The more Hw.a.n.g Joon Yul is shocked and feels burdened, the better it is for me. That is exactly what I am trying to do.
“It’s fine if you don’t want to. There are plenty of corporations that want to sponsor me. Or, I can always play with my company, AFC’s logo, as well. You still don’t get it? I’m not that interested in chump change anymore.”
Hw.a.n.g Joon Yul could not respond. He just rolled his eyes back and forth. I’m sure he is calculating the chances of his being able to do what I asked.
“Give me a day.”
“Do whatever you want. You can leave now if you’ve said what you needed to say.”
Hw.a.n.g Joon Yul started to frown even more. I’m sure he felt like he was getting kicked out by me.
But this is just the beginning. The moment I meet Chairman Jung Man Yong, you will board a one way train to h.e.l.l.
“Ah, he’s driving me crazy! d.a.m.n it!”
Hw.a.n.g Joon Yul was clenching his hair while sitting on the couch.
But he could not come up with a solution. Even after he offered a really good deal that could get him in trouble, Kang Hwi Ram didn’t even budge an inch. But it wasn’t like he could really get Chairman Jung Man Yong to personally negotiate with him.
‘Do I just kidnap the b.a.s.t.a.r.d and threaten him?’
He really wanted to do something like that, but knew that he couldn’t.
Riiiing- Riiiing-
‘What b.a.s.t.a.r.d is calling me?’
He was so frustrated that he wanted to let out his stress and anger to anybody. If it was someone he could afford to offend, he was planning on finding any excuse to cuss them out.
But his thoughts completely changed after seeing who was calling him.
It was Chairman Jung’s secretary.
Even the servants of a lord’s household can pull rank over others. Hw.a.n.g Joon Yul had to be extremely respectful to this secretary.
His att.i.tude quickly became respectful.
“h.e.l.lo, Mr. Secretary-nim. What can I do for you……?”
– The chairman has called for an emergency meeting. He has indicated that he wants you there. How long will it take for you to get here?
Chairman Jung Man Yong personally said he needed to be there. That alone made his heart sink.
“I will be there within 20 minutes.”
– I will inform the chairman.
The secretary finished what he had to say and hung up.
It was always like this. The secretary’s tone was also as cold as possible.
Hw.a.n.g Joon Yul grinded his teeth internally every time.
“Let’s see how long you remain his secretary. No matter when it is, I will punt your head as soon as you are out of that position.”
But right now was not the time. He needed to run as fast as possible in order to survive.
Hw.a.n.g Joon Yul quickly headed
to the conference room.
Company conference room.
The discussion of the conference was about the Royal Road for Korean golfers to enter into the PGA. There were no other company business discussed at the meeting at all.
Because of that, there were only a few people gathered together, and the important shareholders naturally were not present as well.
It was to the point that Hw.a.n.g Joon Yul was the center of the discussion.
Even Jung Man Yong had a lot of questions for Hw.a.n.g Joon Yul.
“What happened with Kang Hwi Ram? Did you get him to sign?”
Hw.a.n.g Joon Yul had been thinking about it as he ran over. Just what could he do to get out of this dangerous situation?
He only had one method. He needed to make Kang Hwi Ram the criminal.
“Apparently that punk is extremely ungrateful. He has continued to refuse our offer saying that many companies have offered him sponsors.h.i.+ps.”
“Tsk tsk, his personality is not as good as his skills. Don’t care about the money and give him more. We’ll make enough back if he wins a PGA tournament even once.”
This isn’t what I was expecting.
Hw.a.n.g Joon Yul was expecting a completely different response.
Chairman Jung Man Yong is someone who cares more about personality than abilities. That was why he would never make someone one of his people if they had the skills but lacked the proper personality.
That was why he thought the chairman would tell him to get rid of Kang Hwi Ram.
But the fact that he would throw away his style to get Kang Hwi Ram showed just how obsessed the chairman was with him.
Then he had no other choice.
“I understand. But that b.a.s.t.a.r.d keeps throwing a fit saying he wants to meet with you, Chairman-nim.”
“Me?”
“Yes. He says he has respected you for a long time and really wants to meet with you. To be honest, that is one of the reasons he has put off signing the contract.”
“Ahahahaha.”
It really isn’t what you say, but how you say it. You lather on a bit of compliment and Chairman Jung Man Yong is this happy.
Even Kang Hwi Ram won’t be able to do as he wishes when he meets with the Chairman. He might act c.o.c.ky now, but I’m sure he’ll be groveling at the Chairman’s feet when they meet.
Just like every other businessman in our country.
“To be honest, I am also curious to see what kind of character he is. Don’t I have a rounding in a few days at the Icheon GC? Take Lim-pro out and throw him in.”
“I understand.”
Four days later.
I headed to Icheon GC early in the morning. My golf outfit was, of course, the Dandelion uniform.
I also prepared couple outfits for Chairman Jung Man Yong as well. I had these made a long time ago.
Of
ago.
Of course, I already verified the sizes with the Golden Dragon Group people.
I arrived there an hour before our scheduled time. Chairman Jung Man Yong and group arrived while I was practicing my putting on the practice green.
I was as respectful as possible. Although I have a lot of hatred for Hw.a.n.g Joon Yul, I have no negative emotions for Chairman Jung Man Yong.
In fact, I have a very positive image of the guy. He is investing a lot of money for the progression of Korean golf, and I also heard that he is a respected businessman who donates a lot to educational, medical, and social welfare inst.i.tutions.
It is only natural to be respectful to people who do good work.
“Nice to meet you, Chairman-nim. My name is Kang Hwi Ram.”
Chairman Jung Man Yong looked up and down at me before smiling with satisfaction.
“You are even better looking than I expected. If your skills are good enough, you really can be a hit product. Hoho.”
He really has a business mindset. He sees everything in relation to money.
“Thank you for looking so kindly on me.”
“I don’t do anything like that. I just see what I see. But you’ve got a good thing going for you these days.”
“I’ve just been lucky.”
“No need to be humble in front of me. I would be disappointed if it was just pure luck. Be honest with me. Is it skill or is it luck?”
Of course it is skill. I haven’t used a single Jewel of Luck until now.
But it’s still embarra.s.sing to say it with my own mouth. And I have many ways to show it without actually saying it myself.
“I will show you through our rounding today.”
“That’s good too. Don’t think you need to go easy because I am here. Just show me your full skillset. That is the reason I called you here today.”
“I understand.”
I will clearly show you how talented I am today. Well, ‘What level my skill is at,’ is probably more accurate.
Our rounding started.
To be honest, there are many methods of showing off your skills in golf.
The most certain way is to hit strong but accurate shots to create the best score.
But I did not want to use a method like that against amateurs like Jung Man Yong.
Then how do I prove my skill?
Like this.
I refres.h.i.+ngly swung my iron.
The ball didn’t land in the fairway and went into the rough instead. It would have fallen into the OB area if it rolled a little further.
Of course, this was where I wanted it to go. I used my skill to accurately send my ball there.
Jung Man Yong started to laugh after seeing my shot.
“Haha. I was expecting it, but it really wasn’t a coincidence. You are hitting it like that on purpose.”
I just quietly smiled
quietly smiled before walking forward with Chairman Jung Man Yong.
There were two more people rounding with us. But Jung Man Yong and I were stuck like glue while the other two frequently walked a different path.
It was because of my golf skills.
Every time I hit a shot, I made sure it only went about 5 meters further than Chairman Jung Man Yong’s ball. It was always exactly in the same direction.
Because of that, the direction and distance I needed to move to prepare the next shot was the same as Chairman Jung Man Yong. We naturally would end up walking together and talking along the way.
If my ball’s location was in a different direction or much further than Chairman Jung Man Yong’s ball, we would need to move in different directions to prepare for the next shot. Then we will not have much time to chat.
And if I hit the ball shorter than Jung Man Yong, I have to hit first, making it impossible to match my next shot with Chairman Jung Man Yong.
That was why I was making sure that Chairman Jung hit before me, and then made sure I only sent my ball about 5 meters further.
It is something that is impossible to do unless you are very accurate with your distance and precise with the direction.
I was showing my skills by consistently making my shots go like that.
“Your skills really aren’t ordinary. You also know how to maneuver the world.”
“Thank you for looking kindly upon me.”
I acted humble once again.
But then Chairman Jung suddenly said something weird.
“So why would a person like that be so greedy with sponsors.h.i.+p money?”
I was greedy?
Nonsense. I haven’t negotiated since the first 6 month sponsors.h.i.+p contract. You have to at least sit at the table to discuss an amount.
But the fact that Chairman Jung was saying that meant someone made me some like a terrible person to him.
Naturally, it was probably Hw.a.n.g Joon Yul.
My goal today was to send Hw.a.n.g Joon Yul away, so this is actually good.
And I’ve set a good foundation already. We’re already at hole 11 and drank three or four shots of makgeolli [1] after the 9th hole as well.
“Who said such a thing? Who said I was greedy for money?”
“Are you saying its not true?”
“I have no reason to be greedy. I donate 100% of my sponsors.h.i.+p money anyways.”
“That wasn’t just a comment for TV? You really are donating that much money?”
I am a bit disappointed. I thought someone like Chairman Jung would have taken the time to look up some information about me.
The fact that he said, ‘that much money,’ about the puny sponsors.h.i.+p amount shows that he doesn’t even know the basics about me.
I wonder why. He should have thoroughly researched me after I showed that much skill.
“Chairman-nim, that much skill.
“Chairman-nim, do you know what my net worth is?”
“Is there a reason for me to know such a thing?”
You’ll feel like you need to know it once I tell you.
“It is approximately 3 trillion won.”
“Wh, what?”
Chairman Jung must be really surprised. He almost fell down from shock.
“I thought you would have at least researched that much since you wanted to be my sponsor. But it seems you had no interest in me at all.”
“I didn’t have a reason to. Joon Yul was confident that he could get you to sign because you were former cla.s.smates. What kind of fisherman puts in effort into a fish he already caught?”
I see. He trusted Hw.a.n.g Joon Yul to take care of everything. That is why he probably thinks Hw.a.n.g Joon Yul and I are really close.
Now it is time to tell him the truth.
“Chairman-nim, it seems that Hw.a.n.g Joon Yul completely tricked you.”
“Trick me? Then you weren’t cla.s.smates?”
“No, we were cla.s.smates. There are two reasons why I am currently pus.h.i.+ng back on signing the contract, and one of those reasons is because of the fact that I am old cla.s.smates with Hw.a.n.g Joon Yul.”
“I really don’t get what you are trying to say.”
Jung Man Yong stopped walking, as if he wanted me to explain thoroughly.
There were no teams coming behind us anyways. He rented out the entire Icheon GC all day. Which means, the four of us were the only people to round here today.
“I have no desire to negotiate with a punk like Hw.a.n.g Joon Yul at the table.”
“Why is that?”
I briefly explained the things that happened in middle school. I didn’t exaggerate or remove anything, I just told him the raw facts. I also told him about the recent events as well.
It was natural that Chairman Jung’s face became stiffer and stiffer as I continued to speak.
“So there was such a thing. But wasn’t that all in the past when he was immature? Sometimes you have to let bygones be bygones.”
“I’m sorry, but I am kind of a petty person. Whether it is grace or revenge, I cannot sleep well at night if I don’t return it back. I do not want to sell my name to a company with a punk like Hw.a.n.g Joon Yul.”
“I understand what you want.”
I wonder what that means. Does it mean he will give up on signing me to a sponsors.h.i.+p? Or is he saying he will get rid of the obstacle to get me to sign?
I’ll just have to wait and see.
I have nothing to lose. If I show more of my strength, there will be plenty of sponsors who want to sign me for much better conditions.
“But didn’t you say there were two reasons? What is the other reason?”
___
[1] Korean alcoholic drink
