# Chapter 49
While waiting for the coffee his colleague had ordered at the café on the first floor, Lee Hwan sat on the sofa and stared blankly at the other’s back.
Though they usually chatted a bit, they weren’t close enough to visit a café together right after arriving at work. Thinking back to his past life in the Support Team, this clearly looked like someone who’d been forced to take the bullet by their seniors and come to him.
Everyone was probably curious but too afraid to ask, so they must have pressured this person by asking if anyone had spoken with Joo Lee Hwan, then dumped the responsibility on them.
Indeed, it was strange from the beginning that they’d asked about his well-being and left the office alone.
What kind of conversation were they trying to have by bringing him all the way here? Come to think of it, that card they were holding, was it a strange golden brown color? If so, it was the team leader’s card from the previous drinking gathering.
The direct conversation only began after two cups of coffee were placed on the table.
“Um… I heard that you were taking Monday off through the company’s internal phone line.”
“Ah, Monday… What? Internal line?”
Surprised, Lee Hwan unconsciously squeezed the straw hard. The upper part of the straw flattened as if ironed.
“Yes, from the secretary’s office…”
“What?!”
Fortunately, he hadn’t taken a sip of coffee. If there had been liquid in his mouth, he would surely have sprayed it all forward. Lee Hwan’s eyes widened as he almost slammed the table but barely managed to stop his hand.
What was going on here? The secretary’s office of all places? What the hell had that bastard Kang Dongha done?
“W-wait a minute. This doesn’t make sense… What do you mean?”
“Huh? Ah, I don’t really know either… The team leader took the call.”
The team leader. The team leader had taken it, they said. Lee Hwan felt like his perfectly fine head was starting to throb.
“I don’t know anyone in the secretary’s office. Actually, the only people I know here are in our team.”
Dongha might know one or two people he could ask for this kind of favor, but…
“Um… yes.”
Their face looked complicated as they vaguely responded to the explanation Lee Hwan had blurted out. Right, there was no way such words would be believable. A mere new employee’s sick leave had been filed from above.
‘Yeah, I would have done the same. If I had someone like me around, I’d be fucking curious too…’
Lee Hwan exhaled a long sigh as he muttered inwardly.
“Did you hear anything else? I’m asking because I really don’t know either.”
“W-well, I heard that the team leader received another call this morning too.”
“What… did you say?”
“Saying that you would be coming to work today…”
Aaaagh! Lee Hwan almost screamed out loud. That bastard. That crazy bastard. It was intentional. One hundred percent, one thousand percent certain he had done this to mess with him.
Seeing Lee Hwan unable to speak, only opening and closing his mouth, his colleague averted their eyes. Without even going up to the office, it was obvious what kind of chaos was unfolding there. Lee Hwan squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again and grabbed the hand of his colleague who was holding a cup.
“Uh… Lee Hwan-ssi…?”
Fortunately, the person who brought him wasn’t a superior. With a clueless new employee, he could just pretend not to know and gloss over this situation.
“…Actually, I know all about how rumors about me are spreading. That’s why I came down here like this.”
“Huh? No, it’s not about rumors…”
“But honestly, doesn’t that seem ridiculous? Logically speaking, if I had such close connections with the higher-ups, why would I join as a new employee in the Support Team? It’s not even an easy job… Learning step by step from entry level? That’s something you only see in dramas, isn’t it?”
As Lee Hwan gave his passionate explanation, the other person’s voice gradually diminished.
“If I had money, I wouldn’t have worked in the first place. Have I ever looked happy while working? I have no dreams or ambitions. I plan to work just enough to earn my pay, then hang on until I quit, and survive on my severance pay until I get a pension. And… I got in with my skills. You know this isn’t a place where just anyone can get in easily.”
“No, that’s not what I…”
“So please explain it well when someone asks. Just say it’s not like that.”
After desperately holding their hand and pleading, the other person now had beads of sweat appearing on their forehead. But what could they do even if they were suspicious? He said he didn’t know.
As Lee Hwan calmed down and let go of their hand, silence fell for a while as they both quietly sipped their coffee. While the cold coffee cooled his stomach and soothed his rising heat, Lee Hwan thought of Kang Dongha, the main culprit behind all this.
Lee Hwan’s head ached as he imagined that face snickering at his revenge.
[Fuck you]
He lowered his hand under the table and sent an angry message, which was immediately marked as read. There was no reply.
‘Just wait until after work, just wait.’
Lee Hwan silently recited the Heart Sutra in his mind, which he had memorized for the gate.
* * *
He had no idea how he’d endured until the end of the workday. Even though there were ribs for lunch, he couldn’t even go for a refill. The fact that he didn’t miss those ribs even after 3 PM meant he was suffocating more seriously than he’d thought.
The only consolation was that the team leader would be absent tomorrow. Plus, after the weekend, there would be field work in another section, so the office would be a bit empty.
The fewer superiors around, the better. So for the time being, it would be better than today. With that thought, he made it through the day, and of course, Lee Hwan’s footsteps headed toward the research building.
“Open up.”
“I’m a bit busy today.”
“I’m counting to 10. 10, 9, 8…”
“So pushy.”
The locked door opened, and Lee Hwan stepped into the office he had destroyed with his own hands a few days ago. Over Kang Dongha’s shoulder, the sight of a brand new office came into view.
‘Looks clean.’
Money was indeed a good thing. After just a few days, there was no trace of the mess Lee Hwan had caused. All the completely broken furniture had been removed, and their places were now filled with valuable items of a different style.
The desk had been replaced with dark lacquered solid wood. Though not made of iron, it was sturdy enough not to break easily even with considerable force.
When Lee Hwan glanced at Dongha, he turned his body aside to make way. After teaching him a lesson once, it wasn’t bad to have him act more considerately for easier handling.
That also meant that reporting Lee Hwan’s sick leave through the internal line was 100% intentional.
“I heard you called about my sick leave. Maybe you felt left out for not getting hit that day, partner?”
Lee Hwan asked with a gentle smile. Using a soft tone after a long time gave him goosebumps under his clothes.
However, despite Lee Hwan’s effort and sincerity, Dongha maintained a smile-less expression.
“You should have said something earlier. I could have made you shit blood instead of diarrhea.”
“…Twelve million won.”
As Lee Hwan took another step closer, Dongha quickly interrupted.
“Just remodeling this place cost twelve million. Considering the lost or contaminated documents, the total loss is well over four times that. Don’t you think you got off cheap?”
When money was mentioned, Lee Hwan suddenly felt calm. His eyes widened when he heard that the cost of destroying the office far exceeded his initial estimation of a hundred thousand, surpassing fifty million.
“Besides, the rumors were already at that level anyway. Why blame me for your own poor conduct?”
If it was about rumors in the Support Team, it would probably be speculations about Lee Hwan’s identity. As always, there were theories about an undercover boss, a Kang family illegitimate child… Recently, perhaps added from some sordid drinking gathering, rumors about being someone’s lover or mistress were also circulating.
Of course, Support Team 3 tried to keep the talk polite since Lee Hwan was their team member, but he was well aware that the situation wasn’t so civil in other teams.
“It was just a rumor. Why did you have to drive a nail into it?”
“Think of it as the price for the damage.”
The way he snorted was unpleasant to look at, but it wasn’t entirely wrong, so Lee Hwan swallowed a deep sigh.
“Haah… I really wish you would awaken. So I could beat the shit out of you.”
Only after Lee Hwan’s blessing did Dongha finally relax and sit down on the sofa. Judging from his appearance, if the money talk hadn’t worked, he would have surely pulled out the civilian card again.
Horok. The sound of drinking tea filled the quiet office. The conversation resumed only after Lee Hwan had emptied about half of his Solomon’s seal tea.
The relationship between them wasn’t good before and still wasn’t, but after tacitly confirming that they wouldn’t attack each other, the atmosphere settled down somewhat.
“After you went in, a gate transformation was confirmed.”
“There’s no evidence.”
“Go and say that directly to Dongying hyung.”
“…Damn it.”
When Lee Hwan put his cup down with a clack, Dongha flinched but furrowed his brow and opened his mouth.
“Let’s assume you know the situation roughly, just tell me what you took before running away. So I can decide whether to cover it up or not.”
It was a situation he had already anticipated. Lee Hwan rummaged through his clothes and took out something heavy. It was a stone he had taken from the hidden room.
“If you confirmed the gate, you probably already know… It’s gold ore. Not a gem, not a magic stone. Gold comes out of it.”
Yellow gold veins were embedded sporadically in the cross-section of the broken stone pieces. Whether he already knew or not, Dongha glanced at the stone as if it wasn’t worth his interest, then turned his head away.
“I went there believing there would be something there… I didn’t know it would be something like this. The gate was already generating monsters quickly, so I couldn’t stir things up too much.”
“Where on earth do you pick up such information…”
From the future. I picked up your failed life from the future too, on clearance. Lee Hwan swallowed the words he couldn’t say and greedily put the gold ore back inside his clothes.
“Anyway, there’s been a lot of talk about the gate transformation. As you know, that came from Dongying hyung.”
“…Right.”
“It’s been extremely troublesome to explain and handle, so I can’t really let it go without getting something in return.”
Dongha’s mouth started to rev up again, apparently about to ask for another favor. Somehow, it began to feel like stepping in dog shit. Lee Hwan watched quietly, half anxious and half annoyed, wondering what would come out.
“Didn’t you say you’d help if there was mutual benefit? That day. This time I’m not really trying to mess with you, but I’ve become busy with construction due to the research project. So I need you to come along more often…”
Somehow, he felt like he already knew what was coming next. Lee Hwan quietly gritted his teeth, hoping his prediction was wrong.
“On weekdays too.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.”
Despite refusing so adamantly that he’d destroyed the office, it had come to this in the end.
