Rockstar Again - Chapter 107



Only Noblemtl

Episode 107. Clapping doesn’t make a sound unless you clap your hands together (1)

airs on Fridays.

You could say, why is that?

It had its own meaning to Yoon Tae-joo.

– Chairman. Good morning. Haha. I’m planning to go hiking this weekend, and I thought of you, Chairman, so I’m contacting you shamelessly. I’m planning to climb the mountain, pray for your health, and come back down. Haha.

―Chairman. It’s been more than 30 years since I joined the company. I was a green sapling, but I think it was all thanks to you, Chairman, that I was able to get to this position, although it was partly due to my efforts. As my hair turns gray, I often think back to the past. When… … If it’s okay, can I come over and have a cup of tea like we used to?

I received a call from an executive who had been feeling uneasy all weekend, trying to get a feel for the situation.

The two sons’ eyes lit up.

The sons’ eyes had this kind of feeling.

‘Huh? Is it our turn this early?’

What… something like that.

“Dad! Let me meet Dong-ha oppa!”

Should we say that the reaction of a normal family was that the eldest daughter asked to meet Dong-ha while hugging him for the first time in a while?

So I said, with a satisfied smile on my face, “I will do that.”

My wife… … looked very confused.

“Do you have anything to say?”

So I asked first.

I’m nervous about hanging around.

“……no.”

“Then would you please go out?”

“… … .”

My wife hesitated again and then left without saying anything. It was nice to have such a thing since we were so distant from each other.

There is no reason to be concerned.

Tiring ringing …

Yoon Tae-joo checked his phone at the sound of a fairly classic phone ring.

[President of the Salvation Army]

Although the business world is one where money replaces friendship, there is friendship even there.

To Yoon Tae-joo, the Salvation Army is like that.

“What’s going on?”

-I called to see how you were doing. How are you?

“It’s just like that.”

-That sounds really interesting.

“What? A little?”

―Ah, aah. As expected. You’re amazing. Even though we’re friends, I really want to learn that.

“If you ever get tired of making money, come and see me. I’ll let you play the castanets right next to me.”

-Kuk kuk. Ah, Seolyeong was really excited. She said she could finally brag about it.

“That’s what Dong-ha said.”

―Ah, aah. That’s true too. You’re affiliated with Cheong-A Entertainment, right? That’s what I’m talking about. Haven’t you seen their SNS?

“SNS?”

-Yeah. I uploaded it there. Recruiting General Jaemin, who even my brother couldn’t do. And stuff like that. Hehe.

“… … It’s already going to be a mess since we have a meeting on Monday.”

– Look at me cutely. I’m still a kid.

Yoon Tae-joo smiled.

The more you have, the more precious this kind of daily life becomes. That’s why the Salvation Army is more precious to Yoon Tae-joo.

Because they don’t talk about business at all, which is something that would happen between conglomerates. Like the hierarchy and the fights between conglomerates that you see in dramas. There are actually quite a few of those.

-Ah… …and can I ask you one thing?

“Speak. Don’t start off by making me feel scared.”

– Serin. It’s an old story.

“hmm.”

―I kept looking around to see how you knew. Just in case… … you know… … .

“Don’t worry. Don’t worry.”

―As expected… … . It’s good to be able to communicate.

“Because I don’t know you.”

―Yeah. You were supposed to be congratulating me on the phone, but I was worried about you. Anyway, congratulations. Keep up the good work. I envy you.

“Thank you. Take a rest.”

Yoon Tae-joo smiled bitterly as he looked at the disconnected cell phone.

It was the car that Yoon Tae-joo was driving.

She is the younger sister of the person who was in that car.

So, it would have been possible to blame Yoon Tae-joo, but the Salvation Army does not blame others.

Rather, it was the Salvation Army that said it was grateful that his younger brother had lost his memory in an accident.

There is only one request that can come out of the mouth of the head of the Salvation Army, a man like that.

Worry about the Savior.

The request from the Salvation Army, inferred from the first part of the conversation, was that if Salvation Army found out anything, they should tell him in advance.

I can do that much for you.

After such an ordinary weekend, a real day came.

* * *

Monday morning.

Jaemin Group headquarters conference room.

“Why do they do that?”

At Yoon Tae-joo’s words, the executives of the affiliated companies and other key executives just looked at each other.

Why on earth was Yoon Tae-joo holding the guitar there?

There is no one in this conference room who can understand.

But it was difficult to immediately ask, “Why did you do that?” just because I didn’t understand.

Because Yoon Tae-joo will soon be Jae-min.

Other corporate leaders may be mindful of their executives, major shareholders, or stockholders.

At least not Jaemin.

After wandering around the financial world, Yoon Tae-joo rose to the forefront of management and became the current Jae-min, one of the top five.

Yoon Tae-joo’s actions were the truth and Jae-min himself.

There was no wrongdoing there, and who was Yoon Tae-joo looking at? There was absolutely no such thing.

“If you have anything to say, please feel free to say it.”

The executives felt that Yoon Tae-joo’s voice had softened considerably. He was also polite. Yoon Tae-joo was not a arrogant person, but when talking about work, he mostly spoke informally.

To be exact, it is not informal speech, but rather natural politeness.

He was young for a CEO, so there must have been a few executives who were older than him, but those who would have been uncomfortable with that had already left the company.

But beyond respect, I felt something warm.

Something has definitely changed.

“I… … Chairman.”

Lee Kyung-dong, CEO of Mulsan.

The person who usually showed a generous and rather straightforward personality was the first to speak.

“hmm.”

“Management… … Are you not going to do it? Today is the first day of stock price reflection after that… … incident… … I may be presumptuous, but… … all affiliates have hit the lower limit… … . Will this be a temporary phenomenon… … or will it continue for a while… … We need to know in advance so that we can respond at the company level… … ?”

Yoon Tae-joo looked at everyone.

It seems like everyone is full of worries about that.

So, an emergency meeting will be called starting on Monday.

Of course, Secretary Kwak Moon-ki, who called the meeting, pretended not to know. Since he already understood the meaning of the request to appease him, Yoon Tae-joo opened his mouth calmly.

“Would it be okay if I just stopped running the business and just rested?”

“No, why are you saying such scary things… …?”

“I was just asking. I thought I could do it if you wanted.”

“Oh my… … That’s absolutely not what I meant… … .”

Looking at President Lee Kyung-dong’s hand wave, Yoon Tae-joo thought.

I think this is the first time I’ve ever had to take ownership risk when debuting in a rock band.

I can’t help but laugh again.

So I couldn’t hold back my laughter and just laughed out loud.

This is something that has never happened in a meeting before.

“Aren’t you going to congratulate me? I just debuted.”

“Yes? Ah… … Yes! Congratulations! Ah… … That was really so cool… … I sat next to him and watched in awe.”

“Oh, congratulations, Mr. Chairman!”

“It was great… … !”

“I always felt that no matter what our president did, he did it properly, haha!”

The executive’s excessive praise, which was slightly lacking in tact, continued.

Yoon Tae-joo opened his mouth again.

“It’s like bowing down and being bowed down to. Sometimes, this kind of thing feels good. Anyway, there’s nothing you need to worry about. Of course, you might be a little careless for a while. But what can you do? In most companies, isn’t it you and your employees who do the work, not the president? The president is just a madam who puts on a show.”

“No… … What are you saying… … like that… … .”

“I’m asking you to try harder.”

“… … .”

“Don’t worry. I won’t throw it away. I can’t throw it away. If you take Jaemin Group away from me, you’re throwing away the last 30 years. How could I do that? Right?”

It’s not a refreshing comment, but it does touch on some really ticklish parts.

“You all know that, so you should deal with it well. Let’s get things done. If the stock price drops and all the affiliates falter because I play the guitar, then I’m not the problem.”

“!”

President Lee Kyung-dong unconsciously rubbed his side.

Obviously.

It was warm until a little while ago, but my side started to sting… … I thought, “This is Chairman Yoon Tae-joo.”

“Let’s go out and see.”

The executives all stood up at once at Yoon Tae-joo’s words that instantly changed the mood.

As I turn around, Yoon Tae-joo’s words are stuck in my ear again.

“Now is their opportunity. It is also a crisis.”

Secretary Kwak Moon-ki, who was standing behind Yoon Tae-joo, smiled.

Clearly… … I asked him to appease the executives… … and he gathered them for a meeting. He seemed to appease them, but then suddenly he swung the whip at them.

That’s why it’s Yoon Tae-joo.

The Iron Lord.

The King of Jaemin.

Tiring, tiring, tiring―.

The sound of Chairman Yoon Tae-joo’s phone ringing resonated through the empty conference room.

“Oh. Dong-ha. Why?”

-What are you doing, hyung? Aren’t you coming out of the practice room? Do you think you’re already famous because you’ve sold a few faces? Are you sick of celebrity disease?

Because the conference room was quite quiet, it wasn’t hard for Secretary Kwak Moon-ki to hear the call.

“I’ll go.”

– Bring me some water when you come.

“Uh. Do you need anything else?”

– Just buy some water and come quickly. I’ll order jajangmyeon only when hyung comes. Are you crazy? The delivery fee is some kind of robbery. Hyung, quit your job and open a Chinese restaurant next to the practice room. It’ll be a huge hit. But free delivery, no matter what. Even just one bowl.

From the perspective of Chief Secretary Kwak Moon-ki, this may seem like an absurd statement, but Chairman Yoon Tae-joo bursts out laughing, saying it is a good thing.

It’s good, it’s good.

It is true that when Chairman Yoon Tae-joo smiles, Chief Secretary Kwak Moon-ki also feels better.

But asking Chairman Yoon Tae-joo to open a Chinese restaurant… … is a bit much.

of course.

Secretary Kwak Moon-ki has nothing to say.

Originally, that was the position of the chief secretary. The person closest to the chairman. The person who knows the details of even the big and small things that the chairman himself doesn’t know, but who speaks louder than anyone else.

So, I don’t ask anything about the strange relationship with Lee Dong-ha.

Because Kwak Moon-ki is originally that kind of person.

“Should I? Should I just go to a Chinese restaurant?”

―And when you come here, can you please drive away all the reporters? We’ve been sitting around all weekend, man. I’m so tired. It’s hard to even go out to the convenience store to buy a bottle of water.

“That’s a bit difficult. I’ve debuted now, so I can’t go to prison, right?”

-Don’t the chaebols avoid prison even if they commit serious crimes?

“What if you intentionally hit people with your car?”

– Really? Kabi. Eunbi… … Kabi.

“Keep kep kep kep… … !”

Chairman Yoon Tae-joo laughs as if he could hardly breathe.

The laughter at the meeting earlier was strange, but this is even more strange.

Still looking at it.

-I want to make a girlfriend these days?

“girl friend?”

– Oh. I’m lonely. What is this? There are only men around me. On Friday night, I drank all night with Chan-hyung and Dong-hae. Other people would be dating at that time. Even if I marry music, I won’t be with a man, right?

“Yes. Dating. If Dong-ha wants to do it, then we should do it.”

―I have to stop you… … . A person who is going to be a rock star is already thinking about dating, so why should I encourage him? And I don’t know how to date! You have to try it to know!

“Oh, oh. If you just show them as they are, wouldn’t the girls like it? My daughter was begging me to show her some of it.”

―My brother’s daughter… … She’s my niece, so no. I’ll show you my face, but I can’t date. Ha… … Really. Back when we performed in Jongno and Itaewon, we used to flirt with our fans… … If we did that, how would we date, we wouldn’t have to worry about these things, right?

They quickly put it down and chatted on the phone.

All of these things were Dong-ha itself, so Yoon Tae-joo was just good.

Didn’t you say that your daily life with the Salvation Army was precious?

That’s why it’s even more precious.

If the situation is similar to that of growing old together with the Salvation Army, then there is no barrier between the two.

Moving is a bit more primitive.

When you’re talking to the police, you don’t talk about things like wanting to meet girls, which is something that only teenagers or people in their twenties would do, right?

“Your fans back then. Aren’t they all in their 40s or 50s now? And why are they your fans? Dong-sik and Young-pil. I think you had fans of mine too.”

-Your brothers’ faces were broken. At least your brother’s face got better thanks to the money.

“Thank you. Thank you for telling me I’m different.”

―Ha… … But I still remember a few. The one who always screamed in the front and the three college student sisters who always hung out together. There was also the one who always hid in the corner wearing a hat and watched… … That one was kind of funny. She’d follow me around during the concert and then run away when it was over? So one day I chased after her and caught her. I tried to give her an autograph. But I guess she was really happy. She just kept talking nonsense and ran away?

“What were you rambling about?”

-Honey, it’s a secret that you came. I can’t. Sorry, I have to go. What are you talking about?

“It’s funny, but you really do remember a lot of stuff.”

– I’ve said this many times, but to me it hasn’t been that many years. To you guys it’s been decades.

“That’s right.”

-Okay. Come quickly. I’m bored.

So I put the disconnected phone in my suit jacket pocket.

Just when I was about to wake up feeling good.

Again, a short beep was heard from inside Chairman Yoon Tae-joo’s shirt.

It’s a message.

[Wife: Don’t we have something to talk about?]

I’m starting to feel suffocated again.

I put my phone back in after checking it and got up from my seat.