I’d Rather Live as a Villain - Chapter 73



73 Are you acting scared on purpose?

“Who else could have come to such an atmospheric restaurant with me?”

I took my wife to the steakhouse we had visited recently.

When we were here last time, it was a weekday lunch hour, so I didn’t realize the dinner atmosphere could be this sweet. But being Friday evening, almost every table was occupied by couples.

“I’m asking you. It’s clearly a restaurant optimized for proposals. Who have you been here with?”

“Do women want to receive proposals in such restaurants?”

We had to make a reservation in a hurry, so we couldn’t get the best room.

However, thanks to the owner’s consideration, we were guided to a decent room where we could dine without worrying about the gaze of other tables.

Whenever my wife and I dine out like this, I inevitably have to pay attention to such things.

Perhaps it’s the plight of a man married to a famous person.

“I’ve tried it once, and the steak here is decent.”

“Changing the subject? So, who have you been to such an atmospheric restaurant with?”

Her jealousy was genuine.

A person whose possessiveness over their belongings is stronger than anyone else seemed to be directing that possessiveness at me now, and I couldn’t help but feel slightly pleased.

“I’ve been here with Deputy Director Son Jae-gyu of Bulldog.”

At my words, my wife looked at me sternly.

It seemed like playful jealousy until the name Son Jae-gyu came up in response to her question, but now it seemed to signal the start of suspicion, not just jealousy.

“You expect me to believe that?”

“Huh?”

Is it true?

“You’ve been to this restaurant with Deputy Director Son, and no one else? Why? Did you two dine alone?”

We really did come here alone.

But such suspicions of my wife were soon dispelled by the arrival of the owner, who came to greet us in our room.

“…Huh?”

My wife, with the sleeves of her shirt rolled up to her elbows, stood agape for a moment, taken aback by the sight of the president who had come into the room.

“It’s been a while, President Kang Moon-jung.”

“Director…”

She couldn’t bring herself to finish her sentence.

Na Dae-woong, the former head of Daeyoung Musan’s European division.

He had held the position until Park Je-dong took over, that is, from the time I first joined the company and got promoted to assistant manager, until I was forcibly made to tidy up my life there.

Of course, he wasn’t ousted from his position because of someone like Park Je-dong.

To be ousted by someone like Park Je-dong would be an understatement, considering the achievements he made while leading the European division were too significant.

Now, he’s of an age where we should refer to his years rather than his age.

He must have passed sixty by now.

Almost the same age as President Min Byung-jin.

Not just in years, but having freed himself from the rigid corporate life, he decided to embark on a second life after more than 30 years with the company, drawing on his European experience to open a dining restaurant, which he runs with his son, who has a keen interest in food.

The legend of the hundred billion billing.

In the history of Daeyoung Musan’s trading division that I know of, the only time a billing of over a hundred billion was achieved for a specific project in short-term sales was during Na Dae-woong’s time as the head of the European division with the Naax project.

Not total billing turnover, but short-term sales of a hundred billion won.

This is a record-breaking sale that will never be broken.

The Naax project happened long before I joined the company, but it’s almost legendary in the trading division, so my wife would know it well.

That Naax project also gave Daeyoung Electronics a breath of fresh air.

Naax, the German-born audio brand that everyone now associates with a specific business unit of Daeyoung Electronics.

Acquired ambitiously for a massive two trillion won, Naax’s sales were initially sluggish.

Na Dae-woong, who was from Bulldog, decided to handle it from the Musan side, visited Daeyoung Electronics, and personally presented a plan to the chairman, who was also President Min Byung-jin’s father-in-law.

Among us Musan men, it’s said, ‘First shove in the head and snatch the project, then think about the aftermath.’

After securing some of Naax’s sales rights, the sales that former Director Na Dae-woong unfolded were not just sales, but magic.

Even dramas would be criticized for such a plot.

He took that Naax and went to the prestigious German car brand BMW.

Always criticized for its car audio, he miraculously succeeded in incorporating Naax, writing the legend of the hundred billion billing and further establishing Naax as a definitive part of Daeyoung Electronics’ current business.

It’s a story I’ve heard almost like a night tale, but when he decided to resign from his position as head of the European division, President Min Byung-jin offered his own position several times, asking him to stay with the company, but in the end, he couldn’t be persuaded.

My wife rose from her seat as if drawn by a magnet.

And she took a few steps towards President Na Dae-woong.

“I never got to attend your wedding. But I’ve always kept up with the boss’s news from afar.”

His wife once again slowly surveyed the room.

“Are you running this place yourself?”

“I’m running it with my son.”

“I had no idea. If I had known earlier, I would have visited more often…”

Truth be told, I didn’t know either.

It was Deputy Manager Son Jae-gyu who brought up Na Dae-woong’s story, mentioning that he had been operating this dining restaurant for several years now.

Everyone’s too busy making a living.

Even if someone was once a legend at Mulsan, we can’t possibly remember every single one of those people.

But for Deputy Manager Son Jae-gyu, who joined Mulsan when Na Dae-woong was making his mark and spent almost every day rubbing shoulders in the office, the presence of this man still lingered unavoidably.

When his story came up and I showed polite curiosity, he invited me to dine here.

That’s when I realized.

Yes, Mulsan once had such a talented person.

Even someone who once graced an era at Mulsan, once they leave the roof of Daeyoung, they age just like any neighborhood uncle in such an ordinary way… I realized this with a slightly strange feeling at that time.

“The thought of running a store to make money was less important than feeling sorry for my son, whom I couldn’t spend much time with due to work when I was younger. As a father, I wanted to show him what real social life is like, how hard it is to make a living. That’s how I started the store. And now, it’s already been five years.”

Mr. Na Dae-woong himself took the wine list and took our order.

My wife, who usually insists on her own taste in wine, unusually passed the wine list to me.

She probably meant for me to order a wine that would help with the sales, judging by the price.

Soon, the boss promised to prepare a special dish not on the menu as a thank you for ordering an expensive wine and went outside.

“So, you think I came here with another woman?”

“When did you find out?”

“Find out what?”

“That the division head is here?”

“Was it last Tuesday or Wednesday? Anyway, I had lunch here with Deputy Manager Son.”

“Why?”

It’s confidential…

Well, that ‘confidential’ matter isn’t confirmed yet, so it’s just between us, but it’s not something that can be confidential from my wife.

“Deputy Manager Son is currently in contact with ＜Tomhas＞.”

“Tomhas? The insulated bottle brand, Tomhas?”

“Yes.”

“That brand has already entered Korea, directly managed by the headquarters. It’s not a brand that relies on consignment sales. They have branches overseas and manage everything directly.”

As if to prove he’s not just any distribution president, he knows everything.

“So, I’ve contacted the Italian headquarters several times through the Korean branch.”

“What about?”

It seems my wife thought she had taken too deep an interest in the distribution business, as she quickly laid out the reasons for her curiosity.

“No, Thomhas is currently in Daeyoung Department Store.”

“Is the Marco coffee machine not in there, which is why it’s selling so well at Goldline?”

“Huh?”

“The Marco machine has already solidified its image as a Goldline ETC product. It seems there’s a limit to Black Bean using the same strategy.”

“If someone overheard, they’d think Black Bean was in the distribution business, wouldn’t they?”

I just responded to my wife’s teasing with a light laugh and continued.

“What did you hear from my aunt? Distribution that holds the market, and distribution that works with the market. It’s the perfect combination.”

My wife said it was just something she said on a whim and asked me to continue explaining.

“Thomhas tumblers, Thomhas thermoses, Thomhas cups. Assistant Manager Son has been in contact with Goldline about the Marco machine, and he told Deputy Manager Lim Hyung-jun about it.”

“What did he say?”

“He said that coffee accessories inevitably include tumblers, thermoses, and cups, but Goldline and Black Bean haven’t been able to include such accessories yet.”

My wife said she was well aware of that too.

“But to produce them ourselves, we don’t have the experience yet, and to recruit low-cost brands, there’s a problem with guaranteeing product quality. He mentioned a few brands and said it would be great if we could find an opportunity for a collaboration like the Marco machine.”

My wife said she hadn’t heard anything about that.

“Deputy Manager Lim probably just mentioned it in passing at the end of his talk. But from Assistant Manager Son’s perspective, it seems like it could make money for our distribution. So he tried to connect directly with Thomhas.”

“But what does that have to do with Assistant Manager Son and your dinner here?”

“Breaking into such sales is legendary for President Na Dae-woong here, or so they say? Thomhas seems lukewarm about it. Just like you said, they’re already in the Korean market.”

“So, did you find a way?”

“If everything in the world could be solved with just one or two steps, who wouldn’t succeed? It’s in progress. You’ve lived the distribution life, so you know, but the qualities distribution people must have are not foreign languages, quick thinking, or eloquence, but perseverance. Grit. It seems we’ve got a direction, so I’m just watching.”

After a while, President Na Dae-woong himself came over with the wine I ordered, wrapped in a napkin.

I wondered if he was going to serve it himself, but he really turned the wine label towards me for confirmation and asked if he could open it.

I became curious.

I hadn’t ordered wine at lunch before, so I was curious about the president’s wine service skills for no particular reason.

“Please, open it.”

As expected, it was professional.

Having experienced life as the head of the Paris branch during his corporate days, he could at least be considered an expert on wine.

After the president served us a plate of thinly sliced French-style steak tartare as a courtesy and left, my wife and I continued our conversation.

“I wonder what wind blew our homebody to suggest dining out today?”

Pausing to savor the aroma of her wine, my wife then slowly swirled her glass and asked me,

“Are you doing this on purpose because you’re scared?”

“Scared? Scared of what?”

“So, you’re avoiding bed on purpose. Afraid it might happen again.”