Episode 9: The Genius Eccentric Professor (1)
Seyeon University!
Right after handing the power of attorney to Manager Kim Yunsik that morning, I headed straight for Seyeon University. It had really been a long time since I last set foot on the Seyeon University campus.
Sss~~ I take a deep breath, savoring the scent of the beloved campus I hadn't visited in ages.
Standing beneath the Eagle Statue and looking around, the sight of students carrying textbooks in their arms, bags slung over their shoulders, chatting away as they hurried along felt refreshingly new.
Even as I busily whipped myself onward, I felt as though a brief moment of leisure had bloomed in my heart.
Honestly, the most enjoyable and fun time of my life was my college days.
At home, I lived under a strict father, unable to even breathe properly. So the moment I got into college, I used the difficulty of commuting as an excuse to start living alone.
Father was merely strict; he was a good man. It wasn't that I hated him and ran away from home. I simply wanted to enjoy some freedom, now that the grueling life of a student who robotically shuttled between school, the study room, and home had finally ended.
Being a third-generation chaebol heir wasn't all that special. At first, I harbored a fleeting, foolish hope that since I'd become a college student, Father might get me a nice, spacious officetel. But as if Father would ever do that! He remained exactly the same even after I became a university student.
It was just an ordinary studio apartment in an alley near Sinchon. And even then, he only paid the deposit; the monthly rent and maintenance fees were my responsibility. The best I could do was increase the deposit to lower the monthly rent.
I enjoyed my first taste of freedom to the fullest: going to PC bangs to play StarCraft, going on group blind dates, attending club MTs, and having a campus relationship. Though that relationship ended after just one semester…….
Jieun, are you doing well? The day you dumped me, I cried so much back then. My first breakup really hurt.
The reason I could date so freely and hang out with friends was because they didn't know I was a third-generation chaebol heir. If they had known, they wouldn't have been able to hang out with me so comfortably.
Thanks to growing up under a frugal and strict father, I wasn't the type to indulge in luxuries. I had no brand-name clothes or accessories, and since I didn't have a car and walked everywhere, who would look at me and think I was a chaebol heir? Hankuk Jeonseon wasn't a famous company, and since I'd never been exposed to the media, no one knew my face, either…….
During the fall semester of my first year, I banded together with friends to start a stock investment club and made quite a bit of money.
Actually, Father had been angry that I was living alone, so he only paid my tuition and didn't give me any allowance.
So I struggled without money and started trading stocks to somehow grow the cash I'd saved from tutoring. Unexpectedly, it was quite fun.
Come to think of it, what did Father say back then? Didn't he say, "What's the point of a son living alone? He'll just be boozing every day"?
Hmm… Now that I think about it, I can't exactly deny what Father said. I have nothing but memories of drinking and passing out every day my first year. Heh heh…….
Back then, Father seemed so fearsome and strong. I never imagined he would collapse and pass away so futilely like that.
The day I was discharged from the military and came home, the day I saluted before Father and shouted "Loyalty~!", the day he embraced me and said, "You've had it hard. You've done well. Now you've truly become an adult," shedding a single tear… Father, I miss you so much… I feel your absence so deeply.
It wasn't something I could choose, but how wonderful would it have been to regress to before Father passed away?
I'd gotten lost in memories while looking around the campus, but I hadn't come to Seyeon University as a student to attend class, nor had I come to bask in nostalgia.
To graduate under the Cosmos program, I'd have to take a heavy course load until the spring semester next year, but honestly, I don't have the time to attend classes so leisurely, do I?
Before joining the company next fall, I need to build connections, earn funds for M&A, and have far too many things to do.
It's such a waste to lose time to lectures and assignments. As long as I don't get an F, I'll be fine, so I have to beg the professors for their understanding, even if it means getting down on my knees.
Looking at the schedule taped to my desk this morning, I'd signed up for 21 credits this semester.
Ha… I must have been crazy! Out of sheer bravado as a returning student after military discharge, I'd signed up for 21 credits!
There'd be no problem graduating even if I only took 18 credits per semester. Why did I do that?
On top of that, I'd been preparing to study abroad in America after graduating at this time. Adding 21 credits to that? I really had some guts, didn't I?
Thanks to that, I have to spend today meeting as many as seven professors and begging them not to give me an F even if I don't attend class this semester.
[Knock, knock!]
"Yes, please come in."
At the voice that answered immediately after I knocked, I cautiously opened the door and went inside.
In the room filled with all kinds of books and documents, a young professor who appeared to be in his thirties was wrestling with the paperwork covering his desk.
Black horn-rimmed glasses with a 2:8 parted hairstyle… He really looked like a model student, but in truth, he was an extraordinary man.
Professor Kim Minjae, who teaches Strategic Management, a required major course!
He'd received his Ph.D. in business administration from Harvard and briefly worked at Saseong Group's restructuring headquarters before coming to our university as a professor because he disliked Saseong's corporate culture.
When he left Saseong, hadn't Headquarters Chief Yi Gapsu of Saseong desperately tried to hold him back, saying he'd double his salary? To have earned the recognition of Headquarters Chief Yi Gapsu—practically Saseong's number two—after a mere two years of work, his skills were beyond doubt, but he was definitely an eccentric man.
For some reason, eight years from now, he would eventually become an outside director of Saseong Electronics. Unlike other outside directors who simply served as rubber stamps, he wielded enormous influence and trust within the boardroom, surpassing even the inside directors, or so I'd heard.
If I could recruit him, it would be the best… but aside from taking his class this semester, I had absolutely no connection to him.
What a pity… A man who had even kicked the mighty Saseong aside would have no interest in the current Hankuk Jeonseon…….
I could only lick my lips in regret.
"Hello, Professor. I'm Im Seho from the class of '00, Business Administration."
"I see, Seho. You're taking my lecture, right? I'm sorry to hear about your father. May he rest in peace. By the way, what brings you here?"
Huh? He knows about Father? As expected of a business administration professor; he must keep tabs on the movements of chaebol families, huh?
"Yes, it's just that I inherited the shares of my late father and have become the new owner of Hankuk Jeonseon. I'll officially join the company after graduating next fall, but since my experience is sorely lacking, I think I need to take lessons in management from the company beforehand."
At my words, Professor Kim Minjae looked at me with interest and asked.
"Ah~ I get the gist. So you're saying you won't be able to attend class because you'll be taking management lessons at the company, and you want me not to give you an F, is that it?"
"Yes. I'm sorry to ask, but that's exactly it."
"Sorry? No, why would that be something to apologize for?"
Professor Kim Minjae asked back as if he truly couldn't understand.
Huh? Wasn't asking for free credits something to be sorry about?
"Well… I'm asking for credits without even attending class."
"I think you're somewhat mistaken. Grades are like quality assurance marks given by the school to students. Isn't beef the same? They give grades like 1++, 1+, and if it's 1++, people think, 'Ah, this is good stuff,' and buy it. Grades are the same. If a student has an A+, you think, 'Ah~ this is an excellent student,' and if they have a D, you think, 'This student isn't so good,' right? Then what is an F? It means, 'This student cannot possibly be said to have taken this subject, so take it again.' If you don't, we can't certify that you graduated from our school, so you can't graduate! That's why we slam you with Fs, boom boom!"
He really is an energetic person…….
"Anyway, if grades are quality assurance marks, why would you need them? They're only necessary for kids trying to get jobs or go to graduate school. So they can say, 'My grades are such-and-such, I'm excellent, so please hire me.' But you're already the owner of Hankuk Jeonseon, and you'll soon be the chairman. Why would you need grades? For another student, it would be our school's credibility at stake—if we had to give an F but gave a D instead, we'd owe an apology to the company that hires them later. But we have nothing to be sorry for with you. Whether we give you an A+, a D, or an F, it won't affect your becoming the chairman of Hankuk Jeonseon by even 1%, will it?"
Ah… so this was his character? He's incredibly cool.
"Well, giving you credits wouldn't be a problem if you want them, but actually, I'm personally interested in Hankuk Jeonseon."
What? Really? A man who kicked away even Saseong is interested in Hankuk Jeonseon?
"Excuse me? Surely you don't mean you want to join Hankuk Jeonseon?"
"Come on~ surely not? That's not it… I'm interested in the path Hankuk Jeonseon has walked and the path it will walk."
Of course… As if that would happen. I got excited for a moment… Professor, you're mean.
"Seho, do you happen to know the TV show Theater of Life that Yi Hojae appeared on? Dda-ra-dda~ Dda-ra-dda~ Dda-ra-dda dda-dda-dda-dda~ Yes! I've decided! Kyaa~ This was really fun, you know. I absolutely loved it. Because it really explained important concepts in business administration in such an entertaining way, you see? Choice! It's choice. How great would it be if you could know the results of your choices in advance while running a company? Then you wouldn't have to tear your hair out……. I think business administration was born precisely because we can't do that. Have you heard this saying? Life is a C between B and D!"
"Life is Choice between Birth and Death. Life is a continuous chain of choices from birth until death."
"Yes, you know it well. Some say Sartre said it, but come on—would a Frenchman like Sartre have spoken in English? He would have said it in French, right? How proud are the French? Anyway, I don't know who coined it, but it's truly a great saying. Management is like that. You have to make choices every moment. Should we invest in this or not? Should we do A? Should we do B? Depending on the choice of the moment, a company can prosper or fail. We've seen many such cases and studied them to serve as lessons for the future. So that they can help at the moment of choice that comes later."
Ah… I didn't expect to end up taking a lesson after coming here, but it's truly a good point.
"The reason I'm asking is because you said you're becoming the next chairman of Hankuk Jeonseon. Why was I interested in Hankuk Jeonseon? It also had moments of choice in the past, didn't it? When your grandfather was chairman, Hankuk Jeonseon was doing well in home appliances too. It was competing with companies like Saseong, NG, and Sinhwa. But it made many wrong choices there. While other companies were all importing indirect cooling refrigerators, it alone imported direct cooling refrigerators. While other companies established financial subsidiaries to offer installment plans, it alone relied solely on cash transactions… Eventually, in 1983, it handed over its entire home appliance division to Uju Group. At that time, that division was larger than the current electrical wire division. Thanks to that, we have the current situation where cash is overflowing but the group's size is limited—all because of those choices."
They say good medicine tastes bitter, but hearing my father's choices called wrong left a bitter taste in my mouth. I wanted to refute it but couldn't, which made it all the more…….
"Of course, there are many companies that made such wrong choices. I'm not trying to criticize Hankuk Jeonseon right now. In particular, it's hard to say selling the home appliance division was a wrong choice. Thanks to the abundant cash from that, you weathered the IMF crisis safely. I said it was interesting earlier, remember? I hope you don't misunderstand."
"I won't misunderstand. You're right, and I personally agree."
"Yes, thank you. Now then, let's set aside the past and look at the present and future. The reason I found it interesting is that a company overflowing with cash suddenly acquired Deogyu Resort and SBU. With the two companies combined, it's a 200 billion won deal—hardly small-scale. Why make such a deal? Unless the management is stupid, it must be related to the enterprise city project the government is planning to push next year. As for SBU, you probably acquired SBU Development, which owns Deogyu Resort, and SBU just happened to come along for the ride."
Wow… Did the professor crawl inside Yi Seongho's mind? He knows exactly.
"Yes, that's what I understand."
"Outsourcing the enterprise city development project to another construction company is actually a stupid move. You're giving away development profits you could have kept to someone else—that's a disqualification as management. That means you'll eventually acquire a construction company for the business. Then, is it really right for Hankuk Jeonseon's future expansion to lead into construction? What do you think as the next chairman? You can tell me now, or if you need time to think, go home and mull it over, then submit it by email. I'll use that as your grade for this semester. You might get an A, or you might get a D. But I won't give you an F, so don't worry. I'll send my feedback along with your grade."
Ah… If a man like this had been the CEO of Hankuk Jeonseon instead of Yi Seongho, I might not have needed to regress at all. Wouldn't Hankuk Jeonseon have been on a solid path? I think I understand why Headquarters Chief Yi Gapsu wanted this professor so badly.
"No, Professor. This is something I've thought a lot about as well, and I've already reached a firm conclusion regarding the company's direction. It won't change."
"Huh? You've already reached a firm conclusion on the direction the company should take, not just on construction expansion? A hasty conclusion from a twenty-three-year-old owner is never good for the company… May I hear it? I won't go around telling anyone, so don't worry."
Professor Kim Minjae's eyes sparkled as he said that.