My brother's words made my blood boil. Sensing the tension, my father quickly intervened.
"Hey, is that any way to talk to your brother who you haven't seen in a while? And Sol is running a business with the money he saved. So stop saying such things."
My brother's eyes widened at my father's words.
"A business? Him?"
He scanned me from head to toe, making me feel even more disgusted.
"Hmm… Hey, Park Sol, what are you doing these days?"
"Just running a small business."
"I'm just curious. Is it like a manpower agency or something?"
I waved my hand dismissively.
"Don't worry about me. Aren't you here to introduce your girlfriend?"
"The way you talk… Dad, this is my girlfriend, Han Go-eun. We work at the same company and are dating with marriage in mind. Let me introduce you to my parents and my younger sister, Park Hwa-young."
"Hello, I'm Han Go-eun, and I work at the same company as your son."
"Nice to meet you, Go-eun. Let's all eat and talk."
A brief, silent dinner ensued. To break the awkwardness, my father cleared his throat and said,
"He doesn't tell us much, but you said you're dating with marriage in mind? Then can I speak comfortably?"
"Yes, please do, Father."
"Alright. You said 'with marriage in mind'… Does that mean you have a date in mind?"
"Yes, we're thinking of getting married next year."
"Have you met her parents?"
"We're planning to visit them next week to ask for their blessing."
"Good, good."
My father started asking Go-eun simple questions: what her parents did for a living, if she had any siblings, and so on.
As the question-and-answer session ended, so did the meal. That's when my brother subtly brought up the topic.
"Dad, I'll have to live near the company after we get married, right?"
"Since you both work at the same company, yes."
"Then can you buy us an apartment nearby when we get married? I think we'll be able to focus on work better if we have our own place."
I was wondering when he would bring it up. My father, as if he had anticipated this, said,
"Well, we might as well discuss it now. Your mother has a savings plan that will mature soon. We can buy you an apartment after that. It matures the year after next, so can you wait a little longer?"
He was being vague, but it was clear that they didn't have the money right now. My brother seemed to sense it immediately and frowned.
"What do you mean? We're getting married next year, and you're saying you'll buy it the year after next? Where are we supposed to live after we get married?"
"You can rent a villa near the company for a while…"
"Ah! Seriously!"
My brother shouted.
"Do you have to say that in front of Go-eun? It's so embarrassing!"
"Oppa, stop it."
Despite his girlfriend's attempt to calm him down, my brother's anger seemed to be uncontrollable.
"Stop what? Your eldest son is getting married and starting a family, and you're saying you can't even afford an apartment? I'm not asking for much!"
My father seemed to be getting really angry. But he held back, perhaps because he didn't want to argue with his son in front of his future daughter-in-law.
"I'm not saying we won't buy it. So, do you have any savings?"
"How could I have any savings? I just bought a car."
I wanted to punch him. Was he really normal? I couldn't understand why he was so shameless.
"You bought a car? It's a five-minute walk from your studio apartment to the company!"
"I need a car. Don't you know how embarrassing it is to meet friends and go to work without a car?"
My father held the back of his neck, trying to calm down, when my brother stood up and said,
"Anyway, we're getting married next year, and please figure out the apartment situation. We need a place to live. I won't ask for anything else, so please just take care of that. I need to be successful so I can give you allowance, Mom and Dad. Go-eun, we're done eating, let's go."
"Oppa, we just started eating. We should talk with Father and Mother a little longer."
"Don't worry about it, let's go. Mom, Dad, thanks for the meal. We'll be going now."
He took his hesitant girlfriend and left. After he left, my father exploded.
"You spoiled him rotten, that's why he's like this! Are those words that should come out of a human's mouth?"
"Why are you blaming me? Weren't you the same?"
My parents were about to have a huge fight over my brother, so I intervened.
"Come on, calm down. It's not the first time he's acted like this. I'm here after a long time, let's try to be peaceful."
My parents sat on the floor, their faces red. Hwa-young quietly retreated to her room. What should I do?
Ugh, screw it. I don't know.
I took out 3 million won from the money I got from selling the silver and placed it in front of my parents. My mother was startled and said,
"Oh my, what's this? Where did you get this money?"
"It's 3 million won. Use it for living expenses."
"But where did you get such a large sum of money?"
"I told you I'm running a business. It's money I earned. I earned it legally, so don't worry."
"Why don't you use it for your business?"
"It's fine. I have enough. Just take it."
I forcefully handed the money to my mother, and my father said,
"Don't push yourself. Your father isn't that incompetent. Take it back."
"I'm really not pushing myself. Just think of it as receiving a year's worth of allowance in advance."
After a long back-and-forth, I managed to convince them to take the money and said goodbye.
"You have a son who gives you allowance, so cheer up. I'll make sure you live comfortably."
"…Alright, I won't spend it recklessly."
***
"I need to make more money."
"You always say that. If we just maintain our current status, you'll be earning more than your brother's annual salary, which is over 100 million won. Why are you so greedy?"
Maru said, sounding fed up. He wasn't wrong. But human greed was truly endless.
The thought that there might be people out there making money in ways I didn't know about made me feel envious.
"The more money, the better. I need more than this if I want to build a skyscraper and live a carefree life."
As I was chatting with Maru, the phone rang.
"Hello, Chunha Resources."
"Hello, this is Mureung Tech from Ansan Industrial Complex."
Mureung Tech was a small plastic injection molding company. I had done business with them a few times and was acquainted with their employees.
"Is this Assistant Manager Ahn?"
"Yes, we're expanding and relocating. We'd like to ask for your help with the dismantling."
"Dismantling?"
Dismantling was essentially cleaning up when offices or factories relocated or closed down. It involved removing desks, shelves, machinery, and other equipment. It was one of the main tasks of a junkyard, and we could earn a decent income by selling the machinery, scrap metal, and usable shelves as secondhand goods. It was a profitable side business.
"Anyway, congratulations on your expansion and relocation."
"Thank you. We'll only be moving the production lines and machinery to the new factory. Please clear out everything else."
I was slightly disappointed. The production lines and machinery were the most valuable, and it seemed like there wouldn't be much left.
"Okay, I understand. Are you taking the machinery yourselves?"
"Yes, the company we ordered them from will come and move them."
"Then excluding that… I'll clear everything out for 200,000 won. When should we come?"
"They'll be moving the machinery tomorrow morning, so would it be possible in the afternoon, after lunch?"
"Yes, that's possible. Then I'll see you tomorrow. Okay, okay."
I hung up the phone and asked Maru,
"Maru, are you busy tomorrow afternoon?"
"I have to make collection runs all day tomorrow. I'm busy."
"I'll have to hire some day laborers. Alright."
I called a nearby labor agency that evening and requested three workers. The next morning, a van from the agency dropped off three men.
After explaining the task, I had them do some simple sorting in the morning. After lunch, we headed to Mureung Tech.
It seemed like they had already moved most of their things, as the entire factory looked messy. I could see through the wide-open factory doors that the machinery had already been moved.
"Assistant Manager Ahn, we're here."
"Yes, welcome. They've taken everything, so please clear out everything else, but don't touch the building itself."
"Okay. Will you be here the whole time?"
"Yes, I have to be. I need to check for any forgotten items, so please show me what you're taking out."
After that, we started the dismantling process. The factory looked empty without the production lines, and there didn't seem to be much to salvage.
"Oh well, let's get to work."
Chairs, water purifier, rubber bands, metal shelves, and all sorts of odds and ends from the factory kept coming out. It looked empty, but there was an endless stream of junk.
We even found five sets of power tools, so I took them to Assistant Manager Ahn and asked,
"Are you discarding these power tool sets too?"
"Yes, we're buying new ones for the new factory."
Great. I happily loaded the tool sets into the passenger seat of the truck, not the cargo bed.
These could be sold secondhand. I would sell them to the secondhand dealers who sometimes came by in their 1-ton trucks looking for items to resell.
I went back to work and cleared out the factory in 30 minutes. We then moved on to the office, where we found four computers on the desks.
"Assistant Manager Ahn, are you discarding these computers too?"
"Yes, we're buying new ones, so you can take them. One of them is broken."
What a lucky break. Three of them were still working. I hummed as I loaded the computers into the passenger seat. I was disappointed about the lack of machinery, but this was a decent haul.
It took about an hour to clear out the office. It wasn't a difficult task, as the office was on the first floor.
After finishing the job, I received the 200,000 won payment and returned to the junkyard. I laid out the four computers.
"Which one is broken? Let's try them out."
I had only ever seen computers, never touched one, but plugging in the cables wasn't difficult. I just had to match the connectors.
After struggling for a while, I finished setting them up and turned on the power. It started working.
"Ooh, amazing. There are letters."
English words were pouring out, but my limited English skills from high school weren't enough to understand them.
"This should be sellable secondhand, right?"
I tested the other computers, but the last one wouldn't turn on. I tried hitting it a few times, but it still wouldn't work.
But the monitor and the main unit were separate, so couldn't one of them still be working?
I connected the monitor of the broken computer to a working computer and turned it on. The monitor worked without any problems.
"So the monitor is fine, but the main unit is broken."
Without thinking much, I started disassembling the broken computer.
I didn't have any specific purpose. I just wanted to see the ratio of ferrous and non-ferrous metals inside.
I unscrewed the computer and removed the panels, revealing the complex internal structure. I didn't know what was what, so I poked and prodded, carefully disassembling it piece by piece.
It was intricate, but as I carefully located and removed the screws, the parts started coming apart.
Four circuit boards, large and small, and a bulky metal chunk came out.
"How does this thing work? Wow, the world is constantly evolving. Technology has really advanced."
As I examined each part, a thought suddenly struck me.
"Just like how I swapped the monitor to see if it was working or not, couldn't I do the same with these parts?"
I disassembled a working computer and swapped only one part at a time, turning it on each time.
"Huh? It works?"
The computer worked without any issues. I admired the humming computer and continued swapping parts one by one. Finally, when I connected the bulky metal chunk, the computer wouldn't turn on.
"So this is the only part that's broken."
My intuition started tingling.