Experience Team
Experience Team
"Thank you for your hard work."
"Everyone, thank you for your hard work!"
He yawned and stretched as he walked out of the filming set.
Today, he had come to film the Qtube commercial he was scheduled to shoot earlier.
He was here to film a phone commercial for Saemsung, the number one corporation in Korea.
At first, he had considered declining, but A-ra and the Director had suggested he give it a try,
and Saemsung had offered incredible terms, so he was proceeding with the filming.
"Seong-hwan, are you free right now?"
"Oh, Manager. I'm free."
The Manager of Saemsung Electronics, who was helping with the shoot today, handed him a towel.
Maybe because the commercial involved a lot of movement, a light sweat had formed on his forehead; it was perfect timing.
He wiped his forehead with the towel the Manager gave him and hung it around his neck.
"Hoo..."
"Here, sit down."
"Ah, thank you."
Hearing the Manager tell him to sit and rest, he thanked her and took a seat.
His feet were aching from standing for so long.
"The shoot is done now. Did you come here by car?"
"I hitched a ride with the Director."
He had planned to drive his own car, but the Director said it wouldn't do for Yoo Seong-hwan's reputation to send him off in his own car, so he came in a large van with the Director.
It was similar to the high-roof van A-ra used before.
Inside, there was a TV and a game console...
'This must be the Director's car?'
"Then, shall we give you a ride back when you leave?"
"No, my wife said she'd wait in the parking lot."
"Wow.. Song A-ra? I guess she's different when it comes to her husband?"
"Ahaha... I hear that a lot."
A-ra had very good manners and a great reputation, but she didn't really show her caring side to others.
Of course, she showed it to the Director and the group members, though.
"Actually, I called you over to give you this."
"Ah, it's the thing you promised."
He took the paper bag the Manager handed over.
Inside, wrapped in plastic, were an unopened square box and accessories like a case.
"It's the Note 9."
"Really? It hasn't even been released yet."
"It's already passed radio wave certification and is usable. You can just use it normally."
"Yes? Just normally?"
"We've already leaked internal photos and things like case specs are already floating around anyway."
"Aha... so things like that are leaked by the company after all."
"It's similar to how your agency spreads screenshots of videos featuring you on community sites."
"Anyway, thank you. I'll put it to good use."
"However, you must not lose it before the Unpacked video is released."
"I won't lose it."
"Seong-hwan, what's that?"
"This? It's the Note 9."
"Huh? Pre-orders haven't even started for that yet?"
"Haha, I thought they'd just give me a tablet PC, but they gave me this."
"Wow... they usually don't give these to outsiders..."
The Director seemed surprised too, looking inside the paper bag and starting to exclaim.
But no matter what, he couldn't hand this over.
'I plan to use it as my main phone from now on.'
***
"Hmm..."
Arriving home, he sat on the sofa and took out the phone box and the enclosed document from the paper bag.
The paper listed a bunch of contents related to the product testing team. It stated that once the testing activities were over, full ownership of the phone would be his,
and that there would be additional items given away.
"First, make calls and send texts at least once a day... That's not difficult."
Because he used calls and texts a lot, he had already switched to an expensive phone plan.
There was no reason he couldn't do that.
"And... take photos five times a week or more? That's not bad either."
He took photos of A-ra often anyway, so it didn't matter.
'I'm in the middle of a project to fill a 1TB hard drive with A-ra's photos, after all.'
"If a problem occurs and it needs repair, send it to the headquarters, not the service center..."
Since the phone wasn't due to be released for another three months, there were quite a few cautionary clauses.
It was a little bothersome, but since he got it for free, he had to abide by at least this much.
"Then, finally, the long-awaited phone..."
He got a cutter knife, cut the seal, and opened the box.
The phone was visible right inside, and underneath, he could see the charger and earphones.
"Come to think of it, Saemsung had been going back and forth about removing the headphone jack, but it's still there."
Apple's phones removed the headphone jack starting exactly from the 7.
Almost as if answering consumers' questions about how to listen to music, they released expensive Bluetooth earphones and got weird comments for it.
"Compared to that, Saemsung has Saemsung Pay... and a headphone jack..."
Apple phones supposedly have Apple Pay or something, but it's said to be unusable in Korea.
They say it's because the contact payment method is EMV, but Korean card payment machines are MST/NFC, not EMV.
So, it's practically unusable in Korea.
In the end, it's meaningless.
In that regard, a Saemsung smartphone could be seen as one optimized for use in Korea.
"First, let me plug in the charger...."
He turned it on, but the battery was almost dead, so he plugged it in.
Usually, smartphones have a little battery charge for the initial setup, but this one didn't seem to.
'It's about time A-ra comes, so I should prepare lunch.'
"Eutcha...."
These days, he didn't even feel things like orthostatic hypotension.
'It must be proof that my body has gotten stronger.'
Eating meals with A-ra every day seemed to have made him sturdier.
"Should I feed Lil' One first?"
"Woof!"
Hearing the word 'food', Lil' One reacted and ran into the room, starting to act cute.
Aw, you cute thing.
***
"Seong-hwan, your commercial has started coming up on Qtube."
"Already?"
Looking at A-ra's phone, he could see a shot of him walking while holding the phone.
When they were filming, it was embarrassing to hold the phone and try to talk to himself in an empty space, but seeing the composited background and music like this,
he started to think it actually looked decent.
"Not bad, right?"
"It's amazing. I guess the best professionals are just different."
Our company's editing team was full of seasoned professionals, but even they couldn't beat the editing team of Korea's top corporation.
It was a truly seamless composite without a hint of awkwardness.
"It takes dozens of people working on it to make one video like this."
"To that extent?"
"Of course~ Just looking at your down payment gives you the estimate."
Honestly, he had skimmed the down payment part and didn't remember it well.
It was because he trusted the company to handle it well for him.
"You did read the contract properly before signing it, right?"
"Of course. I'm not that naive."
"Hmm... Really?"
"Really. You can ask the Manager if you want."
"Of course she would say you did well. Fine, I'll trust you this time."
A-ra patted his head and praised him, saying he did well for his first time.
Acting spoiled, he buried his face in A-ra's chest and rubbed his cheek.
"Oh, right. I heard from Director unnie that you received a gift?"
"Yes. I haven't used it yet, but I'm going to start now."
He showed A-ra the Note 9 that he'd left lying on the table with the charger plugged in.
A-ra had now become so accustomed to Saemsung Pay that she had fallen so far as to find it hard to use anything other than a Saemsung phone.
"But this is a phone I've never seen before."
"It's a phone scheduled to be announced in August."
"So, they gave you a smartphone that hasn't even been announced yet?"
"Yes, isn't it fascinating?"
There was no way the Manager acted alone; it must have been an action approved by the higher-ups.
'The CEO might even know about it for all I know.'
"You're not getting caught up in something weird, are you?"
"Over one phone?"
"Hmm... it's a different company, but I heard about someone who carried around a pre-release prototype and ended up going to trial."
"They told me I could use it freely."
They only told me not to lose it.
'Did they say it'd be a bit troublesome if I lost it?'
"Then it should be fine. Can your noona touch it too?"
"Of course. Here you go."
He handed the Note 9 to A-ra and lay down spread-eagle on the bed.
Since he had already touched it a lot and had a general idea of what it felt like, his interest had waned.
"Ah, the Note has a pen, which is really nice."
"Do you miss the Note 3?"
"No, I don't miss that... the pen though, I miss the pen."
"Then, why don't you just use it, Noona?"
"Can I? You received it as a gift."
In A-ra's startled eyes, there was a hint of anticipation mixed in.
It hadn't been long since A-ra changed her smartphone, but she occasionally showed a longing for the Note's pen.
Which was only natural, considering she sometimes drew things.
"I don't mind, so you use it, Noona. I'll insert the USIM for you."
"Ugh... can I really accept this."
"Ahem. Your husband is giving it to you, so just accept it."
"....Alright, thank you, Seong-hwan."
"Don't mention it. Instead, I'll have you."
"I'm already yours?"
"That is true."
It was a conversation that would have annoyed others for being too lovey-dovey, but for us, it had become just a mundane chat.
He patted A-ra's head as she thanked him, swapped the USIM, and lay back down spread-eagle on the bed.
'I'll upgrade when it's released.'