Chapter 2: 2

At that time, I should’ve tried seeing it from my parents’ perspective and realized that adults’ reality was formidable. But I couldn’t.

I continued to live in a blur. I received a CSAT result of middle and lower grades, which wasn’t enough to enter a college. Eventually, I joined a junior college that accepted my grades.

Even then, I didn’t bother to plan out my future. I just did what others expected me to do. After completing high-school, you are expected to enter a university and graduate. So I did the same.

And that was the problem. Since there was no clear purpose, college life became dull. I was frustrated and lost interest, and eventually dropped out.

After leaving behind my status as a student, I came face to face with stark reality. Jumping into the employment front, I felt the real world slam into me for the first time.

It was hard to get a job with my humble resume. My grades until high-school weren’t great, and since I dropped out of college with a year remaining, I didn’t even have a certificate to show.

I sent my resume to many places, but no one contacted me. It was also difficult to get office posts at small or medium-sized businesses. My only remaining option was factory and service jobs.

At first, I worked in a factory for an outsourcing company. It was a semiconductor factory, and my job was to inspect the products. I worked all day wearing a dust-proof suit since dust shouldn’t get into the products. At that time, I thought I wouldn’t be doing it for too long.

We’d get paid a lump sum, and it was good at first. But the job was in 2 shifts – day and night – and the timing changes frequently. Moreover, we’d often have to work overtime. It’s technically not compulsory, but if you wanted to skip overtime or take a break, you’d need permission from the overseer, who had a bad personality. Every time I visited him, I would get scolded for slacking off.

“Take a break? What do you mean, take a break? If you rest now, it will only get harder later. Young people these days are too selfish. Do you think the others don’t want to take a break? This is why young people aren’t suitable for this kind of work.”

Initially, I was sad to hear this and shed tears. I gave up on resting rather than hurting my feelings by listening to harsh words, even though it was well within my right to take rests.

However, after working like that for three to four months, I started feeling that I was wasting away my youth in the factory. I felt that my life was in vain.

I started working in the factory when I was only twenty years old. All my friends were attending college, playing, and enjoying life. I felt ashamed of what I was doing.

So I quit my job at the factory and took on a new job.

My next job was in the clothing section of a department store. Of course, this wasn’t any less difficult than the factory work.

First of all, I always had to be laughing since it was a service business. And there were a lot of difficult customers I couldn’t handle.

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While doing this job, I felt the sorrow of those who were poor. I realized that ‘life really is money’ and regretted not studying more to get a better job.

I’d heard that there would be many things to deal with when working in the service industry, but I didn’t think it would be this bad. Each day gave me another example of this.

“Hey, can you try this on for me? I’d like to get it as a gift for my daughter, but I’m afraid the size won’t fit. You look similar to her.”

The moment I saw the clothes the old man gave me, my throat went dry. The dress was ridiculously short, with far too much exposed cleavage.

Of course, clothes are personal preferences. And there’s nothing wrong with giving this as a gift. However, it was a design that made me want to ask if it was really his daughter to whom he was gifting this.

If he really was giving it to his daughter, I couldn’t help but doubt that it was a normal relationship. It was just too incredible.

“Oh, miss, can you pick that up for me?”

Dropping things on purpose and requesting for someone to pick them up. Funnily enough, this was usually done by grandfathers, who drop their canes, and only do it when we’re wearing skirts. You can never prove that it was intentional. They would seem to smile kindly, but you can still feel an insidious undercurrent.

And since the other party is an old man, I can’t even refuse. I could only swallow the bitterness and do as I’m told.

And then there were the common issues, other than sexual harassment. Products, once sold, are not refundable or exchangeable. And even if they were, you’d need to provide the receipt of purchase. However, even though these are clearly stated, some people still ask for a refund or exchange, claiming that the size does not fit or something, after wearing the product for years.

Meetings are conducted by the store to advise the employees on the correct method of dealing with demanding customers. ‘Do this and that, and your work will be a piece of cake,’ they say. ‘If you try hard enough, there’s no issue that can’t be solved,’ they say. It was all absurd.

Of course, I’d met plenty of kind customers, too. But the many bad experiences I’d been met with far outweighed the pleasant ones.

And like that, the bad encounters would pile up and drain me emotionally. I felt like it was gradually sucking the life out of me.

Those nasty customers are the bane of department store employees. You’ll have to endure all kinds of insults if you get stuck with them. They’re not people with whom you can communicate rationally. It’s like talking to a different species.

That day was the same.

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