“What about you Ms. Na-Yool, coming to work so early?”
Si-Jin was less flustered by Na-Yool’s smiling approach than he expected. Although he sinisterly sneered at how hardworking she damn was, taking his mood out on her.
Really, what use was there in picking on her earnestness, noticeably displayed on her face?
Si-Jin could not come up with anything to say. His nervousness was slowly killing his self-esteem. Appearing seemingly lucid, he in fact could not reason. Still, his smile was perfect. Even if it were not, Na-Yool was definitely not aware of his struggle.
Her eyes timidly looked towards Si-Jin’s, without actually meeting them either.
Ah, those eyes.
“I suddenly remembered some additions to the proposal draft I handed over yesterday, and I thought I could take care of it in advance this morning.”
Si-Jin would rather she made eye contact. If only she looked straight at him.
Na-Yool’s neat and clear pronunciation reverberated in his eardrums like an auditory hallucination from the dream. It was the lustful voice full of erotism that had moaned incessantly into his ear, the sultry voice which had wept and uttered vulgarities as he had instructed her…
“Mr. President, did you not say that you would like improvement points to be mentioned at the top of the draft? This is the part. I do want to change the color entirely, but it is impossible since the client requested it…”
“All that matters is that the typography at the top successfully catches the reader’s eyes. Make it your priority.”
“The readability of the typography seems alright already, but of course I also felt it was somewhat lacking. I admit that I am worried the overall balance will be ruined if I emphasize it more.”
She seemed to mumble to herself, and indeed nothing was clearly audible. Si-Jin was smiling as he answered with a tone of repressed amusement.
“…Let’s try various things. After all, we still don’t know well what each other’s style is like. And in general, the more drafts, the better. To reciprocally ensure that the other won’t run away from their responsibility.”
Na-Yool smiled along while still not directly looking at him.
“Of course, it’s rather meaningless if there is no acceptable draft.”
“Understood. I will give it a try then.”
She answered humbly, but in Si-Jin’s eyes she appeared overly enthusiastic. It made no doubt she would quickly taste the despair of having all her drafts get turned down. Just like others did when they first joined his company.
Si-Jin was rather pleased with that. He had never taken advantage of the hardships and adversities of others in this way, but to think of Na-Yool’s future hardships before they even happened was a small comfort. More precisely, the mental image of her defeated self was.
…Damn it, even this was the first time.
“I was on my way to make coffee, do you drink any in the morning too, Mr. President? I will bring you a cup.”
“…No. I’m okay, thank you.”
“Alright, enjoy your morning then.”
Na-Yool’s slightly blushing face lit up with a lively smile. Contrary to the deep interest filling her gaze, her firm attitude was undeniably proper. Seems like troublesome things won’t happen. Si-Jin was relieved. But then, his whole body shuddered. Just as they parted, her eyes were staring straight at him. Very briefly.
Si-Jin froze for a moment at the spot she just passed by, and then looked down at his lower half as he madly swore.
“…Ah, you crazy bastard!”
On this nice morning, it stood.
This time, in the real world.
***
From then on, the woman kept catching Si-Jin’s eyes. Coincidentally and uncomfortably, dangerously and irritatingly. A woman. She was a woman. The very first woman whom he saw as a ‘woman’. It was a concept and existence that he had never understood in his whole life.
Si-Jin stared with a slight frown at Na-Yool, who was sitting far away. They were at her welcome dinner party, exactly three days after her first week working at Ethical Communications had passed, and it was around the time when everyone was so busy that they were about to die.
Since the female employees had already had a simple welcome luncheon last week, Si-Jin had dismissed the idea, arguing there was no need to do it a second time. But the big boss’ opinion had impetuously been ignored by the prodding of some geezer employees jumping on all occasions to go home late.
This was also because the company seldom held dinner parties due to its environment. Each of them was too busy dealing with the workload, and while they were gasping for breath trying to fix their rejected works, the President hated all-employees dinner parties. Consequently, apart from them hunting around like hyenas for excuses to have a party, it was rare that such dinner actually took place.
At best, only for main events, such as welcome & farewell parties, marriage, or year-end celebrations. Typically, they would swallow back their suggestion at the sight of Si-Jin’s annoyed expression. But in this case, they had insisted it was a big event and vehemently refused to back off.
This was why the welcome dinner had been delayed to this day. Even the party star was sitting with an awkward “what’s the point now?” expression.
“By the way, doesn’t Ms. Na-Yool have a boyfriend?”
“She doesn’t though?”
“Didn’t someone say earlier that she does?”
“I heard she is not dating anyone. Right, Ms. Na-Yool?”
It was also the sort of occasion when men always asked the same useless questions. Si-Jin observed one by one the faces surrounding Na-Yool and picked out the ones particularly captivated by the topic. Which included the unmarried male employees, who instinctively develop ulterior motives at the sight of a new female employee, and the married men, who simply are full of unsolicited interest in other people’s love affairs.
“No, I don’t have one.”
Despite her somewhat awkward smile, Na-Yool seemed used to reply to this question, due to her frequent change of jobs. [T/N: Meaning that she went through a lot of “welcome parties” and is always being asked the same question.]
“How come? You’re so pretty.”
“Pretty? PD sir, you are such a smooth talker!”
“Aren’t I right? It makes no sense that she is not taken. Men wouldn’t let her be!”
“Na-Yool, aren’t you lying? You have a boyfriend, but you’re hiding it from us.”
“She should have one. No way she does not…”
“Seems like all men around you have gone blind, Na-Yool. How could they let you be single?”
What a load of crap. Isn’t that boasting about having a good eye for things yourself then?
Never would it cross the male employee’s minds that meanwhile Si-Jin was silently picking out among them who to inflict a penalty upon by any means. Namely, more workload, harsher criticism on their performance, or more disdain.
Si-Jin inherently hated such a scene, regardless of his big boss status, whoever the targeted female employee was. The sight of someone doing useless things, doing something seemingly for no purpose or for a worthless one, doing something unproductive, someone bothering others, or sometimes crossing the line without knowing their own place… So overall, his hate came down to one category: people who ultimately waste even the time of the bystanders with their pointless actions.
Even so, the reason Si-Jin kept attending every all-employee dinner party was to prevent anyone from going overboard and ruining things by blaming the alcohol.
As soon as it would get a little too late or someone was getting a bit too drunk, Si-Jin would spoil the mood with no mercy. Even tipsy, no one could let their guard down under the pressure of his vigilance. Hence, some of them did not even dare to openly welcome him with a drink when he attended, and now, they just surrendered to that discomfort.
Seriously, who likes a boss who stays up to the end of a dinner party?
They could not even act in a candid manner. Traditionally, the ideal big boss would only leave his credit card on the table and cleanly disappear. In that sense, Si-Jin certainly was not a good boss, and neither had any intention of becoming one.
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