Chapter 29
Chapter 29
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Jo Yi-ruk's First Day
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Jo Yi-ruk stood in front of a massive office building. Even finding the name of [The Song] amid the dozens of offices crammed into this place had taken ages.
Even after finally locating it in the corner of the seventh floor, Jo Yi-ruk couldn't shake the suspicious look from his face.
'No way, he told me to come out, and I did, but...'
He'd been trembling with fear on the way over, wondering if this was some kind of human trafficking or organ harvesting scam.
Jo Yi-ruk eyed the people coming and going from the building as if they were regulars, all while awkwardly dressed in a suit.
Just yesterday, he'd been wearing sweatpants, scarfing down cup ramen and triangle kimbap amid stacks of law books.
If he so much as made eye contact with anyone, it felt like they'd see right through his shameful past, so Jo Yi-ruk kept his gaze lowered. Staring only at the floor patterns, he barely made it to the elevator.
'7th floor, 112-A... Ah, here it is.'
Lifting his head, he saw the sign for [The Song] engraved in a convincingly professional font.
'Whew. I've come this far. Can't just turn back now. Let's go in!'
Jo Yi-ruk took a deep breath and flung the door open.
"Ah, h-hello there!"
His nerves got the better of him, and his voice cracked. Ugh, embarrassing! He felt his face heating up.
What kind of first day was this?
But something was off.
'Why is no one here?'
Jo Yi-ruk whipped around, startled, scanning the room. No matter how he looked, he was the only one standing there alone in the office.
What the heck? Where are the other employees? Not here yet?
"You're here."
Song Woo-yeon emerged from inside, his youthful face as polite as ever.
"Set your stuff over here. This'll be your desk from now on, Jo Yi-ruk."
"Yes, sir!"
As Jo Yi-ruk shrugged off his coat and hung it on the chair, he sneaked a peek around the office. If the other employees just hadn't arrived yet, why did the desks and chairs look brand new? There weren't even any traces of people.
With a trembling voice, Jo Yi-ruk asked,
"S-Sir. How many employees does our company have, total?"
"Two."
"Ah, so besides me, there's one more..."
"No. Me and you. Just the two of us."
"......"
"Oh, we signed the office lease just last week, so a lot of stuff hasn't come in yet."
Jo Yi-ruk couldn't hide the feeling that he'd been duped. What CEO of [The Song]? The name sounded impressive, but it was really just an empty shell!
He was about to take back his words, thinking this wasn't right, when—
"Oh, and don't worry—that doesn't change the terms we discussed earlier."
It was like Song Woo-yeon had read his mind.
'The lease was only a week ago...? Is this okay? It looks surprisingly well put together for that.'
There wasn't a hint of disorder. Sure, it was clean, but normally when you start fresh with anything, there's some discord that creeps in.
Yet this place had none of that. Every item in the office looked like it had always belonged there.
In other words, even to clueless Jo Yi-ruk, the layout seemed perfect. Like they'd been using this setup for years.
'An interior design firm?'
The thought popped into his head as he took in the pristine interior.
Only then did Jo Yi-ruk realize he had no idea what this company even did. He'd been so tense about starting his social life that he hadn't even thought to ask.
"Alright then... A client is coming tomorrow at 3 p.m., so shall we prepare for the meeting until then?"
"Pardon?"
When Jo Yi-ruk blinked in confusion, Song Woo-yeon smiled brightly and began stacking massive books.
He started from the floor and didn't stop until they reached Jo Yi-ruk's waist. Jo Yi-ruk slowly scanned the titles.
'Everything About Location Analysis, This Is What Makes a Commercial District, How to Do Business in a Spot That Never Fails...'
They were all books on commercial districts and location analysis.
'Why give these to me?'
Jo Yi-ruk stared at Song Woo-yeon with wide eyes, and a nonchalant reply came back.
"Read them all."
"......Pardon?"
"Before tomorrow's meeting. Every last one."
"Th-These?"
Jo Yi-ruk shot him a pleading look that screamed 'Please say no.' But Song Woo-yeon grinned widely.
"Yes. All of them."
"......"
"I'll be out on some errands for a bit, so hang in there!"
Song Woo-yeon clenched his fist in a 'fighting!' gesture.
He waved breezily and left the office. Left alone, Jo Yi-ruk raised one hand a beat late.
"......Fighting."
Turning his head, he faced the mountain of books. But to Jo Yi-ruk, who had pored over law tomes for years, this was just more of the same.
"Yeah. I've been slacking on reading lately. My eyes have had too much rest."
Muttering to himself, he picked up the top book.
"Let's give it a shot."
They weren't paying him a fat salary for nothing. No such thing as a free lunch in this world!
Jo Yi-ruk steeled himself to read through the night if he had to.
"Aja aja! Fighting!"
Before he knew it, the deflated cheer had become his magical self-motivating mantra.
"Good morning~—oh wait, it's not morning anymore."
I arrived with two cups of morning coffee and set one on Jo Yi-ruk's desk.
Huh. But why is the chair empty?
'I figured that wasn't a one-night read, so he'd pull an all-nighter here... Did he run?'
The 'Team Leader Jo' I knew wouldn't, but the current Jo Yi-ruk just might.
Had I been too complacent? Right at that moment—
A trembling hand shot up from under the desk and grabbed the coffee cup.
"Eek?!"
I jumped back in surprise, and that's when I saw Jo Yi-ruk, half-collapsed behind the desk.
Dark circles hollowed his eyes, thick glasses slipping off his nose—his appearance was a wreck. Books were scattered everywhere under the desk; he'd clearly been at it all night.
"Coffee... coffee......"
Jo Yi-ruk acted like a zombie who only knew one word. His dazed, wandering pupils sharpened the instant he downed the coffee.
"Ah. Feeling alive now."
I'm a caffeine addict myself, but this guy was no slouch.
"There's a coffee machine inside. Why not use it?"
"I saw it. But nothing beats coffee made by someone else..."
Fair enough.
I sipped my coffee and asked casually,
"How was it?"
"...Ugh. I finished all the books."
Whoa. Really, all of them?
It was my assignment, but I was still amazed. I glanced at my watch.
"I said the meeting's at 3 p.m. It's only 10 a.m., and you're done already?"
"Well, you can't grasp everything from one read."
Oh ho. Look at that.
I nodded for him to go on, and Jo Yi-ruk took a sip before continuing.
"...They're all about locations, right? I don't know much, but making me read all this overnight means... you plan to use me in this field."
Spot on.
"This is employment fraud... You said it was simple document sorting......"
I ignored his mumbling complaints.
'Way better performance than expected.'
I was quietly impressed.
Jo Yi-ruk himself was smart. Good education, confident enough to tackle the bar exam.
His brain efficiency had dropped after unexpectedly long prep years, and he'd internalized defeat, so he hadn't performed well...
'This level's ready for the field right away?'
Not quite 'Team Leader Jo' yet, but Jo Yi-ruk had a rough grasp of locations and commercial districts—good enough.
I'd been harsh from the start to mold him into that 'useful' state. And he was exceeding expectations.
'Sorry, Team Leader Jo. But I'm short on time.'
I ignored the dark circles smudged under his eyes and flashed a bright smile.
Jo Yi-ruk shuddered oddly when our eyes met.
"Weird. Why the chills...? Ahem. Anyway, you said this is 'prep' for the 3 p.m. meeting today. So I guess I have to pretend to be an expert in the field there."
"Exactly."
"It's not just about cramming knowledge. I need to reorganize it, digest it, before I can do anything useful. ...I'll start now. Finished the books exactly 10 minutes ago."
I couldn't help nodding.
"I'm not easily surprised, but you're surprising me again, Jo Yi-ruk."
Pride flickered across his face.
"You got everything right except one thing."
"Which is...?"
"I thought you'd need more time. Figured your real meeting debut would come later."
Jo Yi-ruk gave me a 'what are you talking about?' look.
What else?
"There is a client at 3, but there's one more before that."
"Pardon?"
"And that person will probably be your first real test, Jo Yi-ruk."
"...What do you mean by that?"
Before his words finished—
*Knock knock knock.*
A knock echoed through the room.
*Swish.*
"Oh, the office looks pretty legit."
"Come on in. President Lee In-cheol."
Lee In-cheol appeared, rare for him to be in casual clothes instead of his chef uniform. He'd come in person on his one day off a week.
"Nice sign too. Tsk, I was gonna nag about anything lacking, but it's too cute for that."
"Haha. You're still a decade away from advising me, President."
"What, you punk?"
"Have a seat here."
We bantered as I guided him to the center of the conference table.
"Shall we get down to business?"
I handed prepared documents to Lee In-cheol and Jo Yi-ruk.
"Regarding the expansion and relocation of the Hapjae Neighborhood Gukbap 0212 main store."