Second Life of the Trade King - Chapter 7

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: LilGuyBlastoise

◈ Second Life of the Trade King ◈

Chapter 7: Come into One’s Own (1)

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1:30 a.m.

I had gone to bed early the night before, but I woke before my alarm and lay there with my eyes closed for nearly an hour.

I couldn't even count how many deals I had handled before my return, but my first deal in this life carried a different weight.

When the time came, I threw back the covers, changed, and went down to the first floor. The shop was dark and quiet.

Then I sensed someone beyond the counter.

To my surprise, Dad, who should have been fast asleep, was sitting there.

“You’re not asleep?”

“How could I sleep when you’re off to make your first deal? I had to see you go.”

After his business failed, Dad had barely taken any interest in his children, spending his days blankly staring at the newspaper.

But now, there seemed to be a strange spark in his eyes.

It was remarkable.

“Don't worry. I'll do well.”

“Accidents can happen, so keep your wits about you.”

“Yes!”

The moment I stepped outside, the freezing January dawn air clawed at my face.

Cold sea wind tousled my hair as I crossed Yeongdo Bridge. Beneath the streetlights in the distance, the container cranes of Busan Port rose like black mountains.

I caught a taxi to Jagalchi Market and arrived at 2:30 a.m.

It was early, but Jagalchi Market was already awake.

Shops were turning on their lights one by one, and several fishing boats had come into the dock.

The fishy smell of the sea, the cries of seagulls, and the shouts from the auction hall mingled in the cold dawn air.

“Put in the ice! Bring the boxes over!”

Fishermen in rubber boots hurried about while wholesale workers rolled iceboxes between the shops.

When I arrived at Hae-seong Fisheries, owner Park Jong-ho was already preparing the shipment with two employees.

Dressed in work clothes, Park personally checked the boxes and greeted me on seeing me.

“You’re here. Right on time.”

“You came in personally at dawn?”

“Well, it’s our first deal. If I leave it all to the staff, something might get missed. I had to handle it myself.”

As I thanked Park, two Young-tae Shipping trucks entered the Jagalchi alley. One of the drivers got down and approached me.

“Are you Mr. Kim Hyun-woo? Mr. Choi told us about you. He said we should handle it ourselves since it’s your first deal.”

“Yes, please take good care of me.”

“Of course. It’s our first deal too, so we all came out without sleeping.”

Loading began.

The Australian beef would arrive separately from the meat supplier. Jagalchi was handling the fish, some seafood, vegetables, and grain products.

Park personally checked the label on every box and watched them being loaded into the trucks.

“Hyun-woo, check those labels one more time. You said they were for an Australian ship, right?”

“Yes. Since it’s standard for Australian shipping lines, English labels are required.”

“All right. We wrote everything in English. Our employee Mr. Kim says he knows a little English.”

We finished loading and left Jagalchi Market for Pier 7 at Busan Port at 3:30 a.m., arriving around four.

The dock lights made the darkness as bright as day.

Container cranes towered like giant shadows, and beyond them, the MV Adelaide Star was just coming alongside the berth.

Anyone seeing a ship that huge for the first time would hold their breath.

It was that magnificent and overwhelming.

The Australian flag and the company logo were visible on the ship's side.

As the low rumble of its diesel engines rang dully in my ears, countless ports I had seen before my return flickered through my mind.

Sydney, Kobe, Singapore, Rotterdam...

Back then, I had seen them as an employee of a successful company. Now I was looking at them through my own business, and it felt entirely different.

All five Young-tae Shipping trucks were waiting at Pier 7, and Choi Young-tae stood among them in work clothes.

“You’re here.”

As soon as he saw me, Choi pointed toward one side of the pier.

Workers in work clothes stood lined up there.

“All twelve workers are ready. The five trucks have all been checked too. The moment the ship finishes berthing, we move in.”

“Thank you.”

At the same time, a meat truck arrived at the pier.

A man who looked to be in his late thirties, apparently an employee of Dong-gwang Meat, got down from the driver's seat and approached.

“Owner Lee Jeong-hwan sent me. We dispatched at 3:30 sharp and finished right on time. The full load is here, nothing missing. Since it’s your first deal, our boss has been at the shop since two in the morning.”

All three owners were treating my first deal like their own.

That was the power of Dad's connections, and I felt grateful.

Then someone from the ship came down the gangway.

It was David Jo, dressed in a black coat and holding a camera.

“You're not late, Mr. Kim Hyun-woo.”

“Of course not.”

After a brief greeting, he pointed toward the ship's deck.

An Australian captain who looked to be in their late fifties was looking down from above.

David Jo went back up the gangway and spoke briefly with the captain in English. Then the captain followed him down to the pier.

The captain approached and held out a hand.

“Mr. Kim Hyun-woo?”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Welcome aboard. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Thank you, Captain. Pleasure to meet you.”

The captain studied me for a moment, then turned slightly toward David Jo.

“David, his English is quite good for a new supplier.”

David Jo looked mildly surprised and gave a small smile.

“He keeps surprising us, Captain.”

Then David Jo asked me in Korean.

“Mr. Kim Hyun-woo, you speak English too?”

“I can manage basic business English.”

“...Hmm. I’ll include that in the head office report.”

At that moment, the captain turned back toward the gangway.

“Let’s start the loading.”

It was only around 4:30 a.m. that work truly began.

The twelve Young-tae Shipping workers went back and forth between the ship and the pier as they started loading.

Some unloaded boxes from the trucks. Others received them on the pier and carried them to the gangway. Still others brought them up onto the ship's deck.

Busan dialect echoed across the whole pier.

“Hey! Bring them all this way! Slow down, slow down!”

“Bring two more boxes!”

“Check the labels! They're going to Australia!”

On deck, the Australian sailors directed where the cargo should go.

“Down here!”

“To the cooler!”

Australian English and Busan dialect made the dawn harbor noisy, while David Jo slowly photographed the scene.

The pier, the trucks, the workers, the loading operation, the ship's deck.

Each time he pressed the shutter, another view of Busan Port was captured.

“Mr. Kim Hyun-woo, your time management is very precise. The Australian head office will be pleased.”

“It was only possible because the suppliers helped so much.”

David Jo nodded with a satisfied smile.

“To be honest, it was very impressive. It feels like the frustration Australian head office has had with the Korean route for five years was resolved all at once today. I’ll include these photographs in the report too.”

The work continued.

After the bluish dawn had passed and the sun rose around seven, the fresh-water and lubricant supply vessels arrived.

They were existing suppliers, so their work went smoothly.

Everything was finally finished around nine in the morning.

I felt the satisfaction of succeeding, but more than that, I was so hungry my stomach felt like it was stuck to my back, and my legs were trembling.

If I had still been in my fifties before my return, I would definitely have been sucking on candy to keep my blood sugar up.

“Very efficient operation, David. Hope to see him again next time.”

The captain beside me spoke loudly, almost as if wanting me to hear.

Once loading was complete, David Jo finished the final inspection and approached me with the statement.

“Perfect. Every item has been loaded, with nothing missing. We received signed confirmation from the vessel.”

He handed me a payment statement.

Pacific Grain Lines / MV Adelaide Star - Ship Provisioning Payment Statement

Bid amount: 32 million won, payment to be made in the USD equivalent

Account holder: Kim Hyun-woo, Korea Exchange Bank

Payment within three business days

Even though I was starving, my hands did not shake as I accepted the paper and put it in my inner pocket.

‘I did it!’

As Glencore's vice president, I had handled deals worth billions of won in the company's name.

But these 32 million won felt completely different.

It was the first transaction under my own name.

“Since payment is in USD, any foreign-exchange loss is your responsibility, Mr. Kim Hyun-woo. We’ll proceed as promised.”

“I understand.”

I hurried to a place near the harbor and wolfed down a bowl of pork-and-rice soup. When I returned to the site, it was 10:30 a.m., and the MV Adelaide Star was preparing to depart.

David Jo, Choi Young-tae, all twelve Young-tae Shipping workers, and one Dong-gwang Meat employee stood on the pier.

Park Jong-ho had also come all the way to the dock.

Park had not merely overseen the shipment at Jagalchi, but had come to watch the ship leave in person.

“Well, you worked hard. Did you eat breakfast?”

“I went and had a bowl of soup.”

“Good thing you remembered to eat. You’ve got your head on straight. You take care of what needs taking care of and do your work well.”

Park patted my shoulder, then left the harbor.

Choi also said I had worked hard before speaking.

“Hyun-woo, we used five trucks, twelve workers, and worked six and a half hours. After seeing you in action, I think we can go without a risk premium from the second deal onward.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Finally, after the MV Adelaide Star had completely left Busan Port, David Jo lowered his camera beside me.

“Mr. Kim Hyun-woo, I’ll contact you as soon as Pacific Grain Lines sets the next arrival schedule. It could be as early as next month.”

“All right. I’ll wait for your call.”

By then, I was completely exhausted.

Around 1:30 in the afternoon, well past lunchtime, I crossed Yeongdo Bridge and returned to the shop.

It had been exactly twelve hours.

When I opened the shop door, my older brother looked up from his work at the counter.

“You’re back. Did it go well?”

“It did.”

“...Good job.”

I walked past, leaving behind my brother's blunt approval, and ran into Dad as he came in.