Chapter 232

Yu Zuung cut off her father’s words quickly.

“What are you talking about, Dad? Don’t insinuate anything. He might misunderstand.”

“Insinuate? Misunderstanding?”

“Well, he has a sweetheart in Korea. Don’t make him feel burdened by linking him to me.”

She then explained to her father about the situation. But the way she spoke was rather awkward. In particular, when she mentioned ‘sweetheart’, her voice suddenly turned lonely.

It was not just her voice. She also made a sullen expression. Though she tried to be calm, her facial expression was clearly different from the expression she had a moment ago.

Hyunwoo clearly noticed it, and so did her parents, who looked serious.

The atmosphere became heavy after that.

Though she tried to change the atmosphere by looking bright, her parents grew more gloomy.

Fortunately, they were enjoying dessert after dinner. Hyunwoo stood up at an appropriate moment with some excuse.

Her parents didn’t stop him. Though they smiled with effort, it was a smile full of concern.

She came out after him.

“Can I give you a ride to the N&C factory?”

“I can take a taxi.”

“No, if you do, that will make me depressed. And I have something to tell you about what my Dad told you.”

Come to think of it, he felt she was put on the spot. As she had to continue to work with him back in Korea, he felt that it was not good for him to part with her like this.

“Sure, then,” said Hyunwoo with a bright smile.

Thanks to his positive reply, she seemed much more relieved.

While driving back to the factory, she gave various excuses for what her father said. She said it was her dream to marry a Korean guy and settle there, but her parents misunderstood that the man in her dreams was Hyunwoo.

Actually, he remembered that when he met her for the first time, she told him that she had a kind of fantasy about Koreans.

It was possible that her parents could have misunderstood. It was clear that she didn’t try to find a boyfriend because of him.

“Oh, I see. Do you have a man in your mind? If you don’t, can I find one for you? I think you have to find a groom in the near future as your parents are worried like that.”

“No thanks. Do you think I can’t find one?” she asked, trying to smile. But she quickly made a sad look because of what her parents said.

In fact, it would be difficult for a woman to ask a man to find her a boyfriend. Rather those around her should actively come forward to find her one.

Yea, I think I know how to help her.

Actually, he found someone who might be a good match for her.

Snapping his finger, Hyunwoo said, “How about Myunghoon? You seemed to be interested in him, too. I think both of you are a good match…oh my god!”

While he was speaking to her casually, she stopped suddenly with a stunned look. Instead, he looked at her with big eyes. For she pulled over onto the shoulder in a hurry.

“Why did you suddenly pull over?”

She didn’t say anything nor turn her head. She was just looking at something in the front as if time stopped for her.

Checking out her expression, he found she was upset. Obviously, he put his foot in his mouth.

“You don’t like Myunghoon, do you?”

When he said that, she suddenly turned her head to him. She was clearly angry at him.

It was her sudden turnaround. Come to think of it, she didn’t like Myunghoon from the start. Though she didn’t like his mentioning of Myunghoo as her potential boyfriend, she just didn’t express her feelings up to now, and finally, she burst into a rage.

Momentarily, his heart sank. Only then did he realize how she really felt about him. He was greatly mistaken.

I wonder if she might be thinking I’m her potential groom…

Neither Hyunwoo nor Yu Zuung said anything. They just looked into each other’s eyes. He looked at her with an embarrassed look, while she looked at him with a resentful look.

She first turned her head, but she still looked angry.

“I’m going to choose a man by myself. So, don’t link any man to me.”

“Oh, I get you…”

“Please don’t bring up the topic any more. Let’s not talk while I’m driving to the factory. Let me focus on driving.”

“Sure.”

She then started her car.

They fell into silence again. Neither of them said a word until they arrived at the N&C factory.

It was when she stopped at the factory that the heavy silence was broken.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“Why are you sorry?”

She couldn’t continue for a while, as if she was thinking about why she was sorry.

But she didn’t find the right answer. She was aware of the answer, of course, but she couldn’t say it to him now.

“I’m just sorry. Goodnight.”

He was worried about her driving back alone.

In fact, he felt the same when she gave him a ride back here. She was not in a stable mood to drive a car. Fortunately, he was with her when she drove her car, but it was quite dark now. He didn’t feel at ease when he thought she was now driving back home alone.

“Wait a minute. Let me drive.”

“I’m alright. I can drive on my own. You don’t have a Vietnamese driving license anyway.”

She was right. He might be in big trouble if something wrong happened.

“Let me just sit next to you then. You might feel alright but not me.”

“How can you go back?”

That was something Hyunwoo didn’t think about in advance. He was supposed to drive back and forth in the worst scenario.

He called Na suddenly.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Na. Could you send me a chauffeur? I need to go to Ho Chi Minh City for some business…”

Though Na was curious, he didn’t go to the trouble of asking. A little later a chauffeur drove a car to his place.

“Please follow me. When I go back, I need a ride in your car.”

Though she kept saying she was alright, Hyunwoo insisted. So, he went back downtown in her car.

Thanks to a quarrell like that, the atmosphere inside the car was much lighter. Though they didn’t talk much, they didn’t try to avoid each other.

By the time she arrived at her apartment unit, she even gave him a bright smile.

“Let’s forget what happened today. Okay?” she said.

He had no other choice but to do so as she said. Both of them were destined not to be separated from each other because of their work at Ani & Funny.

Hyuwnoo also made a bright smile and said, “Why not?”

After taking her to her house, he went back to the N&C office. Only they did he feel relieved.

The next day he headed for Ho Chi Minh City early in the morning after breakfast.

His first destination was the newly purchased headquarters of Ani & Funny’s branch in Vietnam.

In fact, he didn’t have a high expectation of the building because it was very cheap.

When he arrived at the building, though, it was much better than he expected. It was a bit old, but it was good enough in terms of durability and practicality.

Above all, he liked the size of the building. Given its size, it could house 500 people.

Interior work was in full swing on the first floor.

Kyongsu and James Lee were impressed with the building.

“Hopefully, we can get a nice building for our Ani & Funny in Korea.”

“Yea, I agree. I envy our Vietnamese branch. Haha.”

Hyunwoo moved to the next destination, which was the current Ani & Funny branch in Vietnam.

Though he wanted to see its staff during the weekday, all of them were college students who had to attend classes.

Currently, the Vietnamese branch was running two offices, with each office staffed with more than 30 people.

Despite it being Sunday, the office was crowded with all the students working as part timers. So, Sunday was the most valuable time for them to make money.

The original five students including Yu Zuung, who signed the contract first, were all busy.

Hyunwoo naturally cast a glance at her first. He was concerned because of what happened yesterday.

It looked like she hid her innermost feelings because she seemed bright.

Yea, let me forget it, too. We promised to do so anyway.

Hyunwoo decided to let bygones be bygones.

“Hey, folks, what a nice job! Thanks,” he said.

“We thank you, sir. Thanks to your consideration, we’re making lots of money here.”

All of them made a bright look on their faces.

In particular, Ngun was most pleased. Though he was in a lot of financial stress, he could now get out of that because he was making money here.

Ngun was as precious as Yu Zuung to Hyunwoo and Ani & Funny. He was not only competent in animation but also excellent at running the branch as its CEO.

He divided the 70 students into two groups for the division of work. The second group with less talent worked on the animation drafts in the new building, and the first group with excellent skills put the finishing touches on them.

The original five students’ compensation was similar to that of those working at regular companies. As they were students who worked during their spare time, their compensation was really high, compared with regular workers.

Those in the first and second groups were satisfied with their salaries. Above all, the atmosphere in the office was good enough to help them enhance their skills.

Thanks to this fantastic working environment, Ani & Funny was the object of envy among the students interested in animation in Vietnam. So, those who had any animation skills wanted to find part-time jobs there.

While he was briefed about the status of the business operation, Hyunwoo tilted his head and asked,

“By the way, why is it so slow in hiring more people? We’ve got only 70 people here now.”

Whenever Hyunwoo and Ngun talked to each other, Yu Zuung interpreted for them.

“I can’t hire any person just because we are short of hands here. In fact, we’re recruiting the best students only,” said Ngun, explaining how he recruited them.

But Hyunwoo disagreed, “Good idea. But you have to change your thinking, depending on the situation. Sooner or later you’ll be flooded with animation work from Korea. You can not digest them with only 70 people here. You have to recruit as many as possible even if it goes against your grain.”

Ngun tilted his head and asked, “I guess so when you purchased the new building. But you need at least 300 people to use the whole building. Do you have so much work to do back in Korea?”