The Road to Glory

Near Gangnam Station on the Shinbundang Line.The Korean branch office of G.At 1 PM, the president’s favorite time, marketing manager Park Daehyung nervously knocked on the president’s door, holding a proposal.“Hello, President.”“Hmm, what is it, James?”In this foreign company where nicknames were used instead of titles, Park Daehyung, called James, smiled awkwardly. Although he had taken a calming pill, it hadn’t kicked in yet and he was still a bit anxious.“I have some good news and some slightly difficult news regarding the sponsorship deal, president.”“Good news and difficult news, not bad news? Can’t they both just be good news?”“Depending on how you hear it, it could be good news or bad news.”What kind of Schrödinger’s cat talk is that?The boss gave him a puzzled look.“Which one do you want to hear first?”“…The good one first. What is it?”Right, I knew he’d ask for the good news first.Park Daehyung felt relieved for now.“Do you know who I happened to meet yesterday?”“Are we playing 20 questions now? Who did you meet?”“Well, it was…”Park Daehyung dragged out his words.This must be quite a big fish.Who could be a big name for acoustic or folk guitar sponsorship?He couldn’t think of anyone, since Taylor and Gibson had already scooped up all the A-listers in the entertainment industry. But the president soon jumped up from his seat at the words he heard.“…I met Roh Haeil-ssi.”…So there was still a big fish that hadn’t been caught!The president banged his knee on the desk as he stood up, but he didn’t feel the pain.“You mean the Roh Haeil I’m thinking of? Not No Storm or Park Haeil, but Roh Haeil?”“Hehe, that’s a very funny joke, president.”“No, James! I believed in you. I knew you were this good at your job!”It was none other than Roh Haeil, said to be harder to meet than a legendary Pokémon.The president smiled brightly and patted Park Daehyung’s shoulder in praise. At that moment, Park Daehyung continued with a smiling face.“President, you haven’t heard the difficult news yet.”“Is it that important?”“Yes.”The president, whose mood had greatly improved at the name ‘Roh Haeil’, asked:“What is it?”Park Daehyung squeezed his eyes shut.He vividly recalled rushing to show the boy his iPad.The boy’s faint smile when he proposed the sponsorship.The single phrase he heard as he reeled in the big fish.-I’ll think about it“He refused.”“…”The wide smile slowly closed.The president didn’t quite understand what he had just heard.“He refused?”“Yes.”“Who, Roh Haeil?”“Yes.”The president, who had been breathing calmly, picked up the nameplate next to him.“C-calm down, president!”“Then why did you tell me?! Are you bragging now?! Did you come to brag to me about meeting a celebrity?”“N-no, that’s not it. There’s a bit more. Listen to how much I racked my brains-““…Fine, go on.”He wouldn’t be bragging about getting an autograph.If he said something like that, the boss tightened his grip on the crystal nameplate, really intending to hit him.Unaware that he was about to be hit, Park Daehyung recalled what had happened.He thought he couldn’t let Roh Haeil slip away there. He didn’t understand why he was refusing the sponsorship, but that wasn’t important. What mattered was that he sensed a red flag. He felt that if he let this chance go, he might never see him again.“In that brief moment, my billions of brain cells started firing electrical signals.”“Get to the point.”“Customer needs, targeting. The marketing theories you taught me, president, flashed through my mind.”Snap.Park Daehyung snapped his fingers.He suddenly remembered. The fact that the reclusive Roh Haeil had come all the way to Nagwon Instrument Arcade to get his guitar fixed. A celebrity wouldn’t personally come to Nagwon Arcade to fix a guitar unless they had extraordinary affection for it.“I wasn’t sure if my guess was right, but thinking it was my last chance, I called out.”“What, did you shout ‘O-genki desu ka‘ or something?”

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