Eight years passed after that incident. He even became close friends with an upperclassman who once wanted to mess with the business he was running; thanks to that, no one dared to look for trouble with Seo-jun.
Even when making transactions outside of school, Seo-jun was always escorted by his upperclassman and his friends, which meant Seo-jun never suffered any losses at all.
Seo-jun also didn't just let them do all of that for free; he happily gave them money as compensation so they would stay loyal to him.
Until one day, while Seo-jun was busy selling his goods, a group of girls from his class reported the boys who often gathered on the school rooftop as if they were doing something suspicious.
As a result, the homeroom teacher immediately came to the rooftop where we were busy; upon seeing the teacher, everyone who had been picking out my merchandise ran off in embarrassment, some even accidentally taking items with them and hiding them in their pockets.
"Hey... what do you think you're doing, pay first!"
Seo-jun shouted at his friends, who immediately ran toward the stairway down from the rooftop.
The homeroom teacher, already highly suspicious, grabbed Seo-jun's arm with a visibly annoyed expression, upset that his student was still focused on business as if he didn't respect his presence at all.
"Come with me to the office! I don't care what it is you're selling right now!"
he said in a raised voice.
Seo-jun, already extremely irritated because he was worried about his goods being taken without payment, said nothing to his homeroom teacher and simply followed him to the office.
While walking down the rooftop stairs, a group of girls from his class immediately laughed at him for getting caught red-handed by their homeroom teacher.Seeing their behavior, Seo-jun shot them a cold glare, because he absolutely hated losses and people who interfered with his business.
When they arrived at the homeroom office, all the teachers there looked very curious about why Seo-jun had been brought in.
The homeroom teacher sat down and made Seo-jun stand with his head lowered.
"I will be extremely disappointed if you are really selling items that have no place in this school, Seo-jun. I won't hesitate to issue you a suspension letter if that turns out to be true,"
he said firmly.
With a long sigh, Seo-jun immediately took out all of his merchandise from his bag, leaving nothing behind; from books to pens, everything was laid out.
All the teachers in the room burst into loud laughter, causing the homeroom teacher to fall completely silent.
"What on earth is this, underwear?!"
he said while holding up men's underwear in various brands and sizes.
Seo-jun frowned and raised one eyebrow,
"So, according to you, sir... what exactly do you think I was selling, illegal items?"
Seo-jun replied casually.
"I would never do something like that, sir. Those kinds of items do bring in more money, but they're risky; it's better for me to sell underwear instead. The profit is pretty decent too,"
Seo-jun added.
The homeroom teacher immediately sighed, took off his glasses, and rubbed the space between his eyebrows.
"What you said is true, but I hope you won't conduct transactions like that again, because it's too ambiguous and anyone who sees it would think you're doing something bad—oh right, do you have size XL? I'd like one,"
he said.
Seo-jun smiled faintly and handed over the underwear the homeroom teacher wanted; the other teachers also bought some until everything was sold out.
After that incident, Seo-jun's name became well known throughout the school all the way until he graduated and entered Seoul University. Everyone who had gone to school with him immediately approached him to ask what he was selling these days.
As technology continued to develop, Seo-jun shifted his business to social media and, of course, still used email as a means of communication to market the products he wanted to trade; information spread faster and wider, even reaching a global scale.
Because of that, Seo-jun became increasingly busy and eventually decided to live alone so he could focus on doing whatever he wanted. Because whenever he was at home, his mother and father kept going in and out of his room to chat with him, worried that their extremely busy son might feel lonely.
After living alone in an apartment not far from campus, his mother kept visiting at least twice a week just to check whether the side dishes she brought were actually eaten by her son. His grandfather and grandmother would also visit from time to time just to check on their only grandson; his aunt and uncle even came to his campus several times to invest so that students' lunches would receive more attention, making sure their nephew wouldn't eat low-quality food that they believed was unhygienic and unhealthy because it contained too many seasonings.
Seo-jun didn't mind how his entire family watched over him so protectively like that; instead, he was happy because it made them mingle more with people below their social status.
After spending so long in business, the savings Seo-jun had accumulated had grown to a very large amount. Seeing that there were still very few cafés around campus where students could relax while taking a break from their exhausting assignments, Seo-jun decided to rent a place.
Seo-jun did this secretly, not wanting his family to find out. Because if they did,everything would be guaranteed, as they would all invest huge sums of money so that Seo-jun's business could grow without any lack of capital.
While looking for a place to rent, Seo-jun's eyes landed on a bookstore that had long since closed because its owner had passed away and none of the children were interested in continuing the business.
Seeing that, Seo-jun contacted the number posted on the shop's front door. Within just one hour, the child of the bookstore's owner immediately responded to the message Seo-jun had sent.
He replied with overwhelming enthusiasm, which was obvious from the number of stickers he sent.
The next day, Seo-jun happened to have a free schedule. He hurried to settle the rental matter, and the owner's son was also extremely eager to meet Seo-jun.
The owner's son opened the door, revealing neatly arranged bookshelves; the inside was clean as well, all thanks to him having wiped away all the accumulated dust.
After a long discussion, the owner's son refused to rent the place out.
"Why won't you agree to it? Is the monthly price I offered too low?"
Seo-jun asked in a flat tone.
The owner's son immediately shook his head, waving his hands as if trying to say something without offending anyone.
"Then what is it? What's the reason?"
Seo-jun asked firmly.
"Actually, I never intended to rent this place out... actually, my siblings and I were planning to sell it, but I felt awkward saying that to you directly,"
he explained nervously.
Seo-jun stayed silent while staring straight at the man, who clearly looked uncomfortable with the situation,
"Alright then, how much have you all discussed for
this place?"
Hearing that question, the man immediately stood up from his seat and explained all the items that were still usable; he also pointed out that the books were still in very good condition and showed the areas that needed renovation as things that should be considered when agreeing on the price.
"So, how much are you willing to settle on?"
Seo-jun asked first.
The man looked extremely hesitant to say it and even stumbled over his words several times while speaking.
"Sixty million won,"
he said.