Chapter 3
After having a chicken leg and wings, Gun-Ho Goo asked Jong-Suk Park.
"Are you actually looking for a job?"
"I've been looking for a job online. There are lots of job openings, but it's not easy to find a good company."
"Why? Are you worried that you might pick a company that is soon going under?"
"That is one of the things I consider. I also cannot stand management power tripping."
"Nothing much you can do about it. We are merely a factory worker."
"You used to work for that kind of manager in a furniture company. And you ended up fighting with the nagging manager, and quit the job."
"Hmm… that's right. But it's my loss. I have no skills for a job; I am just a low ranked college dropout."
"Hey bro, I registered at the Career Center. I want to learn new work skills."
"I've already done it because once I start working, I won't have time to learn new skills. But that causes another problem; I won't be able to make a living if I don't work while I go to school to learn some skills."
"The director at the CAD Learning Center told me that if you have the will to learn, then you can do it. Having no time is just an excuse."
"d.a.m.n man! He should put himself in my shoes!"
"Speaking of learning things, you and me, we actually met in an educational inst.i.tute in Noryangjin. It has been five years already."
"I was surprised when I saw you there. I didn't expect to see a bro from the neighborhood I used to live in."
"I was so surprised as well. I never thought the person next to me having a cupped-rice would be you."
"Bro, you used to do well in studying, didn't you?"
"In Korea, if you don't work for a big company or a government, you are not well respected. Hard to get married as well. At that time, I was running out of money after repeatedly failed the exam for three years."
"Three years of preparation for that exam is normal."
"I was not financially supported to keep taking the exam."
"As you know already, I am not good material for study. It was my father who forced me to study for the civil service exam, so I could get the level-9 government job. That's why I was in Noryangjin studying. I've tried ESL courses and etc., but I am just too dumb to study for the exam."
"How is your father's restaurant business doing in Incheon?"
"Not very good, these days. A new restaurant chain opened next to my father's, and it is seriously affecting his business."
"I see… I wanted to try that exam one more time if someone could support me for one year… I had to give up on my exam when I ran out of money and almost couldn't afford food and to pay the rent. My family wasn't doing well either."
"I just don't understand why old
"It is actually a good job. You work in a nice office wearing a suit. You don't have to worry about not being paid. They provide you a good government pension. You don't need old people to tell you how good it is to recognize the benefits. It is just hard to get it."
"You must have some money saved up, right?"
"Nada. After I left Noryanjin, I worked in a plastic recycling plant located in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. I worked my socks off there for two years; I saved about 10,000,000 won (around $10,000). Around that time, I saw a suns.h.i.+ne loan advertis.e.m.e.nt and inquired about it. When they told me that as long as I have a job they would approve me for the loan, I quickly applied for it. I submitted proof of employment and tax doc.u.ment; I received the loan right away."
"You should have 20,000,000 won in total then. Why are you acting as if you are miserably poor, living in a tiny OneRoom?"
"It is OneRoomTel, not OneRoom."
"OneRoom or OneRoomTel, all same."
"I was going to buy a new car since my old car started making noises and it got too old. It was a used car on an installment plan. Then before I know it, I was doing stocks."
"Stocks? I know no one who didn't lose money by doing stocks."
"Hear me out. Doing stocks is risky of course, but if you have the right information you can make money. That's how I started it."
"Haha. Where does a blue-collar worker like you get such information?"
"Our vendor was a KOSDAQ registered firm. We were told that they were about to apply for a patent and that their stock will go up accordingly, so we all bought their stock."
"That's how you blew all the money."
"Not quite. The stock went up at first. My stock value at that time was 24,000,000 won; I was so happy. I made 4,000,000 won in a month; I invested 20,000,000 won and it went up to 24,000,000 won. Wow. The world looked different. I regretted the choices I made in life. Why did I waste my time and youth in preparing for that civil service exam to get a level-9 job? It's not even a well-paid job."
"And then?"
"I was going to sell the stock a few days later since it was on the way up. Five days later, I opened my stock account. Oh my, the stock value was 18,000,000. I thought it would go up again. A week later, it went down to 12,000,000."
"You lost 8,000,000."
"I wish. An investment consulting company, called WinWin Fund Investment Club, sent me a text; I am not sure how they got my number. They said I could recover my loss in no time and get a noticeable return if I invest in the stocks they pick for me."
"Did you believe that?"
"They sent me their past transaction records. It showed that 20,000,000 was invested and it went up to 60,000,000 won within two months. They charge 2,000,000 won for their service. Once I pay the fee, they said they would give me a list of stocks they picked right away."
"Your gla.s.s is empty. Let me fill it up for you. Go on."
"So I paid 2,000,000 won and invested the remaining 10,000,000 won in the stock they picked for me. The stock had been up and down on a roller-coaster ride."
"You got rooked again."
"Don't even get me started on that. I was left with 4,000,000 won in hand after I put 10,000,000 won a week earlier."
"You should have complained to the investment consulting company."
"I did. When I complained to them, they said I should sell the stock at a loss."
"How could they say that? They are so irresponsible."
"When I argued with them, they said it was perfectly normal to sell stocks at a loss sometimes and it happened all the time. They laughed at me saying a person like me shouldn't do stocks."
"Jerks!"
"The remaining 4,000,000 won is gone. I used it for living expense since I hadn't been paid for a while after I moved to another company. I am just left with the debt from the suns.h.i.+ne loan."
"You learned your lesson," Jong-Suk Park chuckled.
"It would be really nice if it was just a lesson. Now I have to pay interest on the loan, and I am suffering for it. The two-year life in Hwaseong became nothing, and all I have is debt."
"Phew. I feel suffocated by listening to your story. That is the money you earned by working your socks off."
"Do you remember Won-Chul? His mother owned a pharmacy in our neighborhood."
"I know him. He was accepted to one of the universities in Seoul?"
"I've heard that Won-Chul is working for a big company after he graduated college. He invested 20,000,000 won in stocks and made 100,000,000 won. F*ck."
"Huh, Wun-Chul bro was the richest in the neighborhood. The luck is also on his side. G.o.d is on the rich, not us at all. F*ck. Let's drink."
The two drank soju in the moonlight making slurping sounds. It looks like they drank every drop of booze.