As Jaesung skillfully demonstrated the process of creating the program for Costco, along with its clean interface and efficient data organization features, Jim Wharton showed great interest.
After pondering silently for a moment, he asked Jaesung to create a program with similar functions for Walmart.
More precisely, he requested designing the structure of the existing programs.
It was a kind of planning request; currently, they were mainly developing programs that only programmers could use, and he wanted a system that management and employees could also utilize.
“As I mentioned earlier, Walmart’s scale and logistics distribution are on a completely different level from Costco’s. Inventory management involves much stricter and more complex processes too.”
“I won’t ask you to make it right away. Since you’re attending school, I’ll accommodate your schedule as much as possible.”
“This conversation might get long. Shall we continue talking over dinner?”
Confirming that the initiative had shifted to him, Jaesung suggested to Jim Wharton that he stay for a meal.
He told Mom they would grill meat in the workspace, and soon bulgogi and various side dishes were set up on the outdoor table in the garage.
“No way. We’re eating here?”
“Think of it as a kind of Korean barbecue. A slightly healthier version. Do you know kimchi?”
Jaesung unleashed the Yoo family kimchi on Jim Wharton, and surprisingly, he knew about kimchi.
The year 1994, to which Jaesung had regressed, was an era when Korea’s existence was barely known in America.
Thanks to the successful hosting of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, it became known that Korea, a divided nation, had transformed from one of the poorest countries into a somewhat livable one, but to Americans ignorant of the outside world, the most famous Korean was Kim Jong-il.
“I’ve heard of it as spicy Korean cabbage pickle, but I’ve never tried it.”
Most Americans didn’t even know kimchi existed, but Jim Wharton, who handled logistics at Walmart, was familiar with specialties from various countries.
About 10 years earlier, Japan had taken a direct hit from the Plaza Accord, and though it was staggering from the early 1990s bubble burst, it was still the representative country of Asia.
Japanese electronics and cars were conquering America, and as various Japanese cultures spread, items like sushi, ramen, and tempura were sold even at Walmart.
Korean food hadn’t entered Walmart yet, but Jim Wharton, who had visited Korean markets for market research, knew about kimchi.
In the future, when Korean singers’ music videos become global hits, starting the Korean Wave, and Korean movies, dramas, music, and food become popular in America—no one, not even the Koreans living here, would believe it now.
In conservative America, which hadn’t yet fully accepted even Black culture into the mainstream, saying that a Korean singer would attend the Grammys, a Korean film would win an Academy Award, or a Korean novelist would win the Nobel Prize in Literature would earn him accusations of writing patriotic fiction out of overflowing nationalism.
Thinking about kimchi led him to recall Korea’s popularity that would only come 30 years later.
Momentarily daydreaming about Korean men becoming popular with foreign women, Mom quickly set the table, and Jim Wharton looked curiously at the unfamiliar food.
“There are quite a lot of vegetables. They look like greens for salad, but they’re set out whole without trimming.”
“These are called lettuce and perilla leaves; in Korea, we wrap meat in salad greens to eat.”
“This is kimchi. It looks intimidating to eat. And why so much raw garlic?”
Jim Wharton showed interest in the Korean-style table setting, and Jaesung explained the unfamiliar spread in detail.
“This looks like pork belly. Usually, it’s made into bacon or cured for barbecue, but eating it fresh and thick like this is a first.”
Naturally, Jim Wharton, who knew meat cut prices in detail, couldn’t understand why Jaesung’s seemingly wealthy family was grilling raw samgyeopsal, a cheap cut processed into bacon.
After lighting the fire on the brazier and placing the Korean grill plate, when it heated sufficiently and smoke rose slightly, thick samgyeopsal slices were placed on it.
Sizzle~!
The samgyeopsal made sounds as it cooked on the hot plate, splattering oil, and Jim twitched his nose at the unexpectedly savory aroma.
“This is a three-layered pork belly barbecue popular in Korea. Dip it in salt or a Korean sauce called ssamjang. I’ll make the first wrap for you.”
At first awkward, but as Jaesung’s family gathered to grill samgyeopsal together, a uniquely homely atmosphere formed.
When cute Jaeeun did a joyful dance at the smell of samgyeopsal, he opened his heart and comfortably enjoyed the samgyeopsal party.
“Oh! I never knew pork belly was such a delicious cut—I’ve been deceived all this time.”
“In Korea, samgyeopsal is sold more expensively than tenderloin or neck.”
“This ssamjang sauce is a flavor I’ve never tasted before—truly amazing.”
Still not adapted to ripe kimchi, Jim Wharton ate kimchi grilled in samgyeopsal fat and marveled at its taste and aroma.
“It’s fascinating that grilling garlic brings out sweetness. It pairs so well with the meat and sauce too.”
Initially unable to eat perilla leaves due to their pungent unfamiliar scent, but wrapping them with lettuce, he admired the exquisite balance that subtly cut the greasiness of the pork and became completely immersed in the charm of Korean ssam eating.
Grilling and eating samgyeopsal together quickly made him close with Jaesung’s family.
Though Asian minorities—Koreans—Seokhun had refinement as a medical school professor, and his wife, son, and daughter were all charming with bright, unpretentious demeanors; Jim forgot he had come for business and enjoyed the meal together.
“I should have brought a bottle of red wine if I’d known it would be like this.”
“Samgyeopsal pairs with wine, but Korean food matches best with Korean alcohol. Would you like a drink?”
Reading Jim’s mind from mentioning wine, Dad went to the kitchen and brought out a chilled bottle of soju.
It was for export and before the alcohol content lowered, so over 20 degrees; Jaesung swallowed hard but, in his middle school first-year body, couldn’t even jokingly ask for alcohol.
“Actually, samgyeopsal and soju aren’t considered luxurious food or drink. As Korea went through tough times, people started eating them for cost-effectiveness, but with Korean traits, we maximized the potential of cheap food.”
Gulp~! “It does taste like cheap, dirty chemical booze, but it’s strangely charming. Especially, it pairs incredibly well with Korean barbecue. Not a restaurant drink, but sitting at an outdoor table in the garage like this makes it truly delicious.”
Grilling samgyeopsal at home produced so much smell that they often did it in the garage; eating with the door open for ventilation had a unique flavor.
Thus disarming Jim Wharton with the samgyeopsal party, the neighbors—the couple with their kids—came over, drawn by the smell.
“Seokhun. The samgyeopsal smell was so delicious, we couldn’t resist.”
“Haha. We grilled a lot today, so the smoke must have spread.”
The Bezos couple, who had already tasted samgyeopsal, slyly joined the barbecue party and brought steak beef since they couldn’t come empty-handed.
With the Bezos family and kids joining, samgyeopsal quickly ran out, and they cut thick steak meat with scissors to share.
“At first, I was shocked seeing meat cut with scissors, but now it’s inconvenient without them. I’m Jefferson Bezos.”
“Haha. It’s food scissors, so it should be fine. Jim Wharton.”
Already warmed up from soju, Jim Wharton welcomed the Bezos family’s join and showed typical American affability, quickly befriending strangers.
“James is truly a genius. I graduated summa cum laude in computer science from Princeton, but a kid—no, a person—who learns coding so quickly and creates programs with groundbreaking ideas is a first for me.”
“So you’re the one who taught James about computers.”
“I started my own company too, and at first I taught the kid coding, but now I’m learning from him instead.”
Bezos naturally didn’t recognize Jim Wharton and just thought of him as someone working at Walmart.
When he asked about Jaesung, Jefferson, who had observed from next door all along, explained with typical American exaggeration.
Though currently just an ordinary neighbor, Jefferson was the special person who would top the world rich list with Amazon.com; with his apt praise, Jim Wharton accepted Jaesung as an even more remarkable kid.
“I really ate well today. I don’t usually impose at someone’s home like this, but even if it’s an exception, it was a satisfying evening.”
“We just added one more seat to our dinner, so don’t worry about it.”
Jim Wharton thanked Mom, the hostess, and promised to visit next time with a good gift.
With Dad, whom he drank soju with, he firmly shook hands and patted shoulders to express camaraderie, and stroking his little sister’s head, said he’d bring a hard-to-find doll next time.
“I came to meet the person who made the program used at Costco and ended up having a special experience. Still, the purpose of my visit is you, James.”
“I have to go to school and I’m not disappearing anywhere, so discuss internally and contact me.”
“Yes. Since you’re a student, we should match your schedule.”
Unexpectedly enjoying the samgyeopsal party, Jim Wharton left in a car driven by his chauffeur and called the house a few days later.
“I got permission from my older brother and father. I’d like you to visit headquarters this weekend for a direct tour and to prepare specific plans.”
“This weekend I’m going to San Francisco with Dad, so no; would next weekend be okay?”
“Yes. I’ll send a plane to match the time. Come on the private jet. Don’t come alone—bring your parents and sister.”
Seattle, at the northwest tip of America, and Bentonville, Arkansas—slightly east in the central U.S., where Walmart headquarters is located—were quite far apart.
Walmart, with its own satellites, naturally had private jets for business and offered to send a company plane to invite Jaesung’s family.
Having grilled samgyeopsal once and earning a Walmart headquarters VIP tour, Jaesung’s family agreed to go to Bentonville, Arkansas, the following weekend.
“Was that guy Jim really that rich? He seemed like an ordinary American white guy.”
“He’s the son of a hypermarket founder, from the Midwest, so a bit conservative. He values family, and he liked how our family looked.”
Mom, who had done well in Korea, had flown first class but was excited about riding a private jet for the first time.
Thus, the Arkansas trip was set, and when the weekend came, Jaesung flew to Stanford University in San Francisco with Dad.
“Jeremy, Dave. How have you been? This is a lunch box Mom made.”