What's His Scheme?
Manager Yoon’s gaze drilled straight into Assistant Manager Choi’s pupils.
“Yes…?”
“You think someone you considered close would spew that kind of filthy trash-talk about you behind your back?”
The sharp reminder of the break-room incident made Assistant Manager Choi feel as if his breath had been cut off. Cold sweat slid down his spine in steady streams. But Manager Yoon already knew the truth. Men like this never changed through words alone. Unless they were crushed by pressure strong enough to rattle their souls or faced with overwhelming power, they would simply bow their heads in pretense and hunt for the next victim.
Any further lecture would go in one ear and out the other. Worse, it would only invite even crueler retaliation against Woojin. Manager Yoon let out a heavy sigh and swiveled his chair away, making it clear the conversation was over.
“Workplace harassment is an outdated phrase. This isn’t the eighties. Let’s drop it. You can leave now.”
Just as Manager Yoon had predicted, the eyes of Assistant Manager Choi as he stepped out the door held no trace of remorse—only venomous hatred. The malice he felt toward Kim Woojin, the man who had brought him this humiliation, had already spiraled beyond control.
Once Choi was gone, the deputy director’s office fell into heavy silence. Manager Yoon exhaled deeply, roughly raking a hand through his hair before sinking back into his chair. The icy charisma he had shown moments ago vanished, replaced by raw disgust etched across his face.
“Those kinds of bastards never disappear…”
The low mutter was quiet enough that no one else could hear, yet it brimmed with suppressed rage. He stared at the empty office for a moment, then added under his breath, “Fucking bastards.”
People who mocked the sincere efforts of others, who trampled on lives out of jealousy without understanding their own place—Manager Yoon despised the stench those types produced more than anyone. Yet he also knew his small intervention would never truly change a man like Assistant Manager Choi. If anything, it would only make him lunge at Woojin more viciously, like a cornered rat.
With a bitter expression, he closed the email Woojin had sent. The helplessness of a middle manager who wanted to help but was bound by the limits of the system pressed down on him, mingling with the cold scent of coffee.
At quitting time, Woojin and Ihwa walked side by side toward the bus stop. Perhaps it was the lingering satisfaction of having given Assistant Manager Choi a taste of his own medicine, but the night air didn’t feel nearly as cold as usual.
Ihwa glanced at Woojin’s pleased face, smiled faintly, and asked, “Leaving on time for once?”
“Yes. Though honestly, I’m a little scared of the backlash tomorrow. Knowing Assistant Manager Choi’s personality, there’s no way he’ll let this slide.”
At Woojin’s words, Ihwa let out a short laugh. Her profile beneath the streetlight looked strangely unfamiliar.
“Didn’t you start this knowing what you were getting into?”
“To some extent. It’s my burden to carry.”
“Don’t worry. If something comes up that you really can’t handle, I’m right here.”
Ihwa tossed the words out casually and boarded the bus first. Watching her back, Woojin felt a strange mix of relief and tension at the same time.
“Ms. Seo, then… would it be all right if I passed just a little of my work to you?”
When Woojin asked, half-joking and half-serious, Ihwa gave him a lovely smile yet delivered her answer without a shred of hesitation.
“That much is still yours to handle.”
“…You really do keep personal and professional matters strictly separate.”
“Obviously. I’m not spending money just to make your job easier.”
The next morning, Woojin opened the office door with even grimmer resolve than the day before, only to sense an entirely different atmosphere.
“Oh! Woojin! You’re here, our department’s ace!”
The moment he stepped inside, Assistant Manager Choi’s cheerful voice rang out. The same man who had glared at him with such savagery yesterday now approached with a wide grin, as if greeting a beloved younger brother, and threw an arm around Woojin’s shoulders.
“Yes…?”
Woojin instinctively shrank back as he answered. Instead of the torrent of curses he had expected, unexpected praise flowed from Assistant Manager Choi’s mouth.
“That data you gave Manager Yoon yesterday—he couldn’t stop singing your praises. Thanks to you, I got some compliments too. Hey, thanks, man.”
It made no sense. Manager Yoon had personally witnessed Choi’s vulgar badmouthing in the break room and had openly reprimanded him just yesterday. On top of that, the fact that Choi had dumped his own work on a subordinate had been exposed. Praise? The story didn’t add up at all.
What’s his scheme?
Assistant Manager Choi’s smile was gentle, but the hand gripping Woojin’s shoulder carried a strange, oppressive strength. Woojin instinctively sensed danger and stayed on guard.
Only after Choi returned to his seat could Woojin finally sit down and begin working. But hell was only just beginning.
The instant Manager Yoon left for an external meeting, the office air grew thick and heavy. Assistant Manager Choi approached Woojin again. In his hand was a paper cup with steam curling from it.
“Drink it slowly while you work. Don’t push yourself too hard.”
Choi set the coffee on Woojin’s desk and smiled kindly once more. As he watched the man’s retreating back, Woojin stared intently at the dark liquid inside the cup. An ominous premonition gripped him—the feeling that drinking it would bring immediate stomach pain, or something far worse.
That was when it happened.
Out of nowhere, Ihwa grabbed the back of Woojin’s neck and dragged him away. In her other hand she already held the paper cup Choi had given him.
“Come with me.”
She gave him no chance to reply, hauling him straight into the break room. The moment the door closed, she snatched the cup and, without the slightest hesitation, dumped its contents down the sink.
The black liquid vanished with a loud splash.
“…Ihwa?”
“Don’t drink it. It feels disgusting.”
Caught between confusion and surging suspicion, Woojin couldn’t hold back.
“…What feels disgusting?”
Instead of answering, Ihwa simply stared into his eyes for several long seconds. The moment Woojin flinched beneath that cool, profound gaze, she left the break room without a backward glance.
By the time he hurried after her, Ihwa was already seated at her desk, eyes fixed on her monitor as if nothing had happened. Since he couldn’t stay away from his station long during work hours, Woojin suppressed his unease and forced himself to focus.
Finally, quitting time arrived. Just as Woojin slung his bag over his shoulder and prepared to leave the office, an all-too-familiar, unpleasant voice stabbed into his ear.
“Woojin.”
It was Assistant Manager Choi.
Of course. There was no way he’d let it go.
Swallowing a sigh, Woojin turned around. Choi slammed an absurdly thick stack of documents onto his desk with a heavy thud.
“If you’re really the ace of our department, you can finish all this today, right?”
The words dripped with mockery. Woojin knew instinctively.
Ah… it’s finally starting. The real harassment.
At that moment, his eyes met Manager Yoon’s across the room. Yoon’s gaze was calm but clearly asked one thing: Want me to step in?
Woojin gave a small shake of his head and forced a smile. If Manager Yoon intervened now, it would only provoke Choi’s inferiority complex, guaranteeing even harsher bullying later. In the end, Woojin clenched his teeth and answered shortly.
“Yes. I understand.”
Only after Assistant Manager Choi returned to his seat wearing a satisfied, nasty smirk did silence settle over the office. While everyone else hurried out with light steps, the only person left in the darkened office was Woojin, sitting alone with his monitor glowing.
“Ha… If I try to finish all this today, I’ll be here past midnight.”
Woojin rubbed his dry, gritty eyes and washed his face with dry hands. Even as he resented Assistant Manager Choi with every fiber of his being, he regretted turning down Manager Yoon’s help and boldly declaring he would take responsibility. A wave of self-loathing hit him—why did he have to endure this?
He had always believed he had never done anything to deserve anyone’s hatred. Yet somehow the company had become a battlefield crowded with enemies. When he stopped to think about it, the root of all this hostility was the “contract relationship” with Seo Ihwa. He had momentarily forgotten the obvious truth: that the arrows from all the men who coveted her would naturally turn on the one who had taken her.
Even while suffering this humiliation, Woojin tightened his fists. The money Ihwa deposited for him was worth several times the value of staying up all night working. That money became his mother’s hospital bills and lifeline.
That’s right. Money makes everything possible. There’s nothing I can’t do.
Conflicting emotions—regret and relief—tangled inside him. At least tomorrow was Saturday. Woojin gulped down a cold can of coffee and placed his hands back on the keyboard.
By the time he finished the unreasonable tasks Assistant Manager Choi had dumped on him and stepped into the company lobby, the air had grown bitterly cold. The hands on his watch had just passed midnight. The last bus was long gone.
Shit…
Woojin inwardly hurled every curse he could think of at Assistant Manager Choi. He wanted to demand taxi fare from the man responsible for this ordeal, but it would have looked pathetic, so he gave up. In his financial situation, a taxi was a luxury anyway. That money could go toward his mother’s hospital bills or buy one more side dish for her meals.
The bus ride took over an hour. Walking was an option, but after being worked to the bone, it would have been stupid. After hesitating for a long time, Woojin contacted his friends and luckily managed to catch one who could give him a ride.
“Hey! Kim Woojin, it’s been forever!”
“Thanks. I was seriously about to take a taxi.”
“You should’ve said something sooner. Even after becoming a full-time employee, you always end this late?”
“No, today was just a bit of overtime.”
Woojin smiled bitterly and gave a vague answer. As they talked about everything they had missed while watching the streetlights flash past the car window, the exhaustion from that brutal day slowly began to ease.
After driving for a while, his friend turned the wheel and casually asked, “Hey, tomorrow’s Saturday. You got any plans?”
Woojin thought for a moment before shaking his head. He did need to visit his mother, but right now he desperately needed something to clear the suffocating pressure in his chest.
His friend stepped on the brake at a red light and looked at him.
“Want to grab a beer? Perfect timing, right?”
Woojin hesitated briefly. He was worried about tomorrow’s schedule, but after the humiliation and stress of the day, a cold draft beer sounded desperately appealing. In the end, he let out a small laugh and nodded.
“Sure. Just one glass. Today really felt like it was going to kill me.”