Interior Design
Interior Design
"Please put that over here."
"Like this?"
"Yes, push it in tight."
"Got it."
The workers had an aura about them that anyone would say screamed interior design experts.
I'd heard they were veterans who earned tens of thousands of won an hour.
It was Hojun's place of business, where interior construction was well underway.
The Director had introduced him to a decent interior design company. Compared to other firms, it was very expensive, but he was decorating it beautifully with high-quality items.
Maybe because he'd been advised that places selling electronic products should have a pure white background and that furniture should also be pure white,
the chairs, the desks, everything was white.
On top of that, the lights were the atmospheric kind, but the insides were white LEDs, which gave a slightly different feel.
Would you call it refined yet understated?
He planned to display the products primarily in white as well, and sell black or other colors by bringing them out from the warehouse as needed.
Of course, he also planned to sell through a website.
And I think he said he'd take purchasing inquiries online too...
But isn't it a bit questionable to send money without checking the condition of the goods?
"Obviously you have to receive the item, check it, negotiate, and then deposit the money."
"Right? Hojun, you're smart."
"It's not smart, it's just obvious."
When I'd asked someone I knew about it before, I think they said it wasn't exactly obvious.
I'd heard that phone dealers sometimes do pay up front.
"For phones, unless the motherboard is fried, you can manage somehow, so maybe that's why?"
"What's a motherboard? I know what a main board is."
"....Hyung, you really don't know anything, do you?"
"Wouldn't most guys not know? You, Hojun, just know way too much."
From what Hojun said, it seemed the two meant the same thing.
But why were there two different words for it?
Well, it was probably a category of knowledge I didn't strictly need... so it was fine not to know.
If anything came up, I could just ask Hojun.
The workers were diligently refining the interior, and Hojun and I were chatting, when the door opened and someone walked in.
Looking outside, I saw a huge truck had arrived.
"Is the owner here? Delivery of goods."
It seemed to be goods from the company he'd purchased from.
Surely it wasn't packed completely full?
"Ah, to the basement warehouse... no, just leave them over here and we'll move them."
"Yes, understood."
First, he needed to check the condition of the goods, so sending them to the basement would be a headache.
I thought he was making his first mistake, but he corrected himself instantly.
Hojun really was going to be good at business, I thought.
*
"Phew! Well then, good work!"
"Good work."
After moving the goods and wiping away the sweat, I said goodbye to the driver heading outside.
I'd thought everything inside that huge truck was laptops, but what they brought amounted to only five large boxes.
Hojun was in the corner opening boxes and checking the condition of the laptops.
He'd have to do a detailed inspection later, but for now it seemed he was simply checking the exteriors.
"How is it?"
"As expected from stuff used as office equipment, it's clean. This should sell well."
"For office use?"
"This is a thin and light office laptop from Hell G, you know? It's popular with guys."
"Hmm... so even electronics have preferences by gender."
"Guys like light things, and women tend to look for gaming laptops that can run games and have big screens."
From the sound of it, there were gaming models for laptops too.
Even though they say gaming is meant to be done on desktops.
"Hyung, I'll build your computer for you, so don't worry."
"Yeah... I'm counting on you, little bro."
"But how much budget are you going to spend?"
I couldn't answer Hojun right away when he asked how much I planned to spend.
First of all, since I planned to use it for as long as possible, it would be best to go with very high specs, right?
"Hmm... you know the one A-ra Noona brought to the orphanage a while back?"
"Yeah."
"About that level?"
"What were the specs on that?"
"I don't know exactly... but I think it had four graphics cards in it."
I'd heard that racing games required ultra-high specs.
At least that level would let me use it for a long time, wouldn't it?
For reference, after giving away that computer, A-ra had built a new one, since better graphics cards had come out recently.
"Hmm... didn't you say you play RPG games, Hyung..."
"Yeah."
"Then you wouldn't need to go that high..."
"You never know. I might end up doing editing work later or something."
"You, Hyung...? The agency does all that for you."
"Just do it, okay."
"Fine..."
Hojun nodded and kept pulling laptops out of the box.
I rummaged around a little too, pulling out laptops and testing them by turning the power on and such.
"This is incredibly light."
"Right? Want to take one for office use?"
"Well, I've already got two at home for office work, so I'm fine."
I had the MacBook and a cheap laptop, two of them, so I didn't particularly need another.
Now wasn't the time to be taking products from Hojun.
"Minji might need one. Give her one when she comes over."
"Yeah. She's a college student, so she'll need one."
Nodding, Hojun started rummaging through the boxes again.
That guy... now that I thought about it, he was a total workaholic.
***
"Now I won't even be able to play with Lil' One."
"Cloud is a large breed, after all."
Wanting to go on a walk together for the first time in a while, I'd brought Lil' One and Pipsqueak and come over to Lee Min-ho's house.
As expected of a chaebol, the house had a simple walking course, making it a really nice place to stroll around.
But that wasn't the issue right now.
Because Cloud, whom I was seeing for the first time in a while, was enormous—no joke.
He was originally a large breed, so even as a puppy he'd been bigger than Lil' One, but now he had just become a massive large dog.
He had to be at least 20kg, right?
"Aww, did our Cloud eat lots of yummy food?"
"Woof! Woof woof!"
"He's barking..."
I felt a little sad, wondering if he'd forgotten me.
After all I'd done for him!
"He's wagging his tail. At least he hasn't forgotten you."
"You think?"
"Maybe he's sulking because he hasn't seen you in a while?"
Today, Lee Min-ho seemed like the older brother.
Should I say he seemed to have matured?
Normally, he would have spewed a bunch of nasty remarks like 'You're not even his owner, why would he remember you?' or 'Even a dog has forgotten you, so you'll be forgotten on Qtube soon, too.'
"Well, I'm trying to stop the spiteful remarks now."
"What's gotten into you?"
"Do you really want to know?"
"Yeah. I want to know."
Had he come down with some terminal illness or something?
I'd wondered why he suggested we walk the dogs together today, and it seemed he had something he wanted to say.
"Ah, what is it, just tell me."
"You won't get mad?"
"I'll have to hear it and decide. If it's serious, I'll hit you."
"Ugh..."
He hesitated for a moment, then quickly opened his mouth.
The words that came out of Lee Min-ho's mouth were something I really hadn't expected at all.
"I'm... dating Minji?"
"......What?"
"No, I mean... Minji asked me to go out with her... so..."
This was something else I never imagined hearing.
The fact that Minji made the first move was already funny, and that Lee Min-ho accepted it was funny too.
No, of course, it wasn't really my place to say anything.
Lee Min-ho was a decent guy, and they seemed to get along pretty well.
"Hmm... if you dump her like your ex-girlfriend, you're dead, got it?"
"Ah... I won't... I absolutely won't."
"Well, if that's the case, it's not really my business."
It was good to cherish my little sister, but this was actually something Lee Min-ho had to handle carefully.
Minji wasn't a bad kid either... so it should be fine.
"So? You called me over to tell me that?"
"Well, partly that... and it seemed like Cloud missed Lil' One after so long."
"Really? They're definitely... the size difference is huge, but they're playing really happily together."
While we were talking, the two dogs had been let loose in the yard and were playing happily.
I'd worried about what would happen if Cloud pounced on Lil' One and Pipsqueak, but as expected, Lil' One still treated him like a little brother—just like before.
Cloud was also following Lil' One around like an older sister.
Should I say it was more like Pipsqueak was getting jealous?
"Pipsqueak's jealous."
"Is he like that because he thinks his wife is getting stolen?"
"More than that, he probably thinks his big sister is getting stolen."
"That's cute."
He kept following Cloud around and barking softly—it was so adorable.
And the way he kept his voice low and never raised it to the end... how should I describe it?
"The feeling of voicing an opinion in front of a senior?"
"Oh, that's close. It's similar."
That feeling of wanting to voice an opinion but not being able to speak loudly for no good reason.
It was a perfect match.
"So? Have the two of you gone on a date? Classes are starting soon."
"Not yet. I thought I should tell you first before doing that."
"Is that so..."
I wasn't even a blood-related older brother, and thinking that much of me made me feel a little guilty for no reason.
It was probably a good thing that Lee Min-ho thought of me that highly in relation to Minji.
After all, the fact that I was Minji's older brother was true.
"Honestly, I'm more worried about you than Minji."
"Me?"
"Minji is honest and nice in front of me, but I don't really know what she's like when she's with her friends."
I'd seen her talking with friends, but that was with me there...
I had guessed before that how she treated me might be a little different.
Then naturally, wouldn't the way she treats her boyfriend be different too?
Minji had a surprisingly rough side to her, after all.