Everyone walks around dressed like adults, saying adult things, playing the part — but if you cracked them open and looked inside, you'd find a five-year-old sitting right at the center. The outside grew up. The core didn't. The mechanism that actually makes us tick barely aged at all. Sometimes it even regressed.
What Eunyoung was doing wasn't so different from a kid desperate for a gold star from the teacher. Everyone's been there. You do nine things right and get scolded the one time you slip up, while the kid who couldn't do any of the nine suddenly nails one and gets showered with praise.
Nothing stings quite like that. You feel sorry for yourself for trying so hard on all nine. You resent the other kid for stumbling into one win. And more than anything, you resent the teacher for making it feel so unfair.
So just like a kid sliding a perfect drawing or a 100-point math test in front of the teacher's nose, Eunyoung was quietly nudging her wins in front of Junhwi.
*— I am a little worried about the LoveLemon promotional campaign, though. It's such a big account…*
Adults need praise too. They need someone — an objective outside party — to tell them everything's fine.
So in moments like this, what you had to say was: *I see you, even when I don't say anything. You're always doing well. The reason I never bring it up is because there's nothing to bring up.*
Junhwi had privately named this the "no news is good news" effect. When a boss stays quiet, you start to think: *I must be doing fine, or they'd say something.* It was a technique he used whenever he was working with someone who was especially starved for praise.
The truth was, giving Eunyoung compliments — saying things that sounded like recognition of her abilities — felt deeply awkward to him. Praise and validation meant something only when they came from someone better. Otherwise, what was the point? And was Junhwi actually better than Eunyoung?
Right now, the gap in their years of experience made it look that way. But experience wasn't real ability — it was just what happened to anyone who stuck around long enough.
So whenever Junhwi praised Eunyoung, he often felt faintly ridiculous doing it. *I'm not even better than her at anything. I've just been here longer. Who am I to evaluate anyone?*
There was a thrill in it, sure. The little rush of saying *great job* to Eunyoung as if he were the one qualified to judge. But that thrill was the same as showing up to a reunion with a designer bag you took out a loan to buy. Temporary. Hollow.
With Hana, though, it was different. When he helped her or praised her work, the satisfaction was clean. Uncomplicated. His skills genuinely outpaced hers — that much was clear. Which meant the dopamine hit wasn't huge; winning an easy game doesn't feel like much of a win. But it was *stable* dopamine. The kind he could enjoy without asking himself, *should I even be enjoying this?* So while it looked like Junhwi was spending his time for Hana's benefit, those moments were really for him. A chance to bask in someone's admiring eyes. A way to top off his self-esteem.
[Junhwi, I've finished the monthly report and sent it over.]
It was from Hana.
Junhwi clicked the attached link.
*Oh.*
He looked genuinely surprised. She'd handled even the parts he'd assumed would trip her up.
*How did she know to do that?*
He'd been quietly hoping she'd ask him about those sections, actually. He'd imagined himself explaining it smoothly, pictured Hana watching with that mix of admiration and envy and mild inadequacy — and had felt a private little thrill at the thought.
*If she can do it herself, that's better anyway.*
He pushed the thought aside and texted back.
[You finished ahead of the deadline? Was any of it hard?]
[There were some tricky parts, but Eunyoung helped me figure them out quickly.]
*Eunyoung helped her?*
Eunyoung was the team lead for Planning Team 4. Hana was on Planning Team 2. There was no reason for Eunyoung to be helping her.
Junhwi had been looking out for Hana precisely because Planning Team 2's lead had a habit of leaving new hires to fend for themselves. That was his opening. His reason.
Well… maybe Eunyoung had just walked by, noticed Hana struggling, and stepped in.
Looking out for people regardless of which team they're on — that's a good thing.
He texted back.
[Oh, good. If anything comes up, feel free to ask anytime.]
[Thanks!]
"Something not working out?"
"Oh… it's nothing major. I'm trying to organize the meeting notes I took in Quickpacer, but I'm not used to the tool yet…"
Hana's voice shrank as she said it, clearly embarrassed that she was struggling with something as basic as meeting notes.
Junhwi said, "You get used to tools fast once you're in them. What's giving you trouble?"
"I thought it'd look cleaner if I put these numbers into a chart, but I can't figure out how to…"
"Oh, that's a good instinct. Visualizing data makes it click right away. The fact that you thought to do that — that's what matters. The how is always figure-out-able."
Junhwi reached over and moved her mouse, clicking around.
*Hm.*
There was one thing he hadn't accounted for. Meeting notes were usually a new hire's job, and it had been a very long time since Junhwi was a new hire. Come to think of it, it had been a while since he'd touched Quickpacer at all. There had apparently been a lot of updates in the meantime — some of what he was looking at, he'd never seen before.
He scrambled for something to say.
"This… looks like it changed a lot…"
Silence. Junhwi's palms went damp. Was there anything more humiliating than acting like you knew what you were doing and then proving that you didn't?
*I should've just said I'm a little rusty, let me give it a shot. Instead I walked in like I had all the answers…*
Hana, apparently noticing his distress, said, "I can… look it up myself."
"Oh — yeah, sure."
*Ugh. So embarrassing.*
Junhwi handed the mouse back as casually as he could manage, but he was dying inside. He was pretty sure Hana was internally laughing at him. *What was that? He doesn't even know how to do it.*
"That button right there."
Eunyoung appeared from somewhere, pointing at the screen.
"Click that one — you want the combo chart, bar and line both. Then hit that to apply the formatting."
Following Eunyoung's instructions, Hana clicked through, and the chart came together cleanly.
"Thank you," Hana said.
"Did you not read the onboarding doc on Quickpacer?"
Eunyoung asked it without any intent to scold, but for a new hire, that kind of question always lands like a reprimand.
Hana tensed up and stumbled slightly over her words.
"Oh… I did read it, but… I couldn't quite re-remember it…"
"Going forward — when you don't know something, check the documentation first, then ask your supervisor. If you ask every time something comes up, think about how much time that wastes for everyone."
"Oh… okay…"
Junhwi started to explain that Hana hadn't asked — that he'd been the one to approach her — but Eunyoung had already turned and walked back to her desk before he could get a word in.
Hana looked deflated.
"That was on me for butting in," Junhwi said. "I'll explain the situation to Eunyoung."
"No, it's fine. I should've known the material better anyway…"
Junhwi felt a quiet shame settle over him.
If he'd actually wanted to help Hana, he should have helped her the way Eunyoung just did. Told her clearly what process to follow when she hit a wall. Efficient. Direct.
But his desire to feel good about himself had outweighed his desire to actually help, and so he'd done something useless instead. This was the problem with people like him — people running on empty self-esteem. It showed.
*God, that was embarrassing.*
He decided then that until this whole incident faded from both their memories, he'd keep his distance from Hana unless something actually required him to talk to her.
Eunyoung needed to work for the company.
Protecting Junhwi's bandwidth was part of working for the company.
Therefore, Eunyoung needed to protect Junhwi's bandwidth.
On the basis of this syllogism, she committed to guarding his time with ruthless consistency.
First order of business: cut down on whatever was going into that Hana situation. Did it make any sense for a team lead to be burning time on one new hire?
Of course, this was just the justification. The answer she'd give if anyone asked, *why are you so focused on Hana lately?*
The real reason was simpler: she wanted Junhwi spending that bandwidth on her instead.
Eunyoung's strategy was to preemptively eliminate anything that might give Junhwi a reason to check in on Hana. Whatever Hana might get stuck on, whatever might make her reach out for help — Eunyoung would get there first.
[Hana, don't think of me as being on a different team. Ask me anything, anytime.]
[Don't sit with something for more than ten minutes on your own — DM me, okay?]
[I have some time to spare — anything I can help with?]
She sent messages like these several times a day.
It wasn't like Junhwi was suddenly devoting all his free time to Eunyoung. But just knowing he wasn't thinking about Hana gave her a quiet, solid satisfaction.
Eunyoung was passing by Planning Team 2's section when she noticed.
"Hana, why are you still here?"
Everyone else from Planning Team 2 seemed to have left. Hana was the only one still at her desk.
"Oh… I haven't finished my part yet…"
"Did your team lead already leave?"
"Yes…"
"I think she mentioned something about having plans tonight…"
Eunyoung covered for her, but inside she was fuming.
*Planning Team 2's lead just left without making sure the new hire was okay? That's why Junhwi feels like he has to step in. Of course he's going to notice when everyone else has gone home and the new hire is sitting there alone.*
She was irritated.
She walked over to Hana's desk and looked at the monitor.
"What's the problem? What's taking so long?"
"Oh, I'll… figure it out myself."
"Sitting here grinding your teeth at it isn't going to make it happen. When something's not working, you say so fast and you knock it out fast. That's better for everyone."
"…… I'm doing market research, but I'm not sure how much is enough…"
"That's something you develop a feel for over time. You just haven't written enough proposals yet. The brand is… men's apparel…"
Eunyoung scrolled through the materials Hana had compiled.
Then she let out a long breath.
"Okay, this is why it's taking so long. This is way too much. You don't need all of this. Junhwi said it himself at the new hire presentation — the reviewers don't scrutinize the front sections that closely. If the big picture holds together, they're not going to nitpick. You don't need to map out trends year by year. This is organization for the sake of organization. What decision is ten-year-old trend data actually going to inform? Are you going to use trends from a decade ago to set next year's marketing concept?"
Hana sat with her head down, saying nothing.
She looked deflated from the criticism, but there was no helping it. Left alone, she'd spend all night collecting data and still not finish. She'd exhaust herself and then get chewed out by her team lead in the morning anyway.
Eunyoung had her own work to get back to, so she decided to quickly set Hana on the right track and go.
"Right now you're burning time on things that don't matter, and the stuff that actually needs to be there is mostly missing. Hmm… okay, what can we do to wrap this up in an hour… Don't delete the year-by-year trends since you already did them — deleting takes time too. What you need to add is this: identify three pain points that male consumers commonly share. Base it on statistics, surveys, and reviews of your brand and competitors. And don't try to compile everything — just spend an hour reading as much as you can, then write down the three things that stuck with you most. Just those three."
"… Okay."
Hana's voice was barely audible.
Eunyoung wondered if she'd spoken too fast for Hana to follow.
"Did you understand what I said?"
"… Yes…"
Eunyoung figured Hana caught on quickly enough — she'd be fine.
"Finish up within the hour and go home. Got it? You've got this, you've got this!"
Eunyoung strode back to her desk.
As soon as she left, Hana got up and walked toward the office door. Probably going to grab a coffee.
Hana pushed the door open — and Junhwi was walking in at the same moment.
Hana gave a quick bow and slipped out into the hallway.
Junhwi stared after her with an expression that was hard to read. Surprised, somehow.
*What was that?*
He spotted Eunyoung inside and said, "What happened?"
"… What do you mean?"
"Hana… why did she…"
He trailed off, hesitated for a moment, then turned and walked back out of the office.
Eunyoung stood there blinking, not sure what to make of any of it.