I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 481

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Chapter 481
Mark came home to our house again today.
Of course, unlike last time, he was absolutely furious.
“Sung-guk, you really made a bet with Brad?”
“Yeah.”
“With your position on the line?”
“Yeah.”
I answered calmly.
The redder Mark’s face became.
“Are you insane? How could you pull off something this massive without consulting me, your co-CEO, even once?”
“Mark, you haven’t eaten dinner yet, have you?”
“Of course not! Mi-mi kicked me out and told me to talk to you first!”
“We have pizza. Want some?”
Mark froze for a moment, then stared at me intently.
“Sung-guk… don’t tell me…”
“Don’t tell you what?”
“Don’t tell me you made that bet on purpose to leave FaceNote?”
[You’re completely off base, Mark.]
I shook my head.
“We’ve got pepperoni and Hawaiian. Sound good?”
“Yeah. Sounds great. Get me a beer too.”
“The fridge is fully stocked.”
I planned to have a genuine conversation with Mark for the first time in a while.
* * *
We spread out pizza and beer on the living room table.
The table holding the pizza and beer was a product from a renowned furniture designer, worth around four thousand dollars. Yet the food we consumed on that four-thousand-dollar table was no different from what we ate back in high school.
Mark chugged his beer and crushed the can flat. That made three already.
“Sung-guk, let’s be honest today. Are you really giving up your CEO position at FaceNote because of TikTok? What do you think the odds are that an SNS that hasn’t turned a profit yet will become profitable within six months?”
“First of all, I didn’t give up my CEO position at FaceNote because of TikTok. I made the bet to get what I wanted.”
I took a bite of pizza.
Mark still looked confused.
“I really can’t figure you out. I’ve known you since you were barely up to my waist, and you always think and decide everything on your own.”
“Mark, I’ve never been half your height since I met you. When I first saw you, I was already slightly shorter than you, not half your size.”
“That’s just a figure of speech. It means I’ve watched you grow up since you were that young.”
“Facts need to be accurate.”
“Anyway, Jeon Sung-guk. You haven’t changed one bit even as you’ve gotten older.”
“Mark, you’re a father now too, but you’re still the same.”
We exchanged childish banter like high school students, then both burst out laughing at the same time.
It was always like this.
No matter how serious things got, a few jokes with Mark would always ease the tension.
Mark took a long sip of beer, his expression distant and contemplative.
“Sung-guk, I feel like nothing about me has changed at all… Has the world changed instead?”
“You haven’t changed as a person, but everything around us has. You and I are now among the wealthiest men in the United States. And now you’re even a father.”
“I suppose so…”
Mark fell silent for a moment, then leaned forward.
“Sung-guk, what is this really about? Help me understand. When I wanted to step down as FaceNote’s CEO, you were the one who talked me out of it.”
“Yeah.”
“But now you’re saying you’re going to quit?”
“Mark, I’ve told you. I have no intention of stepping down as FaceNote’s CEO. What I mean is I won’t abandon all my other ventures either. Mark, think about it. FaceNote didn’t become a global SNS overnight, did it? We started developing it back in first year of high school—first just our school, then neighboring schools, then Ivy League universities, then across the entire United States… and now the whole world uses it. That journey wasn’t short.”
“Back then we had nothing. Now you’ve already developed TikTok as FaceNote’s CEO. Sung-guk, why are you so obsessed with TikTok anyway?”
I swallowed my pizza.
Then I looked at Mark.
“Mark, how much longer do you think FaceNote will hold the throne of SNS?”
“Well… at least ten years, wouldn’t you say?”
“No. FaceNote will definitely begin to decline within five years.”
Mark stared at me in shock at my words.
“Sung-guk, the FaceNote craze is only just beginning in Asia.”
I held up the Apple phone in my hand before Mark’s eyes.
“Mark, SNS will evolve alongside the development of this smartphone I’m holding. The reason TikTok is struggling now is that the technology for uploading videos is still insufficient. But right now, phones are excellent for taking photographs.”
Mark nodded.
“People don’t carry cameras anymore. Everyone takes photos with their phones and uploads them directly to Instagrim. As you know, Instagrim’s user base is exploding.”
“That’s true, but… are you saying that once phones can freely shoot and edit videos, TikTok will flourish?”
“Yes. And FaceNote’s decline has already begun.”
Mark drained his beer in one long gulp.
“Will the kingdom we built really fall so quickly?”
“It will definitely happen faster than we think. You can see it in how rapidly Instagrim is growing right now. People would rather convey their message through a single photograph than write lengthy posts. The natural next step from this trend is definitely video.”
Mark nodded, his expression bitter.
“You’re right… when you think about it, when you and I first developed FaceNote, we never imagined it would receive this kind of response.”
[Mark, I’m sorry, but I knew it would.]
In this life, there was nothing I hadn’t planned for.
Mark looked at me again.
“Sung-guk, even if I try to stop you, you won’t abandon this bet, will you?”
“Of course not.”
“Then you’d better win. If you lose this bet, I’m stepping down as FaceNote’s CEO too.”
“What?”
Mark was willing to give up his position as well.
This was something I hadn’t anticipated at all.
“I can’t imagine FaceNote without you and me. FaceNote is Jeon Sung-guk and Mark, and Jeon Sung-guk and Mark are FaceNote. If you weren’t there, I wouldn’t stay with a half-baked company either.”
Mark was more serious than ever.
When Mark wanted to step down as CEO after Olivia was born, I was the one who stopped him. So I couldn’t refuse his proposal now.
“That’s right, Mark. If I lose the bet and have to step down as CEO, you should step down with me. Like you said, we don’t need a half-baked FaceNote. Besides… we still have plenty of money anyway.”
“Exactly what I was thinking, Sung-guk!”
Mark and I clinked our beer cans together.
* * *
I called Bang Mu-hyuk in Korea.
The results from the overseas tour inquiry he’d mentioned last time had come back.
– Sung-guk, I’ve been reading through the email you sent. You really want to do an overseas tour with our kids, right?
“Yes, the terms aren’t bad either. Of course they’re smaller concert venues, but centered around San Francisco extending to the East Coast. It’s actually a pretty solid American tour. What do you think about using this opportunity to gauge the overseas fans’ reactions?”
– The kids were happy about getting a break, but I guess that won’t work. They’ll have to get back to practice.
“By the way, since the first concert is in San Francisco, what if Sevens stayed at my place?”
– Sung-guk, are you sure that’s okay?
“Actually, I have some things I need to take care of anyway.”
– It’s their first overseas tour, and staying at their reliable hyung’s place where he can look after them—of course we’re grateful. I’ll let the kids know.
After hanging up with Bang Mu-hyuk, I surveyed my house.
With only three bedrooms, it was nowhere near enough for seven members and Bang Mu-hyuk.
That’s when I thought of the neighboring house with its five bedrooms.
I hurried over and rang the doorbell.
Ding-dong.
The door opened the moment the doorbell chimed.
Jeon Tae-guk waved from the entryway.
“Sung-guk! Come on in!”
* * *
Jeon Tae-guk moved between the kitchen in his pajamas, bringing out fruit.
“Hyung, how much longer are you taking off?”
“Just through this month, then I need to get back to work. Oh, and we’re having a party at my place on the last day of 2014, so you, Secretary Kim Mi-so, Mark, Sam, and Adam all need to come. Got it?”
“We can talk about that when the time comes.”
I had something more pressing on my mind.
“Hyung, could you let a few of the Sevens members stay here? My place only has three bedrooms.”
“Why are Sevens members suddenly coming? An overseas tour?”
“Yes.”
Jeon Tae-guk’s eyes widened.
“Sevens is doing an overseas tour?”
“It’s still small scale. Sevens is already pretty popular overseas because of YouTube, you know.”
“That’s impressive. An American tour isn’t easy for domestic artists…. Alright, they can stay at our place. They’re our company’s models anyway—I should look after them.”
Just then, Lee Kyung-soo, who’d just returned from work outside, approached me.
“CEO Jeon, I heard a strange rumor. Is it true?”
“A strange rumor?”
Jeon Tae-guk looked at Lee Kyung-soo with a puzzled expression.
“They’re saying CEO Jeon said if he can’t turn TikTok from losses to profits, he’ll resign as FaceNote CEO. And within six months at that.”
This time, Jeon Tae-guk looked at me with startled eyes.
“Sung-guk, is this… really true?”
“Yes, it’s true.”
“This is insane. When people think of FaceNote, they think of Jeon Sung-guk, and when they think of Jeon Sung-guk, they think of FaceNote. You ARE FaceNote itself.”
Lee Kyung-soo gulped down his water.
“This rumor has spread through the Securities District in the United States. CEO Jeon, this will definitely impact FaceNote’s stock price. FaceNote is thriving right now. Plus, your stock price surged when news broke that you’d completed your military service and were returning. Who on earth leaked this information to the Securities District?!”
“I did.”
“Pardon?”
“What?!”
Both Jeon Tae-guk and Lee Kyung-soo looked utterly flabbergasted.
“Sung-guk, what exactly are you plotting?”
“No plot. It’s simply the truth, and it was going to leak out eventually anyway. Since it came from my own mouth, it’s accurate.”
At that moment, Lee Kyung-soo’s eyes narrowed.
“CEO Jeon, surely you didn’t go this far just to boost TikTok?”
As befitted a renowned domestic investor, Lee Kyung-soo had dimly grasped my intentions.
“Sung-guk, what is Lee Kyung-soo even talking about?”
“CEO Jeon, may I take a guess?”
“By all means.”
“TikTok has been live for nearly a year now, yet it hasn’t achieved profitability. I suspect the FaceNote board of directors viewed this as a thorn in their side. They worried your risk might become theirs as well. So they likely recommended—or rather, pressured—you to step down as TikTok’s CEO.”
I nodded.
Lee Kyung-soo’s assessment was spot-on.
“I’d like to hear your next prediction.”
“Given your personality, you wouldn’t have easily abandoned TikTok. So you made a desperate gamble. By leaking this information to the Securities District yourself, FaceNote’s stock price will take a temporary hit, but honestly, in the current FaceNote craze, the owner’s influence will be short-lived.”
Lee Kyung-soo drained his water again and continued his analysis.
“Having anticipated all these scenarios, you’ve reintroduced TikTok to people’s minds. Now everyone’s curious—what SNS could Jeon Sung-guk possibly develop while stepping away from FaceNote itself?”
I folded my arms and nodded.
“Lee Kyung-soo, you’re truly a capable investor.”
“Sung-guk, is that really the case?”
“To some extent.”
At my words, Lee Kyung-soo tilted his head.
“CEO Jeon, this kind of issue alone won’t dramatically increase TikTok’s user base.”
“I’ve caught the wind. Now I need to create the storm.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“The people who will create that storm are flying to the United States right now.”
I smiled faintly.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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