Episode 108: Choice
Jo Dae-hwan lifted his head.
The building was so massive that he had to tilt his head all the way back just to take it all in.
‘…’
At the same time, an indescribable sense of bitterness washed over him.
The polished, fully occupied building of MyWay versus Jooyul Entertainment, which barely rented a single floor in a rundown structure—the gap between them was painfully clear.
He hadn’t felt it so sharply the last time he visited, but today it hit him full force.
Still, Jo Dae-hwan soon began walking forward.
The urge to turn around right now—his pride—was still very much alive in one corner of his heart.
But the sense of responsibility that propelled his steps toward the appointment far outweighed that pride.
“How may I help you?”
“I have an appointment with the CEO. I’m Jo Dae-hwan from Jooyul Entertainment.”
“Let me confirm that first. Please wait just a moment.”
The brief exchange with the MyWay staff member at the lobby information desk stirred Jo Dae-hwan’s pride once again.
But then,
“Ah, CEO Jo.”
The voice that arrived just in time caused his pride to subside as quietly as if it had never flared up.
The reason was simple.
The owner of that voice was the single biggest reason Jo Dae-hwan had come here today.
“This gentleman has an appointment with the CEO, so I came to escort him. Will it take long?”
At the young man’s single sentence, the staff members exchanged glances for only a moment before a guest access card was smoothly slid across the desk.
“Thank you. This way, please, CEO Jo.”
As Jo Dae-hwan followed behind the young man, he subtly glanced back.
Even though the situation could have felt humiliating—being processed like this—the eyes of the information desk staff showed no trace of displeasure.
In this place where he had come bowing his pride to ask for help, he was freshly reminded just how great the influence of that young man—Han Yujin, who could even be called boyish rather than merely young—truly was.
“CEO-nim?”
Han Yujin’s voice reached Jo Dae-hwan’s ears once more.
By now, Han Yujin was already standing in front of the elevator, finger pressed firmly on the button, waiting for him.
“Ah, sorry. I was lost in thought for a second.”
At Jo Dae-hwan’s apology, Han Yujin simply offered a faint smile.
Jo Dae-hwan hurried to catch up and stepped into the elevator. As it began ascending, Han Yujin broke the ice with small talk in place of a formal greeting.
“The E-GIS kids are really lucky.”
“Lucky? They could have done much better if they’d gone somewhere else.”
Perhaps the lingering aftereffects of the thoughts he’d had before entering the elevator made him speak self-deprecatingly without realizing it.
Jo Dae-hwan scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
“No. The kids won’t think that way.”
For some reason,
Han Yujin’s immediate reply felt unusually heavy to Jo Dae-hwan.
‘He’s probably just saying it casually.’
Yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that it carried the weight of someone who had watched them for a very long time.
Jo Dae-hwan simply closed his mouth after that,
Ding.
And in that moment, the elevator arrived at its destination.
Han Yujin turned to Jo Dae-hwan and brought up a different topic.
“The CEO is waiting for you. Have a good conversation, and I’ll see you next time.”
“Han Pro-nim isn’t coming with us?”
The unexpected farewell caught Jo Dae-hwan off guard, prompting him to ask right away.
Han Yujin gave a slight shake of his head as he answered.
“I don’t think today’s seat is one for me to take. CEO Seo feels the same way.”
“Ah.”
“I hope we can meet again next time, in a different setting.”
Through the slowly closing doors, Han Yujin bowed his head in farewell, and the sight filled Jo Dae-hwan’s vision.
“Hah.”
Left alone, Jo Dae-hwan couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh as he watched the elevator descend.
Even if Jooyul Entertainment couldn’t compare to MyWay, Jo Dae-hwan was still the head of an organization carrying heavy responsibilities on his shoulders.
He couldn’t fail to recognize that the current situation was Han Yujin and Seo Yoonje’s own considerate way of sparing him the humiliation of showing a pride-bent, head-lowered appearance to someone so young and green.
‘They’re really something. Really something.’
Did those two even realize?
That this very moment had given Jo Dae-hwan even greater certainty in the decision he had already made for himself.
With his resolve firmly hardened, Jo Dae-hwan pressed his lips tightly together—just as firm as his determination—and walked toward the door in front of him.
Knock knock.
“Yes.”
The reply to Jo Dae-hwan’s knock was a single, short syllable.
It might have been his imagination, but to Jo Dae-hwan it somehow felt like a kind courtesy—saying “I won’t treat you like a subordinate.”
Stepping into MyWay’s CEO office for the second time, Jo Dae-hwan was greeted by Seo Yoonje, who was standing in front of the coffee machine placed against one wall.
“I happened to be running low on caffeine. Iced Americano okay with you?”
“Yes. Coffee sounds good.”
“It’ll be ready in a moment—please wait just a bit.”
How many times had he already felt this kind of consideration in such a short span? The choice of whether it was iced or hot hardly seemed important anymore.
After Jo Dae-hwan silently took a seat, Seo Yoonje soon returned carrying a glass filled to the brim with ice and sat facing him—not at the head of the table—and opened his mouth.
“I’d love to just chat about whose kids are doing better, but the situation isn’t really right for that kind of talk, is it?”
“Haha.”
At Seo Yoonje’s light jest, Jo Dae-hwan let out a soft laugh.
The laughter felt genuine—spontaneous rather than forced—and both CEOs instinctively understood that no further ice-breaking was needed.
“So. What brings our CEO Jo all the way here?”
“I’m sorry for taking up your busy time, so I’ll get straight to the point. That lunch we had yesterday with Han Pro-nim… After thinking it over carefully, it really felt like MyWay genuinely wanted to help us. Was that just my misunderstanding?”
To Jo Dae-hwan’s question, Seo Yoonje simply took a sip of his coffee.
The silence—neither affirmation nor denial—might have made someone else hesitate, but
“I’m going to bet on that possibility and lay my pride on the line once. CEO-nim, please help us.”
Jo Dae-hwan continued without missing a beat.
Seo Yoonje stared at him quietly for a moment, scratched the back of his head a couple of times, then spoke.
“I heard the investment that went into Jooyul is being pulled. But… it’s not that urgent of a matter, is it? Sure, the amount is large, but I didn’t think Jooyul was so shaky that losing just that one would make the whole company wobble.”
“Yes. You’re right.”
Jo Dae-hwan didn’t ask how he had found out in just one day.
‘There’s nothing wrong with what CEO Seo said.’
Even if the withdrawal seemed inevitable, there was still time before the money actually left, and if they tightened their belts, they could somehow endure it.
But there was a clear reason Jo Dae-hwan had rushed straight to MyWay.
“There’s no guarantee that the harm will stop here.”
It would be great if it ended at this point, but there was absolutely no assurance that additional attacks wouldn’t come against Jooyul that hadn’t yet collapsed.
It wasn’t just a single stone tossed and done—they had targeted and blocked the very lifeline of the company: its funding. That was why Jo Dae-hwan couldn’t afford to be optimistic.
“If it were just me going under, I wouldn’t care… But the kids who believed in me and followed me—that’s a different story. I have to protect them somehow, don’t I?”
The silence that hung between Jo Dae-hwan’s words.
Seo Yoonje couldn’t possibly have failed to recognize that it was a wordless self-reproach, blaming his own inadequacy.
“Is it because of what Han PD said yesterday? That if I’m behind you, even CEO Lee Hee-kyung won’t be able to touch you?”
Even though he was smiling, the remark was a sharp jab straight at Jo Dae-hwan’s pride. Yet Jo Dae-hwan paid it no mind and simply nodded.
“Yes. Once I decide to believe in someone, I believe to the end—that’s my principle.”
The fact that MyWay was never mentioned amid the gossip of industry insiders.
The fact that, in just one day, he already knew details about investments that an outsider shouldn’t normally know.
There were countless pieces of evidence proving the stature carried by the name Seo Yoonje.
Seo Yoonje nodded at the voice laced with firm determination.
And in that instant, his demeanor completely changed.
“Alright then. Let’s talk realistically. Jabberwocky, was it? Filling the amount they pulled out wouldn’t be particularly difficult for MyWay. But there has to be a price. What are you willing to give, CEO Jo?”
The warm, easygoing Seo Yoonje who had been bantering lightly was now gone—replaced by the cold, calculating businessman leading a company.
The shift happened in the blink of an eye, and the atmosphere turned so chilly it almost raised goosebumps.
‘That’s exactly why.’
And paradoxically, that was precisely why Jo Dae-hwan felt more at ease.
Because Seo Yoonje possessed the ruthless side he himself lacked, he could trust him all the more.
“I’ll give you all the shares I hold in Jooyul.”
For a moment, Seo Yoonje’s brow twitched.
Jo Dae-hwan swallowed hard under the increasingly sharp gaze, but he too was someone who had been through his share of ordeals.
“You might think I lack responsibility… but this is truly all I have to offer.”
Jo Dae-hwan stated his conviction firmly.
As a result,
Clink.
In the CEO office of MyWay, only the sound of melting ice sinking into the dark liquid filled the heavy silence.
How long did that silence stretch?
Just as Jo Dae-hwan unconsciously started to bite his lip,
Seo Yoonje finally spoke.
“When I first met Han PD, he said the same thing.”
“…”
“Romance. I really like that word—‘romance.’ Giving everything you have for the people who believe in you. It’s such a clichéd, almost outdated trope…”
Jo Dae-hwan unconsciously lifted his bowed head to look at Seo Yoonje’s face again.
“Isn’t that very cliché itself another name for romance?”
As he said it, the gentle, warm smile from the beginning had returned to Seo Yoonje’s face.
“CEO Jo. How about we make a bet?”
“A bet…?”
“Ah. Separate from the bet, I’ll still make the investment. The bet is about the price you pay.”
Seeing Jo Dae-hwan’s head tilt slightly in confusion, Seo Yoonje continued his explanation, mixing a touch of playfulness into his gentle smile.
“E-GIS is making a comeback soon, right? Let’s bet on the results. If E-GIS achieves better results than Orion, then for Jooyul Entertainment’s shares, I’ll only take half minus 1%.”
“What does that…”
It wasn’t exactly giving them away for free, but from MyWay’s perspective, it was the same as making a concession they didn’t have to make.
The natural question that arose for Jo Dae-hwan was met with what seemed like an obvious answer from Seo Yoonje.
“Orion. Even if the period was short, they’re the kids our Han PD poured his heart and soul into raising. If E-GIS can surpass children like that? Then E-GIS—and Jooyul Entertainment itself, the company that raised them—has more than enough value on its own, doesn’t it?”
Only then did Jo Dae-hwan recall it.
The public perception that constantly circulated about MyWay: “They always put artists first, no matter what.”
“On the other hand, if Orion gets better results… I can’t explain all the details right now, but somehow or other, an entire floor of this building has become vacant. Why don’t you and all the Jooyul staff move in there together? As for shares… yes, I’ll take everything except exactly 5%.”
“What you’re saying is…?”
“Whether there’s one sub-label or two under us doesn’t make much difference. Jooyul. It’s a nice name—I think we can just keep using it as is.”
Jo Dae-hwan couldn’t fully grasp everything Seo Yoonje had added.
But one thing was clear: if things went well, it would be like winning the lottery; if they didn’t, it would simply proceed exactly as Jo Dae-hwan had originally intended. There was no way he could lose with this bet.
“So. Care to make the bet?”
No matter who it was standing in Jo Dae-hwan’s place, it was an offer impossible to refuse.