Honor is More Valuable Than Wealth (Part 1)
After stopping by the real estate office to place a down payment and discussing the move-in date with the landlord, we held a meeting at a nearby cafe.
Unfortunately, there were no cafes within 2 kilometers of our new office, so we had to drive in Young-ju's car, but luckily there was a convenience store about 100 meters from the office.
According to the real estate agent, most of the restaurants in the city center offer delivery services.
Unlike Seoul, many places here still take delivery orders over the phone, mostly because they employ their own delivery staff.
Upon arriving at the cafe, Young-ju ordered our drinks and then glared at me as I returned empty-handed.
“Where’s the receipt?”
“Huh? I didn’t get one.”
“Go get it.”
Ah, I can't believe I forgot. Now that we are a corporation, it’s crucial to keep track of receipts. Despite being nagged about this, I still hadn’t gotten into the habit.
Ignoring Young-ju's stern look, I fetched the receipt and tried to change the subject.
“Let me start by explaining how our company’s finances work.”
Young-ju's fierce gaze softened, perhaps because this was an important topic.
“You know the MG Electronics refrigerator I helped design?”
“The Belle Époque?”
“Right, 2% of the sales revenue will be deposited into our company’s account every month.”
Young-ju's eyes widened.
“But that was a project you took on long before our company was established. You could’ve kept that as your personal income.”
“Well, I consulted with the financial manager of W Tree Group, and it turns out it’s more tax efficient to have it under the company’s name. MG was accommodating and allowed us to change the contract date.”
“Wow, I can’t believe a large corporation agreed to that.”
“It seems Monica took care of it.”
“If it’s her, she definitely has the power. But how much is the total amount?”
Honestly, I’m not sure yet.
In this industry, settlements are made in the following month, so we haven’t received the first payment yet.
“The first payment is due at the end of this month. The last I heard, pre-orders alone surpassed 5,000 units.”
“If it’s 2% of the R/S and the pre-orders are that high... it’ll sell even more once it hits the stores.”
“Yes, according to Monica, we should be getting over 100 million won a month steadily.”
“Wow, that’s amazing.”
“Out of the 100 million won I had, I used 50 million for the corporation establishment, and once we sign the contract for the W Tree Theater project tomorrow, we'll get the down payment to tide us over. You will handle the contract, as I mentioned before.”
Young-ju has experience in these matters.
It’s not extensive, but still better than me, who is completely new to this.
Young-ju, seemingly having a plan in mind, takes out a tablet and shows me the screen.
“For such projects, it’s best to receive a third as a down payment, and then get interim and final settlements.”
“Why? Why not get it all at the end?”
“Do you want to pay for materials, labor, and construction costs out of your own pocket first?”
“··············”
I spoke without thinking again. Better to keep quiet.
Young-ju continues explaining.
“As you said before, our strategy is similar to how Klimt dealt with the nobles and landlords. Do you know how long it took Klimt to finish those paintings?”
“Two months.”
“Huh? How do you know? They don’t teach this in art history.”
Because I saw it myself.
Not sure what to answer, I hesitate, but Young-ju, thinking it's not important, moves on.
“Anyway, Klimt’s paintings weren’t murals but large-sized canvas paintings. Even then, it took two months. It was slow because he and his brother worked on them.”
Yes, in the dream I had, only two people touched that canvas. As I listen to Young-ju, I guess what she's about to say.
“We need to hire people, right?”
Young-ju nods.
“President Yoo is currently cornered due to the pressure from the board. The faster we shut the board up, the stronger our position becomes. Therefore, we need to hire people to work quickly. We’re not painting on canvas but large ceiling murals. If just you and I work on it, it would take more than a year.”
We have time, but what Min-young desperately needs is mental space. Young-ju sharply points that out.
“I agree.”
“So, let’s use a third of the down payment to hire people.”
“Who will we hire?”
“There are many juniors from school who graduated but are unemployed and just hanging around.”
The sad reality of the art world.
Most students from non-vocational majors end up jobless unless their families support them. Otherwise, they end up like me, living as a street painter.
“How many people do we need to hire?”
“Considering our situation, hiring full-time employees is difficult, so we need at least ten part-timers.”
Ten people.
Based on the 2023 standards, the monthly minimum wage for 209 hours at 9,620 won per hour is 2,010,580 won. For ten people, that’s about 20 million won a month.
We can’t just hire them for a month and then let them go. Even if we manage to gather ten people, we need to work for at least three months. That’s a labor cost of 60 million won, plus extra. Considering the frequent overtimes in this line of work, we should expect to pay around 80 million won in wages.
Read ahead by supporting me on Ko-fi. Access 5 advance chapters with the Doddle Dabbler Tier ($8) or 10 advance chapters with Artist Apprentice Tier ($15) or 20 advance chapters with Master Artisan Tier ($25) For every $15 collected on Ko-fi, I will release an extra chapter. Choose your tier by clicking the 'Support me' button! Rate and review this novel on NU to help people find this novel. Bonus chapters on reaching milestones. Happy reading!
