The September Shift
“No, Eunbyul, when I said we’d ‘negotiate your salary later,’ I didn’t mean I was going to cut it...”
The ISG operated on an hourly wage system. From the moment you logged into the company computer until the very second you clocked out, your time was recorded down to the second. Fieldwork? A manager would manually track and log those hours on your behalf. For an ISG associate—someone with at least two years of experience either inside or outside the company—the starting hourly rate was typically between 400,000 and 600,000 won. If you worked 12 hours a day, that was 7.2 million won a day. Over 20 working days, that added up to a monthly salary of 144 million won. On top of that, the performance bonuses offered to prevent the brain drain of overseas talent were at least 100% of the base salary. The company even provided cars and personal drivers for every employee, even if they were only at the assistant manager level in other departments!
“You really are...”
Especially since the place Eunbyul was scouted for was the top-tier department within the ISG: OJV. The Overseas Joint Venture department was responsible for reviewing, executing, and building infrastructure for partnerships with foreign firms. This was a department where the standard work week exceeded 90 hours. So, even at an hourly rate of 400,000 won, the monthly paycheck hit 144 million won. That was just the baseline; some employees even came in on weekends to work just to earn more.
“Ah... um... oh, so that’s the kind of place it is...”
“Then why aren’t you going?”
“Why didn’t you accept an offer like that, General Manager?”
“Hey, I started as an Executive Director! Why would I go to a place like that!”
As she listened, Eunbyul’s eyes trembled, and she looked genuinely regretful. Realizing that his secretary was a talent of such caliber that she could have easily climbed the executive ladder, he spoke without hesitation.
“If I put in a special recommendation for you right now, even at this stage...”
“...I don’t want to.”
Huh?
“Wait, weren’t you regretting it? If I contact them again—”
“I still don’t want to use English.”
The salary is 140 million won a month, though?
“I don’t care, I still don’t want to. I like working with you, General Manager. I hate using English, and I hate working surrounded by people I don’t know. And 90 hours a week? Are they insane?”
...I’m the General Manager, why are you calling them insane to my face like that...
“Oh, and I have a fear of heights. What kind of nerves do those people have to work on the 70th floor? Wow, I’d be so worried the building might collapse. I wouldn’t be able to work properly in a place like that.”
“Secretary Eun, that... OJV staff barely come into the office, maybe once a week... There’s a lot of discussion with foreign executives, and you’d be traveling abroad often... As for the 70th floor—”
“And airplanes are even scarier. Senior, if a plane crashes, you’re stuck and you die.”
“Why are you worrying about an accident that hasn’t even happened...”
“And I told you, I’m not working for the money. I work because the job is fun, and I’m happy working with someone I like... That’s the flavor of working for me.”
There was no stopping her. Looking at her now... she really was a bit strange. A woman who exuded elegance even when her family background was unknown, who wasn’t selfish or plagued by inferiority, and who sought honor over money. With her ability, she could do anything other than being a secretary—even if she ran her own business, she’d probably do better than this...
“What are you thinking about?”
“No, well... If it were me, I would’ve gone immediately, so you just seem a bit strange to me.”
“Anyway, ahem. Well, such a prestigious department tried to take me away, but I specially! Chose to come here. As your secretary, General Manager. Specially. I thought of you very, very dearly!”
You didn’t think it was a good place back then. You called it a shoddy small-to-medium enterprise...
“Oh, that was, um... well, rather than a secretary—”
“Don’t make excuses.”
“Yes. Understood.”
Regardless, I knew Eunbyul was a remarkable person, but the fact that she almost worked at the ISG was a bit of a shock. Well, her academic background did fit... That was a place where if you asked a passerby where they graduated, you’d hear Harvard, UTokyo, IIT, Peking University, Oxford, Munich—all sorts of things. Experienced hires were strictly vetted through interviews, portfolios of work handled at previous companies, and 50 to 80 pages of recommendation letters from their university advisors. As for the conversion of regular staff—
“It’s strictly Seoul National University. Top of the entrance exam, within the top 5. An average performance rating of A2 or higher from entry until the conversion, checking peer relationships, and the opinions of direct supervisors...”
“I told you I don’t regret it. Why do you keep trying to send me away?”
“I’m not sending you away, I just feel bad for you. You could really become the President of Doowon later, you know?”
However, Eunbyul stared at him intently after hearing his words, then whispered softly into his ear.
“Rather than becoming President, I’ve just started wanting to live while raising the next Chairman’s baby.”
Heh, she laughed foolishly, and as if embarrassed by her own words, she covered her cheeks with her hands, avoided his gaze, and returned to her desk.
“Haa...”
It was frustrating.
“This is the position of Anyang City Hall regarding the undergrounding of power lines.”
“...Hmm. These people are setting the construction period way too short.”
“Should I contact them again?”
“Have the SOC Business Group Leader handle this. It seems we need a high-ranking official from our side to push it through to reach an agreement.”
“Building an ecosystem for the data center... the scale is quite large, isn’t it? I didn’t think the ESG business would be very meaningful. Honestly.”
“Rumor has it they were internally hammered by Greenpeace. They came to the existing IDC in the middle of the night, took photos, and plastered them all over foreign media... So this time, it seems they are focusing on an air-cooling system that utilizes natural wind as much as possible and the active use of low-power, high-efficiency semiconductors.”
“It is possible to supply DRAM at a ‘Low’ grade if requested, but that might mean we have to clear out an entire line and redesign it. Since Doowon Electronics is also an IDM, how about outsourcing the production to a foundry in China?”
“There was a recommendation from the Financial Supervisory Service regarding the right to request interest rate cuts for Doowon Card’s cash advances, card loans, and Doowon Life/Fire Insurance’s collateral loans.”
“Yes, what about it...”
“They said we rejected the most interest rate cut requests among life insurance and card companies.”
“No, these people are really being unreasonable. Ah... this happened last year too. If one person exercises their right to request an interest rate cut for 30 days straight, the rejections keep piling up, the numbers go up—what is this?”
“We’ve already explained the situation to the authorities and submitted a corrective action plan. However, when we actually looked into the algorithm, it seems the rejections kept coming because it focused more on the customer’s debt service ratio rather than the improvement of their credit score.”
“...Did you report that as well?”
“No. Should I?”
He continued to work, and occasionally, executives or middle managers from each affiliate would call or visit in person to report on their work. A week, then two weeks passed, and it was already early September.
“General Manager, looking at the new town consortium project, you’re doing it with your father, right?”
“Yeah. That’s right. I filled it in to speed up the construction, and it actually turned out well. Because of that, Seongjung saved on costs.”
“Ah...”
Eunbyul had also come to understand every single project almost as if she had memorized them. Now, even if Eunbyul came to work in the morning and handled his approvals on his behalf, she would just skim the contents, provide simple feedback, and move on to other tasks. There hadn’t been any particular happenings with Eunbyul, nor had there been any issues with Jia during that process.
...No, it felt like there had been.
First of all, Jia slept with him every night. There were nights when they just slept, and there were times when he expressed a desire to do it first. ...Because his heart had been stirred. Since that day, Jia had changed as if shedding her skin once more. She simply said she wished he would tell her he was grateful—but if she made a mistake while doing something, she would sincerely apologize, and if he did something for her, she would say thank you. The apologies decreased a bit so as not to seem over-the-top, but the expressions of gratitude became more frequent. And it wasn’t just a simple thank you.
“Thank you for letting me sleep with you. I’ve been sleeping well lately, so I’m not even tired... I’m happy. Really.”
Sometimes when Jia went grocery shopping outside, he would get a call and go pick her up, and she would say, “It was hard to go alone, so this is so nice... It was hot, too. Thank you. For giving me a ride.”
And when he got off work, Jia didn’t speak like a machine; she spoke as if her very gaze was sincere. “You really worked hard. I know, too—the moment you step foot in the company, you feel tired from the start. Would you like to wash up first? Or should I get you a simple beer?”
“...Ah, right. Beer... I want one. That sounds good.”
“If you give me your clothes, I’ll get it ready for you.”
Rather than talk about achieving great things or accomplishing major feats like before, these words were much better to hear. It felt a bit like receiving concierge service at a hotel, but Jia had already explained that.
“I think it’s just awkward because a woman who didn’t used to be like this is acting this way. Hmm... but I feel like this is how I’m supposed to be...”
And finally, when they had sex, her reactions were no joke. As soon as she was penetrated, she would roll her eyes back and reach out, flailing her hands—and not in an ugly way, either. Even when trying various positions, perhaps because she was sleeping well, she showed no signs of fatigue and would cling to him tightly as if trying to keep her sanity, occasionally whispering lewd things and never forgetting to tell him she loved him.
Sometimes, she would say:
“...Do you like it when you cum inside your sister’s pussy like that...? *Hic*, it’s... full... don’t pull it out... wait a second, okay?”
“At this rate, really...! It’s dangerous, it’s dangerous, seriously, please, Master♡”
“I... I liked it so much, I didn’t even know I was cumming... I just closed my eyes tight, and when I opened them, there was so much water coming out... What do I do...”
“Master made me like this, ahhh♡ With this much, how could I ever meet... another man♡, right? Isn’t that right? *Chu*, Master...”
At first, he wondered if this was all an act, but could one really call the behavior of this woman—who would scratch his back until it was covered in marks, repeat the shameful female ejaculation multiple times, and even in a state of unconsciousness with her eyes rolled back, try to hug and kiss her ex-husband—an act? It became impossible to believe that there was an ulterior motive, that this was all a performance, or that she was holding back because she had an agenda. Jia wore the engagement ring he hadn’t even put on her finger on her left ring finger every single day, and as if to boast that she was being loved by her husband every night, she would go to the mart or the department store with the hickeys she used to be desperate to hide now exposed for all to see.