The next day around lunchtime.
As expected, a large number of reporters gathered at Lee Hyun-woo’s apartment.
This situation should inconvenience the residents, but instead, they joined in, waiting for someone with curious eyes.
That person was Kim Ah-young.
If the sharp-nosed reporters gathered at this time, it indirectly indicated that Kim Ah-young was coming, so the apartment residents and visitors waited and conversed.
“But if the daughter of 【Guseong】 marries Hyun-woo, who loses out?”
“Of course, it’s Hyun-woo.”
“When you say Hyun-woo, do you mean the chairman of 【Jungle】?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Exactly.”
“Do you know him well?”
“I’m a close neighbor to his mother.”
“We are the best of friends.”
Even if it was slightly exaggerated, a fact is a fact.
So, the surrounding people paid more attention to the stories of those who claimed to be close neighbors.
There was even a reporter who asked questions bluntly.
“Mothers, you said that CEO Lee Hyun-woo would be at a disadvantage. Why is that?”
“Why? Isn’t he recognized even in America and Japan?”
“That’s right. My son says that 【Jungle】 has a better future than 【Guseong】.”
“No way, no matter what, 【Jungle】 can’t surpass 【Guseong】. That might happen in a hundred years, if ever.”
“Exactly. These ladies don’t understand reality.”
“Ah, I don’t know. That’s what my son said.”
“And even if that’s not the case, between the daughter of 【Guseong】 and the CEO of 【Jungle】, don’t you know who is higher?”
“That’s not true.”
“You’re just saying that because you’re close to Lee Hyun-woo’s mom.”
The people directly involved didn’t make such comparisons, but it was getting noisier.
Fortunately, the commotion was subdued when Kim Ah-young arrived.
To be precise, Kim Ah-young’s secretaries and bodyguards started to control the situation.
“Please, clear the way. Sorry.”
“Hey, why are you pushing people like this?”
“You shouldn’t do this!”
Despite the resistance from the crowd, the bodyguards diligently did their job.
And through the crowd, Kim Ah-young passed by.
However, they couldn’t block all the people, so questions started coming in.
“Kim Ah-young! Kim Ah-young! Please, just one word!”
“When did you two start dating?”
With a smile on her face, Kim Ah-young silently passed by.
Seeing her, the apartment residents began to talk again.
“She looks better in person than in photos.”
“Indeed. This changes the story.”
“Change? How handsome is Hyun-woo?”
“Exactly, exactly.”
Opinions were still divided.
Whether Kim Ah-young was too good for him, or Lee Hyun-woo was too good for her.
But regardless of such talk, the two finally reunited inside the apartment.
As she entered, Kim Ah-young greeted first.
“Hello, Father, Mother.”
Seeing her polite demeanor, Lee Hyun-woo’s parents welcomed her with smiles.
“You’ve had a hard time. Were there many people in front of the house?”
“There were a few.”
“Come in quickly. You haven’t had lunch, have you?”
“No, Mother.”
Watching this heartwarming scene, satisfied smiles spread across the faces of the brothers, Lee Hyun-woo and Lee Jung-woo.
With his eyes, the younger brother spoke to the older brother.
‘With one sister-in-law, our family has become more harmonious.’
‘Our family was always harmonious.’
Who knows, but the harmonious atmosphere reached its peak during the meal shortly afterward.
“Our Ah-young eats well.”
“Indeed. She looks so happy eating.”
“It’s delicious, Mother.”
“Thank you for eating well.”
“It’s really delicious.”
“If the sister-in-law says it’s delicious, then it really is, Mom. There’s a rumor that she’s picky about hotel food.”
Kim Ah-young faintly smiled.
She couldn’t affirm or deny it.
She didn’t want to appear picky, but also didn’t want to seem careless about her work, so she didn’t respond to Lee Jung-woo’s comment this time.
Lee Jung-woo, noticing this, quickly changed the topic.
“Later in the evening, it’s your turn to visit, right?”
“Visit? Haha, well, I was invited.”
Thinking if the word ‘visit’ was the correct expression, Lee Hyun-woo laughed.
“Oh, so the in-laws invited you.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Sister-in-law, and in-laws.
Lee Jung-woo openly treated Kim Ah-young as part of the family.
But Kim Ah-young didn’t dislike this.
Perhaps because of this, shortly before the meal ended, she quickly got up and started clearing the dishes.
“I really want to do it today.”
“Oh, no.”
“No, Mother. I really want to do it today.”
Her determination was strong.
But could she really do it properly?
At that moment, Lee Hyun-woo stepped in.
“I’ll help.”
In the end, Mother reluctantly nodded.
“Originally, the person who does it should do it, but if it makes you feel better… go ahead.”
She stepped back, and Father looked at Lee Hyun-woo and Kim Ah-young with a pleased expression.
Soon, the water was turned on, and Lee Hyun-woo found gloves and handed them to Kim Ah-young, who then started washing the dishes together. Watching them, the parents whispered.
“They look good together.”
“Indeed, they do.”
“I was worried she grew up too delicately, but she seems to get along well with our child.”
“Exactly.”
“But what do the in-laws think?”
“Well…”
This was indeed a concern.
No matter how they thought about it, the difference in family status was significant, and they worried their son might feel overshadowed.
However,
“Don’t worry, you two. Do you know what kind of person my brother is? Even when our company was insignificant, he boldly negotiated everywhere.”
“Really?”
“Yes, and he only receives such treatment in Korea. Overseas, it’s a different story. Even Sun Jung-ui is overwhelmed by him. Oh, Sun Jung-ui is someone who runs a very large company in Japan. Besides that, there’s 【Yaho】 in America, which is even bigger than 【Guseong】.”
At this moment, Lee Jung-woo’s words weren’t wrong.
The market capitalization of 【Yaho】 was several times that of 【Guseong】.
“Even the chairman there is overwhelmed by my brother.”
“How many people are overwhelmed by him?”
“Oh, I can’t believe what you’re saying.”
“It’s true. Then read the newspapers.”
“I did read them. You said your company uses something called search engines, right?”
Indeed, Father seemed more interested in economics, acquiring knowledge from reading newspapers.
Lee Jung-woo nodded and supplemented the explanation.
“Yes, it’s called a search engine, and without it, neither our company nor 【Yaho】 could provide services to customers. By the way, the person who created its foundation is me.”
“Hoho…”
“He always claims he did everything.”
“Oh, Mom. Really… I can’t believe I’m being ignored in my own home.”
“We ignore you because you deserve it.”
Lee Jung-woo had nothing to say.
Boasting more would make him seem really insignificant.
‘I need to create another groundbreaking program.’
Feeling desperate, Lee Jung-woo thought he needed to develop something astonishing to match his brother’s reputation.
Luckily, after washing the dishes, Kim Ah-young boosted his morale.
“You’re developing a game now, right?”
“Oh, how did you know?”
“I heard about it. I’m looking forward to it. Honestly, I heard 【Yaho】 bowed to 【Jungle】 because of the search engine you developed?”
“Oh, it’s not that much… hahaha.”
Lee Jung-woo laughed, finally holding his head high and looking at his parents.
However, both of them kept their eyes on Kim Ah-young, smiling warmly.
They found it admirable that Kim Ah-young was trying to get along well with Lee Hyun-woo’s parents and brother.
However, about an hour later, Lee Hyun-woo’s father brought up the next topic with the two of them.
“You should head to Han-nam now, right?”
“Already? We were planning to have dinner there.”
“Still, you should go. Our relatives will be coming soon.”
Indeed.
They had intentionally told the relatives to come later because of Kim Ah-young.
They thought she might feel burdened meeting many relatives at once.
“Father, it’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. I’m not okay with it. You should show precious things later. So, take Hyun-woo and go. There might be many people outside, so it won’t be easy to leave.”
“Alright, let’s get going. I’d like to pack something for you to take, but it seems you have everything there.”
“No, please pack something.”
“Really? Should I pack something?”
“Yes, I enjoyed the sweet potato stems earlier, they were delicious. Those would be good, and the white kimchi too.”
Whether she meant it or not, Lee Hyun-woo’s mother was overjoyed.
Regardless of anything else, she could see Kim Ah-young’s sincerity.
“Alright, alright. I’ll pack it right away.”
And so, Lee Hyun-woo and Kim Ah-young left with some side dishes and kimchi.
Then the people outside greeted them.
Lee Hyun-woo honestly felt sorry.
These people hadn’t even had a meal and were here the whole time.
He even saw Han Se-jin and Kang Dong-ho, who had recently become chief secretaries.
“You two should head home now.”
“No, we will escort you to the end.”
“No, please don’t. Even if it’s hard to separate public and private matters, this is not right.”
“It’s my comfort, sir.”
“Yes, CEO. Please let us accompany you.”
Lee Hyun-woo sighed.
“Phew…”
The assistance without distinguishing public and private matters wasn’t very comfortable.
‘The more you gain, the more inconveniences you face.’
Feeling this way, he thought he should quickly leave this place.
Early retirement.
He renewed this goal in his mind today.
When they arrived at Chairman Kim Sung-moo’s residence shortly after, the atmosphere changed again.
Business topics naturally came up.
“Hyun-woo, I heard 【Macro Soft】 is releasing Windows 97. Did you hear about it?”
“Yes, I heard about it a while ago.”
Kim Tae-hyun naturally took the lead.
“Then, computers will sell a lot again.”
“Probably, yes?”
“When did you find out about this?”
“Well, I don’t remember exactly…”
“Really? If you heard, you should have told us.”
“Indeed. I must have been busy at the time.”
Lee Hyun-woo responded with a smile to Kim Tae-hyun’s disappointed voice.
But was it really because he was busy?
Absolutely not.
‘The foreign exchange crisis was caused by redundant investments.’
When a big company mass-produces computers, small companies struggle.
In fact, many mid-sized computer companies collapsed during the IMF crisis in the past.
‘Now, 【Guseong Electronics】 and 【GB Electronics】 should focus on mobile phones rather than computers.’
Lee Hyun-woo intervened, thinking a subtle adjustment was needed.
He had already informed Kim Yoon-soo of 【One Computer】 about the information on Windows 97 that Sun Jung-ui had passed on that day.
“It’s a pity. What do you think will happen to the server market?”
“Tae-hyun, stop it. Are you only going to talk about work with guests around?”
Finally, someone stopped Kim Tae-hyun’s questions.
It was Kim Ah-young’s mother, Jang Hee-jin.
With a bright smile, she asked Lee Hyun-woo.
“So, what’s our CEO Lee’s favorite food?”
Mother-in-law’s love is for the son-in-law.
Although they were not married yet, she already saw him as her future son-in-law and wanted to treat him well.
Lee Hyun-woo and Kim Ah-young both smiled.
