A nearby coffee shop.
"Haha..You misunderstood my intentions. That's why I asked Songhee to keep it a secret. Anyway, I'm sorry to hear that," Hyunwoo said, offering his apologies by bowing his head to Bang. Stunned, Bang stopped him and said, "You don't have to say sorry. I've felt a lot today thanks to you. I've learned something valuable from you in my life."
Bang meant it when he said that.
Looking at Hyunwoo, he realized how narrow-minded and shameful his life was.
Hyunwoo knew true happiness. It was several times better to release money than to grab it in the hand. Also, it was much happier to see his behavior make the people around him happy.
Listening to Hyunwoo's story, Bang made up his mind.
From now on I'm going to live helping others.
His resolve wasn't for someone else but for himself, for he coveted the happiness of giving to others.
Bang stood up first, but Yu Nami kept holding Hyunwoo a little longer, saying she's got plenty of time. Hyunwoo also felt good about spending time with her. She had been beautiful when he first saw her, but she was becoming more and more beautiful whenever he saw her.
When he heard about it, he knew why.
"Actually, I had plastic surgery. My boyfriend is a rich guy."
"I see. Won't you be Miss Korea?"
Hyunwoo said jokingly. Then, a surprised expression appeared on her face, and her eyes went wide as she said, "Oh my god, how did you know that? Actually, I participated in the Miss Korea contest at the recommendation of the owner of my beauty salon."
"Really?"
Yu nodded her head spiritedly. She also said that she already passed the main contest.
"If I were chosen as Miss Korea, that would be great, but it wouldn't matter even if I weren't. I want to be an entertainer on this occasion."
Hyunwoo scrutinized her body from her face to her figure once again. She posed for him as if to ask him to appreciate her body as much as he could.
Her face and her figure were perfect as a Miss Korea candidate. She was beautiful as a high school girl, but even the word 'perfect' wasn't enough to describe her figure because she made up for any inadequacy in her body with the help of medical science.
He felt that there was no woman who could be more beautiful than Yu Nami. He had a hunch that she could be Miss Korea.
Hyunwoo brightly smiled.
"If you were chosen as Miss Korea, don't forget to treat me to nice food, okay?"
"Of course. By the way, you look tired. Look at the dark circles under your eyes. What's wrong with you these days?"
"Don't even talk about it. I'm at the end of my rope because I have to study trading business these days. So many difficult terms out there. My head throbs painfully whenever I think about it."
At his remarks Yu opened her eyes again and said,
"Trade? Why? What's so difficult about it? Please ask me if you have any question."
This time, Hyunwoo's eyes opened wide at her remarks. Come to think of it, her major was trade in college.
Also, she said her boyfriend's major was business administration. He got a job at his father's mid-sized company early this year after graduating from Seoul National University, the top university in Korea. He was assigned to the purchase department like Hyunwoo.
Were they any better teachers?
Hyunwoo snapped his fingers and said, "Oh, that's right. You could help me!"
Then he took out a small notebook from his pocket. When he found a difficult term, he would write it down on the notebook.
The notebook was rather thick, and he took notes even to its last page. That meant there was a lot of stuff he couldn't understand. Yu explained them to him easily.
"FOB is a trade term requiring the seller to deliver goods on board a ship designated by the buyer…"
Hyunwoo opened his eyes and ears wide. Still, he couldn't understand it well, and it was as if an invisible wall was bouncing away Yu's explanation.
Yu smiled and took out a notebook and pen.
"Incoterms are difficult terms. You can understand it easily with a picture. Ok, this is a factory in Indonesia, and this is the port of Jakarta. This is a freight vessel, this is the port of Busan, and this is your company. Now, FOB is the expenses paid by the seller. In other words, he is responsible for the expenses of shipping goods to the vessel in the port of Jakarta, but all the other expenses are paid by the importer, namely your company."
Hyunwoo's eyes opened wide suddenly. He could understand her explanation easily.
"Then, CIF is the seller is responsible for paying freight charges to move the goods to the port of Busan, with the remaining expenses of loading and moving the goods to our country paid by the buyer."
"Bingo! You're smart, brother!"
Yu expressed joy by clapping her hands and then explained other Incoterms.
She kept explaining to him, unaware of the passage of time, and Hyunwoo was captivated by her easy explanations. His heart seemed to beat strongly when he began to understand what he didn't before. Both of them weren't conscious of the other people in the coffee shop.
There were many customers in the coffee shop late into the night, with some of them glancing at Yu and Hyunwoo for some time. Of course, they did because of Yu's stunning beauty.
Some female customers cast jealous eyes at her, while male customers were envious and even proud of Hyunwoo, who, sitting right next to her, had been listening to her teaching.
After a lengthy explanation, she tilted her head.
"PSI? Manufacturing statement? Cost and benefit statement? Looks like these are accounting terms. I don't really know either."
"Really? I should understand them. Who should I ask?"
An embarrassing expression appeared on his face.
At that moment, she snapped fingers as if she had found the right person to explain the terms.
"Maybe my boyfriend knows them."
Hyunwoo's eyes opened wide.
Yu Nami's boyfriend was a man who led an affluent life since he had been a child. In short, he was an upper class guy down to the marrow. However, he was a man Yu knew, not Hyunwoo. Even though he was her boyfriend, he wouldn't like this kind of meeting. Yu's relationship with him might turn bad because of Hyunwoo.
"Don't call him. You don't have to go through the trouble."
But Yu didn't care. She was about to press the button on her cell phone.
"Let me call him now."
Hyunwoo's eyes became wide again. It was already 12 am. Calling him now was to bring trouble to her.
Hyunwoo urgently stopped her and said, "It's too late. Next time..."
"Really? How about tomorrow then?"
"I'm alright. How about you guys?"
"I'm alright too. Let me come out with him tomorrow."
Hyunwoo was still hesitant. If he met her boyfriend, he felt he would be uncomfortable.
Actually, though, Hyunwoo decided to trust her standards for a man.
Hyunwoo nodded his head and said, "Okay then. I'll see you guys tomorrow."
In the evening on the next day.
As soon as he left the office, he headed to the coffee shop he met Yu Nami yesterday.
Fortunately, Yu and her boyfriend weren't there yet. Hyunwoo opened the notebook and refreshed his questions. Because Yu Nami's boyfriend was taking the time out of his day to come here, it would be discourteous for Hyunwoo to ask too many questions. So, he summarized only the core points.
A little later, Yu came into the coffee shop with her hands folded into a man's arm. He looked like her boyfriend. He looked like a noble young man with fair skin like Yu. At a glance, he was a guy who didn't go through any difficulties in his life.
Yu introduced both of them briefly to each other.
Hyunwoo tried to introduce himself by bowing to him first, but her boyfriend acted faster.
He bent his wrist deeply to Hyunwoo and said,
"Hello, my name is Jang Dukwoo. I heard a lot about you from Nami. I've respected you since then, and it's an honor to meet you like this."
Hyunwoo did likewise, bowing his head deeply and saying, "Nice to meet you. It's an honor for me to see you like this. Also, I'm really sorry to have asked you to come."
Hyunwoo's face lit up.
One could size up the other person by asking just one question. Besides, Hyunwoo met lots of people while doing various jobs. For example, he had many sales jobs. He sold carpets at department stores, sold books to students, and even sold medicines while accompanying a drug peddler. The more sales experiences he had, the sharper his eyes were. He could figure out the other person's character merely by looking at the person's face or lips. Exchanging a few words with the other party made him discern his or her personality. Though his discerning power wasn't accurate 100%, it helped him a lot when dealing with people.
In Hyunwoo's eyes, Jang Dukwoo was a man of character. To say the least, he wasn't the type of person who would look down on those who were less fortunate than he was.
Above all, Jang was a very social person.
Suddenly, Hyunwoo felt sorry for Yu Nami. When he first heard from her about her boyfriend, he felt that she was meeting him for money.
"Haha… this is our first meeting, so I think it might be discourteous to you."
"No way. Don't worry about it. I really heard a lot about you from Nami. I felt even jealous because she talked about you too much. I really respect you, brother. I'm saying this from the bottom of my heart."
Hyunwoo felt genuine sincerity in his words. Jang's statement that she talked about him wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Suddenly, an episode about her three years ago came to mind.
Yu Nami was a typical model student. Despite her poor family condition, she didn't lose her smile. She was the top in her class and a stunning beauty.
Thanks to her good growth, she looked even mature for her age. She was already 162cm when she was a sophomore in high school, and the body of her great-looking silhouette was more visible than that of an adult female's. She could be easily taken as a college student if she had some makeups and didn't wear her school uniform.
But her stunning beauty, which she couldn't do anything about, was like a time bomb to her. She could make lots of money by using her mature beauty if she had her own way.
Yu was seriously agonized over it. She was all the more shaken by that temptation as her family's financial condition got worse.
Hyunwoo came to know about it through her friend.
Actually, Hyunwoo thought she wouldn't end up as an ordinary woman while watching her grow, for there was nobody who could stop her from using her stunning beauty.
There were two choices for Yu Nami. She could take the road of the entertainment world, defeated by those who wanted to use her beauty for money, or she could seize her future by overcoming her temptation.
At the time, she was about to be defeated. She was absolutely desperate for someone's help.
It was at that moment that Hyunwoo reached out to her. It was the first time he had helped someone with his own money.
Fortunately, Yu Nami overcame the temptation and became a sincere student again.
Hyunwoo couldn't express the happiness he had felt at that time. He realized at that moment that this was the way his money was supposed to be spent. It was also the first moment he realized how happy it was for him to sacrifice his resources for others.
He earned something very big by helping her with less than 500,000 won per month.
Her reward for his sacrifice at the time didn't end there. His association with her helped him meet such a good man like Jang.
With a sincere heart, Hyunwoo held Jang's hands tight. He felt as if his ties with Jang would be very deep and last a long time.