Brother, Am I Cute? [EN]: Chapter 173

Hyung, am I cute? 173

-Singapore Changi International Airport.

The first thing I noticed was the abundance of glass windows and walls.

The open view was pleasing.

The inside was as pleasant as I had imagined, but looking outside, I could almost feel the humid heat of Singapore.

“Siha, how is it? You met Pepe again, right?”

“Ah, ah.”

Siha gripped the handle of his carrier tightly.

Among the numerous carriers, only the penguin stood out, so I could find it right away. Siha hugged it as soon as he saw it.

It was like watching a reunion of separated families right before my eyes.

“So, where should we go now?”

The secretary answered immediately when asked.

“We’ll go straight to the hotel to unpack. I’ve prepared a car in advance, so we’ll be there soon. Let’s have dinner together.”

“Pardon? Dinner together too?”

“We’ll be using separate tables, so there won’t be any discomfort.”

“Thank you for being so considerate.”

“It’s nothing. I had a meeting scheduled as soon as dinner was over anyway.”

“Ah, I knew that. I just wondered if we would have dinner separately.”

“Haha, it’s good to eat together. We don’t have to schedule separate meeting times.”

“I guess so.”

Is it just an extension of work, after all?

But to go to work without even relieving the fatigue of traveling for seven hours.

I don’t know why they scheduled the appointment time like this.

Well, I guess time is money for these people.

“Are you perhaps tired?”

“No, not at all. It’s a good day to work.”

As I went out to get in the car, a humid and hot wind blew.

Indeed, Singapore is located on the equator.

It reminds me of the summer weather in Korea.

Still, it’s good that it’s night. I might have died of heat if it were daytime.

“You can rest as much as you want after work is done. I’ve booked your plane for Sunday. You’ll have a day to have fun. Ah, if you change your mind and want to stay longer, please tell me. I’ll take care of it.”

“It’s okay. I can’t stay long either. I have to go to school.”

“Oh, that’s right, you were a college student. I forgot.”

I chatted briefly with the secretary and got into the car.

Unpacking at the hotel, the fluffy bed looked really good.

“Siha, we’re sleeping here tonight. You like it too, right?”

“Like. Hyung. Here. Here. Bouncy.”

“Hahaha, it’s fluffy, isn’t it?”

Siha was jumping on the bed.

He looked really happy.

Baek Donghwan also stretched as he unpacked.

“Hyungnim [term of respect], is it okay for us to stay in such a nice hotel? It looks really expensive here. There’s even a swimming pool on the roof….”

“Nine Hearts booked the hotel room for us, so it’s free. And it seems like we’ll be having a conversation at the hotel.”

“At the hotel?”

“There are many tourist attractions, but there are also many cases of contracts being signed at hotels. Singapore is a hub for East and West, after all.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

Baek Donghwan scratched his head as if he didn’t quite understand.

Many bold policies were implemented for Singapore, which was once a barren wasteland, to grow like this.

There are also many areas that are controlled as a result.

There’s a reason why the city surroundings are generally clean.

They impose heavy fines for littering.

You can’t even chew gum here.

Because spitting it out on the floor makes it dirty.

Well, everyone secretly eats gum, though.

“Anyway, please take care of Siha after dinner. I don’t know how long the conversation will take.”

“Hyung! Going?”

“Yeah. Siha should eat and play a little before going to sleep.”

“Siha no sleep. Hyung. Wait~”

“Hahaha, you can sleep if you get too tired while waiting. Hyung will come back. Okay?”

“No. Wait~”

I’ll probably see him sleeping in the bed when I get back.

It won’t take that long. Well.

I had already finished preparing for the meeting by having many conversations with CEO Kim Junyeop.

“Then let’s go eat. I heard the chili crab is really delicious here. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Can Siha eat spicy food well?”

“Our Siha eats spicy food well.”

“Oh! Siha, you eat spicy food well?”

Siha nodded and said.

“Baekdong [Baek Donghwan’s nickname]. Siha. Water do. Give!”

“No. I don’t need you to soak it in water…. I can eat spicy food well!”

“No. Siha water. Pat pat! Do. Give.”

“I can’t even taste the spiciness even if you don’t do that. Do you know why?”

“Why?”

“Haha. These muscles beat the spiciness down.”

Baek Donghwan showed off his biceps and lied to Siha.

Siha’s eyes widened as if to ask if it was true.

“Ah? Baekdong. Here. Spicy?”

Siha poked Baek Donghwan’s biceps.

Even so, how could there be spiciness inside there?

It seemed that Baek Donghwan was having fun teasing Siha.

Slap. Slap.

“Baekdong. Spicy?”

“Haha. Not spicy.”

“Ah ah. Amazing.”

It’s spicy, but why are you hitting the biceps to check?

I don’t know the reason, but Siha seems to know that the hand taste is spicy.

I should roll up my sleeves too?

“Hey. Baekdong. Let me put some spiciness in too.”

“Ah, Hyungnim. Your hand isn’t spicy, it hurts.”

“Originally, spiciness is a pain sensation. Don’t you know?”

We joked like that before eating.

***

After eating.

I was able to see Daniel only after taking a short break.

There wasn’t much different from when I saw him last time.

But back then, I just had a good feeling, but now he had a serious atmosphere and carried weight.

The fancy lighting in the room is reminiscent of a festival, but today’s contract may either set off fireworks or a bomb.

I just have to pull off today’s contract to the fullest.

「I’m Daniel. You must have had a hard time coming all this way.」

Daniel got up and greeted us.

Even though it was Nine Hearts that brought us here, he reached out his hand, saying we had a hard time.

Is this a good sign? Or does it mean something else?

I don’t know what will happen until we talk.

Daniel turned his head and looked at me.

「It’s been a while.」

「Yes. You look much better than before.」

「Is that so? Haha. How nice would it be if you were by my side instead of seeing you like this.」

「I’m a freelancer, so there will be plenty of opportunities to work together.」

Daniel laughed pleasantly at my confident answer.

But that was only for a moment.

The real story began.

「It’s a shame that this patent infringement issue has occurred.」

He seemed to be blaming Garam Semiconductor for why they did that.

CEO Kim Junyeop’s eyebrows twitched.

「I know, right? There aren’t that many pickpockets in Korea, but there are quite a few abroad. We should have been more careful.」

「Haha. Are you saying we’re pickpockets?」

「Isn’t that obvious?」

Wow, I wondered if it was okay to come out this strong.

I thought there must be a reason for telling this story, so I conveyed the message.

Daniel hardened his face and fiddled with his coffee cup.

He moistened his throat for a moment and opened his mouth.

「I came to hear a good story, but I guess that’s not the case.」

「Even if it’s a good story, we have to address it. Unless you’re looking down on us. We’re not backing down on this.」

「I was rude. So, how are you going to resolve this?」

「We both want something anyway, so let’s not argue about who’s right and wrong and just exchange technology. Nine Hearts has precise current and magnetic field measurement technology, right?」

「That’s right. We pride ourselves on being the best in that area.」

「We plan to sign a comprehensive license agreement including DRAM [Dynamic Random-Access Memory] and SRAM [Static Random-Access Memory]. For 5 years. The contract amount will be 5 billion won per quarter.」

「That’s too little.」

「It’s not little. Isn’t there something you’re coveting, so you attacked us?」

「Hahaha.」

Daniel gave a dry laugh.

An expression of little interest. CEO Kim Junyeop closed his mouth into a straight line at his appearance of not being very attracted.

Silence flows.

Is this flow really good?

“May I speak?”

When I asked carefully, CEO Kim Junyeop nodded.

It seemed like he was allowing it because the atmosphere had become like this anyway.

「Vice Chairman Daniel.」

「Yes. Please speak.」

「I haven’t been in Singapore for even a day, but I’ve been watching with interest. There’s a saying: Jewish slush funds are in Swiss banks; Chinese slush funds are in Singaporean banks.」

「Haha. There is such a saying.」

「I heard that Chinese Singaporeans actually make up 70% of Singapore’s population. That’s quite a lot.」

「So?」

Daniel’s eyes twinkled as if he was very curious about what I was going to say.

It seems even more so because I’m suddenly talking about population instead of semiconductors.

「In this country with no water, only talent was capital. In a way, it’s similar to Korea, which lives off technology. But not yet.」

「Hahaha.」

「There are many things to solve, but there are also many stray dogs poking around to make money here and there. You must be having a headache in the semiconductor industry because of China? Why don’t you bring in one more force called Korea if possible? Isn’t that why you sued in the first place?」

This is just my guess.

Bringing in many countries brings very diverse changes and money.

Even tax benefits that fit that.

It’s so attractive, but there must be something that represents the country.

Something is needed to quickly build up the internal affairs for that.

‘Can Nine Hearts become one of the companies that boasts its country?’

Help is needed to grow quickly.

There is a lot of money, but there is no original technology.

Original technology cannot be solved with a lot of money.

Then there are two ways to solve it.

Steal it or borrow it somehow.

「You won’t be able to take it away no matter how much money you have.」

「Why?」

「Because Nine Hearts isn’t the only one who can bring in a force.」

CEO Kim Junyeop next to me looked embarrassed at my words.

He must be wondering what this means.

But a deal is about momentum. If the flow has come over now and you step back, there is no negotiation or anything.

「Hmm…….」

「If the negotiations break down here, we will go to Korea and immediately make a technology partnership agreement with the world’s No. 1 semiconductor company. There’s no need to fight with the No. 1 company. Well, then the legal battle will be really fun, right?」

Bluffing.

But it’s not impossible.

It’s an impossible story for other foreign companies, but it’s different for Korean companies.

In order to compete with the world, there is no need to shed unnecessary blood and there is no need to divide the pie.

If Garam Semiconductor had only had that much influence, they might have refused, saying it wouldn’t work.

But Garam Semiconductor is also a large company.

It doesn’t have as much market share as the No. 1 company, but it holds about the size of a slice of pizza.

「Hahaha. All right. Let’s discuss it in detail at this meeting.」

Daniel shrugged as if he had lost.

He took out a document envelope from his bag and handed it to CEO Kim Junyeop.

Detailed discussions and desired technologies were written in detail.

We also decided on our side, so we gave the documents to Daniel.

The two people who had been reviewing for a while nodded.

After sending the data files to the company’s email and reviewing them again, the contract was signed.

If there is anything else besides this, it will be exchanged through new consultations.

Because that clause is clearly included.

‘Ugh…. It’s hard.’

Only now did I take the strength out of my shoulders.

It’s a good thing I studied various things and had various conversations with CEO Kim Junyeop.

If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have seen the situation properly and would have talked nonsense.

Maybe it was just that my bluff was caught.

「Then I’ll see you again next time. I hope to see Si-hyuk at our company next time. He is indeed Lee Janghyuk’s son. No…….」

He stared at me with bright blue eyes.

Why is he looking at me like that?

「You are more wonderful.」

Is that what he was trying to say after hesitating so much?

I tilted my head slightly because I didn’t know what was going on.

「Thank you.」

As we sent Daniel away, CEO Kim Junyeop hit me on the back.

“I was really surprised. Stories that we didn’t even talk about came out. Well, it was like that from the beginning.”

“Hahaha.”

“Anyway, the technology partnership agreement was really plausible, so I was surprised. I thought there might really be that method.”

“But it’s inevitable to be careful because it can be eaten by the No. 1 company.”

“That’s right. But taking out that card was really a divine move.”

“I thought of it as I was talking. Ah, this will work? Well, about this much?”

“There’s a casino in the hotel, so with that courage, you could become a professional gambler.”

“I’m not lucky with cards. I think I’ll only be able to use bluffing.”

“Hahaha.”

CEO Kim Junyeop just kept laughing at what was so funny.

Anyway, I’m really glad things worked out well.

Now I have to go see Siha. He must be sleeping.

We parted ways in such a good mood.