Obstacles and Hope (3)

"Do you have some idea in mind?"

On the way back to the factory, Park Han-soo studied Jung Seung-hyun, who sat in the passenger seat.

Seung-hyun, who had been in a hurry moments ago, now sat quietly with his mouth shut, thinking through something with unusual calm.

"Ah, yes. I’ve thought of something. I think it’ll become clear once I check the inventory warehouse."

The moment they arrived at the factory, Seung-hyun headed straight for the storage warehouse.

He began pulling out the stacked fabrics one by one and touching them with his hand.

"Not this one... not this one either..."

How long did he keep sorting through them?

Seeing the information that surfaced when he touched the fabric, Seung-hyun brightened visibly.

He had thought one of the fabrics he’d handled before might fit, and sure enough, these bolts stacked in one corner of the warehouse were exactly right.

"Manager Park, what are these fabrics?"

Park Han-soo came over and examined the cloth.

"Ah... these were actually rejected stock, but..."

"Rejected?"

"Taesung Apparel marked them defective because they came out too thick and too stiff. The funny thing is, they were something Taesung itself had requested for a winter line of its own, but once they got the samples, they said it wasn’t what they’d expected and sent them all back. We were wondering what to do with them, then got distracted by Taesung going back and forth over whether they’d increase their order volume, so we just ended up shoving them aside. There should be about 2,000 yards here."

Seung-hyun kept checking the fabric.

Of the total 5,000 yards in inventory, 2,000 yards were this high-density silk, and the rest was ordinary apparel fabric.

"Do you happen to have the contact for any interior design firms?"

"Hmm... I know a company that supplies interior materials through the middle, but... just a moment."

Park Han-soo went to the office and came ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠back with a worn notebook.

"Here it is. Dae-ryung Trading. We met at the textile industry expo held at Kintex last year, so we did exchange business cards."

"Then could you give me the number?"

Before the factory manager could even make sense of what was happening, he handed over the notebook, and Seung-hyun went into the president’s office and called without a second thought.

After two rings, someone picked up.

"Yes, this is Dae-ryung Trading."

"Hello. This is Jung Seung-hyun from Haesol Textile."

"Haesol Textile?"

The other party seemed to search his memory for a moment.

"Yes. The thing is, we happen to have some high-density silk fabric, and I was wondering if you might need it. If not, I’m sorry for bothering you."

The sudden topic seemed to catch him off guard.

"Oh... I see. How much inventory are we talking about?"

Still, if they needed fabric, he had bitten the hook at once.

"About 2,000 yards, but what matters most is quality, isn’t it? Have a look first and judge after that..."

"Could you send us a sample?"

"Of course. What’s your address?"

After taking down the address and ending the call, Seung-hyun looked at the factory manager, who seemed utterly baffled.

"How... how did you think of that so quickly?"

"It just came to me. Could you cut a sample and send it by quick delivery to this address?"

"Of course, sir."

This was a chance.

A fabric that had been rejected for clothing because it was too thick and stiff.

But for furniture, it was in precisely the right condition.

"Manager Park, what was the unit price of this fabric?"

Park Han-soo checked the computer.

"The production cost per yard is... 78,000 won."

Seung-hyun nodded.

For clothing, it was an expensive price, and unless it was being used for premium winter wear, even apparel companies would have trouble making the numbers work.

But for luxury furniture?

"Do you know what price range fabric like this sells at in the premium furniture market?"

Park Han-soo seemed to be sweating from the head.

The son of the late president had taken over as boss, and there was so much to teach him from scratch that it had all seemed hopeless at first. But as time passed, he found himself being pulled along by the younger man instead.

And if things went badly, wouldn’t he end up as nothing more than an aging factory manager with no real ability to show for it?

"I’ll look into it."

"Yes, do that. If we’re going to get our due price, we need to know the market rate..."

At that moment, the accounting manager knocked and came into the president’s office.

"President, the payment date for the purchasing funds is approaching."

"I know. It’s this Friday, right?"

"Yes. Taesung Apparel’s accounts receivable still haven’t come in either, so... the corporate account is completely empty. At this rate, I don’t think we’ll be able to pay the employees’ salaries this month."

They still had to solve payroll, and on top of that, they had to pay for the raw yarn purchase...

"Understood. I’ll do my best to handle it."

"And..."

"Yes?"

"One of the employees, Jo Han-gyeol, has requested a meeting."

Since it was a meeting with the representative, even the factory manager left the room, and soon afterward the work team leader, Jo Han-gyeol, came in.

With a face stiff as a stone, he gave a single nod and flopped down on the reception sofa.

"What is it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you wanted to discuss...?"

"Well, there’s no need to drag this out. I’m leaving."

"What? No, I..."

Before Seung-hyun could even try to persuade him, he cut off the young president’s words at once.

"I don’t know if you’re aware, but there’ve been quite a few times the pay was late. You know that, right?"

Jo Han-gyeol’s tone was defiant, the sort that should have sounded insufferably provocative from a man in his forties, but Seung-hyun was too sorry to feel offended.

In a workplace where wages were everything, being late on pay was absolutely a management failure.

He knew from the notebook and the bank debts exactly how his father had struggled and borrowed to get this far.

"I know there have been delays of as much as half a month, sometimes a full month. I’m sorry. From next time on..."

"Next time, my ass... Look, I’m deeply sorry the president passed away, but honestly, if a young boss like you comes into a company that’s already struggling and says he’ll turn things around, who’s going to believe him and follow along? Isn’t that right?"

"..."

"These days the economy’s bad and companies are dropping like flies, I get that, but if you tell us to keep working for a company whose future is obvious, people like us who live on a paycheck are too scared to keep going."

"I understand. Then about when..."

"I’ll work only until the end of this month. And..."

"Yes?"

"I’m speaking on behalf of a few others who are having a hard time, so don’t take it personally."

Only then did Seung-hyun realize that Jo Han-gyeol had come as a representative for those planning to resign, and that there would likely be quite a few of them.

"Ah... how many people are leaving? Which ones...?"

"Since they’re quitting anyway, I’ll tell you straight, but I hope you won’t go trying to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠persuade each and every one of them. If a young guy grabs hold of their pant legs and begs, it gets... awkward. The older women are very uncomfortable with it. You know what I mean, right?"

By then, Seung-hyun, who had first felt only sorry, was beginning to get genuinely angry.

Who was he to say he couldn’t persuade them?

But he gave no sign of it.

"Sigh... yes. Understood."

As if he had said everything he intended to say, Jo Han-gyeol left the president’s office just like that.

Only ten minutes ago, Seung-hyun had been full of hope, and now it felt as if a bank of dark clouds had suddenly rolled in.

If the experienced team leader left with the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠workers he got along with, wouldn’t that leave a huge hole in the company?

At that moment, after a knock, Park Han-soo came in.

"Did he say he was quitting?"

Seung-hyun rose from the sofa and sat down at his father’s desk.

"You knew."

"After all... since I’m a young president, it’s only natural that the employees won’t trust me easily. Especially the younger men who haven’t spent much time working in factories."

In a factory like this, a "young man" usually meant someone in his thirties who hadn’t yet reached forty.

Unless he was a foreigner, nobody in their twenties could possibly be working in a place like this.

"I suppose so. I understand."

"Then please rest until Dae-ryung gets back to you."

The factory manager left, worrying about the young president’s mental state.

There was no help he could give by staying, and besides, he had work to do.

After he was gone, Seung-hyun sat there blankly, and then his eyes fell on the memo pad on his father’s desk.

Feeling restless, and wanting to see even the faintest trace of his father, he flipped through the notes, and a word caught his eye.

Labor costs... labor costs!!

It had been underlined with furious strokes.

It looked as though his father had worried over this a great deal.

Come to think of it, if Jo Han-gyeol was taking people with him, that meant labor costs, which made up the largest fixed expense when there was no sales revenue, would go down. Was that something he should actually be glad about?

What is this. I feel insanely pissed off...

It certainly felt like a major disaster had struck, like hardship and trial had come crashing down, but a single underlined word in his father’s handwriting flipped his thoughts in an instant.

"Actually, that’s better? Right. Fine... tell them to go."

Then Seung-hyun suddenly remembered the fabrics piled in the inventory warehouse.

Fabrics with poor yarn quality and defective weaving...

If Haesol Textile’s technical level was truly that poor, then why had his father always told him that Haesol’s technology was the best?

Seung-hyun couldn’t make sense of it.

So he left the office and looked for the factory manager.

"Manager Park, can you check which line each of the fabrics in the inventory warehouse came from?"

"Well... since they weren’t all made on a single line, it’s a little tricky, but it’s not impossible. Each line does have its own assigned work."

"Then wait a moment."

Seung-hyun brought the factory manager back to the inventory warehouse.

Then he stood in front of the fabric he had marked before, Lot No. 1.

Seung-hyun clearly remembered that when he touched that fabric at the time, the information had come up exactly like this, and he said to the factory manager,

"Which line produced this?"

"This is..."

Seung-hyun carefully tried to sound him out.

"Could it be... the line under Team Leader Jo Han-gyeol?"

The factory manager, blinking as he turned to look at Seung-hyun, seemed to remember something and let out a groan.

"How did you...?"