12 Hours After

Translator: Khan

Editor: RED

I opened the door and entered the company. It was quiet, a familiar landscape. It was because I went to work at 8:30 like I did when I had been at work.

“The moment he raised his head, his wig peeled off, and it was so funny, but I couldn’t laugh.”

“Hahaha! Really?”

Inside the company, two employees who came to work as early as I did were chatting. As I approached them, the two men, feeling a person nearby, looked at me and bowed their heads hastily.

“Hello! Mr. President!”

“Hello!” I raised my hand and greeted them.

“Hello to you.”

They must have been surprised by the fact that I came to work at all, rather than by coming to work early. It had been almost two weeks since I founded the company, but I had only been coming to work for about three days. I didn’t do that because I was playing. Rather, I didn’t come to work, just to work.

The most important thing I had to do for the company was to get an email and increase the money in my accounts, which would be the capital of our company. I was used to doing that at my studio rather than at the company. So I only came to work like this when I really needed something.

“How are you? Mr. President.”

As soon as they heard the word ‘boss,’ the others gathered one by one and greeted me. Among them was Vice President Jang. He greeted me, too.

“Are you here?”

I, too, bowed down and received the greeting.

“Yes, Vice President.”

It was all thanks to Vice President Jang that even if I didn’t come to work, there wouldn’t be any problems with the company. He was doing his job perfectly. The reason I came to work today was that I had work to do. In front of the president’s office, Ji-hoon stood up when he saw me.

“Are you here, boss?”

“Yes.”

“You’re at work today?”

“Yes. We have a meeting at 10 o’clock today.”

“I thought you were calling in from your home.”

“Oh, I’ll come with you and Vice President Jang. It’s an important meeting.”

Secretary Seo said with a smile, “That’s true.”

I opened the door of the boss’s office and tried to enter, but I thought I’d speak to him.

“Oh, by the way. Don’t interrupt me from 8:50 to 9:10. No matter who comes in, don’t open the door to the president’s office, and don’t connect the phone, okay?”

The reason was, of course, to receive the email. At that time, I had to concentrate on my energy. Ji-hoon followed my orders without saying a word.

“Yes, I see.” If he had been in the past, he would have asked me, ‘Can I ask you why?’

Now, he almost had nothing to ask me back. I thought he was getting closer and closer to be my secretary, rather than a fellow alumnus of the university. After Ji-hoon went out, I waited another ten minutes. Today, the email came again.

[P. 12 Hours After]

[P. 12 Days After]

[How long will the Daehan New Party’s internal feud last?]

[Just before the home loans burst out?]

[Was everyone appointed by some strings? Bank recruitment scandal becomes big news.]

[Warning for strong ultraviolet rays due to clear, hot weather nationwide]

[Ukraine anti-Russian protests]

[The upcoming opening of the 5G era]

[Gang Jun-ho to Samsung?]

[The U.S. concert by the Advancement Boy Band]

I ran both sets of news up and down quickly. There was no news to make money. I put my fingers in both hands and turned my head.

‘Today I got nothing. Well, there’s an important matter today. Let’s focus on that.’

The important schedule for today was the meeting with CKD Entertainment. It was the first step toward taking over the company. Thanks to some talk with the entertainment even before my company was founded, it had been in a rush since it was founded. That was why today, our company and its executives decided to meet face-to-face and negotiate specifically. I looked at my watch, and the time was just past 9:10 a.m.

‘My meeting is at ten o’clock.’

There was a little time left. I tried to surf the web without thinking much about it. By the way, there was someone on the main banner of the portal site. It was Oh Hyun-joo, who had a beautiful face with a neat beauty and fair smile. I clicked on the banner. As soon as I clicked on it, the video of an advertisement for a cosmetics product was released. “White Cleaning Essence, more brilliant than pearl, shining more than Diana.”

I paused to watch the ad through. She was as beautiful as she had always been.

‘Oh, Oh Hyun-joo will be a member of our company.’

It was a strange connection.

————————————–

I got out of the car with secretary Seo. Vice President Jang and two other employees who arrived early followed me. This was the Cheongdam-dong building with CKD Entertainment. Standing in front of the underground parking lot, Seo pressed the up button. Soon the elevator arrived, and I got into it. According to the floor information, CKD Entertainment was using the building’s fifth, sixth and seventh floors. Ji-hoon pressed the seventh, the highest floor. There would be a representative, Do Chan-ki, waiting for me.

I tried to move my eyes away, but there was one more thing that attracted my attention: OH Entertainment on the eighth floor.

‘Huh… here you are.’ It was just a subsidiary, but they were in the same place. ‘Maybe I might see some familiar faces today?’

While I was thinking about it, the elevator went up to the seventh floor. As soon as the elevator door opened, a man in a suit was waiting for us.

“Hello? Are you from Invictus Investment?”

“Yes,” Secretary Seo answered instead of me.

“Come this way.”

—

We walked into the hall under guidance. Inside, there was a large conference room. I, Secretary Seo, Vice President Jang, and two other employees went into it in order. There were people standing in the conference room waiting for me. I skimmed over them without much thought. By the side, I noticed a familiar figure.

He was a short, bald man. He was no doubt the president of OH Entertainment, Kwon Oh Hyuk.

‘Huh.’ We had met in front of the police station, and then we met here again. I glanced at him, but he looked at me and didn’t seem to recognize me. He deserved it. He only saw my face for a minute or two in front of the police station on a dark night. It was right after a major accident in which his company employee tried to stab his company’s actress. He would not have remembered, for he had had no time to mind other people.

‘In addition, he couldn’t imagine that the ordinary office worker at the time would come as a buyer’s representative.’

Even if he remembered, he might have mistaken me for a similar-looking person. Now I was quite different from what I had been at that time. While I was looking at him, a tall man came to me and gave me his hand. He was none other than CEO Do Chan-ki, a ballad star in the ’90s who I had watched only on television. He shook hands with a nice smile.

“Welcome. Nice to meet you.”

His voice was amazingly good. He was one of the most popular singers of his generation. After a brief greeting, we went straight to the takeover. We had a deal about how much they would sell for, and what we would buy for.

“So we’ll sign a transfer contract at the price of $20,800,000, which is a discount of 6% from $22,000,000…” The rough details were already set behind the scenes, so we would make the details today.

“How much is the deposit…”

“The acquisition date is…”

On our side, Vice President Jang played most of the roles. It was pretty obvious he was a lot more experienced than I was here. I didn’t have much to do. So I alternately looked at CEO Do Chan-ki sitting in the middle and President Kwon Oh Hyuk on the side. President Kwon also spoke very little, like me.

It had been almost two years since OH Entertainment was taken over by CKD Entertainment, and he wouldn’t have had the right to speak. He must have come to see who the new owner would be. The meeting, which had started at 10 a.m., was almost finished by noon.

But in the middle of the closing negotiations, Do Chan-ki asked me, “By the way, can I ask CEO Han Sang-hoon a question?”

It was rather sudden. I answered, “Yes, please.”

“Why are you going to take over our company? I don’t think you have anything to do with the entertainment industry.”

That was a good question. Someone who didn’t have anything to do with the entertainment industry suddenly offered to take over theirs. I thought of an answer for a moment. In fact, the key reason was to be promoted to the Diamond Class, but I couldn’t say that. I simply answered, “I think I can manage it well.”

That was true. The entertainment business was simply a human business, so with the news, 12 Hours After, 12 Days After, 12 Weeks After, 12 Months After, and Search People, I could run the entertainment business easier. At that remark, CEO Do Chan-ki raised one side of his mouth and said, “Huh huh… I see.”

That look, and tone of speech seemed to say like that. ‘Will you run the entertainment business easier? I haven’t done a good job, even though I have been in the entertainment business for thirty years.’

”Well…’ I asked him back when I got upset, “Can I also ask CEO Do Chan-ki one question?”

“Yes, please.”

“CEO Do Chan-ki, why are trying to sell this company? It’s a company you raised, named after yourself.”

I wanted to hear the answer in person. No matter how neat it was, it seemed like he was trying to sell his own company, too. If I got a strange answer here, I might break the contract.

But when asked, CEO Do Chan-ki fixed his glasses for a while and collected his lips. Then he said carefully, “It’s a little bit hard for me to say in my own words… It’s because of the case that everybody knows about.”

I thought as I listened to it, ‘As expected, is it the reason?’ The case he was talking about was the recent gay rumor.

He spoke in a slightly trembling voice, “I’ve been in the entertainment world for almost thirty years, but it’s the first time I’ve been so shocked.”

But when I heard that trembling voice, my heart softened slightly. ‘Well, did I ask him a hurtful question?’

Actually, I had already heard about it, and it was like taking it out again and smashing a person’s wound. I turned my head slightly in a sorry mood. But in my eyes, President Kwon Oh Hyuk, who was sitting on the side, was seen. Then, after subtly turning his gaze away, he had five fingers facing each other and hit them.

“The old fans also turned around and blamed me. I was just… I had an indescribable wound at that time.”

The more Do Chan-ki spoke, the more Kwon Oh Hyuk lowered his head and hit his fingers.

I saw that and thought, ‘What is that?’