Seoul in the City

Chapter 5: Return The Favor

A typical working day at GM group is like swimming with hungry sharks. But, thankfully Cho Joon Hwa happens to be a great white. As he sits in a comfortable black leather chair a young inquisitive man in a navy blue suit approaches the CEO. He hands him a glass of water. An older gentleman speaks in his native tongue about logistics and how the company is falling this quarter. Apparently, Cho was feeling a bit thirsty. As he drank the water loudly everyone turn their heads to see the disturbance. "Ahhh... that was some good stuff" he says with a smile.

The board members didn't seem too impressed. "You have to try this" he explained. "This is not time for fun and games" the man shouted. Cho got up from his chair and walked to the projector. As he turn to look at the frustrated man he snaps his finger. "Secretary Kim" he called. The man in the blue suit rushed to his side. Kim stands next to his boss like a conjoined twin. "Water, now" he demanded. "Sorry" Kim says. He hurries to grab the pitcher at the end of the table. He comes right back and begins pouring the water in his cup.

"Shoo, shoo" he says immediately. Kim walks away exiting the room. "This happens every year and we have the same boring discussions. But, I always come through in the end. If I did not than council woman Han would not have a beautiful villa in Jeju or commissioner Park would not be able to take several vacations all over the world in the company's private jet. So on and so forth. I know everything about everyone in this room. My job is to make sure that we make our quota, which we will" he said sternly.

The board members looked disheveled. He begins to walk out of the meeting and suddenly hands the glass of water to the commissioner but he purposely drops the glass. "You might want to clean that up" he says wiping his wet hands on the man's jacket. "Keep up the good work" he says with a sadistic smirk as he exits the room. "Son of a bitch" shouted commissioner Park. "What's on my schedule?" Cho asked. "A meeting at 3 with Pink Lady cosmetics owner, and lunch with noona" Kim explained. Cho continued heading towards his office.

His office was immaculate and had a beautiful view overlooking downtown Seoul. The sun was shining so brightly in his office that he had to put on the automatic blinders on. Something was bothering him that his secretary noticed. "Hyung is there something the matter?" he asked. "We never have done this bad" he admitted. "The company could make up for it in the next quarter" he suggested. Cho sucked his teeth and bang his hand down on his mahogany desk. "Never mind" Kim whispered.

"What about your new idea for the candy commercial?" he mentioned. Cho began to shake his head no but then a light bulb popped inside his head. "What if we held an audition for a new kind of sweetheart. Like a vanilla bean dream" he said. "We did that one already" Kim said sarcastically. "I got it. Chocolate. Yeah, that sounds good" he says while rubbing his stomach. "I don't pay you to think. But, it does sound a bit interesting. Setup an audition from 1-4pm and I want the best looking women secretary Kim. She better be pretty and be able to sell our product" he commanded. 

Cassie finally makes it downtown to confront the CEO and his childish antics. She admires the gigantic structure. Cassie walks into the glass double doors and heads to the front desk. "I need to speak to the CEO" she says to the receptionist. The young woman seemed confused. Several girls were lining up behind Cassie. She begin to pull out her Korean dictionary to try to interpret some bad conversation. The girls were talking loudly and getting very agitated. The woman proceeded to hand Cassie a paper and pointed to go down the corridor.

"There were a lot of women here for some odd reason'"she thought. Many of them look like models or actresses. Cassie glanced at the sheet of paper which was in Korean except for a few English words that read Candy Love. Cassie stares at her phone and the time reads 1:45pm. An hour goes by and she has not yet met with the CEO. Cassie becomes a bit annoyed and jumps to the front of the line to find out what the hold up is. Some girls get mad and start staring and sucking their teeth at her as if she personally attacked them. Secretary Kim comes to assess the situation.