Quite a few acquaintances of Lee Hyun-woo came to the summer festival in Jeju Island.
Most of them were people he befriended at the 21st Century Venture Business Association, and they all praised Jeju Island and expressed their envy at Lee Hyun-woo’s decision.
“Since I came here a few days ago and toured around, I feel like working here would really purify my mind and body.”
“Me too. So, I’m considering it. Should we just move to Jeju as well?”
“I’m leaning towards it a lot. I might make a decision soon after a meeting.”
“Oh? Really? Then should I move too? Honestly, I thought I’d be bored here since I don’t know anyone besides people from 【Jungle】.”
“That’s right. But seeing the partner companies of 【Jungle】 coming in one after another and hearing that members are considering moving, I’m also swayed.”
Whenever he heard such stories, the term “Silicon Beach of Jeju” would come up.
“It might be inconvenient at first. But it gets better over time. Personally, I want to make Jeju’s Silicon Beach an IT mecca greater than Silicon Valley in the U.S. We’ll soon start negotiations with American companies, so I feel like we’re already halfway there.”
“Negotiations?”
“Oh? With whom?”
People’s eyes sparkled.
Considering the scale of 【Jungle】 and Lee Hyun-woo’s position, it was unlikely to be with unknown entities.
In fact, everyone was surprised when they heard the names coming out of Lee Hyun-woo’s mouth.
“At the current stage, targets include 【Yaho】, 【Give & Take】, 【Macro Soft】, and 【Pineapple】. I can’t say what their intentions will be, but I’ll do my best to persuade them.”
Naturally, their minds leaned even more towards the idea.
Before leaving, Jung Sung-woo, the chairman of the 21st Century Venture Business Association, made the following proposal to Lee Hyun-woo.
“How about opening a branch of the 21st Century IT Academy in Jeju Island?”
“That’s a great idea. I’ve been wanting to cultivate many IT talents here.”
“Alright, then let’s push ahead with it.”
And then Kim Yun-soo said…
“I feel very empty-hearted since Chairman Lee moved to Jeju Island. So, we’re also considering moving.”
He conveyed his genuine feelings to Lee Hyun-woo.
However, unlike other places, it wasn’t easy for 【One Computer】 to relocate to Jeju Island.
This was because 【One Computer】 was a manufacturing company.
Procuring parts, manpower, production facilities, and distribution—all of these were challenging.
The related infrastructure in Jeju Island was almost non-existent, and it wasn’t internet-based, so building it would take a lot of time and cost.
Most importantly, Lee Hyun-woo wanted to create Silicon Beach with minimal harm to Jeju Island’s pristine environment.
Therefore, he thought it should be mainly for dot-com companies or a district centered around research and design.
“If it’s so difficult, why not establish a research lab?”
“Should I?”
“Yes, many companies will set up research labs here in the future. If 【One Computer】 doesn’t engage in research and development, it will inevitably fall behind. I think investing in a research lab now wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
“Alright, alright. I’ll start working on it.”
Encouraged by Lee Hyun-woo, Kim Yun-soo’s face brightened, and he returned to Seoul.
But Lee Hyun-woo was right. Indeed, several companies were finalizing plans to establish research labs.
Among them was his father’s company, 【Two Woo Fashion】, which decided to set up a design and product research and development center in Jeju Island.
“Your mother kept pestering me to go to Jeju Island, so I thought it would be better to have an excuse to visit often. So, I’ll come for business trips, and your mother will come to bring side dishes.”
“By the way, has my daughter-in-law’s cooking improved?”
“Yes, since she doesn’t complain, it must be okay.”
“Oh, then I must taste our daughter-in-law’s cooking today.”
“Yes, let’s see how good Ah-young’s cooking is today.”
Listening to the two who had taken the time to visit, Lee Hyun-woo flinched and exchanged glances with his younger brother, Lee Jung-woo.
‘Hyung, what should we do?’
‘What do you mean what? We can’t hide it forever. Plus, Ah-young didn’t marry me to showcase her cooking skills, and we don’t live with our parents.’
They had this exchange through eye contact, but fortunately, Kim Ah-young’s cooking that day was ordinary, consisting of typical rice and stew.
Of course, the stew wasn’t delicious, but the rice wasn’t undercooked like before, so the parents were relatively satisfied.
“I was worried a lot, but our daughter-in-law cooks well.”
“She’s much better than I was when I first got married.”
Hearing the compliments, Kim Ah-young smiled bashfully.
After the two left, Lee Hyun-woo asked her,
“Why didn’t you make a special dish today?”
“I didn’t want to make them worry.”
“Huh?”
Lee Hyun-woo looked at her in surprise. Then Kim Ah-young awkwardly smiled and said,
“Actually, I know my special dishes weren’t tasty.”
“You… knew?”
“Yes, but how can my cooking skills improve if I don’t even try again after one failure?”
“That’s… true.”
“So I kept trying. Thankfully, my husband ate without complaints, and sometimes he even brought people for tasting… pretending not to know and presenting the dishes.”
“Haha…”
“I’m telling you now, thank you and sorry for all that time.”
“Hey, there’s no need to be sorry.”
“Really. My husband is the best. Knowing it wasn’t tasty but still saying it was delicious—how touched I was.”
“I can’t. To impress you more, I’ll take charge of half the cooking.”
“Hey, don’t. As I said, I need to keep trying to improve my skills. Don’t you want my cooking to get better? Or is it because it’s hard to eat, and that’s why you want to do it?”
“That’s not it at all. Since you’re going to start working seriously, I meant to help reduce your housework.”
“Then help with things like washing dishes or cleaning.”
“Okay, got it. That’s no problem at all. Am I not Mr. Clean?”
Lee Hyun-woo boasted like this.
However, it was a promise made without considering the size of the house.
‘Wow… it’s this spacious?’
Although he hadn’t gone to work, he realized how much effort Kim Ah-young had put in and felt grateful and sorry once again.
“Above all, the vacuum cleaner is very inconvenient.”
It was because of the cord. At times like this, he wished he had a 【Tyson】 cordless vacuum cleaner from the 21st century.
“I can’t. If it doesn’t exist, I’ll have to make it.”
Of course, he didn’t mean making it himself.
He meant he would look for a company that could make it.
Although he wasn’t an engineering graduate, Lee Hyun-woo could provide ideas.
Why? Because while working at 【Dukseong Trading】, Lee Hyun-woo was a key executive in the department that imported and sold the cordless vacuum cleaner made by overseas 【Tyson】.
Once Lee Hyun-woo delved into something, he researched it as deeply as an engineer, so he roughly knew the principles behind such cordless vacuum cleaners.
‘After all, that vacuum cleaner wasn’t made by an engineer.’
In fact, that innovative product was created by an industrial designer-turned-entrepreneur.
He only had the idea, and it took quite a long time to commercialize the product because he lacked engineering knowledge.
He was even nearly bankrupt due to fraud during the development process, but after many ups and downs, the product was completed and launched at a high price of $2,000, achieving great success.
In this lifetime, since there were no rumors of it being made, Lee Hyun-woo had no choice but to step up himself.
The next day, Lee Hyun-woo called Han Se-jin and instructed him to find the contact information of a fan company representative.
‘The principles of vacuum cleaners and fans are similar.’
Although Han Se-jin found it strange, he tracked down the fan company 【Ilhan Electric】 and gave Lee Hyun-woo the contact information.
Then, Lee Hyun-woo called them on the spot.
“Hello, I’m Lee Hyun-woo, the chairman of 【Jungle】. I was considering investing in your company but didn’t know how to approach it, so I’m reaching out like this.”
He directly mentioned investment.
Han Se-jin was surprised.
‘You call the representative directly because you don’t know how to approach it? No, he must have called because he wants to invest.’
The representative of the other company was, of course, delighted with the prospect of investment.
He happily arrived in Jeju Island a few days later.
“Hello, I’m Han Il-woong.”
He looked like he had just turned 40.
Han Il-woong, the son of the founder, extended his hand to Lee Hyun-woo, and after shaking hands, the two sat down and had a brief exploratory conversation before finally getting to the topic of investment.
“Actually, I have a product in mind that I’d like you to make, and that’s why I’m proposing an investment.”
“A product? What kind…”
“A cordless vacuum cleaner. I’m not good at drawing, but it looks like this.”
Lee Hyun-woo showed him the drawing he had spent days sketching. Han Il-woong looked at the drawing he was handed.
“This looks like a blueprint. Haha…”
He awkwardly laughed while looking at the drawing, which emphasized the placement of the motor, the battery installation, and most importantly, the ‘cordless’ aspect.
Lee Hyun-woo spoke again to him.
“It will require a lot of development costs. The cost of setting up production facilities won’t be small either. But I’ll cover all of that.”
“Really? Are you serious?”
“Yes, but I want the consumer price to be set at 2 million won, and I want it to be sold in Japan.”
“In… Japan?”
“I’m confident it will sell well.”
He had a basis for this. The first cordless vacuum cleaner launched by 【Tyson】 was priced at $2,000 and was a huge success in Japan, after which it started selling worldwide.
“I don’t think a 2 million won vacuum cleaner will sell in our country yet. After selling it in Japan, we can lower the price by about half for the domestic market and promote it. Anyway, I’ll cover all the costs. Even if there’s a loss, the same, and if there’s a profit, I’ll reinvest it in 【Ilhan Electric】. So don’t worry and proceed. By the way, I’d also like a research lab nearby here, and I’ll cover the costs for that too.”
There was a reason for this too.
It was to test the prototype after it was designed at the research lab.
Han Il-woong, not knowing this, looked puzzled, but since Lee Hyun-woo was taking on all the costs, including planning, design, labor, and development costs, and even potential losses, he had no reason to refuse.
He continued to nod awkwardly with a smile, and Lee Hyun-woo said to him,
“I’d like the prototype to come out as soon as possible.”
His expression was earnest.
In fact, cleaning was becoming increasingly difficult.
He realized for sure this time that a house of moderate size is best.
