Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Chapter 36 Newcomer (6)

-Snore.

Dohyeok, who had followed Jinseong to the office, was not much different from his first day.

"Mr. Dohyeok."

"Hmm, what?"

"This is our team's division of responsibilities. And these are the documents related to the Samjeong Construction VR project that came in recently. You can start by going through the RFP."

"Why are you giving me this?"

"Because you need to get familiar with the work before you can do it."

"Huh?"

"Ask me if there's anything you don't understand."

-Thud.

Dohyeok tossed the stack of documents he had received into a corner and laid his head down again.

Until now, Dohyeok's only duty had been to catch up on the sleep he had missed while drinking all night, then disappear around lunchtime when the office grew busy.

Whenever he used the excuse that his father had urgently summoned him, even the most stubborn superiors backed down.

But here, in the Strategic Planning Team, even the first step of sleeping proved difficult.

"Manager Kim, you have the file investigating competitors for that security solution we were planning to introduce, right? How far did you get?"

"It includes estimated quotations based on the bidding prices for similar projects from two years ago."

"Oh, perfect! Send it to me through groupware email later. That's our Manager Kim for you."

'Damn it, I just fell asleep.'

Dohyeok frowned when his pleasant sleep was interrupted.

With Jinseong sitting right beside him, it was a disaster he couldn't avoid.

Then, just as he was about to fall asleep again,

"Manager Kim, what's that project called? You know, that one from before, where the other company got hit with some bidding restriction and we won..."

"The Ministry of Education AI Knowledge Center Construction Project?"

"Yes! That one! Has the ruling on the appeal come out?"

"Yes. The disciplinary measure was overturned. Now you'll have to compete for it properly."

"Damn, and here I thought it was good news. Thanks! Those guys in my department never keep track of things like this. Do I have to go around investigating everything at my seniority? If I had just one employee like Manager Kim, I'd have nothing to worry about."

"Everyone's busy, after all."

"Come on, who in this company isn't busy?"

"Manager Kim! Our... Huh? What brings Team Leader Choi here?"

"Then what brings Solutions here? You're not even on the same floor."

'What is he, the neighborhood problem-solver or something?'

Even considering the nature of his department, people really did come from every corner of the company. And they were department-head-level employees with dozens of subordinates under them.

The questions they asked varied enormously.

And Jinseong answered every one without hesitation, as though he knew everything happening throughout the company.

'What the hell does he do that makes them come asking him for help like that?'

Aside from having his sleep disturbed, Dohyeok was growing curious.

He was only a manager, after all.

They could easily have ordered their subordinates to find the answers or asked over the phone.

Yet the fact that they came in person suggested they were visiting just to see him, rather than simply for work.

'It's not like he seems to be doing anything particularly impressive.'

Dohyeok slowly sat up and opened a random document from the handover materials Jinseong had given him that morning.

-Rustle.

『Document Number: 140-20841-83

Document Name: Strategic Planning Team Work Regulations

1. General Provisions

1.1 Purpose

Departmental responsibilities within the company...

2. Division of Responsibilities

2.1 Common Duties

-Preparation and storage of departmental documents

-In accordance with internal company security regulations...』

'There's nothing special here. Figures.'

It was the sort of document a reasonably large company was expected to have for appearances, a so-called document for the sake of documentation.

Something that perhaps an overly disciplined new employee might read once.

An expression of 'just as I thought' briefly crossed Dohyeok's face.

Giving up his own bedroom and even preparing breakfast had been consideration possible only because Dohyeok's father was the Chairman.

Excessive kindness offered in the hope that making a good impression might bring some benefits.

There was no need for Jinseong to actually teach him work.

After all, when he was making it so obvious that he didn't want to work, upsetting him would mean losing the chance to boast about being close enough that "Joo Dohyeok spent the night at my house."

But after finishing his role as the neighborhood problem-solver and sending away all the unexpected visitors, Jinseong said something surprising.

"Once you've finished reading, please mark any duties you don't understand or need support with. Normally, I'd ask you to send them by email, but you don't have a computer yet."

"You seriously expect me to read all this?"

"How can you work without knowing what your duties are?"

Both looked at each other as though unable to understand what the other was thinking.

"Ha! Unbelievable."

It would be beneath him to explain their difference in status himself.

Dohyeok knew better than anyone how pathetic it sounded to actually say something like, "Do you know who I am?"

Dohyeok subtly shifted his gaze toward the Department Head.

But even though Department Head Cha Jaehun had clearly heard their conversation through the partition, he didn't move a muscle. The same went for Manager Lee Seollan across from him.

The atmosphere made refusal difficult, much like the company dinner the previous night.

For Dohyeok, who hated saying anything that made him look desperate or undignified, it was a hellish situation.

And Jinseong delivered the final blow to the dumbfounded Dohyeok.

"If you really don't want to do it, you don't have to. I used to handle all this work alone anyway."

'This bastard's saying irritating things again.'

Getting angry was difficult because, strictly speaking, nothing Jinseong had said was impolite.

But backing down would make him look like a piece of trash who refused to take even a share of work that one person could handle alone.

"Who said I didn't want to do it?"

-Smack.

Dohyeok irritably spun his chair around and began reading the documents again.

It was a historic day: Assistant Manager Joo Dohyeok, who had not even attended new employee orientation since joining the company two years earlier, had finally begun his first assignment.

____________

【Your PC will shut down in 10 minutes. Please finish your work.】

A pop-up window appeared while I was busy working.

Its background showed an office worker stretching, as though expressing exactly how we felt.

"Oh, there's the welcome fellow. What took you so long? It's the weekend, so everyone's leaving early, right?"

"Yes. Do you have plans somewhere, Department Head?"

"I'm going to the company hiking club."

"At this hour?"

"No, it's a hiking club, but we just drink makgeolli right out front."

"Ah!"

"You're really something else."

I couldn't help admiring the wisdom of our Department Head, who rarely received permission to go drinking unless it was for a company dinner.

Wasn't it a gathering that both prevented his wife's nagging about getting some exercise and allowed him to drink legally(?)?

When people were desperate, they really did find a way.

"Manager Kim, are you heading straight home today too?"

"Yes. I have to prepare for business tomorrow."

"When you're that busy without even taking weekends off, when do you rest? Aren't you going to collapse from overwork?"

"That's why I work from home."

"Does working from home reduce your workload? You still have just as much work. Anyway, take care of yourself. If we lose Manager Kim from our team, this company won't run properly."

"Good grief, you're holding up someone who's trying to go home again. Come on, let's go! Time to leave!"

And so we packed our things and endured the tedious wait for the elevator.

For some reason, the area around us was unusually empty today.

The impatient Department Head and Manager Lee had already taken the stairs, while people from other departments were avoiding the elevator that we—or more precisely, Assistant Manager Joo Dohyeok—were about to take.

Regardless of rank, he was someone people felt uncomfortable sharing a space with, so I could understand, but it still left me feeling strangely bitter.

"Good work today."

"Well..."

Assistant Manager Joo Dohyeok nodded awkwardly at my greeting.

Then another awkward silence followed.

-KaTalk.

Just then, a KaTalk message arrived.

「Lia: There's no pork cutlet in the fridge! (Photo)

Me: Do we absolutely have to have it? lol

Lia: We don't need it, but it would be really nice if we had some. (Photo)

Me: All right. I'll buy some on the way home.

Elder: Then I shall come too.

Lia: The nine-tailed fox doesn't need to come! (Photo)

Elder: What a nasty disposition.」

There was no need to worry about dinner tonight anymore. It had been decided: crispy pork cutlets for everyone to enjoy together.

_______________

Ginza Yume.

An authentic Japanese restaurant that had opened on prime real estate in Cheongdam-dong, operating strictly by reservation.

Famous for prices befitting its pride in being the finest Japanese restaurant in South Korea, most of its customers were people who thought nothing of spending hundreds of thousands of won on a single meal.

Among those customers was Joo Dohyeok, who had ignored the explanation that same-day reservations were impossible and simply marched into a VIP room and sat down.

"Is that the man?"

"Don't even ask. I told him over and over that it wasn't possible, but he ignored everything, slapped this check onto the counter, and went straight inside."

"Is the manager just going to accept it?"

"What else can we do? Look how much he paid."

"What? Three million won?"

"Shh! Shh!"

When the employee waiting for food to come out of the kitchen cried out in surprise, the manager who had been telling the story hurriedly covered the employee's mouth.

Only then did the employee realize their mistake and whisper quietly into the manager's ear.

(What kind of lunatic pays three million won for a single pork cutlet?)

(Apparently he's the son of Daechun Group's Chairman.)

(Must be nice being a chaebol. He's burning an entire month's salary on pork cutlet.)

'Damn it. They say this is the most expensive place, so why is the soundproofing so terrible? This is embarrassing.'

Sitting in the VIP room, Joo Dohyeok repeatedly drank his cold tea to conceal his embarrassment.

The problem was that the room's luxurious interior was designed to resemble a traditional Japanese house, so even the doors were made of thin paper.

If anything, he was fortunate that he hadn't heard the whispered remark calling him a lunatic.

-Knock, knock.

"Your meal is ready. Shall I bring it inside?"

'It's here.'

The trouble had started in the elevator, when his height had allowed him to accidentally glimpse the KaTalk messages Jinseong was sending.

He had said he would be eating pork cutlet with that child tonight.

Pork cutlet.

It was food Dohyeok couldn't remember ever having eaten, despite approaching thirty.

It wasn't even premium Korean beef, just pork. Worse still, they coated it in batter to make the portion look bigger.

Although it was supposedly done for flavor, that was how he understood pork cutlet: cheap food.

And speaking of cheap food, the ramen he had eaten for breakfast at Jinseong's coffeehouse was hardly any different.

Yet the rich flavor that had clung to his tongue like glue after a single bite had been impossible to dismiss as the taste of cheap food.

If mere instant ramen could taste that good, what would happen if someone prepared meat, and fried it at that?

The thought refused to leave his head, so he had rushed straight here from work.

And at last, he found himself facing South Korea's finest pork cutlet, thickly breaded and fried.

-Crunch.

"Hmm."

'It is delicious, but...'

Despite putting a three-million-won pork cutlet into his mouth, Dohyeok's expression was complicated.

It tasted worse than the ramen he had eaten at that old coffeehouse that looked ready to collapse.

'At this rate, I should've just gone to that coffeehouse. He looked like he was struggling financially, so I bet he'd make it if I handed him a bundle of cash. Right! He said he runs the business on weekends, didn't he? Should I go tomorrow? No. Why would I go again? What's so great about that arrogant bastard?'

Dohyeok had no idea.

Someone had already thought of pulling out a bundle of money at Jinseong's coffeehouse before him, and had even been turned down despite offering two million won more than he had paid here.

He was counting his chickens before they hatched, and indulging in an enormous helping of wishful thinking.