Return of the Genius Photographer

Father’s car was a Starex.

“I’ll be back.”

“Okay. Be careful.”

After bidding farewell to my mother, I got into my father’s car.

Soon, the car emitted smoke and started moving.

“…”

“…”

The spacious interior of the car felt uncomfortable due to the prolonged silence.

With my mother not there to ease the awkward atmosphere, I immersed myself in my thoughts, using the awkwardness as an excuse.

In fact, although I had found my father intimidating since childhood, I didn’t dislike him.

At least back then, our family was harmonious.

Things took a turn for the worse only after my father quit his job…

To be precise, about three years later from now.

In 2010, a construction worker at Hyunwoo Construction fell to his death in an accident.

It was a tragic incident, but such accidents occasionally happened at construction sites, receiving little public attention.

However, the aftermath of the incident reached our family.

To evade responsibility, the construction company concluded it was a simple accident due to the worker’s negligence.

Workers who knew the real cause was outdated safety equipment naturally opposed the company.

The problem was that the accident happened where my father was the team leader.

The deceased worker was one of those my father managed, and to resolve the complex issues of honor and compensation, my father gathered like-minded people and started protesting.

But like many protests against large construction companies, it faded away without much public attention.

At the same time, our previously stable family fell apart like a sandcastle.

It was natural that discord arose in a household whose livelihood was cut off.

Frequent arguments with my mother eventually led to divorce, all during that time.

That was when I started getting into photography.

I believed that if I took pictures, I could preserve those moments as memories.

I tried my best to leave behind good memories somehow.

In the end, unable to bear it, I fled to the United States…

Whenever I’m with my father, those times keep coming back to me.

“Woojin, if you’re sleepy, take a nap.”

As I struggled in the past, my father’s voice broke through my reverie and reached my ears.

“Ah… no, it’s okay. I was just lost in thought for a moment.”

“There’s still time. You can sleep if you want.”

It seemed my father thought my silence meant I was dozing off.

I shook my head and replied to him.

“It’s okay. I’m not sleepy. Father, is this the construction project underway at Hyunwoo Construction?”

“Did you hear that from your mom? You know it well. It’s a major project building a new city. It’ll take a few years.”

I nodded silently in response to my father’s answer.

In my childhood, I sometimes thought this way.

If only my father had ignored his colleague’s death, couldn’t he have at least protected our family?

In the end, if he couldn’t protect anything, shouldn’t he have protected our family?

“How’s school these days?”

“It’s just okay. Well…”

“Is work manageable? Your mom worries a lot about you.”

“I enjoy work. It’s something I like doing.”

The conversation didn’t flow easily.

Or rather, it was because I couldn’t find the right words.

In the past, I resented my father.

No, in fact, I didn’t know if I still hated my father.

Right now, I was seeing the past father through the lens of the future father…

Remembering past lives so vividly seemed more like a curse than a blessing.

But maybe…

Perhaps, I could change this future too.

Just like how I’m changing my own life now.

By the time I reached this conclusion with my thoughts…

“We have arrived. Pack your things and let’s go.”

“Yes”

We arrived at the construction site.

Carefully holding the bag with the camera, I followed behind my father.

* * * * *

The construction site my father led me into was bustling with people gathered around containers.

“Boss! You’re a bit late today.”

“Yong-man, what’s going on? So, you can also be late sometimes.”

“Team Leader Nam, we’re starting late. You’re not thinking of leaving early, right?”

As we entered the construction site, workers greeted my father warmly, calling out his name.

They seemed very close, joking around with each other.

“Haha. Since I’m five minutes late, I’ll end five minutes late too.”

My father chuckled along with them, responding to their banter.

The cheerful atmosphere was different from the father I knew, which surprised me a little.

“Let’s quickly go over the instructions and get to work. Today in our section, we’re working on the second-floor slab installation. Make sure to wear your harness safety belts and other safety gear.”

My father started speaking to the gathered workers beside him.

Each worker chimed in with a comment or two.

“Hey, Nam, how about we work together for a year or two? It’s natural for veterans like us.”

“Hey, Mr. Kim, you talk big. You’ll be the first to go.”

“Hahaha.”

The workers laughed at each other’s jokes.

The way my father enjoyed his work was understandable from the cheerful atmosphere.

Watching them, I unknowingly took out my camera and pressed the shutter.

Click!

I tried to be as careful as possible, but the sound of the shutter was inevitable.

The workers at the construction site turned their heads towards the unfamiliar sound and looked at me.

“Hey, who’s this guy?”

They looked at me with cautious eyes.

Just as I was contemplating how to respond to their gaze,

My father explained, “He’s my son. He came here to visit where I work for a school assignment. Please understand.”

“Hello. I’m Nam Woojin.”

I greeted the people as my father introduced me.

“Wow! Boss’s son?”

“Oh, thank goodness he didn’t take after Yong-man.”

“How is he not like him and looks exactly the same?”

“Hey, Mr. Nam has a handsome son who’s well-mannered and tall.”

The workers relaxed upon hearing the introduction and started chatting again.

They were really cheerful people.

“Alright, enough chit-chat. Let’s start working now.”

“Yeah, let’s get to work.”

“Let’s finish quickly!”

“Where do you think you’ll finish quickly, you fool? The whole building will collapse.”

“Hey, Mr. Park, let’s go to work.”

They seemed like they could talk all day if left alone.

But when my father slightly intervened and spoke to them, the workers quickly grabbed their equipment and moved to the site.

After briefly watching them leave, my father turned to me and spoke.

“You always need to be careful on a construction site. There are safety equipment in the containers, so make sure you wear everything.”

“Yes. Can I take pictures?”

“Yeah, but let the people know first. And don’t take pictures if someone doesn’t want you to.”

“Of course.”

Earlier, I casually took a picture of my father and inadvertently captured the people around him.

Normally, you must always get permission before taking photos.

Although I set the stage with a non-existent assignment to get my father’s permission to take photos, it was a matter of etiquette to ask first.

“Also, stay close and try not to wander off to other places. People from other construction sites might misunderstand.”

“Okay. I’ll be careful.”

“Yeah. If there’s anything, come to me right away.”

After giving me these instructions, my father walked towards where the workers were.

Instead of following my father right away, I decided to enter the container and prepare my safety gear.

Inside the container, which served as a makeshift break room and storage for supplies, safety equipment filled the space.

From basic helmets to safety harnesses for fall protection, safety goggles, and face shields—it seemed like all necessary safety gear was there.

But in reality, it was just for show. Upon closer inspection, most of the equipment was worn-out.

“No wonder accidents happen…”

I clicked my tongue, looking down at the worn-out safety gear.

“I wish I could dig into my savings to replace this gear, but there’s no guarantee that it would change the future…”

If only solving the problem were as simple as replacing safety equipment.

I knew accidents waiting to happen were not straightforward issues.

As later revealed, the root cause of the Hyunwoo Construction worker’s fall accident was actually corruption in public bidding.

In the early 2000s, the government announced plans for new city development, and construction rights for redevelopment areas were auctioned off through public bidding.

Numerous construction companies, hungry for these lucrative national projects, aggressively bid on them.

Among them was Hyunwoo Construction, which not only offered drastically low bids to expand its market share but also engaged in clandestine bribery to secure the most construction rights.

Hyunwoo Construction’s aggressive strategy inevitably led to budget cuts.

The easiest items to cut from the budget were always labor and safety costs.

Hyunwoo Construction continued to turn a blind eye to poor working conditions and inadequate safety gear to cover up its background…

In reality, Hyunwoo Construction concealed it well.

This fact came to light when corruption at the state-run Korea Land and Housing Corporation surfaced, causing the incident to resurface.

Although much time had passed since then, it remained a shocking story for me, someone who always remembered this incident.

“Ugh… This is no small matter. How am I supposed to solve this?”

If it were a simple issue, it wouldn’t be so deeply intertwined with corporate corruption.

It went beyond what an individual could resolve.

I became deeply troubled.

“But still, should I at least leave some photos behind…?”

As I struggled to find a viable solution, just as I was about to take out my camera with a determined heart…

Clatter!

A sound of something falling on the ground.

“My name tag? Did I put it in my bag?”

The fallen item was the name tag I made when I visited Yongsan with Young-ho.

It seemed to have fallen out when I pulled out the camera.

It had “SBC Reporter” written prominently on it.

I had put it in my bag after using it, and I had completely forgotten about it until now.

“Wait, if I handle this well…”

Suddenly, something came to mind.

A solution that could alleviate my concerns.

“Yeah… I’ll use photographs to reveal the truth.”

As the vague solution came to mind, tasks flooded in like a burst dam.

“I need to hurry. If I want to finish before my father arrives, I need to move quickly before lunch.”

I promised not to go anywhere else with my father, but it seemed like I would have to break that promise.

I planned to visit several places.

After picking up a jacket with safety equipment and the construction company logo from the container, I looked just like any other construction worker.

It might look a bit awkward with the bag hanging at the back, but there were plenty of other workers at the site, so it shouldn’t stand out too much.

“Let’s get going now. Oh, before that.”

I hurriedly scanned the container again, as if I had forgotten something.

Broken and neglected safety equipment.

Among them, I picked out the ones that looked particularly worn out, laid them out, and took pictures with my camera.

Click!

Click!

Click!

The shutter sound echoed as I captured the photos.

“Alright, these should be useful.”

Smiling softly as I reviewed the photos.

I was determined to make full use of them.

After all, for a journalist, photos are the most powerful weapon.

I put the camera back into my bag and urged myself to leave the container.

There were still many photos left to take in a rush.

It was the best way I could confront the construction company.

That was to become a journalist.