Oh Min-woo said with a much brighter expression.
“Understood. Then I’ll wait until it’s completed here. But, can I visit in the meantime?”
“Sure, you can come visit. At that time, you are coming to the company as my younger brother’s friend, not as a part-timer.”
“That sounds meaningful.”
“Yes, it is meaningful. And I believe you’ll understand that meaning.”
For now, he could comfortably call him “hyung” and hang out, but after joining, he would have to adapt to the organizational life.
Oh Min-woo knew well that he was different from others in temperament.
However, he had to start with the minimum titles and adjust various things to fit organizational life.
If he couldn’t understand this, it would be a sign that they made a wrong judgment and should consider parting ways later.
Should he feel fortunate?
“Don’t worry about that. I can start calling you ‘CEO’ from now on.”
“You? Really?”
“Of course. When I was in high school, my dad’s friend was a teacher. But would I have called him ‘uncle’ at school instead of ‘teacher’?”
“Now that you mention it, that makes sense.”
“How little did you observe me…?”
“You did seem a bit unreliable. Even when you went to a booking, you couldn’t properly woo… the ladies…”
“…”
“Sorry, I apologize. I unintentionally hit a sore spot.”
“In that sense, how about going to a night club with me after work today?”
“Deal!”
Lee Hyun-woo laughed.
‘I like this guy.’
Of course, you can only truly know a person after spending a long time with them.
Since he was close to being a free spirit, he had put in place various measures, but only time would tell how things would turn out.
One of those measures was to assign him a floor.
Not only was it a matter of responsibility, but if he separated this 4D guy from the other employees, it would minimize conflicts and clashes.
‘Of course, there can never be zero conflicts and clashes.’
Healthy debates would serve as nutrients for the company’s growth.
This was something Lee Hyun-woo heard during a workshop he attended in Silicon Valley before.
He was especially impressed by a story told by a head of a department at the internet platform company 【Single】.
― 【Single】’s growth began with conflicts. If it had been composed entirely of the same style, it wouldn’t have grown this much.
He decided to set another goal for himself.
‘【Single】…’
Could the radical corporate culture of 【Single】 be possible in Korea?
‘There’s nothing that can’t be done.’
Lee Hyun-woo’s eyes sparkled intriguingly.
Time passed again.
Now it was late autumn, and the chill in the air was unmistakable.
Feeling the chill even when he woke up in the morning, Lee Hyun-woo subtly broached the topic during breakfast.
“What do you think about us moving?”
“Moving? Why all of a sudden?”
“The house is too old and uncomfortable. I was thinking we should move to a new house. I’ll contribute financially.”
“It seems like our hyung has been earning a lot of money lately. Not only is he signing lease contracts for entire buildings, but he’s also thinking of moving to a better place.”
Since it was true that he was earning a lot, he had no intention of denying his younger brother’s words.
So he said it outright.
“Let me show my filial piety while I’m earning a lot.”
At Lee Hyun-woo’s words, his parents looked at each other.
Then, his father asked Lee Hyun-woo.
“It seems like your business is doing well, but exactly how much are you earning?”
“Our net profit for October was about 700 million won?”
“What? Really?”
“Really?”
Their eyes widened immensely.
Lee Hyun-woo continued speaking to them.
“It’s all thanks to you, parents. You believed in me and supported me from the beginning. Honestly, it’s time to repay you. I’ll give you enough cash to remain a major shareholder in our company, so use it to move and travel abroad.”
“…”
“…”
“It’s time for you to rest comfortably. You went through so much hardship to educate us.”
This implied that his father should also close his business.
In his previous life, after his parents died in a car accident, he regretted countless times not treating them better while they were alive.
He wanted to do now what he couldn’t do for them back then.
His younger brother chimed in.
“Just accept it. I’ll also contribute money. Thanks to hyung giving me a good salary, I can’t match him, but I can do something.”
“This is too sudden.”
“Yes, it is. We were thinking of moving anyway. The boiler keeps breaking down in winter, and even when it’s fixed, it doesn’t work well.”
“That’s right. So we were looking for an apartment. We were thinking of somewhere close to your company.”
“Since we have a car, the distance doesn’t matter. Just find a place you both like, and I hope it’s a bit larger.”
“Yes, I agree with hyung. I hope you can move to a well-maintained, spacious apartment.”
“We’ll think about it.”
“Okay, we’ll handle it, so you two focus on your business. Mom is always worried. She says that when things go well, something bad might happen.”
“Oh, mom! Words can become reality.”
“Yes, honey. Words can become reality.”
“Oh, alright, alright. I said one wrong thing, and you two look like you’re going to eat me up.”
Lee Hyun-woo laughed as he watched the three of them end the conversation with playful bickering.
‘This is happiness.’
He hoped it would continue this way.
To be honest, he had no anxiety.
So far, reincarnation had been a series of good events.
Everything he touched turned out well, and now he felt he could expand and prepare for next year.
As he went out with Lee Jung-woo, he casually mentioned it.
“I found out that the network laying work by 【Daehan Electric】 is progressing very quickly and smoothly. By the end of the year, the internet speed should improve, and then we can do more with the portal.”
“What are you planning to do now, stirring up excitement?”
“It’s not about planning something; it’s about giving you a task.”
“What task?”
“Think about what we can do with the portal. By the way, when we move into our new building, I’ll assign you a floor.”
“What?”
“I’ll assign one floor to you, another tOh Min-woo, and the entire current place to Yu-chul.”
Although it was called a move, it was actually an expansion.
They would fully lease a new building and maintain the entire current place as another research and development lab.
“What about Sang-won hyung?”
“I’ll assign a floor to Team Leader Woo Sang-won as well. This way, we’ll have four development teams in total. But as you know, am I running a charity? If I assign a floor, each development team must produce results.”
“…”
At Lee Hyun-woo’s words, Lee Jung-woo looked tense.
It was only natural because Lee Hyun-woo’s words essentially induced fierce competition.
But he tried to hide it and boasted confidently.
“If that’s the case, I’m confident.”
Lee Hyun-woo smiled at his younger brother’s bravado.
‘I can’t spoon-feed ideas to you forever, can I?’
To be honest, Lee Hyun-woo, who had lived a previous life, had an endless supply of ideas, so-called cheat keys.
But instead of using them himself, he was curious to see what results would come from assigning them to others and having them compete.
This was why he said the same thing to Jang Yu-chul and Woo Sang-won after arriving at the company, just as he had said to Lee Jung-woo earlier.
“You’re assigning an entire team to me?”
“And expanding the scale more than now?”
“Yes, that’s right. November is coming soon, which means there are two months left in this year. We’ve raised our monthly profit target to 1 billion won, so we can hire more developers. It’s also the time when graduates are coming out.”
“CEO, this game overwhelmingly favors Team Leader Woo.”
Jang Yu-chul suddenly complained.
Lee Hyun-woo knew why he said that.
“You’re saying you don’t have enough time because you’re all returning to school?”
“Yes, that’s right. We have to balance our studies and work. Moreover, in our company, you control the working hours, so we can’t secure enough time. Naturally, Team Leader Woo, who can focus solely on work, has an advantage.”
“What does Team Leader Woo think?”
“Well, there’s a saying that’s widespread in this field these days. It’s only a matter of time before we’re overtaken by the younger kids.”
Lee Hyun-woo had heard it before.
The lifespan of IT developers was quite short.
This was because it wasn’t easy to keep up with the rapidly changing trends in the industry.
This was more severe for those with more age and experience, but it wasn’t something still-young Woo Sang-won should be saying.
But Lee Hyun-woo pretended not to know and accepted his words.
“I fully agree.”
“CEO!”
“Of course, I understand Team Leader Jang’s current situation. But think about what I said earlier. Did I ever set a deadline?”
“What?”
“While developing something quickly might be important, I think it’s more important to develop something that surprises everyone, even if it’s a bit late. What do you think, Team Leader Jang?”
Jang Yu-chul was momentarily speechless at Lee Hyun-woo’s skillful rhetoric.
Eventually, he nodded ambiguously.
“Understood. I will do my best.”
In fact, among the four development team leaders, Jang Yu-chul was often rated the lowest in terms of the ability to create something new, i.e., creativity.
So he had made a small protest, but it didn’t work on Lee Hyun-woo.
“Remember, it starts not from now, but after we move. As I said before, there’s no deadline, so we’ll have a vote on the last developed item.”
“A vote?”
“Yes, we’ll vote excluding the four development team leaders. Sometimes, we’ll also invite reliable external people. I think this is fair, what do you think?”
“We’ll accept it.”
“We’ll do our best.”
Lee Hyun-woo smiled at their answers.
And with the morning conversation with Lee Jung-woo, he had effectively notified three people.
The remaining person was Oh Min-woo, whom he immediately contacted and informed.
He was the most enthusiastic of all.
‘I wonder what kind of items will come out.’
Human imagination is limitless.
However, the team leaders and their members faced a very strong competitor.
That was Lee Hyun-woo.
As a regressor who had experienced auctions, online shopping, and portal sites in his past life, it was nearly impossible to surprise him.
Therefore, Lee Hyun-woo thought it was better to predict how much they could accelerate rather than expecting something new.
‘I can’t do it myself.’
No matter how familiar he was with IT from his future experience, the domain of developers was hard to encroach upon.
From now on, he considered it his role to observe the results of their imagination and make decisions.
‘But I can’t help being excited.’
A smile formed on Lee Hyun-woo’s lips.
