Chapter 5

5

Job Hunting (1)

“Is there really such a thing as fate?”

I tried to recall the name of the philosophy shop my aunt mentioned, but it didn’t come to mind. The car entered Yangju City and arrived at a place called Deokjeong-dong. I bought a bottle of water at a convenience store.

“Damn, it’s so far. There’s still a long way to go. Should I just give up and turn back?”

After driving over a big hill and for a while, I took a winding local road.

“It’s good to have a navigation system. Only 1.5 kilometers left.”

“The destination is nearby. Ending navigation.”

The final voice from the navigation system echoed. The factory I arrived at was nestled between rice fields. It was a modestly sized factory in a dilapidated building.

An auntie came out and introduced herself as the section chief.

“Was it hard to find this place?”

The auntie smiled warmly. She seemed to like that I was young.

“Young people seem to work efficiently. The vice president will be here soon. He will conduct the interview.”

A person who had been driving a forklift on the factory floor came into the office. He had a somewhat arrogant look for a forklift driver.

“Vice President, this person came for the interview.”

It turned out the forklift driver was the vice president. Here, the vice president also drove the forklift. The vice president sat at the table and gestured for me to sit down.

“Let’s look at your documents.”

The vice president carefully examined my resume.

“You have experience with injection molding. Here, the parts are a bit larger. You’ll also need to operate a granulator.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Do you have a Class 2 or Class 1 driver’s license?”

“I have a Class 1 ordinary license.”

“Sometimes you’ll need to drive a 1-ton truck here. Can you handle a manual transmission?”

“Manual transmission… I’ve driven one in the military… I think I can manage it with a day or two of practice.”

“There’s no dormitory here. There is one, but it’s used by foreigners and the facilities are poor, making it hard to live there. Since you have experience with injection molding, let’s see how we can work together. You can decide after seeing the factory floor.”

The vice president stuck his head out the window and called out.

“Kim Team Leader! Kim Team Leader!”

A man in his 40s wearing a red work uniform ran out from a container on the opposite side.

“We might be working together, so please give him a tour of the factory.”

Kim Team Leader took me inside the factory. The noise inside was loud, and a strong smell of chemical reagents filled the air.

“Is it always this noisy?”

“No, it’s because the reground granulator is running in that corner.”

“There are a lot of foreigners.”

“Yes, there are 15 of them.”

The foreign workers glanced at the team leader and me. Most of the foreigners were young, and the few Korean workers seemed to be over 50.

“Is it a 5-day work week here?”

“Basically, but we often work on Saturdays every other week.”

“How much do you pay?”

“Didn’t you hear that in the office? It varies based on experience, so I’m not sure.”

Kim Team Leader said this with an unhappy expression. I could tell he wasn’t a polite person. I changed the subject.

“I heard the machines here are large, but most of them seem small.”

“The larger ones are in Building B. The person who operated these machines has left, so if you join, you’ll probably handle these.”

“Please teach me a lot.”

“You seem to have experience… Where did you work before?”

“I worked in Hwaseong and Pocheon.”

“You change jobs often.”

The team leader’s slight mocking tone made me feel bad. I had an impulse to punch him, but I bowed to make a good impression if I ended up working here.

“I’ve seen everything. Thank you.”

The factory wasn’t large, and there seemed to be only about 30 employees, but I decided to give it a try. The surrounding rice fields were better than the complex city, and plastic factories are pretty much the same wherever you go.

Even if the team leader was tough, I thought a drink and a call of "brother" would be enough to get along. As I left the factory, I asked the team leader,

“There’s no dormitory, so where should I look for a room?”

“There’s a town hall in Gwangjeok-myeon, and if you want a more bustling area, you should go to Deokjeong-dong or Deokgye-dong.”

After finishing the factory tour, I returned to the vice president. This time, he smiled brightly and said,

“Did you see everything? The company is small, but the atmosphere is good, and the turnover rate is low. … The salary is around 1.8 million won. Lunch is prepared by an auntie in that temporary building.”

Hearing the 1.8 million, I quickly calculated in my head.

“The rent will be about 300,000 won, and the car fuel will cost 200,000 won. If I eat breakfast and dinner at home… ”

I could survive, but I wouldn’t be able to save much.

“If you work for over a year and become a team leader, you’ll get a raise. Some foreigners here work night shifts and earn up to 3 million won.”

“3 million!”

Since I had given up on being a civil servant and was already living a blue-collar life, I wanted to try working night shifts to earn 3 million won. However, this meant I would have to give up meeting friends in the evening and attending weddings and funerals, losing the so-called "evening life."

“If you work for over a year and become a team leader, we’ll also provide some fuel support.”

“When can I start working?”

“Let me see. Today is Thursday….”

The vice president looked at the calendar on the wall.

“Let’s start on Monday. If you don’t live around here, you’ll need to find a place to stay. Oh, by the way, I saw an ad for a rent-free one-room apartment near the Gwangjeok-myeon town hall this morning. You should check it out.”

“Thank you.”

“Bring a copy of your resident registration and a bank statement when you come on Monday.”

“Understood.”

I bowed politely to the vice president and left the factory. I had been hired. I decided to take a look around Gwangjeok-myeon while I was at it.

“Yangju City, Gwangjeok-myeon… I’ve never even heard of this place.”

Suddenly, my smartphone rang. It was a call from a capital finance company regarding the loan I had taken out.

“The interest on your loan is overdue. When can you make the payment?”

I felt a chill.

“Oh, I’ll make the payment right away.”

“If you don’t pay by the 5th, it will affect your credit.”

The voice of the capital finance company employee sounded like that of a grim reaper.

“Sigh—”

I deeply regretted buying those stocks.