The Small Business Experience (Part 2)
Kim Chirok boarded the 38 bus in Hyangnam-eup and headed toward Suwon.
He would need to take the subway again to reach Suwon District Court in the Yeongtong district of Suwon-si. The commute was truly inconvenient.
*I wish I had a car.*
Inside the train, he reviewed the documents he needed to submit at the court. There was nothing out of order.
Yet here he was, a graduate of Seoul National University, running around like this submitting paperwork. It was truly pathetic.
Chirok had been strangely connected to the courts lately. Tomorrow he would have to go up to Seoul again for the sexual harassment trial.
*Should I hire a lawyer?*
Since he himself was innocent, he figured there would be no issue. But he wondered whether Oh Ha-young would actually appear in court tomorrow.
She was the daughter of a wealthy family, after all. She would surely hire a lawyer and stay away herself.
From behind, arms folded, she would just grin and watch him give his testimony.
*You damn woman!*
The curse slipped out again.
Kim Chirok went to the citizen services counter at Suwon District Court and submitted the documents.
Once outside, he noticed a yakiniku restaurant right in front of Sangha Station on the Shinbundang Line. He considered ordering a bowl of udon.
*Ah, better to save the money. I can't earn any right now anyway. I'll just use the company cafeteria.*
So he turned around again.
Kim Chirok returned to Hyangnam-eup. Here he would need the village bus to get to the factory. The plant was not in the center of the township but in the outskirts of Balan-ri.
Fortunately, he arrived at the company just before lunchtime ended. Managing Director Jang was nowhere to be seen.
At the cafeteria, Managing Director Jang was eating lunch with the Plant Manager.
"I submitted the documents at the court."
"Hm? Really? You were quick about it. Good work. Eat up."
Kim Chirok scooped rice onto his tray and was about to sit down when Managing Director Jang, having finished his meal, stood up. He handed back the tray, passed by Chirok, and said,
"The sales director's car is yours now. Since the depreciation has already been fully written off, it's just being transferred."
"Eh? Th-thank you very much."
"But the new car the sales director was supposed to use hasn't been delivered yet. When it arrives, I'll give it to you."
"I understand. Thank you."
"Even though it's old, the sales director said for commuting purposes it's still usable enough."
"Thank you."
Kim Chirok clasped his hands together in front of him and gave a very respectful bow to Managing Director Jang. The older man placed his hands behind his back, tensed his shoulders, and patted Chirok's back once.
His bald head looked especially shiny today.
While working in the afternoon, Kim Chirok spoke to the Accounting Manager.
"I'm going to work on some things for a bit tomorrow morning. Does that affect my leave request?"
"If you're working in the afternoon, it's fine. But what's the matter? Did you receive a reserve army training notice?"
"I have something to drop in at my old company for a short while."
"I see. Come back safely. If anyone asks, I'll say I sent you to the bank."
"When I receive the sales director's car, I'll definitely run those errands well."
"By the way, I heard from Managing Director Jang. The car is just being transferred."
"I heard that at the cafeteria earlier. But isn't that a company loss? We shouldn't be giving away company assets."
"It's fine. Since the depreciation has already been fully written off, the current book value is essentially zero."
"Is the sales director's new car on installment?"
"Our company can't afford to pay cash for cars right now. We're getting it on installments."
At that moment, the president's voice rang out.
"Hey, Manager Han! Pull up the status report on trade payables!"
"Yes, sir. Understood."
The Accounting Manager quickly pulled up the report on the computer. With the computerized accounting program, such things were done in an instant, which was good.
She carried the printout into the president's office.
The president's voice rang out again.
"Why is the trade payable so high!"
The Accounting Manager's voice also came through.
"If we collect the advance payments from Mitsutek, it will ease up a little."
"Call Mitsutek right now and check how the advance payment situation is going! Do it immediately!"
"Yes, sir."
The Accounting Manager left the president's office and sat back at her desk. She slammed the drawer open and closed it in frustration.
"If the trade payables have increased, is it my fault? Why am I the one getting shouted at? Ah, I'm tired!"
Kim Chirok smiled and said,
"It really looks like the Accounting Manager is working too hard all by herself."
"What can I do? It's not like I can help it."
"Besides, the Accounting Manager handles not only accounting duties but also general affairs, so it must be even harder."
"Until last year, there was someone in general affairs. When the salary was delayed for a month, the person immediately quit."
"I see."
"And she even reported the production staff to the labor board. The company wasn't deliberately withholding the money.... Even though it's a married person and they probably understand the situation, reporting for a one-month delay was too much."
"It seems rather harsh."
"The person said she graduated from a four-year university in Daejeon, but she couldn't even do the work better than a high school graduate like me. Still, as a college graduate, she received a high salary."
Kim Chirok thought that even if you couldn't do the job well, coming from a regional university might still give you some leverage in a small and medium-sized enterprise.
It seemed that was the case.
A document from the fire department came flying in. There was a fire inspection scheduled.
So Kim Chirok went down to the production building to inspect the fire extinguishers for the workshop.
*I came to a small and medium-sized enterprise and I'm doing everything from scratch.*
Kim Chirok checked the fire extinguishers installed in each workshop. If any were knocked over, he would stand them back up.
During the inspection, he spoke politely to the workers.
"Sorry. The fire department is coming for a full inspection soon, so I came to check the fire extinguishers."
After finishing the inspection and leaving the production building, Kim Chirok noticed a Japanese auntie always at the entrance checking incoming and outgoing shipments. But today, perhaps because things were quiet, she was sitting on a chair checking her phone.
In fact, there weren't many shipments either way.
How much finished product could a small company export? And correspondingly, how much raw material would come in? So this auntie also handled the attendance management for the production staff.
Attendance management was simply verifying fingerprint punches at the start of the day. But the auntie calculated overtime, night shifts, and holiday overtime.
Kim Chirok smiled and said,
"Ayaka! Is the workday over today?"
"Eh? Kim Chirok! Why are you here at the site today?"
"I'm here to check the fire extinguishers."
"Hoho. Is someone from the fire department coming again?"
"Even if it's not today, routine periodic inspections are necessary."
The auntie clapped her hands and gave a thumbs-up.
Kim Chirok hesitated for a moment and said,
"Ayaka! If your hometown is Kochi Prefecture, you probably know Tosa City."
"Oh my! Kim Chirok knows Tosa City? That's where I did my nursing job as a young nurse."
"Ah, really?"
If that's the case, then this auntie and Hirosue Yoshiko share the same hometown. Such a coincidence.
But the two of them probably would never meet. Hirosue Yoshiko had gone to Kyoto for middle school, and this auntie had left Tosa City right after getting married.
Especially twenty years ago, when the auntie got married, Hirosue Yoshiko was only two or three years old. Still, he decided to ask.
"Ayaka! Do you know Hirosue Yoshiko?"
"Hirosue Yoshiko? Who's that?"
This auntie clearly didn't know the name. The generation gap probably made the difference. But the auntie then said something with deep meaning.
"Hoho. Hirosue Yoshiko? That's just my dear niece."
"Eh? My niece?"
"My friend got married and went to Kyoto. Her husband said he was doing business in Kyoto."
"Really?"
"But when I visited her house after getting married, I saw such a beautiful girl. When I asked who she was, she said she was her niece's daughter. She was in first year of middle school then, but now she's probably an adult."
Such a beautiful girl? So Hirosue Yoshiko must have been pretty even when young. She wasn't a plastic surgery beauty, obviously. But saying she was probably an adult now, it seemed the auntie didn't know she had become a famous geisha.
"Hirosue Yoshiko must be around twenty-two now, right?"
"Probably. Hoho. But why do you ask?"
"Yoshiko has become the top geisha in Kyoto."
"Oh my? Really?"
At that moment, the Japanese auntie's eyes widened in surprise.
It seemed the Japanese auntie didn't know that Yoshiko had become a geisha.
"Then she's a geiko? But how do you know, Kim Chirok?"
"Haha. I saw it on a poster when I went to Japan."
"A poster?"
"When I asked people in Kyoto, they said Yoshiko is acting as the Kyoto promotional ambassador."
"Really? My friend said her husband failed in business, so she entered the geisha training school."
Kim Chirok showed the photo of Yoshiko saved on his phone. It was the one taken at Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto when she made an offering.
"This is a photo of Yoshiko. Look, is this her? I took it in front of the shrine last time I went to Kyoto."
The Japanese auntie enlarged the photo and examined it closely.
"Oh my! It looks just like her. She said she wanted to go to the Kyoto Municipal Art College.... Because business wasn't going well, that's what happened."
"But doesn't Yoshiko have parents?"
"Her father was a fisherman, but he died when she was young."
"Ah, I see."
"Her mother also worked at a katsuo-bushi processing factory in Usacho and injured her back."
[Injured her back? Just like our father who injured his back working on construction sites.]
"Usacho is a coastal town, right?"
"Yes, that's right. Tosa City Usacho is right by the sea. There are fishing boats and the katsuo-bushi factory, and behind it there are mountains where they grow a lot of plastic house vegetables."
"Then Yoshiko's mother must be living in Usacho."
"I don't know. But how is my friend doing in Kyoto? It's been over ten years since I last met her. Should I call her?"
The Japanese auntie took out her phone and dialed. She spoke in fluent Japanese.
"Moshi moshi. This is Ayaka from Korea. How have you been?"
"Oh my. Ayaka! How have you been? The kids must have grown a lot, right?"
"Hoho. The eldest one is going to college next year."
"It's good to hear you're doing well."
"You too, how are you?"
"Yes, I'm fine lately."
"But the niece I saw when I visited your house, her name was Hirosue Yoshiko, right?"
"Yes, that's her."
"She became a famous geiko?"
"Oh my! The rumor has reached that far. She's now the famous geiko in Miyagawacho. Thanks to her, our living standards have improved a bit."
"I see."
"Music was her talent, but she wanted to go to the Kyoto Municipal College.... Since her dad went bankrupt in business.... She had no choice and entered the geisha training school through a neighbor's introduction. I'm so sorry for her."
"Even so, it's fortunate that it turned out well. If she's the representative geiko in Kyoto, she'll earn a lot of money."
"She does earn well, but the okiya's okasan handles all the money management."
"From her age, isn't it too late to leave the okiya?"
"She'll become a jimae geiko next year. During the apprenticeship days she cried a lot.... But lately she's been doing well, so she's happy."
"She was so pretty when she was in middle school."
"She's still pretty now. So she's also the Kyoto City promotional ambassador. When she becomes a jimae geiko, I hope she meets a decent man and gets married. Isn't that the happiness of a woman? But you still haven't come to Kyoto?"
"Hoho. I will."
"Are your parents still in Tosa City?"
"Yes."
"Then when you go visit your parents, stop by. You little rascal!"
"Hoho. Okay, I will."
"But you're still living in Suwon? They say Suwon Hwaseong Castle is worth seeing."
"Hoho. We moved. To Hyangnam-eup. It's a place as nice as Tosa City. The kids' father's transfer came from there."
"You must be happy because your husband is a civil servant. You get a big pension, right?"
"Hoho. But the salary is low. We just get by. Come see Suwon Hwaseong. I'll guide you."
At that moment, a truck entered. It looked like one carrying raw materials.
The driver stuck his head out and said,
"Ayaka! Why was the phone call so long? Is it your boyfriend back in Japan? Check this receipt, will you?"
He handed over a delivery slip. Ayaka had to check the goods and sign the receipt.
Small Business Experience (Part 2)