Chapter 11: Bring It On
Chapter 11: Bring It On
A nice car.
A two-seater sports car, born to run.
What is it about a mere hunk of machinery that makes a man's heart race?
Grrrr.
When idle, it rumbles like a beast issuing a threat.
The slightest touch on the accelerator sends the RPMs soaring.
Grrrrrraaaawr!
‘So this is what they call ‘soul.’'
3 a.m.
I took the car out of the underground parking garage and went for a drive.
Having invested my entire fortune in crypto, I hadn't been sleeping well.
I'd invested a hundred million dollars, so I accepted the fact that I wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully due to the tension.
‘This stress isn't so bad.’
I figured that when you're an investor, you have to learn to enjoy the pressure.
Even if this investment goes south, if only 10% remains, that's still over 10 billion won.
Enough to live on for the rest of my life.
Even if only 1% was left, that would be a billion won. If I got my security deposit back and sold the car, I could still get by somehow.
Having lived in poverty for so long,
‘I'm always thinking about money.’
When I was young, I had no choice but to think about money just to survive.
But now, even with all this money, it's still all I think about.
* * *
At work, meetings were held every morning.
“Prognostic factors related to optic nerve damage. Director Jang Won-young will be presenting at 2 p.m.”
“The lecture on iris management in cataract surgery will be given by Director Lee Hyun-chae of Bright Light Ophthalmology.”
“What about pediatrics?”
“There's a presentation regarding strabismus patients.”
“Seoul National University Hospital will be giving a lecture on lens prescriptions for patients with high astigmatism. We expect quite a few doctors to attend.”
At the conference, there are lectures on surgical techniques, equipment, and treatment methods.
For the company, it's a stage to show off our cutting-edge surgical equipment, so the technical, support, and PR teams plan it together.
The sales team was in charge of handling the doctors up close.
From across the conference room, I watched my ex-wife, Han Chae-won, sitting quietly.
‘Eleven months.’
The length of our marriage.
She was the type who expected every opinion to align with hers and gave orders.
I'd had a bad feeling even before the wedding, but the gates of hell truly opened on our honeymoon.
We went to Thailand for our honeymoon because of flight availability and my work schedule, but there wasn't a single day of peace for my mind or body.
“All my friends went to Hawaii or Cancún. I'm too embarrassed to tell them we came to Thailand.”
“...”
“And what is this hotel? Did you even book it properly?”
“Isn't it nice? The travel agency booked it, said it's a popular spot for honeymoons.”
“What do you know that makes you defend the travel agency? If we'd used a more expensive one, we wouldn't have ended up in a place like this. Is this your first time in the real world? You can't just leave everything to them; you have to check things yourself.”
Choosing food at restaurants always took forever.
The food was bland, not to her taste, or the hygiene was questionable.
When she said she couldn't imagine who would eat such food, I'd put down my utensils mid-bite, even if I was enjoying it.
In every matter, she was unconditionally right.
I didn't realize it at the time, but I was being severely gaslighted.
“If it weren't for me, you never would have gotten married. You would have died alone.”
“I married you even though I knew you had no money. You won't find anyone else like me. But how long are you going to live with that poor man's mentality?”
“You weren't raised properly by your parents. That's why you don't know the basics of human relationships.”
“Stop making excuses. You have an excuse for everything. How long do I have to put up with this and be understanding?”
Our conversations always ended with me being made out to be the strange one.
Our talks dwindled, and the words I kept locked in my chest piled up.
‘Endure it. I have to endure it.’
I endured it, thinking of us as family.
What I got in return were ear infections and allergies I'd never had, not even when living in a semi-basement.
“Assistant Manager Kim, you'll have to take care of the Cheonan area.”
“Yes. No problem.”
I didn't say a single word to my ex-wife during the meeting. But having been married to her, I knew.
Behind that composed expression in the conference room, her venom was rising.
‘Bring it on. But I won't go easy on you this time.’
* * *
“Assistant Manager Kim from the sales team. I heard he drives a Ferrari.”
“Really? Where'd he get the money for a car like that?”
“They say he made a killing in crypto. His net worth is supposedly over 2 billion won.”
“For real? Two billion?”
Rumors about Kim Shin slowly spread among the female employees.
The more observant ones had noticed the brands of his clothes had changed.
‘How unpleasant.’
Han Chae-won gritted her teeth, sitting at her office desk.
This was a man who used to be so intimidated during their marriage that he couldn't even look her straight in the eye.
‘I was the one who did him the favor of marrying him.’
Early in their marriage, her mother had been sick and needed money for surgery and hospital bills.
“You would have been nothing without me. You'd have grown old and died a lonely death.”
She would subtly pick at his weaknesses.
She'd attacked his vulnerabilities and squeezed out the money he had saved up from his working life.
She was displeased that her unremarkable ex-husband had become the topic of conversation among the female employees.
‘So annoying.’
In truth, what angered her more than his popularity was the rumor that he had amassed an enormous fortune through crypto.
‘Should I have put up with him for just one more year?’
If she had known he'd end up with 2 billion won, she would have treated him much better during their marriage.
But it was already spilt milk.
‘You need to disappear from my life.’
During lunch, at a table with her boss, Support Team Leader Choi So-hye, and other female colleagues, she spoke up.
“You know, my ex-husband.”
“Hm?”
“He gambled every day. He borrowed so much money from my family during our marriage, saying it was for gambling. He never paid any of it back, of course.”
“He did?”
“Women, gambling... I'm so lucky I divorced him before it was too late. The car he just bought? He probably scraped together every penny he had for a down payment. He's uneducated, so he never thinks things through.”
Team Leader Choi So-hye, who had been listening quietly, tilted her head.
“Chae-won. I didn't take you for the type, but you sure talk a lot of smack about your ex-husband.”
“What?”
“You're always talking about him. You broke up, shouldn't that be the end of it?”
“...”
“Assistant Manager Kim from Sales might have been a bad person to you. Not every marriage is perfect. But he works really hard at the company, doesn't he? And he's never caused trouble for any other employees.”
“But...”
“You said Assistant Manager Kim hit you, that he cheated. You've said a lot of things. I just figured it was between the two of you, your business to sort out. But I'd like to think I'm a decent judge of character, and he doesn't seem like that kind of person.”
“...”
“Am I wrong?”
Han Chae-won's eyes wavered.
Choi So-hye and the other women from the support team were watching her.
Her work life, the reputation she had built until now, could be shaken.
“How can even you, Team Leader Choi, believe him... Even after everything I've said, you still don't believe me?”
The other women watched cynically as Han Chae-won began to cry.
* * *
After investing in crypto, I worked even harder at my job.
‘Only check the balance at home.’
I tried to stick to this principle above all else.
If you constantly check how much you've earned or lost, you can get swept up in greed or fear.
‘Buying and selling at the perfect moment is the domain of the gods. I'll just wait until there's a major change.’
With the conference approaching, I started going out on sales calls with Lee Jong-yeop more often.
Driving the Ferrari around Gangnam or Gangdong was comfortable on the road.
Though I was nervous every time I entered an underground parking garage.
“Assistant Manager. This car is killer. So this is that Italian soul.”
The power that surged forward without hesitation when I hit the gas.
Hearing Lee Jong-yeop's admiration made buying the Ferrari feel worthwhile.
“Assistant Manager Kim. Welcome.”
“Hello, Head Nurse.”
Even at the hospital, the nurses' reactions had changed slightly.
The young female nurses would sneak glances at me.
“Professor Jeong Chan is on his rounds. It'll take about thirty minutes.”
“You're here to see Professor Nam Ho-seok, right? He has surgery scheduled soon. You should go in quickly.”
Nurses at general hospitals tend to be quite proud.
Yet they were kindly accommodating me, a sales rep.
The head nurse is the leader of the nurses.
The older head nurse struck up a conversation.
“You're Assistant Manager Kim, right?”
“Yes, Head Nurse Lee Hyun-young.”
“Hoho. No need to be so formal. We've known each other for years now.”
I didn't cover general or university hospitals when I was new, so it's been about three years.
And for those entire three years, you treated me like a door-to-door salesman and ignored me, didn't you?
At private ophthalmology clinics, sales reps from pharmaceutical or equipment companies weren't completely ignored.
That's because the doctors don't have a huge range of products to choose from.
University hospitals were places where sales staff had to be more deferential because of the professors' influence and reputation.
“I heard you got a really nice new car. Nurse Jo-young said she saw you parking it.”
“...”
“I had no idea. Your family must be loaded. Hoho. How about I set you up on a blind date with a nurse who's interested in you?”
I remained silent, but Lee Jong-yeop was more curious.
“Who is it? Who's got her eye on our Assistant Manager?”
“Moon Young-eun. You know her?”
“Ah, the one with the really pretty smile...”
“The beauty of our ward. She's incredibly popular. So, what do you think, Assistant Manager Kim? Interested?”
Working as a sales rep, I often got offers for blind dates with nurses.
Before I was married, it would come up once or twice at hospitals where I was on fairly good terms with the staff.
Every ophthalmology clinic has more than ten nurses, and over half of them are in their twenties or early thirties.
Going on those blind dates often leads to getting hurt.
On dates I was set up on, they'd say they liked big cars, or suddenly ask about my house or salary.
Nurses, who work in healthcare services, are often dedicated and kind people.
But it was also true that the pretty nurses tended to be very particular about a man's qualifications.
“I don't know. I just got divorced, so I'm not really in the mood. Head Nurse, are you aware that I'm a divorced man?”
“I know. So what?”
“And she's still okay with it?”
“Yep. Young-eun said it's fine. Being divorced isn't a flaw these days, is it? And I heard you weren't even married for that long. That's less of a commitment than some people who just live together.”
When I got divorced, I thought I'd never marry or have a family again.
To think an opportunity like this would pop up so easily, just from changing my car.
“I appreciate it, but I'm not interested right now.”
“Alright. Well, let me know if you change your mind. I'll let Miss Moon Young-eun down easy.”
After leaving the hospital, as we got into the car in the parking lot, Lee Jong-yeop spoke cautiously.
“Assistant Manager, what do you think of Jo Soo-ah?”
“Jo Soo-ah?”
I tilted my head before answering.
“She's pretty. She's kind. She's capable.”
“And?”
“What else is there to think about?”
“...Sigh.”
I couldn't be honest.
I have almost no dating experience, but maybe that's why I think of it more simply.
‘Could she possibly like me?’
I'd gotten that feeling from Jo Soo-ah a few times, and I saw her cry when she came to visit me in my semi-basement.
No one had ever cried for me before.
No one had ever worried about me.