7
“What is this…?”
Munyeong had barely arrived at work when Section Chief Jo handed him a large rectangular gift, leaving him with a bewildered look on his face.
“Apparently it’s a reward gift from up top?”
Jeongmi, who had already torn hers open, said excitedly. Chuseok had passed and New Year’s was still far off, so it couldn’t be a holiday gift. And there wasn’t really any achievement a cleaning staff member could rack up that would warrant a reward, either.
“Oh my. Is this ginseng… no, wait — is this wild ginseng?”
Jeongmi, the first to unwrap her gift, recoiled in shock and fumbled the box she was holding, nearly dropping it. The sound made the other employees flock over with startled expressions.
“Wild ginseng? This?”
“Oh my, it really is. Oh my goodness, they’re giving us this?”
“My husband is obsessed with the stuff so I know — even the cheapest grade of this is worth quite a bit…”
“Goodness, look at that beautiful color.”
The senior employees’ eyes lit up with delight, and the younger ones looked equally excited at the thought of bringing it home to their parents. He had no idea why such an extravagant gift was suddenly being given out as a reward, but Munyeong, having never received anything so expensive in his life, wrapped it back up without even opening it and tucked it carefully into his locker in the changing room.
So this is what corporate perks look like, huh…? Having been sick for days and left with hollowed-out cheeks, even Munyeong managed a small smile.
“So, um — this is a special gift from someone high up, who said that our staff members always work hard even where no one can see them, and they hope you’ll continue to do your best going forward.”
Section Chief Jo wrapped up the morning briefing, and as the employees filed out in a rush, he stepped through the crowd and gave Munyeong a casual wave to come over.
“Yes, did you call for me?”
“Yeah. Get enough rest?”
“Yes, thanks to you.”
Munyeong bowed politely. Section Chief Jo waved a hand as if to brush off the formalities.
“You’ve lost quite a bit of weight in just a few days.”
“Ha ha. Have I?”
“What about my face?”
“Pardon?”
“Don’t I look like I’ve lost some weight in the face too?”
Section Chief Jo thrust his sallow face forward as he asked. Not understanding the intent behind the sudden question, Munyeong smiled awkwardly and tilted his head.
“While you were out, Senior Managing Director Yeon just kept riding me into the ground.”
“……Oh.”
“When I told him you were out sick, he went off asking how hard I’d been working you for you to end up sick — ranting and raving — ahem. Pretend you didn’t hear that last part.”
“……Ah, yes.”
“The reason I called you over is actually about this gift.”
“The gift?”
“Yeah. Senior Managing Director Yeon is the one who ordered it.”
“Senior Managing Director Yeon…?”
Every word coming out of Section Chief Jo’s mouth was a shock to him. The fact that Yeon Haejeong had apparently hounded Section Chief Jo over his being sick, and the fact that the gift had also been Yeon Haejeong’s doing — all of it.
“Right. And honestly, I’m pretty sure it’s because of you.”
“……Pardon?”
“I think he sent this expensive stuff because you were sick and needed to recover.”
“……”
“Otherwise, why would someone who normally has nothing to do with this side of things suddenly pull something like this out of nowhere, on no particular occasion?”
“……Ha ha, I doubt that’s it. He probably just felt generous.”
Munyeong laughed stiffly and offered a plausible-sounding deflection, but Section Chief Jo scoffed.
“Does it look that way to you? Hardly.”
“……”
“Anyway, I don’t know why he’s so fond of you, but try to treat him a bit better in return. I know it’s been hard on you, but for someone like us just to catch the eye of a person like that — that alone is actually something remarkable. At first I thought you were being targeted, but looking at it now, it doesn’t seem like that’s it.”
“……”
“Look how much easier it’s made things for the other employees, all thanks to you.”
“……”
“Well, I know you handle yourself just fine, Munyeong.”
For some reason, his heart grew heavy again. He couldn’t bring himself to believe what Section Chief Jo was saying. That Yeon Haejeong was fond of him? That this gift had been arranged because of him? It felt like seeing that shopping bag Yeon Haejeong had brought him when he was sick, all over again. A strange, unsettling confusion began to gnaw at him from the inside.
The darkened conference room held a U-shaped arrangement of tables that stretched imposingly across the space. Vice Chairman Yeon Juhyeok was seated at the center head of the table, with Senior Managing Director Yeon Chayeong and Managing Director Yeon Haejeong occupying the seats to his right and left, as though those spots were naturally and rightfully theirs. The other team-leader-level executives from various subsidiary departments were seated further along, fanning out from the Senior Managing Director and Managing Director. Perhaps because both the Vice Chairman and Senior Managing Director were present, the atmosphere was solemnly charged. Since this was the occasion where each team’s leaders would be presenting their previous quarter’s business results, everyone was conducting themselves with measured seriousness.
Everyone, that is, except for one person.
Yeon Juhyeok, who had been keeping his focus trained intently on the screen in front of him, unconsciously furrowed his brow. In the darkness of the room, another light kept bleeding out beside him in a faint, persistent glow. During the sacred hour of a formal meeting — how dare — who. Yeon Juhyeok’s sharp gaze swung to none other than his younger sibling, Yeon Haejeong. Yeon Haejeong, who held the title of Managing Director, was slumped deep into an executive chair, scrolling through his phone with half-lidded, disinterested eyes. As the phone’s screen flickered intermittently, other employees were already sneaking puzzled glances in his direction.
Yeon Juhyeok was seething internally, but with so many eyes and ears in the room, he couldn’t bring himself to openly reprimand his younger sibling, and so he swallowed his frustration with forced composure.
“…And so in the first quarter, with the India and Vietnam contract acquisitions, we achieved results totaling 12 billion won, and if the current terms are maintained until the contract period expires, we anticipate earning upwards of 30 billion won in revenue going forward.”
“Who’s on the ground locally?”
“The branch team leaders in each country are stationed there.”
“Are they saying it’s feasible?”
“Yes. Still going smoothly, apparently.”
“Then what about the Shanghai, China project that was progressing in the second quarter?”
Mid-meeting, Executive Director Hwang pushed his glasses up and, alternating his gaze between his documents and the screen, tossed out a question toward the head of Production Team 1, who was in the middle of his presentation.
“Ah, that one……”
The head of Production Team 1 stole a glance toward Yeon Juhyeok and Yeon Haejeong, letting his words trail off quietly. The time he spent looking askance at Yeon Haejeong in particular was noticeably long.
“How can you still be hung up on that project alone? Good grief, Production Team 1’s results are really going nowhere. Just how many people are assigned to it.”
He rapped his pen against his documents as he spoke in a pointed manner — though, to put it plainly, Production Team 1 operated under the Yeon Juhyeok and Yeon Haejeong line, while Teams 2 and 3 were run under the Senior Managing Director and Executive Director Hwang.
“As far as I’m aware, all the high-margin, high-stability projects were transferred over to Team 1, and if they’re still going to drag their feet, wouldn’t it be better to hand the projects they’re currently holding off to Team 2 or Team 3?”
Executive Director Hwang directed his thinly veiled complaint-laced suggestion toward Yeon Haejeong, who was visibly unengaged with the meeting. It was true that since Yeon Haejeong had come on board, the pace of progress in the teams directly under him had slowed. Urgent approval items were never turned around quickly, and matters that had been moving along smoothly were being picked apart on every little point, causing clear delays compared to before.
“Hm.”
Yeon Haejeong, whose attention had clearly been elsewhere, let out a short, careless exhale.
“Excuse me?”
Then, as if deliberately making it obvious he hadn’t been paying any attention at all, he asked back in an insolent tone. The corner of Executive Director Hwang’s mouth twisted crookedly.
“……Ha ha. You must be quite swamped with work lately.”
He flashed a contrived smile and lobbed a pointed remark with deliberate ease.
“It seems you’re having trouble staying focused, ha ha. Understandable, really. You haven’t been in your position very long, after all, so just getting up to speed on the work must be taking quite a bit of time.”
His attitude was transparent. It was no different from a roundabout dig at Yeon Haejeong’s conduct in the meeting and his general approach to company life. Yeon Juhyeok’s cheek twitched almost imperceptibly. So it comes to this — my younger sibling getting humiliated in front of everyone. His face was shadowed with a complicated mix of feelings. But Yeon Haejeong himself, the very person in question, looked utterly unbothered. He fixed his gaze on Executive Director Hwang, seated diagonally to his left, with a completely flat expression.
