Chapter 42
- Didn't you miss me?
2023.06.11.
20 years ago.
"Tae-joon, all done."
He had deliberately broken his phone because he wanted a new one, but what ten-year-old Tae-joon received was a phone his dad had fixed himself.
"How is it? Nothing wrong, right?"
"I wanted a new phone. My birthday's next week, you could get me a red one."
"You rascal. What's a ten-year-old going to do with another new phone?"
His dad tried to soothe Tae-joon, who was sulking.
"My dream is to make good machines that can be used for five or ten years if you fix them."
"If everyone just fixes them and uses them, won't new phones stop selling? Then we'll get poor."
Tae-joon already had the mind of a businessman. Blood couldn't be fooled.
His dad calmly explained to Tae-joon.
"That's why we have to keep attracting new customers. People keep being born, so we just have to keep trying to bring in young customers. And that effort means making good products."
Attracting, bringing in. They were difficult words for a ten-year-old boy, but Tae-joon somehow felt like he could understand his dad's words.
"And you know what? If we keep making phones with good performance, people will keep buying them. So what we need to focus on is always quality. We have to make good products. We have to be able to satisfy people who want to change their phones often, and people who want to keep using their old phones without changing them."
His dad's voice, talking about his hopeful ambitions, was impressive.
"If we keep producing good products and become a global company, maybe we'll even have to run marriage and childbirth encouragement ads."
The story of the distant future seemed a little far-fetched, but it seemed like his dad could create that future.
"You can keep using your phone. I'll get you something else nice for your birthday."
"Okay. You have to get me something better!"
Ten-year-old Tae-joon, persuaded by his dad, nodded his head vigorously.
Laguna, Philippines.
As soon as it was light, Tae-joon went to meet the bereaved family of the deceased employee. The bereaved family, who still couldn't accept the fact that they had lost their family member, burst into tears several times while talking. Tae-joon calmly comforted the bereaved family and listened to the details of the incident.
"For about three months, my husband and his colleagues had trouble with their boss. They had been raising issues about defects in the parts for a long time, but it seems like it wasn't accepted. My husband and his colleagues kept protesting, and eventually they were all transferred to another factory at once. They had to learn completely new things, and they kept having a hard time learning the new things. He was driving after being incredibly fatigued, and that's when the accident happened."
According to the bereaved family, it was a situation that could be seen as industrial fatigue and an industrial accident. However, it was difficult because there was no record of the deceased employee being diagnosed before his death, and his commute was treated as a normal commute.
Turning his head, he saw a child who had lost his father overnight sobbing. He was a boy who looked to be about ten years old. Tae-joon felt like he was seeing himself when he had lost his parents.
Visiting the Philippines reminded him of his father when he was alive. His father, who wanted to create the world's best company, his father, who had many dreams...
K Group has achieved a lot now, but it seems like it has definitely moved away from his father's dream. Maybe his father's dream was an impossible task from the start. If products have to keep selling for a company to keep growing, then if you produce machines that can be used for five or ten years, sales will inevitably fall.
But even in the midst of that, there are people who carefully repair their beloved devices so that they can be used for five or ten years. Tae-joon's thoughts, tracing back to his memories with his father, reached the present.
"I think the desire to keep using things without throwing any of them away is precious."
He thought of the woman who carefully repaired the customer's old flip phone.
I wonder if I'll ever be able to tell her. That seeing you reminds me of my father. Not the father in my painful memories who died because of your father, but my father when he was alive, when he was dreaming great dreams.
As much as he missed his father, he somehow missed Han So-eun.
Come to think of it, didn't Han So-eun say that her father was in the Philippines?
Tae-joon contacted his counselor after a long time on his way back from visiting the bereaved family.
[Yes. Customer.]
"Could you introduce me to an investigator in the Philippines? I'd like someone competent."
Madam Kim Mal-hee, who arrived at the meeting place before everyone else, greeted Hyun-ji's parents with her husband, Yang Gyu-chil. Hyun-ji's parents were people with as expressive faces and bright energy as Hyun-ji, so the atmosphere at the meal was good throughout. Everything was perfect except for the fact that Mal-hee's mouth was cramping from having to put on a fake expression the whole time.
After the meal was almost over, Hyun-ji's father looked at Hyun-ji and Hee-wook, who were sitting across from each other, with affectionate eyes and smiled contentedly.
"It's like a match made in heaven."
"Your daughter is a lucky charm. With a fairy like Hyun-ji by his side, our Hee-wook naturally becomes a handsome man."
Hyun-ji's father laughed heartily at Gyu-chil's good-natured answer, and immediately started talking about the issue of preparing a house.
"Well, I'd like to talk about the issue of the kids' house."
Mal-hee swallowed the saliva that had gathered in her mouth. Her heart was pounding.
"As you know, our Hyun-ji is our only daughter, whom we had late in life. To put it bluntly, I don't want my daughter to suffer. So, I'd like to ask you first, how much are you thinking of for the kids' house?"
The limit that Mal-hee and Gyu-chil had thought of after discussing it all night was 500 million won. The maximum amount they could raise by emptying their savings, canceling all their insurance, taking out a loan using their current house as collateral, and having Hee-wook settle his retirement pay early.
But the moment Hyun-ji's father brought it up, Mal-hee suddenly thought that she should be a little more greedy. If they sold their current house and moved into a monthly rental, and asked her daughter Heejin to give them a hand, wouldn't it be possible?
Before Gyu-chil could open his mouth first, Mal-hee stepped forward.
"If you include what our Hee-wook has saved up, I think we can prepare 2 billion won. We're going to let them live comfortably in a decent location in Seoul, even if it's not a top-class apartment."
Hee-wook's eyes widened.
Where does Mom have that kind of money? And what about me?
Unless Mom won the lottery, there's no way we can afford that kind of money?
Mal-hee's husband, Gyu-chil, also had a similarly bewildered expression.
Hee-wook's question was soon understood by the answer that Hyun-ji's father gave.
"Then let's do this. I'll add 2 billion won to the 2 billion won that my in-laws are preparing. It would be good to look for a good house in the 4 billion won range. Then both of them will be able to start their newlywed life in a decent house in Seoul."
Hee-wook's eyes lit up at his father-in-law's cool investment. It was a very exciting thing, but he was still worried about his mom's remarks.
Starting in a good house, that's a good thing, but.
Can Mom really afford that money? We should be broke from Mom's hospital bills?
After a long weekend, it was Monday.
So-eun, who had come to work, was able to confirm that Tae-joon had returned in the afternoon. Tae-joon had contacted So-eun's desk in the middle of work.
"This is Han So-eun from the Mobile Service Team."
[It's me, Kim Tae-joon.]
So-eun was startled by the relaxed and calm voice, and hunched her shoulders. Bobae, who was sitting next to her, glanced at So-eun's reaction.
"Yes. Director."
[Didn't you miss me?]
So-eun couldn't answer right away.
I missed you. But how can I talk about that now? You called me on the internal line, so I can't run away anywhere. And it seems like my colleague next to me knows it's the director's call.
She was wondering how she could say something personal without being caught, when she heard a chuckle from the other end.
[The TF Team starts today. Come up with the team members after work.]
"Yes. I understand."
He was a man who was quick to switch from a mischievous joke to work mode.
After the call ended, Bobae spoke to her while she was in a daze for a moment.
"Was that the director? Director Kim Tae-joon?"
"Huh? Uh... He told me to come up after work. He said the TF Team starts today."
"Wow. So it's really starting today!"
Bobae shrugged her shoulders with an excited voice.
I felt a little guilty for no reason. So-eun was relieved that Bobae hadn't noticed anything.
After regular work hours were over, So-eun took Team Leader Jang Eun-pyo and employee Park Bo-bae up to the 7th floor. Tae-joon, who had arrived earlier, was sitting at his desk in the office.
"Director, hello!"
Bobae, who was bright and cheerful, greeted him first. So-eun and Eun-pyo also greeted him awkwardly.
"Did you have a good weekend?"
Tae-joon, who was looking through some documents, raised his eyes and greeted the three of them. It was a greeting for everyone, but So-eun somehow felt like his gaze was fixed on her. He must be tired from his weekend business trip and going straight to work, but his eyes were bright without any signs of being burdened. Seeing him look at her with those eyes only made So-eun's heart sting even more.
"Please sit down. Let's start right away."
Soon, Tae-joon recommended a seat and placed related materials in front of them.
As soon as the three of them sat down, the briefing began.
"The week before last, I asked Team Leader Han So-eun to do something. I asked her to properly check the company's parts replacement list."
So-eun nodded at Tae-joon's explanation.
"Thanks to Team Leader Han So-eun's meticulous work, we were able to check the past records in detail. And now we can proceed to the next stage."
So-eun, who had opened the documents, widened her eyes. It was more dense material than she had expected. He had a lot of work to do with his regular schedule and business trips, so when did he make this? Surprised, So-eun sat up straight and listened to Tae-joon's explanation while properly reading the materials.
"The most noticeable thing in the organized data was the record of Mainboard replacements for the EH300 series, EW500 series, and AF100 series of mobile phones. There were quite a few cases of incorrect entries, and when I looked into it, I found that these products shared certain chips on the Mainboard. When I looked into it, I found out that these chipsets are subcontracted by K Electronics' Philippine subsidiary. The parts from the Philippine subcontractor are processed at the K Electronics Philippine factory and supplied to Korea."
Tae-joon's explanation continued in a clear voice. So-eun stopped looking at the documents and raised her head. Tae-joon's appearance as he continued his explanation was a different kind of shock. The bad prejudice that he was a beloved grandson of a chaebol family who couldn't do his job was shattered in an instant. He was someone who knew how to do his job properly.
Is that the man who called me a little while ago and mischievously asked me if I missed him? Is that the man who tormented me as if he couldn't wait to devour me?
His neat appearance as he concentrated on his work looked new and wonderful, and So-eun's cheeks flushed.
