Ban Jeon let out a deep sigh as he came into the waiting room.
“Ban Jeon, what happened?”
“Ugh, don’t even ask... No, Somang called Malja in front of everyone, and she started crying and carrying on, so I barely managed to calm her down.”
“You really do have it rough....”
“Whew~ These days, they really do fight every single day. It’s exhausting.”
“Even so, they’re around twenty years old. Why are they so immature? They should think about the staff who are busting their asses, too.”
The moment Joo Sung finished speaking, Ban Jeon burst out laughing for a while.
“Joo Sung? Don’t you remember what we were like at twenty?”
“Why are you suddenly bringing up our teenage years?”
“We were exactly the same at twenty. Have you already forgotten how we got drunk and beat the crap out of each other over a thousand won?”
He remembered what they had been like at twenty. He and his friends had been drinking and agreed to split the bill evenly, but Ban Jeon had been short a thousand won and told Joo Sung to pay it. Joo Sung refused, and the argument escalated into a fistfight— the legendary Sinchon 1,000-Won Battle that their friends still brought up whenever they got together!
“Come to think of it, you’re right. And on top of that, they barely sleep and have schedules every day. Of course they’d be on edge.”
“Exactly. Mugunghwa isn’t the only problem right now, so we need more people, but it’s worrying. Really worrying.”
“There are already three managers, including you?”
“Normally, even during promotions, they’d just be a little tired. But you saw it yourself—the members’ relationship is at rock bottom right now, and they’re trying to promote separately. That’s the problem....”
Ban Jeon fell into deep thought. Then he looked at Joo Sung and gave him a sly grin.
“Joo Sung, you know you don’t need to worry about this, right? Knowing you, you’ll probably....”
“Ban Jeon, I was already thinking about taking a month of unpaid leave. I’ll help you for that month.”
“You idiot~ I was just telling you about something difficult for a minute. Why are you suddenly talking about taking a long vacation?”
“No... It’s not like I was only thinking about helping you. I’d been considering it anyway.”
“And your team leader and department head are psychos, aren’t they? You think they’ll actually approve it?”
“Forget that. If I take a long vacation and help you, it’s okay, right?”
“Not just okay—I’d be incredibly grateful.”
“Got it. I’ll keep an eye on things today and let you know if I decide to take the long leave.”
“...I really hate saying this, but I love you~”
“Yeah, I don’t want to hear that crap~ Let’s just make it through today without anything going wrong.”
Fortunately, the rest of the day passed without incident.
After following Ban Jeon around for his manager duties, Joo Sung felt even more keenly that he lived in a completely different world when he got on a packed subway train.
The morning subway was absolutely chaotic. People slept standing up, people looked like they were bursting with irritation, and people shoved their way in so they could get farther inside, among other things. The important thing was that almost everyone had a dark expression on their face. Normally, Joo Sung would put in his earphones and space out while listening to music, but today he was in a strangely good mood. He felt like giving a free hug to every single person on that subway who looked so exhausted and worn-out.
He arrived at the office in a good mood, greeted everyone, and sat down, only to find the atmosphere extremely serious. Sure enough, the moment he logged in, his coworkers started messaging him.
<Manager Joo! Five-star alert activated.>
<Joo Sung, be careful~ Your team leader just had a meeting with the department head and came out absolutely furious.>
<Manager Joo~ Hang in there today, too!!>
If you put it nicely, Joo Sung’s team leader was ruled by his moods. If you put it less nicely, he was hot-tempered. He was capable, but that temper had earned him a great many enemies.
As expected, it wasn’t long before the team leader summoned Joo Sung.
<Manager Joo, come to the conference room for a minute~>
<Yes! Understood.>
When Joo Sung opened the door and entered the conference room, the team leader was once again sitting there with a grave expression all by himself.
“Joo Sung, is something going on between the team members?”
“Nothing at all.”
“Then why are this month’s numbers so bad?”
‘Are you insane? You’re the manager. You’re supposed to analyze that.’
In situations like this, the best thing to do was say nothing and pretend to be deep in thought. There was no point sharing his opinion. The man wouldn’t listen anyway.
“Do you know why the team members haven’t been working much overtime lately?”
‘Because everyone else is working themselves to death while you sit there playing games on your phone instead of helping the team, all so you can pad your overtime allowance. They leave because they can’t stand looking at you, you jackass.’
“I’m not sure. None of the team members have mentioned anything to me specifically.”
“Joo Sung, I hate to say this, but our team ranked dead last this quarter. If I tell them to work overtime, they might push back, so as the team’s senior member, could you talk to them?”
He didn’t want to be the bad guy, but he wanted the team’s numbers to improve, so he was asking Joo Sung to do it for him. Joo Sung had heard that line countless times, but for some reason, it was especially irritating today. One simple answer should have been enough, but Joo Sung didn’t give it, so the team leader kept talking.
“The team members look worn out, so let’s have a team dinner tomorrow night. Tell them we can eat somewhere nice, gather everyone’s opinions, and let me know, okay?”
Joo Sung had always known the man only cared about himself, but today, that greed-filled face was especially hard to look at. Still, there was no escaping the rules of office life, so he answered yes, yes and returned to his desk.
The moment he sat down, a message from a colleague who had joined the company at the same time appeared on the internal messenger.
<What was that about this time?>
<What do you think? He called me in over the team’s performance.>
<You’re not even the team leader, so why does he call you in and chew you out whenever the department head gets on his case?>
<After that, he told me to arrange a dinner so the team members could bond.>
<LOL. Ugh... He knows the whole team hates him, so he’s making you tell them. Just ask him to hand over the team leader position.>
<It’s not like this is the first or second time. I’m reaching my limit, too....>
“Manager Joo.”
“Manager Joo.”
This time, it was the department head calling him.
“Yes, sir! Department Head.”
“Want to go grab some coffee?”
“Yes, sir! Understood.”
When the department head approached Joo Sung like this, it meant he either wanted to badmouth the team leader or ask Joo Sung for a favor. They left the company and headed to a nearby coffee shop.
“Manager Kim, work’s been pretty rough lately, hasn’t it?”
‘Yeah! It’s fucking brutal. You already know that, so why did you call me out here?’
“Not particularly.”
“The reason I asked to talk even though you’re busy is—you’re close with Hyun-yong, the junior associate on the team next door, right?”
“We’re not close, exactly. We’ve had lunch a few times.”
“Come on~ Is there anyone Manager Joo isn’t close with? Have you heard the news about Hyun-yong?”
Joo Sung had already heard that Hyun-yong thought this company had no future, had studied relentlessly, and been accepted by a company with a much higher salary and better benefits, but—
“What news?”
“Hmm... Hyun-yong got accepted through P Insurance Company’s open recruitment, so he said he’d work through the end of this week.”
“Oh~ I see. That’s great for him.”
“Huh? What’s so great about it? The only thing they have is a higher salary. I hear it’s a brutally cold place.”
‘This place is brutally cold, too. And the pay is way lower. But why on earth are you telling me this?’
As Joo Sung wondered, the department head continued. Hyun-yong was young, that was all. He was already softhearted by nature, and if he went to that company, he definitely wouldn’t be able to adjust. So here’s what I was thinking: I’ll give you my card. Why don’t you have dinner with Hyun-yong and talk some sense into him?
“Sir? Talk to him about what...?”
“I mean, have dinner together, listen to what’s been making things difficult for him, and tell him to seriously reconsider changing jobs. The younger employees really like you, Manager Joo.”
The younger employees were quitting in droves because the work was grueling and the treatment was poor, so the company’s solution was to include the turnover rate in the department head’s performance evaluation. When previous employees had announced they were leaving, the department head had been terrified they might spread something nasty about him. Seeing him act like this now made Joo Sung despise him even more, so he said nothing.
After watching Joo Sung remain silent for quite a while, the department head said,
“Oh my~ Manager Joo must have tons of work. I’ve taken up too much of your time. Let’s get back inside and work.”
When Joo Sung returned to his desk, there was a pile of messages from the team leader, apparently worried that he might have said something behind his back.
<Manager Joo, you were with the department head for a long time. What did you two talk about?>
<Manager Joo?>
<You must be really busy. We’ll discuss the details at the team dinner. For now, please ask everyone where they’d like to go.>
He was so sick of this disgusting company. He told himself he’d endure it, even if it was filthy, then went to the bathroom, splashed water on his face, and tried to refocus when a colleague from another office messaged him.
<Joo Sung, did something happen between you and the department head?>
<No, not at all. Why?>
<I think your department head just got off the phone with Anijwi.>
<Yeah, and?>
<Anijwi suddenly started yelling and gathered a few people around, then began going all over the place bragging about how you were rude to the department head when he was talking to you. He seems pretty excited about it.>
<Ugh....>
<Joo Sung, let’s get out of this dump. This place is seriously not okay. I told them yesterday that I’d work through the end of this month.>
<What? Didn’t you say you’d only announce it after getting accepted somewhere?>
<I was going to, but being around these weirdos is driving me insane.>
<Joo Sung, if you went to another company, at least you wouldn’t be treated like this. You work so hard, and you’re a really good person.... Ugh, anyway, let’s get all our old colleagues together before I quit.>
<Yeah. Take care.>
It was a shock. This colleague was like the leader of their group, always bringing everyone together whenever things got tough. Knowing he was quitting made Joo Sung feel strange. But work was work, and after concentrating on it, lunchtime arrived. He ate lunch and returned to the office. After brushing his teeth, he sat down, telling himself to focus on work for now, when the team leader messaged him again.
<Manager Joo, have you decided on a place for the team dinner?>
<I haven’t had a chance to ask the team members yet.>
<What? Didn’t I tell you this morning?>
Joo Sung was furious enough to see red, but he told himself to endure it one more time and typed,
<I’m sorry. I’ll ask them now and report back immediately.>
<As the senior member, you should have gathered this kind of information quickly.>
Joo Sung couldn’t take it anymore, so he simply ignored the message. Then he started typing furiously. Everyone suddenly messaged him, asking what was wrong, but he ignored them all and focused only on his own work.
Around quitting time, the team leader came over to his desk and spoke to him with a smile.
“You’ve had a lot of work lately. It’s been tough, hasn’t it? Want to have dinner with me tonight?”
In that moment, Joo Sung felt so miserable and pitiful. He was always the one who accommodated people like this and absorbed their anger whenever they were in a bad mood.
And strangely enough, Mugunghwa suddenly came to mind. He wanted to let go of everything and take on a new challenge, but he didn’t actually have anything specific he wanted to do. So he thought that while helping Ban Jeon with his work, he should gradually start looking for something of his own.
Joo Sung told his team leader that he had something to say and headed for the conference room.
“Manager Joo, I’m sorry I’ve been making you worry about this and that when you already have so much work. I guess it’s because the team members like you more than me, so they rely on you.”
He wanted to tell him to go to hell, but barely managed to hold it in and replied politely,
“Team Leader, I’ll be working through the end of this month.”
“Huh? What did you just say?”
“I’ve been accepted at another company, so I think I’ll have to work here through the end of the month.”
Today, Joo Sung finally saw the team leader’s true colors. The moment Joo Sung finished speaking, the team leader shouted so loudly that his voice echoed all the way to the other end of the office.
“Are you out of your mind??????”
Yeah! I’m totally in my right mind, aren’t I? That’s why I’m leaving this hellhole. Goodbye, you lousy company~