Chapter 10

The Hyenas of Capitalism - Chapter 10 (10/215)

Father, who had been hesitating, suddenly interjected and said,

"Hey, what kind of talk is that to a brother you haven't seen in a long time? And I heard that Sol has been making money and is doing some business these days. So don't say things like that."

At Father's words, my brother's eyes widened as he said,

"Business? This kid?"

Then he looked me up and down, which made me feel really uncomfortable.

"Hmm... Hey, Park Sol, what are you doing these days?"

"Just doing some small business."

"Out of curiosity. Are you running something like a temp agency?"

I waved my hand and said,

"Leave it alone. You came here to introduce your girlfriend, didn't you?"

"Really, what are you talking about? Dad, this is my girlfriend, and we work at the same company. We met and are now dating with the intention of getting married. Please meet my future parents-in-law. This is my younger sister, Park Hwa-young."

"Hello, I'm Han Go-eun. I work at the same company as your son."

"Right. Nice to meet you too. Let's all eat and talk while we have our meal."

The meal was silent for a while, and to break the awkwardness, Father cleared his throat and said,

"That kid never tells me anything. You're dating with the intention of getting married, right? So, can I speak freely?"

"Yes, please do, Father."

"Right. When do you plan to get married?"

"Um, we're thinking about next year."

"Have you already visited the in-laws?"

"We need to get their permission. We plan to go next week."

"Right. Do that."

Father started asking simple questions to my brother's girlfriend, like what her parents do and if she has any siblings.

As the questioning session was coming to an end, the meal was also finishing. At that moment, my brother started to speak subtly.

"But, Father, when I get married, I'll have to live near the company, right?"

"Since you both work at the same place, that makes sense."

"Then, when we get married, can you buy us an apartment nearby? I need to feel settled to work properly."

I thought he would say that. Father, who seemed to have been thinking about it, said,

"Since it was going to come up anyway, it's better to talk about it now. First, Mother has a savings account that needs to mature before we can buy you an apartment. It will mature the year after next, so can you wait a little longer?"

Although he was speaking indirectly, it meant that they didn't have the money right now. My brother, who seemed to have sensed this, frowned and said,

"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?"

"For now, you can live in a rented villa near the company..."

"Ah, really!"

My brother shouted,

"Do you have to say this in front of Go-eun? It's so embarrassing!"

"Brother, stop it."

Despite his girlfriend's attempts to calm him down, my brother's anger didn't seem to subside.

"Why should I stop? As the eldest son, getting married and starting a family, shouldn't you at least give us an apartment? I'm not asking for something huge, you know?"

Father seemed very angry but, perhaps not wanting to argue with his son in front of his future daughter-in-law, he held back and said,

"I'm not saying I won't. Alright, do you have any savings?"

"Where do I have any money? I just bought a car, so I'm broke."

I really wanted to hit him. Is he really a normal person? I don't understand why he's so confident.

"You bought a car? You can walk to work from your current one-room apartment in 5 minutes, can't you?"

"I need a car. It's embarrassing to say I don't have a car when I meet friends, you know?"

Father, holding his neck, tried to calm down as my brother stood up and said,

"Anyway, I'm getting married next year, and I need you to find an apartment for us. We need a place to live. I won't ask for anything else, so just do this for me. If I do well, I'll take care of your allowance, too. Go-eun, you must be done eating. Let's go."

"Brother, we just started eating. We should talk more with Father and Mother."

"Don't worry about it. Hurry up. Mother, Father, I ate well. I'll go first."

He left with his hesitant girlfriend. After he left, Father exploded.

"Isn't this because you spoiled him? Is that what people say?"

"Why are you only blaming me? Didn't you do the same?"

As my parents were about to have a big fight over my brother, I stepped in and said,

"Come on, calm down. Is this the first time my brother has acted like this? I came here after a long time, so let's have a peaceful time."

My parents were red-faced and sitting on the floor. Hwa-young had gone back to her room, and I didn't know what to do.

"Ugh. I don't know."

I took out 300 from the money I had earned from selling silver and handed it to my parents. Mother was surprised and said,

"Oh my. What is this? Where did you get this money?"

"It's 300,000 won. Use it for living expenses."

"But where did you get such a large amount of money?"

"I told you I'm doing business. It's money I earned. Don't worry, it's legitimate."

"Can't you just add it to your business?"

"It's not a problem. I have enough. Just take it without arguing."

I forced the money into Mother's hands, and Father said,

"You don't have to go to such lengths. I'm not that incapable. Take it back."

"It's not a problem. Just think of it as a year's worth of allowance. Keep it."

After a long argument with my parents, I finally managed to give them the money, said my goodbyes, and left the house, saying,

"Since I have a son who gives allowance, try to enjoy life. I'll treat you well."

"......Alright, I understand. I won't waste it."

"Still, I need to earn more money."

"You always say that. Even if you maintain your current state, your brother's salary is in the tens of millions. Why are you so greedy?"

Maru said, sounding exasperated. She wasn't wrong, but human greed has no end.

Just thinking that there might be people out there making money in ways I don't know about made my stomach hurt.

"Money is better the more you have. If you want to live in a building and enjoy life, this amount is not enough."

While chatting with Maru about trivial matters, the phone rang.

"Yes, this is Cheonhajae."

"Yes, this is Mureung Tech in Ansan Industrial Park."

Mureung Tech was a small company that did plastic injection molding. I had done a few transactions with them, so I was familiar with the staff.

"Is this Manager An?"

"Yes, we're planning to relocate and expand, so we need your help with the demolition."

"Demolition?"

Demolition involves cleaning up and removing desks, display cases, and machinery when a company relocates or closes down. It's one of the main jobs of a scrap yard, and the machinery, scrap metal, and good-condition display cases that come out of demolition can be sold second-hand, making it a profitable business.

"Anyway, congratulations on the expansion."

"Thank you. We'll be moving the production lines and machinery to the new factory. Please clear out the rest."

I licked my lips slightly. The production lines and machinery are the most valuable, but it might not be as profitable as I thought.

"Understood. Will you be taking the machinery yourselves?"

"Yes, the company that ordered them will come and move them."

"Then, excluding that, I can clean up for 200,000 won. When would you like us to come?"

"Can you come in the afternoon after lunch tomorrow? We'll be moving the machinery in the morning."

"Sure, I'll be there. See you tomorrow. Yes, yes."

After hanging up, I asked Maru,

"Maru, are you busy tomorrow afternoon?"

"I have to work a full day collecting. I'm busy."

"I'll need to hire some day laborers. Got it."

I called a nearby temp agency in the evening and requested three workers. The next morning, a van from the temp agency dropped off three men.

I gave them a brief explanation and had them do some simple sorting in the morning. After lunch, we headed to Mureung Tech.

The factory looked chaotic, and the doors were wide open, indicating that the machinery had already been moved.

"Manager An, we're here."

"Yes, please come in. Everything that needs to be moved is gone. Just clear out the building without damaging it."

"Understood. Will you be staying here?"

"Yes, in case there's anything left behind, please show it to me when you're done."

After answering, we started the demolition. The factory, with the production lines removed, looked empty and not very profitable.

"Well, let's get to work."

We started with the chairs, water cooler, rubber bands, and metal display cases. Despite the mess, various items kept coming out.

Even five sets of power tool kits came out, so I took them to Manager An to ask.

"Are these power tool kits being thrown away too?"

"Yes, we're buying new ones for the move."

Great. I happily put the tool kits in the passenger seat of the truck, not the cargo area.

These can be sold second-hand. Sometimes, second-hand dealers come by in a 1-ton truck looking for items to buy, so I could sell them then.

I focused on the work again and cleared the factory in about thirty minutes. Then we moved on to the office demolition, where four computers were on the desks.

"Manager An, are these computers being thrown away too?"

"Yes, we're buying new ones. One of them is broken, though."

What a windfall. Three of them are usable? I whistled and put the computers in the passenger seat. I was disappointed about the lack of machinery, but this was quite good.

The office took about an hour to clear. Since the office was on the first floor, the work wasn't too difficult.

After finishing the job and collecting 200,000 won, I returned to the scrap yard and laid out the four computers.

"Which one is broken? Should I try them out?"

I had only seen computers before but never touched them, but plugging in cables wasn't difficult.

After a lot of fumbling, I finally got them set up and turned on.

"Wow, it's amazing. Words are appearing."

English text poured out, but my limited high school-level English wasn't enough to read it.

"Can I sell these second-hand?"

I tested the other computers, and the last one wouldn't turn on. No matter how many times I hit it, it didn't work.

But since the monitor and the main unit are separate, one of them might still be working.

I connected the broken computer's monitor to a working computer, and it worked fine.

"The monitor is not broken, but the main unit is."

Without much thought, I started disassembling the broken computer.

I just wanted to see the ratio of ferrous and non-ferrous metals inside.

After unscrewing the computer and removing the panels, I saw the complex internal structure. I didn't know what anything was, so I poked around and carefully disassembled it piece by piece.

It was complicated, but as I carefully unscrewed and disassembled, the parts started to come apart.

Four large and small circuit boards and a chunky piece of ferrous metal came out.

"How does it work? Wow, the world is constantly advancing. Technology has really improved."

As I looked at the parts, a thought suddenly came to me.

"Like how I determined if the computer was working by changing the monitor, can I figure it out by swapping parts?"

I disassembled a working computer, replaced one part, and turned it on.

"Hey, it works?"

The computer worked fine. I admired the loudly running computer and started replacing parts one by one.

Finally, when I replaced the chunky piece of ferrous metal, it didn't work.

"So, only this part is broken."

My intuition started to kick in.