Chapter 4
“Are you here for the interview today?”
As I stood there blankly, the man asked again. I nodded with a dazed expression. The man’s eyebrows drooped downward, and his handsome face quickly turned into a dejected look.
“Then why are you leaving?”
“Pardon?”
“Weren’t you trying to leave without doing the interview?”
The man sniffled as if he was about to cry. It was behavior that didn’t match his flawlessly structured face, but somehow that pitiful demeanor evoked both guilt and sympathy.
“I’ve been waiting just for today. Please don’t go.”
The man grabbed my sleeve with his long, beautiful hand. His touching gesture made me waver from my original intention to just go home.
Maybe I should listen to what he has to say? If it seems like a strange place, I can always report it to the police.
Eventually, I awkwardly scratched my cheek and told a lie.
“I wasn’t trying to leave. I am here for the interview. Just now… I was looking around to see where the bathroom was.”
“Oh. So that’s what it was. The bathroom is down the opposite corridor after you go out! Do you want to go now?”
“Ah, no. It’s not urgent…”
“Then please sit here!”
The man who had looked so dejected suddenly smiled brightly as if nothing had happened and led me, who was standing awkwardly, to sit on the office sofa.
I carefully looked around. Despite being called a “research institute,” the office didn’t particularly look like a place where any research was being done. The only furniture was the guest sofa I was sitting on, a coffee table, and a few office desks. I could also see newspapers, magazines, and board games stacked here and there. It felt more like a “hideout” than an office.
While I was assessing the company, the man sat down across from me with a cake box.
“I bought cake specially to eat today.”
“Cake?”
I was quite confused by the man’s appearance and speech, which lacked any sense of workplace formality. Humming a tune as if something was delighting him, he placed a piece of the strawberry cake he mentioned on a yellow plate and set it in front of me.
“Try it. It’s from the café a little way down from here, and it’s really delicious. The cream just melts in your mouth.”
“…”
Surely he’s not planning to drug me, knock me out, and harvest my organs?
When I hesitated to eat the cake, the man took a bite first. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be drugged.
“Mmm. Delicious.”
The man looked at me with sparkling eyes. Under his gaze urging me to try it quickly, I awkwardly cut the pointed end of the cake with my fork and ate it. It was indeed delicious. The strawberries were fresh, and the cream was not too rich, just sweet enough to make my mouth feel refreshed.
“How is it? Good, right? This cake is so popular that if you don’t buy it early, it sells out. That’s why I went to buy it first thing in the morning when they opened.”
“Ah, yes. I see…”
I didn’t know whether I had come for an interview or a cake tasting, and I was so confused by the situation that I didn’t know how to respond. Then suddenly, it occurred to me that this might be a ploy to lower my guard.
Get it together, Son Jaeo. Don’t get drawn in!
“When will the interview start?”
I put down my fork and deliberately put on a serious expression. In an interview, I should have made a favorable impression, but here, if I appeared too easy-going, I could end up being taken advantage of.
“The interview? Ah, that… how should we do this? Um, should we start with introductions…?”
“I’m Son Jaeo.”
“I know. You’re twenty-four years old this year, you have a younger sister who’s a high school senior, you didn’t go to college, and you graduated from Hanguk High School. Right?”
“…”
I frowned as the man rattled off information about me that I hadn’t provided.
“Oh! Don’t misunderstand. This is all written in your resume.”
The man hastily added when he saw my expression. I recalled that I had my resume publicly available on a part-time job site and relaxed my face. I was still suspicious, but there wasn’t much to refute.
“I’m Heerim. I’m twenty-two years old.”
“What? Twenty-two?”
I was startled to hear the age of the man, or rather, Heerim. Because of his flashy appearance and tall stature, I thought he was older than me, but he was actually two years younger.
No, before that, is it okay to entrust a company interview to such a young employee? The already questionable credibility of this company was plummeting further.
“Are you… I mean, is Heerim also working part-time here?”
“Me? No. I’m a full-time employee. I’m sitting here as the person in charge of Jaeo’s interview.”
“Where are the other employees?”
“They stepped out for a bit saying they had something to do.”
“…”
With that, there was no reason for me to stay any longer. A company that leaves interviews to its youngest employee couldn’t possibly be running properly. I just wanted to ask one last thing before leaving.
“The job site listed the hourly wage as 25,000 won, is that correct?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“Really? You really pay part-timers 25,000 won per hour?”
“Ah…”
When I fired off questions aggressively, the smile on Heerim’s face was replaced with bewilderment. It seemed that amount was just bait after all.
Since I hadn’t had high expectations to begin with, there wasn’t much to be disappointed about. I just regretted the transportation costs and time spent coming here today.
If they had really offered that hourly wage, I would have pretended not to notice anything suspicious and worked for at least a month…
“Haah.”
A sigh escaped me involuntarily even with Heerim sitting right there. I usually tried hard to stay positive, but lately, it had been difficult. It was tiring to have to think about money first before doing anything.
“Well, I think…”
“I’m sorry.”
I was about to get up and speak, but Heerim spoke at the same time. I swallowed what I was going to say and waited for him to continue. I wanted to hear what excuse he would make. It looked as if I was the interviewer and Heerim was the one being interviewed.
“This is the first time we’re hiring part-timers, so I don’t know what’s appropriate.”
He continued nervously.
“The hourly wage was too low, wasn’t it? Then how much more should we offer?”
“What…?”
My attempt to look tough crumbled at his unexpected response.
What? Is he saying they can pay more?
They say money talks, and before I knew it, I swallowed hard. Just a moment ago, I was debating whether to report this place to the police, but now I was mentally calculating figures.
“F-fifty… thousand won?”
I blurted out a ridiculous amount. Even though I was the one who said it, 50,000 won per hour was an unconscionable amount. The man in front of me, who was watching my reaction, would surely balk at this figure. But to work at such a suspicious place, shouldn’t I be paid at least 50,000 won? I had nothing to lose anyway.
“Just a moment. Let me make a call!”
“…Excuse me?”
Contrary to my expectations, Heerim didn’t seem bothered at all. Instead, with a flushed face, he made a call to someone. I watched him with a sense of disbelief.
“Yeah. Is 50,000 won per hour okay?”
“…”
“Yeah. Oh, that’s fine. Yeah. Got it.”
Heerim briefly explained the situation to whoever was on the other end—a boss or a friend, I couldn’t tell—and ended the call.
“They said I can handle it.”
“…W-what? You mean the hourly wage?”
“Yes!”
What is happening to me right now?
I was confused by Heerim’s attitude, cheerfully okaying an hourly wage of 50,000 won.
Is this some kind of joke? A hidden camera prank?
“Well, now that we’ve decided on 50,000 won per hour, let’s proceed with the interview. Though there’s not much to it.”
Heerim asked me, who was floundering in confusion.
“Jaeo. Will you work with us?”
It was a simple and straightforward question. I realized then that there was no need for an interview or anything else; it would all be over once I said “I will.” But there were too many unclear aspects to answer hastily. Nevertheless, I considered my answer. A voice in my mind echoed, asking what I was weighing and measuring when I didn’t even have 1 million won to my name.
“I…”
“…”
I could see Heerim sitting across from me, fidgeting his fingers with a tense face. After pausing momentarily, I gave my answer with a light sigh.
“Yes. I’ll work here.”
***
“Earth Peace Research Institute”
As soon as I got on the bus, I searched for information about my future workplace on my phone. There were a total of 6 search results. I had already looked through all of them before going to the interview.
I clicked on the top result among the 6 articles. It was a post from the “official” blog created by the Earth Peace Research Institute. The other 5 were unrelated information.
We strive for your peace.
Difficult tasks, challenging issues, concerns, sorrows—leave them all to us.
#Confidentiality #QuickResolution #Legal
The blog only had posts from last December, about 3 months ago. Judging by this post alone, the Earth Peace Research Institute seemed more like a private detective agency than a cult or multi-level marketing scheme. I had heard that private investigation businesses had been legalized a few years ago. If so, it shouldn’t be a problem for me. I even signed an employment contract, something I hadn’t done even when working at a café part-time.
“This is… good, right?”
With a confused mind, I leaned my head against the window and closed my eyes. Heerim’s face from earlier came to mind. It was a face so pretty that even I, another man, couldn’t help but admire it. Despite having such a distinctive face that I couldn’t possibly know, it felt strangely familiar. Maybe I’d seen a celebrity who resembled him on TV?
But apart from his pretty face, I wasn’t particularly drawn to Heerim as a person. With that pretty face and carefree smile, he probably easily won people over, but somehow that innocent face seemed to be hiding something, which made me uneasy. Well, what could I do about it anyway? I just needed to focus on the 50,000 won hourly wage.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
