Chapter 4

4

Fishing Spot Connection (3)

Kugunho finally woke up at 10 in the morning. It seemed he had become quite lazy without having to go to the factory.

“Should I eat breakfast? Or not?”

Since it was a goshtel, there was a rice cooker in the laundry room. The rice cooker always had rice in it, provided by the goshtel owner for the convenience of the residents. There was also a microwave for heating food.

“If there was a gas stove in the laundry room, I could at least boil some ramen….”

Kugunho smacked his lips and opened the refrigerator in his room. Each room in the goshtel had a small refrigerator, smaller than a desk.

“Is there anything to eat?”

Kugunho took out a bottle of water from the refrigerator and drank it greedily. He rummaged through the refrigerator again. There were only soju, fruits, and some leftover danmuji and chocolate pie.

“I should eat something….”

Kugunho took an empty rice bowl and went out of his room to get rice from the rice cooker in the laundry room.

“Ugh, why isn’t that guy out today?”

The man from room 506 was doing something in the laundry room.

“Damn, it’s embarrassing to go with an empty rice bowl. I met someone with an empty rice bowl yesterday too.”

Kugunho closed the door again.

“I’ll go out and have some hangover soup!”

Kugunho brushed his teeth, washed his face, and went outside. He got into his car parked in front of a women's clothing store near the goshtel.

“The store owner hasn’t come out yet. If they were here, they’d probably complain about me parking in front of their store….”

Kugunho often parked on the street because the goshtel’s underground parking lot was too small and always full. It was fine as long as he moved his car before the stores opened, but if not, he would have to argue with the store owners. As soon as he sat in the driver’s seat, he took out a memo from his pocket. The memo had the phone number of a company he saw on Worknet yesterday.

“It’s called Dongil Tech, right? I’ll go there after eating.”

Kugunho dialed the number on his smartphone.

“Worknet job postings don’t usually get a response if you apply online. You have to call directly to get a quick response.”

“Hello, this is Dongil Tech.”

An older woman’s voice came through.

“I’m calling about the production worker job posting I saw.”

“Do you have experience with injection molding?”

“About two years.”

“May I ask how old you are?”

“I’m 31.”

“Do you know where we are located?”

“If you give me the address, I can put it in my GPS and find it.”

The woman gave him the address.

“Please bring your resident registration and a resume with a photo when you come. You can bring the resident registration after you’re hired.”

“Can I come today?”

“Please come by 3 PM.”

“Understood. I’ll see you then.”

Kugunho hung up, feeling better. Small factories in rural areas with fewer than 30 employees usually hired after just an interview. Many of them hired foreigners due to a lack of workers, so someone with Kugunho’s age and experience was welcome. However, factory managers generally disliked hiring people older than themselves, and it was almost impossible to get hired if you were over 50.

“This time, whether the factory is good or bad, I’ll keep working there as long as the salary is good and I can save money.”

Feeling better, Kugunho called his junior, Park Jongseok.

“What are you doing?”

“Hey, hyung. Call me later. I’m fighting with my dad right now.”

He could hear shouting from the smartphone.

“Okay.”

Kugunho quickly hung up.

“It seems Jongseok isn’t treated well at home either. He’s not preparing for the 9th-grade civil servant exam and is just working at a factory, so that’s probably why.”

Kugunho imagined Jongseok’s dad getting angry and waving his arms.

“Jongseok is a problem too. Even though his dad is willing to support him, he’s given up on studying.”

As he thought about this, he imagined Jongseok saying, “So, hyung, if someone gave you money, would you be confident enough to pass the exam?” Looking in the rearview mirror, he saw his own empty eyes.

“What a loser!”

His face really looked bad.

“Even after studying hard for three years, I failed the 9th-grade civil servant exam, and after working in factories for years, I couldn’t save any money. What’s wrong with me?”

This time, he looked at his hand on the steering wheel.

“This hand… it’s not a golden touch but a minus touch….”

He wanted to chop his hand off with an ax.

“Ah, let’s go get some bone soup!”

Kugunho drove to a bone soup restaurant.

It was a little past 2 PM. Kugunho wasn’t hungry because he had eaten breakfast and lunch. To make a good impression for the interview, he went back to the goshtel to brush his teeth and came out again. He changed from slippers to sneakers.

“Where is this place? I’ve never heard of it… The factory is in Yangju, Gyeongshin-ri…”

Kugunho drove northwest.

“If I go left, it’s toward Seoul, but it seems I’m not meant to live in Seoul. Sigh.”

Kugunho felt pathetic. Although he graduated from a school in Bucheon, many of his high school classmates had found jobs in big cities like Incheon or Suwon. He felt pathetic for always heading north.

“I have a bad fate!”

While lamenting his fate, he suddenly remembered his aunt. His aunt had once come for the New Year and talked about his fortune.

“There’s someone in Gangnam, Seoul, who’s very good at reading fortunes. He said our Jaeung is entering a 20-year lucky period.”

His aunt was boasting about her son while talking about fortunes. Jaeung was his aunt’s son, two years younger than Kugunho.

“Ah, just as the fortune-teller said, Jaeung passed the 9th-grade civil servant exam at the Ministry of Employment and Labor this time.”

His aunt boasted in front of his parents, spitting as she spoke. His father listened to her and laughed helplessly.

“Ha ha, a labor inspector is a sure thing.”

“What is Kugunho doing now? I heard he gave up on the 9th-grade civil servant exam and got a job.”

His aunt smiled, but it seemed like a mocking smile.

“I’m just… working at a small company.”

“A small company is fine as long as the salary is good. Where is the company?”

“It was in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do, but now it’s in Pocheon.”

“What kind of company is it?”

“It’s a car parts manufacturing company.”

“Parts? That’s a good company. These days, young people can’t find jobs, so you’re doing well.”

His aunt was proud, and his parents looked down at the floor, feeling inferior. Kugunho remembered getting up quietly from his seat, afraid his aunt might start talking to him again.