The top two floors of Chunha Trading's office building were used as dormitories.
There were five rooms on each floor, a total of ten rooms, with four people sharing each room.
Maru and I also lived in the dormitory, each of us occupying a room as company executives.
But it was only in name. We usually gathered in my room after work, drank soju, and fell asleep there.
On June 29th, we were in my room, drinking soju after applying for Park Jong-bum's passport for his Japan trip and searching for a local interpreter.
"Oh my God, how could they…"
"Shoddy construction. It's all shoddy construction. Those bastards should be thrown in jail."
The news about the Sampoong Department Store collapse was playing non-stop on TV.
The sight of wailing families and the relentless rescue efforts filled me with sorrow.
"How many people do you think will survive?"
"I don't know. Could anyone survive in a collapsed building? I wouldn't be confident."
We silently drank our soju, and then Maru suddenly said,
"Hyung, remember when we participated in those insurance auctions for fire-damaged properties?"
"Yeah, I do. Ah, I think I know what you're getting at."
I remembered the auctions we had attended for stores and businesses that had received insurance payouts after fires or accidents.
Maru was suggesting that if the Sampoong Department Store was insured, it might be auctioned off through the insurance company.
"I doubt it. So many people died and were injured. Do you think they'll handle it like a small fire at a local store?"
Maru nodded in understanding and turned his attention back to the TV. I asked curiously,
"Why are you asking about that all of a sudden? You're usually the one who tries to stop me from doing these things."
"…I was just thinking. If we do participate in the auction, maybe we could donate the profits to charity. That's the least we can do."
"Donate?"
"We haven't exactly lived righteous lives, have we? It wouldn't hurt to do some good deeds. You wouldn't donate money out of the blue, would you?"
"What have we done wrong? Everyone evades taxes. And bribing people is just a way of building relationships, right? You lose out if you're too honest in this world. Anyway, donation, huh. Let's look into it. Why not?"
Maru smiled at my positive response and continued watching TV.
Donation… I had agreed to Maru's suggestion, and if things actually went that way, I would have to donate.
Before I started the junkyard business, I had thought, "I'm the one who needs help, who am I to donate?" But now that I was somewhat successful, I had become more generous.
"By the way, your brother's engagement ceremony is in a few days."
"You're going, right?"
"Why would I go? I'll just say I'm busy and skip it."
"But shouldn't you go? Not for your brother, but for your parents."
"I already bought them those expensive watches last time to save face."
"Okay, do what you want."
It had been three months since I started the secondhand goods business in earnest. Many traders had given up and dropped out, and as the volume of transactions decreased, Chinese secondhand importers also started holding back and observing the situation.
"They need to give up and leave Korea so I can really start manipulating the market…"
"They must have made a lot of money buying Korean secondhand goods. It won't be easy for them to give up. But if we keep squeezing them with the price list, they'll eventually collapse."
It was Team Leader Park Jong-bum who responded.
Despite his enthusiastic declaration about his business trip to Japan, the preparations were moving at a snail's pace.
Park Jong-bum, who had never traveled abroad before, obviously didn't have a passport, and the visa application process was a nightmare.
And with the summer vacation season approaching, it was difficult to find plane tickets. In the end, even after two weeks, Park Jong-bum was still stuck in Korea.
"The profits are still decent, so just be patient for a little longer, sir."
Last month, the discarded computer assembly business generated sales of 320 million won and a net profit of 150 million won. On the other hand, the secondhand goods business generated sales of over 5 billion won, but the net profit was only 100 million won.
Ten people working in the discarded computer assembly factory were bringing in 150 million won in net profit, while the secondhand goods business had 100 employees. The efficiency was too low.
"But the donation box contracts are going smoothly. We've secured contracts for over half of the 2,000 boxes, including the 1,000 new ones."
The donation box rental business was progressing very well.
Junkyard owners, who were initially skeptical, were signing contracts after hearing positive feedback from others.
We also changed the installation method from us installing and leasing the boxes to the junkyards designating their preferred locations within a certain radius, ensuring no overlap with other donation boxes.
As expected, some people tried to copy our donation boxes, but they quickly backed down after facing protests from the association staff I had hired.
The minimum security deposit was 100,000 won with a monthly rent of 10,000 won. For apartments and residential areas, it was 200,000 won with 20,000 won rent, and for high-end residential complexes, it was 300,000 won with 30,000 won rent. The contract period was one year.
"It'll be quite lucrative once we reach our target of 5,000 boxes. It shouldn't be too difficult to manage, right?"
"That's right. Once the installation is complete, 2-3 management staff should be enough."
I nodded and said,
"Anything else? I have a meeting with CEO Wu today, so I need to leave soon."
"Ah, sir, there's actually a problem…"
"Let's see it."
"Yes, it's about the computers that arrived from the South Gyeongsang-do branch. They buy from so many different places that it's impossible to track where they got this one. I've told them to write the junkyard's name on the computers from now on and to double-check when buying."
The computer case was already open, disassembled by a worker, and the inside was a mess.
It was a haphazardly assembled jumble of parts. There were two motherboards crammed in instead of a power supply, the network card was missing, and there were two unconnected hard drives inside.
"Look, there's even a cigarette butt."
There was also trash inside, like cigarette butts and crumpled tissues.
"Did you test the motherboards?"
"Yes, both of them are discarded boards. They're broken."
"What about the hard drives?"
"They're also…"
I was speechless.
They had sold me a truly "discarded" computer.
"This looks like someone cobbled it together from leftover parts after a repair job."
"I think so too. It seems like a computer repair shop assembled it from discarded components and sold it to a junkyard."
"Hmm…"
Would this happen again? It was more likely to increase than decrease.
"But Team Leader Park, do you think the junkyard or the computer repair shop sold this to us to screw us over, or is there another reason?"
"Are you talking about the discarded circuit board issue?"
"Yes."
Team Leader Park Jong-bum thought for a moment and said,
"Maybe both?"
"Both?"
"They might have sold it to us out of spite, and also to get rid of their discarded circuit boards. Kill two birds with one stone, right?"
As I was pondering a solution, Team Leader Park Jong-bum subtly suggested,
"Sir, how about we start collecting discarded circuit boards too?"
"Discarded circuit boards?"
"Yes. We could be their savior and solve their disposal problem while they're still worthless. It would improve our image and reduce the number of cases like this, although it might not eliminate them entirely."
"Are you sure discarded circuit boards will become valuable?"
"To be honest, I'm not sure. That's why I want to go to Japan and find out. Think of it as an investment."
"An investment, huh."
Team Leader Park Jong-bum nodded.
"We need to find value in things that others overlook to make money, right? I'm already going to Japan, so why not give it a try? It won't cost much."
He was right. If his Japan trip solved the discarded circuit board issue, we would have to start collecting them anyway.
It wouldn't hurt to start early.
"Alright, let's do it. Let's buy any discarded circuit board for 100 won per kg. It's only 1 million won for 10 tons."
I was willing to invest a few million won in hopes of a potential jackpot.
"Thank you for considering my suggestion."
"Our original plan was to become a discarded computer wholesaler, but we're just expanding our scope a little. To electronic scrap. We have plenty of space in the computer warehouse, and as you said, boards aren't worth much anyway, so don't worry about losing money and proceed with the plan."
"Yes, and how about calling it 'electronic scrap' instead of 'electronic waste wholesaler'?"
"Electronic scrap? I understand 'electronic,' but what's 'scrap'?"
Team Leader Park Jong-bum scratched his head and said,
"It means 'junk' in English. It sounds more sophisticated than 'junkyard,' so I came up with it."
"Hahahahahaha!"
I laughed heartily, wiping away tears.
"Electronic scrap. Electronic scrap. I like it. A junkyard specializing in electronic components and products. Electronic scrap. Alright, let's go with that. Tell the branch staff to use the term 'electronic scrap.' And oh! Make sure they double-check the computers before buying them."
"Yes, sir."