Chapter 9

The Hyenas of Capitalism - Chapter 9 (9/215)

It was a big catch. It must have been a pretty high-end restaurant. A set of silverware was piled up.

Every piece I checked was silver. I rolled up my sleeves and started sorting them out. As the soot covered my body and my face grew darker, I couldn't help but smile.

"Bro, is this really silver?"

"Should be, right? I hope it is."

Maru and I were excitedly sorting them. It wasn't just cutlery; silver platters also appeared. I wasn't entirely sure if they were silver, but the feeling was good.

After about an hour of sorting and cleaning with a wet rag, the weight came to a whopping 20kg.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha. This is huge! Should we head to Myeongdong and sell it right away?"

"But how much does silver cost?"

"I don't know either? A silver necklace costs a few tens of thousands of won, right? With this amount, it should be worth a few million won, right? Right? Right?"

"Probably? Bro, congratulations. This is a big catch. When we get the money, let's buy a car first. Just because I'm a boss doesn't mean I have to always drive a 1-ton truck, right? Let's get a sleek sedan."

"Should we? Let's think about the car slowly. First, let's buy some gifts and go home. I miss my brother since it's been so long."

"It's still daytime, so let's go to Myeongdong, sell it quickly, and then come back home."

"Yeah, that's what I should do."

The wholesale jewelry center in Myeongdong was bustling even on a weekday afternoon. The transparent glass display cases of the closely packed shops were filled with yellow gold rings and necklaces.

Feeling the weight of the silverware in my backpack, I started looking for a silver specialist store.

There weren't as many silver specialist stores as I thought, so I had to go further in to find one. I stood in front of the store, pushing through the crowd with my shoulders.

"Welcome. Is there something you're looking for?"

In response to the employee's question, I looked around and said,

"Is the owner here? I have something to sell. It's quite a lot."

"Yes, I'm the owner. Let's go inside and check it out."

Following the store owner, I went behind the display case, put down my backpack, and unzipped it.

My heart was pounding. What if someone sees? What if someone follows me after I get the money and causes trouble?

"Silverware set, quite a lot, huh?"

"Yeah. By the way, this is definitely not stolen. I bought it through a legitimate auction, so there's no problem. If you want, I can show you the auction documents."

As I was about to take out the auction documents, the store owner said,

"No, that's not necessary. I'll just check it out."

He took out 3-4 pieces of each type of cutlery, knives, and plates and examined them with a microscope.

It was the first time I saw someone appraise precious metals, so I watched curiously. He scratched the plates and spoons a little with a knife, nodded, and then took out something that looked like an eye drop bottle from under the shelf and dropped a drop on the plate.

It foamed and corroded, making a hissing sound. After a moment, the owner confirmed and asked me,

"It's silver, 925 silver. It contains 92.5% silver. Are you selling all of it?"

I suppressed my excitement and said,

"Yes, I'll sell all of it. Please give me a good price."

The owner took out a scale, placed a basket on it, and poured the contents of my backpack.

The clattering sound made me flinch. Can he handle it like that? What if someone sees and thinks something's wrong? While I was imagining all sorts of scenarios, the store owner showed me the scale's reading.

"20.354kg. Do you see?"

It was a precision scale, showing the weight to the gram. Thinking about how different professional stores are, the owner said,

"At today's market price... Yes, I'll buy it all for 3,500,000 won."

For a moment, I thought I heard wrong.

"How much?"

"3.5 million won. You can go to other stores, but I give the best price. Will you sell it?"

I felt disappointed. In fact, 3.5 million won isn't a small amount. I bought it for 1 million won, and with the cutlery alone, I made a profit of 3.5 million won, so it was a good deal. But the disappointment of the dream of making tens of millions of won was hard to shake.

"Silver is so cheap."

I visited several other stores, but the first store gave the most reasonable price. The owner of the first store, who seemed to have seen many people like me, explained that silver necklaces and rings don't cost much in terms of raw materials.

The cost is mainly in the craftsmanship and the image of silver as a precious metal. Silver trades at 180 won per gram, and a necklace might weigh a few dozen grams, so the material cost is just a few thousand won.

Feeling embarrassed, I prepared the auction documents, worried about being suspected of selling stolen goods.

"Good experience."

Still, it was an interesting experience. I participated in an auction for the first time, felt the weight of silver, and no one in the Park family has ever carried 20kg of precious metals like I did.

"Let's get rid of it and prepare to go home. What should I buy?"

First, I bought two sets of cosmetics for my mother and sister and a suit for my father. I also bought a+ grade beef and a lot of pork belly at the mart near my house for later.

It was almost 6 PM, so I would arrive before my father got off work. As I was driving, I saw my younger sister and her friends walking home.

I almost called out her name, but then I remembered I was in a truck.

'She's in middle school now, a very sensitive age. I should go home quietly.'

I felt a bit embarrassed, but I thought about how my family would react if they knew I worked at a scrap yard. They would surely be embarrassed and tell me to get a different job. It's not a common profession.

"Whatever. When I grow up and make a lot of money, things will be different. For now, it's a secret."

I parked the car in front of the house and waited for my sister. After a few minutes, she walked out of an alley a block away. Her friends had gone their separate ways, and she was walking alone.

"Hey! Park Hwa-young!"

Hwa-young looked at me and smiled brightly.

"Hey, second brother. It's been a while!"

She walked over quickly and said,

"What's up? You didn't contact us for so long? Mom will be so happy!"

"I was in the area on business and decided to drop by. Here, carry some of this."

I took things out of the truck's passenger seat and handed them to Hwa-young.

"Whoa? What's all this? Beef! Wow! Beef! Brother, are you doing well? What's with this truck?"

"Yeah, it's the company truck."

"Company? Did you get a job? That's great!"

"Something like that. I'll explain later. Let's go inside."

I carried the bags with Hwa-young and went to our apartment on the second floor. She opened the door, and my mother, who was preparing dinner, said without looking up,

"Hwa-young, you're here? Good job. Come in."

"Mom, look who's here."

My mother turned around, surprised.

"Oh my! Sol! It's been so long! Welcome home, my son."

My mother took off her rubber gloves and hugged me.

"It's been a while. About six months?"

"It feels longer than six months! You should call more often and visit more. I almost forgot what you look like!"

"I'm sorry. I've been so busy. But I brought something..."

At that moment, the door opened, and my father came in.

"Back. Oh? Sol? Do you remember where home is? Why is it so hard to see you?"

"I'm sorry, Dad."

My father, happy to see me, was about to say more when my mother said,

"Don't stand in the hallway. Come to the living room. I'll bring some fruit."

My mother brought out the fruit, and I gave gifts to my family.

"This is a suit for Dad. This is for Mom. This is for you, Hwa-young. Cosmetics."

"Wow. How did you know my suit was torn? Thank you. I'll wear it well."

"Oh, cosmetics. Thank you, son."

"Wow! I got cosmetics too!"

Seeing my family happy made me feel good.

"And here, Mom, this is beef and pork belly. I bought a lot, so we can eat it for a while. Let's grill the beef today."

"Oh my, our second son really went all out. That's great. Did you hear about it today?"

Surprised by my mother's question, I thought about what special day it could be, but nothing came to mind.

"What news? What's today?"

"Your older brother said he's bringing his girlfriend, so we planned to have dinner today."

I felt a mix of emotions. Of all days, my brother brings his girlfriend.

"Is he getting married?"

"Probably. Your father and I were curious."

She glanced at me.

"Are you still awkward with your brother?"

"It's been a long time since I saw him. It's normal for brothers."

I answered, but my relationship with my brother wasn't that simple. We didn't just ignore each other; I despised him.

We had nothing in common, from personality to behavior. He was vain, extravagant, and spent money recklessly, which ultimately came from our parents.

He graduated from college, where he was a lazy student, and got a job at a mid-sized company, but he lived paycheck to paycheck and asked our parents for money every month.

I recycle waste, but he's not even recyclable; he's just trash.

"Anyway, what time is he coming?"

"He's coming at 7. We have about an hour."

'If he comes at 7, it means dinner. Should I wait... or just leave? I don't want to see him. But it's been a while since I came home, and my family is so happy. What could go wrong?'

In the end, I started chatting with my family while waiting.

"Are you still doing manual labor?"

My father asked, and my mother, curious, perked up her ears in the kitchen.

"No, I stopped about six months ago. I'm running a small business now."

"You're running a business? Where's the money coming from? You're not doing anything illegal, right?"

"What illegal things could I do? I started a small business with the money I saved, and it's enough to live on."

"Okay. What kind of business?"

"You wouldn't understand even if I told you."

I just made up an excuse. We continued chatting and playing, and before I knew it, it was 7 PM.

"He should be here by now, but he's not."

He's probably late. He's never done anything right. If he set a time to introduce his girlfriend, he should have kept it or at least called.

He's really disappointing. Of course, I haven't contacted them in six months, so I'm not blameless.

It was almost 8 PM, and we were all hungry when the doorbell rang. My mother opened the door, and my brother came in with a woman.

"Mom, Dad, I'm here. This is my girlfriend, Han Go-eun."

"Hello, I'm Han Go-eun."

She was a cute girl. My parents greeted her warmly, and my brother, noticing me, said,

"Oh! Hey, Park Sol. It's been a while. It feels like almost a year."

"Something like that."

He pointed at me and said to his girlfriend,

"This is Park Sol, my second brother. I told you about him, right?"

"Ah, the one you mentioned... Nice to meet you, I'm Han Go-eun."

I could guess what he said, but I decided to let it go. After the introductions, we sat down for dinner. As the food was laid out and the beef was placed on the grill, my brother said,

"Wow, you even bought beef for us?"

"Sol bought it on his way home. Let's enjoy it."

My mother put the beef on the grill and said, and my brother looked at me and said,

"How can you afford all this? Are you overextending yourself? Are you making enough money from manual labor these days?"

A vein popped on my forehead.