But there was one thing that bothered Hyunwoo: the fact that he was an employee of Aurum. If Aurum’s company regulation does not allow its employees to work for another company, Hyunwoo’s starting a business will be against the regulation.

Hummm…I think I had better check out the company regulation first.

The next morning Hyunwoo explained to Yonggu about his start-up plan and sought his advice. Grinning, Yonggu took out a think file and showed it to him, “How come you don’t know about the company regulations when you were hired a long time ago? If you look at this clause, you’re prohibited from doing multiple jobs.”

When Hyunwoo closely examined it, it was not a blanket prohibition.

The first prohibition condition was the case where the corporate order was influenced by concurrent employment. In a nutshell, it is the prohibition of running a business in the same kind of industry or prohibition of working in such a place.

The second prohibition was the case when concurrent employment had a large effect on the work order of the company. A typical example was an adult entertainment business where they worked until late at night. Surrogate driving was also prohibited as it would affect normal work the next day.

And it also prohibited concurrent employment when it would do broader harm to the company.

In Hyunwoo’s opinion, he felt the prohibition would not be applied to his business start-up related to the Anifan kids.

And Yonggu’s explanation made Hyunwoo feel more confident.

Yonggu said, “Even if you’re involved in concurrent employment that is against the company regulation, they can’t punish you blindly because the legal interpretation can be different depending on the job description or background as well as the degree of violation. In any case, it is the best policy not to do two jobs. The president and other managers won’t like it.”

“They will likely think so,” said Hyunwoo. He agonized over it for a while.

But he felt confident that his new business would not affect Aurum at all.

Okay. Let me face it directly. If this is what I have to do, I should do it right.

Hyunwoo met with Team Leader Youngsu Park and President Daebong Park.

Both of them initially opened their eyes wide to hear him mention ‘start-up’, but nodded their heads, as if they fully understood his good intentions, when Hyunwoo explained to them about his new business project in detail.

“I don’t think I should obstruct your business if that’s what you mean. I think our company employee is doing something good for the kids. I’d like to thank you for that,” said Daebong. The president approved Hyunwoo’s request too easily.

“Thanks a million, boss.”

Hyunwoo registered business immediately after he prepared all the necessary documents. He initially wanted to name the new start-up company after the animation club Anifan, but modified it a bit.

“Those who are making efforts are those who enjoy their jobs. You guys learn and enjoy, okay?”

So, Hyunwoo decided to call the company ‘Ani & Funny’.

And he didn’t set up any company office for the kids. Instead, he designated the House of Happiness as the company office. Hyunwoo was the sole representative of Ani & Funny, the owner and its employee, and he signed a management contract with the Anifan kids.

According to his friend at the city government, even the Anifan kids who signed the contract belonged to the company in a broader sense. The term of the contract for them was valid until they reached the age of 24. They could be ready to stand on their own feet by then.

The profits from their works would be distributed at the ratio of seven (Hyunwoo) to three (the kids).

Hyunwoo also pulled off a deal with the potential candidates who were interested in donating their talents.

“I don’t think there is a big difference between two to three hours and four hours. Why don’t we agree on four hours of teaching from 2 until 6 pm? I’ll pay you one million won for your service.”

Everybody welcomed Hyunwoo’s deal. Initially, there were two persons who agreed to donate their talents. They were specialists in story creation and three-dimensional mapping.

Though Hyunwoo wanted to find more teachers for the kids, they couldn’t adjust their available time. He also didn’t specify any contract period because if they found jobs in the middle of teaching the kids, they could leave at any time.

Hyunwoo found it very burdensome to hire a full-time employee because he had to pay them a lot, and someone he had in mind lived in a place that made his commute impossible.

Hyunwoo called Jungah, a student attending Seoul Imaging College.

“Oh my god! Are you uncle Hyunwoo?” she answered joyfully.

“I hear you have an excellent eye for coloring. Why don’t you make yourself available as a part-time helper on animation work? As you can work at home, you don’t have to worry about time burden.”

“Really? What kind of part-time job is it?”

“Do you remember the Anifan kids by any chance? You went there to see them before…”

“Of course, I do. Then, do I just pick the right color for their works?”

“Yes, that’s right. It will be much better if you can sometimes go there and teach them.”

“No problem! I think I should help you with whatever you do.”

“How much do you want me to pay you per month?”

“The more, the better, of course. How about one million won? Oh, I’m kidding. You don’t have to pay at all. I can volunteer for free, just thinking I’m also learning with them.”

Hyunwoo felt grateful for her kind consideration.

“I can’t have you work for free. Let me decide on the right payment for you later. I have no idea how much work you may have to do at this point.”

“Got it. Thanks for letting me know about the part-time job.”

“It’s me who has to thank you. By the way, do you know the guy’s name? The graduate of your college who was excellent at reading the facial expression. I mean the guy who gave up animation to carry on his mother’s rice cake factory.”

“Ah, Myunghun Kob?”

“Yes, that’s him. Are you still in touch with him?”

“Of course, I am. Sometimes, he brings some rice cakes to our club. Though he gave up animation as a job, we got the impression that he still had some sort of lingering attachment to it. Are you going to propose a part-time job to him?”

“Yea, I don’t want to see him waste his talent like that. Do you know his contact number? If you don’t, please let me know after you find.”

“Oh, I have it. Let me send you a text message.”

In a few minutes, Hyunwoo received her text message, and he called Myunghun right away.

Myunghun picked up his phone after it rang several times. When Hyunwoo introduced himself, Myunghun remembered his name quickly, “Oh, you’re the person who escorted lots of seniors to the exhibition on the campus on that day, right?”

It looked as if Myunghun was pretty much impressed with Hyunwoo’s caring for the large group of seniors at the time, and he even mentioned Hyunwoo’s financial help for Jungah during her high school days, which Jungah must have told him.

“Did Jungah tell you about it?”

“Sure. When I stop by her club at the college, she sometimes tells me about your help. Everyone there all has their thumbs up to hear that. I was also stunned to hear that, too.”

“Oh, that’s not a big deal,” said Hyunwoo humbly.

It looked like Hyunwoo became a good friend of Myunghun thanks to Jungah.

“By the way, I hear you’re going to take over your parents’ rice-cake shop. Are you still working there?”

“Yes, but I get scolded every day because I’m awkward at the business. Making rice cake is more difficult than I think. I think I have to learn at least ten years to catch up with my parents’ skill a bit.”

“Do you like it?”

“I don’t think there are many who make a living by doing what they really want to do. I’m just doing it for stable income.”

“Then, did you give up your dream of animation work?”

“Well, I’ve decided to take it up as my hobby. If an opportunity comes along later, maybe I will give it a try one more time, but I’m afraid it will never happen.”

Hyunwoo could feel his passion for animation was still alive in his reply.

So, Hyunwoo cautiously asked, “What if you have such a chance now?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, I started a business related to animation. I think if you can join, it would be a big help to me,” said Hyunwoo. He explained to Myujnghun about the Anifan kids and how he would hire Myunghun and what kind of work he would be expected to take on.

Myungun showed a big interest, to his surprise.

“Oh, really? If that’s the case, I don’t have to go to the office, do I?”

“No, you don’t have to. Jungah also is doing as a part-timer for us in Seoul.”

“If that’s true, I don’t have any reason to refuse your proposal. By the way, how much will you pay me per month? You won’t pay much as I’m working at home, right?”

Actually, Hyunwoo didn’t make any decision on the payment level. In the case of Jungah the payment wouldn’t be high, given her special ties with Hyunwoo, but Myunghun’s case was different. Myunghun would be able to get actively involved in animation work only when he got paid satisfactorily.

“To be honest with you, I have no idea about the payment level as this business is new to me. What do you think is the proper salary?”

This time Myunghun was a bit embarrassed, but said cautiously, “Depends on the type of work. And I don’t know how many hours I have to spend on my job. If my workload is not much, 15,000 won per hour is suitable, and 20,000 won per hour if the workload is heavy, I think.”

Hyunwoo felt Myunghun’s hourly rate reasonable.

“Okay. I like your proposal. As soon as I have an assignment for you, I’ll let you know.”

After the call, Hyunwoo felt as if everything would work out fine.

***

These days Hyunwoo headed straight to the House of Happiness after work almost daily. There was nothing he could help the kids with technologically, but he felt he could advise them on the direction of animation creation, etc.

“I just have no idea how to change Garbage World.”

Hyunwoo had some ideas about it but didn’t bring it up because he might discourage their morale, but he felt that it was about time he mentioned it.

“Why don’t we forget about Garbage World for the time being? We have to take a detour when we have no way out.”

“Do you mean we need to create a new animation?”

“That’s right. Don’t you think you have to challenge new things more often and get the evaluation to find out the cause of the problem? That way you can also increase your ability.”

“Well, that won’t be easy. In fact, we thought about lots of things, but none of them are original,” said Jihun, speaking frankly of his difficulties.

“Don’t try to achieve your goal at one go. You can try imitating if you can’t create original work.”

“How?”

At the moment, Hyunwoo thought of Kkaturi, the popular animation work. Of course, Kkaturi was not an imitation. Hyunwoo’s point was to imitate the method of Kkaturi.

“What about learning animation, with kindergarteners and elementary students as the main target? There are too many animation works based on traditional fairy tales. Why don’t we deal with the great men in history?”

“Even that topic is common, isn’t it?”

“You’re right, but the storytelling method of such animation works seems all similar. We can approach it from a completely different angle.”

“Do you have an idea in mind?”

“The history is supposed to be connected to the present. If history changes, the present is also changed. What about the kind of animation story in which the villains try to change history and are fighting with those defenders trying to keep the history the same?”

Hearing his idea, Seoim, the most talented story writer of the House of Happiness, suggested, “What about creating a completely new world?”

“What kind of world?”

“I mean, a different world connected with the planet of human beings. For example, we create figures like Satan and fairies. The villains will rely on Satan and the good men on the power of the fairies.”

“That sounds great. If Satan and fairies appear, there should be a probability of the people coming back and forth from the past freely….”

The Anifan kids began presenting their own opinion freely in a heated debate.

Hyunwoo was no longer a central player in the debate. Instead, Seoim was driving the discussion.

Hyunwoo’s’ face brightened. If they kept discussing it like this, they could produce good animation work.

Hummm…We might get the city’s financial aid of 50 million won.