9:00 AM.
Accompanied by his executive secretary, Han Ji-sung, Seok-won stepped into his office.
As the company president, if he arrived too early, his subordinates would feel pressured to come in even earlier. To avoid that, he made a habit of arriving precisely on time.
"Good morning, sir."
Na Seong-mi and another female secretary, who had been seated at their desks, immediately stood up, clasped their hands in front of them, and bowed.
"Good morning," Seok-won replied with a smile before heading toward his office.
Na Seong-mi, dressed in a tailored two-piece suit, quickly followed him, taking his jacket as he removed it and neatly placing it in the wardrobe.
"What's on my schedule today?"
"You have a lunch appointment with President Jo of Woo-young Bank, followed by an executive meeting in the afternoon."
"Where is lunch booked?"
"Since President Jo enjoys Peking duck, I reserved a private room at Shanghai Lou in Myeong-dong."
"Good job."
As always, Seok-won nodded approvingly at her meticulous work while turning on his computer.
"Can you bring me a coffee?"
"Yes, sir."
As he waited for the computer to boot up, his eyes landed on a distinctive envelope among the stack of mail on his desk.
With a glint of interest, he picked up the yellow envelope resting atop the morning newspapers and checked the sender's name.
[Songsan Trading Company]
This was the fake company name he and Lee Cheol-gyun had agreed upon for confidential information exchanges.
A chuckle escaped him as he recalled their initial conversation about the name.
"Songsan Trading Company? Does that name hold any special meaning?"
"Not really. My hometown is Songsan-myeon, so I just used that."
"…That's seriously it?"
"It's a fake company name anyway. No need to overthink it."
"Well, I guess that makes sense."
At the time, he had expected something more significant, only to be left feeling oddly let down. He had even received a bemused look from Lee Cheol-gyun, as if to say, What were you expecting?
Shaking off the memory, Seok-won tore open the envelope and pulled out its contents.
Inside was a ten-page report on a particular company, along with a photograph of a man who appeared to be in his early thirties.
"So, he worked at Microsoft Korea before quitting this year to establish a venture company called Digital Wave…"
Scanning the personal details of Ahn Byung-seok, the CEO of Digital Wave, Seok-won then picked up the accompanying photograph.
"He's married with a wife and children… Yet, at a not-so-young age, he walked away from a highly coveted job. That takes guts."
Leaning back in his chair, he muttered to himself,
"Well, I suppose that kind of boldness and initiative is exactly what enabled him to develop the world's first MP3 player."
Ever since Dr. Dieter Genschner's team developed the technology and received international certification from the IEEE, MP3s had rapidly gained popularity among PC users as a way to freely download and enjoy music.
However, at this point, MP3s could only be played on computers—there was still no portable way to enjoy them.
"Of course, plenty of companies must have caught the scent of opportunity and started developing MP3 players."
Among them were global giants like Sony and Philips.
Given the massive success of the Walkman, it was only natural that these companies were racing to develop MP3 players, which promised even greater portability than cassette tapes.
"But for a small Korean venture company to beat all these industry giants and produce the world's first MP3 player… The more I think about it, the more incredible it seems."
Given South Korea's small land size and relatively modest population, the fact that world-class geniuses and groundbreaking products occasionally emerge out of nowhere was nothing short of astonishing.
"There's no denying that creating an innovative product is impressive… but that doesn't always mean the story has a happy ending."
Despite successfully mass-producing their product after numerous hurdles, Digital Wave was soon caught in a whirlwind of crises—including the fallout from the IMF financial crisis and patent disputes—which eventually led to severe financial struggles. In the end, they never got their moment in the spotlight and faded into history.
"The most tragic part was that all the core MP3 player technology they painstakingly developed was sold off to an American company for next to nothing."
Seok-won recalled reading a newspaper article stating that if Digital Wave had retained its original patents, they could have earned as much as $2.7 billion in royalties between 2005 and 2010.
The irony was almost painful—such a groundbreaking patent was lost simply because they couldn't afford to pay the maintenance fees, leading to its rights being voided within South Korea itself.
Even now, he still remembered how frustrating that article had been to read.
"But this time… I won't let that happen."
There was no reason to let someone else steal such valuable core technology and reap the benefits.
"Especially since I already own the MP3 fundamental patent. If I can secure control over MP3 player-related technologies as well, the potential royalties will be astronomical."
Without his patent, no company could even manufacture an MP3 player, giving him near-monopoly control over the industry.
Just imagining the steady stream of royalty payments flowing into his pockets every time millions of MP3 players were sold worldwide each year made him feel full before he even had breakfast.
"To make a fortune off MP3s, I need Digital Wave to develop their MP3 player as soon as possible."
Just then, Na Seong-mi knocked and entered the room, placing a steaming cup of coffee on his desk.
"Please contact Director Yoo and ask him to come to my office right away."
"Yes, sir. Anything else?"
"That's all."
"Understood."
As Na Seong-mi left, Seok-won was finally alone. He took a sip of coffee and leisurely flipped through the detailed report Lee Cheol-gyun had sent.
* * *
Seoul Startup Incubation Center, Seocho District
Digital Wave, the venture company boldly founded by Ahn Byung-seok, had set up its first office at the Seocho Startup Incubation Center, a facility established by the Software Promotion Agency to support new tech businesses.
Dressed far more formally than usual, Ahn Byung-seok paced anxiously near the entrance, even wearing a jacket inside the office.
"Sigh…"
Sitting at his computer, Yoon Nam-ho, Ahn's college junior and the first person he recruited after founding the company, glanced at him and let out a quiet sigh.
Furrowing his brows, Yoon Nam-ho rubbed his temples before standing up and calling out to his boss.
"Sir."
"Hm? What is it?"
"I'll let you know the moment your guest arrives. Why don't you wait in your office?"
"It's fine. Just focus on your work."
Ahn's half-hearted reply, his eyes still glued to the entrance, made Yoon Nam-ho frown deeply.
"How can I not be distracted when you're like this?"
"…?!"
Ahn Byung-seok, who had been looking puzzled, finally noticed that his ten or so employees were peeking over their cubicle partitions, openly staring at him. It was only then that he realized he had been disrupting their work.
"Haha… yeah, I guess so."
With an awkward laugh, Ahn retreated into his office, followed by Yoon Nam-ho.
Calling it an "office" was a bit of an overstatement. The room contained little more than a basic desk with a computer, a long conference table, and a few folding chairs.
There wasn't even a sofa. Instead, one corner was cluttered with stacks of cardboard boxes filled with printer paper and other miscellaneous supplies—hardly the dignified workspace you'd expect from a CEO.
As Ahn pulled out a chair and sat down, Yoon remained standing beside him and asked,
"Are you nervous about the Daehung Venture Capital people coming today?"
"Yeah. Daehung VC is a subsidiary of Daehung Group, the same company that owns Mido Department Store. We didn't even reach out to them—they contacted us first. That has to mean they're seriously considering investing in us, right?"
Ahn's eyes sparkled with excitement.
Just yesterday, out of nowhere, he had received a call from Daehung Venture Capital, requesting a meeting to discuss potential investment opportunities.
Given how many scams were out there, his first instinct had been skepticism. But after confirming that the caller was indeed a legitimate representative from Daehung VC, Ahn had been so thrilled that he let out a victory cheer.
"Well, it's true that if you really want to develop the MP3 player, we desperately need investment."
"Exactly! This is a golden opportunity dropping right into our laps!"
Ahn slammed his palm on the table, unable to contain his excitement.
So far, Digital Wave had managed to stay afloat by selling dedicated software for internet fax transmission and taking on contract development projects.
But Ahn wasn't satisfied with that. He had been preparing to develop a portable MP3 device—a gadget that could let people listen to MP3 files on the go, just like a Walkman.
However, no one in the world had ever built such a device before. Development costs would be massive, and the risk of failure was just as high.
That was exactly why Ahn had been hesitating—until Daehung VC reached out, as if they had read his mind.
It was impossible not to feel excited about this turn of events.
"But we're already making good money with our internet fax software. Do we really need to take such a big risk on developing an MP3 player? Honestly, I still have my doubts."
Yoon Nam-ho spoke in a calm yet indifferent tone.
"What are you saying? If we succeed, we'll be launching the next Walkman—the first of its kind in the world! Doesn't that idea give you chills?"
"Sure, but the risk of failure is just as massive. We're not some corporate giant like Samsung or Hyundai. If this goes south, the damage could be catastrophic for us."
Unlike in front of the employees—where he always maintained a professional tone—Yoon now spoke casually, as the two were alone. His skepticism remained unchanged.
Ahn, sensing Yoon's reluctance, suddenly lowered his voice and leaned forward with a serious expression.
"Yoon-ho."
"…Yeah?"
"Why did we even start Digital Wave in the first place?"
Yoon didn't answer immediately, instead looking at Ahn in silence.
"If we had wanted a stable life, we would have just stayed at our old jobs. But we left because we wanted to work on something that makes our hearts race."
"…Sigh."
Yoon Nam-ho let out a deep sigh.
"So… this big idea of yours is an MP3 player?"
"Exactly! If we can pull this off, it's going to be a game-changer."
Seeing the fire in Ahn Byung-seok's eyes, Yoon hesitated. He wanted to argue one last time, but in the end, he could only groan in resignation.
"Ugh… Well, you're the CEO, so do whatever you want."
He raised both hands in surrender, and Ahn chuckled as he patted Yoon on the shoulder.
"Come on, man. You've got to help me out here! I can't do this alone."
"Tch. You never listen to me about anything else, but now, suddenly, you need my help?"
Yoon grumbled, but Ahn knew him too well. The moment they started working on the MP3 project, Yoon would throw himself into it completely—even pulling all-nighters if necessary.
Ahn smirked.
Just then, an employee knocked on the office door and peeked in.
"Uh… Sir? The guests from Daehung Venture Capital are here."
"Oh! Yes, yes! Please, send them in!"
Ahn jumped to his feet, scrambling to compose himself as he hurriedly responded.
TL/n -
The first portable MP3 player was the MPMan F10, developed by South Korean company SaeHan Information Systems and released in March 1998. It featured 32 MB of memory, allowing for approximately 30 minutes of music playback. Later that year, Diamond Multimedia introduced the Rio PMP300, which became the first commercially successful MP3 player.