A Different Perspective

Min-soo spent the next few days familiarising himself with the new staff at Magic Shop Entertainment and got a better feel about what Uncle Sun was doing. Slowly but surely, the amount of decisions being shifted back to Min-soo from Uncle Sun were growing. Even then, there were still a large number of tasks before Uncle Sun.

In those few days, Jang-mi was able to contact Park Taehong and arranged for a meeting with Min-soo and Uncle Sun. At first Park Taehong had sounded apprehensive and unsure, however, upon mention of Lee Min-soo of Antares fame, Park Taehong became more amenable and was curious as to why they would come looking for him.

Min-soo's family had done everything to suppress the fact that he and Seo-yeon had been in the accident involving Kang Dong-hyun and so the public were still unaware of the fact that the both of them had fallen into a coma. In fact, the identities of most of the victims remained private apart from those families that openly revealed them in their attempts to find justice for the deceased.

Park Taehong arrived early for the meeting, fearing that this was probably his last chance to find employment in South Korea. After all, if even Lee Min-soo was unwilling to employ him, then he doubted anyone else would be brave enough to.

Despite the Kang family's fall from grace, this was only their overt political power, after all, they still held the contacts that allowed them to reach for and plant their flag on the summit that was the Blue House in the first place. The waters ran deep in a country as rich as Korea.

Having spent most of his life in the military, Park Taehong knew all too well just how muddy and messy the background was. Subtlety, espionage and facades were only the beginning. If he were to take away one lesson from his time of service it would be, people in power would do everything they could to stay in power.

Park Taehong did not doubt that President Kang and his family would survive. In fact, out of the light and in the shadows, perhaps they could do more, freed from the trappings of state. However, this was merely his own speculation. After all, what else was an ex-serviceman to do in his spare time, civilian life was truly too boring.

He could still remember the thrills of chasing after renegades and rebels in the jungles of Congo on so-called UN peacekeeping missions. Drifting through the sands of the Sahara or camping deep behind enemy lines under the beautiful night sky of Afghanistan, up on the side of a mountain. That was his life. Was. Now though, Park Taehong was nothing more than a glorified security guard.

He had a few extra qualifications, experience sure, but not much he could talk about, at least not without then silencing those around him. Such was life. Strolling through the neighbourhood, Park Taehong felt a little melancholic, perhaps this was how overqualified graduates felt when they were being interviewed for a job at a fast food restaurant.

Sure they had a bachelors degree or even a masters in finance or something, but the only thing the interviewer cared about was whether they could flip burgers or deep fry some fries or chicken. Park Taehong let out a sigh and empathised with his fellow job seekers.

Before he even knew it, he had already made it to the front of the compound. The fences clearly looked new, with the paint still glaringly bright as it reflected the sun's rays. There had not even been enough time for birds to leave their marks behind yet.

The entrance into the compound consisted of a simple boom gate and a guard house. However, it was unmanned and the gate was up, as he walked through he could see and feel the hidden cameras swivelling as they followed his movements. He nodded in appreciation as they were quite well hidden.

Park Taehong felt the security was not bad, perhaps it was missing a few bollards here and there to ensure that no one could drive up and ram the front entrance but other than that it was quite secure. Of course, the gapingly obvious fact was that there seemed to be no security guards at all.

This left him feeling a new sense of hope. Taking in the sight of the newly planted garden and a few water features, Park Taehong liked this place a lot, it was nice and quiet, plus he felt even the air was slightly fresher.

Stopped outside the entrance into what appeared to be the main building, Park Taehong looked up and laughed when he saw the sign. Magic Shop Entertainment, what an interesting name, he thought.

Relaxed and confident, Park Taehong walked into the lobby, he noticed the automatic sliding glass doors were not made from the average garden variety glass. Slightly curious, he gave it a quick knock and hearing the sound it made, he quickly identified it as top-of-the-line bullet proof glass. Despite its thin appearance, even if a bomb were to go off, the glass would at worst crack.

But then again, this was what the company that sold it claimed and having seen the shit he had, Park Taehong knew better than to believe it 100%. However, this was the best commercially available safety glass and so, he gave kudos to the one that arranged for it, they clearly knew their stuff.

While, Park Taehong had been inspecting the glass, Baek Jae-eun who had already noticed his arrival after he walked through the gates, as she was monitoring the camera feed, looked at him with a sceptical expression. From what Jang-mi had told her, in her mind, Park Taehong was supposed to be a grizzled veteran, with a serious expression and mean look.

However, contrary to her expectations, Park Taehong seemed to be no more curious than a child, he had a natural confidence and swagger to him that she attributed to military men, but it did not seem dangerous at all. In fact, she began to feel that Park Taehong was looking more and more handsome in her eyes.

Especially as the person came closer and closer towards her. Those sparkling eyes, that chiselled jaw, ahh, so handsome, Jae-eun thought.

"Ah, what the…" Jae-eun suddenly jumped up in fright as she realised that Park Taehong was standing right before her. Her flights of fancy interrupted so brutally.

"Sorry, I did not mean to frighten you." Park Taehong apologised in a gentlemanly manner.

Jae-eun hurriedly apologised, "No, no, no need to apologise, it's my fault. Uhm, I am Baek Jae-eun, the receptionist here. How may I help you today, sir?"

"Oh, my name is Park Taehong, I am here for an appointment with CEO Lee." He replied politely.

"Mr Park, let me see. Oh, yes, an appointment at noon. You've arrived rather early, you still have another half an hour, you might need to wait a little, as CEO Lee is in the middle of a meeting right now. I will notify Secretary Han and have him escort you up." Jae-eun answered professionally.

"No worries. My apologies for arriving early."

"Please do feel free to take a seat, the amenities are in the corner there and there is a snack bar to your right, over there. Would you like a coffee? Tea?" Jae-eun asked amiably.

"Thank you, no need. Take care, have a good day, Miss Baek." Park Taehong flashed her a smile before he wandered over to the snack bar.

There were two vending machines, one for junk food and the other with drinks. There was also a hot drinks dispenser, with instant coffee and hot water. Everything there was free and there was even a sign that said to help themselves.

Seeing his favourite chocolate bar, Park Taehong did not hold back. With it in one hand and a bottle of water in the other he settled down on a leather lounge chair and watched the TV as he waited for this Secretary Han.

Jae-eun had promptly notified Hyun-woo of Park Taehong's arrival and every now and then took peeks at what he was up to. Her job was rather boring for most of the day, after all, no one really ever showed up at Magic Shop Entertainment, besides the odd contractor and the various employees.

Being among the first of them, Jae-eun had felt the building was rather empty at first, but over the past month or so, there had been a visible buzz as the roles and floors started to fill up with people. In fact, the company now employed about forty people, including the maintenance, cleaners and even gardeners. She would not always see them, but the fact was this once quiet and abandoned area was once again showing signs of life.

Jae-eun felt a sense of belonging and achievement, seeing Magic Shop Entertainment grow at a visible rate and being part of that growth. Now, it appeared there would be a new member of the family in Park Taehong.

She had initially joined the company with low expectations, after all, having graduated from university and only spent a few months in employment, after nearly a year of searching, she had felt gratitude that her lecturer had remembered her and recommended a position to her. So, she had thought this was nothing more than a thought bubble from some rich chaebol child to flaunt their wealth.

Jae-eun still held some reservations but seeing the effort and amount of visible progress, her thoughts began to change. After all, people always chased after excitement, and there was nothing more exciting than being on the frontlines and of course, the opportunity to see Lee Min-soo's handsome face every morning.