#8
“What? It was you? Why did you come down here?”
– What are you talking about? Who came?
“Oh, Woohyun. Let’s talk again later. Hang up. Lunch break is already over.”
Woohyun’s patience had long since run out, as he had been watching Eunhong talk on the phone for quite a while. Woohyun’s eyebrow twitched as Eunhong continued the conversation with lukewarm responses of “Uh, yeah, yeah,” seemingly unable to end the call.
Bang! Woohyun kicked the partition, making a loud noise.
“Hey, Ban Eunhong!”
Startled, Eunhong stammered as he hung up the phone.
“Uh, what? What?”
“Was that Lee Jaeha?”
“Who else would it be? He’s the only one I talk to.”
“Why does Lee Jaeha like you so much? What are you to him? I just don’t get it.”
Eunhong’s eyes narrowed at the spiteful tone. Woohyun, rolling his eyes with a crooked expression, placed a plastic bag he was holding onto Eunhong’s desk. It was full of snacks that Eunhong liked. He had been thinking about it all morning while working in his office after they had parted ways that morning.
Woohyun asked with a sullen face, “Why didn’t you eat lunch?”
“Oh, I have a lot of work to do.”
“I met your team members at the soup restaurant. They all seemed comfortable, so why are you being so gloomy?”
“Ah, I have something I’m drawing separately.”
Woohyun’s cheeks were puffed out due to the candy he had eaten at the soup restaurant. Rolling the candy around in his mouth, Woohyun sat on the edge of Eunhong’s desk.
“How far have you drawn? Let me see.”
Before Eunhong could stop him, Woohyun opened the program wide. Having once aspired to be an original artist himself, Woohyun had no hesitation in handling the program. As Eunhong’s team members were returning to their seats at that moment, Eunhong panicked and reached out hurriedly.
“Hey, turn it off. Look at it when we get home!”
“What’s the big deal? You’re being dramatic…”
Woohyun displayed Eunhong’s drawing full screen on the monitor. The details built up day by day were quite impressive. The corners of Woohyun’s mouth twisted unconsciously. At that moment, Eunhong’s team’s art director approached, drawn by the sound of their bickering.
“What’s this? Is this Eunhong’s personal drawing?”
“Ah, this is just a doodle…”
“Mr. Shim AD, aren’t you participating in the Han Jung Group competition? Eunhong is preparing for that.”
Woohyun blurted out, cutting off Eunhong’s attempt to brush it off. Eunhong clenched his molars. This was beyond being tactless… Woohyun had revealed something that Eunhong’s team would never look favorably upon, even if the team atmosphere was generally easygoing. Eunhong jabbed Woohyun’s back with his fist, gritting his teeth.
“Woohyun, is the business department so lax? Lunch break is over, shouldn’t you be getting back?”
Finally seeming to notice the atmosphere, Woohyun rolled his eyes and subtly stood up.
“Oh, right. I’ll head back up. Mr. Shim AD, keep up the good work.”
Woohyun pouted and retreated towards the hallway. He seemed upset about being called out on his work ethic in front of someone with a higher position. Regardless, Eunhong’s immediate concern was the drawing displayed on his monitor.
As he sat down and quickly closed the work file, Mr. Shim AD leaned heavily on Eunhong’s chair.
“Eunhong, have you been skipping lunch because of this? Do your personal work at home.”
Patting Eunhong’s shoulder with a weighty touch, he added, “Don’t let your mind wander at work. Okay?”
Eunhong bit his lip. Strictly speaking, he hadn’t done personal work during work hours, but there was no point in making excuses as they wouldn’t be believed. Moreover, he couldn’t honestly deny that his mind had been wandering.
“I’m sorry.”
Mr. Shim AD waved his hand casually without looking back as he returned to his seat in response to Eunhong’s quiet apology. Eunhong rubbed his face vigorously.
As he lifted his head after sighing deeply, a colleague sitting across from him poked their head over the partition, wrinkled their nose, and rolled their eyes. Soon after, the sound of typing filled the quiet office, and notifications started flooding the company messenger on the monitor.
[Seo Heeseung: Team leader Ban… Looks like your friend’s social awareness committed suicide.] 14:12
[Park Jihoon: Eunhong, are you preparing for a competition? What competition?] 14:12
[Kim Sangmin: If you win prize money, treat us to some Korean beef.] 14:12
[Yoo Junseok: Who in our team doesn’t do something on the side? Don’t worry about it;;;] 14:13
[Choi Hansung: Since AD likes the team leader, you’ll be fine as long as you meet the deadlines ㅇㅇ] 14:13
[Kim Jieun: Eunhong, thinking of quitting? If you win, quitting would be sweet] 14:14
Watching the nonstop notifications popping up on the screen, Eunhong felt like crying. Mondays were truly the hardest days.
***
“Shall we order pizza? Pizza?”
“Please order some wings too. And spaghetti.”
“Don’t order zero cola. My bank account is already at zero, at least let the calories be full.”
The team members were noisy as they ordered dinner before working overtime.
“What does Ban want?”
“I’d like a pineapple pizza.”
At Eunhong’s answer, Choi Hansung twisted his lips and made a “blech” sound. Seeing this, Eunhong quietly smiled, remembering how Jaeha would always pick off all the pineapple and put it on his slice whenever they ate pizza.
After Christmas and New Year’s, there’s the Lunar New Year. It’s a season when events keep popping up in games. Costume and item updates were piling up like mountains. Moreover, if the original art team, which needs to hand over designs first, missed the deadline, it would cause a domino effect, disrupting schedules one after another.
There was an overwhelming amount of work, and at this time of year, the development team was the busiest in the company. As a result, most people in Eunhong’s team’s area were still at their desks despite it being past quitting time.
On top of that, since Eunhong had caught Mr. Shim AD’s attention, he planned to complete his schedule generously and hand it over early. He wanted to avoid giving any reason for comments.
Just then, the glass doors near the central corridor where the elevators were located opened, creating a commotion as Woohyun came down with people from the business department.
“Eunhong! Our team is going out for dinner. Come with us. We’re eating tuna. Tuna.”
Eunhong frowned at Woohyun’s loud voice. He disliked how his name drew people’s attention. He replied in a low voice.
“Why should I go to your team’s dinner? And I’m busy.”
Two members of the business department who had followed Woohyun leaned their arms on the partition and looked down at Eunhong.
“Eunhong, you said you’d hang out with us last time.”
“Are you very busy? Can’t you do it tomorrow? What’s with this team’s work-life balance? The team leader said not to work overtime.”
“Heeju broke up with her boyfriend and wants to drink with you, Eunhong. You remember Heeju, right?”
“Ah, am I not enough for Heeju? Does Eunhong have to go? I’m hurt.”
“Kyaa! Woohyun, really! Of course, you’re enough!”
Finally, Eunhong stood up due to the increasing attention. Before stepping out of the partition to drive away the business department people, he turned his head to look around at his team. He couldn’t help but feel conscious of their eyes.
His eyes met with Mr. Shim AD, who had looked up at the commotion. Eunhong awkwardly raised his hand to touch his forehead, then grabbed Woohyun’s arm tightly and pulled him towards the elevator.
The rest of the business department people were waiting outside the glass doors. Eunhong gave a light bow and then spun around to face Woohyun with his back to the others. He spoke with a sigh.
“Did you forget about the bomb you dropped earlier? I need to work overtime, if only to save face.”
“Bomb? What bomb?”
“……”
As Eunhong closed his mouth and glared quite fiercely, Woohyun finally said, “Ah, that.” His reaction was lukewarm. Woohyun didn’t understand the atmosphere in Eunhong’s team. Or rather, he pretended not to understand. Deadlines, quality, the need to do one’s part in team projects – he considered all talk of such things as showing off.
“Anyway, did you know you have a weird artist’s pride?”
Woohyun stared at Eunhong intently before abruptly turning his head. As he walked towards his team members, he called out, “He says he’s not coming,” his tone full of sarcasm.
“Eunhong, that’s too bad. Let’s definitely have a drink next time.”
The alpha female team leader of the business department smiled subtly as she expressed her disappointment to Eunhong and mentioned a next time. Eunhong found himself bowing repeatedly and apologizing, a sigh escaping between his teeth.
He was tired. Lately, Woohyun’s behavior had been getting worse and worse. Eunhong knew why Woohyun was becoming increasingly difficult.
After studying abroad, Woohyun had quit every job he got, unable to adapt due to his nature. As a passionate omega, Woohyun was easily manipulated by alphas. Moreover, he was bullied more in small companies that were run haphazardly.
It was Eunhong’s company’s business department team leader who gave Woohyun a chance then. To be precise, it was a hand extended to Eunhong. As she had taken a liking to Eunhong, an opportunity arose to slip in Woohyun’s resume.
In Eunhong’s company, the graphics department and the business department had such a distant relationship that they might as well have been different companies, but the alpha woman’s suspicious fondness had acted as a bridge.
Perhaps Woohyun was upset that he wasn’t given a chance in the art field. Eunhong knew that Woohyun knew exactly that it wasn’t Eunhong’s fault that he had given up on drawing, nor was it Eunhong’s fault that he couldn’t get a job in the original art department due to lack of skill.
Because he knew himself too well, he was getting angrier, and Eunhong knew this too.
In the end, Woohyun had entered the overseas business department of Eunhong’s company without even a practical interview, solely based on his experience of studying in Japan. Whether this acted as a complex or not, Woohyun often behaved spitefully. Even after getting him in, Eunhong ended up being the one who had to be cautious.
Today was the first time Eunhong regretted it. They say working at the same company as a friend isn’t good… Eunhong rubbed his dry eyes roughly. His mouth felt bitter, and he was exhausted.
