CEO Jang spotted Junhwi at the end of the hallway and broke into a wide smile.
Junhwi smiled back, a little stiffly.
CEO Jang strode toward him, her heels clicking down the corridor — click, click, click. She came to a stop in front of him while he was brewing coffee.
CEO Jang was tall for a woman, and she always wore heels, so when they stood side by side she was nearly eye level with Junhwi, even though he was the one who was male.
She placed a hand on his shoulder. The fabric of his jacket was between them, so he couldn't actually tell whether her hand was warm or cold — but somehow it felt cool.
"Good timing. Have you worked with Eunyoung before?"
Just then, Eunyoung stepped out of the conference room CEO Jang had come from.
Eunyoung wore round glasses and had her long hair pulled up into a high ponytail. She wore almost no makeup, which made her look considerably younger than she probably was. She clearly found time to work out despite her busy schedule — her figure was lean and toned. A fitted T-shirt and jeans showed it off nicely.
When she saw Junhwi, she lit up.
A month ago, when Eunyoung first joined the company, most of the male employees had been sneaking glances at her — she was that pretty. But once word got around that she'd graduated from the same elite American university as CEO Jang, the uncomplicated admiration got a little more complicated.
Junhwi smiled back at her.
Five years into his career, he'd gotten pretty good at smiling warmly at people he barely knew. It hadn't always come naturally — God, had it been awkward at first. Even now, if he were being honest with himself, his instinct was to drop his gaze, give a guarded once-over, and offer a vague nod.
He'd heard early on that introverts weren't exactly what companies were looking for, so he'd forced himself to perform extroversion. He'd actually googled "most preferred MBTI in the workplace" and reverse-engineered the personality traits. Do it long enough and it becomes habit — at this point, the performance had started to feel like a genuine part of who he was.
Eunyoung, on the other hand, hadn't been in the workforce long at all, and she smiled like it cost her nothing.
*Must've been a whole curriculum over there. English and smiling.*
Junhwi kept his expression pleasant while the thought flickered through him. He felt like a country mouse who'd wandered into a room full of polished city mice, desperately trying not to show it.
"We haven't worked together directly," he said, "but we've met."
"Oh, perfect."
CEO Jang's voice was smooth, but it carried a weight that filled the room without effort.
Whenever he spoke in front of CEO Jang, Junhwi had to consciously stop himself from shrinking. She liked people who held their ground and made their case with confidence. He'd spent years fighting the habit of letting his voice trail off and his sentences go soft whenever he felt someone watching him.
But apparently that was just his problem. Unlike him, Eunyoung was just as bright and self-assured in front of CEO Jang as she was with anyone else.
"Junhwi was actually at lunch with us on my first day," Eunyoung said.
She extended her hand toward him.
"I'm looking forward to working with you."
Junhwi shook it before he'd quite registered what was happening.
*Working together on what, exactly? Is this just a formality?*
"I was just about to tell you," CEO Jang said to Junhwi. "We've decided to give Eunyoung's team the LoveLemon proposal. I'd love for you to support them as much as you can — you're the team lead, after all."
CEO Jang smiled, the corners of her eyes crinkling.
Junhwi nodded like this was good news.
"Oh, Eunyoung's team is taking it on — great. I'm not sure how much help I'll actually be, but—" he laughed lightly— "I'll do whatever I can."
*Wait. They gave LoveLemon to her?*
LoveLemon was a new cosmetics brand YLH was launching. They were looking for an agency to handle the TV commercials, social media ads, product sampling campaign, and promotional campaigns timed to the launch. The budget was significant, and landing it would be the kind of win that actually meant something on your résumé — Planning Teams 1 through 3 had all been circling it hungrily.
*And it went to a team that's been around for less than a month?*
CEO Jang watched the two of them with visible satisfaction. She gave Junhwi a pat on the back.
"You always come through, Junhwi. I'm counting on you."
CEO Jang had never once said a harsh word to him. It was always *I believe in you, I'm counting on you, I know you can do it.* Probably because he always worked hard and delivered results.
But she didn't know what it cost him.
Objectively, yes — Junhwi produced better output than most people around him. But when others put in eight hours, he put in twelve.
*Better output* required *twice the effort.* That was the math.
Which meant that if he ever worked a normal eight-hour day, his output would probably fall below average. His real productivity — results per hour — was almost certainly worse than his colleagues'. He just never let anyone see the denominator.
Fortunately, companies didn't shoot employees for working overtime. So Junhwi had always been able to paper over the gap with late nights and weekend hours.
His coworkers knew he worked hard. They just didn't know *how* hard. He made a point of underreporting. He'd pull an all-nighter and tell people he'd gone to bed around eleven.
*Why not just let people see how hard you work?* someone might ask. Because that's not how it works. You can show off your effort when it's a reasonable amount of effort. When the hours are as extreme as his, it doesn't read as dedication — it reads as proof that you're not good enough. *You worked that hard and this is what you got?*
Eunyoung clapped her hands together like she'd just been invited to a party.
"I'm so excited. This project is going to be so much fun."
The way she said *pro-ject* — that slight American lilt — grated on him.
And then the reality check hit.
*Fun.* She thought this was going to be *fun.* Junhwi's relationship with big projects was insomnia, stress-induced gastritis, and irritable bowel syndrome. Their entire mindset was different. They say you can't out-work someone who genuinely loves what they do. What if Eunyoung overtook him in a matter of months?
He hated that while Eunyoung was feeling pure excitement about the work, the thought running through his head was *what do I do if she passes me?*
He wished he could be like her. Finding real joy in growth and learning. Loving the work. Not needing everyone's approval to feel okay about himself.
He was the exact opposite. He didn't care much about growth or learning — he just wanted people to think well of him. And chasing that had left him tangled up in inferiority, envy, resentment, and a dozen other things he wasn't proud of.
Junhwi smiled like he understood exactly how she felt.
"Let's make it a good one."
"This is really strong. You just need to nail the presentation."
"Really? Thank you. I couldn't have done it without your help."
"Come on, you did all the work."
Junhwi had been quietly hoping Eunyoung would come back with something mediocre — proof that an impressive résumé didn't automatically translate to real-world results. Instead, the proposal she'd put together was better than anything most veterans would have produced.
His praise wasn't empty. Which somehow made it worse.
He had to clench his jaw to keep the smile on his face. He played the part of the easygoing senior who recognized talent when he saw it, but underneath, something was burning.
The fake-humble *I couldn't have done it without you* annoyed him too. She was talented *and* gracious about it. How much more was CEO Jang going to adore her?
A wave of anxiety moved through him. It felt like Eunyoung overtaking him was no longer a hypothetical — it was a matter of when.
Other team leads took pride in watching their junior colleagues grow. Junhwi was over here quietly panicking that a talented junior was going to expose how thin his foundation actually was.
If he had *real* ability, he wouldn't be like this. But his entire career had been built on luck, improvisation, and barely clearing the bar. If he'd had the right education from the beginning — the right preparation, going all the way back to childhood — maybe he'd have something that actually felt like self-confidence.
A house built on sand. That was him, exactly. Every day he waited for the wave, the wind, the moment everything got swallowed up. Not a single day felt solid.
The competitive pitch was held at YLH's headquarters.
Eunyoung handled the presentation. She was accompanied by one member of her team, Junhwi, and CEO Jang.
A competitive pitch — especially one hosted by a company the size of YLH — was the kind of room that made seasoned veterans nervous. Two or three executives in their fifties, plus five or six people from the client team, all sitting there with the same expression: *go ahead, impress us.*
Standing in front of a room like that, it was easy to feel like everyone was just waiting for you to slip up. Your stomach turned. The dollar figure attached to the pitch kept cycling through your head. For someone as junior as Eunyoung, getting through it without freezing — just reading what she'd prepared and walking off — would have been an accomplishment in itself.
The team before them finished their presentation and Q&A.
Their presenter had failed to answer more than half the questions. Good news for the competition, technically — but watching someone get picked apart right before you went on had a way of getting inside your head.
CEO Jang gave Eunyoung a reassuring pat on the back.
Eunyoung took a breath and walked to the front.
The presentation went smoothly. As she got into it, the nerves seemed to fall away — she even worked in a few jokes to lighten the mood, easy and unforced.
The YLH executives and client team members watching her started to smile, the kind of smile that said *look at this one.* CEO Jang was practically beaming.
Junhwi watched with a carefully neutral expression. *Eunyoung said she was twenty-six.* At twenty-six, Junhwi had been getting chewed out by his team lead for sloppy research. And here was Eunyoung, same age, holding a room full of people two or three times her senior. Even accounting for the years he'd lost to military service, her ability was undeniable.
"Hold on."
One of the YLH client team members raised a hand.
Eunyoung's expression tightened slightly.
"Yes, go ahead."
"The statistical data you just cited — I've actually seen that study in an overseas article. It was based on a survey of white women, which could make it difficult to apply to Asian consumers. What was your reasoning for using it?"
"Ah… the data you're referring to — is it… this one…?"
"Yes."
"Um… well…"
Junhwi could see Eunyoung's eyes waver from the back of the room.
She stalled, a soft *um* hanging in the air, and said nothing. Then the color drained from her face, and the hand holding her script started to shake. Anyone could see she'd hit a wall.
Junhwi glanced at CEO Jang. Her expression had gone flat, eyes fixed on Eunyoung.
Eunyoung stood frozen, completely silent.
Junhwi pulled out his phone and started searching quickly.
The room went airless.
The client team member waited a moment, then said, "Well — if there's no other data ready, we can move on."
"Actually, one moment."
Junhwi was already walking forward.
He felt every pair of eyes in the room shift to him.
His heart was hammering. The floor felt unsteady under his feet.
He walked directly to the client team member who had asked the question.
"Junhwi Lee, senior director at Daeil Planning. Would you take a look at this?"
The client team member took Junhwi's phone.
"This is research showing that skin sensitivity to the ingredient in question is consistent across ethnicities," Junhwi said. "Based on this, we determined that the data from the study on white women was applicable."
The client team member nodded.
"That works. Yes — that answers it."
Junhwi gave a small nod and walked back to his seat.
"Saved by the boss," one of the YLH executives said with a laugh. "You owe him a coffee later."
Eunyoung's face was still pale, but she managed a faint smile — the crisis had passed.
Junhwi settled back into his seat as if nothing had happened, listening to the rest of her presentation like it was any other afternoon.
He didn't turn toward CEO Jang, but he could feel her looking at him with something like pride.
His heart was still pounding.
*Right.* He let the thought settle. *Ivy League, whatever program, whatever thesis — that's a greenhouse. Perfect temperature, perfect humidity, perfect light. But is the real world a greenhouse? Not even close. Someone like me, who learned everything the hard way — I'm better at this. At thinking on my feet.*
He was aware of how petty it was to feel smug about covering for one stumble. But the lift in his chest was real, and he couldn't help it.
CEO Jang had to see it now. The person she'd been fawning over was smart, sure — but she was just a smart kid. Not the prodigy she'd been made out to be.
After the presentations wrapped up, Eunyoung came over to Junhwi and CEO Jang. She looked like she was bracing herself.
CEO Jang said *good work* — but the warmth in her voice was noticeably cooler than it had been before the presentation.
Junhwi didn't make a thing of what he'd done. He just gave her a thumbs-up. *You did well.* He felt, for the first time in a while, like he actually had the composure of a team lead.
When all the presentations were done, the three of them walked out of the building together.
CEO Jang's voice was gentle.
"Eunyoung, you were really impressive today. I knew you were good, but I didn't realize you were *that* good."
"Thank you."
"Mm… that said…"
At the word *that said,* something flickered across Eunyoung's face.
CEO Jang continued.
"A mistake like the one earlier — that's pretty fundamental. Going forward, I'd like to not see that kind of thing again."
"Understood. I'll keep that in mind."
"Don't be too hard on yourself, though. Junhwi, I'm counting on you to keep showing her the ropes."
"Honestly," Junhwi said, "when I think about where I was at twenty-four — Eunyoung's doing great."
CEO Jang looked at him with warm eyes.
"You two head home from here. I'll swing by the office for a bit."
CEO Jang's taxi pulled away, and it was just the two of them.
"Junhwi," Eunyoung said, "I really can't thank you enough. If you hadn't stepped in, I would've just stood there. Everything went completely blank — I almost started crying."
"You're being way too hard on yourself. You were great up there."
"No, I mean it. I really want to make it up to you — can I at least buy you dinner sometime?"
"You don't have to do that. I barely did anything."
"I really want to learn from you."
Eunyoung blinked up at him with wide, earnest eyes.