This Is How I Became a Chaebol

001 : Prologue

I wasn’t born with a golden spoon in my mouth like anyone else, but as soon as I was born, I held a spoon in my hand.

My parents were cutlery makers.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Busan’s Jeonpo-dong Machinery Alley was a place where ironworks the size of a snot were clustered close to each other.

It was a place where all sorts of hardware was cut, pasted, and stamped, so welding sparks flew in every alley and thumping sounds were heard all night.

Playing marbles, tagging, and tagging were fun, but there were special games for the children at the ironworks.

When the sun went down, it was the most fun to run around the neighborhood with kids my age, hanging huge magnets on a string.

After a round of spinning, I could remove all kinds of metal attached to the magnet and turn it into candy or puffed rice at a junk shop.

When we are enjoying jujeonburi, it is good to see adults ending their day with a glass of soju and a side dish of roasted nogari over a briquette fire.

“father!! I got 100 on the test again.”

One day, as soon as I got home from school, I ran to my father with a 100-point test paper.

They always gave me 50 won as a prize when I got 100 points, so I was full of thoughts of buying snacks that day too.

“Ha ha ha, well done. my baby. Study hard and become a great person.”

“What are you talking about, honey! Son, you must study hard and become rich. So I should live happily with my pretty wife in a big house.”

My mother’s words touched my heart more than my father’s. I wanted to say that I would marry the prettiest woman in the world.

“It will be both. You can become a great rich man by studying hard.”

“Hahaha, my son is smart.”

My parents were amused by stroking my hair.

I never imagined that those words would become a will.

The ironworks life, which had been interesting in its own way, was shattered the next morning when a truck hit our house.

My house was on the road as soon as I opened the front door, so I was helpless to the truck that was driving drowsy at dawn.

I lost both my parents when I was only 11 years old, and since then I have been living with my aunt.

The ironworks were leased, and the machinery was also leased, so there would have been no legacy left to me by my parents.

Truck drivers in the 70s couldn’t have bought insurance, so there was no compensation even if two people died.

Even if there was, there was no way it would come back to me when I was young.

My childhood ended like that, and after that, all I could do was study like crazy while eating my eyes.

My aunt felt sorry for me in the middle of it, but my uncle was different.

It’s already difficult to stick it in my mouth, but every time I drank, saying that I had brought a business man, he kicked me, and every time I did that, I pulled over the blanket and crawled under the desk.

My only hope and rest was to turn on a small light bulb under my desk and memorize the textbook over and over again all night.

Fortunately, as a child, I seem to have known that if I ran away recklessly, I would starve to death or become a bully.

I had no interest in studying, but I didn’t need to be interested.

The urgency to escape from this house was my driving force and the best tutor.Read at NovelNext

Just memorize and memorize.

I didn’t even have money to buy a reference book, so I memorized textbooks and notes, and focused on class.

As a result, there were only a handful of cases where he missed the first place in the entire school throughout his middle and high school days, and in 1983, he received 305 points in the academic test and entered the mechanical engineering department of K University with confidence.

It wasn’t that I liked K University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, but I didn’t have to worry about the condition that a 4-year full scholarship and dormitory were provided to incoming students with an academic test score of 300 or higher.

Even after entering S University, there was no way to pay for tuition and study abroad in Seoul.

My aunt must have cared for me a little bit, but my uncle was like that, telling me to hurry up and pay back the price of raising him.

As I was dissatisfied that I hadn’t gone to an commerce or technical high school, I couldn’t take care of myself any longer with my future salary as collateral.

Anyway, after that I was completely independent.

There was no problem with the tuition due to the scholarship, and I earned about 500,000 won a month while taking private lessons.

That was enough for living expenses.

When it was time to graduate after hard schooling, there were piles of job applications from Korea’s four largest conglomerates in the Academic Affairs Department.

This was possible because the mid-1980s, when I graduated, was a time when engineering students were guaranteed a 400% employment rate.

Among those applications, I applied for ＜Construction of the Greatest＞, where the group’s motto was ‘Creation, Challenge, Sacrifice’.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like the company motto, it was because I was fascinated by the words ‘frequent business trips abroad, preferential treatment to those who are fluent in English’.

I wanted to see if I could get on a plane with company money.

It was a clumsy choice, but at the time, it was a time when there was no problem in making a living no matter what chaebol group you joined.

When I joined the company, I always said, ‘Yes! I got it.’, ‘I’ll do well’, ‘I’m sorry’ and worked hard.

Although it was an end product, he tasted the Middle East construction specialties, and was honored to be promoted to head of the marine plant division, a new business after passing through the Southeast Asian plant site manager.

Was it when you worked like that for about 15 years?

Suddenly, the entire mainstream group disbanded.

No matter how much it was in the aftermath of the IMF financial crisis, it collapsed to the point of absurdity.

The second-ranked group in the Korean business world was shattered in an instant, and the debt reached 89 trillion won. It was the greatest bankruptcy ever in human history beyond Korea.

Chairman Woo Chan-soo, who was the idol of salaried workers shouting world management, became a fraudster in an instant, and his employees were scattered.

As an employee, I only lived diligently according to the company motto, but creation and challenge became the glory of the past, and only sacrifice remained.

It was so unfair.

It wasn’t enough that I lost my job overnight, and even though I worked for 15 years, I couldn’t even get a proper severance pay.

Because of the unprecedented national turmoil, there was no place to go to complain of injustice.

It reminded me of the nightmare of losing my parents as a child.

He struggled to survive again, and created a small construction company by gathering colleagues in similar circumstances.

Did you say that you can get through?

In the 2000s, the construction industry, which had been running downhill, began to gain momentum as new town construction and Seoul redevelopment projects began.

**

By the way.

I finally thought I was a little livable, but it all collapsed again.

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January 11, 2022.

rumble. Kwak.

＜Breaking news, collapse of new apartment building in A city, Gyeonggi-do＞

As soon as I saw the breaking news on the news, I ran to the scene.

The entire outer wall of the apartment was torn down.

Reinforcing bars, which should be firmly attached to the concrete, are exposed like fish bones… It was obvious that the concrete curing was insufficient.

“Yes… boss. committed a mortal sin. Hehe.”

“No matter how much you polish at the prime minister, I’ve always told you that you shouldn’t use tools (concrete). The weather is still freezing today! No matter how much I turn on the hot air, there is no option for six days. It should have been cured for at least 10 days.”

Physical time is required from when concrete is poured until it hardens.

I have been on and off the construction site all my life, but there has never been a case where concrete curing time was insufficient like this project.

From early December to mid-January, the weather continued below zero, so the concrete did not cure properly no matter how much the fan was turned on.

Even the supply of construction materials was difficult due to the corona crisis, and the construction itself was suspended several times, so it was not possible to fully allocate work time.

It is said to be sold in August, but since the concrete is being poured now, in mid-January, even if the construction period is insufficient, it was not the only thing lacking.

No matter how much shortening the construction period is a top priority, it was too much this time.

“I had no choice but to let go because the prime minister threatened to terminate the contract if I didn’t pay for the tool by today. So far, there has been no problem at all even if I hit the tool at intervals of six days, so why are you saying shit this time?”

“Until last time, it was only possible because the 20th floor, the emergency evacuation floor, held up. Above that, there are no load-bearing walls due to the design of the apartment. I need to know what to give work orders.”

“… Uhhh, how about this? president.”

There was no point in getting angry.

In a word, it was an X situation.

No matter what the prime contractor said, wasn’t our company doing the concrete pouring?

A major accident like this would make it difficult for our company to stand on this ground in the future, and our construction license could be revoked.

“Manager Kim, do you have the work order?”

“Yes.”

“Is there any evidence that we refused to work, saying we couldn’t do tools in this weather?”

“Yes. All calls are also recorded.”

I wanted to try to kick it.

It’s a stupid excuse, but I had to protest that I was just doing the work as the prime minister told me to.

“Let’s go in!”

“Yes? Boss, what are you talking about?”

“I should go in and take a picture. Didn’t I just tell you to set up tools without reinforcing the foundations (temporary supports)?”

“ah! okay.”

Looking at the collapsed area, there was almost no support for the hypothesis.

The curing concrete pillars and slabs alone could not withstand the weight of the concrete poured from above.

When it comes to apartments, the convenience and safety of the sale customers come first rather than the profit of the construction company… It was like watching a popular group that collapsed because of Chairman Woo’s greed.

An old nightmare came to mind again.

If I hadn’t joined the Daesae Group in the old days… No, if Chairman Woo hadn’t ruined the company like that… I couldn’t stand it because I was sad and angry.

“Take pictures of what you see! Concrete columns under curing should also be sampled and tested for strength. We are a subcontractor, not a prime contractor, nor a supervision company.”

Our company was a subcontractor specializing in concrete pouring by dragging ready-mixed concrete and pump cars.

It was clearly the prime contractor’s fault for ignoring the concrete curing standards and ordering pouring, as well as not reinforcing the supports despite the high possibility of the formwork collapsing during concrete pouring.

If he left behind the grounds, he might have escaped poisoning.

I raised my smartphone and went deeper.

There is a load-bearing wall up to the 20th floor, so I thought I could take pictures while carefully going up the stairs.

“Ugh! Boss, it’s dangerous.”

“this…”

That my judgment was wrong, I realized right away when I went up about the third floor.

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Jump. jump. Patter.

The ceiling had already caved in, and concrete shards began to fall like hailstones.

Was I also insensitive to safety?

Or was it because of the anxiety of having to head to the ground again?

Why did I jump on a limb like this?

‘Maybe it worked out better…’

Director Kim screamed and ran away, but I did not fall.

No, I could have run away enough, but I didn’t.

Do you think everything suddenly became annoying?

To be honest, I even thought about who would feel sorry for me if I died.

The wife and daughter must have completely forgotten the promise that they would return in three years, and they are only extending the deadline a few times under the pretext of studying abroad.

At this age, I don’t like heading to the ground again, I hate living as a wild goose, and more than anything, I’m sick of this kind of life where I want to live.

“… Father, Mother, I’m sorry… I can’t… no more.”

I could see the sky through the collapsing apartment walls.

I said sorry to my heavenly parents.

There was no way to explain it, but it was so unfair.

Despite all their lifelong efforts, there was no longer a way to fulfill the wills they left behind.

I studied hard according to my parents’ words, but I couldn’t become a great person, I couldn’t earn a lot of money, and I couldn’t even live happily with my family, which I thought was the easiest.

It was enough to live a life with no rights and only responsibilities and obligations.

If there is a god, I wanted to call it a curse.

Who asked to be born with a golden spoon?

Or did you hope to win the lottery?

If you took my parents away from me early, wouldn’t it be possible to give me a peaceful life after working hard for over 30 years?

Kwak Kwa Kwak!

Huge piles of concrete fell overhead.

Everywhere collapsed, and I also collapsed.