New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 4

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 4. New Employee (4)

 

 

 

I finally did something called leaving work on time.

When creating new patents, all routines get destroyed.

With tremendous dopamine and euphoria, I could lose track of time and focus only on the harmony coming from the gears.

 

As a result, I came home for the first time in exactly two weeks.

For me, Mother had prepared a full table of beef bulgogi.

 

“Father isn’t home yet?”

“What leaving work is there for self-employment? The chicken business is doing well these days, so he won’t be back until after midnight. But Hae-seong should be coming soon.”

 

I had a younger brother who was now a high school sophomore.

Since he had no head for studying, we had him do sports from a young age, and he was getting a reputation for being pretty good in the local area.

 

“Mom! What’s that smell? Ohhh! It’s meat. Brother, what brings you home at this hour?”

“Are you happier to see the meat than your brother you haven’t seen in a while?”

“I’m starving to death. Do you know how many times I swung the bat today? I ran around the athletic field more than twenty times.”

“Alright, let’s eat quickly. Both Jeong-hu and Hae-seong, eat up.”

 

Is he mass-breeding parasites or something?

My brother attacked the food like a runaway locomotive.

I moved my chopsticks pretty quickly too, but it wasn’t enough to keep up with an athlete’s appetite.

 

“Now I can finally live. I really thought I was going to collapse from hunger.”

“How’s training these days?”

“This is the only thing I’m good at, so I have to work hard at it.”

“Now that you’re a sophomore, isn’t it time to decide whether to go pro or to college?”

“It’s not something I can decide on my own. I’ll see the path as I go along. Oh, I’m going to go swing the bat a bit. To help with digestion too.”

 

My brother took out an old wooden bat from his bag.

 

“Don’t high school baseball players still use aluminum bats?”

“If I want to go pro, I need to get used to wooden bats from now. Besides, college baseball is switching to wooden bats starting next year. To survive, I need to prepare from now.”

 

The bat my brother took out looked shabby even from a distance.

Whether from too much practice or because it was cheap, it was a bat that had lost its original color and looked dull.

 

And it was also a bat that leaked dissonance.

The central axis was misaligned and unpleasant noise was flowing from cracks everywhere.

 

“Buy a new bat. How can you practice properly with something like that?”

“Are you going to buy me one? Wooden bats are more expensive than you think. Even basic ones cost over 100,000 won.”

“How much do the good ones cost?”

“American or Japanese ones cost over 300,000 won. Even good Korean premium bats cost over 200,000 won.”

 

My brother’s expression changed.

As I seemed about to open my wallet, he approached wagging the wooden bat like a tail.

 

“So are you going to buy me one or not?”

“Of course I’d be happy if you bought me one.”

“Mom, isn’t there anything you want? I got a bonus this time.”

“You need to save your money! Even if I can’t help with your wedding fund, I don’t ask you for living expenses, do I? So you need to save up for your wedding fund yourself.”

 

What household wouldn’t be struggling after the IMF crisis?

Our house was the same. Father was restructured out of his good job and was running a chicken restaurant, which was never in his destiny.

 

Still, our household was in relatively better shape.

Since I didn’t go to college and got a job at a large corporation. Well, now I belong to a private equity fund rather than a large corporation.

 

“I’m putting 1 million won into savings every month.”

“Large corporations really are good. Where else would a high school graduate get 2 million won a month?”

“After taxes, it’s about 1.5 million won. So don’t worry and tell me if there’s anything you want.”

“Then, how much did you get as a bonus? My son.”

 

Mother approached, subtly rubbing her palms together.

Except for buying her a set of underwear with my first paycheck, I hadn’t given her a proper gift, so I wanted to show off a bit with this opportunity.

 

“I got 5 million won as a bonus. So please speak comfortably.”

“You got 5 million? Then should we buy a washing machine? Can’t you get it cheaper with your employee discount?”

“I’ll buy the best one.”

“Don’t overdo it. Just buy something usable.”

 

I had thoroughly planned my savings too.

All income and expenses were categorized with budgets set, grouped in 3-month units to minimize errors.

 

But suddenly, the large sum of 5 million won disrupted my plans.

Not that I was thinking of being extravagant, but I could spend any amount for my family.

 

“Hey! Hae-seong. And throw away that wooden bat right now. It looks like it’s going to break any moment.”

“Why should I throw it away when I can still use it for another year?”

 

My brother spoke boldly while swinging the bat.

At that moment, from the bat Hae-seong was holding.

 

Tick, tick, ti-di-dick.

 

A strange gear sound echoed loudly.

The worn wood was warping, creating a dissonance that didn’t mesh properly.

If he kept gripping and swinging that thing, it was only a matter of time before fragments got embedded in his hands.

 

“Since we’re talking about it, let’s go buy one right now.”

“Are you really going to buy me an American one?”

“Depends on how you do.”

“I would even sacrifice my life if you command it, big brother.”

 

My brother had somehow grown much bigger than me.

Not just big, but a monster-like body packed with muscle.

Since I can’t subdue this younger sibling with force, I’ll have to subdue her with money instead.

 

***

 

Today I also arrived at work at 7:51.

As I opened the window and changed the water cooler, the Department Manager arrived.

 

“Our Employee Lee came early again. You could come in more leisurely, you know.”

“Good morning. I’m more comfortable coming to work at this time every day.”

“I’m the same way. And if I oversleep, you wouldn’t believe how much grief I get at home.”

“By the way, could I possibly get an employee discount on home appliances? Since my department changed, I probably don’t have discount benefits anymore, right?”

“What are you planning to buy?”

“I want to replace the washing machine at home.”

 

For large corporations, it was typical to have employee discount benefits on company products.

But since joining the company, I had never used such benefits even once.

 

“It would probably be difficult to get an employee discount. But for a washing machine, you can buy one for under 1 million won anyway.”

“The new drum washing machine that came out costs exactly 1 million won. I thought with an employee discount I could buy it for 800,000 won.”

“Well, 200,000 won isn’t exactly a small amount. That’s exactly my monthly allowance.”

 

After that, the Department Manager’s lengthy lecture about consumer lifestyle possible with 200,000 won continued.

Time passed like that, and before we knew it, it was 9 AM when Branch Manager Kang Dong-ju appeared in the office without any prior contact.

 

“It’s been a while, everyone. How have you all been?”

“Thanks to you, Branch Manager, we’ve been doing well.”

“I came early this morning to share some good news. The five patents you all worked hard to create have been registered, and the sale contracts have been finalized.”

 

The patents were already registered?

Even during my GL Electronics days, I had observed patent examinations from the sidelines, but this was the first time I’d seen something this fast.

 

“I am a person who keeps my promises. First, to Lee Jung-hoo, the applicant, I will pay the patent application reward of 500,000 won and registration reward of 2 million won for a total of five patents. Please come forward.”

 

The Department Manager stepped aside and cleared a path for me.

I moved along the shortest route and walked toward the Branch Manager.

 

“Here, please take these.”

“There are five envelopes.”

“Since five patents were registered, you should receive rewards five times. It’s 12.5 million won in total.”

“Is it proper for me to receive the full amount? These patents were created through the combined efforts of all employees.”

“That’s why I’d like to make a proposal. While the patent rewards should rightfully go to the applicant, since the process from application to sale was possible through the cooperation of the entire department, how about splitting the commercialization profits in a 7:3 ratio?”

 

This was the direction I had wanted.

The department could only be maintained if the department members also received compensation.

I didn’t want my surrounding environment to change due to employees quitting like in the Patent Team, and the method the Branch Manager proposed was quite good.

 

And while I had created the initial patent drafts,

without the department members’ efforts, such rapid results wouldn’t have been possible.

Since we would be creating many more patents in the future, this structure would actually be more beneficial in the long run.

 

“Sounds good. Let’s do that.”

“Since Employee Lee Jung-hoo has agreed, from now on, patent sale profits and license revenues will be split in a ratio of 7 for the applicant and 3 for the department.”

“But… Branch Manager, how much did you sell the patents for?”

 

At the Department Manager’s question, Branch Manager Kang Dong-ju smiled meaningfully.

As the smell of money wafted from that smile, the anticipation in the office swelled as well.

 

“We sold the 5 patents to Samjin Electronics for 6 billion won. As promised, I will distribute 50% of the profits to all of you. Employee Lee Jung-hoo, the applicant, will receive 2.1 billion won, and the department members will share 900 million won.”

“Excluding Employee Lee Jung-hoo, there are exactly 10 people.”

“Check your bank accounts. 90 million won each should have been deposited.”

 

There’s always someone who actually does what they’re told to do.

Manager Kim Dong-su checked his account through the ARS.

 

“It’s real! 90 million won! It feels like just yesterday I received 50 million won as a retention bonus… and now another 90 million won!”

“Wow, it really came in? This year is going to be really secure.”

“But you all need to think about taxes. With just the bonuses, you’ve received 140 million won, so even conservatively, you’ll owe over 40 million won in taxes.”

 

The retention bonus was 50 million won?

That was one more zero than the amount in my account.

But I wasn’t particularly envious. It was an amount determined by principles and regulations.

 

“Tiger Fund is definitely reliable when it comes to compensation. So please continue to deliver good results. Well then, I’ll be going.”

 

The Branch Manager who just threw down money and left.

As soon as he completely exited the office,

the people remaining inside instantly transformed into a festive atmosphere.

 

“Our youngest! Where did such a lucky charm roll in from?”

“Employee Lee, you’ve got 2.1 billion won now, what are you going to do? That’s enough money left over even after buying thousands of washing machines.”

 

Department members approaching me with excitement.

I took a step back to create distance and answered.

 

“It’s an amount that doesn’t feel real.”

“Private equity funds may not know about other things, but they’re very clean about money matters. They’re not the type to say one thing and do another, so trust them. Or go to the bank right now and check.”

“Would it be alright if I step out for a moment?”

“You’re really going? Alright, just be back before lunch time.”

 

I wanted to confirm it with my own eyes.

Whether 2.1 billion won had really come in, and if so, I needed to quickly make plans for what to do with it.

 

I ran to the nearby Hanbit Bank.

It was the place where my salary had been deposited since my GL Electronics days.

 

I inserted my card into the ATM and pressed the balance inquiry button.

A piece of paper smoothly emerged from the machine.

 

[Balance: 2,111,050,000 won]

 

The balance before the bonus was 11 million won.

This was the amount increased by the retention bonus, and the original balance was 6 million won.

It was the result of saving 1 million won every month.

 

After checking the amount, I fell into thought for a moment.

It wasn’t easy to calculate how to use such a large sum of 2.1 billion won.

I decided to let this money sit for a while until I could make a plan, and quickly returned to the office.

 

“Employee Lee! Did the money come in?”

“Ah, yes. Exactly 2.1 billion won was deposited.”

“The timing was good. If we were still part of GL Group, we never would have received this much. At most, they would have given us about 100 million and acted like they were doing us a favor.”

“The department being sold to a private equity fund wasn’t entirely a bad thing.”

“Exactly. We don’t know if another opportunity like this will come, but when it does, let’s not miss it and grab it tight!”

 

I wholeheartedly agreed with the Department Manager’s words.

Not only was receiving a huge bonus important, but it also meant we could continue creating patents.

 

“Actually, I have a few new patent ideas I’ve been working on.”

“Oh, really? What kind?”

“These are also mobile phone-related patents. One is a structure that allows viewing the screen in landscape orientation, and the other is a structure that operates the phone in a slide format.”

“Really? Let’s go take a look together.”

“Can we join you too? If we prepare the application from the early design stage, it’ll be much easier to get it registered.”

“Our team will join as well. To make a prototype, we need to understand the structure from now.”

 

All the employees were listening intently to our conversation.

Perhaps it was thanks to the 90-million-won carrot.

Everyone’s eyes were alive, and they were ready to grind away their time to create even one more patent.

 

This was the picture I had wanted.

An environment where everyone could focus on patent development.

I was extremely satisfied with the current situation where we could continue making cogwheels and creating harmony.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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