NOVEL NEXT chapter 43
43. Why are you spending your own money?
When I walked into Sosawa with Director Park Jin-ho, the entire staff was already waiting for me.
“Aren’t you eating the meat first?”
I nudged Jae-ha, who immediately raised a counterargument.
“It’s beef, so it’s not easy to do that, because when it’s grilled, you have to eat it right away.”
True, beef gets tough if it’s grilled too long.
“My employees have a lot of questions. Why don’t you say something?”
“Uh-huh.”
I stood up, and thirty pairs of eyes stared at me.
There are 37 employees at the headquarters in Daesung.
There are 13 employees in the Cheonan distribution center, making a total of 50, but they couldn’t come up because of the shipping work. I’ll go down and talk to them in a few days.
“How are you, do you know me?”
“I know!”
“I know!”
“We’ve never met!”
Turns out, 17 of them are people who joined after leaving the company that I don’t recognize.
Now that’s some real turnover.
“hahahahaha, since some of you don’t know me, let me introduce myself. I’m Kang Cheol-sik, who was in the sales department of Daesung Apparel for a whopping six years until two and a half years ago, when I left as a team leader. Nice to meet you!”
Chirp!
“Yes, thank you for the welcome. I left two and a half years ago, and a lot of things happened to me personally, but I don’t want to go into details, but to make a long story short, I made a lot of money, so I decided to fulfill a little dream I had while working at Daesung. I asked Mr. Hwang So-young, the head of the design department, what was my dream?”
Hwang So-young is the head of the design office, where a group of us used to hang out and drink beer when we were at work.
You said you wanted to create your own brand someday, right?
“Me? Team leader?”
“I’m not the team leader anymore.”
“Oh, you are.”
“Fuhahahahaha!”
I burst out laughing at the naive reaction of Mr. Huang.
“hahahaha, you’re kidding, tell me, I think I’ve told you this before.”
“You said you wanted to start a branding company someday.”
“Bingo, you remembered?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Yeah, I had that dream, and somehow, now that my day job has turned into investing, I’ve taken a step back from that dream, but it occurred to me that I don’t necessarily have to start it from scratch myself. I’ve lost the time, but I’ve gained the money.”
“That’s ——.”
“So I bought Daesung, and—.”
I revealed my aspirations, not as much as the executives, but enough to motivate them in the right way.
I know they’ll be skeptical right now, but when things start moving forward, it’ll still help them to feel passionate about it.
Of course, that’s a motivator, but there’s something else.
If you’re working at a sh*tty company and the owners change and you’re treated the same way, it doesn’t matter what your dreams are.
“So what?” you might ask, “If the owners change and everything else stays the same, but come on, people, aren’t you already seeing signs of change?”
“??”
“Uh-huh! Look at these people! Hey, Seung-hee Park, head of the Internet team!”
“What? Me?”
“Team Leader Park is also a stagnant water that has been around for four years, so answer me this: have you ever eaten beef at a company dinner in four years or not?”
“Huh? Really? It was always pork belly?”
“Poohahahahaha!”
It’s a funny story, but you’re in a good mood.
“See? This is oxtail beef, oxtail, and it doesn’t change anything?”
“Puh-ha-ha!”
I waited for the laughter to subside and opened my mouth again.
With a more serious expression.
“I would never unilaterally force sacrifice and dedication on you, Design Room!”
“Yes!”
“Even if you’re short-staffed, you’ll still get off work at 11:12 p.m. to prepare for the fair, right?”
“Yes!”
“Ms. Kim!”
“Yes, Ms. Kim!”
“Raise the number of people you need. We’re hiring more.”
“Thank you, Mr. President!”
“Waaah!”
“Still, there will be times when you’ll have to work overtime if the competition is close. By the way, why are you paying me 5,500 won for dinner? What am I supposed to buy with that?”
“Yep! That’s right!”
This was really Mr. Hong being mean.
What am I supposed to do if he makes me work overtime and only gives me 5,500 won for dinner?
I feel bad about working overtime.
“Chief Jung!”
“Yes, Mr. President!”
“From now on, we will raise the price of dinner to 10,000 won for late night workers and weekend workers.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Uh-oh!”
I haven’t gotten to the point yet, what’s with all the noise.
“Quiet! Quiet! Shall we stop?”
“No!”
“Oh, you’re working overtime, you should be paid overtime!”
“Gah!”
It was the damn blanket wage system, after all.
It gives you what you deserve.
And make them work.
If that’s my management philosophy, it’s a philosophy.
“And sales and production! What company in the world doesn’t have travel expenses for the occasional out-of-town business trip?”
“That’s right!”
Until now, Daesung had no travel expenses.
He only paid for three meals a day and a motel.
Was that enough?
I had to hunt for a place that cost 5,500 won, and the motel was limited to 40,000 won.
It was miserable to go to the motel and ask how much it cost when I was really tired.
At least nowadays, you can search on an app and find the right price.
“No, I have to buy water at highway rest stops and coffee when I get sleepy on the road, so why spend my own money on that?”
“You have a point!”
“Per diem! We’re going to rewrite the rules and make them more in line with your position and title! Travel meals and lodging! We’re also going to adjust them to reflect reality!”
“Woohoo!!!”
In addition to that, they announced a few other small things.
When they had to carry excessive luggage for work, such as carrying samples from the design office in Dongdaemun, they had them take a taxi, and they also promised to replace old computers.
Replacing computers was Lee Jung-hwan’s favorite part.
Since the company didn’t easily buy computers for broken employees, he would rip out usable parts from broken company computers and build computers that still worked.
Seriously, it’s a long list, Daesung Apparel!
The nightmares I’d forgotten came flooding back.
“Okay, that’s the last one. Everyone fill up your glasses before the last one. If you don’t drink, fill up on water or Coke.”
There was a brief scramble to fill each other’s glasses.
“I promise you, if you’re passionate about the company, I’ll treat you just as well–no, better–but if you’re just trying to kill time, and you’re not listening, I’ll know you have nothing to do with me and our new grand castle, and I’m not going to take any national policy funding, so I’m going to give you what you’re worth and move on, do you understand?”
“Yes, sir—.”
At the mention of organizing, the mood sank again.
Let’s bring it back up, shall we?
“Then I’ll make a real final announcement. When I retired two and a half years ago, I was paid 30 million won for being a team leader for six years. Is this ridiculous?”
“No way!”
“Really?”
They all looked at me like that was a little harsh.
Well, they knew I was a high school graduate and that my personality wouldn’t allow me to aggressively whine for a raise, so I was unusually underpaid, even compared to other department heads.
I was a wimp.
“Salary! Worker pride! Means of livelihood! I looked into it, and it was as low as 10% and as high as 20% less than one other company in our industry! We’re going to do a rigorous review and readjust your salary again!”
“Ooohhhhh!!!”
“Gahhhhh!”
I screamed.
The drink I’d been told to fill for the toast spilled over me.
“Hey! Hey! Don’t spray!”
What began as a cauldron of cheers ended in karaoke past midnight, capped off by paying for a pre-arranged cab ride home.
I didn’t know half of the people in the room, but there were many more that I’d worked with who were really jingling.
Seeing them all having fun made me happy.
What’s there to live for?
***]
Bam!
“Sure, come on in.”
On Monday, when I came to work in the afternoon, Jae-ha knocked on the door of the president’s office.
Oh, I’m supposed to vacate the boss’s office.
“Uh, brother. Come in.”
“Did you come out?”
“Ah, when it’s just the two of us, you behave yourself, right?”
“And then you screw up when there are other people around?”
“Forget it, I’m only here for about two weeks, so don’t say anything that doesn’t work.”
“Hmph, will I?”
“Now that I’ve registered the company under your name, everything needs to be signed by you, so move your stuff and come into the president’s office.”
“And you?”
“It’s just me. We can talk on the couch here or in the conference room for a while, but remember, you’re really the CEO.”
“Okay.”
I felt that if I continued to occupy the boss’s office, my brother’s prestige would suffer.
“You can use the company car that Mr. Hong left behind.”
“What? A Genesis EQ900? Dude, isn’t that a bit much?”
“What’s too much? How big is our company going to be? Don’t embarrass the company by driving an old carnival.”
“Okay, but what about Mr. Park? Are you going to let him keep driving around in his old car?”
“Come on, you’re not even that nice to him, what are you packing?”
“Oh, it’s not that I’m packing, it’s just that, like you said, the head of sales drives around a lot and meets a lot of customers. What’s an Avant? An Avant? It’s an old car, isn’t it?”
“Well, I decided to get him a new Sonata, so that’s what he’ll get.”
“Sonata?”
“Why? What’s wrong with a Sonata?”
“Hey, if we’re going to keep going together, let’s do it right. Isn’t Sonata a bit much for a 50-year-old head of sales? Isn’t Sonata not what it used to be?”
“Is it?”
“Yeah, that’s a bit of a stretch.”
“Oh, since you’re the president, you can give me a raise, right?”
“Huh? Can I?”
“I’m not going to argue with you, so it’s up to you. You can buy it for a grand. But it’s not a Gen 80, is it?”
“I thought you said you didn’t care.”
“Still.”
If I see you working hard later.
“And make Mr. Chung a department head.”
“To deputy director?”
“Yes. You can think of this as the last time I’ll be involved in personnel, and just so you don’t get the wrong idea, he’ll be reporting to me when it comes to the funds. I don’t want you and I to have any misunderstandings in the future. He’ll be briefed regularly, but he’ll have full control over how the funds are spent, right?”
That’s the thing about money, even if you’re Jae-ha.
I’m in the U.S., and I need to be reassured that the funds will be spent transparently, and if I tell him to do this or that, it will only lead to misunderstandings.
It’s better to just make it clear up front.
“I see what you mean.”
“Make it easy, make it easy. And keep hiring the right people. We’re so understaffed, and with all the emphasis on multiplayer, we end up with people like me who don’t know what they’re doing and can’t do it.”
“Well, you’re good at self-evaluation, aren’t you?”
“Hmph! Yeah?”
Boom!
“Ah! Mr. Park, please come in.”
“Yes, you called me?”
“Hey, from now on, don’t greet me in such a stern manner, just address the CEO here.”
“What? Oh, yeah. Okay.”
“Also, about your decision to switch to a Sonata for your car—.”
“Oh, that’s okay, the car is still going strong, hahahahaha!”
Anyway, you gotta pay your dues, right?
But you’ve got it wrong this time, man!
“No, that’s not what I meant, this guy here is still the head of sales, but he asked me what a sonata is?”
“What?”
“So, he said he’s going to hire you as a granger, so that’s what it is.”
“Oh!”
Mr. Park’s face lit up with emotion.
And,
“Mr. Lee, I will do my best!”
“——.”
“——.”
As expected, he’s a great guy.