Chapter 8.1

<Start of Volume 2>

When he opened the door to the conference room, Chu Sangwoo was waiting inside. He was wearing a baggy navy shirt and dark jeans. Jaeyoung deliberately sat as far away from him as possible and stared at his cap so he wouldn’t have to look him in the eye.

“You’re not late today.”

“…”

“Just 12 minutes late.”

A sneer formed at the corner of Sangwoo’s mouth. Jaeyoung merely showed an uncomfortable smile without answering. Even if he had quickly agreed to the ridiculous proposal, he still had a lot of worries.

Was it really fine to meet Chu Sangwoo in this state? Where was this relationship headed? Wouldn’t it be better to just quit now?

That was what had made him late even though he had arrived at school an hour before their meeting.

“I prepared it for you sunbae. Please help yourself.”

Right. Sangwoo had done something out of character: he had bought snacks and drinks which he had prepared and laid out on the desk, but the items were unusual somehow. Rice beverages, yam cookies, honey-flavored twist snacks, honey cookies…

‘60th birthday party?’1

Jaeyoung put a yam cookie in his mouth out of courtesy.

“Thanks.”

As Jaeyoung chewed on the hard cookie, Sangwoo wore a chilly expression, as if he were a stranger. Jaeyoung felt a bit flustered. Was he really the same person who had wiggled his tail and begged him to create a game together? It seemed as if his eyes had been sparkling and his voice much softer the previous day, but had he been mistaken?

“If you want to work with me, please pay attention to two things.”

Sangwoo had gone straight to the main point without warning.

“First of all, I can’t stand not keeping deadlines. The same goes for being late to meetings.”

“… yeah.”

“Secondly, I won’t accept things that are done half-heartedly.”

“…”

“If you can’t do these two things, please quit now.”

It became increasingly difficult for Jaeyoung to control his facial expressions. In his mind, he knew that Chu Sangwoo had only come all the way to find him at work because he needed a ‘skilled designer,’ but his heart still hadn’t accepted that. To Jaeyoung, Sangwoo was not just a ‘skilled developer.’ Where on earth had the atmosphere from the previous day gone, one which had been so unique, that it had even aroused his sexual desire?

“No objections then.”

Sangwoo had made his own conclusion and grabbed a sheet of A4 paper from his folder. Jaeyoung, who accepted the paper handed to him, became speechless.

He thought he had just been bluffing when he said they were going to create a great game within four months. Even if Sangwoo were to go to the ends of the Earth, student-designers could only do so much. Therefore, it was nearly impossible to develop a game in such a short amount of time with just two people.

However, this nutjob had been sincere. Sangwoo’s flow chart made it clear he had carefully considered the entire process, from the ‘planning stage’ to post-development ‘quality assurance’ (QA).

“Isn’t that too much? Especially your schedule?”

The development itself wasn’t easy, nevermind the planning and design stages.  The production time was already short, and he was planning on releasing the game on iOS and Android simultaneously. The last month would be especially severe. He would work on linking the game to a server, do network testing, security testing, performance testing, and device-specific optimization. Jaeyoung didn’t know much about development, but just by looking at the terms, it seemed daunting, but Sangwoo spoke as if it were nothing.

“I have plenty of time. Are there any issues with the graphics schedule?”

Jaeyoung frowned. He hadn’t finalized the design yet so there were many blanks to be filled in, but the first drafts of the characters, items, and map designs could be set in a day. Did he think that a designer was some type of vending machine, able to release three design drafts in a day?

“There seem to be no complaints so far…”

Sangwoo had once again drawn his own conclusion. He sat right down with his arms crossed and made eye-contact with Jaeyoung. Sangwoo really looked like a machine at that moment, so Jaeyoung was secretly surprised.

“The income balance is 8:2. Eight for me and two for sunbae.”

They were discussing profits, and Jaeyoung didn’t even care. This project was just an excuse to see Chu Sangwoo again even if he wasn’t sure they’d see it through to the end. However, he still had his pride and wanted to keep his chin up. This is why he felt the need to interject at this point and not sit back meekly allowing things to slide.

“You’re a corrupt businessman.”

“I’m giving you a lot with this, too. It’s already completely planned, so what is so difficult about drawing a few lines? You can just work during the time you follow me around and bother me.”

“This bastard is appearing again.”

Footnotes

환갑잔치 or Hwangap is a traditional Korean way of celebrating one’s 60th birthday. Usually there is a huge party with family members, with a lot of different meals and snacks. The snacks Sangwoo brought are typically enjoyed by the elderly and are often served during a 60th birthday party.