The Chairman Who Wants to Play and Eat

Episode 19. Didn’t you say you were a law student?

“It’s almost time for him to come out.”

Assistant Manager Lee Beom-seok said, alternating his gaze between the large panel with the landing schedule and his wristwatch.

“Yes. Let’s wait.”

“Okay.”

Gimpo Airport,

The plane had already touched down on the runway.

We were now waiting for Dr. Cho Young-dae to complete the immigration process and come out.

It was yesterday.

When I suggested changing the task at the TF, opinions were divided from Assistant Manager Jo Mi-yeon, the original person in charge, to TF Leader So Byung-hwa, trying to guess my intention of volunteering to greet Dr. Cho.

‘I’m totally grateful.’

Assistant Manager Jo seemed genuinely thankful.

‘The timing was a bit awkward, but thank you for being a black knight! I’ll definitely repay you!’

‘Our employee Sang-yoon, your sense of responsibility is truly outstanding. You mean to assist Dr. Cho from recruitment to reception with a one-stop service.’

No.

Both were wrong.

‘It’s not about taking responsibility, and I’m certainly not a black knight.’

I have a different plan.

Through Dr. Cho, I plan to completely destroy the reputation I had no choice but to build within the company.

Just thinking about it made me chuckle.

No matter how many times I thought about it, this time, there was no doubt.

It’s a perfect plan.

At that moment,

“It looks like he’s coming out.”

It was Assistant Manager Lee Beom-seok’s voice.

A well-dressed elderly gentleman was seen walking out of the exit of the Gimpo Airport arrival hall, where his finger was pointing.

A neatly dressed suit, neatly combed white hair,

It was clearly recognizable even from a distance.

It was him.

The pride of our Korean engineering community, Dr. Cho Young-dae, the scientist closest to winning the Nobel Prize in Physics in our country with his achievements in MOSFET and floating gate.

However, only we recognized him.

Because he entered the country privately.

The same was true for our Seonghyeon, but the biggest reason was that Dr. Cho himself did not want any unnecessary fuss like a welcoming ceremony or a press conference.

I approached him briskly.

“Thank you for coming such a long way. We spoke on the phone once, right? This is the first time I’m greeting you in person. My name is Hyun Sang-yoon.”

“Nice to meet you.”

He recognized me immediately.

“David Cho. Or should I say Cho Young-dae now? But honestly, I didn’t expect you to come all the way here.”

While we were shaking hands, Deputy Lee Beom-seok, who had been prepared, handed him a bouquet of flowers.

“Congratulations on your return, Dr. Cho.”

“Thank you. And this is?”

“This is Deputy Lee Beom-seok from Seonghyeon Secretary’s Office, who came with me. We are here to assist you with today’s schedule.”

“You didn’t have to go this far…”

No.

We had to go this far, I said to myself.

Instead, I said,

“We have a lot prepared for you today, Dr. Cho.”

Dr. Cho’s expression changed instantly.

“A lot? You mean the schedule to go straight to the accommodation? The schedule to wait comfortably until all the trivial preparations like government approval and factory establishment are finished?”

“No.”

“A month, two months, indefinitely resting… Excuse me? What did you say?”

“I said it’s not like that.”

“Not like that?”

While Dr. Cho was at a loss for words, I quickly continued to explain.

“As I mentioned, we have a lot prepared for you today. First, after leaving the airport, you will visit the Yongin site where the Seonghyeon Global Semiconductor Research Institute, where you will be appointed as the director, is being newly built.”

“······.”

“Then, you will tour our Seonghyeon affiliates in Gyeonggi-do, return to Seoul to inspect the second headquarters of Seonghyeon Electronics, and finally, tour the headquarters building where the group headquarters is located.”

An impossible schedule for anyone to see,

Moreover, Dr. Cho had not yet adjusted to the time difference between the U.S. and Korea.

So I pressed on.

“We don’t have much time. Even at this moment, our Republic of Korea needs the rapid development of the semiconductor industry, the rice of the industry.”

Nonsense,

That’s what I was aiming for.

So, this is what I was aiming for.

‘Excuse me, but your grandson, Hyun Sang-yoon, was like a tyrant. As soon as he arrived, he kept pushing me, an older person. This is not why I came to Korea. I will return to the United States immediately.’

‘I apologize, Dr. Cho. It was short-sighted of me to send out such a foolish boy. I can’t stop you from returning, but to vent your anger, I will exile Sang-yoon to a corner of Seoul (Gangnam). I apologize once again.’

This was the conversation I had planned and expected between Dr. Cho and Chairman Hyun.

What a beautiful conversation it is.

Honestly, I feel a bit sorry for Dr. Cho.

No, I feel very sorry.

But I have my reasons.

Until now, I was looking for a mistake that could be seen as a mistake or not, a vague mistake, and it ended up being neither.

Now, I had to commit an obvious mistake that anyone could see.

There should be no room for misunderstanding.

Of course, I feel sorry for Dr. Cho, who will be dragged around without knowing the reason.

‘I should properly apologize later.’

While I was watching Dr. Cho’s reaction with such thoughts, as expected,

“Are you really serious about that?”

His expression changed wildly. He was clearly angry.

This is exactly the situation I wanted.

And then,

“Bravo!”

Suddenly, an unexpected reaction came out of his mouth.

Bravo?

Do people in America say bravo when they are angry these days?

“What a surprise! Ah, I’m sorry. I was so surprised. I was wondering how I could properly explain what I wanted, but Mr. Hyun pinpointed my feelings exactly. Did you read my mind?”

“What do you mean…?”

“I came all the way to Korea thinking I just had to rest, and I was so anxious.”

Dr. Cho laughed with a relieved expression as if a burden had been lifted, saying he didn’t need any rest at all.

“Mr. Hyun is right. There is no time. Let’s help right away. Which way should we go? This way? That way?”

Huh?

Wait a minute?

This isn’t right.

Something has happened beyond the predicted range. Something is seriously wrong.

*

When he first heard the story, Deputy Lee Beom-seok thought it was absurd.

‘You want to take Dr. Cho, who just arrived today, on such a grueling schedule from day one?’

To put it nicely, it was passion; to put it bluntly, it was complete madness.

He thought to himself that it would be a relief if Dr. Cho didn’t get angry as soon as he heard the story.

But the young master was adamant.

‘Our Seonghyun has poured astronomical amounts of money into recruiting Dr. Cho Young-dae with his salary and research budget. Resting as soon as he arrives in Korea? That’s nonsense, and I apologize to Dr. Cho, but it’s out of the question.’

He spoke this much.

It seemed useless to say more, so he resigned himself and followed the young master’s words.

But to his surprise,

‘How can he take it up a notch?’

Dr. Cho was that kind of person.

It was hard to believe he had just arrived in Korea today.

‘Where to next? Let’s go quickly.’

He showed an inexhaustible amount of energy.

Jet lag was not an issue.

He toured the factory site, personally inspecting whether the terrain and climate were suitable for semiconductor processes, and upon arriving at the headquarters, he even conducted special classes that were not instructed with the temporary training team formed by the semiconductor TF.

The training team, which was already full of curiosity, welcomed him.

All their questions were answered.

With clear answers and an innocent smile, Dr. Cho Young-dae looked as energetic as if he had returned to his younger days.

It was only at ten o’clock at night that all the schedules ended.

“He’s an amazing person.”

It was on the way back after dropping Dr. Cho off at his accommodation, Baekje Hotel. Deputy Lee Beom-seok commented in a tired voice.

“It seems so.”

“Still, recruiting someone so passionate about his work is a good thing for our Seonghyun, isn’t it?”

“…Well, it could be.”

“This is all the result of the young master’s efforts alone, isn’t it? The chairman will surely be pleased.”

At the last words, the young master was disheartened.

Strange.

Shouldn’t it be the opposite? I thought for a moment.

No.

‘It must be a misunderstanding. He’s just tired.’

It was understandable.

Even Lee Beom-seok himself had a stiff shoulder from long hours of driving.

“You must be tired today, so please rest. Then I will take my leave. I will come to pick you up at work tomorrow.”

Anyway, the young master had achieved another accomplishment.

That alone was enough.

After sending Deputy Lee away, he went up to the study and fell into thought.

Something incomprehensible had happened.

‘Failed again.’

This plan, which I thought would succeed this time, also ended in vain.

Who would have known that Dr. Cho, who had flown across the Pacific Ocean for over ten hours, would welcome the unreasonable schedule I had prepared?

No one could predict it.

It was a natural disaster.

‘But fortunately, I had a trick up my sleeve.’

I was lucky.

It happened during the class earlier.

After Dr. Cho’s lecture ended, a Q&A session followed.

After a few questions from others, I also asked a few questions.

They were pre-prepared questions.

Anyone who heard those questions would think I didn’t even know the ‘semi’ in semiconductor, as they were so fundamental.

I had prepared them just in case, and it worked.

However,

‘I will answer that later.’

Dr. Cho, who had been enthusiastically answering others’ questions, strangely avoided mine.

Why would he avoid it?

It was the minimum courtesy not to embarrass me in public.

Is there another reason?

Yes.

It worked.

You could tell just by looking at the expression.

It was a mysterious expression mixed with question marks and exclamation points.

It was a bewildered face, as if asking why such a foolish question was suddenly asked when things were going well.

‘Even if you are dragged into a tiger’s den, you can survive if you keep your wits about you.’

It was fortunate that I had prepared.

This should be enough.

Dr. Cho was able to say this when meeting the chairman.

‘Before coming to Korea, I thought Mr. Hyun’s semiconductor studies were impressive, but in reality, I was disappointed. I couldn’t embarrass him in that setting, but now it’s different. We need to reconsider joining Seonghyun.’

Just thinking about it felt good.

That was tomorrow.

The day Dr. Cho and Grandpa Chairman Hyun would meet, the long-awaited D-day.

The Gangnam building loomed before my eyes again.

*

The next day,

It was almost afternoon when I arrived at the headquarters with Dr. Cho, whom I had picked up from the accommodation.

Since it was a meeting with the employer, he also showed a slightly nervous appearance.

In front of the chairman’s office,

“Please enter this way.”

Following Chief Joo Yong-hoon’s guidance, we entered the reception room. Soon, Grandpa Chairman Hyun entered with a big smile on his face.

“Welcome.”

Both of us stood up abruptly.

“Chairman. Nice to meet you. I’m Cho Young-dae.”

“Haha, nice to meet you. Please, have a seat. Sang-yoon, you sit too.”

We sat down again.

Before we knew it, the tea that Chairman Hyun cherished was steaming hot in front of us.

It was his unique way of welcoming only precious guests.

Good.

The stage was set.

The final stage where I would make my exit from a place called Seonghyeon.

‘Refreshing, yet somehow bittersweet.’

While I was lost in such thoughts, a conversation between two people continued.

It was mostly Chairman Hyun asking questions and Dr. Cho answering.

So,

‘In America, they say that semiconductors will be the key material industry that will change the landscape of the 21st century. Is that true?’

‘Yes, Chairman,’

‘Why is that?’

‘Computers once used glass vacuum tubes as circuit components. So they were about the size of a decent study. There was even a rumor that using one would cause a blackout in the nearby city due to the enormous electricity consumption.’

‘Oh, such a thing.’

‘But with the advent of integrated circuits made from semiconductor devices, the size of computers has shrunk to the point where they can be placed on a desk.’

It went on like this.

I felt it during the special lecture by the training team yesterday as well, but he was a person who was as excellent at explaining things easily as he was at his expertise.

With such a person coming to Seonghyeon, my role was done.

I could leave.

I felt much lighter.

It was then.

“But Chairman.”

Dr. Cho opened his mouth.

“Go ahead, Dr. Cho. Haha.”

“Forgive me, but may I ask you just one question?”

“You may ask not just one, but two.”

Grandfather laughed heartily.

Encouraged by those words, Dr. Cho finally began to say the ‘words’ I had been waiting for. My heart pounded.

“You mentioned your grandson, Hyun Sang-yoon, here. As far as I know, he is not an engineering student but a law student, correct?”

At that moment, Grandfather’s expression changed.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“But there is something puzzling,”

“What is it?”

Dr. Cho, unaware of the changed atmosphere, continued speaking.

“Yesterday, we met with the training team at Seonghyun Electronics. Mr. Hyun Sang-yoon’s questions were so sharp that it was hard to believe he was a law student. It was not something I could answer right away. I assure you, he has enough talent. If he weren’t a law student, I would have definitely recommended a major in semiconductor engineering.”

What? Who’s sharp?

Could it be me?

At that moment, his grandfather’s voice rang out.

“Wait a minute. What did you just recommend to my grandson, Dr. Cho?”