Chapter 94

Chapter 94

Chapter 94 A Belated Vacation (1)

A leisurely lunchtime.

As always, our team had eaten before everyone else and was now enjoying a languid coffee break at a nearby café.

“Ahh, where should we go this year? Manager Lee, have you decided?”

“I’m going to Hokkaido.”

“Hokkaido? Wow, you even vacation smart. Right. When it’s hot, you should go somewhere cool. Maybe I should take the kids to Hokkaido this year too?”

“You’re going because of the beer, aren’t you?”

“Wahaha, I suppose that’s true too.”

It was August.

It was rather late to be talking about vacations, but our team always took ours around this time of year.

That was because the principle of ‘If you rest when everyone else does, there won’t be trouble afterward’ applied as an exception specifically to our team.

The only people handling practical work on the Strategic Planning Team were Manager Lee and me, so as long as it wasn’t the busy period around the end or beginning of the year, it didn’t matter much when we took time off.

As a result, avoiding the vacation season when everything was needlessly expensive because it was peak season and scheduling our vacations in June or late August had become something of an unofficial team tradition.

“By the way, where are you going, Manager Kim? Your kid’s in elementary school too, so I guess you’ll have to go somewhere far.”

“Pardon?”

“What? Don’t tell me you’re just going to stay home again this time?”

“No matter what, surely not! Right...?”

“Haha.”

That had been the plan.

I wasn’t particularly fond of traveling far in the first place, and my annual vacation days had always been something I merely used up.

Of course, I wasn’t saying anything insane like working was better than resting.

I had simply realized a little earlier than most the eternal truth that leaving home only brought hardship.

But I couldn’t do that anymore.

As the department head said, I wasn’t alone anymore.

Especially Lia. She hadn’t even been alive for a full year yet, so there were far too many places she had never visited.

The only outings she’d really had were when Serin’s mother occasionally took her and Serin to nearby museums or recreation facilities.

The excuse that work at the company and all kinds of incidents at the coffeehouse kept overlapping and left me no time had long since expired.

“I think I’ll go somewhere a little farther this time too.”

“Really?”

“Seriously? Where are you going? Taiwan? Or Southeast Asia?”

“Come on, places like that are exhausting in summer. It’s not like you’re going to stay inside a resort all day. If you’re going anyway, why not spend a little more and go somewhere like Hawaii or Guam?”

“Okgye Beach.”

“Huh?”

“No, at least go to Haeundae. Why...”

“I don’t like crowds.”

“But it’s the off-season anyway!”

“I still want to go somewhere with as few people as possible.”

Part of it was because I disliked crowded places, but the bigger reason was that the family members coming with me were anything but ordinary.

If I could, I honestly wanted to take our vacation somewhere deep in the mountains with no one else around.

__________

After returning home, I immediately announced the vacation plan I had decided on today.

They said to strike while the iron was hot. If I didn’t decide and prepare now, by the time the day arrived I might come up with some convincing excuse not to go, or change the destination to somewhere more convenient, so this was an extraordinary measure.

“We’re going on vacation.”

“Ooooooh! A vacation?”

“Yeah. Since it’s been a while, let’s go to the sea. What do you think?”

“Ooooooh! That sounds good! There’s lots of food at the sea. There are clams, seaweed, and maybe we’ll even catch fish!”

“Heh heh, I thought you’d merely close the coffeehouse and rest for a few days, but even you go to the sea or mountains when the time comes.”

“Lia still hasn’t seen the ocean.”

“I saw it on MeTube! There’s this huge stretch of blue water!”

“Seeing it in person will probably be different. What do you think? You want to go, right?”

“Yes!”

“Then let’s start preparing right away.”

“Huh? There’s still plenty of time before we leave. What preparation is there to do already?”

“We’re going camping.”

That was why I had been worried about compromising.

A lot of people liked it, but for someone like me who had no interest in it to begin with, the word alone was enough to make my head spin.

Pitching a tent, starting a fire, organizing all kinds of equipment. If you didn’t enjoy it, wasn’t every single moment simply transformed into labor?

But since we were going all the way to the sea, we might as well try everything we could so we wouldn’t have regrets.

And so we raced straight to a warehouse-style camping supply store.

“Wow! It’s really huge!”

“Yeah. I didn’t know it would be this big either.”

______________

‘Another nuisance who isn’t going to buy anything.’

He had been running a camping supply store for thirteen years now.

Troublesome customers gave off a different aura even before exchanging a single word.

First of all, the group itself was ambiguous.

Two handsome young men, a pretty little white girl, and a boy who looked at a glance as though his head was already full of plans to mess with the displayed products.

‘Of course, the tagalongs don’t matter. The problem is the person with the decision-making power.’

If a married couple came in, it was likely to be the wife. If there was an age difference, the younger person was usually the one with the final say.

Unfortunately, the handsome young man who appeared to be the decision-maker clearly had no interest in camping.

The chair he had just walked past was a newly released folding chair from a brand called the Hermès of camping chairs.

There were almost no listings for it even domestically, and an importer who knew his difficult circumstances had barely managed to secure one for him, yet the young man walked past it indifferently as though he were simply shopping for groceries.

If he had even the slightest amount of ‘camping experience,’ he should have made a fuss and come over asking if he could sit in it.

‘Some random guy killing time with his cousins.’

Jinseong’s group had been inside the store for less than a minute, yet the man’s assessment of them had already fallen so low it had practically drilled through the basement.

Still, a customer was a customer.

Treating people differently simply because they seemed unlikely to buy anything went completely against his philosophy of doing business.

“If you have any questions while looking around, feel free to ask.”

“Thank you. We’ll look around a little. Sani! Don’t touch that!”

“I was just going to look...”

“You’re lying! Lia, hold his hand for me.”

“Yes!”

‘Well, at least he has manners.’

The young man not only slightly bowed his head in thanks at the standard sales greeting, but even scolded the child who was trying to touch the merchandise.

Compared to the parents who had let their children run around like it was a playground, then demanded hospital fees after they fell, he was practically an angel.

And after that angel looked around the store for quite a while, he said something astonishing.

“Could I buy this entire setup exactly as it is?”

“Pardon?”

“The truth is, I don’t know much about camping equipment. I’d like to buy everything in this setup. Is there anything else I’d need?”

Coincidentally, the setup the young man had pointed at included the most expensive camping chair he had passed earlier.

And it wasn’t only the camping chair.

A luxury American cast-iron pot and frying pan, cups, a table, lamps, even a mattress. It had been decorated exclusively with the most expensive brands of the era.

It was a realization of every camper’s dream, so more people took drooling photos of it than actually asked the price with the intention of buying it.

Yet someone who knew nothing about camping was casually saying he wanted the entire thing?

‘He doesn’t exactly look wealthy...’

Even the car parked outside was an ancient compact car that looked as though it should have been sent straight to the scrapyard.

He probably hadn’t properly looked at the price tags.

Or maybe he had simply assumed camping gear all cost roughly the same amount.

The man fell into thought for a moment.

Then he gave a small nod and spoke.

“Customer, these products are very expensive for beginners, so I have some difficulty recommending them. If you’re staying overnight, the weather still isn’t cold, so why don’t you first take a look at those pop-up tents over there?”

‘Right. It’s not like you need to be rich to go camping.’

Just because someone was struggling financially didn’t mean they shouldn’t camp.

A cheap tent, a picnic mat, and a portable gas burner were enough to enjoy a romantic night outdoors.

But the young man was firm.

“It’s all right. Please give me everything here.”

“No, but still, the price...”

The strange tug-of-war between an owner trying to sell cheaply and a customer trying to pay more continued for some time, until naturally, the one who finally raised both hands in surrender was the owner, who desperately needed the day’s sales.

The amount Jinseong, the victor, transferred to his account was an astonishing fifteen million won.

“I saw a sign saying you offer delivery. Would that be possible? My car is a little small.”

“Pardon? Ah! Of course! Just give me the address and I’ll pack it and send it tomorrow—no, I’ll send it today!”

“It’s already too late for us today, so tomorrow is fine.”

“Thank you! If there’s ever any problem with the products, contact me anytime. Thank you very much!”

The man continued bowing and expressing his gratitude until Jinseong’s group got into the car and drove away.

And after Jinseong’s car crossed the traffic light and disappeared into the distance,

‘Was that a dream?’

He pinched his cheek and repeatedly refreshed the banking app showing the transfer history, but the enormous balance remained unchanged.

“Sniff.”

The man’s mouth was spread into a huge grin, yet for some reason, tears were welling in his eyes.

-Beedle-deedle.

Only after hurriedly wiping away his tears did the man call someone.

“Hey, honey. You know our living expenses for this month? I don’t think we have to break the savings account after all. Oh, and should I bring home the sushi you like today? No, forget that. Let’s eat out! I’ll come straight over after I finish, so get ready! Okay?”

The very first thing the man did after receiving the large sum of money was hurry to his wife, who had been holding back from eating what she wanted because they had tightened their belts so much.

__________

On the way home in the car, I glanced to the side while making a right turn and saw the Elder grinning.

“What do you have to say this time that you’re smiling like that?”

“Heh heh, I was merely thinking that the miser had made another extravagant waste of money. Like the owner said, they didn’t look all that different from the cheaper products.”

“He was an honest man. Even though business didn’t seem to be going particularly well.”

The camping boom had passed long ago.

That was probably why he looked so gloomy even while staying at the store alone until late.

But he was honest.

He was quite different from other merchants who, whenever an inexperienced customer came in, would somehow try to sell expensive goods using the logic that ‘If you buy something proper the first time, you won’t have to spend twice later.’

Even though his circumstances seemed difficult, he appeared to be the kind of person who simply couldn’t deceive someone by nature.

I liked people like that quite a lot.

And buying expensive camping equipment I hadn’t originally planned on purchasing was both a reward for that goodness and a fairly decent trade.

Hadn’t I learned that even objects being bought and sold could carry good or evil energy?

I had merely added the value of that good energy to the price of what I had originally intended to buy.

“Yes, yes. You earn like a nobleman and spend like one too. If you intend to keep living so generously, hurry up and replace this piece-of-shit car already, tsk.”

-Screech.

“Good grief, you brat. Are you throwing a tantrum just because I nagged you a little?”

“Elder, I just realized we don’t have any room for the camping equipment.”

I had completely forgotten.

I’d had the equipment delivered because there was no room in the car, but with this many people riding along too, where exactly was I supposed to put all the luggage?