Chapter 183

Chapter 183

“Ah, it might be an issue with my phone, but roaming doesn’t always work properly.”

I looked at Ha Sangdo curiously.

“But how did CEO Reid Hayes know I was with you?”

Ha Sangdo explained.

“Ah, I happened to run into Reid Hayes about two weeks ago.”

He said that after meeting Reid Hayes at Cannes, he had never contacted or met him again even once.

“To be honest, I thought CEO Hayes probably wouldn’t remember me.”

“But surprisingly, he recognized me first.”

The two had ended up talking for a while.

Naturally, my name came up.

And during that conversation, Ha Sangdo mentioned that I would be coming to San Francisco two weeks later for the Quantum-Mega Cinema deal.

“Looks like CEO Hayes remembered that you were coming to San Francisco.”

Now that I understood, I nodded.

Ha Sangdo immediately called someone on his phone.

“Talk to CEO Hayes first.”

“He sounded like it was urgent.”

After a few rings, Ha Sangdo began speaking.

“Hello? Ah, yes.”

“I just met Director Min.”

“Yes, I’ll put him on.”

I quickly took the phone from him.

“Yes, this is Min Kibaek.”

“Ah, Director Min. It’s been a long time.”

“I heard the news through Team Leader Ha Sangdo.”

“You successfully closed a very large deal with Quantum, didn’t you?”

“Congratulations.”

“Ah, thank you.”

“Have you been well too, CEO Hayes?”

“Thanks to you.”

“I hope I didn’t surprise you by contacting you so suddenly.”

“Not at all.”

“It’s fine.”

I was dying to know why Reid Hayes had contacted me.

But I patiently waited for him to bring up the reason himself.

“I actually heard that you were coming to San Francisco, so I asked around through some acquaintances and checked your schedule with Quantum separately.”

“Oh, really?”

“You could have contacted me directly.”

“No.”

“You were coming here for work.”

“I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“So I planned to wait until all your scheduled business was finished before contacting you, but...”

Reid Hayes explained that he had suddenly been scheduled to leave for an extended business trip to the United Kingdom the following day.

If he missed this chance, he had no idea when we would be able to meet face-to-face again.

So he decided to contact me first despite the inconvenience.

“I was in a hurry, but I couldn’t reach you.”

“So I ended up calling Team Leader Ha. Hahaha.”

I quickly understood the situation.

“What time is your flight tomorrow?”

“Two in the afternoon.”

“But I’m free until around noon.”

Starting tomorrow, we had practical meetings scheduled regarding the outsourced management of Mega Cinema.

But we had dedicated staff for that work.

There was no reason I had to attend every single meeting.

“Then how about having breakfast together tomorrow?”

“Sounds good.”

“No, thank you for making the time.”

“Then I’ll send a car to your hotel by nine tomorrow morning.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

After ending the call, I returned Ha Sangdo’s phone.

He looked at me with obvious curiosity.

“You’re meeting CEO Hayes tomorrow?”

“What for?”

“I think I’ll have to meet him first to find out.”

“Anyway, we agreed to have breakfast together tomorrow.”

“Really...?”

Ha Sangdo clearly looked like he wanted me to invite him along.

But I had no idea what Reid Hayes intended to discuss.

So I pretended not to notice.

“I’ll tell you about it afterward too, hyung.”

“What report?”

Ha Sangdo laughed awkwardly.

“Anyway, the fact that CEO Hayes wants to meet you badly enough to go this far has to be a positive sign, doesn’t it?”

“I don’t know what it’s about, but I hope it’s something good.”

“Come on.”

“Let’s head back in.”

“Everyone’s probably looking for us.”

Ha Sangdo gave me an awkward smile and hurried back toward the reception hall.

I let him go ahead and stopped by the restroom.

I hadn’t drunk much, but perhaps because it had been a while since I’d had champagne, my face was flushed.

Still... why is Hayes looking for me?

About ten days ago, Reid Hayes had announced during a keynote address that Network Flex would launch simultaneous service in 130 countries worldwide.

Official Korean service had begun that same day.

Just like before my regression, it had become huge news that shook the entire industry.

And judging by the timing, Network Flex should currently be looking for partners in each country to produce original content.

Then... is he planning to offer me a partnership?

I took a deep breath.

When I first decided I needed to meet Reid Hayes at Cannes, this was exactly the kind of outcome I had hoped for.

At the time, I was desperate.

All I could think about was somehow getting onto the back of the dragon called Network Flex and riding it into the global market.

But things were different now.

Now that we had the possibility of building our own independent platform, it might actually be better to keep some distance from Network Flex.

Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself.

But if Hayes really does propose a partnership like I expect...

Just then, someone entered the restroom and gave me a strange glance as I stood absentmindedly in front of the sink.

I snapped back to reality and returned to the closing party.

The moment I entered, Executive Director Baek Seonghan approached me as though he had been waiting.

“What was that?”

“Why did Team Leader Ha pull you aside?”

“Ah, nothing important.”

“He just had something personal he wanted to ask me.”

“Really?”

Baek Seonghan gave me a suspicious look.

I turned away from him and continued.

“Oh, and I have a separate schedule tomorrow morning.”

“So I’ll skip breakfast and join the Quantum meeting in the afternoon.”

“You have something scheduled first thing in the morning?”

“There’s someone I used to know who happens to be in San Francisco.”

“We’re going to meet briefly.”

“Really...?”

Baek Seonghan stared at me suspiciously again, then seemed to let it go.

“Oh, right.”

“I’m not part of the TF team, so I don’t need to attend tomorrow’s outsourced-management meetings, do I?”

The reason Baek Seonghan had come to San Francisco wasn’t because he was on the TF team.

He was here as one of the practical executives who would be involved in future cooperation between Big Picture and Quantum.

I thought briefly before answering.

“Right.”

“You only need to attend the content and visual business meeting with me in the afternoon.”

While we were talking,

“Director Min, there you are.”

“I’ve been looking everywhere.”

Han Taesung approached us with his face flushed from excitement.

“Yes, CEO Han.”

“Everyone’s reacting very positively to this acquisition.”

“Especially the technological cooperation proposed by Big Picture.”

“Really?”

“That’s good to hear.”

“Come on.”

“Don’t stand around here.”

“Come with me.”

“There are a lot of people I want to introduce you to.”

“Executive Director Baek, you come too. Hahaha.”

Han Taesung took me by the arm and led us toward Richard and the outside guests invited to the closing party.

People from all kinds of industries and fields had gathered there.

Late into the night, we discussed countless subjects.

Technological innovation in the coming global IT era.

Securing and expanding IP as global content.

And social, economic, technological, cultural, and political changes.

The following morning.

A public restaurant in downtown San Francisco.

With morning sunlight pouring through the large windows behind him, Reid Hayes waved toward me as I entered.

“Director Min, over here.”

I quickly approached his table.

“CEO Hayes, it’s been a long time.”

“Have you been well?”

“Wow.”

“How many years has it been?”

“This is our first meeting since Cannes, so... four years by the calendar?”

We warmly shook hands.

“Ha, it really has been that long.”

“Either way, I never expected to meet you again here in San Francisco.”

“But the timing couldn’t be more perfect.”

Perfect timing?

For some reason, the way Hayes said those words made me feel like today’s meeting might put me in a favorable position.

“Come on.”

“Let’s sit and talk.”

I took my seat and looked around.

It was exactly the kind of local restaurant I had seen countless times in American TV shows.

In Korea, it would be something like a neighborhood Gimbap Heaven.

I hadn’t expected the CEO of global OTT giant Network Flex to eat somewhere like this.

That alone felt strangely refreshing.

“I wanted to take you somewhere nicer.”

“But this was one of the only places open this early.”

“No, this is better.”

“It feels familiar and comfortable.”

“I’m glad.”

“Oh, and I guarantee you this.”

“The pancakes here are the best in San Francisco. Hahaha.”

We ordered simple pancakes and coffee for breakfast and continued talking.

“First of all, congratulations again on successfully closing the deal with Quantum.”

When I first met Reid Hayes at Cannes, my impression of him had been peculiar.

Polite, but at the same time, faintly sharp.

But during yesterday’s phone call, and now in person, none of that cold charisma was visible.

If anything, he felt almost like a friendly middle-aged man from next door.

“Ah, thank you.”

Completely unaware of my thoughts, Hayes continued in his warm tone.

“Around the middle of last year, rumors started spreading around Silicon Valley that Quantum was acquiring a theater chain in Korea.”

“It became a surprisingly major topic.”

“But recently, I happened to run into Team Leader Ha Sangdo.”

“And when I learned that the person who designed the entire acquisition strategy was you, Director Min, I couldn’t believe it. Hahaha.”

“This is embarrassing.”

I gave him an awkward smile.

“Embarrassing?”

“I was genuinely impressed.”

“You tried to sell what was basically physical theater real estate to global IT companies.”

“And not just any theaters.”

“Theaters in a foreign market like Korea.”

He shook his head in admiration.

“Ha... how do you even come up with something like that?”

“You really pulled off something remarkable.”

“Then again, I already knew from the first time I met you at Cannes that you weren’t an ordinary person. Hahaha.”

The praise kept coming.

Since I had never been particularly good at handling compliments, I quickly changed the subject.

“Not at all.”

“Compared to what you’ve accomplished, what I did is nothing.”

I took a sip of water before continuing.

“I actually wanted to congratulate you too.”

“Congratulations on launching Network Flex simultaneously in 130 countries.”

“Thank you.”

“To be honest, that’s why things have been absolutely hectic lately. Hahaha.”

Just then, a waitress brought over the pancakes and coffee we had ordered and placed them on the table.

“Go ahead.”

“Try them.”

Hayes gestured encouragingly.

“I’m telling you, once you go back to Korea, you’ll still remember the pancakes from this place.”

Playing along, I cut off a piece and took a bite.

“Oh.”

“They really are good.”

Hayes smiled in satisfaction.

Then he continued.

“Speaking of which...”

“How has the reaction been in Korea?”

“Of course, we’ve been monitoring it ourselves.”

“But I’d like to hear your perspective, Director Min.”