< An Unexpected First Job (2) >
“So you’re a monk?”
The man who claimed to be the president of this small company looked like he was over fifty, and even to the untrained eye, his thick belly, greasy face, and expensive clothes would make him look like someone who lived without any financial worries.
“I’m not a monk, I’m just someone who practiced for a long time in a temple.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
“I can’t call myself a Buddhist because I lack the Buddhist mind, so you can think of it as studying for a long time in a temple.”
“What did you study?”
“I studied philosophy.”
Song Byung-chang, the president of Myeongil Finance, was very flustered.
He had casually mentioned to a nun he knew that he was having a hard time finding employees these days.
But then he got an unexpected call from an unknown number, saying that he was introduced by that nun and came all the way from the countryside to Seoul, so he agreed to meet him.
He expected that anyone who had trouble finding a job on their own and came here with an introduction would have some shortcomings compared to other people.
But there was a limit to that, he never imagined that someone who had spent their whole life studying philosophy or something in a temple would come.
“Ahem… I’m a bit surprised.”
“I studied everything from middle school and high school without missing anything.”
Song Byung-chang felt his head go numb as he saw him say something that was not worth bragging about as if it was something to be proud of.
He thought he had met and experienced all kinds of people and situations in his life, but this was the first time he encountered such a challenge.
“That’s good to hear. Do you know what kind of company we are?”
“I don’t know much, but I guess it’s a loan business that lends money to customers at high interest rates. But I have one thing to ask…”
“What is it?”
“If it’s an illegal business that charges excessive interest beyond the legal limit, I think it will be hard for me to work here. I’m sorry.”
Song Byung-chang looked at the slightly older young man with a displeased face for a moment.
“You don’t have to be sorry. We’re not an illegal loan business.”
“That’s a relief.”
The young man’s bright smile began to look annoying.
“You’re not hired yet.”
“I guess so. It’s only natural for the company to evaluate the employees they want to hire. I understand.”
“You have a knack for being refreshing and frustrating at the same time.”
“I’m sorry if you felt that way. I haven’t had much social experience, so that’s why.”
“No, it’s fine. Anyway, as I said, our company is a loan business, but not the typical kind of loan business.”
“Then what is it?”
Song Byung-chang answered with a satisfied face as he finally got the reaction he expected.
“Usually when people think of loan businesses, they think of loan sharks who lend money to ordinary people at high interest rates, but we don’t lend money to ordinary people.”
“Then what do you do?”
“We buy bad debts from people who borrowed money from second or third tier financial institutions like savings banks and couldn’t pay them back on time at a very cheap price and collect them. That’s our job.”
“Oh, I’ve heard of that. I think I’ve seen it in the news a few times.”
“To explain it more simply, for example, we buy a ten million won bad debt for one million won and we collect the principal or the principal plus interest from them. In most cases, we give up on the interest and just collect the principal. If we try to collect the interest too, we won’t get anything done. So we meet with the debtor and try to reach an agreement that suits both parties, and if that doesn’t work, we just go for compulsory execution. We also do background checks on people who have money but deliberately change their names and pretend they don’t have any.”
Yeong-hoon didn’t understand everything, but he had a rough idea of what he meant and nodded his head.
“I see.”
“Actually, what we really need is not an office worker who organizes and manages debts, but a collection worker who can collect the principal from bad debts. These days, even if we offer 1.5 million won for an office worker, there are too many applicants.”
“Really?”
“Of course. They all have college degrees and word certificates, and some even have TOEIC score cut-offs. They’re all desperate and frustrated, but no one wants to do collection work. It’s strange, isn’t it?”
“Why is it strange?”
“Collection workers get a certain percentage of the principal they collect as a bonus. When others get 1.5 million won, good collection workers get 10 million won or more per month. That’s easy to say.”
“Wow…”
Yeong-hoon was genuinely surprised.
He had heard that only the top 1% could earn more than 10 million won per month.
“That’s nothing to be surprised about. It’s the same for any sales job, but sales should have a revenue structure that allows people to earn more than regular employees if they do well, so that people can be motivated and work hard.”
“I guess so.”
Song Byung-chang thought that the young man who had lived in a temple was starting to get nervous.
A collection worker had to be more suspicious than anyone else, but the person in front of him looked like he wouldn’t even know who cut his nose off even if he opened his eyes and saw it, with his innocent expression.
But this was a misunderstanding because Song Byung-chang didn’t know Yeong-hoon at all.
Yeong-hoon had examined Song Byung-chang’s face as soon as he entered.
Song Byung-chang had a neat forehead and a high nose, and he had a lot of luck in his lower jaw, which meant he had wealth and power. He also had a big belly and a straightforward personality, which made him a leader who had many followers.
He wouldn’t cheat for a few thousand won, even if he did cheat.
He didn’t think he was lying to a country bumpkin who came to Seoul for the first time.
But Yeong-hoon knew that he wouldn’t be able to work here for long when he heard that he could earn more than 10 million won per month.
It was a place where he couldn’t stay long if it didn’t suit his aptitude, and he was afraid that he might get greedy for money if it did suit his aptitude.
But he was curious about this job, so he decided to try it out as a new experience.
“Honestly, the job is not easy. If it was easy, everyone would do it. It’s normal to be turned away at the door, and sometimes you get cursed at or threatened with a knife. If you’re doing well and suddenly your face gets swollen and you say ‘I don’t think I can do this’, it’s better not to do it at all.”
It was a way of saying that he should give up if he didn’t have the guts.
Song Byung-chang expected that this innocent young man would be scared, but the young man smiled as if it was nothing and said.
“It’s okay. Oh, I don’t think I told you my name. I’m Choi Yeong-hoon.”
At this point, it was almost certain that he was hired.
Song Byung-chang cleared his throat and said.
“I’ll have to watch you for about three months. It’s not easy to adapt to this job. But I’ll pay you for those three months. And after three months, you’ll have to get paid by commission instead of salary. If you don’t like it, you can refuse now.”
Yeong-hoon wanted to say that he didn’t need money, but he thought that would look too weird, so he stopped.
“I think that’s fair. Then I’ll ask for your favor. Please speak comfortably.”
“Ahem… Okay. Let’s do our best.”
After greeting him and leaving the company, Yeong-hoon returned to his boarding house.
He intended to study what debt collection was through the internet.
Here is my translation of the Korean text:
But when he arrived at the boarding house and sat down in front of the computer, he felt hungry.
He thought of boiling some ramen at the small restaurant in the center of the boarding house and studying, but when he got there, he saw a young woman he had never seen before moving a large kimchi container.
He paused for a moment at the sight of her back and waist exposed by her short shorts and tee, but then the owner of the boarding house came in and spoke to him.
“Did you come back, young man? Did you say you were looking for a job today? Did it go well?”
He had told her that he was going to a job interview when she asked him where he was going in the morning.
As soon as the owner’s voice was heard, the woman who was moving the kimchi container quickly got up and looked at Young-hoon with a wary gaze.
“Yes. I agreed to start working tomorrow.”
The owner, who had a cute face with chubby cheeks, clapped her hands and made a fuss.
“Oh, that’s great. Our boarding house has good luck. They say good things happen to those who come here. This is my daughter, you know. She works for a big company. It’s not a place that anyone can get into. She’s my daughter, but she’s really amazing.”
It turned out that the woman who was carrying the kimchi container was the owner’s daughter.
The owner’s words contained pride and a subtle desire to brag about her daughter.
The owner’s daughter snapped at her.
“Stop it and help me. Do I eat this kimchi anyway? It’s for the men here.”
“Hey! Watch your mouth. You don’t know how kind he is. He brought all this for me because he said I was having a hard time.”
“Oh, I see…”
Young-hoon reluctantly helped put a few large kimchi containers in the refrigerator.
“Thank you, young man. You’re done, so go ahead.”
“I was going to anyway. Ah, it smells every time I come here.”
She left the restaurant with a disgusted look on her face, covering her nose. The owner looked apologetic and told him not to mind.
“Don’t worry about what she said. She’s just sensitive because I asked her to run an errand today.”
“Oh, I see…”
The owner said it was nothing, but Young-hoon read a hint of contempt in her eyes.
Was it because he realized that this was how people who had a hard time were looked at?
He felt heavy-hearted.
Going to upload full chapters.
