Chapter 19
I’m translating the chapter and keeping the formatting rules intact, including styled blocks for the chat-like message and the scene break. I’m also preserving the story’s casual first-person voice rather than flattening it into literal Korean syntax.CHAPTER_TITLE: A Good Kind of Spending
“Thanks for the meal. It was delicious.”
“Not at all. I had a really good time, thanks to you, Assistant Manager Kang.”
Steak, pasta, and even a bottle of red wine on the side. We’d savored a proper dinner.
As for going on to a second round, though...
“You’re too full, aren’t you?”
“I’m completely stuffed too.”
Team Leader Han and I were both in no condition to keep going. We were pleasantly full, with just a little buzz from the wine, which made it the perfect stopping point.
It was already past nine, too.
“Get home safe, Team Leader.”
“Yes. See you on Monday.”
We wrapped up the evening neatly and went our separate ways.
After getting off the subway and heading home, I noticed the big mart was still lit up.
Should I stop in for a minute?
I headed for the electronics section.
“Can I help you find something?”
“I’m looking for a tablet PC.”
“For watching videos, or for drawing?”
“Drawing.”
“Then I’d recommend this one. The size is good for carrying around, and most of all, the pen is the latest model, so the feel is...”
I mulled over the three products they recommended, then settled on the one in the four-hundred-thousand-won range and paid for it right away.
“Thank you.”
With the shopping bag carrying the tablet PC in hand, I headed home with a light step.
To be honest, I had wondered whether I should buy it at all.
But it’s an investment in myself anyway, isn’t it?
With that thought, I paid without hesitation.
This was one of the biggest changes since I started my side jobs, and honestly, one of the things I was happiest about.
I don’t feel guilty when I buy something I want anymore.
Back when I was just an office worker, buying even one thing like this meant days of hesitation. And if I finally made up my mind, installment payments were a given. Then, for the next few months, I’d have to pinch every penny from my fixed salary just to get by, scraping and saving every day.
Even ordering fried chicken as a late-night snack took two or three rounds of indecision before I canceled it, and there were plenty of times I settled for reheated frozen food or cheap convenience-store junk instead.
But buying a tablet PC isn’t enough to make this month tight or anything.
I could feel my satisfaction with life rising more and more as the days went by.
***
Hiss.
I cracked open a can of beer and headed to my desk.
Should I try drawing one right away?
Since I’d just bought the new tablet PC, I picked up the pen and got started immediately.
I drew the idea I’d come up with at the museum, right then and there.
The drawing style’s a little rough, but it’s coming out smoother than I expected.
Once I locked the composition and direction firmly in my head, the rest felt like talent simply filling in the details.
Scritch, scritch.
Whoosh.
Scratch!
I kept at it until, after a while...
“...Done!”
At last, after all that effort, a full set of emoticons was complete.
When I looked outside...
“...Wait, the sun’s up?”
I’d gotten so absorbed that it was already past seven in the morning.
I don’t think I’ve ever prepared this hard for anything, not even when I was studying for the CSAT.
It was a strange feeling.
Emoticons aren’t just something you make and that’s the end of it, either, are they?
From what I’d researched beforehand, creating them didn’t mean they’d automatically go on sale.
You had to submit them to a messenger studio like KakaoTalk or LINE, and only if they passed review did you earn the right to sell them.
In other words, even getting to the starting line required an inspection.
Well, it’s my first try. Might as well treat it like an experiment.
Unlike my other talents, this was drawing, so I figured I couldn’t expect to be full after one bite.
They said they’d give feedback if it doesn’t pass, so I can use that as fertilizer and try again.
So I didn’t think about it for long.
The review period may take up to three weeks...
That’s longer than I expected.
Then again, anyone can apply, so they were probably getting more submissions than I could imagine.
I’ll just forget about it for now.
After I’d put the emoticon work out of my mind for the time being, I felt so much lighter.
First, I need sleep.
I’d stayed up all night, and my dark circles had practically dropped down to my chin.
As soon as I lay down in bed, I was out like a light.
***
“Haaah...”
My whole body was soaked through with fatigue.
If I’d had my way, I would have slept until sunset, but after pulling an all-nighter, I could only manage three hours before getting up.
Time remaining: 4 hours 25 minutes.
“Damn it. This stupid 24-hour limit is the problem.”
The duration on the relic appraisal I’d used yesterday was almost gone.
If the cooldown had been even a little shorter, I’d have just given up on it. But this was a chance that only came once a month, so it felt too wasteful to let it go unused.
Clack-clack.
I took the subway toward Dongmyo.
“Haaah...”
I’d even taken a cold shower on purpose, but the yawns kept tearing out of me anyway.
If I dozed off here, I’d probably miss my stop and end up riding all the way to the last station, so I pulled out my phone instead.
Maybe I should check an auction site.
Not that long ago, NFTs had set the whole world on fire, but after the craze cooled off so quickly, I’d heard that antique items and the like had become pretty hot instead, and online auctions were going strong.
There aren’t many domestic sites...
I opened a few overseas ones.
They all look great, but...
There was one thing I was disappointed about.
The ability doesn’t activate on digital images.
At the museum, I’d been able to view relic information remotely as well, but unfortunately, it seemed to stop there when I was looking through a monitor.
Right. If it worked that way, it’d be way too broken.
If the ability could trigger off my phone too, I could spend a month gathering nothing but relic photos and then use the ability to uncover an absurd amount of information during the following twenty-four hours.
[The next station is Dongmyo. Dongmyo-mae Station. The doors on your right will open...]
Just then, we arrived at Dongmyo.
Should I take a look around?
***
I’m not finding as much as I expected.
I’d made a thorough circuit around Dongmyo for four hours, but...
That’s all I found.
This time, the only thing I’d managed to snag was a single rare norigae.
Dongmyo does have the advantage that if you find the right thing, you can get it cheap, but...
The problem was that the overall quality of the goods was low.
The Joseon white porcelain moon jar I’d picked up last time had really been a matter of luck. In a place like this, I wasn’t likely to stumble onto something like that again easily.
Next month, I should try somewhere completely different.
I ruled out famous antique shops and auction sites.
If I wanted to make use of my ability, I had to buy low and sell high. And places like that were already selling thoroughly vetted items.
Somewhere with decent quality, but not too expensive.
One place came to mind immediately.
Next time, Insadong might be good.
The duration has ended.
This time was a disappointment, but I’d confirmed the existence of noble relics directly at the museum, so I figured I’d be able to choose better next time.
***
A few days later, in Planning Team 3.
“So the TF team’s work is done?”
“Not completely, but the busy part is basically over.”
“Nice work.”
“Not at all. It actually went more smoothly than I expected.”
For the first time in a while, I was back in our original team office.
The ad proposal we’d put forward had been well received on the Chinese side, and the first completed draft we’d sent not long ago had also passed review without much pushback.
At this point, there probably wouldn’t be anything major left to trip over.
“So you’ll be staying over here for a while too, then, senior?”
“I think I’ll only need to go to the TF team on Wednesdays.”
“Oh, nice. The missing assistant managers really left a hole.”
“There are plenty of people who can work even without us.”
“No, seriously, not at all!”
Kim, the section chief, came over as if curious.
“Oh, and you went to Shanghai too, right? How was it?”
“Yeah. Everyone was worried because it was China, but it was cleaner and nicer than I expected.”
“Really? Do you have any photos? I want to see them.”
“Sure. I’ll show you.”
I started with the lamb skewer place I’d gone to with Assistant Manager Park, then showed them a few photos I’d taken while sightseeing after work in Shanghai.
“Wow, that’s nice...”
“Assistant Manager, the night view is gorgeous too.”
“You went to all these places?”
“Yeah. I took them all myself.”
“Amazing... I’m jealous.”
“This is an observatory, and they said you could walk outside on ropes.”
“Seriously? Did you do it too?”
“I was too scared to.”
It wasn’t that I had acrophobia.
It was just that, in another country or not, this was China, and safety accidents made me nervous enough as it was.
“And this is the lounge in the hotel we stayed at, and this part too...”
I was in the middle of explaining the photos when...
Whoa.
A totally unexpected KakaoTalk message rang in.
“Choi Kang-san...?”
“The only Choi Kang-san I know is that ridiculously handsome actor.”
Sure enough, the moment that name appeared, Section Chief Oh Eun-ha and Section Chief Kim reacted at once.
I flinched.
How am I supposed to explain this?
But I didn’t even need to think about it for long.
“It’s obviously just someone with the same name.”
Assistant Manager Park’s sharp interjection had everyone nodding along.
“Right, that makes sense.”
“You really think there’s only one Choi Kang-san in the world?”
But that little punk Choi Kang-san had chosen the perfect moment to be a problem.
“...”
Of all the messages for him to send.
The female staff clustered beside me saw it in real time.
“Assistant Manager...”
The employees stared at me in shock.
With their eyes sparkling bright with expectation, they asked me hopefully,
“Are you friends with actor Choi Kang-san?”