#047
Hwi-kyung’s entry into BK International happened swiftly. It was thanks to Jung-hye, who said she had expected this and quickly arranged a position in the HR team.
It was somewhat comforting to hear that Sung-ha was just a vice president in name and didn’t need to be worried about. Hwi-kyung didn’t want to be involved with Sung-ha again. As a Korean, he couldn’t forgive stepping on carpeted floors with shoes on, especially when this wasn’t even America.
Jung-hye asked a couple more times if it wouldn’t be better to start as a manager. Hwi-kyung briefly considered starting with Jung-hye’s backing, since he was already prepared for regression anyway. But as a 27-year-old manager, Jung Hwi-kyung couldn’t oust Park Bong-joon.
If Park Bong-joon knew Lee Jung-hye was behind Hwi-kyung, he would never touch Hwi-kyung. Instead, he would act as if he’d give Hwi-kyung everything. Unlike Gyo-ha, Jung-hye was truly a powerful figure.
So even if he was specially recruited, the connection to Jung-hye shouldn’t be too obvious. He might look like a suspicious new hire who got in through connections, but it was safer if people didn’t know which side was backing him.
“Are you really okay with this?”
“It’s not like I’m working at a company for the first or second time.”
“No, but… if I had known it would be like this, I would have gone to International too.”
“That’s enough. I don’t want to experience you as my direct superior anymore.”
“Am I that terrible as a boss?”
“Yes.”
Lee Gyo-ha immediately became gloomy at the blunt answer. Though not as much as Hwi-kyung, Gyo-ha’s expressions had become quite varied in front of Hwi-kyung.
Gyo-ha drove Hwi-kyung to the company, not minding that his own arrival at work would be delayed. Even though Hwi-kyung said it was fine, Gyo-ha was more anxious, like an overprotective parent sending their child to school for the first time.
Picking out clothes was one thing, as he thought of Hwi-kyung as a fashion terrorist, but when he suggested Hwi-kyung move into his officetel because it was closer to the company, even Hwi-kyung was speechless.
Marcia, also oblivious to Hwi-kyung’s bewilderment, kept repeating that Hwi-kyung should live in the officetel because she would miss him too. Hwi-kyung almost fell for Marcia’s persuasion and was about to pack his things, but with his last bit of reason, he barely managed to reject the cohabitation offer.
Cohabitation? Things were moving too fast when they weren’t even dating. Gyo-ha probably just requested house-sharing because his place was safer and closer to the company (though he wasn’t entirely without ulterior motives), but Jung Hwi-kyung felt this was another of Gyo-ha’s American-style advances.
How could he move into that officetel when they might end up kissing again if he let his guard down for a moment while living together? That would be like sticking his head into a snake’s den.
If Gyo-ha had known Hwi-kyung’s thoughts, he might have felt a bit wronged. It would be a lie to say there were no ulterior motives, but the offer was made with more goodwill than ulterior motives. To be accused like this… He should have behaved better usually to avoid such misunderstandings.
“You don’t have to drive me like this every time. There are so many eyes in the parking lot.”
“It takes over an hour from your villa to the company.”
“That’s a pretty normal commute time.”
Isn’t it better than commuting from Hongdae to Pangyo? Or from Incheon to Seongsu? Hwi-kyung thought of his former colleagues who spent over three hours a day just commuting. While it’s best to be able to walk to work, areas where companies are concentrated usually have ridiculous land prices.
Hwi-kyung’s villa was also quite far from BK International. The cheap villa at the entrance of a so-called moon village was as far from the subway station as its rent was low.
Gyo-ha, who had visited Hwi-kyung’s home without permission twice, knew this fact. If there had been a parking lot in the villa, he would have bought Hwi-kyung a car, but there wasn’t even a place to park.
Hadn’t Gyo-ha parked in the alley early this morning, waiting for Jung Hwi-kyung? Gyo-ha wished Hwi-kyung would live with him. He couldn’t understand why Hwi-kyung refused to live together when there was no elevator and only rude neighbors.
“Can’t you really live with me?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“…Do you really need to ask?”
“Yes.”
Hwi-kyung looked bewilderedly at Lee Gyo-ha, who was whining to live together like a dog wanting to be with its owner. Gyo-ha was mature about 1 out of 10 times, but the other 9 times he didn’t act his age.
“My officetel is safer than that villa, closer to the station… If you move in, you could also drive my car to work.”
“I don’t want to be a suspicious new hire driving a foreign car.”
“Why does it matter what car someone else drives?”
“A new employee with a better car than the team leader gets immortalized on online communities.”
Gyo-ha shed tears of blood at Korea’s pettiness. Why do so many people care if Jung Hwi-kyung drives a foreign car! Can’t a rich new hire work at a company as a hobby! It was truly a bourgeois thought.
“Then should I find you a room near the company?”
“I’m really fine.”
“I’m not okay with it, but you always say you’re fine…”
“…I’m going to get out now. You should go to work too, Lee Gyo-ha.”
“Hwi-kyung.”
“Yes?”
“Have a good day.”
It was an embarrassing greeting. It was fortunate that the system window no longer recognized Lee Gyo-ha as Hwi-kyung’s employer since Hwi-kyung transferred to BK International. Otherwise, the system window would have embarrassed Hwi-kyung again.
Instead of remaining silent, Hwi-kyung nodded. Though he refused to live together, Gyo-ha was going to pick him up after work too, using the excuse of it being his first day.
“I’ll be going.”
Even at this small response, Gyo-ha smiled at Hwi-kyung, seeming delighted for some reason. Hwi-kyung thought it was quite excessive, but with a slightly excited heart, he stepped into BK International once again.
* * *
It’s really difficult to face someone normally after witnessing their rock bottom. Hwi-kyung put on a professional smile as he watched Park Bong-joon pat his back and say with a jovial laugh that he looked forward to working together.
It felt like a past life when Park Bong-joon had falsely accused him of something he didn’t do. It was technically a past life since it happened in the previous cycle.
Still, he couldn’t help but sigh every time he saw that seemingly nice face. Why did he act like a yes-man to other teams but constantly pick on the lowest-ranking members within the HR team? Hwi-kyung found it hard to understand Park Bong-joon, who seemed intent on cutting off his own hands and feet.
“Come here, Manager Kang. Introduce yourself. This is our new hire, Hwi-kyung.”
“Hello.”
While running into Park Bong-joon right after entering the company was unfortunate, meeting Kang Moon-chul again was welcome. There hadn’t been time for the previous cycle to be glorified, so Moon-chul was exactly as Hwi-kyung remembered.
With a polite greeting asking for his guidance, Hwi-kyung sat at the desk next to Moon-chul. Moon-chul explained the tasks to be done and the employment contract even more kindly than in the previous cycle.
This seat had been Hwi-kyung’s in the thirteenth cycle too. Jung Hwi-kyung felt a strange nostalgia and déjà vu as he listened to Kang Moon-chul’s explanation with one ear and let it out the other. It was all content he already knew from experience.
“Since it’s not the regular recruitment season yet, there aren’t many urgent tasks.”
“I see.”
“Our team doesn’t usually give unreasonable work to new hires, you know?”
Kang Moon-chul whispered all sorts of sweet talk, afraid that Jung Hwi-kyung might run away. Hwi-kyung knew that the HR team had a lighter workload compared to other departments, except during specific periods. Compared to the sales team that went on business trips like they were eating meals, the HR team, being an office job, was a decent place to work.
In that sense, the year in the HR team in the previous cycle was really comfortable by Jung Hwi-kyung’s standards. Until the team leader showed his true colors, Hwi-kyung thought the HR team was truly a land of milk and honey or something. All teams are originally diversely terrible… Jung Hwi-kyung still had a tendency to view the world positively.
“The team leader said he wants to have lunch together to celebrate your arrival today. Is that okay?”
“Of course.”
“That’s a relief. There’s a really delicious sushi place nearby.”
Unaware of the unfair dismissal in his future, Moon-chul was visibly excited about getting an expensive meal thanks to Hwi-kyung. Hwi-kyung maintained his professional smile next to the brightly smiling Moon-chul.
Where would they fire this bear-like person? Even though black companies are all about survival of the fittest, Hwi-kyung thought that if someone had to leave BK International, it should be Park Bong-joon, not Kang Moon-chul.
Hwi-kyung, who had been checking the internal intranet with nothing to do until lunchtime, ended up losing 30 precious minutes of his lunch break because of Park Bong-joon, who came late from wherever he had been and said they should go now.
Park Bong-joon lacked time awareness in every cycle. It was somewhat fortunate that he was lenient about others being late. If he had always been late himself but scolded others for it, it would have been several times worse.
“Sorry. I had a call from higher-ups, so I’m a bit late.”
“It’s alright.”
“Our new hire must be hungry. You could have gone to the restaurant first. Manager Kang should have taken you out thoughtfully.”
Inwardly, Hwi-kyung gave Park Bong-joon the middle finger, telling him not to scold Kang Moon-chul when he was the one who was late. These secret curses rarely received warnings from the system window.
“I’d like to throw a big welcome party if possible, but it’s a tricky time these days, so it’s not easy to coordinate everyone’s schedules.”
“It’s fine.”
“Come on, you’re not really one of us until we greet you properly over drinks.”
Inadequate condition: Outdated drinking culture is prevalent.
Seeing the system window pop up at each of Park Bong-joon’s remarks, Hwi-kyung felt a strange sense of reassurance. While it’s true that the regression system was ruining Hwi-kyung’s life, at times like this, it felt real that Park Bong-joon was shady even to others.
“Let’s set a date. How about Friday evening?”
“Yes.”
“Anyway, welcome to our HR team, Hwi-kyung.”
“Thank you.”
“So, since we’re here… can I ask you just one thing?”
Before they even reached the restaurant, Park Bong-joon moved closer to Hwi-kyung and lowered his voice.
“By any chance… do you know our vice president personally?”
“……”
“Since I’m your superior, it’s safer for me to know these things in advance, right?”
Inadequate condition: Your superior is asking personal questions.
Inadequate condition: Your superior wants to figure out your ‘line’.
Even though he mistook Lee Sung-ha for Lee Jung-hye as Hwi-kyung’s backer, Park Bong-joon didn’t stop trying to climb the ladder through Jung Hwi-kyung. Hwi-kyung felt at ease with Park Bong-joon’s consistency. He was truly a man who didn’t deviate from expectations. The same went for Kang Moon-chul, who was looking at him anxiously from behind.
