Shin Yuri asked as I stared at her.
"Why do you look at me like that?"
"I just thought you looked like someone from a girl group."
Yuri laughed brightly at my words.
"Hey, you like girl groups."
"Well, not really..."
Before I entered the military, I knew the names of some groups, but I didn't know how many members there were or what their hit songs were.
But by the time i came out, I had come to the point where I was starting to understand the history of girl groups.
This applies not only to me but to all Korean soldiers.
"Does that mean I'm pretty?"
"······."
Is that how it works?
We went into the cafe. There was a huge roasting machine installed on one side, and various types of coffee beans were available.
Contrary to expectations that it would be expensive, the prices were not much different from other cafes.
"What would you like to drink?"
"Oh, I'll buy it, senior. "What would you like to drink?"
She says she will buy it herself, so there's no need for me to take out my wallet, right?
"Americano."
Yuri ordered two drinks of the same drink.
We sat by the window on the second floor with coffee.
Even though she is a junior, it feels awkward to sit face to face with a woman alone. It wasn't like that before. This is all because of the military.
I thought I should say something to break the awkwardness, but luckily Yuri spoke first.
"What brings you to Gangnam?"
"I came to visit my friend's house for a while."
Yuri nodded at my words.
"I see."
"So what's about you?"
"I live in Cheongdam-dong ."
It's easy to think that everyone who lives in Gangnam is well off, but even within that, there are significant differences by district.
Cheongdam-dong is one of the most prosperous areas in Gangnam.
Are you the daughter of a rich family?
Until I was in high school, I didn't have much of a concept about whose families were doing well and who were not. Since schools were assigned based on distance anyway, children with similar living standards were grouped together.
But things changed after I entered college.
Korea University is one of the most prestigious universities. Most of the students are from working class or middle class, but some are richer.
Even if it wasn't a large company whose name you might recognize, there were quite a few people from upper-class families with assets worth more than 10 billion won or the son of a small business owner.
Unlike other kids who worked part-time jobs or took out student loans and worried about living expenses and tuition, they found a room in the most expensive officetel near the school and drove foreign cars that their parents bought them.
Yuri hesitated, and i wondered if she had something to say to me.
"Why did you ask to see me?"
Yuri smiled awkwardly at my question.
"I wanted to apologize to my senior."
"apologize?"
"I'm talking about senior Seon-ah."
Yuri bowed her head slightly.
"Sorry. "Actually, I don't go to department meetings often so I didn't know."
Even if you only go out for drinks a few times, it's not difficult to find out who's dating who in the department. Seeing her say this, is she an outsider?
I said with a grin.
"It's okay."
You did it without knowing, so it's not really something worth apologizing for. Even if you knew about it, it's not something worth apologizing for.
Yuri breathed a sigh of relief.
"Hehe, I'm glad. "I was a little worried because you left like that yesterday."
Listening to the story, it seems like the drinking party went awry after Seon-ah and I left. I think She felt sorry, so she came to see me.
"Are you going back to school next year?"
"I guess so if nothing happens."
"Then we'll take second-year classes together."
We drank coffee and talked about various things. I didn't notice it at the bar, but she seems to have a pretty nice personality.
As the story came to an end, Yuri spoke carefully to me.
"ah! "I have one favor to ask you."
"What please?"
"Uhm, that's..."
Was the apology just an excuse, and did you call me to confess?
What should I answer?
Regardless of whether I like it or not, I have never thought about this situation. Besides, I will be busy with investments from now on.
If she confesses, should I reject it?
But the girl is too pretty to refuse. But I'm still not ready...
In that brief moment, all kinds of thoughts swirled around in my head.
As I waited with as calm a look as possible, Yuri continued.
"I'm planning to change my cell phone, can you come with me? "I think if a woman goes alone, she might be treated badly."
"Oh yeah?"
I don't know what I was thinking.
I guess I should drink some kimchi soup or something.
"I don't know much about cell phones either."
For your information, Taekkyu is an expert on this.
He spends very little money on food and clothing, but he does not spare money on buying electronic devices such as cell phones, TVs, and game consoles.
He was probably familiar with the latest cell phone models, specifications, and prices.
"It's okay if you don't know. Just being with you helps."
I nodded.
"okay."
We left the cafe together.
Without having to go far, just cross the street and there was an SSK Telecom branch. Cell phones were on display on the first floor, and the service center was on the second floor.
As we entered, an employee wearing red clothes and a name tag approached us.
"How can I help you?"
"I want to change my cell phone."
The employee's expression brightened at Yuri's words.
"Is there a model you are looking for?"
"Do you have Seosung Electronics L6?"
"of course. "It is the most popular model these days."
Yuri sat down as instructed by the staff. The full-scale consultation began.
Number transfer, device change, installment principal, public notice subsidy, point usage, card issuance benefits, etc.
Conversations that were difficult to understand were exchanged.
These days, even buying a cell phone is very complicated. I understand what it means to say that if you don't know better, you will become a gangster rather than a customer.
Yuri, who seemed to have a sharp eye, understood everything the employee said and asked questions thoroughly.
"······."
If you know about so well, why did you ask me to come with you?
While Yuri was receiving consultation, I looked around the inside of the store. Seosung Electronics' new product, L6, was on display in the best spot.
The cell phone I used before going to the military was L3. But before I knew it, It had reached L6. Time flies so fast.
For reference, the cell phone I am currently using is the J2, a mid-price model from Seosung Electronics.
I grabbed L6 and looked around. It's definitely a newer phone, so it's thin and has a clean design.
But at that moment.
Something appeared before my eyes like a hologram.
no way······?
What on earth does this mean?
"What's wrong, senior? "What's there?"
When I came to, Yuri was looking at me with strange eyes. Before i knew it, the hologram in front of me had disappeared.
I roughly looked around.
"Oh, it's nothing. "It feels like mosquitoes are flying around."
Yuri asked as if she was dumbfounded.
"In this weather?"
I smiled.
"I guess I saw it wrong."
No, actually, I saw it correctly.
Did i finally see one?
Yuri ended up purchasing L6. After the SIM card and data transfer were completed, we left the store.
"They said they didn't have pink gold in stock, so I bought sky blue. Don't you think this color is good too?"
If you put a case on it, you won't be able to see it anyway, right?
Yuri kept looking at her new cell phone to see if she liked it.
"I'm a slave to the contract again, so I'll have to use it sparingly for two years."
"That will be discontinued soon."
Then Yuri looked surprised.
"yes? why?"
"······."
I kept thinking about whether I might forget something, and without even realizing it, my words came out in vain.
I smiled and froze.
"It's just a joke."
* * *
After leaving Yuri, I immediately ran to Taekgyu's house.
As soon as I entered the house, I grabbed Taek-gyu, who was playing a game, and shouted.
"It's L6!"
"what?"
"It's Seoseong Electronics L6!"
Taekkyu took something out of his pocket.
"Are you talking about this?"
It was the same cell phone that Yuri had bought. It was even pink gold.
"Did you really have to buy pink?"
"If you're a man, you buy pink."
I was about to tell him what had just happened when Taekgyu looked at my empty hands and asked.
"But didn't bring the lunch box?"
"······."
Are lunch boxes important to you in this situation?
I summarized my experience at SSK Telecom. Then Taek-gyu asked in surprise.
"When you touched the L6, a hologram appeared and showed 'L6 discontinued'?"
"Yes."
"why would it be discontinued?"
"I don't know either."
Discontinuation literally means that production and sales are stopped.
Taekgyu explained to me about the smartphone market.
"Seosung Electronics releases a variety of smartphones, from high-end to low-end models. Among them, the L series is Seosung Electronics' representative flagship smartphone."
It is no exaggeration to say that the current smartphone market is truly an arena of competition among global electronics companies.
Among them, it is no exaggeration to say that the high-end smartphone market is divided between NPL's nPhone and Seosung Electronics' L series.
Although Chinese companies such as Obo and Biffo have made great strides a few years ago, they have not yet stood out in the high-priced phone market because they are focused on mid- to low-priced phones that rely on China's domestic market.
"Well, even though there are two sides, if you look at the sales volume and operating profit ratio of high-priced phones, NPL is overwhelming. So, Seosung Electronics made this L6 with the intention of catching up to N.Pone. Some say it surpasses Nfone 6 in terms of design and performance."
Perhaps thanks to such reviews, the L6 was selling so fast that some colors were out of stock.
Worldwide sales of the L5, a model from one generation ago, were around 50 million units. This alone is a shocking figure, but the expected sales volume for this L6 was set at over 70 million units.
Taekgyu looked like he didn't understand.
"It must be selling well all over the world right now, so why is it being discontinued?"
"What could possibly cause the product to be discontinued?"
Taekgyu seemed to remember something at my question.
"ah! "Is it perhaps because of a patent dispute?"
"Patent dispute?"
"They say there are over 200,000 patents for one smartphone. "From securing communication frequencies, semiconductors, components, functions, design, etc."
Seosung Electronics is one of the few IT manufacturers not only in Korea but in the world. As such, several patent disputes were taking place in each country.
In particular, the patent dispute with NPL in the early days of smartphones was famous as the lawsuit of the century.
"Hasn't the patent issue been resolved to some extent?"
Even if a patent dispute is lost, it is extremely rare for the dispute to end with compensation or payment of patent fees or even a suspension of sales.
Moreover, patent disputes are so complex that it takes several years to reach a decision. Even if sales are discontinued, the model will not disappeared from the market.
Taekkyu nodded.
"but. "In terms of patents, Seosung Electronics is the number one.
Unlike NPL, which opened the smartphone era by developing NPhone, and other companies that entered the market after that, Seosung Electronics has been making mobile phones since the CDMA era.
Therefore, it possessed a huge amount of communication patents and technology patents, one of the largest in the world. In fact, when it was embroiled in a design patent dispute with NPL, it launched a counterattack using communication patents as a weapon, and achieved some success.
So what is it?
Why was it being discontinued?