Staring at me, Shin Yuri asked, “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Just because you remind me of someone in a girl group.”
Upon my words, Yuri chuckled softly. “Oh, so you like girl groups, senior?”
“Well, not really…”
Until just before entering the military, I only knew the group names, not the number of members or their hit songs.
However, by the time I came out, I could recite the history of girl groups.
Not only me but all South Korean soldiers were the same. Would you believe that knowing the hit songs of girl groups from that time can tell you the year of their military enlistment? (This is true.)
“Does that mean you find them pretty?”
“…”
Does it really mean that?
We entered a café where a large roasting machine was installed on one side, and various types of coffee beans were available.
Contrary to the expected high prices, the cost was not much different from other cafes.
“What would you like to drink?”
“Oh, I’ll pay, senior. What would you like?”
Since she was offering to pay, there was no need for me to pull out my wallet, right?
“Americano.”
“It’s cold, how about something hot instead?”
“Sure.”
Yuri ordered two of the same drinks.
We sat by the window on the second floor with our coffees.
Even though she’s my junior, sitting face to face alone with a girl feels awkward. It wasn’t like this before. It’s all because of the military, after all.
To break the awkwardness, I think I need to say something, but thankfully Yuri spoke first.
“Why did you come to Gangnam?”
“I came to visit a friend’s house for a short while.”
Yuri nodded at my words.
“I see. And what about you?”
“I live in Cheongdam-dong.”
It’s easy to think that everyone living in Gangnam is doing well financially, but even within that area, there is a significant gap between neighborhoods. If it’s Cheongdam-dong, it belongs to the top tier in Gangnam in terms of wealth.
Are you perhaps from a wealthy family?
Until high school, I didn’t really have a concept of which households were well off or not. Since schools were assigned based on proximity, people of similar economic backgrounds were grouped together.
However, things changed once I entered college.
Korea University is a prestigious institution. While most students are from working or middle-class families, some come from more affluent backgrounds.
Even if they weren’t from well-known conglomerates, there were quite a few students from upper-class families with assets exceeding hundreds of millions or sons of small business owners.
While other students worked part-time jobs or worried about student loans, living expenses, and tuition fees, these students easily rented expensive studios near the school and drove cars given by their parents.
Yuri hesitated as if she had something to say to me.
“Why did you want to meet?”
Yuri gave an awkward smile at my question.
“I wanted to apologize to you about what happened with Suna Sunbae.”
“Ah…”
Yuri slightly lowered her head.
“I’m sorry. I don’t really go to department gatherings, so I didn’t know.”
Even if you go out a few times for drinks, it’s not like it’s anyone’s job to figure out who’s dating who within the department. Seeing her say this, is she an outsider?
I chuckled and replied, “It’s okay.”
It’s not something to apologize for if she didn’t know. And even if she did know, there’s still no need to apologize.
Yuri let out a sigh of relief.
“Haha, that’s a relief. I was worried after you left so abruptly yesterday.”
Listening to her, it seems like things got messy after Seon-ah and I left the gathering. Yuri must feel sorry for causing that mess and that’s why she came to meet me.
“Planning to return to school next year?”
“If nothing special happens, I think I will.”
“Then we’ll be taking second-year classes together.”
We chatted over coffee about various things. Despite not knowing at the gathering, she seems to have a pretty good personality.
As our conversation was winding down, Yuri cautiously said to me, “Oh! I have a favor to ask.”
“What’s the favor?”
“Well, that is…”
Is she asking me out after seeing each other so briefly?
Wait, could it be…?
Was the apology an excuse, and did she call me to confess her feelings?
What should I say in response to this?
Regardless of liking or disliking her, I’ve never thought about this kind of situation before. Plus, I’m busy with investments right now.
Should I reject the confession?
But it’s too cute to reject. But I’m not ready emotionally yet…
In that brief moment, various thoughts swirled in my head.
Trying to keep a casual expression, I waited, and Yuri spoke up.
“I’m thinking of changing my phone. Can you come with me? I feel like I might get ripped off if I go alone as a woman.”
“Oh, really?”
I don’t know what I was thinking by myself.
I should probably start drinking my kimchi soup.
“I don’t really know much about phones either.”
By the way, this is where Taekgyu is an expert.
He hardly spends money on food and clothing, but he doesn’t skimp on buying electronics like phones, TVs, and game consoles.
He probably knows all the details about the latest phone models, specs, prices, and so on.
“Even if you don’t know much, it’s okay. Just coming with me is helpful.”
I nodded.
“Okay.”
We left the cafe together.
Just across the street, there was a direct store for SSK Telecom. On the first floor, there were phones on display, and the service center was on the second floor.
As we entered, a staff member in a red uniform approached us with a name tag.
“How can I assist you today?”
“I want to change my phone.”
The staff’s face brightened at Yuri’s words.
“Do you have a model in mind?”
“Do you have the Seosung Electronics L6?”
“Of course. It’s currently the best-selling model.”
Following the employee’s guidance, Yuri took her seat and the consultation began in earnest. Discussions about changing phone numbers, device upgrades, installment payments, subsidies, public support funds, point redemptions, card benefits, and so on, filled the air, making it all sound quite incomprehensible.
“These days, even buying a single phone seems incredibly complicated. I now understand what it means to become a naïve customer instead of a wise one,” Yuri thought to herself, feeling overwhelmed by the information exchanged.
Despite feeling a bit overwhelmed, Yuri listened carefully and asked numerous questions.
“…”
“If you understand so well, why did you ask me to come along?” Yuri wondered silently.
As Yuri engaged in the consultation, I looked around the store. Positioned prominently was the latest product from Seosung Electronics, the L6. The phone I used before entering the military was the L3, but now they’ve come up with the L6. Time flies, indeed.
For reference, the phone I currently use is the budget model J2 from Seosung Electronics.
I picked up the L6 and examined it closely. It was noticeably thinner and had a sleek design, probably due to being the latest model.
However, at that moment, something seemed to flicker in front of my eyes, almost like a hologram.
Could it be… what does this mean?
“Why are you staring like that, senior? Is something there?” Yuri asked, noticing my distraction with a puzzled look. The hologram had disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
I shrugged it off. “Oh, it’s nothing. Just felt like a mosquito was buzzing around.”
Yuri looked puzzled and asked, “In this weather?”
I smiled.
“It looks like you misunderstood.”
No, actually, I saw it correctly.
Did we finally find one?
In the end, Yuri purchased the L6. After finishing the SIM card and data transfer, we left the store.
“They said they didn’t have the pink gold in stock, so I bought the sky blue. This color looks good too, right?”
Won’t it be covered up by the case anyway?
Yuri kept staring at her new phone to see if she liked it.
“I’ll have to use it carefully for two more years as a slave to the contract.”
“That model will be discontinued soon.”
Upon hearing this, Yuri looked surprised.
“Really? Why?”
“…”
I kept thinking I might forget, and words slipped out unintentionally.
I chuckled, trying to smooth it over.
“It was just a joke.”
—
After parting ways with Yuri, I hurried to Taekgyu’s house.
As soon as I entered the house, I grabbed Taekgyu, who was deeply engrossed in a game, and exclaimed,
“L6!”
“What?”
“It’s from Seosung Electronics, the L6!”
Taekgyu pulled something out of his pocket.
“Are you talking about this?”
Yuri bought a phone that was exactly like the one she wanted. It was even pink gold.
“Did you have to get pink?”
“If you’re a guy, it’s pink.”
As I was about to talk about what just happened, Taekgyu looked at my empty hands and asked,
“But you didn’t bring lunch?”
“…”
Is lunch really important in this situation?
I explained to Taekgyu what happened at SSK Telecom. Surprised, Taekgyu asked,
“You saw a hologram when touching the L6? And they mentioned ‘L6 discontinuation’?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know either.”
Discontinuation means that production and sales will be halted.
Taekgyu explained to me about the smartphone market.
“Seosung Electronics releases a variety of smartphones from high-end to low-end. Among them, the L series is their flagship smartphone.”
The current smartphone market is truly a battlefield for global electronics companies.
The high-end smartphone market is dominated by EnF’s nPhone and Seosung Electronics’ L series.
Although Chinese companies like Obo and Before have been advancing in recent years, they mainly rely on the domestic low to mid-range market and have not yet shown their strength in the high-end market.
“Well, even though they dominate in sales and profit margin of high-end phones, EnF is overwhelming. That’s why Seosung Electronics specifically made this L6 to compete with nPhone. There are even talks that it surpasses nPhone 6 in design and performance.”
Perhaps due to such evaluations, the L6 was selling like hotcakes, to the point where stock of certain colors was running low. The previous generation model, the L5, sold around 50 million units worldwide. This alone was an astonishing figure, but the expected sales for the L6 were set to exceed 70 million units.
Tae-gyu had a look of confusion.
“Why would it be discontinued when it’s selling well globally?”
“What could be the reason for it to be discontinued?”
Tae-gyu seemed to have a thought at my question.
“Oh! Could it be due to patent disputes?”
“Patent disputes?”
“Did you know a smartphone contains over 200,000 patents? From communication frequencies, semiconductors, components, functionalities, designs, and more.”
Seosung Electronics is an IT manufacturing company that is recognized worldwide, not just in Korea. Therefore, they were involved in numerous patent disputes in different countries.
Especially, the patent dispute between Seosung and NPL in the early days of smartphones was famous as the lawsuit of the century.
“Hasn’t the patent issue been somewhat resolved?”
Even if they lose in a patent dispute, it’s very rare for it to lead to a sales halt; usually, it’s settled through compensation or paying royalties.
Moreover, patent disputes are so complex that it takes years to reach a judgment. Even if it ends up in halting sales, by then, that model has usually disappeared from the market.
Tae-gyu nodded.
“Indeed. From a patent perspective, Seosung Electronics is the ‘conqueror,’ not the ‘conquered.'”
Unlike NPL that introduced the N-phone and other companies entering the market afterwards, Seosung Electronics had been making cell phones since the CDMA era. Hence, they possessed a vast number of communication and technological patents recognized globally. In fact, when caught in design patent disputes with NPL, they counterattacked using their communication patents and achieved some success.
So, what’s the real reason?
Why is it being discontinued?
(TL/n: Seosung is Samsung and nPhone is iPhone)
