Chapter 27
“Let’s get started again today.”
For the second piece in my leathercraft line, I decided to make two items: a wallet and a bag.
I wanted them to be useful in everyday life, since they were my way of thanking the two of them for promoting my emoticons.
Even after making that decision, though, I was at a loss about how to design them.
But because both Lim Yu-jin and Choi Kang-san were celebrities, finding a direction turned out to be easier than I’d expected.
Once I logged into their social media accounts and took a quick overall look, their tastes were obvious.
First, the wallet.
I started by cutting the recommended premium leather, then skiving it, layering on thinner, finer leather to give it strength, gluing everything together, and punching the holes.
After that came cross-stitching with waxed thread, edge finishing, and finally coating and waxing.
Of course, that sounded easy when put into words, but once I actually began working, I had to drop into a state of total concentration.
I used a sewing machine here and there, and for the parts where a machine was awkward, I stitched by hand. No matter how much talent I had, this was still my first time doing leathercraft, so I wasn’t delicate enough at first and ended up failing over and over, wasting pieces of leather along the way.
The bag for Lim Yu-jin was a little more complicated to make, but with the boost from my talent, two days were enough.
“Done!”
When I thought about the cost of the leather I’d thrown away along the way, it was the sort of thing that felt too precious to sell even if someone offered money for it.
“Worth it.”
Just looking at the finished piece, flawless in every respect, made me smile.
The reddish-brown leather, rich with sunlight, shone softly depending on the angle of the light.
Every stitch was so fine it seemed almost impossible, yet it all came together in perfect harmony with the leather.
And most important of all, the design was restrained enough not to go out of style, while still being distinctive.
It looks extremely satisfying to me, but...
Still, pretending I wasn’t worried would have been a lie.
Both Choi Kang-san and Lim Yu-jin were famous enough that I couldn’t be sure they’d actually use handmade leather goods that weren’t luxury-brand items.
Don’t overthink it. That’s up to the person receiving it. The person giving it just has to put their heart into it.
Without dwelling on it, I contacted Choi Kang-san.
“Hey, Kang-san. How have you been? It’s been a while, so maybe we should meet up?”
***
HR Entertainment, in Seongsu-dong.
“Hyung-nim, come in and make yourself comfortable.”
“Is it really okay for an ordinary guy like me to come in here?”
“Of course. You’re my guest.”
Choi Kang-san strode through the gate without hesitation and went in.
“I’ll show you around the company first. This is our practice room, and the kids preparing mostly for idol work stay here a lot...”
As we walked around the building, it looked remarkably similar to what you saw on TV.
You could almost call it the textbook example of a big-name company that everybody admired.
It would be nice to work at a place like this, too.
My current company was decent enough and counted as a respectable mid-sized firm, but the difference in welfare and pay compared to a large corporation was on another level entirely.
The people working here probably don’t even think about side jobs, do they?
I was envious, but not enough to want to give up my current life and jump ship.
A stable, ordinary life.
A quiet, not-too-busy everyday routine.
That was my direction in life.
After about thirty minutes of touring the company, Choi Kang-san led me into a meeting room that happened to be fairly empty.
“Still, I’m glad you came. You even reached out first, Hyung-nim.”
“Ah, actually I brought something for you.”
“Oh? A present?”
“You promoted my emoticons last time. I wanted to thank you for that.”
“Come on, it wasn’t promotion. I got them for free and they were cute, so I just posted about them.”
“Hey, I’m not just anybody. I work in advertising. You think I don’t know what it costs to put one post on your social feed? That kind of exposure runs into tens of millions, sometimes hundreds of millions of won.”
“Haha, sure, but I’m not getting paid every time I post something.”
Even if it had been a favor, gratitude was still gratitude.
“Anyway, it’s not worth that much, but I wanted to give you something, at least.”
I handed him the shopping bag with the wallet inside.
“I made it myself.”
“Oh, handmade?”
“Yeah.”
His eyes sparkled as he asked, “Can I open it?”
“Go ahead.”
Rustle-rustle.
Choi Kang-san’s eyes went wide the moment he opened the wrapping.
“Holy crap, this is insane!”
He looked shocked as he pulled out the wallet.
“You made this yourself, Hyung-nim?”
“Yep. I do leathercraft now, too.”
“That’s crazy. I love this so much.”
He grinned ear to ear, opening and closing the wallet, turning it over, looking at the front and back, and even peering inside as he marveled over it.
“The quality’s unreal... Are you seriously telling me you made this and didn’t buy it?”
“I told you.”
“This is insane, insane...”
He kept bursting into amazement.
“A few days ago I lost my wallet while drinking. This is perfect.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“It’s ridiculously pretty. I’ve actually been getting leathercraft channels shoved at me by the algorithm on YouTube lately, so I subscribed to a few. I never imagined I’d end up getting one in person like this.”
“Oh, so you’ve been active on video too?”
“Yeah. That side of things gets pretty good views, too. Why don’t you try it?”
“Nah, that kind of thing feels a little too much for me.”
Making the things I wanted to make on my own was enough.
“Hyung-nim, I really like this wallet, so is there anything you need? I want to repay you, too.”
Choi Kang-san clutched the wallet with both hands and asked.
“Don’t worry about it. Just ask comfortably.”
“I’m the one paying you back in the first place, so...”
“Still, it’s what I want to do.”
“No, really, don’t.”
I waved my hands hard.
“If we keep trading things back and forth like that, it’ll only make things harder for me.”
“Ah, I see?”
Even so, he still looked uncomfortable, drawing in a quiet breath as if the matter remained on his mind.
“But if there’s anything you need...”
“Then can I ask you for one other favor?”
“Oh, yes, yes. Anything.”
His eyes lit up as if he’d been waiting for that.
“If it’s something I can do, anything at all.”
“I’ve always wanted to try this after watching TV. I’ve been curious about it for ages.”
“The way you’re saying that is making me nervous... this is something I can do, right?”
“Probably?”
“Go on, then.”
“So, um...”
I asked him seriously.
“Can I eat lunch in the company cafeteria?”
“...Pardon?”
“I heard HR Entertainment’s food is really good.”
“...”
He let out a startled burst of laughter, then went weak with helpless chuckling.
“This is exactly why I like you, Hyung-nim.”
“...Huh?”
“Come on, follow me. It’s lunchtime anyway. Let’s go right now.”
***
“...How many side dishes is this supposed to be?”
Braised pork ribs, shrimp fried rice, salad, fried egg, and japchae.
Soft tofu stew, cucumbers kimchi-style, cubed radish kimchi, shrimp tempura, and squid rings, too.
“Is today some kind of special meal day?”
“Nope. It’s like this on normal days, too.”
“...”
I’d heard that the meals at the five major entertainment agencies were tastier than the food at most big corporations, and it was true.
The level really was different.
“I’ll eat well.”
“Dig in.”
Slurp.
The moment I took a bite of the stew, I couldn’t help but admire it.
This is better than the popular lunch spots in front of my company.
It wasn’t just that there were more side dishes. Everything tasted excellent, too.
“At this point, I could come in every day just to eat.”
“Then should I get you a pass here? You won’t need meal tickets anyway...”
“No. Absolutely not.”
I was only joking.
Why on earth would I come here alone just to eat?
“It’s fine. If anyone asks, I’ll just say I’m a friend of Choi Kang-san...”
“Stop.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Anyway, thanks to you, I got to eat at a celebrity cafeteria.”
“Next time, you should try broadcaster food too.”
“...”
If someone else had said that, I would have answered, “Sure, let’s do that,” without thinking twice. But with him, it didn’t sound like empty talk, and that made it hard to answer casually.
“Hey, Kang-san.”
“Yes?”
“Do you happen to have Lim Yu-jin’s contact info?”
“Lim Yu-jin? Yeah, I’ve got her number. Why?”
“I made a present for her too, as thanks.”
“Oh, another leathercraft piece?”
“Right. I made a bag.”
“Wow, that’s incredible.”
“It’s in my car. Can I give it to her later if you pass it along? Or should I leave it here since we’re in the same company? Maybe if I hand it to the front desk, they’ll deliver it?”
“Don’t do that. Just contact her directly. Why not DM her?”
“Direct message?”
“Yeah. I can give you her contact, but honestly, DM sounds better. You two already follow each other.”
“My social media’s deactivated.”
“Right, that’s true. Then I’ll call Yu-jin after lunch.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
Even if it was meant as a gift, if I called her up out of the blue and asked to meet just because I was giving her something in return, she might think I had ulterior motives or was trying to get close to her in a sleazy way, and I didn’t want that awkwardness. I was glad Choi Kang-san was handling it.
“By the way, Hyung-nim, you deactivated your account because your follower count suddenly shot up, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Figured as much.”
He smiled like he’d expected it all along.
“How long are you planning to keep it deactivated?”
“Not sure... it’s not like I’m particularly interested in social media anyway.”
“You should reactivate it soon. These days everybody uses that to keep in touch.”
As he said it, there was mischief all over Choi Kang-san’s face.
“You’re trying to tag me again, aren’t you?”
“Ah, you caught me.”
“Hey, no. I can’t handle more followers.”
“Haha, got it. You really are different from me. You’d be stressed out if you were a celebrity, Hyung-nim.”
“I’d never make it, even if I died and came back.”
That much was true, considering I barely even looked at my acting talent these days.
“But seriously, I think you should keep it active. You make leather goods and all kinds of things, Hyung-nim, so you’re going to keep doing it, right? These days, most new requests come in through DM.”
“Ah, that’s fair.”
Especially since I’d already promoted things with figurines.
If I wanted to make good use of my talent, social media was basically essential in this day and age.
“And besides, you’ll be able to hear from me now and then, and I can hear from you too.”
“All right, I get it.”
Come to think of it, that was reasonable.
“By the way, Hyung-nim. Do you do your leathercraft at home?”
“No. I don’t have the equipment, so I can’t do it as a homemade setup. I work in a studio.”
“Wow, you have a studio too?”
“Of course I rent one.”
At least I was making money from my side jobs, because for a regular office worker like me, even renting a workshop or buying materials was a serious burden.
“At this level of skill, why not get your own workspace?”
“...My own workspace?”
“Yeah. You’ve got a lot of side jobs, Hyung-nim.”
“That’s true.”
By now, I was up to seven talents.
On top of that, it was about time for the next one to appear, too.
“A space that’s just for your side work would be nice.”
“That sounds a little too serious to me.”
“Why not think of it as a private hideout instead of just a side-job space?”
“...A hideout?”
“Yeah. It’d be good for having a drink and hanging out with friends when it feels awkward to invite people home. And when you’re working on your own projects, you’d be able to focus way better than you can at home. It’d be a hideout, a workshop, and a personal studio all in one.”
He added from experience, “Our company has practice rooms, too, but there’s a big difference between borrowing one and having your own.”
“Really...?”
“Of course. Using something after getting permission from the company and being able to come and go however you want are completely different things.”
A private workshop.
That was definitely appealing...
***
A few days later.
- Yes, author-nim. Normally sales drop after the first month, but the figurine raffle event really caught attention. Because of that, sales jumped significantly.
“But this much?”
- It even drew in users who had only been using the subscription before, and got them to buy outright.
“Ah... then there shouldn’t be any problem with the settlement, right?”
- That’s correct.
Assistant Manager Baek Seong-sik asked carefully.
- Author-nim, do you perhaps have plans for a follow-up? Sales have been very strong, and you’ve built up a fan base too, so there’s a lot of anticipation inside the company for a second season of Scholar-ticon...
“I don’t have any ideas right now. If something comes to me later, I’ll contact you.”
- Ah, yes. Understood. Have a good day!
Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to believe.
The amount that had been deposited this time was so large that I’d naturally assumed it was some kind of error.
I had even debated ignoring it, but my conscience made me ask.
Who would’ve thought it was actually my money?
Deposit: KRW 113,245,870
SIDE JOB ACCOUNT
Balance: KRW 126,725,640
“That’s insane...”
I was so awed that I was almost moved to tears.
Aside from the brief five minutes when it had passed through my hands while I was taking out a jeonse loan for this house, this was the first time in my life I’d ever seen a balance with nine digits in my account.
What on earth am I supposed to do with this?
I hadn’t even told my coworkers about it, much less asked them what I should do.
They’d all immediately start shouting about crypto, investing, and stocks.
No matter how much money I make, I’m not even going to look at that side of things.
My first rule was simple: don’t play around with risky money games.
One hundred million won...
But now that I actually had a lump sum like this, I had no idea what to do with it.
Normally, I would have thought that the first priority should be paying off the jeonse loan as soon as I made money.
Reducing the interest going out each month even a little seemed like the right move.
But a “large sum” was different.
The impact a chunk of money could have was different altogether.
Besides, the interest itself isn’t even that high.
Since I was living in public rental housing, I’d been able to get a loan at a low rate.
Thanks to that, the money going out each month was far less than it had been back when I was renting.
That said, if I think about what I can actually do with one hundred million won, the list still isn’t that long.
Real estate, which everyone praised and swore by as if Seoul could never lose, was out of the question.
One hundred million won wasn’t even enough to buy a studio apartment in a decent location.
Maybe that was why I suddenly remembered what Choi Kang-san had told me recently.
Maybe I really should look for a studio...
A workshop or studio.
A space of my own where I couldn’t do things at home, but could do anything I wanted.
If I had a place like that, I’d feel at ease no matter what kind of side job I ended up doing next.
On top of that, being able to focus without anyone interrupting me would only improve the quality of my side work.
More than anything, if I separate home from work space, my quality of life will definitely get better.
That part mattered most.
And just then, the violin lying around in the corner of the room caught my eye.
I got the talent, but I never had anywhere to play it.
But if I had a studio, that would be a different story.
I could play to my heart’s content at night or in the early morning.
I should look into it.
If the price wasn’t too burdensome, it wouldn’t be a bad investment for my side work.
“Yes, this is Turtle Real Estate, right? I’m looking for a space that could work as a studio. Something with more room and freedom to use like a workshop rather than just convenience facilities...”
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