TOIGC 93

Chapter 93 …

Montage (1)

“Paint? Suddenly?”

“I figured it might come in handy across a few different situations.”

“For instance?”

“In the sense of being able to visualize whatever’s bouncing around inside my head?”

Fernandez immediately nodded.

“If you know how to draw, that’s definitely a massive plus. Is there anything specific you wanted to order regarding the second branch?”

Yoongi nodded in turn.

“Yes. Unlike the first branch, I’m thinking of going with an interior design that fits Korea a bit better. On top of that, I want to use a pillar construction method.”

“Planning on making the building last for the long haul, are you? And if we’re talking about a Korean-style interior, it definitely makes sense for the Chairman to pick up some sketching skills.”

“Honestly, wouldn’t it make things easier for you, too, Fernandez? Instead of a client saying something vague like, ‘Make it look bright and flashy,’ they’ll actually be able to say, ‘Make it look like this.'”

At the designer’s joke, Fernandez chuckled and nodded.

“You said it. Client vocabulary is something else, I swear. Words like ‘shiningly,’ ‘crisply,’ ‘simply,’ ‘modernly,’ or ‘vintage-ly’—honestly, they give me zero sense of what they actually want.”

“If that were all, we’d be lucky. Aren’t phrases like, ‘Just give it a bit more of a… you know, fiery vibe,’ even scarier?”

“It took me a good five years just to decode those exact terms. Though nowadays, the moment I start talking with a client, I get an immediate feel for what they’re after.”

“If it took a genius five years, for an ordinary person it must be absolute torture.”

Even with the praise, Fernandez didn’t show a shred of embarrassment. He genuinely believed he was a genius, after all.

“Reading people’s inner thoughts isn’t really a genius’s forte, though, so that’s probably a bit different.”

“Still, it means it takes five years on average, right?”

“Pretty much.”

After swapping various thoughts on design-related matters, Yoongi and Fernandez finally arrived at Yoongi’s residence.

“Step right in.”

The place Yoongi led him to.

It was none other than the study.

Could it be… here?

Fernandez blinked in surprise as Yoongi opened the study door, catching sight of Yoongi’s subtle smile.

Me too…!

Realizing that he, too, had been granted entry into the inner circle of the study, Fernandez broke into a bright grin.

“I’ve already set everything up.”

Thanks to the art supplies Yoongi had prepared ahead of time in the study, Fernandez was able to dive right into giving Yoongi private art lessons.

“What level should I aim to teach you up to?”

“Beginner. But feel free to move at whatever pace you like. You already know what I’m capable of.”

A tutoring session where a genius teaches a genius.

Yoongi quickly began building up a solid foundation of “adequate artistic ability.”

Even assuming Yoongi possessed the fast-track learning power of sheer talent, he couldn’t pull off things he had never actually practiced.

Because of this, while Yoongi’s drawing skills had decent expressive flair and weren’t terrible to look at, strictly speaking, they weren’t anywhere near the level of competing in a school art contest. He had never had much interest in it anyway, though his practical art scores at school had always been high enough to secure full marks.

Still, Yoongi felt it was necessary to learn how to draw for a couple of specific reasons, so he had spent the past few weeks intensely studying under Fernandez.

“If we’re talking purely from a practical standpoint, the Chairman is definitely shaping up to be a truly ‘magnificent client.'”

“That right there is the highest praise you could possibly give me.”

Fernandez clearly grasped what Yoongi wanted, which allowed Yoongi to focus exclusively on learning the exact skills he needed.

No matter how much of a genius someone was, reaching Fernandez’s tier in a short span of time was fundamentally impossible. Even so, his ability to give Fernandez precise, concrete directives had undoubtedly improved by leaps and bounds compared to before.

“Well then, shall we call it a day for today?”

“Let’s do that.”

Just as Fernandez was about to stand up, Yoongi stopped him.

“Ah, hang on just a minute today. We have a meeting coming up.”

“A meeting?”

“Yes. Just wait a moment. It’s almost time.”

Yoongi had the housekeeper serve Fernandez some peaches, a seasonal summer fruit. The intense sweetness of the peaches, ripened under plenty of sunlight, was more than enough to lift Fernandez’s spirits, making the wait until the meeting fly by effortlessly.

“Ah, welcome.”

Ryu Geun-tae, Choi Chul-gyu, and Cho Chung-woo arrived almost simultaneously.

While the usual meetings only ever involved three people, five people were now taking their seats, yet everyone naturally found their respective spots.

Ryu Geun-tae and Choi Chul-gyu flanked Yoongi directly on either side of the head seat, with Fernandez and Cho Chung-woo sitting next to them. The moment the other three arrived, Fernandez had smoothly slid one seat down to make room.

At this point, that means my internal ranking is fourth or fifth, right? If Yoongi is the type to prioritize blood ties, I’m fifth; if not, I’m fourth.

As if to validate Fernandez’s silent deduction, Ryu Geun-tae offered a breezy quip.

“This is our first time holding a meeting with five people.”

In any other setting, this might have sparked a tense scramble for status, but remarkably, there was zero palpable tension in the room. Everyone present possessed a clear, grounded sense of their own place. Ryu Geun-tae worked hard to defend his position, while Choi Chul-gyu didn’t care as long as he could secure practical results. Meanwhile, Fernandez knew full well he couldn’t surpass Ryu Geun-tae or Choi Chul-gyu right now, and Cho Chung-woo simply didn’t give it much thought at all.

“Yoongi, where did you buy these peaches? My wife’s pregnant these days, and she’s been craving sweet things.”

“I’ll pack some up for you to take home later.”

“Oh, really? Well, if you’re offering, I won’t say no.”

The atmosphere was genuinely warm and friendly. Fernandez found himself smiling involuntarily, and Ryu Geun-tae and Chul-gyu smiled back, understanding the amusement behind his look.

“Now then, shall we kick off the meeting regarding the second branch?”

At Yoongi’s prompt, the meeting moved swiftly. Since the core agenda was simply about relaying pre-determined decisions, it wrapped up in no time. The main takeaways were that since the land acquisition issues were fully settled, construction was officially a go, and everyone needed to pay meticulous design-level attention to the pillar construction method and ensuring easy future electrical wire replacements. On top of that, Cho Chung-woo was tasked with reviewing and resolving any related legal hurdles, bringing the meeting to a close.

“Well then, we’ll be heading out.”

Following Ryu Geun-tae’s cue, the three of them left the mansion first, leaving Cho Chung-woo behind. Looking at the five peaches packed into a paper bag, Cho Chung-woo wore a slightly regretful expression.

“Couldn’t you spare just a few more?”

“I only gave you that much so you’d have an excuse to visit often.”

If it had been Ryu Geun-tae or Choi Chul-gyu, they would have been thrilled by that remark, but Cho Chung-woo gave a wry, bitter smile and nodded, terrified that Yoongi might hand him another towering stack of legal texts.

“Alright, I’ll drop by again soon.”

“Yes, get home safely.”

Watching Cho Chung-woo leave, Yoongi decided it was about time to formally set up a dedicated legal team. As long as Yaikai Department Store’s sales continued to boom, there was no longer any need to channel his personal assets directly into Yaikai. Thus, Yoongi resolved to invest his private funds into a brand-new venture.

That didn’t mean he had the slightest intention of discarding Cho Chung-woo, but it did mean there was room for Fernandez to eventually edge into the number four ranking. Of course, Fernandez had no way of knowing that.

Alright, then shall we kick off the second reason I learned how to draw?

Thinking of the crew currently sweating and grinding under Cha Pil-gyu’s physical conditioning, Yoongi called for Choi Deok-bae.

(Oh ho, this company has a bright future ahead of it. Well, to be fair, it actually did have a bright future, didn’t it?)

Choi Deok-bae nodded as he looked at Park Ki-soo standing right in front of him.

10:00 PM.

At this hour, most men of his status would be out at an upscale lounge drinking and carousing with hostesses, but Park Ki-soo, the eldest son of Seth, was completely absorbed in reading corporate reports.

“Hah, dammit.”

As if something caught his eye that he didn’t like, Park Ki-soo crumpled up the report he was reading and tossed it straight into the wastebasket. A moment later, however, he fished the discarded document right back out of the trash and began reading it all over again.

The source of his frustration was none other than the numbers. Even when combining all of Seth Holdings’ operating profits, they fell short of Seth Chemicals, which was run by his younger brother—and that disparity was driving his irritation.

If I had known it would turn out like this, I should have insisted on taking charge of the Korean branch instead.

Roughly fifteen years ago, Park Ki-soo had argued to his father, Park Do-chul, that Japan would become the ultimate land of opportunity. Park Do-chul viewed his eldest son’s proposal favorably and granted Park Ki-soo absolute authority over their expansion into Japan, assigning his younger brother, Park Ki-ho, to assist with domestic operations in Korea. From Park Ki-soo’s perspective, it was a high-stakes gamble he initiated under his own judgment to eventually monopolize Seth.

Yet Park Ki-soo’s assessment had turned out to be a massive miscalculation.

Who could have guessed Japan cared this much about pedigree and established legitimacy…?

In the early days of Seth Holdings, it had been smooth sailing all the way. He had poured Seth’s reasonably healthy capital into fueling aggressive expansion. But problems arose right as Seth Holdings tried to transition from a small-to-medium enterprise into a mid-sized corporate player.

That hurdle was the issue of connections and lineage.

To seize power and influence in Japan, legitimacy was absolute king, and Seth Holdings lacked it entirely. For Park Ki-soo, whose frame of reference was shaped by memories of Korea—where the old class system had essentially been wiped clean by the Korean War—this obsession with historical pedigree proved to be an insurmountable wall. Whenever he tried to launch a business of any real scale, he needed established ties to local Yakuza syndicates or politicians, and Park Ki-soo possessed no such network.

Of course, it wasn’t as though Park Ki-soo hadn’t tried. He had targeted the most influential local landowner he could possibly gain access to and managed to successfully marry the man’s daughter, barely managing to push Seth Holdings up into the mid-sized tier.

But that was it.

If he waited a few decades, the pedigree inherited by his own son might strengthen, allowing Seth Holdings to grow larger. But that timeline fell far short of Park Ki-soo’s ambitions. His ultimate, unyielding goal was the exclusive, total inheritance of Seth. If he let decades pass quietly, control of Seth would undoubtedly fall into his younger brother’s lap.

A garbage wastrel with zero pioneering spirit.

Park Ki-soo cursed his younger brother, Park Ki-ho. While he himself had been out carving a path through uncharted territory in Japan, all his brother had done was cozy up next to their father and sponge off his coattails. Yet solely for that reason, their father showered Park Ki-ho with favoritism.

When was the last time I even saw my father’s face?

His last personal summons had occurred fully half a year ago. Consumed by mounting anxiety, Park Ki-soo wasn’t just bouncing his leg nervously; he was chewing his fingernails down to the quick.

(Well, is this much enough to look at?)

Losing interest in Park Ki-soo, Choi Deok-bae began wandering around his surroundings.

This routine continued for several days.

(No, no. His cheeks are a bit sleeker, aren’t they? Yeah, that’s it. Just like that.)

Munching on a dried persimmon taken from an ancestral ritual table, Choi Deok-bae began tossing out various bits of artistic critique to Yoongi, who was hard at work sketching a portrait.

Under normal circumstances, Yoongi would have found this deeply irritating, but since Deok-bae’s pointers actually carried weight, Yoongi quietly listened and applied them.

“How does this look?”

(Yeah, nailed it. That punk right there is Park Ki-soo. Spitting image.)