Mining And Construction Tycoon [EN]: Chapter 18

18. Recruiting Talent (3)

Park Cheol-wan quickly shook his head.

He was a smart man.

He knew his current position very well.

“I’m still clumsy and lacking. I’ve only vaguely imagined it-”

“This time, let’s make that imagination a reality.”

Park Cheol-wan almost fell for it for a moment.

He quickly regained his composure.

“But I have no experience in construction. I haven’t even carried a single brick-”

“Was anyone born building? There’s no law that says you can’t do construction work if you don’t have experience. Everyone has a first time.”

He almost fell for it again.

‘This guy is really dangerous,’ he thought.

“Even so, construction starts from the bottom-”

“Do you hate working under me that much?”

“No, no, that’s not it-”

Tae-soo grabbed Park Cheol-wan’s shoulders with both hands.

And he met the eyes of Park Cheol-wan, who was trembling with excitement.

“What are you so afraid of? The opportunity to realize your dreams has come, Park Cheol-wan, right in front of you. I’ll give you that opportunity.”

Tae-soo’s eyes were full of conviction.

Looking into his unwavering eyes, Park Cheol-wan gradually calmed down.

Because he realized what Tae-soo’s eyes meant.

“Kang Tae-soo, you trust me?”

“Yes.”

“Even though we haven’t known each other for very long.”

“You can’t always trust someone just because you’ve known them for a long time. Conversely, there’s no reason not to trust someone just because you met them today. I want to believe in your dream.”

“My dream?”

“We share the same dream. We’re on the same wavelength. I want you on my team. Do you need any other reason?”

Tae-soo’s straightforward words hit Park Cheol-wan’s heart straight on.

‘We share the same dream. We’re on the same wavelength. He wants me?’

Tae-soo pressed.

If he needed any other reason.

Park Cheol-wan had no choice but to answer.

“That’s enough! If that’s the reason, then I’m in too!”

Tae-soo smiled brightly.

He raised a clenched fist in front of Park Cheol-wan.

A fighting pose.

“Let’s do it together!”

“Ye, yes, let’s!”

Caught up in the atmosphere, Park Cheol-wan also clenched his fist.

It was the first time he had ever done a fighting pose.

“I’ve been waiting for that answer.”

Tae-soo smiled brightly.

Seeing that, Park Cheol-wan realized.

‘I completely fell for it.’

But he didn’t know why he was so happy.

Park Cheol-wan grinned.

Tae-soo took out a small notebook and pen from his pocket and scribbled something down.

Then he tore off a small piece of paper and handed it to Park Cheol-wan.

“This is all I can give you for now.”

“What is this?”

Park Cheol-wan looked at the note Tae-soo handed him.

His eyes began to shake violently.

It was a crude, makeshift business card.

“No way, no way… this…”

After receiving the playful note, Park Cheol-wan paused.

He read it over and over again.

He didn’t misread it. It was the same even when he read it again.

Park Cheol-wan’s fingers trembled, and the note trembled with them.

“Is this my business card?”

He looked like he was about to cry, and he looked like he was about to laugh.

Park Cheol-wan was making a strange expression.

Tae-soo grinned.

“Next time, I’ll have it officially made and put it in your hand.”

“No, I think you wrote the title wrong. Vice, Vice President?”

“Honestly, I’d like to take out the ‘Vice’ if I could.”

“Huh… no way.”

Park Cheol-wan still couldn’t take his eyes off the crude business card.

Tae-soo said calmly but confidently.

“To use talent properly, you need a position that matches your ability. But the company is still small. It’s too small to contain you.”

Park Cheol-wan’s face flushed.

‘Who am I?’ he wondered.

“Let’s grow Taeyang Construction together, so that you can realize your dreams and unleash your abilities to the fullest.”

Tae-soo smiled confidently.

“This time it’s Vice President, but next time I’ll definitely give you a business card with the title of President.”

Park Cheol-wan moved his lips several times before finally bursting into laughter.

“Ha, haha, oh my god. Seriously, you’re really…”

“Why? Do I suddenly look cool?”

“You’re crazy.”

“Oh, dear…”

Park Cheol-wan covered his face with one hand and laughed, his shoulders shaking.

“To offer the position of Vice President to someone you’ve only just met, you’re out of your mind.”

“So, do you hate it?”

“Hahaha!”

In the end, Park Cheol-wan grabbed his stomach and laughed loudly before suddenly bowing.

“Of course not. I look forward to working with you, President.”

Tae-soo also smiled brightly and bowed in return.

“I also look forward to working with you, Vice President.”

He was prepared to visit three times, but he caught him in one go.

Suddenly, a playful look appeared on Tae-soo’s face.

“Vice President, can you come to the President’s office by 10 a.m. on Monday, July 31st?”

“Huh? Where’s the President’s office? Seoul? Or Gangwon-do, where the mine is?”

“No, the President’s office at Pohang Steel [POSCO, a major steel company in South Korea].”

“Huh?”

Tae-soo nodded, looking at the bewildered Park Cheol-wan.

“Do you know? The President of Pohang Steel has requested Taeyang Construction to subcontract the construction of a school.”

“Ah, yes. I heard.”

“Shouldn’t we properly introduce the construction manager of Taeyang Construction to the President of Pohang Steel?”

Park Cheol-wan realized what he meant and laughed loudly.

“Good. Let’s go to the President’s office at Pohang Steel by 10 a.m. on the 31st.”

Park Cheol-wan also winked playfully.

“Hahaha, you promised to give me a business card with the title of President next time, so I’ll have to make this business card myself?”

“…”

‘Is that how it’s going to be?’ Tae-soo thought. ‘Tch.’

* * *

The jeep that Park Cheol-wan had been riding in left, after dropping Tae-soo and Hol쭉이 [pronounced Holjjugi, a nickname] off at Yeongildae Beach.

“Anyway, Kang Tae-soo, you really reeled in a rich guy today, didn’t you?”

“I was lucky.”

“It’s one thing to get the job, but earlier…”

Hol쭉이 clicked his tongue and shook his head.

Tae-soo scratched the back of his head for no reason.

“I didn’t want to lose him because he’s a talented person.”

“You need to be careful of that guy.”

“Why? What do you need to be careful of? Did you see anything strange?”

“He’s too naive. That’s why he fell for Kang Tae-soo’s tricks. He needs to be careful of scams. If he got scammed once, will he not get scammed twice?”

“…”

Hol쭉이 chuckled.

Thud.

Tae-soo sat down on the sand.

At the end of July, many people came to the beach.

The salty sea breeze and the relaxed vacation atmosphere.

It was a scene he couldn’t see in Seoul, and it relaxed his mind.

“Good.”

“The view is good, right? Wow, that girl over there has a killer body.”

Hol쭉이 also sat next to Tae-soo and couldn’t take his eyes off her.

From her perfectly shaped coke bottle figure.

* * *

Night fell on the coast of Pohang.

Tae-soo and Hol쭉이, having showered at the inn, looked for a nearby food stall.

“I kept my promise, Hol쭉이.”

They played to their heart’s content, as Hol쭉이 wanted.

The beach, natural seafood, soju [Korean distilled rice liquor], and even women.

The result was this.

“Bad girl. She just blew wind into my heart.”

Hol쭉이 sniffled and poured straight soju into his mouth.

Alcohol seeped into his wounded heart, moistening it.

“As expected, alcohol is the answer to heartbreak. Look, the wound is being disinfected like this. It’s the power of alcohol.”

Hol쭉이 was rejected every time he hit on a woman.

“She didn’t even fall for my six-pack. Sniff, they have no taste.”

“That’s not a six-pack, it’s your ribs, Hol쭉이.”

Hol쭉이 turned to Tae-soo with resentment in his eyes.

“What’s so great about Tae-soo’s face that they all stick to him? Bad girls. Sniff.”

“What’s wrong with this face?”

“You look like a gigolo.”

“What are you saying, you bonehead? Shut up. Drink your alcohol.”

He shoved a new bottle of soju into his grumbling mouth, and he became quiet.

“You’ll die if you leave the expensive seafood.”

“Ah, my heart is cold. I need whiskey at times like this.”

Like the whiskey in the President’s office at Pohang Steel.

Tae-soo chuckled and dipped a few pieces of seafood in soy sauce and ate them.

Delicious.

‘I should take my mother and father on a trip sometime, and buy them seafood like this.’

He couldn’t even afford to buy them seafood, let alone take them on a trip.

That’s why he thought of his parents whenever he ate something delicious.

‘I feel a little embarrassed to be acting like a filial son when it’s not in my nature since I came back to the past.’

The thought of his parents smiling brightly gave him strength.

“Tae-soo, what are you going to do now?”

“About what?”

“You came to sell some molybdenum mineral, but you unexpectedly got a lot of work.”

“I can just do both.”

“Is that even possible?”

“If a person sets their mind to it and jumps in, there’s nothing they can’t achieve.”

Tae-soo thought, ‘Hol쭉이, actually, this brother has also run a construction company. While working as the Chief Secretary of Cheongil Group, I tormented the President of Cheongil Construction, so there’s no way I can’t do this kind of work. I can’t tell the truth, tch.’

Tae-soo just smiled.

Instead, he quietly counted the days.

“There are still a few days left until August 3rd.”

“August 3rd? Why?”

“Because I’m going to get some money.”

When the 8.3 private loan freeze [a government measure to curb the curb market, or unregulated private lending] is announced, he will be able to get money from Jang Mal-dong.

‘That guy has good credit.’

If it’s Jang Mal-dong, he will probably keep his promise.

‘But I can’t just sit around until then. Even if I get the money, there’s the molybdenum facility, the miners, and the lodging. There are many things to solve.’

He sent Han-soo to find out about the mine problem.

By now, he should be traveling all over Gangwon-do and Chungbuk, looking for a suitable place.

‘It’s a shame I don’t have a cell phone. It’s hard to make a phone call.’

Having lived in 2020, he missed the developed modern civilization.

It would be okay if he didn’t know, but it’s frustrating because he used to use it well and now it’s gone.

‘The air is good, the water is good, and the people are good. Those things are all good.’

Anyway.

His parents and Han-soo are still alive, and Hol쭉이 is alive right in front of him.

‘Everyone left first, and I was left alone. How lonely I was.’

Did I have a friend to drink with?

Did I have parents to sit around the table with and eat kimchi stew with?

Even my younger sibling, who used to nag me every time we met with disapproving eyes, left first.

I lost my wife and children first.

‘Just work, work, work! What is success, what is grace, what is Cheongil Group?’

I won’t change it.

Even if I die again, I won’t change it from now.

‘Sometimes it feels like a dream. I’m afraid I’ll wake up. I like it so much now.’

Tae-soo’s eyes softened as he looked at Hol쭉이.

He picked up the soju bottle and filled Hol쭉이’s glass.

Gurgle, gurgle.

“Looking at you drinking soju like you can’t live without it, I can’t tell you to drink as much as you want because I’m afraid you’ll get cirrhosis. But let’s drink happily, Hol쭉이.”

“Hahaha, you’re worrying for nothing.”

Hol쭉이 was happy as if he had the whole world with just one bottle of soju.

Tae-soo had missed Hol쭉이 like that for so long.

“Hol쭉이, would you like to work with me?”