“Why did you suddenly bring up running?”

He told her what happened several days ago. He said Yu Zuung’s running alone in the hill near his house seemed a bit dangerous.

“That day I ran with her, but if I run with her every morning, you might think it strange.”

“Why do you think so?” said Suji casually.

But he didn’t feel at ease. He felt as if he was dating Yu Zuung.

“I know you like to work out, right? Let’s run together.”

“I go to the fitness center and swimming pool in the morning, as you know. I like it much better than running outside.”

With a bright smile he said, “Oh, that’s why you have such a nice figure.”

“You know I’m pretty, right? Hoho” said she, posing cutely for him with a charming laugh.

Suji seemed quite happy. She didn’t seem to try to be happy today. Her happy and broad smile seemed to show that she owned the whole world.

Was it the reason?

Before it was too late, she suggested coming back to the hotel.

When they opened the room curtain, they saw the night sea and lighthouse, which created a romantic atmosphere.

But they soon sat back on the sofa and sipped wine before kissing each other.

Was it because of the time difference due to his overseas travel? Or was it because of Suji’s intense desire? As soon as he had sex with her, he just fell asleep over her. He didn’t know she massaged his body. He was drunk with happiness and sound asleep.

After he came back from his trip to the island with Suji, Hyunwoo began running with Yu Zuung in the morning.

Though he usually woke up early in the morning, Yu Zuung did the same. She was always doing some warm-up exercises even before he came out for running.

“What time do you wake up?”

“My eyes are open at 6 am usually.”

“Aren’t you tired if you wake up that early?”

“No. I go to bed early instead.”

“What time do you hit the sack?”

“After 10 pm, I feel sleepy. Hoho.”

He began to run with her. She took her pet, Wory, too, saying her dog also needed workout.

When he was running around his neighborhood with her, he suddenly felt strange. Turning his head, he saw Suji opening her window on the second floor and watching him running with Yu Zuung.

As it was somewhat far from his place, Hyunwoo could not check out her facial expression. But probably she felt lonely.

At that moment, he felt a sting in the heart. Though Suji said she didn’t care, she must have felt uneasy about his running with Yu Zuung amicably.

What would Hyunwoo feel if he saw Suji jogging with Jungsu every morning?

In fact, Hyunwoo ran with Yu Zuung every morning since he came back from the island.

When that thinking bothered him, Hyunwoo told Yu Zuung, after all.

“I’m going to run with you today. It’s a real drag to wake up early in the morning every day.”

“Oh, don’t care about me. Who’s going to do harm to me when it’s bright like this in the morning? I can run alone. In fact, I was running alone in Vietnam.”

Though she said that nonchalantly, Hyunwoo was still concerned. She might be okay now, but if she kept running every day, she might be the target of a sexual harasser someday.

“Why don’t you obtain a driver’s license? You can use a company car to go to the fitness center or swimming pool.”

“I’ve got a Vietnamese license. I can change it to the Korean license. Just in case, I have all the required documents with me, too.”

“Good for you! Apply for the Korean license quickly and get it.”

Suji headed to the swimming pool alone.

Though Hyunwoo promised to give her a ride to her company, he couldn’t keep it because he was too busy. He gave her a ride in the morning, but she had to come back home alone after work.

Today, too, she drove a light car to the swimming pool.

She met a familiar face there: Jungsu.

“Oh, it’s you, Jungsu.”

“Suji, how come you’re here?”

“Well, I have a membership here. What about you?”

“Oh, I see. I came here for a regular membership today.”

For some reason, she felt a prick in the heart. For she thought Jungsu might have signed the membership on purpose.

But it was her unfounded concern. Jungsu was not the type of man who would take away another man’s girlfriend.

With a bright smile, she said, “That’s great! Actually, I was bored as I came here alone.”

***

Singyong Co. is the biggest oil refinery and communications company in Korea.

In terms of the sales and profits, it is ranked 5th, but in terms of cash flow and company stability, it is ranked 2nd after Ohsung Co.

Besides, Singyong discovered a huge oilfield in the continental shelf of Vietnam several years ago. Its stake was only 15% because it explored the oil jointly with Chinese and Japanese companies, but as the size of the oilfield was so huge, its profits snowballed and claimed its status as the most successful company these.

However, its president, Munsik Choi, was a greedy businessman. No matter how successful he was, he was always on the lookout for new business opportunities, a new source of revenues, and new talents.

In particular, he was pretty interested in the culture content featuring K-POP.

In fact, Munsik had his third son establish a cultural content company called JK Entertainment.

JK Entertainment was different from AT Entertainment founded by Taesu Ahn, the youngest son of the president of Ohsung Co.

Taesu founded his company despite his father’s strong opposition, while the real owner of JK Entertainment was Munsik, not his third son.

JK Entertainment invested a lot of money sourced from Sinyoung Co. since the beginning of the business. Its building was large and splendid, and it scouted famous entertainers indiscriminately.

Thanks to that, JK Entertainment could establish its image as a major entertainment brand within a short period of time.

Still, Munsik was not satisfied with JK Entertainment’s status. In particular, he was at the height of discontent when he watched new idol stars who appeared like a comet.

These days, he focused on Jinhon and Angela. They became world stars thanks to their music video Duckling Fly.

“Damn it! Why can’t we discover such talents?”

There was only one reason for that: JK’s staff was not competent enough.

It was simple to raise the staff’s ability. Namely, he could stimulate their morale with a stick and carrot approach, or take his cue from the successful entertainment company.

Munsik called the manager of Singyongs’ intelligence gathering team.

“Do some investigation of Ani & Funny and report back to me in detail. I want to know who is its president, who he is, how he made a big hit and how he grew his company. Also, check out his family background and the entertainers belonging to his company.”

“Got it, sir.”

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