Chapter 4

© Yeongwan (映完)

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The next day, Yeonghoon went to the office and, in the small office, greeted the accounting clerk who welcomed him, chewing gum like a seasoned veteran.

"Hello. I'm Choi Yeonghoon, starting today..."

"I know. You'll be learning from that person over there."

The accounting clerk glanced behind Yeonghoon and pointed.

When Yeonghoon turned around, he saw a man with an expression that seemed less than pleased.

He looked to be about the same age as Yeonghoon, but his long legs were noticeable even while sitting.

With a long face and sharp eyes, he seemed perfectly suited for debt collection.

"Hello. I'm Choi Yeonghoon, starting today."

"You're not a new employee, but more like... what was it? An intern? Something like that, right?"

He immediately spoke to Yeonghoon informally.

"Yes. I'll be working on a fixed salary for three months..."

"Alright. How you get paid isn't my concern, but welcome anyway. I'm Yang Taepyeong."

He abruptly extended his hand, and Yeonghoon shook it.

"Yes, please take care of me."

"Looks like you're a year younger than me. Can I speak informally to you?"

"Sure. I find it more comfortable."

To be precise, it felt more refreshing than comfortable.

When he was at the temple, no one except the head monk ever spoke to him informally.

As a young monk, he would hear jokes like, "Monk, are you going to the morning service?" or "Monk, have you eaten?" and as he entered his teenage years, no one spoke to him informally at all.

He never intended to become a monk, and the head monk didn't want that either, so even though he occasionally followed the head monk to the morning service out of curiosity, no one ever spoke to him informally.

Some believers even suspected he might be the head monk's illegitimate child, but regardless, people treated him as an equal to the monk.

So, the situation of someone speaking to him so informally felt amusing.

"Follow me. We'll talk on the way. Yun Daeri, I'm going to Ilsan and then Pocheon today."

"So you won't be coming in?"

Yang Taepyeong grinned at the accounting clerk's response.

"I'll come in early if I finish early."

The clerk sighed and shook her head.

Yang Taepyeong led Yeonghoon out of the building and started talking.

"Most people, when they hear my name, think, 'Oh, he must be really peaceful.' If they do, they're wrong. I'm one of the most diligent and meticulous people you'll ever meet. Do you drink coffee?"

"Uh, yes. I do."

"Well, it's not like smoking, and these days, no one doesn't drink coffee. Do you smoke?"

"I don't smoke."

"You don't look like you do. Your face doesn't show any hardship. Are you from a wealthy family?"

"No, not wealthy."

Yang Taepyeong roughly opened the door to a large franchise coffee shop, Starbucks, and said,

"Don't lie to me. I can read faces. Two iced Americanos, please. To-go. Americano is fine, right? Do you prefer lattes?"

"No, I like Americano."

"Whatever. Anyway, don't try to lie. Here, you'll hear lies all the time. 'I'll pay next month.' 'I'll pay the month after.' 'I have no money.' 'I'd rather die than pay.' All lies. So now, I can tell just by looking. You've never had it hard, right?"

Yang Taepyeong stared intently at Yeonghoon's face.

Yeonghoon felt like laughing but managed to control his expression.

"I'm not lying. I'm really not wealthy."

"Then how did you get a job through the management line?"

"Just through an introduction from someone I know. I used to live in Goseong, Gyeongsangnam-do, and this is my first time in Seoul..."

Yang Taepyeong interrupted Yeonghoon.

"Goseong, Gyeongsangnam-do? The Goseong famous for dinosaurs?"

"Yes, it's known for dinosaurs."

"Completely rural... You're from there."

He almost said "country bumpkin."

"Yes, it's a rural area."

"But why don't you have any accent?"

Yeonghoon was about to say that the head monk didn't use an accent, but he thought mentioning the monk would make him seem even stranger, so he made a vague excuse.

"No one in my family uses an accent."

"Hmm..."

He tilted his head, lost in thought.

After a while, they arrived at a public parking lot with their coffee and he spoke again.

"The person we're meeting borrowed 10 million won last year and hasn't paid it back. She has repaid 1.2 million won of the principal, so we need to recover 8.8 million won."

"How much interest has she paid?"

"Why do you need to know that?"

"If she's paid more than 10 million won in interest, can we call it even?"

He squeezed into a Matiz parked in the corner of the lot, gestured for Yeonghoon to sit in the passenger seat, and continued,

"Our job is simple: recover the principal. If we can get the interest too, that's a bonus. If possible, that is."

"I see."

"People who borrow money are desperate, but those who lend are shameless and refuse to pay. We need to think carefully about who is right and who is wrong. We're not loan sharks from the 1980s. Some new employees think we are. They see us as the source of evil. You don't, right?"

"No, I don't."

"Everyone says that. Here's the contract. Look it over on the way."

Yang Taepyeong started the car for Ilsan, and Yeonghoon began to carefully examine the contract.

Having never borrowed money from any financial institution, Yeonghoon found the contract quite interesting.

"Seoil Savings Bank? I've seen it on TV."

"Right. They offer a lot of loans to low-income people. The approval amount is relatively high compared to income, so many people borrow from there. A significant number of our clients are Seoil Savings Bank customers."

"Oh."

"If she says she has no money again this time, we'll be getting a court order for forced execution. But if we try to use the law against all creditors, it costs money. If we're not the only creditor, we'll have to compete for the limited funds, which is a headache. What's the best option?"

"To pay back the money amicably?"

"Exactly. Our job is to do that. The collection team tries to get the maximum repayment, and if that fails, we take legal action. But if we keep waiting, other creditors will swoop in and leave nothing. Understand?"

"Yes."

"Information is key. You need to be observant. Ultimately, it's all about this."

Yang Taepyeong pointed to his head with his index finger.

"This needs to be sharp. If you're not sharp, you can't do this job. Got it?"

"Yes."

"Who knows if it's worth teaching someone who might not even stay."

Despite his words, he didn't seem to care about Yeonghoon's feelings.

Yeonghoon, thinking of this as a learning experience, found Yang Taepyeong's words oddly reassuring.

After about an hour of driving, they arrived at a village slightly outside Ilsan, where fields and rice paddies stretched out.

The house, which looked quite old, gave the impression that the owner was not well-off.

Yang Taepyeong knocked on the door aggressively, seemingly hoping to intimidate the owner.

Was this a debt collection skill?

"Who is it?"

A weak woman's voice came from inside.

"I'm from Myeongil Finance. Can you open the door, please?"

"Okay..."

The door opened hesitantly.

The woman looked younger than expected, probably in her mid-thirties, but her face was pale and lifeless, with no makeup.

She had the look of someone living without hope, just to avoid death.

Surprisingly, she might have been considered quite beautiful in her younger years.

Yang Taepyeong walked past her without hesitation and sat on the floor.

"Sit down. You know why I'm here, right?"

"Yes... If you could just give me a little more time..."

"That's not possible. We've given you a lot of time already. You've been saying 'next month' for months. Last month, you disappeared for almost a month and then said you'd pay this month, but you didn't. We can't give you more time. You need to pay at least part of the principal and interest today."

"I want to, but I don't have the money."

"Then we can't wait any longer. If we apply for forced execution, this house will be taken away. Do you understand?"

"Please, not this house. Without it, my child and I have nowhere to go."

Yang Taepyeong looked at her pitifully.

It seemed clear to him that there was no way she could come up with the money.

"Well... I have no choice. I'll have to report to the company that you can't repay."

"Please, just one more month. My child's father will be able to pay something next month."

"That's beyond my authority. I have no choice. We'll have to leave."

"Please, just one more chance."

As Yang Taepyeong stood up, the woman grabbed Yeonghoon's hand, who had been standing quietly beside him.

But Yeonghoon couldn't do anything to help.

He couldn't pay for her, so he could only leave.

At that moment, another hand grabbed his arm.

"Please help us."

A small girl, probably just entering elementary school, was crying with her mother.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

Yang Taepyeong shouted at Yeonghoon, who was frozen in place.

But Yeonghoon, as if in a trance, stared intently at the little girl.

End