32. We put up with it, didn’t we?
The next day, they let me meet Prof. Jang and my dad, and they hit it off surprisingly well, probably because they were close in age.
“hehehe!”
“hahahahaha!”
I don’t know what’s so funny, but it’s just that they got along so well.
It was almost unnerving, because I felt like they were going to hit it off at any moment.
Meanwhile, the guy who went on a rampage on the airplane has gone from bad to worse.
New videos surfaced, he was in the news, and he was suddenly the target of a high-powered bobbidrim crew.
They’re stolen in an instant.
Are they really that good?
His name was at the top of the internet search results, and his past sordid deeds popped up everywhere as if they were testimonies of his faith.
Eventually, spurred on by the media furor, the prosecutor’s office drew the knife: an arrest warrant, and the bastard, who couldn’t even afford a lawyer, was taken into custody because he was being prosecuted for a previous airplane rampage.
Enjoy your beanbap.
Don’t throw a temper tantrum inside the bun.
Then you go to a room.
Refreshed, I returned to Jeju Island with my parents and Somi.
Originally, we planned to go to nearby Southeast Asia, but since Somi was in high school, we decided to visit Jeju Island for a short time.
The establishment of the social welfare corporation and the purchase of the land owned by the Ministry of Defense in Parkdal-dong proceeded very quickly, all thanks to Professor Jang Young-dong.
When a man who had never asked anyone for a favor in his life offered to help poor children, who could refuse?
I was amazed to see that everything was solved with just one phone call.
A Supreme Court justice from Seoul National University.
There was no place he didn’t know, no place he didn’t know, no place he couldn’t get through, let alone directly.
It’s amazing, Korea.
In between, I had dinner with Mr. Richard Marks.
With my mom, of course, who is a huge fan.
She loved it.
When he heard that I was helping the kids at the orphanage, he immediately offered to organize a charity concert in Korea next year to benefit the kids.
“Thanks, Rick. But don’t you come to Korea too often?”
“Why shouldn’t I come here more often?”
“Because you’re a busy celebrity, right?”
“I come to Korea all the time. Even when I’m just relaxing, I often go to places like Sansa in Korea with my camera.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, but I like the scenery and no one pretends to know me, so when I need to clear my head or something like that, I just fly there by myself. That’s why I came this time, too, but that crazy guy almost ruined my mood, didn’t he?”
“I did, didn’t I?”
“But, Alex, you made me feel so much better. I guess Korea is a good fit for me after all, hahahaha!”
“…”
This guy is weird.
Wouldn’t he rather be watching the UFC?
For the rest of the day, I met up with Mr. Lee Jae-ha from Daesung Apparel, who was like a mentor to me at work for a long time.
We met at Seoksu Station, near his house, not in the Digital Complex, because I was afraid of being recognized by his former employees.
There’s a restaurant in Seoksu Station called “Delicious and Neat,” and it’s exactly what it sounds like.
Each side dish is so delicious.
“Cheolsik!”
“Jaeha!”
“Hey, look at you, you’re back to your glory days! No, I mean, your body, but what’s with your attitude? Look at your clothes! The fabric is amazing! It’s the finest Supima cotton, isn’t it all luxury?”
“Hmph, who’s not a sewing expert?”
As expected from the best clothing production expert I know in Korea, she immediately recognized the quality of the clothes I was wearing.
“No, really, what happened to you?”
“Let’s talk about it while we eat.”
“Let’s do that. I’m hungry too.”
At Daesung Apparel, I usually get off work at 9pm.
I don’t finish my work before then.
The only time he leaves early is at 8:00 to meet me.
So, I’m bound to be hungry.
“Kya!”
“Kya! That’s good!”
The house was delicious and clean.
The food stuck in my mouth.
As we ate and drank in a frenzy, empty bottles of soju began to pile up on the table.
“What happened to you? Not only your clothes, but also your watch?”
“Wow, you really have an eye for fashion, don’t you?”
“Dude, I’ve been on this floor for years with no money, what is it really, you?”
“I went to America and got a good job.”
From nob le mt l. co m
Jae-ha is the only person at work who knows I’m going to America.
“Even if things went well, how? How in a year?”
“I have a friend who’s an investment genius, and out of all the things I invested in, one IT stock hit the jackpot. For now, he just knows that.”
“Wow! That’s great! I envy you, man!”
This is why I like Jae-ha.
Even when it’s obvious that he doesn’t understand, he just congratulates me and doesn’t probe too deeply.
“How’s your brother? Is Mr. Hong still the same?”
“Hey, don’t talk to me. You’re going to have to beat the sh*t out of me, dammit!”
“Cackle!”
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because I finally realized that I’m in Korea. Didn’t we talk about getting drunk and punching each other all the time?”
“Mr. Eye. It’s true, man, I ran him over a couple days ago.”
“Really, Mr. Hong? Why?”
When it came to work, Jae-ha was the only one in Daesung who was such a hard-nosed professional that even Mr. Hong couldn’t be messed with and couldn’t be tackled easily.
And yet, he tackled him?
“Why? For labor again?”
“No. Can you believe I’m being asked to sew children’s pants for 800 won? In Korea?”
“800 won? Fuhahahaha, that’s too much?”
Daesung Apparel imports yarn for all of its clothes and implements a system that allows them to do all the work.
In other words, the yarn is imported, knitted (daimaru) or woven (woven), dyed at a dye house, or dyeing factory, and then finished at a sewing factory that specializes in sewing clothes after going through otto dyeing and peace dyeing, and delivered to logistics.
This is done directly, not through a so-called promotional company that handles all the processes in the middle.
However, Mr. Hong’s stance on the cost of labor is not the usual one.
In fact, he squeezed the contractors to death, but he was most severe on the sewing companies, which had the largest share of the overhead and were mostly small.
As a result, my brother-in-law, who was in charge of production, suffered tremendously in the middle.
Fortunately, the company’s financial condition was so good that I didn’t have to worry about losing money, and when I gave them cash instead of paying by note, they cried and ate mustard.
However, no matter what, 800 won for a child’s pants was too much.
At least 1,000 won for the basic style.
“I guess the owners of Jeonju must be upside down?”
“Don’t say it. Some of them even grabbed me and cried. How the hell do we make a living?”
“Eh, it would be nice if there was a little harm—.”
“Who’s not? If there’s someone who can do it cheaper than us, come out and see us. No, we have to make a living. What if we fall down? How do we find a factory like that?”
“You’re in trouble.”
“Let’s say that’s all. You seem to be getting sick again.”
“Again?”
The production department is the one that spends money.
That’s why we’re the best.
The sales department deals with the big department stores, like the sky, so we’re super.
Therefore, the production department, which spends the money, was very suspicious that the company would take money from them, and Mr. Hong’s suspicion seemed to be confirmed.
How could they get paid for such a price?
Why don’t you produce it yourself?
By now, the number of empty soju bottles had exceeded five.
“Oh my God. It’s too dirty to eat. I’m going to go back down now.”
We used to talk about it all the time, but now I was listening to Jae-ha’s story as a reject.
At that time, I was also bouncing up and down.
“If you want to quit, quit. You’ll get sick.”
“That’s the thing, at least when you were around, we could drink soju together at night and relax. Now that there’s no one to drink soju with, there’s no place to relax.”
“So when are you going to quit?”
“I still have to order the yarn for next season. If I quit now, there won’t be anyone to calculate the yarn requirement—.”
“Aah! Not again! Just leave! What’s wrong with you? Why do you always take on so much useless responsibility, only to get caught again?”
“Hey, that’s not right, don’t you even know what it says on the front of the urinal in the restroom: The place you stay is beautiful?”
“Awww, I’m driving you crazy!”
The only downside to this guy.
He’s too responsible.
I mean, why would you care about the next season of a company that you’re killing when you’re suspected of it?
“Leave me alone, man. That’s how I’ve been taught, that’s how I’ve lived my life, and now you want me to do something about it?”
“You’re making me sick, I am. So when are you going to quit?”
“Well, at least until next season’s distribution of sewing supplies. I’ll give my notice, of course.”
“Where are you going?”
“I don’t have anywhere to go. I’m only here because I don’t want to go abroad. If I have to, I’ll go to a factory in Vietnam or Myanmar.”
“Is there anywhere you want to go?”
“There are a few places, but one of them is Bangladesh, and I don’t want to go there.”
I’ve heard the Bangla story before.
It’s really dirty, there’s no place to play, and it’s crazy.
“Jae-ha.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, just stay here. I’ll see what I can find.”
“You? How do you know this floor?”
“Because I’m more successful than you think. So, if you’re going to fumble around, don’t move, just stay put.”
“Eh, what nonsense—.”
“Brother, how much do you think this watch costs?”
I held out my left wrist and showed him my Vacheron Constantin watch.
“Huh? How do you know it’s worth 10 million won to me?”
“Ten million? You’ve heard of this, right? It’s a Vacheron Constantin. It’s the top of the line, and they pay a little over $100,000 in the US. The cheaper ones are in the 20 or 30 million range.”
“What? That expensive?”
“I’m not telling you this to show off my watch to you. Think about it. How much money do you think I had to make to afford a $100,000 watch? And I’m not even going to tell you how to unwrap it?”
“…”
“So, don’t fidget, just stay put. If I wanted to, I could tell you to quit right now, make you sleep next to me and help me with my work, and pay you several times what you’re making now, but that’s not what you want, is it?”
“I don’t want that either.”
“So what I’m saying is, I’ll find you a job that’s perfect for you. I know what you’re good at, I know what you’re good at, but don’t you think we should find something that you’re good at? Just take it easy and hang in there for a year or so. It’s not like you’re going to go around telling everyone, but don’t tell anyone else.”
“Phew! Okay, but how am I supposed to put up with it for a year?”
“Why, we’ve been doing just fine, haven’t we?”
“Fuhahahaha!”
“Hmph!”
From nob le mt l. co m
Jae-ha is the only person I’ve ever relied on in my social life.
I wanted to help him, even if it wasn’t right away.
I can’t be the only one who eats well and lives well, right?
A few days later.
I was headed back to the United States.
After the trauma of the last flight, I kept an eye on the other first-class passengers, but thankfully there were no weirdos this time.
Okay, back to the States.
Let’s run, shall we?
