Double the Salary
Taeram Foods headquarters stood in the very heart of Seoul. Inside the marketing team's office on the 9th floor, the only sound breaking the weekend silence was the busy click-clack of mouse buttons. It's the weekend. So why am I here, of all places...! Song Yu-jin, scowling miserably in her head, jolted upright in her chair when someone called her name.
"Employee Song! You're at work, right?"
"Y-yes!"
Her voice cracked. She wanted to die of embarrassment, but for now she lifted her head stiffly, pretending nothing had happened. Somehow, her supervisor seemed to be looking at her with a hint of pity. "Go to the conference room on the 5th floor."
"The conference room? Why would they want me there all of a sudden...?"
"No idea. All I heard was that the higher-ups are looking for you."
Song Yu-jin's face turned red, then pale. Why would the upper management want me? She replayed her short corporate life in her head, over and over. She had never led a project, and she hadn't botched anything big enough to make the news either. She simply couldn't figure it out. Not a single plausible reason came to mind for why a lowly new employee like herself would be summoned. Clutching her trembling hands into fists, Song Yu-jin rose from her desk.
"I'll, I'll be going now!"
Whether it was unfair or not, she had to go. Doing as you're told was a corporate slave's destiny. Arriving at the conference room on the verge of tears, she knocked on the door. Knock, knock.
"Come in."
A young man's voice answered from within. Song Yu-jin bowed deeply the moment she opened the door.
"Hello!! This is Song Yu-jin from Marketing Team 2!"
"Hello there."
The reply was a little strange, though. It was a clear, youthful voice — one she couldn't quite place as a boy's or a girl's. Song Yu-jin raised her head and took stock of the people inside. A white-haired elderly man seated in the central chair, a young man beside him, and a boy sitting across the table. As a brand-new employee, she didn't recognize the old man's face, but the presence he radiated was anything but ordinary. And the boy's presence held its own against that force without flinching. ...The boy? Had she seen wrong? Song Yu-jin rubbed her eyes. But the boy's appearance didn't change.
"Please, have a seat here."
The boy motioned her to a chair with easy naturalness. The moment she sat down in a daze, the old man and the young man rose from their seats.
"Then talk things over at your leisure and come up to the 16th floor."
"Thank you, sir."
The 16th floor... that's where the chairman's office is. Song Yu-jin's shoulders squared themselves. The bomb-throwers vanished in a flash, and only two people remained in the conference room.
"Employee Song Yu-jin?"
"Yes!"
"The résumé you submitted with your application was quite interesting. I also enjoyed watching the YouTube channel you listed on it."
"You... you saw that...?"
It was a channel where she'd only uploaded videos made as portfolio pieces — impossible to find without the direct link. But he'd watched it? How? Wait — of course! This kid must have some incredible connections. No point questioning it, then. Song Yu-jin swallowed quietly and asked,
"...What did you want to see me about?"
"A job offer."
"A job offer?"
One of the top three reasons industry people suddenly leave their posts. Number one was being fired, number two was quitting — and number three was leaving for a poaching offer. But why make that kind of offer to her? She hadn't even had a chance to prove herself yet...
On the ride from the shopping trip to Taeram headquarters, I reviewed Song Yu-jin's résumé. Naturally, I also dug up every one of the YouTube videos she'd made herself. They used concepts with real punch, built around topics that felt close and approachable rather than distant. Friendly videos that were genuinely entertaining, too. What she'd created was a video series that turned Taeram's famous logo icon into a character and wove stories around it, like a little animated show. It takes no small amount of flair to make an entertaining series out of a corporate logo — and she'd pulled it off. Beyond that, the other materials listed on her résumé were dazzling. On a private social media account, accessible to only a select few like her YouTube channel, she had posted samples of posters and logo designs — all hand-crafted, apparently. None of any of it had ever been made public. She was quietly hiding the fact that she was a multi-talented creator skilled in both video and design. Song Yu-jin was a naive young rookie with plenty of ability but no idea how to showcase herself. A pearl buried in the mud, in other words. She would be the cornerstone of turning my company into a brand and spreading its name far and wide. I had to have her. I turned to Song Yu-jin, who sat rigid with tension, and asked,
"Employee Song, why did you apply to Taeram?"
At the sudden question, Song Yu-jin bowed her head deeply. She could have worked freelance, but she hadn't. She still lacked confidence in her own skills. On top of that, she had no connections and no experience navigating the professional world. What would happen if she went freelance in that state? Earning a steady, substantial income would be next to impossible. Getting pushed around by clients, losing contracts, getting sued... Whatever way you sliced it, she was likely to end up scraping by. Half the people who join big corporations do it for the guaranteed salary that lands in their account every month, come rain or shine. Song Yu-jin had walked in hoping for that same stable paycheck.
"It's the... money, isn't it?"
"What a relief," Seo Ji-on said, breaking into a bright smile. "I'll pay you double."
It was the same offer I'd given Lee Jin-ho. Since the two of them held different ranks, their base salaries differed — so "double" for each meant different amounts.
"Hup......"
Song Yu-jin sucked in a breath.
"Wh-what kind of company is this, exactly?"
Ah — I'd forgotten to explain that part. Seo Ji-on began laying it out.
"Right now I run a farm. We've agreed to supply Taeram with carrots and potatoes, and I hear a new carrot drink product just launched."
That much Song Yu-jin knew all too well. Her team had held meeting after meeting trying to draft a marketing plan for the new product's ad campaign. These days, the mere word "meeting" made her teeth grind. But there was one thing that stayed exhilarating no matter how many times she experienced it: the carrot drink samples provided at those team meetings. The first time she drank one, she thought a miracle had happened. When she asked where the carrots came from, the answer was a farm that had become famous on social media lately for its sweet potatoes.
"Th-then that farm owner is...?"
"The farm owner is me."
THIS kid is the farm owner!! And now that farm was trying to scout her. He wasn't shining with someone else's reflected glory — the light was all his own!
"Hnnngh."
Some strange sound escaped her lips before she could stop it. Seo Ji-on continued the explanation for the flustered girl.
"I'm starting my own independent company to distribute it, you see."
Seo Ji-on shook the envelope of lettuce bills. That was all he had for now, but the product lineup was only going to grow. Isn't that how every growing company works?
"I-I'll do it."
"...I'm sorry? I haven't even finished going over the terms?"
Big corporation or small, the weekend shifts and overtime were exactly the same either way. So the higher salary wins! She'd read the ingredient analysis reports all the way through while preparing the ad campaign — she knew. A farm producing sweet potatoes and carrots like those could never fail.
"We'll go over the rest when we sign the contract. Just tell me where I'll be working."
"Jeolla-do. And we'll provide housing."
"Then I'm in!"
She had no family, and no home in Seoul. No friends, no hobbies either. For a brand-new working adult, those things were luxuries. Compared to other people, her life might be a sad, thin thing — and honestly, that had always stung a little. Song Yu-jin never dreamed that sting would turn out to be so useful. Goodbye forever, my 8-pyeong monthly rental shoebox! The words came pouring out of her in a rush.
"I'll submit my resignation and head down as soon as the handover's done. Where should I send word?"
"Once you've settled on a date, contact me here in advance."
"Yes!!"
What an electrifyingly energetic answer. Eyes already sparkling, Song Yu-jin gave a deep bow and left the conference room. A brand-new life begins now!
Choi Seo-dan, currently occupying the chairman's office, flopped back against the sofa and let out a long, long sigh.
"Dad. No matter how I think about it, something's not right here."
Hearing his only daughter out, Chairman Choi Jin-hyuk asked gently, "And what was so strange about it?"
"Everything! I'm talking about Seo Ji-on!"
How could anyone grow crops like that? Same field, same carrots — yet the ones Seo-dan had grown all by herself at the end, harvested with her own hands, came out wilted and tasteless. Barely any effect to speak of, either.
"I told you, we sent every one of those carrots off to the livestock barn nearby."
Those carrots were flatly unfit for human consumption. But why?
"Must be the seed stock that's different."
Choi Seo-dan shot up from her seat.
"Grandpa says the same thing, and now you're saying it too!"
Truthfully, the father-and-son duo's reaction was the normal one. They didn't question it.
"Why! Would! Carrots like that! Grow in ordinary dirt!!"
She was the only one around asking that question. Lee Dae-kyung, her classmate, had just gone "those potatoes, though, right?" and let it slide, and the club kids were no different. Ask Ji-on himself, and you got the same old line every time. Choi Seo-dan felt like she'd burst from the frustration. Last time, I even tried tailing him to dig out that secret... and failed, gloriously. Other than the fact that Seo Ji-on carried a wild honey badger on his shoulder like some adorable house pet, the guy was utterly unremarkable. Creak—I WILL figure it out if it kills me. That was exactly what Choi Seo-dan was vowing to herself when someone knocked on the chairman's door.
Knock, knock.
"Come in, Father."
"Ho ho, how ever did you know it was me?"
"Anyone who skips the secretary's office is obviously you."
Choi Tae-seok opened the door carefully and stepped inside. While the two generations of chairmen traded idle banter, Choi Seo-dan flopped back onto the sofa. After she'd been silent for quite a while, Choi Tae-seok slid in a careful question.
"What's got our Dan sulking, then? You were having such fun shopping just a while ago."
Choi Seo-dan whipped her head away.
"I'm not sulking."
"Doesn't look that way to me."
"I told you, I'm NOT!!"
She wasn't a little kid anymore, so why did they keep treating her like one? It made her furious every single time. Choi Seo-dan sprang up and marched out of the chairman's office.
"I'm going for a walk!"
She headed for the elevator bank to go up to the rooftop. Ding—
16th floor.
The elevator doors slid open, revealing the face of the person riding inside. Oh, for the love of— Choi Seo-dan spat out an exasperated curse under her breath. That face. It was that face that kept her from demanding answers to anything. That face that turned her brain to mush every time they stood face to face!
"What's up? Where are you going?"
And when he said things in that indifferent tone with that face, she suddenly wanted to hate him to death. Something cold brushed against the cheek of the girl still grumbling to herself — the back of Seo Ji-on's hand.
"Why's your face so red?"
"Hhk—!!"
"What are you freaking out about?"
You're one to talk, being so unfair to people. Her reaction left Seo Ji-on mildly put out.
"I'm going for a walk! Don't touch me!!"
With that answer, he climbed into the elevator wearing a sulky pout and vanished toward the rooftop.
"...We're supposed to be heading back down together, though."
Seo Ji-on stared anxiously at the elevator's floor indicator as it climbed toward the roof.
"Any later and we'll miss dinner time, you know..."
In the end, we made it home that day without being too late, and we ate our dinner with hearty appetites. Time flew, and nearly a week slipped by — bringing us to the long-awaited day. Today was the day the exam results came out.
"Seo Ji-on."
The teacher called my name from the podium at the front of the classroom. Report card distribution time. A soft rustle of papers filled the air. I could probably guess my rank without looking, but you never knew — a surprise might be waiting. You should never let your guard down. I received my report card and checked the contents.
"Ji-on. What rank did you get?"
Lee Dae-kyung leaned in beside me. He craned his neck to peer at my report card, then sucked in a breath.
"Oh no......"