‘Did he mean this by ‘look forward to it’?’
The place YongHo arrived at as soon as he came back to Seoul, was a place Jeong DanBi went to not long ago.
As if they selected employees from their face, a woman with looks that might appear on TV was politely sitting. On the other side, YongHo was politely sitting on a sofa.
“Please follow me.”
After receiving the interphone, the woman stood up.
“*inhale*”
To relax the tension in his stiff body, he inhaled. He didn’t do anything wrong anyway so YongHo followed the secretary inside.
Ta-tap. Ta-tap.
There was one reason why Jeong JinHoon tapped on the desk. It was because the friction sound from the high-class hardwood furniture made one’s head clear.
“He just entered?”
“Yes. There was a call from the secretary room.”
“If you’re done preparing, send the memo.”
The desk tapping became faster. It was a proof of his nervous mind. The man who was talking to him knew what this meant since he served Jeong JinHoon for a long time, so he hesitated once more before speaking.
“Is this really necessary?”
“What is?”
“The thing you’re doing right now. Team leader Jeong DanBi is also saying she will leave the company continuously… I’m afraid if you’re just making things bigger.”
“They’re continuously producing results. The kind that our chairman likes. And besides, would she be my sister if she can’t even win against this?”
“I understand.”
The man didn’t question any further and lowered his head.
This was a top-command bottom-obey structure which was even stricter than the military. The level of the man’s questions could also considered going quite overboard.
The fact that Jeong JinHoon even replied proved that he believed in this man.
After the man left, a memo arrived at chairman Jeong JinYong’s secretary room.
Tiger face.
It was a word given for people whose face looked similar to a tiger.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say Jeong JinYong’s face from up front was exactly like a tiger.
The part he was similar to a tiger wasn’t just the face. He had a strong build and his lower body looked solid. Just standing on his two legs would make anyone cower.
“Welcome.”
His voice was imposing.
“G, good day to you, sir.”
“Yes. I called you to see your face for once.”
He didn’t say anything special, but YongHo’s face lowered just from feeling the imposing voice. Jeong JinYong, who was standing up, sat down first. YongHo, who was standing there awkwardly, also sat down on the leather chair.
“I heard you were an especially chosen talent by Jeong DanBi… I’m relieved.”
“……”
“YongHo couldn’t easily open his mouth. It wasn’t like the chairman asked something so he just stayed quiet. It was one of the habits he got from his military service.
-You will be fine if you’re quiet when a superior is talking.
“How’s the company life?”
“I’m doing my best.”
“Do you have anything you’re unsatisfied with?”
“None, sir.”
YongHo stiffened his face and answered quickly. The stereotypical conversation was happening. A conversation between a superior and a subordinate was quite obvious.
“Where do you think the problem is in Shinseki?”
“Sorry?”
At that moment, YongHo doubted his ears. His confusion showed up on his face at the sudden question. He never imagined that someone would ask a new recruit like him, who didn’t even work in the company for 1 year.
“I’m curious about what the young ones are thinking. So please say all you that you felt.”
After understanding the intention behind the question, YongHo posed himself before he started talking. His tension decreased perhaps due to having seen the chairman once already in Busan.
“In programming, you must decrease codes which do the same things as much as possible. This is to increase efficiency by integrating codes which have similar effects.”
YongHo started talking about the problems he was thinking about by comparing it to programming.
“However, from what I’ve seen, all the people in Shinseki are doing one type of work.”
Jeong JinYong said with his eyes. ‘Stop beating around the bush and say it quickly.’
“Managing outsourcing. outsourcing development, outsourcing store management,outsourcing product management, outsourcing even buyers. Every employee is quite passionate about managing outsourcing it seems.”
Jeong JinYong’s expression didn’t show much of a change even after listening to YongHo’s confident words.
YongHo experienced a lot of things while preparing for the store opening in Busan. As the ‘gab’, he ate the food that cooperating company employees bought for him, and he also saw how the subsidiary company employees worked, managing the premium outlet instead of Shinseki’s data processing team.
The common point was – managing outsourcing.
Their work seemed as if they were considering how to slavedrive more work onto the people who were from outsourcing at a lower cost. They thought that the profit from that was considered ‘profit’ for the company.
It maybe a naïve thought from a new employee who hadn’t even worked for 1 year. There may be some complicated relations inside the company which YongHo didn’t know.
However, the important thing was that this naïve thought, a problem that nobody cares about, should be discussed and should be on the surface. No matter how naïve of an idea it is, an atmosphere where thing like this are freely talked about, must be made.
Progress is made this way.
Jeong JinYong didn’t comment in any way on what YongHo talked about. He just kept listening silently.
“That is it, sir.”
“Hmm… Yes. I heard your story well.”
“No, sir.”
*Pii*
The interphone went off in the chairman’s office. Jeong JinYong stood up from his seat and went towards his desk. Then he put down the phone with a stiff face.
“Let’s end the call here.”
Jeong JinYong’s figure from the back was emitting an aura of a tiger chasing prey. The calm atmosphere from when he was listening to YongHo was all but gone.
He seemed very angry.
“You, is your salary not enough?”
“Sorry?”
At the out of the blue question, YongHo asked back. However, Jeong JinYong didn’t listen to him anymore.
“Please leave.”
The confident voice became cold. His raised voice represented his mood.
The sudden order to leave.
YongHo could only helplessly leave after standing up, as Jeong JinYong said.
Some people were waiting outside the door. It was the people who came to the smart shopping strategy team not long ago.
“Mr. Lee YongHo? We’re from the inspection team. Please come with us.”
“Wh, what is it?”
“First, come with us before talking.”
They were in front of chairman Jeong JinYong’s office so it wasn’t the right place to talk. Perhaps having predicted the future, YongHo touched his watch.
***
“What did you say?”
“He’s being investigated by the inspection team right now.”
“How could they?”
Jeong DanBi shouted like thunder. The high pitched voice seemed as if it would rip everything apart. The sudden situation made her lose her reason for a little bit.
“This… there are some witnesses who gave it directly to him so… won’t he be dismissed at the very least……”
“Who is it? That said he saw it?”
“It was an employee from a cooperating company. The company he belongs to mostly receives work related to managing premium outlets and it doesn’t seem that big.”
“I need to confirm with my own eyes.”
Jeong DanBi abruptly stood up from her seat. Then she left the office with hurried steps.
***
Someone called YongHo, who was about to get on the elevator. It was Jeong DanBi who was just going to the inspection team.
“Mr. YongHo?”
“Oh, team leader? What are you doing here……”
This wasn’t a place Jeong DanBi should come so YongHo could only be surprised.
“What happened?”
At the question asking what happened, YongHo realized why Jeong DanBi was here.
“I’m not sure what happened, but it’s all solved now.”
“All solved?”
Jeong DanBi asked with a worried expectation. Bribery wasn’t simple. If there was even a witness, then YongHo would be punished without being able to do anything.
YongHo raised his arm and pointed at his watch while looking at such Jeong DanBi.
“I got involved in something unbelievably absurd once, so I bought a watch.”
“Sorry?”
Jeong DanBi, who didn’t know the specifics, signaled with her eyes to talk more. As such, YongHo tapped his watch he was wearing on his right wrist.
“This little friend solved it.”
YongHo, who was talking, didn’t have a good expression. His expression looked bitter rather than happy from the problem being solved.
***
Jeong JinHoon, who was receiving the report, seemed surprised as he stopped tapping the desk.
“What?”
“They said the whole situation was recorded. We’re in a situation where we have to punish some other person now.”
“Really? Is that so……”
He blinked a few times as if he was thinking complicated things.
“What should we do about assistant manager Seo? Shall we carry out the punishment as it is?”
“We should. Show all the company employees an example of what would happen to them if they received bribes.”
“I understand.”
“It seems Jeong DanBi has some luck with people.”
“…What should we do about this Na DaeBang… he keeps insisting he wants to be moved to the smart shopping strategy team.”
“Didn’t you say he was the core developer for Shinseki Magic Mirror? We can’t give him to Jeong DanBi.”
“…This… this Na DaeBang’s father is a third time member for the national assembly.”
“You do know that things are getting more and ugly, right?”
“I, I’m sorry.”
“This will be bad. Whether for you or for me.”
At Jeong JinHoon’s words, the man couldn’t straighten his waist. The man just lowered his head and kept repeating ‘sorry’.
“There’s a favorite line from our chairman Jeong JinYong. ‘Bring me results’. This will be the last opportunity for you.”
Ta-tap. Ta-tap.
Jeong JinHoon’s fingers tapped on the desk again and started producing a clear sound.
***
On the grill was a nice looking rib-eye. The worker who was grilling the meat on the side carefully placed the delicious looking rib-eye to the plate placed in front of Jeong DanBi.
“It’s good. Try it.”
Jeong DanBi picked up the meat on her plate with chopsticks and moved it to YongHo’s plate.
“Thank you.”
YongHo ate a piece of meat with a tired expression.
It was definitely delicious.
However, due to the exhaustion given to him by the incidents that happened in the day, he couldn’t taste it properly. From interviewing the chairman to an inspection by the inspection team… The day went past without him knowing what happened at all.
“Thank you for your hard work. There definitely won’t be another case like this in the future.”
Jeong DanBi said while putting a piece of meat into her mouth. However, YongHo didn’t believe that declaration.
Definitely.
Absolutely.
Unconditionally.
He realized again after today’s incidents.
The attitude to prepare for everything.
If he just forgot last time’s experience, then he might have been in trouble today.
There are countless incidents which people don’t account for. He suddenly got the bug window ability, he was conspired against… He didn’t know what might happen in the future. Reality was more unbelievable than novels.
‘The bug window may disappear too.’
The bug window may disappear too.
‘I need to put in more effort.’
This was what YongHo was thinking while eating meat with Jeong DanBi shining prettily in front of him under the bright lighting.
‘Did he mean this by ‘look forward to it’?’
The place YongHo arrived at as soon as he came back to Seoul, was a place Jeong DanBi went to not long ago.
As if they selected employees from their face, a woman with looks that might appear on TV was politely sitting. On the other side, YongHo was politely sitting on a sofa.
“Please follow me.”
After receiving the interphone, the woman stood up.
“*inhale*”
To relax the tension in his stiff body, he inhaled. He didn’t do anything wrong anyway so YongHo followed the secretary inside.
Ta-tap. Ta-tap.
There was one reason why Jeong JinHoon tapped on the desk. It was because the friction sound from the high-class hardwood furniture made one’s head clear.
“He just entered?”
“Yes. There was a call from the secretary room.”
“If you’re done preparing, send the memo.”
The desk tapping became faster. It was a proof of his nervous mind. The man who was talking to him knew what this meant since he served Jeong JinHoon for a long time, so he hesitated once more before speaking.
“Is this really necessary?”
“What is?”
“The thing you’re doing right now. Team leader Jeong DanBi is also saying she will leave the company continuously… I’m afraid if you’re just making things bigger.”
“They’re continuously producing results. The kind that our chairman likes. And besides, would she be my sister if she can’t even win against this?”
“I understand.”
The man didn’t question any further and lowered his head.
This was a top-command bottom-obey structure which was even stricter than the military. The level of the man’s questions could also considered going quite overboard.
The fact that Jeong JinHoon even replied proved that he believed in this man.
After the man left, a memo arrived at chairman Jeong JinYong’s secretary room.
Tiger face.
It was a word given for people whose face looked similar to a tiger.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say Jeong JinYong’s face from up front was exactly like a tiger.
The part he was similar to a tiger wasn’t just the face. He had a strong build and his lower body looked solid. Just standing on his two legs would make anyone cower.
“Welcome.”
His voice was imposing.
“G, good day to you, sir.”
“Yes. I called you to see your face for once.”
He didn’t say anything special, but YongHo’s face lowered just from feeling the imposing voice. Jeong JinYong, who was standing up, sat down first. YongHo, who was standing there awkwardly, also sat down on the leather chair.
“I heard you were an especially chosen talent by Jeong DanBi… I’m relieved.”
“……”
“YongHo couldn’t easily open his mouth. It wasn’t like the chairman asked something so he just stayed quiet. It was one of the habits he got from his military service.
-You will be fine if you’re quiet when a superior is talking.
“How’s the company life?”
“I’m doing my best.”
“Do you have anything you’re unsatisfied with?”
“None, sir.”
YongHo stiffened his face and answered quickly. The stereotypical conversation was happening. A conversation between a superior and a subordinate was quite obvious.
“Where do you think the problem is in Shinseki?”
“Sorry?”
At that moment, YongHo doubted his ears. His confusion showed up on his face at the sudden question. He never imagined that someone would ask a new recruit like him, who didn’t even work in the company for 1 year.
“I’m curious about what the young ones are thinking. So please say all you that you felt.”
After understanding the intention behind the question, YongHo posed himself before he started talking. His tension decreased perhaps due to having seen the chairman once already in Busan.
“In programming, you must decrease codes which do the same things as much as possible. This is to increase efficiency by integrating codes which have similar effects.”
YongHo started talking about the problems he was thinking about by comparing it to programming.
“However, from what I’ve seen, all the people in Shinseki are doing one type of work.”
Jeong JinYong said with his eyes. ‘Stop beating around the bush and say it quickly.’
“Managing outsourcing. outsourcing development, outsourcing store management,outsourcing product management, outsourcing even buyers. Every employee is quite passionate about managing outsourcing it seems.”
Jeong JinYong’s expression didn’t show much of a change even after listening to YongHo’s confident words.
YongHo experienced a lot of things while preparing for the store opening in Busan. As the ‘gab’, he ate the food that cooperating company employees bought for him, and he also saw how the subsidiary company employees worked, managing the premium outlet instead of Shinseki’s data processing team.
The common point was – managing outsourcing.
Their work seemed as if they were considering how to slavedrive more work onto the people who were from outsourcing at a lower cost. They thought that the profit from that was considered ‘profit’ for the company.
It maybe a naïve thought from a new employee who hadn’t even worked for 1 year. There may be some complicated relations inside the company which YongHo didn’t know.
However, the important thing was that this naïve thought, a problem that nobody cares about, should be discussed and should be on the surface. No matter how naïve of an idea it is, an atmosphere where thing like this are freely talked about, must be made.
Progress is made this way.
Jeong JinYong didn’t comment in any way on what YongHo talked about. He just kept listening silently.
“That is it, sir.”
“Hmm… Yes. I heard your story well.”
“No, sir.”
*Pii*
The interphone went off in the chairman’s office. Jeong JinYong stood up from his seat and went towards his desk. Then he put down the phone with a stiff face.
“Let’s end the call here.”
Jeong JinYong’s figure from the back was emitting an aura of a tiger chasing prey. The calm atmosphere from when he was listening to YongHo was all but gone.
He seemed very angry.
“You, is your salary not enough?”
“Sorry?”
At the out of the blue question, YongHo asked back. However, Jeong JinYong didn’t listen to him anymore.
“Please leave.”
The confident voice became cold. His raised voice represented his mood.
The sudden order to leave.
YongHo could only helplessly leave after standing up, as Jeong JinYong said.
Some people were waiting outside the door. It was the people who came to the smart shopping strategy team not long ago.
“Mr. Lee YongHo? We’re from the inspection team. Please come with us.”
“Wh, what is it?”
“First, come with us before talking.”
They were in front of chairman Jeong JinYong’s office so it wasn’t the right place to talk. Perhaps having predicted the future, YongHo touched his watch.
***
“What did you say?”
“He’s being investigated by the inspection team right now.”
“How could they?”
Jeong DanBi shouted like thunder. The high pitched voice seemed as if it would rip everything apart. The sudden situation made her lose her reason for a little bit.
“This… there are some witnesses who gave it directly to him so… won’t he be dismissed at the very least……”
“Who is it? That said he saw it?”
“It was an employee from a cooperating company. The company he belongs to mostly receives work related to managing premium outlets and it doesn’t seem that big.”
“I need to confirm with my own eyes.”
Jeong DanBi abruptly stood up from her seat. Then she left the office with hurried steps.
***
Someone called YongHo, who was about to get on the elevator. It was Jeong DanBi who was just going to the inspection team.
“Mr. YongHo?”
“Oh, team leader? What are you doing here……”
This wasn’t a place Jeong DanBi should come so YongHo could only be surprised.
“What happened?”
At the question asking what happened, YongHo realized why Jeong DanBi was here.
“I’m not sure what happened, but it’s all solved now.”
“All solved?”
Jeong DanBi asked with a worried expectation. Bribery wasn’t simple. If there was even a witness, then YongHo would be punished without being able to do anything.
YongHo raised his arm and pointed at his watch while looking at such Jeong DanBi.
“I got involved in something unbelievably absurd once, so I bought a watch.”
“Sorry?”
Jeong DanBi, who didn’t know the specifics, signaled with her eyes to talk more. As such, YongHo tapped his watch he was wearing on his right wrist.
“This little friend solved it.”
YongHo, who was talking, didn’t have a good expression. His expression looked bitter rather than happy from the problem being solved.
***
Jeong JinHoon, who was receiving the report, seemed surprised as he stopped tapping the desk.
“What?”
“They said the whole situation was recorded. We’re in a situation where we have to punish some other person now.”
“Really? Is that so……”
He blinked a few times as if he was thinking complicated things.
“What should we do about assistant manager Seo? Shall we carry out the punishment as it is?”
“We should. Show all the company employees an example of what would happen to them if they received bribes.”
“I understand.”
“It seems Jeong DanBi has some luck with people.”
“…What should we do about this Na DaeBang… he keeps insisting he wants to be moved to the smart shopping strategy team.”
“Didn’t you say he was the core developer for Shinseki Magic Mirror? We can’t give him to Jeong DanBi.”
“…This… this Na DaeBang’s father is a third time member for the national assembly.”
“You do know that things are getting more and ugly, right?”
“I, I’m sorry.”
“This will be bad. Whether for you or for me.”
At Jeong JinHoon’s words, the man couldn’t straighten his waist. The man just lowered his head and kept repeating ‘sorry’.
“There’s a favorite line from our chairman Jeong JinYong. ‘Bring me results’. This will be the last opportunity for you.”
Ta-tap. Ta-tap.
Jeong JinHoon’s fingers tapped on the desk again and started producing a clear sound.
***
On the grill was a nice looking rib-eye. The worker who was grilling the meat on the side carefully placed the delicious looking rib-eye to the plate placed in front of Jeong DanBi.
“It’s good. Try it.”
Jeong DanBi picked up the meat on her plate with chopsticks and moved it to YongHo’s plate.
“Thank you.”
YongHo ate a piece of meat with a tired expression.
It was definitely delicious.
However, due to the exhaustion given to him by the incidents that happened in the day, he couldn’t taste it properly. From interviewing the chairman to an inspection by the inspection team… The day went past without him knowing what happened at all.
“Thank you for your hard work. There definitely won’t be another case like this in the future.”
Jeong DanBi said while putting a piece of meat into her mouth. However, YongHo didn’t believe that declaration.
Definitely.
Absolutely.
Unconditionally.
He realized again after today’s incidents.
The attitude to prepare for everything.
If he just forgot last time’s experience, then he might have been in trouble today.
There are countless incidents which people don’t account for. He suddenly got the bug window ability, he was conspired against… He didn’t know what might happen in the future. Reality was more unbelievable than novels.
‘The bug window may disappear too.’
The bug window may disappear too.
‘I need to put in more effort.’
This was what YongHo was thinking while eating meat with Jeong DanBi shining prettily in front of him under the bright lighting.
