Chapter 40: <It’s over>

Na Jaeman.

He was the CEO of Nuri Finances, which belonged to the Nuri Enterprise.

Every Wednesday, various CEOs of Nuri Enterprise’s subsidiary companies gathered around to discuss their respective performances and how to improve them.

He was a CEO, but he was still a salaryman. He still had to worry about his performance and feared the Wednesday meetings. Park Jiwon, who was the CEO of the company responsible for the credit card department joked.

“Jaeman, you are becoming arrogant!”

“Haha, you’re funny.”

“Your performance this quarter was amazing. You must be getting a huge incentive this quarter.”

“If that’s true, I’ll buy you a drink.”

“Haha, let’s go somewhere fancy.”

“Of course.”

Park Jiwon tapped Na Jaeman’s shoulder. “This is why I like you so much.”

While they talked, an announcement was made.

“The chairman is here.”

The room quieted down.

Shin Yongwon.

Nuri Enterprise’s Chairman.

At the age of 67, Shin Yongwon boasted of great health. He exercised regularly and took great care of himself. Next came Shin Yongwon’s oldest son Shin Gungu and daughter Shin Semi.

“We will now begin the 16th meeting of Nuri Enterprise. Let’s start with our chant. Finance is performance!”

All the attendants raised their fists and repeated.

“Finance is performance!”

“Finance is performance!”

“Finance is performance!”

After the routine chant, the meeting finally began. Shin Yongwon always insisted they began with his motto.

“Then, let’s start with the performance report.”

The room filled with tension.

“Bank sector. 1% growth.”

“Life insurance. No change from last month.”

“Malpractice insurance. No change from last month.”

Every time each sector was announced, the respective CEO’s reacted accordingly depending on the number. Finally, Nuri Finances’ result was mentioned.

“Finances. 3% growth.”

Na Jaeman bit his lips and nodded while everyone else looked at him with a considerable amount of envy. This is the second month in a row Nuri Finances performed the best. Na Jaeman tried to hide his pleasure, but he couldn’t stop giving a proud smile.

“Congratulations to Nuri Finances. Let’s give him a round of applause.”

Everyone clapped. Some looked at Na Jaeman with defeated envy, while others glared at him with scorn. Shin Yongwon took the microphone and announced.

“It seems like the finance sector is the only one working hard nowadays.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“So big data? Is it because of that project?”

“Currently, it’s because of the new HTS system. Big data project will be applied soon as well.”

“I see. Advisor Shin.”

Shin Semi was one of the advisors to the chairman. With her expensive bob, Shin Semi looked sharp and attractive. Her eyes shone like diamonds. She looked both alluring and intimidating.

“Sir.”

Her voice was sweet, a gorgeous woman of tremendous magnificence.

“So it’s FinTech. It’s something you’re interested in, right Advisor Shin?”

FinTech.

It was an IT related technology in the financial service industry.

“Yes, sir. Soon, offline transactions will die out and everything will happen online. That is the direction we, Nuri Enterprise, need to follow.”

“Yes, that. It seems like Nuri Finances is working on a related project so perhaps you could get involved.”

“I will look into it.”

“…And Director Shin.”

Shin Gungu was the director of Nuri Enterprise. He was a younger version of Shin Yongwon. He was charismatic but with an unapproachable look.

“Yes, Chairman.”

“Don’t get involved yet but keep an eye on it.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Let’s go onto the next topic.”

After the meeting, Shin Semi approached Na Jaeman. Shin Semi was only 26 years old, but Na Jaeman still felt intimidated by her. He waited for her to lead the conversation.

‘My performance was great this month so why does she want to talk to me…I hope it’s not to reprimand me for something stupid.’

Nail.

That was Shin Semi’s nickname. She was sharp and always found things others missed. Many feared her for this.

Na Jaeman tried to think of anything he may have missed.

“Don’t be nervous. I just wanted to ask you about the big data project.”

“Oh, that. We are currently having a little issue with Daeyang’s report, so we are re-examining it.”

“Re-examine?”

“An outsource company working on our HTS system found a problem with the project.”

“So there is a problem with Daeyang’s proposal?”

“Yes. So we are re-checking everything. In fact, we are planned to have a seminar about it next week.”

“Are you referring to the seminar by a company called Daesan?”

“That’s right.”

“Daesan… Daesan… It doesn’t sound familiar…”

“It’s a small company worth only about 5 million dollars. It’s not a company you would know.”

“And you gave an important job to such a small company?” Shin Semi asked abruptly.

She accused, but Na Jaeman answered with confidence. “Daesan is currently the leading company in the reward/penalty system you suggested.”

“Daesan? Not Daeyang?”

“There is a man named Woosung Kang in Daesan whose nickname is Midas. He will be speaking at this seminar.”

“Woosung Kang… Woosung Kang…”

“We are hoping to poach him as soon as possible.”

“Jo Youngsuk wants to scout him?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Shin Semi frowned. Soon after, their conversation ended, and Na Jaeman was finally free to leave.

1:00 am.

Woosung was sitting in front of his computer at home. He was working on the seminar for tomorrow. His days at Daesan were now numbered.

Before he left, he wanted to do a good job. He wanted to leave a good impression. To do this, he had to do well at the seminar. How could he relay his knowledge to the audience effectively?

Woosung remembered Choi Gichul and his negotiation skills.

‘He was an amazing speaker.’

Choi Gichul was born rich, but he didn’t use any of his money when making his company Bitmain. He had many investors and gained enough money from them to create it.

Many invested because they knew Choi Gichul was rich, but that wasn’t the main reason. The most important reason was his communication skills. Woosung saw it many times. There was no one Choi Gichul couldn’t convince.

Woosung remembered Choi Gichul’s advice.

‘Get down to your audience’s level.’

This was Woosung’s main focus for the seminar. Most of the audience will be developers but Woosung didn’t plan to use technical languages. More important than the developers were the CEO and the chairmen. He made sure his explanation could be understood by anyone.

Woosung wore a black suit with a blue shirt. In front of the mirror, he looked manly and professional.

Watching Woosung on the stage, Yoon Gihwan exclaimed. “I guess clothes make the man.”

Kim Yonggun agreed.

“He does look great today.”

“Haha. He’s doing an awesome presentation too. It’s a great finale to his time here.”

Kim Yonggun realized what Yoon Gihwan meant. “Wait, is Woosung quitting?”

“Hush! It’s still not official yet, but it’s going to happen soon.”

“Then he’s going to work for Jang Gwanchul?”

Yoon Gihwan shook his head. “I’ll tell you later. Let’s focus on the seminar for now.”

Park Junwoo kept glancing at Yoon Gihwan. He could tell something big was going to happen soon.

The audience included many people from Daeyang including Cha Yeoreum and Kim Jaejin.

‘Woosung…’

Cha Yeoreum remembered the first time she met him.

The university was having a sports day. Cha Yeoreum was wearing a tight shirt and she could hear many guys whispering about her and catcalling her. Then suddenly, she heard Woosung yelling at them.

“Hey, just shut up. You guys are so noisy. You especially, Park Jonghyun.”

They started dating soon after, but it only lasted for 6 months.

‘That was 3 years ago.’

Unlike her expectation, Woosung was doing very well in the real world.

In fact, he was now unreachable to her.