OWWHM 10
The Office Worker Who Hears Memories – Episode 10
11. How Embarrassing for a Man
It was a Sunday with unusually beautiful weather.
Normally, I would be lounging on the sofa watching Surprise, but today was different. I had to frantically prepare to go out because of a promise with Executive Director Kim Ji-young.
Banpo Hangang Park area.
I parked my car and waited for Executive Director Kim Ji-young.
But 30 minutes passed, and she still hadn’t appeared. The radio show I was listening to ended, so I got out of the car and started doing some simple stretching.
Just then, a pure white Porsche Panamera slowly approached me.
Was the speed 5 kilometers?
No, it seemed like she wasn’t stepping on the accelerator at all, only hitting the brakes intermittently.
The clunky car slammed to an abrupt stop in front of me.
Screeeech.
The driver’s door opened, and Executive Director Kim Ji-young, wearing sunglasses, stepped out.
Black leggings and a green sweatshirt.
Her short bob was tightly tied back, making her look much younger and more innocent than she did at the office.
“You’ve arrived?”
“Sorry, did you wait long?”
“Yes. I waited a very long time.”
“I’m really sorry. I’m not used to driving yet… I’ll buy you a delicious lunch to make up for it.”
“Yes. You should.”
I examined the car Executive Director Kim Ji-young had driven.
The exterior and tires of the car were spotless, as if it had been driven on the road for the first time. The large ‘Beginner Driver’ sign plastered on the rear window was quite cute.
“I don’t think I’ve seen that before.”
“Seen what?”
“Someone who pastes such a huge ‘Beginner Driver’ sign on a Porsche that costs over 150 million won.”
“Is it too big?”
“That’s not what I mean. Usually, women learn to drive in small compact cars…”
“This is a compact car, isn’t it?”
“Well, for an Executive Director, maybe so.”
I grinned and got into the passenger seat.
Spotless seats and the plastic film still on the back seat.
It truly was a car that was less than a week old.
Executive Director Kim Ji-young got into the driver’s seat, put on white gloves, and took a deep breath.
“Why are you wearing gloves?”
“In case my hands slip. Ji-hoon, do you think I can drive all the way to Yangpyeong?”
I checked the time and shook my head.
“If you’re going for lunch, give up. Early dinner might be possible.”
“Is Yangpyeong that far?”
“Seeing how you were driving just now, I think it will take at least three hours.”
“Pout…”
Executive Director Kim Ji-young pouted her lips.
I hadn’t noticed at the office, but outside, her tone had a hint of aegyo (charm/cuteness).
“Shall we go now? You’ve adjusted the side mirrors and rear-view mirror, right?”
“Yup.”
“Then press the accelerator slowly.”
“O-okay. Like this?”
Executive Director Kim Ji-young pressed the accelerator and looked at me in the passenger seat.
At that moment, I was startled.
“The front! Look ahead! Don’t look at me, look ahead!”
“A-alright!”
“When driving, you only look forward. Whether you’re talking, drinking a beverage, or cursing, your eyes must always be on the road ahead.”
“O-okay.”
“Go out that exit and just keep going straight on the Olympic Expressway. See? Easy, right? Don’t overthink it. Just focus on maintaining 80 kilometers per hour and staying in the far-right lane all the way.”
“Yup.”
Before getting onto the Olympic Expressway.
Executive Director Kim Ji-young was too scared by the fast-moving cars to merge. After waiting for a long time, the cars behind her started honking.
“What should I do? What do I do?”
Executive Director Kim Ji-young looked back and forth between the side and rear-view mirrors with an anxious expression.
She’s ten years older than me, but she looked adorable.
“Just ignore them.”
“Huh?”
“Ignore whatever they say behind you. You’re in a Porsche, after all.”
“Uh-huh?”
A moment later.
She slowly merged onto the road during a lull in traffic.
Her average speed was 40 kilometers per hour.
There was a barrage of honking and high beams from behind, but Executive Director Kim Ji-young completely ignored everything, as per my advice. Sometimes drivers would roll down their windows and yell insults, but she completely ignored those as well.
After getting off the Olympic Expressway, Executive Director Kim seemed to have gotten a little more comfortable with driving. The radio played similar songs, and it became a bit boring.
“It’s not bad for a first time. Now we’re starting the intensive lesson.”
“Intensive lesson?”
“Roll down the window.”
“The window?”
“Now, rest your left arm on the window frame. How does it feel? The gently blowing wind is nice, isn’t it?”
“L-like this?”
“Good! Your posture is excellent.”
Executive Director Kim Ji-young awkwardly rested one hand on the window. After driving for another hour like that, the sign for Yangpyeong finally appeared.
“You and Tae-ha are getting along, right?”
“Yes. He’s bearable, except when he occasionally acts up.”
“Haha, right. The two of you have always been close. No major issues with work life?”
“You asked me that last time, too.”
“Did I? You and Tae-ha both look like children in my eyes, that’s why. How are things with Team Leader Jeong Jin-taek?”
“I don’t know much about him. We haven’t had much reason to clash.”
Team Leader Jeong Jin-taek, CEO Jeong’s son.
I rarely had overlapping work or even encountered him in the office.
“I see. Can you put in the navigation for me?”
“Where to?”
“Yangpyeong Farmers Restaurant. I’ll buy you the most expensive thing there.”
“You certainly should. I risked my life to get here.”
I entered the restaurant name she mentioned into the navigation. A little while later, we parked in the empty restaurant parking lot.
The time was 3:00 PM.
It was break time, so we had to wait an hour. Executive Director Kim suggested we walk around the garden in front of the restaurant, and I stayed close to her side.
“Executive Director.”
“It’s not the company, just call me Noona (older sister) like before.”
“No. I can’t do that. If I were only five years older, I would call you ‘you’ and hug you tightly to make you feel like a man.”
Honestly, half of that was true.
If she wasn’t Tae-ha’s older sister.
And not an executive at the company.
And the age difference was less than five years.
I really might have made a move on her.
Executive Director Kim chuckled at my words.
“Are you Lee Seung-gi or something? And you’re picking on me, aren’t you? You’re making fun of me for being old, right?”
“No. Absolutely not. But what happened with Department Manager Cha?”
At my question, she dropped her smile and replied with a bitter expression.
“That bat cut his own tail when he was in trouble.”
“Who was the tail?”
“Assistant Manager Kim Ho-yeon from the Health Food Team.”
“An assistant manager? He only cut off one assistant manager?”
“No, not ‘cut off’; it was settled with a one-month salary reduction.”
A one-month salary reduction for a kickback case.
This was seriously too lenient.
“You know too, Executive Director. That’s not something an assistant manager could do!”
“Of course, I know. But this was the CEO’s decision. He said we should allow a certain amount for ‘expense money’ when doing MD work.”
“CEO Jeong?”
There is no profession as closely linked to kickbacks as MD.
Giving a few hundred thousand won under the guise of ‘expense money’ has become a custom, and if an MD refuses, vendors resort to a shower of gifts. Furthermore, it’s not uncommon for manufacturers with limited budgets to push their products, saying, “Just try using my product.”
“He probably didn’t want to create an unpleasant situation just as we’re launching. I was rash. I ended up making an enemy of Department Manager Cha instead.”
“No. You did well. You truly did well. If you hadn’t stepped up, I would have.”
“You would?”
“You called me in and asked me, didn’t you? What my dream was. When I said my dream was to be the No. 1 commerce site, you said there were many employees with that dream, and you were one of them, too, right?”
“…”
“Section Chief Ma, who can’t even drink, met four companies a day and drank to secure the delivery app coupon. Assistant Manager Kim stayed up all night to call foreign countries with different time zones. Ha Yeon-doo woke up at 5 AM every morning for the past two weeks and went to Madam Kim Ok-soon’s beef soup restaurant. Creating a proper commerce site is my dream, but it’s their dream, too.”
“Thank you so much for saying that.”
Executive Director Kim Ji-young bowed her head and offered a faint smile.
“But Executive Director, how did you know?”
“Cheongjin Group’s Jang Pil-young… I know him a little. I know he’s not the type to work normally. So I just tested the waters on a hunch.”
“Without any evidence?”
“That’s right. I only had a suspicion, no physical evidence. But when I saw how flustered Department Manager Cha was that day, I figured I was right and pushed him harder.”
“How embarrassing for a man to do that…”
I clenched my lower lip and shook my head from side to side.
“You said Assistant Manager Kim Ho-yeon, right?”
“Why?”
“I have to hear his side of the story, too. Whether he wanted to be the scapegoat or was forced to be.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Just watch. I’ll let you know when I need your help, Executive Director.”
.
.
Monday morning.
There was no mention of Assistant Manager Kim Ho-yeon’s disciplinary action anywhere—not on the bulletin board, nor the company intranet. It made me think that even the one-month salary reduction might not be true.
I separately called Lee Woo-jin, who came from Chain Market, up to the rooftop.
“Woo-jin. What kind of person is Assistant Manager Kim Ho-yeon?”
“Ho-yeon? The Assistant Manager?”
“Yes.”
“He’s a good person. When I first joined, he took me around to his clients. He seemed very close with the clients’ representatives, too. I learned a lot from him, even though it was a short time. But why are you asking about Ho-yeon?”
“Is he particularly close with Department Manager Cha?”
“Well, I don’t know about that. Team Leader…”
He was struggling to say something difficult, calling me up but then remaining silent for a long time.
I asked him with a playful expression to help ease his tension.
“Why did you call me up and then stay silent?”
“Team Leader, you don’t believe what Section Chief Ma says, do you?”
“What does he say?”
“That when he drinks, he always calls me Department Manager Cha’s spy.”
That comment must have been bothering Lee Woo-jin constantly.
That’s probably why he couldn’t mingle with the team members and felt isolated.
“No. I don’t care at all.”
“Pardon?”
“You’re not a child, Woo-jin. You’ll choose the person who will be most helpful to you, whether it’s Department Manager Cha or me.”
“…”
“I’m that confident. I have the confidence that my shadow is big enough for you to follow me.”
“Thank you for believing in me.”
“Woo-jin, can you secretly call Assistant Manager Kim Ho-yeon down?”
“Secretly?”
“Yes. I have something to ask him. Can you do that?”
“Yes. Understood.”
A moment later, Assistant Manager Kim Ho-yeon, looking unwell, came up to the rooftop.
He bowed his head as soon as he saw me, and I motioned for him to come closer.
“Do you smoke?”
“Yes.”
Kim Ho-yeon accepted the cigarette I offered. As I lit it for him, he gripped the cigarette between his thumb and forefinger and quickly inhaled.
“What did you want to talk about?”
“You’re enjoying that cigarette.”
“Pardon?”
“I was just curious. How Assistant Manager Ho-yeon smokes his cigarette.”
Assistant Manager Kim Ho-yeon looked bewildered by my nonsensical joke.
“Are you thirsty? Want some coffee?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, I left my employee ID card behind. I’ll just borrow yours for a moment.”
“No. I’ll go get it.”
“I called you up here; I should at least do the serving. You’re smoking that cigarette so deliciously, have another drag. I’ll be right back with the coffee.”
I forcefully snatched the employee ID card from Assistant Manager Kim Ho-yeon’s hand as if I were taking it by force.
The employee ID card.
This is an item constantly attached to the body while at work. As such, it would store and convey many thoughts to me.
And my choice was accurate.
<Health Food Team? Blew it again.>
<Should I just stick with Jeong Jin-taek?>
<Cha Gi-young, that bastard, why is he only picking on me?>
<Choi Choong-yeon is a scarecrow. Should I just bypass him completely?>
<Why does he want me to stay until 10 PM?>
<Another errand?>
<What should I write in the work report? Should I just write ‘Cha Gi-young’s errand’ and screw him over?>
<Won Ji-hoon from One Small? He’s coming over too? Cha Gi-young is in an emergency! Heehee.>
Countless memories were audible.
All sorts of curses and blaming others were rampant.
Assistant Manager Kim Ho-yeon was what you would call “soft on the outside, prickly on the inside”.
It would be difficult to find a smoking gun right away from this multitude of memories. However, by piecing these thoughts together one by one, it seemed certain that I could find something.
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