"It's 300,000 won per month."
"When should she pay the money at the latest?"
She cast a suspicious look when Hyunwoo asked her inquisitively. She answered, though, expecting he might pay for her.
"By today."
"What's the name of the private academy?"
"Hansem Arts Academy."
"Can you do an errand for me?"
"What kind of errand…"
"Let me pay for her fee, so go to the academy with Junga."
"Really?"
Her eyes opened wide.
"You shouldn't let Junga know about it. Let me ask the teacher at the private academy to tell Junga that she was chosen as a candidate to receive a tuition-free scholarship. Just keep attending the academy with her. Hurry up, or you will be late."
Hyunwoo pushed her back. Though there was an expression on her face that said she didn't believe him, she headed to Junga at his repeated pushing.
Hyunwoo, too, headed home and called Hansem Arts Academy.
The teacher at the Academy was also aware of Jung's financial condition. Saying she also thought it too regrettable that Junga had to stop given her excellent talent, the teacher expressed gratitude to Hyunwoo repeatedly.
"Instead, keep it a secret to Junga," Hyunwoo said.
"Yes, will do. Let me tell her she has been chosen as a scholarship winner. Thanks so much."
"Can you give me the bank account of your academy?"
Hyunwoo turned on the computer and opened his internet banking account.
He checked the remaining balance. It was over 50,000,000 won. That meant he only focused on making money without spending it.
There was a time Hyunwoo felt happy seeing the number on the screen becoming bigger.
However, his thinking changed once he realized something at some point.
You're making money not to save but to spend.
The kind of rich man he had in mind wasn't someone who just saved lots of money but one who spent lots of money.
If someone spends only 100 million won during his lifetime after saving 10 billion won, then his wealth is only 100 million won.
Of course, there was something more important than spending. That was how to spend.
Hyunwoo tried to spend money in terms of its value, not amount.
7,000 won food and 70,000 won food.
There is a high possibility that the quality of food or a restaurant will be proportionate to the price, but its value will change depending on who eats the food for what reason.
For example, it might be compared to the value of the 10,000 won food a child eats reluctantly and the 100 won food served to an African child about to starve to death.
Junga's tuition fee of 310,000 won wasn't that different.
It was only 310,000 won in value to Hyunwoo now but invaluable to Junga. It could be 30 million won or 3 billion won in value, depending on Junga's future.
At least she could use the money several times better than he could. Was there any business that could generate more profits than this? It was like increasing the money by the hundreds while sitting idle.
Was there any better chance than this? Hyunwoo even felt nervous that someone else might take it away.
Hyunwoo wired the tuition fee quickly.
He felt relieved when he thought about how happy Junga would be. It looked like everything would work out alright. That pleasant feeling he felt was more than 310,000 won in value.
As he felt good, his lips formed a smile before he even knew it.
After a brief walk outside, his mother asked while smiling like him, "Do you have any good news?"
"I couldn't feel happier seeing you in good health. I'm just happy."
She giggled and said, "Boy, don't say that. How did the interview go?"
He felt a sting in his conscience out of the blue. No matter how hard he thought, the interview was the worst. It seemed impossible that he would pass it.
However, he didn't need to tell her about it exactly because it would worry her.
Sometimes, a good lie was necessary.
"Of course. They were mesmerized when they looked at my resume. They were completely crazy about me."
Hyunwoo boasted about it like that. Her face brightened at that moment.
"Yes, I trusted you, son. I think I have a good son. When are you reporting to work then?"
"Well, they want me to, but I don't feel like it. I want to give it some thought before making the final decision."
"Why? Don't you like the company?"
"Well, they want me do join the trading business. I've got no experience in that field."
She nodded her head. Though she was smiling with effort, there was something bitter in her expression. It looked like she had already sensed that he was lying.
However, she pocketed her feelings.
"Okay, you made a good decision. Don't go if you don't like it. You can get a job at any company."
"Yea, let me think it over while searching for a better job."
Two days later.
Hyunwoo received a notification on his cell phone. It was from Aurum.
It said he had to report to work starting next monday because he was hired by the company.
It was a notification that he hadn't expected at all. Given the atmosphere at the interview, he had thought that he had surely failed
When Hyunwoo made a suspicious look, his mother approached him and asked, "What kind of call was it?"
"It was from Aurum where I had an interview some time ago. They are begging me to come to their company. What should I do? Can I wait several more days?"
Her mother's eyes became wide. She thought he had failed because he had said something negative.
It looked like the company really wanted Hyunwoo.
"You should report to work, of course. Don't you think about their consideration for you? Also, you should also have a lifelong job."
"Really? Since you say so, let me give it some thought. I can move to another place if I don't like the company after working there."
"Yes, that's good."
She patted him on the shoulder as if she was proud of him.
Hyunwoo made a fresh resolution, clenching his fist lightly.
'Okay, let me start fresh from now on.'
2. Test of a new hire
His first day at Aurum Co.
Everybody welcomed Hyunwoo. With a bright smile, Yonggu asked for a handshake.
"I'm glad to work with you. Let's go!"
More than anybody else, Yonggu's handshake was welcome to him.
Also, he felt thankful that Yonggu treated him as a friend. Though he was a friend on the outside, he was clearly his senior inside the company.
Hyunwoo folded his hands and bent his waist, saying, "Hope I'm in good hands."
"This is your desk, and Ms. Min Suji's desk is…."
Yonggu escorted the new hires to their desks by himself.
The two other who got hired at the same time were Oh Sangho, a graduate of Columbia University, and Min Suji, who made a strong impression at the interview.
The office took on a spirited atmosphere thanks to the new hires.
However, that was all. When Yonggu sat in his chair, the other workers didn't pay any attention to the new hires. Even though it was still morning, everyone was busy.
The new hires were treated like invisible men from that moment. They weren't given any chores or spoken to at all. It was as if the existing employees made some kind of promise to do so.
Feeling awkward without any particular work to do, Min Suji and Oh Sangho began turning over the books on the shelves in their desks.
Hyunwoo quietly asked the senior in the opposite desk,
"Manager Han Sanghun, what am I supposed to do?"
"Well, you don't have a particular assignment at the moment. Just check the regulations."
"Yes, sir."
Like Min and Oh, Hyunwoo looked at the books on the bookshelf. Some of them were familiar to him, such as Excel and Hangul, but there were strange ones too, such as Practical Trading, Practical Accounting, Free Trade Agreement, etc.
Because he wanted to challenge something new rather than something familiar, he picked up a book with a long title.
It was about the Free Trade Agreement(FTA) regulations he heard before.
He began reading the regulations but found it hard to read more than 30 minutes. Because he had no pre-knowledge about the FTA, each of the terms was difficult for him to understand. He just felt it boring because he didn't know why he should read the book.
Though he took the pains to read it, he felt like it was just a waste of time. He felt as if he was studying derivatives and integrals without learning about the four fundamental arithmetic operations.
Hyunwoo felt like he couldn't put up with it. If there was no work to do, he had to go around to find it, and that was his way of working.
Okay, I shouldn't agonize over it. Let me just take up the work as I see it.
When Han was about to copy a lot of paper, Hyunwoo approached him quickly, saying, "Let me copy them for you."
Han cast a suspicious look at him.
Hyunwoo took away the papers from him,
"I'm alright. This kind of job is to be done by someone like me who idles away."
Only then did Han hand the papers over to him and point to the portion that needed to be copied.
"Really? Please copy from here to here then. Make the copies clean because I have to include them in my report to the team leader."
"Got it, sir."
Hyunwoo thought this was it. From that moment, he rushed to anybody who needed even a little help. Zeroxing and faxing papers were the most frequent tasks, followed by moving heavy stuff and replacing files.
Though there wasn't enough work to do, he still busied himself with helping them because it made him feel a bit comfortable.
Of course, he wasn't just focused on helping them. While he helped with copying and faxing, he took a careful examination of the papers.
The papers were all in English from beginning to end. There wasn't a single paper in Hangul, the Korean alphabet.
However, that wasn't a problem. Though he was only a high school graduate, he had worked very hard in high school.
He had worked especially hard in the subject he like the most, English. Besides, he spent some time together with the Philippine workers at the woodworking shop, and they only spoke English. Though his command of English wasn't close to that of a native speaker, he wasn't afraid of English.
The most voluminous papers were those labeled INVOICE.
He saw lots of packing lists, B/Ls, certificates of export declaration, and certificates of import declaration.
However, that was as far as he could go. He couldn't figure out what they were.
The office atmosphere was weird, though. The more Hyunwoo helped other employees, the more suspicious they got. Even those who got his help didn't show an expression of thankfulness. Rather, they were worried about him.
"He can't afford to help others if he has to understand his own work."
Yonggu was no expeception. Like assistant manager Jo Daeyoung, he mocked him.
"He must be a fool who can't find his own place."
"You're right. If he acts like that, he will be forced out without making it during his internship period."
"Internship period? In my mind, it looks like he won't stand it for even one month. As soon as he is entrusted with the main work, he will flee with his hands up."
"Yea, I guess so. Hut hut.."
Hyunwoo couldn't understand Yonggu and Jo Daeyoung's attitude. Why should he be the subject of mockery when he is working hard?
Also, this was Hyunwoo's own way of getting to know his new work. Because the fundamental knowledge of his work was low, he could understand it faster if he checked the practical papers while helping the workers.
Hyunwoo thought he was right. He didn't care about the way anybody looked at him. He reported to work earlier than anybody else, cleaned the office, and was the first to give help when someone asked for it.