One term I learned while researching online.
Same-day delivery.
Basically, it meant taking a car they had in stock straight out of a nearby warehouse.
For someone like me, who needed a car to drive around for the time being, it was a mouthwatering option.
Of course, there were downsides.
If they didn’t have the car you wanted in stock, same-day delivery was impossible. That sort of thing.
But that downside didn’t mean much to me.
I’d come to buy a car to drive until I bought a foreign car, not to buy the car I wanted.
“Something available for same-day delivery… Just give me one, please.”
So when I said that, the dealer sitting in front of me began looking at me with a slightly flustered expression.
“Pardon?”
Had I come here with the wrong idea?
Maybe what I’d just said was like taking off your shoes before getting on a plane.
Feeling a little embarrassed, I lowered my head.
For some reason, I felt like I should’ve called ahead and at least gotten a simple consultation first.
“…Do you not have a model you’d like?”
Since I had lowered my head slightly, avoiding her eyes, the dealer opened the vehicle catalog that had been standing beside her and spread it out in front of me.
As if she had never been flustered, she was smiling again.
I guess what I said wasn’t completely bizarre.
I let out a sigh of relief inwardly.
Anyway.
‘A model I’d like, huh.’
There wasn’t any particular model I had in mind.
I just wanted something I could drive today.
“If you don’t have one, would you like to take a look at our compact car line? A lot of first-time buyers start with compact cars. Especially since our model is more compact in size compared to other companies’ models, many people say it’s easier to park. On top of that, the basic options include a rear cross-traffic warning system, so quite a few customers order it without adding separate parking options. Because of that, this is the car we recommend most often as a first car. This is the model I just mentioned, and it was also our best-selling model last year……”
The dealer suddenly began firing off words all by herself.
Honestly, I couldn’t understand a single thing she was saying.
I just needed something I could drive today.
“Um… Then is this model available for same-day delivery?”
At my words, the woman, whose brown bobbed hair left an impression, stopped speaking for a moment and began thinking about something.
Then, carefully.
“Customer, if it isn’t rude of me to ask, may I ask why you’re looking for a model available for same-day delivery? If I know the reason, I can help you find a model that suits your needs among the ones available for same-day delivery…”
This was getting really complicated.
Wasn’t buying a car supposed to be like, “Please give me this one,” and then, “Yes, that will be this much,” and that was the end of it?
When I searched online, most of the complicated stuff was about buying in annoying ways like installments or leasing.
Come to think of it, I don’t think I saw many posts about same-day delivery.
‘Well, who would try to buy a car and drive it off the same day?’
People who bought cars like that usually had some urgent situation.
Anyway, a reason?
How could I explain it so it sounded natural and we could move on?
As I was thinking hard, the smiling face of the dealer came into view.
This was a hassle. I’d just answer roughly.
“I just… need a car to drive urgently starting today.”
“Will you mainly be traveling long distances? If you have major schedules like events or performances, we do have models in the compact car line with spacious storage, but those are difficult to deliver on the same day, and you’d have to wait about a week……”
I felt drained.
If I said one thing, ten answers came back.
Wanting to finish this as quickly as possible, I said politely.
“No, it’s all right… Could you just show me the cars available for same-day delivery…? Among the compact cars…”
Only then did the dealer close her mouth and nod.
She seemed to have sensed that I was finding this bothersome.
“Understood. Let’s see… This model can be delivered today, but the logistics warehouse is a little far from here, so you’d likely receive it around evening. And for this model, we have one left from a canceled delivery. You can receive it around lunchtime today, but it would be a bit difficult to change the options or color.”
Now that was good news.
If I could receive it around lunchtime, I’d be able to get around more comfortably.
Receiving one in the evening would be fine too, but the car was too ugly.
No matter how much money I had, I didn’t want to burn over ten million won on something like that.
I somehow understood why it was still in stock.
Anyway, that was how my first car was decided.
####
“How would you like to pay?”
“Ah, I’ll do a bank transfer.”
I still didn’t have a credit card or even a debit card.
I heard these days you could make one at home without going to the bank. Should I make one when I got home today?
“A transfer… You’ll be paying by bank transfer?”
“Uh… Is that not possible?”
Could you not buy a car by bank transfer?
If I couldn’t buy one even though I had the money, that would feel a little unfair.
But fortunately.
“No, no. It’s possible. I’ll help you proceed with a cash lump-sum payment.”
After following her through several payment procedures, I was finally freed.
“If the paperwork is processed quickly, you’ll be able to receive the vehicle around lunchtime. Even if it’s late, you should receive it by around three, so it’s fine if you go rest for a while and come back.”
For some reason, the dealer’s expression and behavior felt even friendlier than before.
Well, if I were her, and someone suddenly walked in wearing a tracksuit and said they were buying a compact car in full, I wouldn’t be able to help thinking strange things either.
No, well, I did think whatever she had imagined was probably more or less correct.
Still, feeling a little uncomfortable was feeling a little uncomfortable.
“Or, while you wait, you can look around at other models or take a test drive…”
“Ah… That’s all right. If you call me, I’ll come right back.”
Before she could hold me up any longer, I quickly ran away.
This was somehow exhausting.
It felt like my energy was being sucked away.
“Even buying one car is this hard… How am I supposed to find a house?”
The rest of my schedule suddenly felt a little bleak.
####
I stopped by a nearby café for a while.
Partly to wait until I received the car, and partly to use the gift coupon I’d gotten before.
Literally killing two birds with one stone.
It was just an ordinary chain café, but it was crowded.
Even though it was a weekday morning.
‘Is it because it’s morning?’
Come to think of it, until just a few days ago, I used to buy coffee on my way to work too.
The café I went to hadn’t been this crowded, though.
Then again, there were a lot of proper companies around here, so in a way, it might be only natural.
“Yes, team lead. I’m heading up with the team members’ coffee now. Yes, understood.”
As I stood at the very back of the long line and waited my turn, an office worker passed beside me carrying an armful of coffees.
Four cups of coffee.
They weren’t iced Americanos, but lattes, so it seemed that team lead over there liked lattes.
Seeing that made me suddenly remember the time I’d bought a cup of coffee for myself in the morning and was drinking it, only for that bastard of a team lead to spout nonsense like, “Are you the only one with a mouth?” So I ended up buying coffee for the staff with my own money.
Because of that, I used to finish my coffee outside the company every morning before going into the office.
My mood suddenly plummeted.
Seriously, wasn’t that team lead a crazy bastard?
I should’ve cursed him out even worse.
Something like, “Are you so broke you have to leech coffee off your employees?”
‘Forget it. I don’t even want to get involved anymore.’
Letting out a short sigh inwardly, I opened the gift coupon I had saved on my phone.
‘I have enough money to just buy this café, and here I am pulling out a coupon.’
A snicker slipped out.
They say even chaebols lick the lids of their yogurts. Maybe it was a similar feeling?
“Excuse me……”
As I was giggling by myself while thinking about this and that, someone suddenly spoke to me from the side.
Startled, I turned my gaze.
“Y-yes?”
Where I looked, there was a man who seemed to be an office worker.
Seeing as he was wearing plain black pants and a white shirt, he was definitely an office worker.
“I’m really not the kind of person who says this to just anyone…”
Ah.
Maybe because I was a man, I could guess far too easily what he was going to say next.
“You’re so pretty… Could I get your Insta ID?”
These days, people asked for SNS IDs?
It felt like the world had changed a little. Back when I was young, it was always phone numbers.
No, that wasn’t what mattered.
I didn’t know what to say in response.
‘What did women usually say…?’
Ah, I don’t carry a phone with me….
Who in the world rejected someone like that?
There had been a time when I also thought people only said that as a joke to be funny.
Anyway.
Couldn’t I say something similar, like that I didn’t have an SNS account?
I really didn’t have one, either.
“Ah… I’m sorry. I don’t use Insta, so I don’t have an account.”
At my words, his expression stiffened slightly.
Seeing that kind of face made me feel a little bad, but there was nothing I could do.
On the inside, I was a man.
A man even older than you.
However, he was a man who did not know how to give up.
After composing his expression again, this time he held out his phone.
“Then could I at least get your number……”
I understood very well that he wanted to win love, but he had chosen the wrong target.
“I’m sorry…”
After being coldly rejected twice, he nodded awkwardly and then hurriedly left the café as if fleeing.
When I let out a sigh of relief, I realized that everyone around me was looking at me.
Embarrassed, I closed my eyes.
With my eyes closed, I could feel the temperature of my face rising all too clearly.
“I can take your order.”
As I stood there with my eyes closed, the employee’s voice came from in front of me.
Having no choice, I lowered my head and walked up to order.
“I’ll use this… gift coupon.”
I had originally planned to drink it inside.
But after receiving my coffee, I also hurriedly fled outside.