Return of the Genius Photographer

“Who are you?”

“Woojin, you’re here?”

Ki-tae and Young-ho responded simultaneously to Woojin’s voice.

“Yeah. The restroom was crowded, so it took a while.”

“I was waiting for you.”

Watching the natural exchange between Woojin and Young-ho, Ki-tae quickly pieced the situation together.

‘So this is the friend he was waiting for?’

At first, he thought it was some random guy ruining his pitch, but it seemed this was the friend who wanted to buy a camera.

He had expected the friend to be just as naive, but this one had a sharp eye.

‘How did he know these were used?’

Woojin’s comment about the cameras being used was spot on.

Despite Ki-tae’s efforts to maintain them well enough that the difference was not visible to the naked eye, Woojin recognized it immediately.

‘I need to be careful with this one.’

With such customers, pushing too hard, as he had with the sucker, could backfire.

Ki-tae quickly concealed his discomfort and addressed Woojin with a smile.

“Looks like you know your cameras. These aren’t for sale; they’re just for display.”

Identifying used cameras was no big deal; he had plenty of ways to offload his stock. If all else failed, he could always resort to intimidation.

But then Ki-tae noticed something.

‘SBC? SBC reporter?’

He caught sight of a badge peeking out of Woojin’s front pocket, marked with “SBC Reporter.”

In an instant, he realized what he was up against.

“Of course, I know a lot about cameras because of my job. Are you sure these are just for display? The catalog also seems to list mostly outdated models,” Woojin said, confirming Ki-tae’s suspicion.

“Oh… hahaha. So you’re a reporter. No wonder you’re so sharp. This is all just a misunderstanding. I was going to show you other products as well. Do you need anything specific?” Ki-tae stammered, visibly flustered.

Understandably so—SBC was the station that had recently aired the critical report on Yongsan merchants.

‘Are they here for another story?’

Ki-tae’s mind raced. Had they been deceiving him all along? Was the innocent-looking sucker also part of their plan?

“Then, do you have any brand-new cameras in stock?” Woojin pressed.

“Well… uh, about that…”

Ki-tae struggled to respond, his thoughts in disarray.

‘What should I say? Should I just pretend I don’t know?’

Though he hadn’t done anything wrong yet, he felt like a thief caught in the act, uneasy and restless.

‘Should I push back? But what if they publish another article…?’

Normally, he would have tried to intimidate them with some yelling, but given the recent news coverage, he was hesitant.

Lacking the nerve to confront the situation, Ki-tae stayed still.

“Then we’ll be leaving.”

“Oh, yes… please do.”

All he could do was watch them leave his store.

“Maybe I should close up for the day…”

He sighed with relief, having narrowly avoided a potential disaster, muttering to himself that today was just not his day.

* * * * *

“Why are we just leaving? That guy said he’d give us a discount,” Young-ho asked, holding onto my arm with an innocent expression as we exited the store.

He was questioning why we were leaving a place offering cheap prices.

“Those discounts are all lies. You can’t trust anything here when they say it’s cheap. Just now, he was trying to sell you used stuff as if it were new.”

“Really?” Young-ho asked again, still doubtful. I couldn’t believe he fell for it so easily in such a short time. For a moment, I regretted bringing him along.

“And I told you to ignore them if they talked to you. If they kept pestering, you were supposed to show them the ID. How could you forget?”

“Hehe, I just forgot. I got bored waiting and started looking around, and then the conversation went on longer.”

“If I hadn’t come, you would have been forced into buying something.”

“He didn’t seem like that kind of person…”

Young-ho smiled, showing his good-natured spirit.

I knew he was kind-hearted and would have trouble rejecting people, which is why I took extra precautions, but it was still a close call.

That merchant only let us go because he thought I was a reporter. If he’d known we were high school students, he wouldn’t have let us off so easily.

How did this guy manage to get into college on his third try?

With his current state, he looks like he’d need five attempts, not just three.

Even though he’s my friend, his naivety about the world is concerning. But then again, it’s normal for an average high school student to be unaware of these things.

“Anyway, just stick with me from now on and don’t do anything reckless.”

After briefly pondering Young-ho’s situation, I reiterated my instructions, adding that if he got caught by another merchant, I’d leave him behind.

“Yes, sir! Understood!” he replied enthusiastically.

Loud as always.

Having given my advice, I started exploring the market in earnest.

Walking through the Terminal Mall, Najin Mall, and Electroland brought back memories.

I spent quite some time here in my past life before buying a camera. This was the only place to see real cameras up close.

My experience with the merchants’ tactics came from those days.

“But where are we going?” Young-ho asked, noticing that we hadn’t entered any stores despite looking around.

“You’ll see,” I replied vaguely, while scanning the cameras on display in the market.

In reality, less than 20% of the stores in Yongsan Electronics Market actually held inventory. The remaining 80% were just retailers borrowing stock from larger warehouses as needed. They were barely even retailers, selling things they didn’t possess.

As a result, prices were inevitably inflated. Products went through several hands—importers, wholesalers, and then retailers—each adding their own mark-up. This is why people who check the lowest prices online can never find them in the stores.

My aim in touring the shops was to find one that actually held inventory.

“Looking for a camera? Our store specializes in cameras,” a merchant called out, noticing my interest.

Behind him, piles of genuine camera boxes were stacked, giving the appearance of plenty of stock.

However, I passed.

The ‘genuine’ boxes inside the store were all empty.

Those were just props for display. I declined and moved on.

“We sell the latest genuine cameras. Come and take a look.”

A few steps later, another merchant approached me.

This store seemed to have more cameras on display than the last.

I asked the merchant about the models I had in mind.

“Do you have a Sony Alpha 100 or a Nikon D80?”

“Ah… we don’t have those right now, but they’re in the warehouse. How much are you looking to spend?”

After answering my question, the merchant immediately tried to probe. But this store was also a no-go.

Not quoting a price was a standard tactic here.

Moreover, saying it’s in the warehouse is equivalent to not having it at all.

It’s just an excuse to buy time while they source the product from somewhere else.

This cycle of rejection continued for a while.

Merchants offering parallel imports at slashed prices.

Merchants who required separate purchases for parts.

Merchants trying to pass off old models as new.

Merchants pushing other cameras instead of the one I wanted.

Merchants quoting ridiculously high or low prices.

After filtering through these scam-like merchants and covering about half the market, I finally found a suitable store.

It looked shabby on the outside but had well-maintained display cases filled with cameras and lenses.

Moreover, the merchant seemed uninterested in hustling passersby. It felt promising.

I spotted the camera I was looking for in the display and approached the merchant directly.

“I’m here to look at some cameras.”

“Is there something specific you’re looking for?”

“I’m looking for a Sony Alpha 100 or a Nikon D80.”

“How much are you looking to spend?”

“How much can you offer? I’d like to decide after seeing the products.”

I answered the merchant’s probing question firmly.

The merchant, gauging my seriousness, took the cameras out from the display case.

“Both models are popular, so we have ample stock. They are, of course, genuine.”

“Let me take a look.”

I nodded at the merchant’s words and examined the cameras.

Checking the condition of the body, I looked for any scratches or worn-out paint on frequently touched areas.

“The condition is good. I’ve looked around other stores, but they had a lot of used products mixed in.”

After a thorough inspection, I confirmed that these weren’t used. I smiled at the merchant.

“Of course. We source our products directly from the distributor, so we don’t deal in used goods. This is the only place where you can confidently buy new items.”

The merchant seemed pleased with my compliment and replied with a smile.

“You have a good eye. Do you know a lot about cameras?”

“Yes, I’m a professional photographer. Do you sell other equipment here as well?”

“Absolutely. We can provide lenses, tripods, and any other equipment you need.”

“Yes, but today I’m just buying a camera. I’ll come back for the other equipment later.”

“Ah…”

The merchant nodded at my words.

It might have seemed like a light conversation, but the merchant was probably calculating in his head.

He was trying to determine how much value I represented.

Bargaining is like a game of wits. You aim to make your cards seem more valuable than those of your opponent.

This way, you can make them willingly give up their position.

The word “next” that I mentioned would sound very attractive to the merchant.

The amount a photographer spends on equipment often exceeds the price of a camera.

And it wasn’t a lie. It was beneficial for me to know a trustworthy store too.

But to make that happen, I had to handle this transaction well.

“I’ll take the Nikon. How much is it?”

I asked while picking up the camera I liked.

I had already decided which camera to buy before coming to Yongsan, so it didn’t take long to choose.

I found a good camera with excellent performance at a reasonable price from my memories.

In particular, the Nikon D80 was a camera that would still be highly regarded for its performance-to-price ratio even ten years later.

But the merchant seemed to hesitate at my question.

He was probably pondering how much to quote.

“This model costs 1,000,000 won for the body alone, and 1,340,000 won for the full option including the lens. But if you pay in cash, I’ll give it to you for 1,310,000 won.”

The price the merchant finally quoted was quite reasonable.

Whether his claim of getting it directly from the distributor was true or if he was taking a loss, I didn’t know, but the price was almost the same as the regular price.

There was no reason to refuse.

“Then I’ll pay in cash. Please give me the full option. And the 10,000 won discount coupon is applicable, right?”

“Huh? Ah, yes…”

I handed over the cash and the coupon to the bewildered merchant.

Thus, I managed to buy the camera for 1,300,000 won.

“Is it all done now?”

As we left the store with the camera, Young-ho, who had been waiting, asked.

I smiled at him and replied.

“No, it’s just the beginning.”

Finally, the foundation to start my activities as a photographer was laid.

“First, let’s grab some food.”

It was a very satisfying hunger.