It's Not the Frames
"Alright, that's it for today's lecture. You all know we have midterms next week. Study hard, and I'll see you then."
"Ugh..."
Maybe it was because I hadn't set foot on campus in a while, but I was exhausted.
Do I have some kind of school allergy?
At the workshop I could work twelve hours straight without budging and be perfectly fine, but the moment I arrived at school I couldn't last three. I clearly had some kind of school allergy.
Se-hyeon looked at me like I was ridiculous.
"Seriously? You finally show up to school and all you do is sleep through class."
"I don't know. Lately the second I get here I just pass out."
I was a senior, so I wasn't attending every class to begin with. My path was already set, and I was just barely scraping together the minimum attendance in a handful of courses to keep my credits above the floor.
Not that getting a job at this point would even make sense.
My GPA was already so abysmal I'd have trouble getting hired anywhere, but that was beside the point. The workshop's income had already grown so far beyond any company salary that there was no comparison. I simply didn't feel the need to job-hunt.
Se-hyeon stood up from his seat and made his request with exaggerated care.
"Anyway, Master Craftsman Kang Cheolwoo. Would you be so kind as to buy this pitiful mortal a cup of coffee?"
"Coffee? Sure. I was tired anyway."
"Oh, as expected of our Master Kang. So generous."
I couldn't tell if he was mocking me or praising me. I gave him a look, grabbed my bag, and headed for the cafe.
And there, a familiar face.
"Senior Hee-yeon."
"Oh... well, look who it is... our Junior Kang and Se-hyeon."
Se-hyeon bristled at the way she'd phrased it.
"Hey, sunbae. Why is he 'Junior Kang' and I'm just Se-hyeon?"
"Well, that's..."
I ignored them both, pulled out my card, and stepped up to the counter.
"Did you come for coffee too, sunbae? I'll get it. What would you like?"
The offer seemed to move her deeply.
"Thanks, Junior Kang. See? That's why he's Junior Kang and you're just Se-hyeon."
Se-hyeon shut his mouth. He had nothing to say to that.
"So, what are you having?"
Hee-yeon glanced at the menu and chose first.
"I'll have a caramel macchiato."
"Me too."
"Three macchiatos, please."
I'd been about to order an iced americano, then figured matching the order would be easier, so I went with a macchiato as well.
But more importantly... why does she look like this?
Jung Hee-yeon. One of the few women senior to us in the department, and pretty enough that she used to get a confession or two every month. The person standing in front of me now was not the Jung Hee-yeon I remembered.
Her face itself hadn't changed — she was still a beauty. Everything else, however, was a wreck. Her hair was so greasy I couldn't guess when she'd last washed it, and her clothes were stained with some unidentifiable liquid spilled during an experiment and blotches of kimchi broth. It was a complete one-eighty from the woman once counted among Hanbit University's campus goddesses.
While we waited for the coffee, I asked her carefully.
"Sunbae... have you been really busy lately?"
"Huh...?"
She didn't understand at first. Then she looked down at herself and nodded.
"Haa... this is just what grad students look like. Haven't you heard, junior? If a grad student falls in the water, they don't yell 'Help!'"
"Then what do they yell?"
"They yell 'Save the grad student!' Obviously. Because they don't get to enjoy the things a human being ought to enjoy... which means they're not even human."
"......"
Her voice was laughing. Her eyes were not. Grad school was clearly wearing her down.
"Why did I even go to grad school. I should've just gotten a job. What glory was I hoping for... If I'd just ignored the professor when he was recruiting me... haa..."
She chewed on a fingernail, muttering to herself. A sight I never could have imagined from the her I'd known up through last year.
She looks exhausted... then again, so does he.
She wasn't the only one who looked like she was struggling. Se-hyeon, staring a hole through his phone with an anxious expression, looked just as worn out.
"What's with that face. Got some important announcement?"
He nodded.
"I applied to Daesan... the results should be out soon."
"Daesan? Daesan Chemical?"
"Yeah. If I don't get in here, I can pretty much kiss the big conglomerates goodbye..."
A moment later, his face plunged into gloom.
"......"
Judging by the look, he'd been rejected at the document screening.
The two people I was closest to at school were both in this state, and I couldn't help but feel for them. I pulled out my card again and handed it to the cafe owner.
"Could you box up two of every dessert you have?"
The corners of his mouth curled up at the unusually large sale.
"All of them?"
"Yes. All of them."
Se-hyeon and Senior Hee-yeon both looked genuinely moved.
"Junior Kang...!"
"Cheolwoo...!"
I peeled them off before they could get clingy. I couldn't stand that kind of thing.
"Eat something sweet and cheer up. And if it's really too much, just come work at my workshop. I need people anyway."
Hee-yeon didn't answer that, but Se-hyeon seemed to seriously consider it.
"Cheolwoo... if I strike out in the second half too, can I really come work at your shop?"
"Worry about getting in first. If it really doesn't work out, then come."
"Okay... that's a promise...!"
"Got it."
The coffee came out. The desserts weren't ready yet, but Hee-yeon, apparently starved for sugar, immediately downed her caramel macchiato.
"Hoo... the sugar's kicking in. I might actually live... But wow, the job market really is brutal these days... It's not like Se-hyeon was aiming for Samjung with those grades, and he still got auto-rejected from Daesan Chemical's document screening."
Se-hyeon answered gloomily.
"I know... when we first enrolled, Daesan wasn't even on my list of companies I wanted..."
Both of them sighed, then looked at me with open envy. I had something I wanted to say, but looking at their faces, I couldn't bring myself to say it out loud.
Come on, people. I'm the guy who did unpaid labor for over a hundred years.
The job market was brutal, all of that was true — but the All-Around Workshop kept booming without end. Television had something to do with it, but the clients who actually had money found their way in through quiet word of mouth.
Military-related clients who'd heard Major General Hwang Dae-gyun's story. Athletes who'd heard pro golfer Jeong Jae-hak's story. Even chefs who'd heard Chef Lee Jin-seong's story.
Most of the people who actually commissioned real work came through introductions like these. The ones who showed up after seeing me on TV were mostly just curious, and most of them turned around the moment they heard the prices.
Well, the TV appearance fees alone are sweet enough.
Both the cutting board and the tennis racket I'd finished today had been commissioned through introductions.
"Ugh... maybe I'll take a short break."
I set the tennis racket, finishing work complete, to the side, filled the kettle, and was about to sit down when someone came into the workshop.
Who's that?
The door opened on a short-haired man in a suit who looked to be in his forties, and behind him an old man who appeared to be in his sixties.
"Excuse me — would you happen to be Mr. Kang Cheolwoo?"
"Yes, and you are? If you're here to commission something, I'm sorry, but I'm not taking orders today. Please come back tomorrow morning."
"Ah, well, I..."
The old man behind him cut in before the other could finish.
"So you're Kang Cheolwoo?"
"Yes, that's right... but who might you be..."
Everything about the way he wore his clothes screamed money. But more than that, his face was strangely familiar. I'd seen it somewhere. I'd never met him, and yet he looked a great deal like someone I knew.
"I'm Jung Tae-geun of Daesan."
"Jung Tae-geun of Daesan...? Who is that?"
The old man's face flushed in an instant. He shouted at me, furious.
"The chairman of Daesan! Jung Tae-geun, you!"
Startled by the sudden outburst, I bowed my head in greeting.
"Ah... yes... Hello, Chairman."
How am I supposed to know what the Daesan chairman looks like...
It wasn't Samjung or Hyundo Group. How on earth was I supposed to recognize the chairman of Daesan Group?
Seeing me flustered, the middle-aged man beside him tried to calm him down.
"Chairman, please. Your physician was very clear that you must not get angry."
Only then did his complexion ease a little. Chairman Jung pulled out a chair, sat down, and apologized.
"Hoo... sorry for snapping just now. Too many people don't recognize me these days. And Daesan's a fairly major conglomerate, you know."
"Haha... I'm sorry. I'm not very worldly. I'm sure everyone else would know who you are."
I threw him a bone to save face.
"Is that so...?"
"Of course. Daesan is an incredible company."
His mood seemed to lift; his color had already improved considerably.
"Ahem... I was out of line earlier. But that Jae-hak brat didn't mention me, I take it."
"Jae-hak...?"
Ah. Wait.
"Chairman, are you by any chance Professional Golfer Jeong Jae-hak's father?"
"That's right. Didn't you know Jae-hak was a Daesan man?"
I'd vaguely known he was connected to Daesan Group, but I'd never imagined he was the chairman's son.
"I knew he was connected to Daesan, but I had no idea he was the chairman's son."
"Well. The brat would rather die than talk about family or the company anywhere."
Chairman Jung sighed. He seemed a little hurt that his son never mentioned him. He looked intimidating, but he was clearly a doting father.
"So, what brings you all the way here?"
"What other reason would a man have to come to a workshop besides a commission?"
I answered firmly.
"In that case, I'm afraid you'll have to come back tomorrow. I'm not taking commissions today."
"My, you're a picky one. Planning to make an old man past sixty come all the way back tomorrow? Think of it as respecting your elders and just do me this kindness."
Oh, for crying out loud...
If he'd thrown his chaebol weight around, refusing would have been easy. Coming at me with his age as a weapon made it much harder to turn him down.
But more importantly... this man...
Something had been bothering me since the moment he walked in.
This is definitely...
He launched into his business before I'd even said I would take the job.
"I want a pair of eyeglass frames made. I've had custom frames done several times, but they keep sliding down and I can't figure out why."
"...Eyeglass frames."
"That's right. Word is you can make anything, so I came to see if that was true."
"......"
I didn't answer. I studied his eyes once more.
I'm sure of it...
I spoke carefully.
"Chairman."
"What is it. Speak."
"I don't think the frames are the problem."
"What? What are you talking about. I came here to get glasses made, and you're telling me that's not the issue."