As expected, my parents seemed to need some time.
As they got older, making decisions quickly became difficult.
This was because there were many things to consider.
However, whether they had talked it over all night, the next morning, more positive questions came up at the breakfast table.
“If I invest, do you know what you’re going to do?”
“Of course. It’s in the computer field.”
“Computer?”
“Yes, I’m planning to sell computers and various other items.”
“Does that mean you want to make computers?”
“No, I want to sell the ones that are already made.”
Manufacturing always requires investment.
Of course, I was hoping for an investment from my father, but not to spend money on equipment and facilities.
I just needed a place to sell the goods.
That place is in cyberspace.
But explaining this to my computer-illiterate parents was difficult.
I’ll have to explain it slowly later, but for now, I had to keep it simple.
“There’s increasing demand for computers. If we set up a store, take orders, and assemble the computers from parts, we can make a decent profit in the middle.”
“Then there will be a security deposit and rental fees.”
“To save on both, we’re going to do it from home.”
“What?”
“And to save on labor costs.”
“……”
“By the way, is Jung-woo home?”
Lee Jung-woo is Lee Hyun-woo’s younger brother.
Having just been discharged from the military, he is preparing to return to school for the second semester.
He is a computer science major, so he was a necessary part of Lee Hyun-woo’s future plans.
Anyway, Lee Hyun-woo’s mother answered his question.
“He came home late after drinking and is still sleeping. I can’t wake him up. But why do you ask about Jung-woo?”
“Yes, I want him to help me with my work until he goes back to school.”
This meant saving on labor costs.
But there was a bigger picture.
In his past life, Lee Jung-woo was incredibly unlucky.
He had secured a job at a securities company’s IT team upon graduation, but the offer was rescinded due to the financial crisis.
He became unemployed and took on various jobs and business ventures, all of which failed, leaving him dependent on his older brother, Lee Hyun-woo.
“In my past life, I helped you a lot, so this time, you help me a bit at the beginning. Then you probably won’t live like you did in the past life.”
My parents seemed to need a little more time, so they didn’t give a definite answer about the investment at the breakfast table.
Lee Hyun-woo tried to put himself in their shoes.
“I would have been baffled too.”
They might have thought that their always-successful son had faced his first failure and was in shock.
So, Lee Hyun-woo decided to wait a bit longer and moved to his brother’s room.
He saw his brother sleeping with the blanket kicked off.
He walked over and shook him awake.
“Lee Jung-woo, Lee Jung-woo, wake up.”
“Ugh…”
“I need to talk to you. Get up for a moment.”
“Ah, why…”
“I said, wake up.”
Lee Hyun-woo shook his brother harder.
Unable to resist, Lee Jung-woo finally opened his eyes and sat up, looking groggily at his brother with eyes resembling their father’s.
“Why…”
The smell of alcohol wafted from Lee Jung-woo’s open mouth.
Having woken him up, Lee Hyun-woo took a step back and made his straightforward request.
“You need to help me.”
“Huh?”
“I’m planning to start a business. I need your skills.”
Hearing this in his drowsy state, Lee Jung-woo looked dazed.
But soon he gathered his wits and asked his brother with a surprised look.
“What? A business?”
“Yeah, I’m not planning to get a job.”
“But why?”
“I think business will make more money than getting a job.”
“Hyung, what about our parents?”
“I already told them. And I lied that I didn’t get into 【Deokseong Trading】.”
“What?”
Lee Jung-woo, who didn’t know the situation, was shocked by the sudden influx of information.
And he couldn’t believe it because his brother, who had always been the upright type, was proposing to make him an accomplice in a lie.
“So… you got into 【Deokseong Trading】, but you lied to our parents that you didn’t get in?”
“Yeah, but this must remain a secret from our parents.”
“Uh? Oh… um… okay.”
Lee Hyun-woo chuckled.
To start a business with someone, you need to share at least one secret to gain their trust.
Someone might say that such a process isn’t necessary because they are brothers, but that was different from Lee Hyun-woo’s experience.
Lee Jung-woo was someone who rarely listened to anyone.
Sharing a secret would act as a bond in their relationship, making future conversations more trustworthy.
His brother asked out of curiosity.
“So, what kind of business are you planning to do?”
“You know 【E-Bay】, right?”
Lee Hyun-woo mentioned the name of an online auction site as if he had been waiting for this moment.
Lee Jung-woo nodded, wondering how his brother knew about such things.
“Of course, I know.”
“I plan to do that in Korea.”
“Really? Are you serious?”
“Yeah, it’s doable, right?”
It might have sounded like a goblin’s magic wand, but Lee Hyun-woo knew his brother’s skills well.
He had seen him practice a few times after 【E-Bay】 launched.
Lee Jung-woo even showed a desire to try it out, if he had the money.
Though this was all from a previous life, Lee Hyun-woo believed his brother’s feelings hadn’t changed.
“There will be a lot to prepare. You need items to sell, and how are you going to handle shipping?”
“I have everything planned out, you just need to set it up. How long do you need?”
“I have something I was working on before, so about a week?”
“Great. I’ll leave it to you. Oh, right. We need to set your salary. That’s the most important thing.”
Lee Jung-woo thought his brother was rushing things too much today.
“Hyung, why are you doing this? Talking about salary is making me nervous.”
“I want to pay you for your work. How much are you thinking?”
“Ah, forget it. I’ll just make it for you.”
“Don’t regret it later. Just tell me quickly.”
“Ah, I said forget it.”
“Are you sure?”
As his brother kept pushing, Lee Jung-woo rolled his eyes.
Then he timidly said,
“Then, just pay me 1,200 won an hour like a part-time job.”
“Okay. I’ll pay you on this date next month.”
“Wow, I don’t know what’s gotten into you. Anyway, got it.”
Having a gap between his military discharge and returning to school in September, Lee Jung-woo had been aimlessly drinking during that time, feeling guilty towards their parents.
All that spending was money, after all.
He felt awkward asking for allowance, so he asked his brother for a part-time job wage of 1,200 won per hour.
‘He doesn’t have money, where is he going to get it from.’
He worried for a moment, but then Lee Hyun-woo’s barrage of questions continued.
“Ah, you know what parts are needed to assemble a computer, right?”
“Of course…”
“Write it down for me.”
“Huh? Why?”
“To assemble, of course.”
“What? Why are you assembling it?”
“To sell it, obviously.”
Lee Hyun-woo pressed on, seeing his brother’s bewildered face.
“You have to do that too.”
“……”
“Write it down quickly.”
Feeling like he was being tricked, Jung-woo had no choice but to write down the parts.
When he handed over the list, he saw a bright smile on his brother’s face.
He seemed like a different person.
‘My brother wasn’t like this before.’
Having spent recent times drinking, Jung-woo had missed his brother’s changes.
Finally, Jung-woo offered some advice.
“Hyung, if we’re going to assemble and sell computers, wouldn’t it be better to operate out of Yongsan Electronics Market rather than doing it this way?”
“That’s just at the beginning. Just the beginning.”
“Ugh, I don’t know. Do whatever you want.”
Jung-woo sighed.
‘Will he really go through with this?’
Meanwhile, having made a big promise to his brother, Lee Hyun-woo had already pulled the trigger on his business plans.
Whether his parents would invest or not was uncertain, but he planned to start and then seek investment slowly.
They already had a computer, and with that, he could start a Korean version of 【E-Bay】.
Of course, the first items to be sold, as he had told his parents, would be computers and peripherals.
At this period, computers were not yet widespread.
At best, people accessed the internet via modems in a transitional phase.
Therefore, the target market for selling computers and peripherals would be those who were already using PC communication and internet.
‘People interested in this field will probably know about 【E-Bay】 systems.’
【E-Bay】 was an auction site.
Initially, people logged in to buy items cheaply, but the competitive nature made them participate in auctions for the thrill.
Regardless, the first auction needed to be ‘shocking’ to grab attention.
‘To draw everyone’s eyes, offer items at a really low price.’
With this in mind, Lee Hyun-woo left the house and headed to Yongsan Electronics Market.
In his time, he could have checked prices on the internet or through smartphone searches, but now he had to do market research in person.
The prices were all over the place.
Computers from big companies like 【Guseong Electronics】 or 【GB Electronics】 were well over 2.5 million won, and even products from mid-sized companies exceeded 2 million won.
‘The prices of computers really remind me that I’ve returned to the past.’
It was practically impossible for ordinary people to afford these prices.
This was likely the peak, and prices would drop significantly once budget computers were released post-financial crisis.
Lee Hyun-woo disguised himself as a customer and inquired about the prices of individual parts.
In this era, people who knew about computers often bought parts and assembled them themselves.
Though not very friendly, after visiting several shops, he gathered the information.
‘Prices are all over the place.’
A hard disk could cost anywhere from 120,000 won to 200,000 won.
The price gap for non-essential parts like sound cards was even larger.
The best one cost 170,000 won, while the cheapest was 32,000 won.
Despite the performance differences, would an average consumer notice?
During a lunch break, he compiled the prices he had written down, combining the cheapest options, resulting in an incredible total.
‘560,000 won?’
While the specs were much lower than the 2.5 million won computers from big companies, there was no need to opt for high-end specs for non-expert consumers.
Moreover, this was from Yongsan Electronics Market, so buying directly from manufacturers would lower the price further.
After all, the shops probably added their profit margin.
But could he buy directly from manufacturers?
‘They wouldn’t sell small quantities to me.’
He didn’t need many computers.
Lee Hyun-woo was only planning to assemble a few as bait to promote the Korean 【E-Bay】.
