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Chapter 6
Sunday afternoon, fiddling with the camera in my hands, I headed to the wedding hall.
After receiving a call from the wedding company yesterday, I had planned to buy a camera. But after seeing the 1 million won price tag on the official website, I gave up and searched Danggeun Market instead.
However, even on Danggeun Market, used cameras cost over 500,000 won. There were cheaper ones for 200,000 to 300,000 won, but now I could tell. The photos taken with those cameras probably wouldn’t be much different from photos taken well with a phone.
‘Just don’t drop it. Ah, and don’t change the settings.’
I contacted several of my high school classmates and somehow managed to borrow a decent camera. It was a Japanese company’s model, the EES-177, a lightweight product that was good for beginners. Apparently, with its clear image quality and excellent focus correction, it was a good companion for someone just entering the world of photography.
‘That’s some pretty honest advertising.’
Thanks to my newfound knowledge of photography, I could also judge cameras. Just as the advertisement said, this was a camera suitable for beginners. It suited a 21-year-old aspiring photographer even more.
‘I kind of want one.’
The official online store price was 1.07 million won. Even used, depending on its condition, it would cost around 700,000 won. I wanted one, but with my current finances, it would be difficult. I also had to consider my family’s financial situation.
Still, if I kept getting photography jobs like today, I could save enough to buy a camera. I could just earn more with a better camera, right?
Before coming to the wedding hall, I had researched online how much photographers usually charged for promotional photos of buildings like this.
Most photographers spent about two to four hours shooting and then about a week retouching and editing the photos.
They provided anywhere from ten to thirty finished images, which were called “cuts.” The price seemed to be around 300,000 to 500,000 won for twenty cuts. The larger the building, the higher the price and the more cuts they provided.
Click!
Retouching seemed to be a different skill from simply taking photos, and I still didn’t know how to do it. Therefore, my contract with the wedding hall was to provide the photos immediately without retouching. We agreed on 150,000 won for one hour of shooting, with twenty interior shots and ten exterior shots.
‘Is that cheap or expensive?’
In reality, it would take at least two hours to get thirty decent shots. But I could finish it in an hour. So the normal price would probably be somewhere between 150,000 and 300,000 won, but I only asked for 150,000.
I wasn’t a professional photographer, after all, and I didn’t want to haggle over a few tens of thousands of won on my very first job.
‘Once I build up some recognition, I can charge more.’
Click!
Anyway, it wasn’t common to work one hour a day and make 150,000 won, was it? Once again, I followed my instincts and took one great photo after another.
“Excuse me, photographer…?”
I had already finished taking the ten exterior shots and was photographing the interior when several employees quietly called out to me.
“Could you maybe take some photos of us too?”
One of the female employees held out her phone.
I hadn’t even said I would take their pictures.
“Actually, I found your photos.”
“Where?”
“We have an event where customers receive an additional option in exchange for posting promotional reviews on social media. I went to check those reviews, and I saw your photos. They were really on another level.”
“Ah~”
Now I understood how they had found me. Someone among the bride and groom’s acquaintances must have taken my number and contacted them.
“Actually, I asked the manager to bring you here because we wanted you to take some photos of us. It’s a secret from him.”
“Oh, really? I normally charge separately for personal photos.”
“What!? Really??”
The female employee looked genuinely startled. By now, several other female employees had gathered around, and they also looked surprised.
“I’ll take them this time if you just buy me a drink.”
“What? Ah~ You scared me! I thought you were serious~”
“He’s playing hard to get?”
The women giggled. Every one of them was pretty, as if they had been hired based on their appearance. Well, it would be hard for a wedding hall not to care about the appearance of its employees.
In the end, I took both group photos and individual photos of all of them before I could finally finish my work.
I received the 150,000 won in cash, and on top of that, the older sister who said she was in charge of promotions even got my phone number.
But one thought occurred to me.
Among all the people who had gotten my number so far, was there actually anyone who was interested in me?
‘Or do they just see me as some guy who can take really good pictures with a click?’
“Neofinetia?”
“Yeah, Neofinetia. Have you heard of it?”
It was Monday, and I was back at the facility. Social worker Cha suddenly called me over and asked if I knew what Neofinetia was.
“It’s a type of orchid, but it’s extremely difficult to grow. It’s originally an orchid that grows on cliffs. Of course, there are more than a hundred varieties, so I can’t say they’re all like that, but you get the general idea, right?”
Ms. Cha showed me several pictures of Neofinetia on her phone as she explained.
“There’s a plant-keeper community I’m part of.”
“Plant keeper?”
“You know how people who raise cats call themselves servants? We jokingly call people who carefully raise and dote on plants ‘plant keepers.’”
Ah, so there was another slang term like that.
Though for slang, it sounded a little old-fashioned.
“Here… It’s called Gardeners of Galaxy…”
“Pfft!”
Gardeners of Galaxy? That was obviously copying Guardians of the Galaxy.
“I posted a picture of the Albavera you saved and the photos you took, and I got a message.”
Ms. Cha showed me someone’s message. After a polite greeting, I could see what the person actually wanted.
‘Could I ask that gentleman to take care of my Kirin?’
“Kirin? The one with the long neck…?”
“Not the one in Africa. It’s a Neofinetia named after the Kirin from Chinese mythology.”
Ms. Cha showed me a picture of the orchid the person had sent.
“A 2.7 million won one.”
“Wh-what…?”
That tiny orchid, about the size of my fist, cost 2.7 million won?
“But it’s dying.”
“This one too?”
Why were so many plants dying?
“There are tons of them. They can live perfectly well for several years and then suddenly start looking weak. Changing the moss net or bark doesn’t help, and even spraying them with water at a set time every day without missing a single day doesn’t save them. Eventually, they just wither away and die.”
If something worth 2.7 million won suddenly started dying for no apparent reason, it would be heartbreaking. Even when a cheap cactus died, it was upsetting, so something worth millions would be even worse.
“This person said they’d even pay me a referral fee if I could arrange for them to meet you.”
“Me? You mean me?”
“Yeah. They asked how you managed to save the Albavera. I told them about you, and they even called me to ask me to introduce you.”
Ms. Cha added that the person was well-known on the site for being a gentleman and wasn’t someone who would ask for a favor without paying anything.
“Hello.”
As soon as I told him I was willing to meet, the owner of the Neofinetia came all the way from Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do, to a café in Anyang, Gyeonggi-do.
He was a middle-aged man who perfectly fit the description of a gentleman.
“I heard you saved Monster Albavera in just two days.”
“Yes, well… It wasn’t anything special.”
“I had been regularly watching the condition of Ms. Yulia’s, no, Ms. Cha’s Monster Albavera, so I knew what condition it was in. Honestly, even while giving her advice, I already thought it was dead. So when I heard that you had saved it in just two days, I couldn’t just sit still, even though I knew I might be imposing.”
He explained his situation.
How difficult it had been to obtain the Neofinetia, when it had first started looking unhealthy, and what condition it was in now.
“Perhaps it is already dead. Maybe I’m just wasting my time. But if there’s anything I can do, I’d like to try until the very end.”
The middle-aged gentleman gave a small laugh, as if he found his own words amusing.
“I suppose I just can’t give up because of how much money I spent on it.”
“Hahaha…”
Eventually, the gentleman carefully took out the Neofinetia he had brought, securely packed.
“How is it?”
I knew the moment I saw it why he had come all this way.
The Neofinetia was in serious condition. It had been placed in a shallow container, and judging by its condition, he had probably changed the moss or other growing medium several times.
“You’ve kept changing the growing medium, haven’t you?”
“Yes. I know that’s not good, but it just wouldn’t adapt…”
Apparently, this man also knew quite a bit about orchids. The fact that someone knowledgeable about orchids had repeatedly changed the base where the Neofinetia’s roots were attached meant that its condition must have been extremely bad, and he must have been desperate.
I couldn’t even remember the person I used to be, who knew absolutely nothing about plants. My head was now overflowing with knowledge.
The diagnosis was complete.
I knew what I needed to do to save the Neofinetia.
“Has it already…?”
“It isn’t dead yet. It’s really hanging by a thread, though. Bringing it here today was a very wise decision.”
“Phew…”
He carefully packed the Neofinetia again and asked me,
“Then you’re saying you can save it?”
“Yes. But even if I get it stabilized quickly, it will take at least a week.”
“A week?”
By my standards, since I had saved the vegetable garden in a single day, a week was a long time. But to an ordinary person, that was still surprisingly fast.
“Yes. I think I should take it home and attach it to a different growing medium. I’ll need to monitor its condition in real time and adjust the humidity, and if necessary, wrap the roots in moss.”
I smoothly listed the methods that came to mind as the most appropriate ones.
However, even after hearing that I could save it, the middle-aged gentleman didn’t look relieved.
“I… It’s not that I don’t trust you, but…”
“You mean you can’t leave it at someone else’s house for a whole week.”
Of course. How could he casually hand over something worth 2.7 million won? I could switch it with something else, after all.
“But you know it will die if you leave it like this, don’t you?”
“Th-that’s true…”
“More importantly, even if I had bad intentions, what could I possibly do with a Neofinetia that’s already almost dead?”
“That is true…!”
It was worth 2.7 million won when it was healthy. In its current condition, it was basically just a bunch of weeds.
Still, this man had asked to meet me, only to doubt me now. He was going to have to pay a little for that.
“You said you’d pay Ms. Cha a referral fee, didn’t you?”
“Ah, yes. I did. If this is about the cost…”
Before I could even finish speaking, he pulled out an envelope that appeared to contain money.
“This is modest, but…”
The envelope of cash slid onto the table.
For some reason, grabbing it immediately felt a little too crude.
“It’s 300,000 won. If you manage to save it, I’ll give you another 300,000 won a week from now.”
600,000 won. 600,000 won for taking care of a plant for a week.
Wasn’t this a seriously profitable job?
“Understood. Thank you for trusting me with it.”
I took both the envelope of money and the Neofinetia inside its plastic bag.
“You’ll probably keep worrying about it, so I’ll send you a photo once a day.”
“Oh, thank you.”
We exchanged greetings and contact information before parting ways.
It was a 600,000-won job. Holding the Neofinetia carefully against my chest so I wouldn’t accidentally damage it, I returned home.
Mom, who had gotten home before me, looked at me and said,
“Did you bring home another plant? Last time you were taking care of the social worker’s plant too.”
“Yeah. I started a part-time job.”
“A part-time job?”
Mom scolded me, apparently unable to understand how watering plants could count as a part-time job.
I put down the Neofinetia, took the envelope of money from my pocket, held it out to Mom, and grinned.
“A 600,000-won job!”
