Love, What Even Is That? Just Oil My Joints, Pal (3)

When someone from on high—someone on the level of the CEO himself—deigned to visit the floor where the actual work got done, what counted as a good outcome? A bonus. Or sending everyone home early. Those two, more or less.

And the bad outcomes?

......Right. Every single case that wasn't one of those two.

"I thought I'd drop by and see the Brand Design team all gathered in one place for once!"

True to form, the CEO launched into the usual platitudes about how nice it was to see the seats filled.

Next he drifted over to where Seo Gwan-yul and I were sitting. The man really did love people.

"Blair~ It's been a while since you came down to the design floor. Keep this up and I'll forget your face."

But we had an MZ on our side.

The extrovert from hell refused to lose, running his mouth at full cheerful speed. Yeah—go get some mirror therapy yourself!

"Haha, Gwan-yul, did the vacation treat you well? It's been a while since I've seen you in the office in person!"

"Yep~ I went to South America, and it was amazing."

Seo Gwan-yul's shield didn't last long, though. The CEO's attention swung to me almost at once. ...Some kind of aversion to his own kind?

"Lee-hyun. How's the work treating you these days? If anything's uncomfortable, come by my office anytime!"

...Right now is the most uncomfortable part!

"Yes, sir. Thanks to how well you've looked after us, nothing's bothering me—but if something comes ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up, I'll come find you."

I wasn't Seo Gwan-yul. I was only a fresh hire who couldn't say every thought out loud, and so today, once again, I squeezed out words that weren't the truth.

"Glad to hear it! And is the company meal to your taste?"

The vampire's mouth, though, kept moving as if the brakes had failed.

I was busy enough already—why was he dragging the conversation out this long? At this rate they should have listed "CEO conversation partner" in the job posting. Hand over the emotional-labor pay!

As if he'd heard the voice in my head, my ever-tactful superior Pascal cut in.

"We're busy. Get lost."

...His choice ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of words had absolutely no tact.

"Hahaha, there are quite a few eyes on us, and that language is rather rough. You'll hurt my feelings!"

His face, smiling bright as anything, looked not the least bit hurt.

"...Would you please get lost."

"Honestly, I keep telling you—you're hopeless at expressing your feelings!"

And there it was: the rare spectacle of a mere team leader slamming the CEO in front of everyone. It was more unreal than an art-loving alien drawing crop circles.

Was I enjoying this absurdly refreshing scene? Did I want to applaud because my chest felt clear?

No.

If this were a drama, I would have enjoyed it too. Unfortunately, this was reality, which meant I wished that foul-mouthed team leader weren't my boss.

Because—

I'm shaking so hard I could die!

No matter how cheerfully that CEO laughed things off, was there really no downside to treating him like that? This was a vampire who could put my body up as collateral without a second thought!

As if answering that very fear, Blair said something dreadful.

"The truth is, I came here on business. The Brand Design team's client evaluations have been good lately, so I wanted to see how the work is progressing."

"...You said you'd leave the actual work to the specialists on the floor. What are you suddenly on about."

"That's how much I'm looking forward to the results! When would be a good time for the report? Hahaha!"

A wolf grinding his teeth as if he meant to kill. And a vampire pressing that wolf until he wrung a date out of him. This was truly one disaster piled on another.

The workload... just multiplied.

First, I would have to build a whole new deck for this damned report to the CEO.

We already had the materials we'd been presenting to the client, so wouldn't that be fine?

No. It isn't that simple.

Unlike a client who had followed along from the start, Blair was dropping in cold. He wouldn't know how the project had unfolded. Making a separate presentation—one that even someone jumping in midway could follow, with the client's feedback and the full before-and-after context—was already extra work by itself.

And the second problem.

Our team was currently sunk in a swamp of infinite rejections. We were busy enough just persuading the client. What if, in the middle of reporting to the CEO, he handed down feedback that clashed with the client's orders?

Blair isn't even a designer!

We would have to cater to the tastes of a higher-up with no expertise. One more difficult quest, just like that.

Whichever way I turn it, there's nothing but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠downsides...

Aaah. The aura of overtime, closing in again.

Why is the schedule this tight again...

The date Blair had torn out of us was absurd, and thanks to that I was already deep in overtime. Ack—this vampire had not a scrap of respect for the people who actually did the work!

And the presentation... somehow ended up being mine.

A report to the CEO ought to come from the team leader. But while Pascal was preparing it, he said he was going to bite the man's head off, so I volunteered. My heart wasn't going to survive watching any more impulsive behavior than this.

It isn't even that hard a job.

I hate presenting...! Still, he was that stressed. What was a little extra effort from me? If a newbie gave the talk, they probably wouldn't tear into him. I'd muddle through.

And so the day of the presentation arrived.

"...That concludes the Brand Design team's status report. Thank you."

I had finished reporting the situation so far, along with the drafts currently in progress. Standing before a screen lit with the letters E.O.D., I waited for that vampire's feedback.

Blair, who had watched the staff's pitiful struggling from an extremely relaxed posture, chin propped on one hand, opened his mouth.

"Hahaha, bravo! A truly splendid presentation. But Lee-hyun, something's occurred to me."

"Yes, what is it?"

"Do you fully empathize with this project?"

What kind of pie-in-the-sky nonsense was that?

"What I mean is, do you empathize with the necessity of the heart?"

Abstract talk, exactly what you'd expect from someone who didn't know the work. Not a speck of help for the design direction.

"......"

Even so, listening to the CEO and turning it over...

I think I do consider the existence of a heart—the ability to feel emotion—a disadvantage.

......Right. I was someone who lived inside a waterfall of feeling, so much so that there were times I felt like a fool, swept up in a sensitivity that was far too rich. If I had no emotions, the vague anxiety about the future, the fear that a client might open fire like a machine gun, the enormous grief of my mother's sudden death—I wouldn't have felt any of it. I would have been at peace.

"......"

When I had no answer, the CEO went on.

"A designer has to convey attractive value so the product can sell. But it seems even you, Lee-hyun, can't empathize with why this product is necessary."

"......"

"All right. You're still new, so let's build some experience first! How about going out and doing user interviews with target customers who don't have a heart?"

"...User interviews?"

"Yes, as part of market research. You listen to the voices of the customers who will use the product, then build a branding strategy from that."

Market research, he said.

...The work the research team said they'd already done.

Pascal, silent until now, cut in.

"It's unnecessary work in the current situation. Did you even listen to the presentation? The problem is that the client isn't giving proper direction."

"Haha, that's exactly when a designer needs to be able to present direction to the client first. Isn't that right, Team Leader?"

The CEO's red eyes looked straight into mine.

Firmly. As if he had no intention of walking the order back.

...And with that, the report to the CEO was over.

"The rest of you stay and keep working on the drafts. I'll take the minimum number of people for the research."

Strictly speaking, Blair had assigned the research to me alone. The team leader said he couldn't send a newbie by himself and insisted on coming along.

"I want to go too~."

"Me too! If we all go together, won't it be a wittle better?"

"...Too many people, and it's harder to respond."

Pascal turned down Gwan-yul and Hena, both of whom wanted to come. Fair enough. The more teammates he had to look after, the harder it would be on the team leader alone.

Is research work really that dangerous?

Entering a world you don't know—the job everyone avoids. It was probably worse because of the disappearance Si Yeon-u, who'd already quit, had told me about.

When I first started, I was shaking too.

But after going back and forth a few times, unless you went looking for some dizzying adventure, it wasn't as dangerous as I'd thought. The clients I'd met so far had been reasonably decent.

......Even if one of them was a scrap-metal robot who loved to complain!

"Let's head out."

And so Pascal and I opened the door and headed for the world of machines, riding, as always, the familiar black vortex.

Not a speck ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of dust. Clean.

Stepping out of the client's conference room and onto the street, the road that met my eyes...

It almost looks like a well-kept district in Seoul.

This robot world wasn't as different in appearance from our own cities as I'd expected. The technology was a step further along, and the streets were maintained to an extreme—smooth, without a single cracked paving stone—but aside from that, not so different.

The resolution on those electronic billboards is no joke. I thought it back in the conference room, but the holograms look startlingly real, too.

If our digital posters went up on displays that sharp, I'd be proud.

This is exactly like something I saw in Minority Report.

There was even targeted-ad tech that played customized commercials at whoever happened to be passing. A book ad came up the moment I walked past a digital billboard.

...Oh. Had it been collecting data the whole time I was here? Pretty accurate.

...It hadn't overheard me badmouthing the client after he left the conference room, had it?

I wonder if the team leader gets the same ad.

Out of curiosity, I glanced toward the billboard Pascal was passing.

Ah. Wait.

"......"

...Showing him a dog-food commercial was too much! He didn't see that, right??!!

Wait—how did it know he was a wolf?? My privacy is melting away!!!

Fortunately, Pascal seemed not to have seen the ad. With the same deadpan expression as always, he spoke.

"Let's ask a passerby if they'll spare us a moment for the interview."

Whew. I'd have to make sure we didn't go that way again.

We decided to pick subjects at random. On the quiet midday sidewalk, a person was passing by... no. A robot.

No different from a human.

Depending on the outer shell, some of them even had humanlike forms. If it hadn't opened its fingers to expose a terminal port, I might have mistaken it for an ordinary organism. A little familiarity helped. I'd ask that one.

"Hello, we're from Vanta Design Agency. We'd like to conduct a user interview for branding a new product."

I stepped closer, trying not to let my slightly trembling hand show, and held out a business card.

The answer that came back: