Not Bacchus, but “Bakgyeosseu?”
“Sihyun. Why have you been away from your desk so long?”
Just as Assistant Manager Seonghyeon had predicted, Assistant Manager Miyeong came at me the moment I got back for being gone too long.
“Sorry. I stepped out for a cigarette.”
“I don’t get why men insist on smoking something so bad for them.”
Fucking bitch. I saw you lighting up after lunch too. Your hands reek of smoke, yet you’re acting all pure like you’re not a chain-smoker.
Disgusting.
You chain-smoking bitch.
“Ah, whatever. Honey, go run a quick errand for me.”
“Huh? An errand for what?”
“If you go out Exit 3 at Gyodae Station, there’s a post office. I’ve got some registered mail to send for work.”
“I have a meeting at ten and need to prepare the materials.”
“Oh right, the meeting’s at ten. Then go during lunch. Gyodae’s right nearby.”
Ah, fuck.
Even if Gyodae isn’t far from Jamsil, go during lunch?
When am I supposed to eat? Did you shove your common sense straight up your ass? Seriously.
“I need to eat too. I’ll go after lunch.”
“No. We’ll be swamped then. Make sure you send it before lunch ends. I trust you~”
Why the hell am I your “honey”?
She only calls me that when it’s convenient for her.
She’s trying to act cute, but it just makes me want to puke even more, you bitch.
Hoo........
—Thud!
Assistant Manager Miyeong tossed the mail onto my desk and fled to the bathroom.
My opinion was ignored as a matter of course again.
Ah, fuck. Looks like I’ll be eating cup ramen and a triangle kimbap from the convenience store. My precious lunch break just got completely hijacked.
I cooled my temper, turned on the computer, and threw myself into preparing the meeting materials.
But somehow my seat kept getting hotter.
It felt like a steam room.
Assistant Manager Seonghyeon wiped his sweat and looked around.
“Huh? Who turned off the AC in the back?”
—Beep!
Seonghyeon switched the AC back on.
“Ah, Assistant Manager, don’t turn on the AC. It’s cold.”
My coworker Yuri pulled her cardigan tighter and grumbled.
“Yuri, the AC blows right on you up front so you’re fine, but Seonghyeon and I in the back are roasting.”
“If you’re hot, just fan yourself or drink some cold water. You know the team leader’s sensitive today, yet you’re being so inconsiderate, Assistant Manager.”
That fox-like bitch Yuri, realizing “I’m cold” alone wouldn’t fly, dragged the team leader into it.
The team leader must have overheard, because she chimed in at Seonghyeon.
“I’m not feeling well today, so I told them to turn off the back AC. Can’t a man show a little understanding?”
“Ah, yes. Sorry, Team Leader.”
Seonghyeon had no choice but to back down.
Looking at the indoor temperature on the AC remote for the back seats, it was nearly thirty degrees.
Ha, fuck.
I’m taking a sauna at the office.
Seonghyeon kept dabbing at the sweat pouring down with his handkerchief.
“Here. Drink this while you work.”
Yuri brought two glasses of cold water and set them on my desk and Seonghyeon’s.
You crazy bitch!
Is this “drink cold water and cool off” or what?
Seonghyeon was pissed too, sighing heavily.
Enduring the heat while finishing the meeting materials, before I knew it it was 9:50.
“Sihyun. What are you doing right now?”
I jumped and spun around to find Assistant Manager Miyeong right behind me, staring.
Whoa. Fuck. Scared the shit out of me. She’s like Chucky the killer doll.
“Huh? Making the meeting materials. Almost done.”
“Yeah, while you’re at it, do mine too.”
“What? The meeting’s in ten minutes.”
“You’re quick with your hands, so you’ll finish in no time. I’ll use yours.”
“Assistant Manager!”
When I snapped back sharply, Yuri took Miyeong’s side.
“Sihyun, the assistant manager is asking. Don’t be like that. It’s just copy-paste.”
If it’s so easy, hand over your own materials, you fox bitch.
Sensing her chance, Miyeong quickly snatched my materials.
“Thanks. Honey~”
Ha, the rage boiling inside me made me drink the water Yuri had set out.
“Cough!”
The moment I drank it, something felt off, so I rushed to the bathroom and spat it out.
This fucking bitch.
Instead of cooler water, she’d poured tap water just to fuck with me.
That bitch must have been my mortal enemy in a past life.
After the meeting ended, it was already nearly eleven.
“Sihyun, Assistant Manager Kim Mihui wants you to come down to the lobby for a bit.”
Yuri said after checking KakaoTalk.
“Ah, okay.”
Assistant Manager Kim Mihui was my senior.
And the person I hated most in this company.
She had the prettiest face of anyone on staff, but also the worst attitude.
At first I’d been fooled by her looks and tried hard to get on her good side.
But the more I got to know her, the more she made me lose my appetite.
—Ding-dong!
The elevator arrived.
I pressed 1 and rode down to the lobby.
There stood Assistant Manager Kim Mihui, haughty looks and decked out in luxury brands.
“You’re here, Sihyun?”
Kim Mihui smiled prettily.
I’d fallen for that disgusting smile at first too.
“Sihyun, carry these for me. We need to move them to the Development Business Division.”
Mihui pointed at the large flower pots sitting in the lobby. They looked like they weighed at least thirty to fifty kilos each.
Ha, of course.
She’d called me down to do hard labor again.
“There’s too many.”
“Yeah, right? It’d be a bit much for you alone.”
What’s with this bitch? Is she actually considering me?
Something feels off.
“Mister~ Come over here.”
Mihui called over the security guard who was old enough to be her grandfather. He was polite and humble, an elderly man I usually liked.
“Ah? Yes~”
The security guard straightened his hat and walked over.
“Mister. Help our employee move these flower pots.”
“Huh? These?”
“Why? Isn’t this what you guys do?”
“No, it’s not that—I’m just getting old and don’t have the strength...”
No, you crazy bitch.
Asking a man old enough to be her grandfather to move those huge pots that even young strong men would struggle with.
And talking down to him without a shred of manners.
“Mister, it’s fine. Don’t worry and go back to your work. I’ll move them.”
“Sihyun, stay out of it. Don’t interfere.”
Ah, this crazy bitch starting again.
This is exactly why I think she’s the biggest psycho. No matter how illogical, she never backs down.
She has to win the argument somehow or she can’t cool off.
“The salary the company pays you—isn’t it for doing jobs like this? Right? It is.”
Ah, seriously, she’s completely lawless.
This crazy bitch. I’m so embarrassed standing next to her I can’t even lift my head.
“Ah, yes. Yes. Sorry, Assistant Manager.”
The elderly security guard took off his hat and bowed.
Fuck. To someone old enough to be a grandfather—this really isn’t right.
This time I couldn’t hold back either.
I was about to say something to Mihui when someone grabbed my shoulder from behind and spoke.
“Assistant Manager Mihui. What interesting conversation are you having with the security guard first thing in the morning?”
I turned to see Executive Director Lee Eunwoo, the person I respected most in this company, standing there.
“Ah, Director. It’s not that. The security guard doesn’t know his place and isn’t doing his job.”
“Oh, really? Oh my, the elder did that? So what’s the matter?”
“Well, I asked him to move some flower pots to our Development Business Division, and he says he can’t because he’s old. Like being old is some kind of rank, seriously.”
“Ah, is that so? Mihui, you mean those flower pots? Those big ones?”
“Yes, Director.”
Executive Director Lee Eunwoo spoke politely to the security guard.
“Elder, please go back to your duties. Looks like I’ll have to steal a bit of your work. I’ve been short on exercise lately, so I was looking to loosen up anyway. Heh heh! Is that alright?”
“Director! That’s not—”
“Ah. Mihui, you must be busy, so hurry upstairs and get to work. Sihyun and I will move these. Go on. If a talent like our Mihui wastes time on trivial stuff like this, who’ll protect our company? Right?”
When Mihui got subtly praised as a talent by the director, her mood improved a bit and she smiled faintly.
“Well, if you insist. Please take care of it, Director.”
Ah, seriously, did she eat her common sense mixed with rice or what.
Telling the director to “take care of it.”
To someone way above her.
“Yes, yes. Don’t worry and go up. Our Mihui always looks so pretty. Dazzling~”
“Oh my, Director. You’re such a joker.”
Once the witch-like Mihui went up, Executive Director Lee Eunwoo pulled out a fifty-thousand-won bill and pressed it into the security guard’s hand.
“Elder, kids these days have no manners. Really. It wasn’t this bad before. You must have been quite startled. It’s not much, but buy some snacks for your grandkids. I’m sorry, Elder.”
“No, Director, what’s this for. It’s fine. Really fine.”
“Come now, Elder, I’m embarrassed. Please put it away.”
Lee Eunwoo forced the money into the security guard’s pocket.
“Sihyun. Even if it’s hard, let’s put our backs into it and move them together. Heh heh.”
“No, Director. You’re busy—you should get back to work. I can handle it alone.”
“What, Sihyun. Are you looking down on me for being old? When I was your age I could hoist a sack of rice with one hand. Come on and help with the pots. Sihyun! Or I’ll move them alone!”
I insisted I could do it alone, but Lee Eunwoo helped all the way until every pot was moved.
Watching Executive Director Lee Eunwoo head back to his office in a sweat-soaked suit, I thought:
Ah, fuck. I want to become a cool action-taking ajusshi like that too. Not some empty-talking old fart.
After roughly washing off the sweat from moving the pots, it was already lunchtime.
I grabbed the mail Miyeong had tossed and left the company.
First, let’s eat.
I’d burned energy since morning and was starving to death.
I roughly filled up at the convenience store with a triangle kimbap and yukgaejang cup ramen.
As expected, cup ramen has to be yukgaejang.
After a satisfying meal I headed to the subway station.
That day Line 2 was late for some reason.
So the train was packed.
I quickly scanned for a seat.
I was tired and wanted to sit.
Luckily the middle-aged man sitting in front of me got off at Sports Complex Station.
I plopped down into the seat.
But an elderly grandmother was standing there with a cane.
Sigh, even if I’m tired I should give up the seat.
I wasn’t thick-skinned enough to pretend not to notice a grandmother in discomfort and stay seated.
“Grandma, please sit here.”
As I stood to offer the seat, a fat woman in front of me plopped right into my seat.
I got angry.
“Ajumma? What do you think you’re doing. I was giving the seat to the grandmother. Get up.”
“Mister. Can’t you see I’m pregnant?”
I looked at the woman who’d shamelessly taken my seat.
She wasn’t pregnant.
No matter how you looked, she was just fat.
Looking closer, she even seemed young—late teens or early twenties.
I’d just mistaken her for an ajumma because she was ugly and fat.
Ha, fuck.
But the shitty part is, even if she doesn’t look pregnant, you can’t say that.
The second you say “Your belly’s sticking out not because you’re pregnant but because you’re fat?”
She’d throw a fit—a massive fit—and threaten to sue you for sure.
I held back my boiling rage and said to the grandmother.
“Grandma, I’m sorry.”
The grandmother smiled kindly.
“Aigoo, it’s fine, young man. But young man, can you see me?”
“Huh?”
“Hmm. Never mind.”
I stood next to the grandmother.
Even with her bad legs she was carrying luggage.
“Grandma, let me carry that for you.”
“No, you don’t have to, it’s not heavy. It’s fine. Fine.”
“Grandma, where are you going?”
“Hmm? I just wander here and there with no particular destination.”
These days seniors ride the subway for free.
So a lot of them kill time riding around with no destination, I hear.
This grandmother seemed like one of them.
“Here, give it to me, Grandma. I’ll carry it just to Gyodae. I have to get off there too.”
I forcibly took the grandmother’s luggage.
It was much heavier than expected.
“Aigoo, Grandma, what’s all this?”
The grandmother shook her head as if something was strange.
“Hmm? You can lift that? And you can see me too?”
The grandmother must be getting senile from old age.
My own parents are getting older now, so I worried.
I peeked inside the grandmother’s bag.
It looked like vitamin supplements.
The name was “Bakgyeosseu.”
What’s this? Not even Bacchus.
I’d heard there are scammers selling fake medicine to seniors these days.
Looks like the grandmother got scammed too.
—This station is Gyodae! Gyodae!
“Grandma, I’ll get off first. The luggage was heavy, so be careful.”
As I was about to get off, the grandmother grabbed my hand and pulled out a bottle of “Bakgyeosseu” to hand me.
“Young man. Drink this when you get home. You look tired.”
Even if it was a fake energy drink, I couldn’t refuse the grandmother’s kindness.
“Yes, Grandma. Thank you.”
I politely took the “Bakgyeosseu” and put it in my pocket.