Episode 6. That’s the Dog Bone That Was in My Rice Bowl! 2.
Sales Team 11’s team leader, Jin Seonghun, was on the phone.
His sharp gaze locked onto Sales Team 9’s team leader, Yang Gyeonghun.
His face was cold and rigid, but the voice he spoke into the receiver was perfectly steady.
“Yes, of course. Our Mancheon Food Distribution is a company with twelve years of know-how operating the in-house cafeterias for every affiliate of Mancheon Group. There has never been a single problem. From SHS’s standpoint, wouldn’t the best course be to present an alternative as quickly as possible? At times like this, name recognition is what matters. Mancheon…… Well, rather than some nameless small or medium-sized company, I believe Mancheon Food Distribution, managed by Mancheon Trading, would be more effective in settling this matter. (…) Haha, reporters are all like that. I understand. In any case, with the media making such a fuss, you must be swamped during the day. How does this evening sound? (…) Yes. (…) Yes, then. Take care, and I’ll see you then.”
Jin Seonghun, who had taken the call while maintaining the tension with Yang Gyeonghun, set down the receiver.
Then, grinding his molars, he spoke in a low voice.
“I have no idea what this is about.”
Yang Gyeonghun’s eyes had flipped with rage, but knowing the other man had been on a call with a buyer, he had not said a word.
No matter how angry he was, as a salesman, he had not crossed the line.
But listening to that bastard’s phone call had only made his insides churn even harder.
“You don’t know what I’m talking about?”
Jin Seonghun rose from his seat and strode over until he was right in front of Yang Gyeonghun’s nose.
“Am I a mind reader? You think I’ll understand everything if you just spit out whatever comes to mind?”
Yang Gyeonghun’s face twisted.
“You son of a bitch……”
He grabbed him by the collar and shouted.
“You bastard! Mancheon Food Distribution! You really don’t know?”
Jin Seonghun raised his voice as well, refusing to back down.
“I said I don’t know, asshole! So what if you’re my senior? Why the hell do you show up out of nowhere and start this shit!”
The sales team office, always bustling with work, fell silent at Yang Gyeonghun and Jin Seonghun’s shouting.
And then, just then, another shout rang out.
“What the hell are you bastards doing right now!”
It was the head of Sales Department 3, Kim Inseop.
Feeling bad that Yang Gyeonghun had been one step behind Jin Seonghun, he had come over to buy him a cup of coffee, only to witness this mess unfolding.
Every employee in the sales team froze.
It was not the fight between Yang Gyeonghun and Jin Seonghun, nor the Sales Department 3 head’s roar, that had turned them to ice.
It was because President No Hyeoncheol was standing in the open doorway, watching them.
It seemed he had looked in after hearing the loud voices while passing by.
“Oh my, what a wonderful atmosphere this office has.”
The head of Sales Department 3 turned around, startled, and bowed at a ninety-degree angle.
“G-good day, President!”
“What I just heard was swearing, wasn’t it?”
“I-it’s nothing serious, President. There was a, a small misunderstanding……”
“Was the sales team always a department that swore over things that were nothing serious?”
“No, that’s not……”
No Hyeoncheol turned his gaze away from Kim Inseop, the head of Sales Department 3, who was practically trembling, and looked around the office.
“Who was the one swearing?”
It was easy to tell who had cursed.
Because several gazes turned toward Yang Gyeonghun.
Yang Gyeonghun bowed.
“I apologize, President.”
Jin Seonghun also bowed slightly.
But he did not open his mouth.
It was a silent sign that he had done nothing wrong.
No Hyeoncheol quietly stared at the two of them, then clicked his tongue.
“Tsk, tsk. Is this place some kind of free-for-all? A free-for-all where you bite and tear at each other whenever something doesn’t go your way?”
“……”
“Hey, you.”
The head of Sales Department 3, who had been singled out, answered.
“Yes, President.”
“You’re the department head, right?”
“Yes, I’m Kim Inseop, head of Sales Department 3.”
“I have to leave on a business trip now, so when I get back, come to my office and report to me in person. Understood?”
“Yes, President.”
No Hyeoncheol left, and silence settled over the room.
In the suffocating stillness, the head of Sales Department 3’s voice rang out.
“Both of you, come to my office.”
Yang Gyeonghun and Jin Seonghun left the office.
Kim Byeongjun took a sip of coffee that had gone cold, just like the atmosphere in the office.
“What on earth is going on? I heard the team leader say Mancheon Food Distribution. Did Team Leader Jin interfere with something?”
Hyeonu also had no way of knowing what had happened.
To hear someone’s inner thoughts, he had to be able to see them speaking.
That was because he heard their inner thoughts through the amoeba-like, wavering mass of light.
But both Yang Gyeonghun and the Sales Team 11 leader had been hidden behind the partitions.
Still, as Kim Byeongjun said, it was clear from the circumstances that it had something to do with Mancheon Food Distribution, the proposal they had just submitted.
What is it? Why is the team leader suddenly acting like that……?
Just then, Hyeonu’s brow furrowed slightly at something he saw.
What Hyeonu saw was Song Gaeun’s face.
Her eyes had widened as though they might pop out.
Her shoulders were stiff with tension,
and her two fists were clenched so tightly that the backs of her hands had turned white.
It seemed there was something there.
As if nothing were wrong, he casually tossed out a remark.
“Supervisor.”
Song Gaeun, who had been lost in thought, only then came back to her senses.
“Yes?”
“It’s about how to use the copier. Could you come with me for a moment?”
It was the same copier she had taught him to use twice yesterday, so she could very well have shown her annoyance, but Song Gaeun got up without a word.
Because the seat she was sitting in now felt like a bed of thorns.
As it happened, there was no one in the copy room.
As he placed the documents Kim Byeongjun had asked for into the copier, he subtly brought it up.
“There seems to be something wrong with Assistant Manager Kim’s proposal, doesn’t there?”
Song Gaeun met his eyes and answered with a brusque expression.
“How would I know that?”
The reason she reacted that way, when there was no need to be brusque, was because she was afraid her true feelings would be discovered.
But that was meaningless against Hyeonu.
Because no matter how hard she tried to hide them, he could hear her inner thoughts.
In truth, Hyeonu could not even see her brusque expression.
Instead, he saw a white mass of light.
That mass of light undulated like an amoeba and said this.
[Could it be because of me? Haa…… Surely Assistant Manager Park didn’t……]
“Who is Assistant Manager Park?”
“Oh!”
Startled by the sudden question, Song Gaeun’s mass of light snapped and bounced like someone with a tic.
It was a phenomenon that often appeared when someone was flustered.
[What is with this guy? Why is he suddenly asking about Assistant Manager Park? Does he know that I told Assistant Manager Park about Assistant Manager Kim’s proposal?]
“Did you tell Assistant Manager Park, by any chance?”
Her body stiffened where she stood, and she stared at Hyeonu with round eyes as if she had seen a ghost.
Hyeonu was as impassive as ever.
Somehow, that made him feel even more frightening to Song Gaeun.
Because it felt as though, with that dry expression, he was seeing right through her.
“Wh-what are you talking about……”
That was what came out of her mouth, but her inner thoughts were completely different.
[What do I do? What am I supposed to do? This man knows everything. He knows all about my relationship with Assistant Manager Park! That’s why he’s asking me this, isn’t it? What do I do, what do I do…… He said he would absolutely never tell, so how could he do this?]
With just a few words of her inner thoughts, Hyeonu could roughly draw the picture.
This Assistant Manager Park was Song Gaeun’s lover, or at least someone close enough for her to share secrets with.
It seemed that something she had casually said within that close relationship had been taken by Assistant Manager Park, who had conspired with the Sales Team 11 leader.
If so, there was a high chance that Assistant Manager Park belonged to Sales Team 11.
Hmm……
He quickly thought about how he should handle this.
Should he reveal the truth and get Kim Byeongjun’s proposal back?
No, could he even get it back?
It was ambiguous.
Because there was no evidence.
There was no evidence that those bastards had stolen the proposal.
If he stepped forward over something he couldn’t even prove, he might end up putting himself in a difficult position instead.
What should he do......
For now, Hyunwoo reached one conclusion.
‘I can’t just let the team’s achievement be stolen. I have to get it back, one way or another.’
Once he made that decision, there was one thing he had to confirm first.
“Don’t you feel sorry toward the team leader and Assistant Manager Kim?”
At those words, tears welled up in Song Gaeun’s eyes.
“Sniff, I feel so sorry about that too. Assistant Manager Kim worked so hard to make that proposal, sniff. I really didn’t do it on purpose, sniff, sniff.”
There were no hidden thoughts behind Song Gaeun’s tearful words.
It was the truth.
She was sincerely sorry.
In fact, when you got down to it, Song Gaeun hadn’t done anything wrong.
The teams were different, yes, but she had only mentioned it in private conversation to someone from the same department—and a close colleague at that.
The ones in the wrong were the manager of Sales Team 11 and that bastard, Assistant Manager Park.
As colleagues belonging to the same department, they hadn’t even kept the bare minimum of good faith and had turned the whole thing into a mess. They were the bad guys.
First, he had to calm her down, her face a mess of tears and even a runny nose.
He took a handkerchief out of his pocket, then put it back in.
He had remembered blowing his nose into it that morning.
But then she snatched the handkerchief away.
“No, I......”
Honk—
She wiped her tears, then wiped the snot that had run down to the corner of her mouth......
“Thank you for the handkerchief. I’ll wash it and give it back to you tomorrow.”
“......”
Song Gaeun began to cry again.
“Please don’t cry, Associate Song. It’s true you made a mistake, but you didn’t do it on purpose.”
“B-but still......”
“I’ll help you.”
“H-Hyunwoo, how could you......”
“We’ll have to do our best. Then, first, would you come with me and ask Assistant Manager Park why he did it?”
“What? In front of everyone?”
“So what? Even a mutt growls first before it starts a fight.”
He wasn’t sure if it was an appropriate analogy, but she seemed to understand well enough.
“You can do that, right?”
After thinking for a moment, Song Gaeun answered.
“It’s a bit much, but I have to, I guess. You’re the only one on my side, Hyunwoo.”
“Good decision. Then let’s go.”
He lightly tapped Song Gaeun on the shoulder, as if urging her along when she seemed unable to take a step.
Song Gaeun reluctantly began walking and asked,
“But how did you know?”
“Know what?”
“That I told Assistant Manager Park about Assistant Manager Kim’s proposal.”