The Kick-Out Project Begins
Everyone wanted Park Woojin gone, and gone soon. Eunchae and Dayeon were no exception. Both of them were praying that Dohyun's edits would hold up.
"What do you think?" Eunchae asked carefully.
On any other day, Eunchae trusted Dohyun so completely that she would have declared without a second's hesitation that his work would be great. Today, though, she couldn't quite bring herself to say it. The speed had been too fast — so fast it left both of them a little uneasy.
"Well... everything he's done so far has been fine. And it's not like Dohyun was ever a slow worker to begin with..."
Dayeon said the words, but neither her face nor her voice carried much conviction.
"We haven't actually checked it yet, so I can't really say. But Dohyun's expression looked incredibly confident."
"Did it? Then... I guess we don't need to worry."
It had only been two weeks, but the person who'd been watching Dohyun closest during that time was, without question, Eunchae. And the Dohyun she had observed over those two weeks was nothing like Park Woojin — a man drowning in empty bravado and baseless swagger. Whenever Dohyun showed confidence, it was only ever about something he was genuinely sure of. Which meant that this time, too, he must have had a real reason to look that sure of himself.
"Let's just watch. We'll know once we see it."
Sitting here with their heads together, guessing, wasn't helping anyone. It wasn't as if Dohyun had simply announced he was going to show them something from scratch, with nothing finished to speak of. The work was already sitting in Dayeon's inbox.
"Yeah, that's true."
The reason Dayeon had the results in her hands and still hadn't opened them — the reason she'd gone looking for Eunchae to talk instead, dragging the moment out — was because she was the one carrying the most anxiety of all.
"Hahh..."
Having steeled herself as best she could, Dayeon opened the email. Inside were two messages from Dohyun.
"Looks like he finished the other one in the meantime, too."
When Dayeon had gone to his room just a little while ago, she'd seen one video that was nearly complete. She never would have imagined that it was the last of the videos she'd requested for this week.
It wasn't even her own editing. She was just doing the same review she always did. Was there really any reason to be this nervous?
"Alright. I'm playing it."
"Yes, please just play it already. Stop stressing, unnie."
After hovering over the click for what felt like forever, Dayeon finally hit play — but only after Eunchae snapped at her. And as they worked through the edited videos one by one...
"...Whoa."
The two of them grew quieter and quieter, reduced to nothing but soft, stunned breaths of awe.
"Choi Dohyun, is this guy actually insane?!"
Once every video had finished playing, Eunchae was the first to break the silence.
"No, seriously — how is this quality even possible at that speed?"
Now they understood perfectly why Dohyun had looked so sure of himself. The speed had gone up, but the quality was no different from any of the other videos he'd delivered over the past two weeks.
"What even is this kid...? Is he actually not human?"
The words that came out of Dayeon's mouth, after a long stretch of visible deliberation, were a genuine question about whether Dohyun was even a person.
"Right? This genuinely doesn't make any sense."
On any other day, Eunchae would have burst out laughing and asked Dayeon what kind of nonsense she was talking. This time, she agreed completely.
"Now I get why he looked so confident. I really do."
At this level, it would have been weirder if he hadn't been confident.
"I think we can just leave it all to him at this point."
"Yeah. There's no room for doubt. He could take on Park Woojin's share and still do a great job."
Pulling a full week's worth of work at this quality in two days meant that even if he absorbed Park Woojin's workload, four days would be more than enough.
"Later on, he's not actually going to finish Park Woojin's share in two days too, is he?"
Eunchae said it as a joke, but Dayeon had the strange feeling it might actually be possible. When she thought about how Dohyun hadn't been nearly this fast when he'd first started the job...
"I think that might actually happen."
"I was just kidding. If he can do that, he's not even human. That's a monster."
Eunchae said it, but Dayeon thought differently.
"Well, anyway. I should go tell Dohyun we're going to give it a shot."
"The Kick Out Park Woojin Project is finally starting! I'm so excited!"
Eunchae was practically buzzing — she'd been waiting for this moment for so long.
"At this rate, it really will be over in no time. Anyway, go get back to work. Sorry for interrupting."
"No, it was fun."
Eunchae went back to her spot in the living room, sipped what was left of her coffee, and dove back into her work. Dayeon, looking thoroughly delighted, knocked on Dohyun's door.
"Come in~"
Dohyun's voice was as easygoing as ever, like he'd already predicted the result.
"Dohyun! You are seriously something else!"
The fact that it didn't come off as annoying was entirely because the skill was there to back it up.
"Think this is good enough?"
"More than enough. Honestly, it exceeded my expectations."
At the words exceeded my expectations, Dohyun smiled.
"Right? This is just the kind of person I am."
The way he said it — almost like he was showing off — was full of ease and confidence.
"Look at this brat. All grown up in two weeks, huh?"
Anyone looking at Dohyun now would never have guessed he'd only officially started as an editor two weeks ago. He looked like a veteran, through and through.
"So you're going to talk to Park Woojin about it too, right? Right away?"
"Yeah, of course. I'll talk to him after work today."
"Not right now?"
"Well, you see... I kind of interrupted Eunchae's work. I should at least give her some time to focus."
Considering Dayeon had just been the one to break Eunchae's concentration by watching Dohyun's videos with her, she'd decided to wait until after work — for Eunchae's sake, not Park Woojin's.
"Then send me the videos first. I'll get some work done too."
"Okay~ I'll send them over."
Dayeon was going to run this project no matter what Park Woojin said, so she had Dohyun send her the videos first so she could start editing.
Peace is actually going to come soon.
The thought that a moment was coming when she wouldn't have to be stressed anymore had Dayeon so excited she was practically humming.
Park Woojin could tell something was off about the atmosphere in the studio. Ordinarily, a man with his complete lack of social awareness wouldn't have noticed a thing.
What are they plotting...?
This time, though, the shift was so obvious that even someone as oblivious as him could feel it.
Ever since that bastard showed up, nothing's gone right. Fuck.
And the most infuriating part was that Dohyun was always at the center of it. Wherever he went, he was supposed to be the center. He was supposed to remain the only man in this place. Instead, he felt more and more like a leftover sack of grain that nobody wanted, and the anxiety was flooding in.
...I really should've found a way to plant that hidden camera last time. Fuck.
It had been the same then. He'd made up his mind to install a hidden camera and tried to get into Dayeon's room, but the door had been locked. Before he could even do anything, Dohyun had walked in and ruined it.
Hahh, goddamn it...
He still carried the hidden camera around, but ever since that day, Dohyun and Eunchae had been coming in so early that he never had a chance. He'd considered coming in even earlier, but Dayeon had started locking the door, which was a headache.
Didn't she used to leave it unlocked?
He could smash the lock and install it that way, but then it would take time to get the lock repaired — and if anyone showed up in the meantime, it would be a complete disaster. Staying late at night to install it wasn't an option either, since Dayeon streamed from the afternoon all the way until dawn most days.
"Ahh, seriously... fuck..."
The curse slipped out of Park Woojin before he could stop it, and Eunchae's head snapped up to glare at him.
"Oh my god. Do you think you have this office to yourself?"
Park Woojin looked at Eunchae's thoroughly irritated expression — the look of someone whose deep concentration had just been shattered — and felt his insides boil even hotter.
That little bitch, too... Before Choi Dohyun showed up, she used to kiss my ass. Fuck!
Park Woojin had been the one fantasizing about flirting with her, marrying her, even having kids with her — and now he was acting like she'd been wagging her tail at him only to jump to another man. The truth was, Eunchae had never liked Park Woojin much to begin with. The moment he'd started making advances, she'd blocked his personal messages, and they hadn't exchanged a single conversation that wasn't strictly work-related.
I need to get that bastard out of here somehow, so my era can come back...
The previous editors had all tucked tail and run after just a little harassment. Dohyun, though, was not someone you could push around. Threats didn't scare him — he treated Park Woojin like an idiot. And as for using force... Park Woojin didn't have the guts to deal with what would come after.
Park Woojin's rage, already pushed to its breaking point, finally erupted at the after-work meeting — the moment Dayeon gathered everyone and made her announcement.