The Medal of Honor and the Prime Minister
"Hands. Get them off."
"...."
"Wow... these are hickeys, aren't they? Right?"
"Ha... I knew this would happen..."
He had fled his home only to find a monster waiting for him at the office.
"Hmm... sniff, it even smells... like Jia-unni's scent."
"This is a company, and what kind of secretary smells an executive's clothes like that..."
"You did it. I'm sure of it. The night... must have been quite heated."
He was only human, and he wanted to grab this fearless, chattering Eunbyul by the neck and tell her she’d get hit if she kept spouting nonsense, but everyone knew by now that he couldn't do that.
"No, you said it was fine. You said you wouldn't care."
"That’s just what I said, but seeing it in person makes me feel terrible."
"...Anyway, both Seo Jia and Eunbyul, whenever they see me..."
Oops.
"Yes? What did you say?"
"..."
"What did Jia-unni say?"
"No. Nothing at all."
He had to refrain from saying anything that would scratch the nerves of this nine-tailed fox. Otherwise...
"Ah... so she complained about the smell again."
"..."
Because that was the kind of treatment he received. If he had sex with Jia at home, he would inevitably get caught by Eunbyul the next day, and then, without fail, he would have to caress Eunbyul in the back seat of the car after work, as she demanded he be "fair." If he then went home and told the truth to Jia, who would ask what he had been doing since he was late, she would insist that she, too, must be treated "fairly," trapping him in an infinite loop he could never break.
He felt like he was losing weight day by day, only finding salvation on the rare occasions when one of them was asleep or had something special to do.
However,
"I think I'll just douse your body in apple scent, Director. Then Jia-unni won't even dare to touch you. Right now, inside the car..."
"Secretary Eun."
"...?"
He wouldn't just live under her thumb.
"What kind of wordplay are you trying to pull with me at the office right now?"
"...Ah, that... I mean."
"Is this what you get paid for? Sitting in my chair, acting like you're the executive. Before long, are you going to start talking about firing me or not?"
"This was just, um... morning small talk,"
"What kind of nonsense is that? It sounds like you're asking for a transfer in the fourth-quarter personnel reshuffle. Should I understand that to mean you want to go back to the Procurement Team?"
"..."
When he did this, Eunbyul would be intimidated by his stern expression. Even the excessively energetic and cheerful Eunbyul would become a bit docile when he used this tone and expression. When he did this, she wouldn't talk about shares, property, or her father, and she would take her hands off the keyboard and sit quietly in the chair next to his.
-
"Director, congratulations."
"Huh?"
"Haven't you seen the official document yet?"
He looked at Eunbyul, not knowing what the congratulations were for, and Eunbyul just shrugged. It meant she didn't know either. He said he would check the document, turned back from the steps he had taken to leave his office, and sat back down to check the computer.
"Ah..."
"Isn't this amazing? It's huge."
"Hmm, don't they usually consult with the person involved before doing something like this?"
The monitor was displaying the following content.
To: Doowon Co., Ltd.
Subject: Notice of Commendation for Persons of Merit in Rescue Activities related to the Jeil Thousand Spirit Oil Spill Accident
1. We wish for the infinite development of your company.
2. The government operates various commendation systems, including the Order of Merit, to select and reward those who voluntarily carried out rescue activities upon recognizing that the health and environment of the public were exposed to danger.
3. In this regard, we are notifying you of the commendation plan for the rescue supervisors and contributors related to this year's oil spill accident. Please refer to the attached documents and reply with the attendance status of the recommended candidates.
"Is this a good thing?"
"Director, the Order of Merit is usually given to soldiers who have served for over 30 years or those who have performed meritorious service in war. But for that to be..."
"..."
He didn't know how to describe this feeling, having received a medal because of this mischievous secretary who had been teasing him until just a moment ago. He downloaded and opened the document titled Plan for Conferring the Order of Merit.hwp, and his name appeared. And in the document titled Plan for Conferring Government Commendations.hwp, Eunbyul's name, the names of the 9 people who participated in the rescue, and the name of Ham Ju-hyun, President of Doowon Heavy Industries, were written. However, he didn't look positive while watching it; rather, he had a look of deep concern.
"Is there something you don't like?"
"...It's strange."
And he pressed the phone number to the left of the fax number at the very bottom of the official document and made a call.
-
After that call ended, starting from the lowest-ranking civil servant, they were all greatly surprised and began reporting to their superiors.
"Han Suhyun, the recipient of this Order of Merit, has refused the award."
"What? What's the reason?"
"That..."
"Chief Kim, they say Director Han Suhyun has applied to refuse the award."
"....? No, awards are good things, why is he doing that?"
"Well, that is..."
"Secretary, Director Han Suhyun says he won't accept this Order of Merit!"
"Is that such a surprising thing? If he says he won't take it, he won't take it."
"No, that's not it, over there..."
"What's the reason?"
Around lunchtime after that call, the phone at the Prime Minister's Office in Sejong Special Self-Governing City rang.
"Yes. This is the Prime Minister."
"This is the Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. Prime Minister, regarding this Order of Merit, Managing Director Han Suhyun has refused the award."
"Hmm... No, wait, what? Refused? The award?"
If it hadn't been a big deal, he would have just cracked a joke to the Minister, asking, "Why are you working so hard without even eating?" but the Prime Minister was so taken aback by what he had just heard that he asked back.
"He has a good relationship with the President. Doowon... is there trouble between the administration and the son of that house?"
"No, it's not that, the reason for the refusal is..."
"Yes. The reason for the refusal."
"He wants the Order of Merit to be awarded to everyone except himself and the President of Heavy Industries."
"...?"
What is this nonsense?
"Who did you get the call from?"
"The initial respondent was an 8th-grade official in the 4th Division of the Veterans Review Committee."
"...Why didn't they call us?"
"Well... they sent the official document by just changing the content of the existing template, and they couldn't correct the phone number. So..."
"Oh, for heaven's sake!"
To send an official document to the son of the chairman of a company that pays 400 trillion won in corporate tax alone, with the phone number of an 8th-grade civil servant's partition desk written on it.
"I apologize."
"It's not exactly a mistake... since that's the original method, so, uh... Minister, you should go make a call."
"Yes? Ah, Prime Minister. I... I don't have any acquaintance with the people there..."
"Then should the Prime Minister call...?"
He said that, but the Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs seemed burdened and urged him to have someone higher up call, and the Prime Minister sighed, thought for a moment, and said he understood. He thought it wouldn't be a big problem, as it wasn't a case of a company rebelling because the opposing party was in power and trying to give them an award to make them listen.
-
"Do you really have to do that?"
"This is a bit embarrassing. Secretary Eun."
"If they give it to you, you should just grab it and say thank you."
"It's not a good look."
He was eating lunch inside his office, talking about work and official documents.
"What's not a good look? Take this opportunity to boost your image, right?"
"I'm just... not interested."
Let's think about it calmly. The person who suggested the night oil tanker rescue operation? It wasn't him; it was Eunbyul. The person who got the supplies? The President of Heavy Industries. What did he do on the ship? Just pulled the rope hard and shouted. The person who hugged the sailors, who were white with fear, one by one and put them on the passenger ship? The shipyard workers. He hadn't done anything.
If someone asked who the representative who suggested this work should receive the award, he would mention Eunbyul without hesitation, and if asked who contributed to the perfect execution of the rescue operation on time, he would name President Ham Ju-hyun without hesitation. However, that person was a President, and it wouldn't be right for someone who hadn't been on the scene to receive a medal. He thought the shipyard workers, who had silently performed the hard work without a single complaint and followed his orders, were the ones who deserved the award. He, who thought he hadn't done much, felt that way.
"Director, you're unnecessarily kind, that's the problem. Really."
"What's kind about it? It's natural to do it this way. If it were you, or if it were Secretary Eun, could you shamelessly accept the award? What would the employees receiving commendations in the back think of me? I did all the hard work, and he's just taking the medal and the prize money. Wouldn't they mock me like that? If this becomes a subject of gossip, you're just asking to be cursed at."
Then, seeing the phone ringing, he pressed the speakerphone button and continued his meal. Since he was a bit far from the desk, he said in a slightly loud voice,
"Yes, this is the Director of the Support Headquarters."
However, at the next words, he had no choice but to put down his spoon.
"This is the Prime Minister. Are you available to talk?"
Who... did you say you were?