One of the products Sungjin was in charge of faced an unexpected storm. The cause of the incident was as follows. A middle-aged couple came to the headquarters demanding compensation, claiming they had been burned by a YUCAN product.
“Um… who’s in charge of this?”
“Isn’t it Assistant Manager Sungjin?”
“No proof, doesn’t want to meet, so what do they want us to do?”
It was very unfortunate that the customer was injured, but all companies follow set internal regulations when it comes to compensation. First, there was no medical certificate to prove the loss the customer suffered, and the hand in the photo they attached as evidence showed no abnormalities to the naked eye. Also, the wife who claimed to be burned refused to meet, citing social phobia as the reason. Then when asked to send the product they used, they said they had already disposed of it themselves.
“This is driving me crazy… Sungjin, did you call the production company representative?”
“They’re not answering. Do you want to try calling with your number, Section Chief?”
“It says it’s not a valid number?”
And then another problem piled on. The owner of the consignment production company, which needed to verify whether there were issues with the durability of products manufactured on the same line, had fled in the night after being scammed in real estate while using the company as collateral for speculation, and the employees were foreign workers whose visas had expired and had already returned to their home countries.
To summarize, Sungjin was the only person in charge left. His luck was excessively bad. What was revealed in the midst of this was that the couple were black consumers who had fought lawsuits with all kinds of companies and collected tens of millions of won in compensation.
The brands they targeted were diverse too. Chicken, bakery, appliances, stationery… They were already famous people who had been covered twice on current affairs broadcasts. There was even an incident where they were sued for fabricating damage.
“They say three employees quit from other companies because of those people. I thought it was strange there was no medical certificate.”
So it was only Sungjin, whose name went up as the person in charge, who was in trouble. Inspecting each and every one of the thousands, tens of thousands of products sold under YUCAN’s name wasn’t Sungjin’s job. However, managing the consignment production company was his work, and who would have expected that a company that looked ordinary on the outside would flee overnight, but thanks to that, Sungjin received the lowest minus score in his personnel evaluation.
The company deliberately made a killing and went bankrupt, and the fact that the product happened to fall into the hands of a nationwide black consumer was no different from a natural disaster, but as long as his name went up as the manager, it was an unavoidable disciplinary action.
If someone’s head gets cut off because of personnel evaluation, I’ll be the first one cut. While Sungjin burned his cigarette with dead eyes, a security employee who came out from the lobby turned away the middle-aged man along with the police. Even as the man eventually retreated at the police’s restraint, he shouted at the top of his lungs, “Let’s see if I back down like this!”
Only then could Sungjin understand why other managers had given compensation to that couple even while spending their own money.
They must have wanted them to at least take that and get out of their lives. That man must also be holding out like that aiming for exactly that. Because that method must have worked well until now. Sadly, this wasn’t the only tragedy that befell Sungjin.
“Does the bachelor in room 409 have contact with the landlord? We need to move out now, this is serious.”
The landlord holding the security deposits of dozens of residents had lost contact, and Sungjin’s phone message box became filled with contacts from residents preparing collective action and lawsuits.
[(Must Confirm) Notice of Eunsaem Villa Residents’ Action Committee Meeting.]
So he inevitably had to think certain thoughts. Did I… sell out the country in my past life or something? Why is my life so twisted? What did I do wrong?
With the tragedies continuing in succession, he wished this was rather a crazy situation continuous simulation. But unfortunately, it was reality.
In such a desperate time, the only thing he could trust was one stable job. Although his personnel evaluation was screwed, he decided to survive tenaciously until he became a target for restructuring. But heaven still didn’t help Sungjin.
“Did you hear the rumor that the Korean branch manager is changing this time? There’s talk that they’ll start with restructuring executives and employees as soon as they arrive…”
With the adverse conditions continuing as if someone had orchestrated them, he wasn’t even angry anymore. Can’t they just tell me it was all a prank camera show? I’m begging like this, please…
Yoon Sungjin. Age twenty-eight. As the person in charge of an unresolved customer issue and the first priority target for restructuring, he was literally cornered at the edge of life’s cliff. His stable job, which he had been proud of in his humble ordinary life, and the security deposit he had desperately saved after getting employed, were all about to go up in smoke.
Though he’d been aware of his preferences for quite a while, he’d never even met a lover once, a virgin worried about potentially bringing shame to his parents who were educators—a tedious and dull life. Should I just quit everything and live as a day laborer restoring old buildings in Spain? No, would they even accept me there?
Just as he was letting out hollow laughs, as if there’s no law saying a person should die, an unexpected lifeline came down.
“Oh right, Assistant Manager. Did you see that announcement?”
When he tilted his head questioningly at a colleague who had come close and was lighting their cigarette, the colleague said with a smile.
“YUCAN is supposedly the main sponsor of some reality show. They’re accepting applications asking if there’s anyone among executives and employees who wants to go out as a contestant. They say the prize money is 300 million won.”
What did that have to do with him? Whether headquarters filmed a variety show or made some broadcast, it sounded like a story unrelated to him.
“Really? A reality show… what kind of broadcast is it?”
Though he had no interest, thanks to having enough social skills to pretend to be interested in his colleague’s small talk, Sungjin naturally opened the floodgates of conversation.
“It’ll be a matchmaking show. They say only people confident in their appearance can apply. It’s funny.”
“Ah~.”
His already nonexistent interest instantly converged to zero. Those kinds of shows were for brave people who boldly promoted themselves and weren’t afraid of being embarrassed. Or it would be a broadcast for people who had firm confidence they wouldn’t be rejected by anyone, or attention seekers who enjoyed attention itself.
Either way, it had nothing to do with him. Just as Sungjin was about to indifferently change the topic, his colleague added an unexpected comment.
“They say employees selected as participants will receive a special performance bonus if they work as YUCAN’s in-house promotional ambassadors for 3 years. Promotional model fees are separate, and while working as a promotional model, they guarantee the highest grade in performance evaluation, plus the promotional ambassador contract fee alone is 200 million won—isn’t that good? If you win too, it’s 500 million won in an instant. Assistant Manager, you should apply too. I don’t think there’s anyone else in our department who could do it.”
“Huh?”
The number 300 million was unrealistic, but he couldn’t imagine himself appearing on a program that only attention seekers went on. I’m desperately trying to fit in with social life, how can I stand in front of a camera? Sungjin let out a hollow laugh and brushed it off.
“Nah, not me. There are so many people with better looks than me.”
At his utterly humble answer, his colleague jeered.
“Ah, here you go again, Assistant Manager. Do you really not think you’re handsome?”
He was aware that at least his appearance had reached a level that others didn’t dislike. The persona I put on for social life probably doesn’t look bad on the outside either.
However, even though his appearance had changed, what was inside was still Yoon Sungjin, who had lived as a loser for about twenty-five years until graduating from university. Standing in front of people was difficult and nerve-wracking, and made cold sweat flow. There’s no way I could do it. Sungjin smiled bitterly while thinking that.
“Well… I’m just not too rough around the edges…”
“Wow, look at you being disingenuous. Then what am I, a completely shattered stone? Oh right, that matchmaking variety show from earlier, but there’s something kind of unusual…”
As the topic was about to shift to something uncomfortable again, Sungjin hurriedly put out his cigarette and left his seat.
“Look how late it’s gotten already. Let’s go down quickly. It’s not good to be away from our desks for too long.”
“Yesss-.”
Along with his colleague’s grumbling sarcasm, that hot topic broadcast that headquarters was supporting soon disappeared from Sungjin’s mind. However, it didn’t take long for it to resurface again.
