After saying goodbye to Ban Jeon, Joo Sung came home and lay down to sleep, when suddenly—
He remembered Ban Jeon's request.
His own life was already a hopeless mess. Could he really take on Ban Jeon's request too? Since Joo Sung had received so much help from Ban Jeon ever since they were kids, he felt pressured to help him properly if he was going to help at all. As a result, he tossed and turned all night and barely managed to sleep for about two hours.
6:30 a.m.
He was supposed to get up at 6:30, but after telling himself, Just five more minutes, he finally got out of bed at 6:50.
7:00–8:30 a.m.
As a resident of Gyeonggi Province, this was how long it took him to get to work, transferring between buses and the subway. Still, he was lucky today. He got to lean against a corner and close his eyes for a little while.
8:30–9:00 a.m.
This was the only slightly relaxed part of a weekday. He stopped by the coffee shop he always visited, used his employee card discount, and took his year-round iced Americano with him to the bathroom. He always took care of his business in the company bathroom. It was his own small, timid revenge against the company.
9:00 a.m.–noon
Since Ban Jeon's job involved handling medical expense insurance claims, he received calls several times a day asking when the insurance money would be paid. He had to get approval and process the payments, so he always worked in a state of tension.
Noon–1:00 p.m.
He ate with his close coworkers, talking about nothing but winning first prize in the lottery. The moment he won, he would throw his resignation letter in the department head's face and walk out. No—he would leave quietly and change his phone number. They ate while imagining all sorts of escapes from reality. Since there was so much work, lunch was technically supposed to last until one, but they almost never actually ate until one. Today was no different......
1:00–6:00 p.m.
He took the same calls over and over, apologized for why they couldn't pay out the insurance money, and got cursed at. Whenever he reported a case that might become a problem, the team leader and department head pretended not to know anything and went out for a smoke.
How many seconds do I spend thinking, I want to quit and leave these garbage human beings right now? He was so buried in work that he even forgot to go to the bathroom.
After 6:00 p.m.
The department head wore his endlessly pleasant expression, didn't take a single call all day, and, as always, left right on time under the excuse that he had drinks with important people. The team leader was once again acting exhausted, pretending he had no one to drink with. Normally, Joo Sung would accept with a smile or force himself to join him for drinks, but today he ignored him and went to the bathroom. When he came back, the team leader suddenly called for Ban Jeon.
"Manager Joo Sung? Is this really something we can pay out like this?"
"Oh! This is the case we discussed yesterday. You told me to process it, so I submitted it for approval."
"What? I don't remember discussing this case."
He doesn't like that I'm not drinking with him, so here he goes again. What an annoying bastard.
Their team leader liked to portray himself as some tough, macho guy, but in reality, he couldn't control his emotions. Joo Sung knew that all he had to do was say, I'm sorry. I'll review it again, then resubmit it when the man was in a better mood. But maybe it was because he was exhausted today. For once, he pushed back.
"Team leader! This is the exact case I discussed with you for over thirty minutes yesterday evening."
Perhaps the team leader didn't like Joo Sung's answer, because he unleashed his ultimate move: I am scolding you, and all you employees better listen. Joo Sung briefly considered pushing back, too, but what power did a man who had to keep living in the real world have? He weakly said yes, yes and listened to everything the team leader had to say.
The team leader, who sensed that something was off with Joo Sung, said,
"That's not how you talk when your superior is speaking. Watch yourself from now on."
Then, pretending to be angry because of Joo Sung, he made plans to drink with some of the others and left.
Joo Sung was sitting at his desk when a flood of messages from coworkers trying to comfort him came in.
[Manager... Stay strong!]
[Joo Sung... Want to grab a drink?]
[Senior! Seriously, no matter how I look at it, your team leader is insane.]
[They said he asked the other team's leader to get drinks first just to keep him happy, even though he's not even on his team. That toady.]
Some employees said these things because they genuinely worried about Joo Sung. But you could never trust people from work. There were always employees who would spread something after you said one wrong thing... He sent back some halfhearted replies and returned to work. But apparently a few of his coworkers couldn't stand watching him like that. After hearing the rumor, they insisted they had to take Joo Sung out to dinner and dragged him to a barbecue restaurant far from the office.
At first, they had a drink or two while talking only about things unrelated to work. Maybe it was because they were with their friends, but their moods gradually lifted, and one of them finally spoke seriously to Joo Sung.
"Seriously, hyung! Let's ask them to transfer you to another team. I can't stand watching that team leader make you do everything while she can't even say a word to that female manager with about the same experience as you."
Once someone started, everyone else added their two cents.
"Oppa! You've done more than enough. Transfer to another team."
"If you transfer, what makes you think the other team leaders will be any different?"
"Still, they might be better than this."
"No way. Joo Sung hyung is too nice. No matter what team he goes to, they'll just use him."
"Then are you saying Oppa should just keep putting up with what they're doing to Joo Sung oppa?"
"No! That's not what I meant!!!"
Joo Sung was grateful that they were worried about him, but he also knew that even among these coworkers, there was definitely someone who would spread what had happened today.
"Enough!!! What's the point of talking about it when there's no answer anyway? Just having you guys worry about me and come all the way here gives me a lot of strength, so let's just enjoy ourselves tonight."
Everyone nodded. This is just like Joo Sung. They partied without a care in the world until their third round, then went home.
Ever since he was young, Joo Sung had always made a habit of thinking of others before himself. Maybe that was why he grew up receiving so much love from his teachers, his family, and even the people he worked with at his part-time jobs.
Everyone always told him that he would do well anywhere once he became an adult, and they praised him constantly.
When he joined his first company, he knew that his behavior was somewhat different from that of his coworkers. But he lived diligently, believing that everyone would be happy if he gave in a little.
What he got in return was becoming a victim of office politics.
Right then, a better company began recruiting experienced employees. Joo Sung joined, determined never to show consideration for anyone again in his professional life, but......
Since he was among the oldest of the experienced hires, he couldn't help but take the lead among them.
Joo Sung had an upbeat personality, and he enjoyed spending time with his coworkers. But all he got in return were whispers that they had barely joined the company and were already trying to form factions among themselves.
He tried to brush it off by telling himself that there were all kinds of people in the world. But the more he acted according to his principles, the more the company took advantage of him. In the end, most of the people who succeeded were those who bullied their juniors, avoided work, or sucked up to powerful superiors.
At least drinking helped him sleep, which was nice. But whether it was because he'd been drinking for two days in a row or because he was tired, he couldn't fall asleep.
He was sitting there blankly when he suddenly noticed some boxes beneath the bookshelf. They were filled with old memories.
Without even realizing it, Joo Sung opened one of the boxes again for the first time in years.
Most of what he found inside was merchandise related to Ssirub, the girl group he had loved as a child and his first crush.
There were CDs he couldn't listen to anymore, posters, and several magazines featuring Ssirub.
Without realizing it, he laughed under his breath.
So this was me back then, huh?
Then he spotted something like a Christmas card. Wondering what it was, he opened it.
It was a letter Ban Jeon had written for Joo Sung after their teacher forced the students to write letters to their assigned partners and exchange them.
[To the crazy Joo Sung...
If our school had been coed, I wouldn't have had to write this stupid letter to you, but whatever...
I remember how much you hated it when I first told you to listen to Ssirub's songs. You only listened to foreign music back then, so you practically shuddered in disgust.
And it wasn't long before you and I bought a Ssirub CD together.
When you said you wanted to become a manager, the other kids laughed at you. So did I. Even the teacher said, "Joo Sung is good at studying, so it would be nice if he thought about lots of other dreams, too."
But honestly, I think being a manager suits you better than anyone.
You're good at considering other people, but you also say what needs to be said. You have such a strong desire to love and help others that I think whatever group you end up managing will be incredibly happy because of you.
So when I enter society and become an office worker, you have to give me lots of free concert tickets, okay?
Ah—I had a hard time forcing myself to fill up this letter, and now I have nothing else to say. Merry Christmas, you jerk!
P.S. Ah, I debated whether to write this, but I like that you're so kind. I'm worried, though. If you're that kind, there will probably be a lot of people who try to use you when you grow up.
When I look at you, it's like I'm looking at my parents...
What? Anyway, I'll always remain a good friend by your side, so I sincerely hope you'll let yourself get a little meaner. Trust your big brother, buddy!]
Soju streamed from Joo Sung's eyes.
He was just really drunk. He absolutely was not crying because the letter moved him.
When he read the letter as a child, he'd laughed and thought, What is this? But now that he was an adult, he realized how differently those words could affect him.
And he remembered the dream of becoming a manager that he had forgotten.
He remembered getting into plenty of fights with people who maliciously posted hate comments about Ssirub when he was young.
He hadn't even joined the fan club, yet he had been more active about that sort of thing than the fan club itself.
And Ban Jeon had asked him for help because he remembered all of Joo Sung's childhood self.
Joo Sung washed his face, gathered himself, and forced himself to lie down and try to sleep.
The very next day, he sent Ban Jeon a message.
[I want to do this properly now. Would it be okay if I took about three days of vacation and stayed by your side like a day-to-day manager so I could observe all the Friends members?]
[Oh!!! You're taking it this far? Kim Joo Sung, I absolutely welcome it!]
[Don't be ridiculous. I'll text you later and tell you when I'm taking the days off.]
[As expected! Our Joo Sung is the best.]
The only proper response to a message like that was to leave him on read, so Joo Sung ignored the message and went to work.
The crazy team leader looked even more foul-tempered, as if he still hadn't sobered up. After greeting him and returning to his desk, Joo Sung found messages from the others on the company messenger.
[He already tore into one junior today! Watch out!]
[Apparently he got drunk yesterday and spent the whole night trash-talking you.]
Phew! Just as expected. Joo Sung couldn't take it anymore. He messaged the team leader that he wanted to have a meeting, then told him he was mentally exhausted these days and would be taking about three days off.
The team leader suddenly looked flustered.
"You... You hardly ever take vacation, and now you're suddenly taking time off? The others will have a hard time if you're gone. If this is because of what happened yesterday..."
"Ah, that's part of it. But I think it's time I started looking out for myself, too."
"Still, this is a busy period. If you're gone, the others..."
"This is such a busy period, yet that senior employee took two weeks off to travel overseas and left the office. Vacation days exist to be used, so I'll take Monday through Wednesday off next week and finish as much of my work as possible before then."
He bowed, returned to his desk, and sat down. The team leader, now watching Joo Sung's every move, went back to his own seat.
And in his heart, Joo Sung quietly prayed.
I desperately want a change to come into my life.