The Chairman Who Wants to Play and Eat

Episode 7. Was that a difficult problem?

– I have secured the young master.

The message was received that evening.

“Assistant Lee? What’s the matter?”

– I have gathered all the basic theories of semiconductors.

“So, what I’m saying is, what do you mean by that out of the blue?”

– To help the young master study, we have selected four senior managers and assistant managers from the Department of Electronic Engineering at Korea University to form a semiconductor theory study group. Sung Hyun Electronics provided great assistance.

“A study group? Why?”

He seemed rather puzzled.

– Didn’t the young master instruct us to find a tutor?

He then added, without being asked, that he had personally met with President Im Doo-won of Sung Hyun Electronics, who had been very cooperative despite initial concerns.

Although the beginning was a bit rough, he was indeed a good reporter.

As expected of an elite employee of the Sung Hyun secretariat.

‘No, wait, that’s not the point.’

What are you doing now?

Why are you making such a big deal out of this?

Suppressing the voice that was about to burst out, he began to grasp the extent of what had been done.

“So, you created a semiconductor study group at Sung Hyun Electronics for my studies?”

– Yes, that’s correct.

“Starting from tomorrow.”

“That’s right.”

“…Is that okay?”

– “Because what doesn’t exist is before it’s made, and what can’t be done is before it’s done.” This is written in the chairman’s autobiography.

Why suddenly the chairman’s autobiography?

He seemed to have decided to be shameless.

– “There was no club, so it was before it was made, and when you asked if it was okay, it was before it was done until yesterday. Today, it exists.”

I had nothing to say.

“Anyway, I understand.”

– “Then, sir, I will come to pick you up at 6:30 AM tomorrow.”

“Does it have to be that time?”

– “Overtime work must be done before work starts. And you have classes too.”

‘Ah, yes. Of course.’

He hung up the phone.

Now, he even had to study early in the morning, which was not in his fate. All because of this deputy’s excessive loyalty.

‘But I can’t give up.’

It’s a difficult and rough road. Obstacles keep appearing.

But he must continue on his path.

Until the day he becomes one of the unnoticed grandchildren who neither excel nor fail and lives a comfortable life.

Someday, this deputy will recognize it too.

My true feelings.

‘I have to wait. Because I’m a generous person.’

He decided to let it go.

After hanging up the phone, Lee Beom-seok thought.

‘As expected, meticulous.’

He just carried out the given task. But he cross-checked from the beginning as if he didn’t know.

As expected, Hyun Sang-yoon, the grandson of Chairman Hyun Byung-gun.

No, he thought it was more than that.

Since he started serving Hyun Sang-yoon, he had been filling each day with new and amazing experiences.

Originally, he was an ambitious person.

It was like that even before joining the company.

‘Having graduated from Korea University and given up on the bar exam, if I decided to work for a private company, I would rise faster and higher than anyone else.’

I worked as if a day had 48 hours.

Sometimes I thought it was harder than studying.

In my second year, I became an ace recognized by everyone, and in my third year, I entered the core of the group, the secretary’s office.

I steadily followed the elite course.

Eventually, I caught the eye of Director Joo Yong-hoon, who was the closest aide to Chairman Hyun Byung-gun. I even received half-joking, half-serious compliments that I was a candidate for the next director.

It was a path of flowers.

I thought I would continue to walk the path of flowers.

But then,

‘It seems you have to take charge of Young Master Sang-yoon.’

‘What? Young Master Sang-yoon?’

‘The youngest son of the Vice Chairman.’

I knew who he was.

‘No matter how much I think about it, there is no one more suitable than you, both in terms of school and other aspects. Please take care of him. Understood?’

It was unexpected. I hit a reef while sailing smoothly.

If it weren’t for the chairman’s order, I would have found a way to get out of it.

This was because Hyun Sang-yoon, the third son of Vice Chairman Hyun Deok-jae, was evaluated as being far from the succession.

I was disappointed.

Did I do something to fall out of favor? Was this a way of telling me to quit the company?

I seriously pondered this.

But now, I know that’s not the case.

‘Ah, that’s why.’

It was after I realized the true worth of Young Master Hyun Sang-yoon.

I could somewhat grasp Director Joo’s thoughts on why he arranged things this way.

He now evaluated Hyun Sang-yoon as follows:

A person who is more sincere about the succession than anyone else,

A person who proved his worth by entering Korea University’s law school,

And a person who will continue to hone himself and walk the royal road to the chairman’s office.

‘If I could dare to evaluate it.’

It was a smooth road ahead.

It was as good as guaranteed.

Who said it?

The best investment is to buy when the value is low,

Hold on through thick and thin until it explodes, and then sell at the highest price.

He became convinced that Hyun Sang-yoon was that very stock.

He swore to be loyal.

‘This is not the time for this.’

He started making a phone call somewhere.

“Is this Manager So Byung-hwa? Ah, this is Deputy Lee Beom-seok from the Seonghyun Group’s secretary office. I apologize for the late hour. There are some things you need to prepare for tomorrow. ······”

*

Waking up at dawn was not difficult.

“Young master.”

“Yes, I’m coming out.”

I was a person whose greatest purpose in life was to live long and thin.

Living thin might be difficult due to my nature, but I thought living long was possible with effort.

A regular life was one of those efforts.

Waking up at 4:30 AM,

Thirty minutes of morning exercise,

After exercise, reading five morning newspapers thoroughly.

It was a morning routine I had been doing without fail since elementary school.

Why do I go to such lengths?

This is just who I am.

‘My grandfather is one of the reasons, though.’

To be honest, this is only until I get my hands on a building in Gangnam.

Until then, I don’t want to get caught.

I don’t want to cause any trouble that would catch my grandfather’s eye.

Until I become a carefree landlord of a conglomerate building, free from any interference or responsibility, I had to appear as a model person.

When I came out to the reception room, Deputy Lee was waiting, neatly dressed.

“Good morning.”

I greeted first.

“Yes, young master. Are you awake?”

“Let’s hurry and leave before it’s too late.”

“Understood.”

Fortunately, there were no complaints.

“When we arrive at the club meeting place, I apologize, but we will first conduct a small test to see how much you have studied so far.”

“That makes sense. Everyone else is a professional except for me.”

“Regardless of the results, you don’t need to worry too much. We will all do our best to help you improve.”

I don’t worry. Not at all.

So, we took the car he was driving and moved to the second headquarters of Seonghyeon Electronics in Gangnam.

Even though it was early, the company was lively. It was the first time I realized that many employees come to work at this hour.

And then,

“Welcome.”

“President Im?”

“You remember me. Thank you.”

Unexpectedly, Im Doo-won, the president of Seonghyeon Electronics, was at the small meeting room, the meeting place.

Thanks to that, four employees were waiting for me with expressions as if they were sitting on a bed of thorns.

“What brings you here, President?”

Despite my awkward expression, he answered with a smile.

“Don’t say that. The young master is working so hard for the development of our electronics, how can I, the CEO, just sit still? I took a little time off.”

“You could have just stayed still…”

“Haha, I understand what you mean. I will stay for a short while as if I am not here. Manager So, what are you doing? Start now.”

He was a bit oblivious.

“Yes! I will start right away.”

The person called Manager So stood up.

“Hello? I am So Byung-hwa, the senior manager of the semiconductor study club in the management department. It is an honor to meet you, Hyun Sang-yoon.”

At that signal, the other employees also introduced themselves.

“I am Manager Go Hak-joon from the third management department.”

“I am Deputy Manager Jo Mi-yeon from the general affairs department.”

“Sales Department 1, this is Assistant Manager Kim In-rak.”

Lastly,

“Deputy Lee Beom-seok…”

Just as Deputy Lee Beom-seok was about to speak, I raised my hand to stop him.

It was my turn.

“Hello. Nice to meet you all. As you may have heard, my name is Hyun Sang-yoon.”

The gazes of all five people, including President Lim, were fixed on me.

“There’s something I’d like to ask of you all first.”

I had something to say.

“I came here to learn. So please don’t think of me as the chairman’s grandson or the vice-chairman’s son. Treat me like a student on a field trip and teach me well without any burden.”

“Of course, Mr….”

“I’m not comfortable with the title ‘young master’ either.”

“Then, how about ‘Sang-yoon’?”

Everyone just looked at each other, gauging the situation.

“That’s a good idea, Sang-yoon.”

President Lim, who had been watching, clapped his hands and chimed in at the right moment.

Was he not oblivious, but just pretending not to see?

Anyway, that’s good.

President Lim then signaled to Manager So.

“Then I’ll start the first lesson. Since we don’t know how much you already know, we’ll start with a test. It might be uncomfortable for you to take it alone, so other employees will take it with you. Is that okay?”

“Of course.”

I straightened my shoulders.

Suddenly, an idea struck me.

‘Maybe this is an opportunity.’

If I mess up the test, the employees will be disappointed, and President Lim, who is here, might report it to the chairman.

Of course, I can’t get everything wrong.

Zero points would be crossing the line.

If he reports it like that, the chairman might conclude that I’m completely useless. That would be troublesome.

While I was thinking that,

Crunch, crunch,

In front of the four of us, except for Chief So, were placed paper and pen.

“We will begin. There are ten questions, and the time limit is 30 minutes.”

The room became silent.

I unfolded the paper.

Hoping it would be filled with difficult questions.

But to my surprise, all the questions were easy.

‘Why are these so easy?’

It seemed I had studied too much on my own. If I had known, I would have taken it easy.

I was troubled.

Couldn’t I just get them all wrong?

This problem is not that simple.

If I blindly get everything wrong, my qualifications will be questioned.

‘Did you create a study club just to show this kind of performance? From now on, you are not a child of our family.’

To avoid hearing such scolding from my grandfather, I had to walk a fine line.

So, what should I do?

I couldn’t figure out what to get wrong because I couldn’t distinguish the difficulty level.

The nightmare of the college entrance exam resurfaced.

‘A middle score!’

That was all I wanted.

Sweat formed on my forehead.

I started writing wrong answers mainly on the questions that seemed difficult.

“10 minutes left.”

Chief So’s voice urged me once again.

A moment later,

“I will announce the results.”

In the hands of Chief So Byunghwa, who had finished grading, were the test papers of the four of us. My future depended on them.

“First, I will announce the last place. Deputy Lee Beomseok from the secretary’s office?”

“Haha, I didn’t know any of them.”

“Of course. Because you didn’t study.”

The presentation continued.

Senior Manager Cha scored 90 points, followed by Deputy Manager Jo from the General Affairs Department and Junior Manager Kim, both with 80 points.

My score still hasn’t been announced.

It can’t be helped.

I set it to exactly 70 points.

‘I highly appreciate Sang-yoon’s will to study. But it’s just the will. The basics are very lacking. To be honest, it’s quite disappointing. It seems difficult for you to take over the company.’

Imagining Manager So’s voice saying this, I smiled. My heart was pounding.

However,

“Lastly… Sang-yoon, 70 points!”

It was worth studying. I got the exact score I wanted.

“You did well for your first time.”

“Not at all.”

The small conference room was filled with applause.

It wasn’t the reaction (criticism and reproach) I wanted, but I thought it couldn’t be helped.

Waiting for the applause to end, Manager So opened his mouth.

“But there’s one thing I want to ask you, Sang-yoon. How did you solve the last question, number 10?”

“Why do you ask?”

“It’s a bit strange.”

His voice couldn’t hide his curiosity.

“This question had an error rate of over 90% even among fourth-year students at Korea University. All the club staff, including myself, got it wrong. I included it because I thought it would be too easy if everyone got 100 points, but you solved it.”

“What, excuse me?”

Wait a minute? That was a difficult question?

It was easy?