A few days later, Lee Hyun-woo boarded a plane to the United States with his father, Lee Jung-yong.
The seating arrangement was peculiar.
Han Se-jin and Oh Min-woo, two people from Jungle who were traveling together, sat together, while Lee Jung-yong and the designer helping him, Lee Hwan, sat side by side.
In other words, Lee Hyun-woo was seated separately next to a stranger, and there was a reason for this.
‘There’s so much to do, I’ll have to organize things as I go.’
In fact, this trip to the United States was pushed forward because of his father’s work.
In other words, the first thing to do upon arriving in the U.S. was to establish a joint venture with GAPE.
But there were a few other things added.
During the long flight, Lee Hyun-woo started to organize these things in his mind.
‘First, the SNS.’
As soon as he thought of this, he looked back.
He made eye contact with Oh Min-woo.
The guy was grinning.
At the same time, he pointed with his finger at the seat next to Lee Hyun-woo.
In other words, he was asking if he could switch seats to sit next to Lee Hyun-woo,
Shake shake.
If talkative Oh Min-woo came over, things would get more tangled instead of being sorted out.
Instead,
‘If I leave the SNS to Min-woo, it’s done.’
Once he concluded this, it became much easier.
The second thing he thought of was the music video CD of ‘Perfect Pitch’ carefully placed in his bag.
Lee Hyun-woo looked back once more.
This time, he avoided making eye contact with Oh Min-woo and looked at Han Se-jin.
Han Se-jin had her eyes closed, seemingly trying to catch up on sleep,
‘I need to let Manager Han gain experience. If we are to develop our content further, she will have to do a lot of work on my behalf.’
The work with one of the three major record companies in the U.S. was something they had already been pursuing.
Originally, Joe Murphy had been involved early on, but there were likely to be many variables arising in the future, so it was essential to let Han Se-jin gain experience if she were to take on the task.
‘Lastly, I need to finish my father’s work.’
If he handled these three main tasks and returned home, that would be the goal.
However, Lee Hyun-woo, knowing that many unforeseen tasks could arise from these three, thought,
‘I’ll deal with those as they come with quick thinking.’
Having sorted things out this way, he regretted needing to sit alone with such fuss.
When he turned back a third time, Oh Min-woo also had his eyes closed.
‘Okay, sleep well. I should get some sleep too.’
The three tasks that were organized on the plane had someone to bridge the gap.
That was Joe Murphy.
Therefore, Lee Hyun-woo could meet him first, right at the gate.
“Did you come out to meet us yourself?”
“Hahaha, I wanted to see you.”
“So did I. It’s been a long time.”
“Yes, it’s really been a long time.”
“Oh, I have someone new to introduce.”
Lee Hyun-woo briefly introduced his father and Lee Hwan.
On their way to the accommodation, Lee Hyun-woo listened to Joe Murphy’s stories and was thankful that he had already been in contact with GAPE and had approached the basic framework of the joint venture.
“Their requirements weren’t that complicated. They wanted to enter the Korean market anyway, and with the recent emergence of online fashion malls in Korea, they preferred to collaborate with Jungle.”
“It sounds like they want us to act as a guarantor.”
“Yes, it does sound like that, right? Hahaha.”
“In short, they want to leverage Jungle’s power in marketing and online sales?”
“You can interpret it as 100% that.”
It seemed that GAPE had already grasped the situation in Korea.
Given that they were considering utilizing online fashion malls, which hadn’t yet settled in the U.S., it was a reasonable assumption.
Anyway, Lee Hyun-woo was also thinking of proposing an online fashion mall to his father.
‘Thanks to this, things will proceed smoothly.’
Feeling thankful for a moment, he then shared the SNS-related content with Joe Murphy.
“Make friends… It seems like an upgraded version of blogs.”
“In short, the target is people who come in to blog.”
“Not bad. I know that Jungle USA has quite a few users who come in just to access the blog. So, Make friends is a service for those users to record their social relationships and daily lives?”
“That’s correct.”
Joe Murphy was a competent person.
He had already caught on to Lee Hyun-woo’s intentions and summarized the key points, making it easier for Min-woo to explain later.
“Though we call it a service, it means our Jungle will dominate people’s social relationships and daily lives.”
“Using the word ‘dominate’ makes us sound like a certain power. By the way, technical details will be explained later by Manager Oh. Listen to that later… Here, take this.”
Lee Hyun-woo hurriedly wrapped up the SNS-related content and handed over the music video CD.
“This is a music video about 3 minutes and 40 seconds long. Watch it twice and then just sit still.”
In other words, he was asking him to ‘zone out.’
Joe Murphy’s expression turned blank at this absurd request.
Ignoring this, Lee Hyun-woo continued,
“If you do that, you’ll unconsciously start reciting the chorus lyrics.”
“Hahaha, is it that addictive?”
“It might just be me, so if you get addicted too, please let me know.”
“Do you think it will work in the U.S.?”
“It’s not something I can guarantee. That’s why I’m asking you to watch it and let me know.”
“Okay, understood.”
Joe Murphy’s face was full of curiosity.
And indeed, after dropping off Lee Hyun-woo and his entourage at their accommodation, Joe Murphy went home and played the music video.
No lie, after watching it twice, he started singing along.
“Aah, macaroni!”
Then he chuckled and thought,
‘This will work.’
Joe Murphy immediately looked through his contact list.
He decided to show this CD to his contacts in the three major record companies and the media.
Connections are power.
Fortunately for Lee Hyun-woo, Joe Murphy had a vast network.
Despite not having slept well due to jet lag, Lee Hyun-woo got up early to treat his father to a morning in San Francisco.
Today’s schedule was free in the morning, with a meeting scheduled with people from GAPE after lunch.
So, the morning started with a simple breakfast followed by sightseeing around the hotel.
“Thanks to you, son, I’m experiencing luxuries I never imagined.”
His father expressed his gratitude in this way on their way back.
Lee Hwan, nearby, chimed in,
“What about me? It feels like unexpected luck has come my way and I’m experiencing luxuries too.”
“Designer Lee is a precious person, so you deserve to enjoy such luxuries.”
“Father, please speak comfortably. How long are you going to feel uncomfortable around me?”
“Hahaha.”
“Please speak comfortably in commemoration of coming to the U.S. this time.”
“Well… should I?”
“Wow, that’s comfortable. Really comfortable. Hahaha.”
Listening to their conversation, Lee Hyun-woo smiled.
‘Honestly, I’m the one experiencing sudden luck and luxuries.’
He quietly recalled the last scene of his past life.
Thanks to granting someone’s wish, he was reborn like this and doing what he wanted to his heart’s content, so what more could he ask for?
‘So, I must be filial to my parents and do good deeds for those I’m connected with.’
Lee Hyun-woo, once again wrapping his work addiction in the name of good deeds, thought to himself.
After lunch, it was finally time for him to shine, whether it was work addiction or good deeds.
He met with the external cooperation director from GAPE and his attendant.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Hyun-woo Lee.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Jasper Murphy.”
“…?”
“Joe Murphy is my cousin.”
“Oh…”
At this point, Lee Hyun-woo realized why Joe Murphy had been able to set up the basic framework of the joint venture.
It was because his cousin held a key position at GAPE.
‘He didn’t mention it beforehand.’
Perhaps he didn’t want to take credit for it.
Now he understood why Joe Murphy had said he didn’t need to come to today’s meeting.
Jasper Murphy already knew Jungle well and had fully understood the situation in Korea, so there was no need for Joe Murphy to be there.
“We’ve been considering entering the Asian market for a long time. We started in Japan a few years ago, and it seemed like the right time for Korea, so we were looking for an opportunity. Recently, I discussed online shopping with Joe from Jungle, and unexpectedly found fashion products.”
“I see.”
“Since then, we’ve been looking into Korean online shopping malls. With the help of Korean staff, we confirmed that online fashion malls were starting to emerge in Korea.”
“Sales are also quite good.”
“Yes, we confirmed that after sending staff to Korea.”
Everything was falling into place.
‘Is this the timing to do business with GAPE?’
With this, they were able to verbally agree on the joint venture without any major disagreements.
The reason they hadn’t signed the contract yet was that they needed time to review the detailed documents each side had brought.
This was just a matter of time, and Lee Hyun-woo’s father spoke in a bewildered voice.
“Is work usually handled this easily?”
“When things don’t go well, they can be endless. But sometimes, when minds connect, things can be pushed through quickly.”
“Well, in my life, there have been times like that too, but maybe because I came prepared, it feels like things were handled quickly.”
“I think it’s because CEO Lee did all the preliminary work.”
Lee Hwan subtly interjected into the father-son conversation.
“We had already verbally agreed with two department stores in Korea, and some street stores were even in preliminary contracts. When I conveyed this to GAPE earlier, they seemed surprised. If it were me, I’d think the preparations were thorough too.”
“That’s true, but…”
Here, Lee Jung-yong paused for a beat before continuing,
“Even the verbal agreements with those department stores were too easy.”
“Really?”
“Yes, as soon as we went to Newworld Department Store, they said they had heard everything and would immediately set up a store if we partnered with GAPE. It was the same at Aejeong Department Store.”
At this point, Lee Hyun-woo smiled awkwardly.
Simultaneously, he thought to himself,
‘One was thanks to Ah-young, and the other was thanks to Seon-hwa.’
Newworld Department Store was achieved through Kim Ah-young’s request, and Aejeong Department Store was through Choi Seon-hwa’s efforts.
All good, but there was a slight feeling of guilt towards Newworld Department Store.
In his previous life, Newworld International had created a joint venture with GAPE to distribute in Korea.
In return, they took enormous profits.
‘Father doesn’t need to do that.’
Anyway, the clothes were manufactured in Southeast Asia and then imported to Korea, so the unit price was very low.
Combining GAPE’s brand recognition with Lee Hwan’s Korean-style design should create enough synergy to sell well.
There would be no need to take exorbitant profits; they could distribute to consumers at a reasonable price.
‘Today’s filial duty is done, now let’s look for another good deed?’
Once again disguising his work ambition as a good deed, Lee Hyun-woo looked up at the sky.
The passing clouds seemed to change into the face of someone.
It was the high-ranking official from the afterlife he had seen before dying, and his words seemed to echo vividly in his ears once more.
- Good deeds always come with rewards, don’t they?
Perhaps meeting Joe Murphy, then Jasper Murphy, and smoothly progressing with the joint venture with GAPE was due to the good deeds he had been doing since his rebirth.
