I shared the story of my younger brother’s declaration of independence with Kim Ah-young.
Kim Ah-young’s reaction was unexpected.
“I understand.”
“You understand?”
“Yeah, I sometimes feel suffocated and want to leave home too.”
“Ah…”
It made sense. Born as a child of the Guseong Group, how much freedom could she have lived without?
Although she enjoyed many things, as a typical “golden spoon” child, the free life that she could have enjoyed would also be restricted and cautious due to public scrutiny.
‘No, there are so many 2nd and 3rd generation chaebols who don’t care about such things.’
In the past life that Lee Hyun-woo lived, the deviant behavior of chaebol children was no joke.
Therefore, if one couldn’t withstand the suffocation and lived without restraint, they could easily fall in one blow.
‘Ah, am I too old-fashioned?’
At times like this, his middle-aged mindset showed.
In the end, Lee Hyun-woo nodded at Kim Ah-young’s words.
“You’re right. I think I can understand.”
“Yeah. Even now, I want to live independently like your brother. I want to live freely in my own space, so that you can come over anytime.”
“But my mother said last time to come home anytime.”
“She says that, but do you think there won’t be any watchful eyes the moment you come home?”
Come to think of it, even Lee Hyun-woo couldn’t ignore his parents.
The house was so big that wherever they were and whatever they did, they could avoid eyes, so they had to fix their gaze on them.
Pretending not to see while actually watching, Lee Hyun-woo visiting Kim Ah-young’s house would be a matter of great concern for Kim Sung-moo and Jang Hee-jin.
“I see.”
“Should I say it too?”
“What? You’re going to declare your independence?”
“Yes…”
“Will they allow it?”
Inwardly, he thought, ‘She has a boyfriend, and they will accept it?’
But as this topic came up, Kim Ah-young expressed herself more actively.
“No, I should say I need to live independently too. Or at least tell them not to call me for a few days like my oppa.”
“Does Tae-hyun hyung do that?”
“Sometimes he drinks and doesn’t come home. But they react completely differently with me. In short, men can do that.”
“Ah…”
At this point, Lee Hyun-woo wanted to stop her but kept his mouth shut for fear of being accused of gender discrimination.
‘Is she really going to live independently?’
He pictured it in his mind.
What would happen if Kim Ah-young lived independently?
Lee Hyun-woo could visit her living space often.
Sometimes, they could enjoy an evening with wine without any interruptions, and then…
‘Hmm…’
Imagining it, his face strangely turned red.
‘Damn, am I really an old man?’
An unexpected flame rose from his mind and body.
The reason he met Kim Ah-young today was to plan a trip to Jeju Island.
So, he suddenly said.
“Ah, how about we go on our Jeju Island trip around Christmas?”
“Huh? That sounds good. It has meaning.”
“Okay, then I’ll plan it around Christmas.”
“Sure.”
Kim Ah-young smiled gently with clear eyes.
She probably didn’t know.
That Lee Hyun-woo, being a man, could turn into a wolf anytime.
No, he had held back a lot until now.
This was also due to the watchful eyes around them,
‘Since we have become true lovers, we should enjoy what we can enjoy.’
At the end of the year, whether there were watchful eyes or not, they would boldly proceed with their acts of love.
The next day, Lee Hyun-woo called Woo Sang-won.
“I’m thinking of going to Jeju Island at the end of the year to look over the new site for Jungle’s headquarters.”
“Ah, are you really planning to build the headquarters in Jeju Island?”
“Yes, that’s my intention. But it doesn’t mean leaving Seoul completely. It’s a kind of dual headquarters.”
“So, you’re planning to place the center of gravity on Jeju Island.”
“I called Director Woo to discuss this.”
Seoul is the optimal city for business.
This cannot be denied, so Lee Hyun-woo is thinking of leaving the Seoul headquarters while setting up the Jeju Island headquarters.
“Probably, I’ll be in Jeju Island headquarters, and Director Woo will have to take charge of the Seoul headquarters.”
He emphasized the distribution of leadership more and more.
Woo Sang-won slowly started to speak, feeling the weight on his shoulders.
“How long will it take?”
“It will take at least 2 years.”
“Ah, okay… That’s fine. 2 years is a long time, but I’ll do my best to learn and absorb from you during that time.”
“Wow? No, there’s not much I can teach. You’re already doing a great job.”
“No, I’m still far from it. Recently, many contents succeeded after your decision. Seeing that, I only feel more eager to learn.”
“Well, I think the distribution of decision-making power has already been achieved. Just with the corporate venture and the web browser, haven’t they settled successfully?”
“Thank you for seeing it that way, but I’m still far off. I’m not saying this out of humility. Didn’t I cause worry by mentioning an operating system out of the blue last time? Looking back, had we focused on that, we might have wasted manpower, cost, and time. So, if there’s an unreasonable direction in my path, please point it out.”
“Haha…”
Lee Hyun-woo laughed awkwardly.
In his view, Woo Sang-won had shared leadership well in a short period.
Yet, he still reflected on himself and asked for more guidance.
This seemed to be a difference in stability.
‘It must be difficult for him to make decisions, unlike me who knows the future.’
Mostly, Lee Hyun-woo could be confident in his decisions as he knew the successful paths.
But Woo Sang-won didn’t know that, so he couldn’t help but be anxious until he saw the result of success.
It was understandable.
Even Lee Hyun-woo would rely on a boss who always made sure decisions.
But Lee Hyun-woo didn’t always take the safe route.
Though he knew the future, his adventurous spirit sometimes led him to make bold choices.
In doing so, the media and public’s attention focused on his words and actions, making him stand out like a great IT founder in America.
Thinking this far, he suddenly had a foreboding that his private life would disappear in the future.
‘Even when I go to Jeju Island, journalists will cling to me.’
No matter how much the secretaries and executives surrounded him, they could turn Lee Hyun-woo and Kim Ah-young’s trip into all sorts of speculative articles.
No, this time, it wasn’t even just speculation.
Because it was a trip with Lee Hyun-woo’s wolfish instincts added.
‘This is why I need to be discreet.’
At first, he enjoyed the spotlight of the media without knowing better, but now the burden on his mind was growing.
He felt like there wouldn’t be any privacy in his personal life in the future.
He wasn’t going to commit a crime, but as society became more connected through the internet, it seemed his personal life would be revealed in real-time.
These things piled up would become stress.
‘Early retirement is the answer.’
In fact, Lee Hyun-woo had a clear role model for early retirement.
That was none other than Billy Kates of Macro Soft.
No matter how much he looked through the dinosaur IT companies of his past life, there seemed to be no founder who retired properly like Billy Kates.
Stephen Job of Pineapple was practically forced to retire from the world as well as the company due to his work addiction, and the founders of Amazoness or Nicole Tesla, who dominated the world, were workaholics until Lee Hyun-woo died.
‘Indeed, I need to follow Billy Kates’ path.’
Just then, a welcome piece of news appeared in the media.
‘Billy Kates to Visit Korea, Promoting Windows 97’
Lee Hyun-woo thought it was a chance to fully understand his philosophy.
He called Kang Dong-ho, the deputy chief secretary.
“Billy Kates is coming to Korea.”
“Ah, yes. I just read the article.”
“I’d like to meet him.”
Kang Dong-ho raised his eyebrows.
And then he said.
“I’ll arrange it right away.”
The reason for entrusting this task to Kang Dong-ho instead of Han Se-jin was because of his ‘boldness.’
Indeed, after leaving the representative office, Kang Dong-ho quickly found the phone number of Macro Soft.
Then, he immediately made a call.
“Hello? Ah, is this Macro Soft? I’m the chief secretary of Hyun-woo Lee, CEO of Jungle.”
He had learned conversational English while traveling between Taiwan and Hong Kong.
True to his bold personality, he picked it up quickly.
This type of personality tends to learn languages fast.
“I saw the news that Chairman Billy Kates will be visiting Korea. I’d like to know if there’s any time in his schedule to meet our CEO. Ah, you’ll get back to us? Yes, then I’ll give you my phone number.”
Meanwhile, Kang Dong-ho’s request was reported up to Billy Kates at the top.
“When you visit Korea this time, Hyun-woo Lee wants to meet you.”
Billy Kates squinted and asked back.
“Hyun-woo Lee? Jungle?”
“Yes, the founder of Jungle.”
“Hmm…”
Billy Kates pondered for a moment at the secretary’s report.
The reason for his visit to Korea was to promote Windows 97.
Last year and this year, it was no exaggeration to say that a regional information revolution had taken place in the Korean market, with the IT industry sowing seeds, sprouting, and bearing fruit tremendously.
As a result, computer sales and internet penetration continued to break records.
From Macro Soft’s standpoint, it had emerged as one of the largest markets outside the U.S.
However,
‘Soon, we’ll have a contentious relationship over web browsers…’
Recently, he had unleashed his ambition to dominate the world with Macro Soft’s killer web browser, ‘Internet Ex Cross.’
Therefore, as Macro Soft had grown so far, he planned to wipe out competitors, and with the release of Windows 97, this move was beginning.
That was to bundle ‘Internet Ex Cross’ with PC manufacturers installing Windows 97.
Given Macro Soft’s operating system market share exceeded 90%, manufacturers couldn’t help but pre-install ‘Internet Ex Cross’ on their desktops.
Naturally, the competitors’ web browsers would suffer.
Although it hadn’t been released in the U.S. yet, Jungle also developed a web browser called ‘Forest.’
It was obvious that ‘Internet Ex Cross’ would trample on it, and thinking about this, their relationship was bound to flow more as a bad one than a good one, but Billy Kates confirmed an unexpected emotion.
It was a competitive spirit.
‘Interesting. To think I want to compete with an IT company that’s just starting.’
Jungle still fell short of Macro Soft’s market dominance.
In other words, Hyun-woo Lee was underqualified to be on the same level as Billy Kates’ few rivals.
He should have been out of interest.
‘Strange. Does it seem like Hyun-woo Lee can grow Jungle to rival Macro Soft someday?’
This was a question he asked himself, and the answer was ‘Yes.’
“Alright. Adjust the schedule to meet Hyun-woo Lee.”
A smile spread across his face without him realizing it.
