115 Chapter 115 (1/2)
A little later Hyunwoo went into a restaurant specializing in stir-fried beef tripe.
Gyungsu, who had been waiting for Hyunwoo there, was pouring soju in his cup.
When Hyunwoo sat beside him, he let out a long sigh that he had pent up, ”Hah! I wasted 30 million won on my animation business!”
Hyunwoo hadn't known he made an investment like that. He probably acquired a loan with his rented house as collateral. He worked like h.e.l.l to taste the fruits of his investment, but he had to stop his business in the middle when his partner and major financier gave up further funding.
”Why does my life keep being messed up like this? I just don't want to live like this.”
”The more you run into difficulties, the stronger you become, brother.”
”You're right, but… my eldest child is pestering me to buy Nopa jumper for him. He pestered me all through the night, complaining that he had no such jumpers when his friends are wearing that famous brand.”
Nopa was a sportswear brand that the students wore like school uniforms these days. Other brands cost about 150,000 won, but Nopa cost at least 300,000 won, and more expensive jumpers sold for as much as 600,000 won.
”So, I knuckled him on the head. d.a.m.n it! I could have bought one hundred Nopa jumpers with that money. It's me who should get scolded, not my son,” said Gyungsu, drinking soju as he vented his anger.
Heartbroken to hear Gyunsu, Hyunwoo comforted him by saying, ”You have to make a comeback for the sake of your children.”
”I know, but this is the only business that I can do well. I'm old enough to be a senior on the street, so I wonder if I can get a job by using my expertise.”
Hyunwoo wanted to ask him to manage Ani & Funny as he was jobless, but could not bring it up for two reasons. One reason was that Ani & Funny was at best something like a hobby club composed of the Anifan kids, though it was an animation venture in name only. And there was no possibility of Ani & Funny making profits anytime soon. The other reason was Gyungsu's role.
If Hyunwoo gave him a certain role there, it was not because Hyunwoo wants his animation technique but his experience. In other words, what Hyunwoo wanted was for to Gyungsu give the Anifan kids some sense of direction about their future as well as instill into their minds
the dream and hope like ”We Can Succeed!” Given Gyungsu's situation, however, it looked like he would rather convey the virus of despair to them.
Hyunwoo filled the cup for him without saying anything whenever he emptied it.
After a good while, Gyungsu changed the topic and asked, ”Is your business Ani & Funny doing well?”
”Of course. I hear the city government has a big animation support program coming up next February, so I'm going to apply for it,” said Hyunwoo, full of confidence, to attract his attention.
But Gyungsu showed no reaction to his remarks. He was also aware of the city government's programs.
”You mean that 50 million won? That might be a good opportunity for amateurs. Are you going to apply with the existing animation work Garbage World?”
Hyunwoo could feel from Gyungsu's voice tone that Garbage World would not work.
”No. Actually, we're into a new animation work at the moment. We've almost completed the story and the characters. The Anifan kids are working on the continuity, and Myunhun is probably developing the expressions of the characters,” Hyunwoo hesitated but eventually asked, ”Could you take a look? I guess as a professional you might have a good eye for it.”
”Later, man. I don't want to think about anything now.”
Both of them kept drinking like that and then parted.
Since then, Hyunwoo called him often to ask him to review the Anifan kids' animation work. After several days, Gyungsu accepted his request.
”Okay, then. Let's go together to take a look.”
Both of them headed to the House of Happiness.
The Anifan kids welcomed him. They knew how pa.s.sionately he taught them when he was donating his talent in the past.
They already had a tentative t.i.tle for their new work Tuti and Angelica. Gyungsu checked the story, characters as well as the continuity. The more he looked into it, the more he surprised he was. After reviewing the production, he looked at Hyunwoo with twinkling eyes, ”Wow! This is much better than the Garbage World.”
As if he was confident, Hyunwoo said, raising his voice, ”Obviously this should be better than the previous one. If we keep making works of this quality, sooner or later we will be able to see the kind of production that can hit the jackpot in the market.”
”Well, I think this one will hit the big time. Though the story is a bit ba.n.a.l, you can't avoid it because it's educational, but I like the characters very much. Cute, funny and very familiar to me. Looks like the children will like it very much,” said Gyungsu.
”Regardless of success or not, we're going to do our best. In that process we might hit the jackpot someday,” said Hyunwoo.
”Of course you can't produce a good work every time. Actually, my company had the same expectation for some time but ended up going bust like this. You have to seize the opportunity when you find it.”
”You're right. Our first goal is to win the support fund of Ansan city. Do you think we have a good chance?”
Gyungsu nodded his head strongly, ”Yea, I think you have a good chance, but you never know. If you really want it, you have to put perfection in it. As you have come this far, why don't you invest a little more for better outcomes? If you hire one specialist in each category of the animation work, its quality will greatly improve.”
The moment he heard Gyungsu's opinion, Hyunwoo immediately thought of one person.
”Are you talking about the man who was in charge of writing the continuity at your company?”
”There are several others who're very talented, in addition to that man. There is one with excellent skill in story writing, and there are several others from Imagingpia.”
Of course, they were all excellent men in the field, but Hyunwoo was not that interested in them.
What attracted Hyunwoo to the Anifan kids was not their potential for animation technique, but the planning ability of Seoim Yu and Jihun Kang among others. The reason he founded Ani & Funny was that he wanted to grow their planning ability as much as possible.
Of course, he could bet on Tuti and Angelica by hiring professional animators to make it perfect and develop it into a profitable work, but that's not what he intended for Ani & Funny. There was no guarantee of its success. Given the circ.u.mstances, Gyungsu's company had a much higher rate of success because of the number of professionals and the necessary work.
What Hyunwoo coveted most was the expert on continuity. When he worked with the Anifan kids on the new production, he found out that the degree of fun would be more or less, depending on the continuity.
”I'd like to hire a continuity professional. I can't afford to hire other professionals now, and we don't have a formal office.”
”Got it. Let me call the guy and connect to you now, ”said Gyungsu.
Though it was a bit late at night, Gyungsu called him as he was a very close friend.
His name was Sanggyu Maeng.
When Hyunwoo told him about the situation, he asked about the salary right away.
”I'm thinking of 1.5 million won as we don't have much work now. Instead, you can work at home,” said Hyunwoo.
”How much work do you have right now?”
Hyunwoo explained to him about the animation production they were working on now.