A New Beginning (20)
I’d hung up on her like that, but life rarely goes according to plan. Why isn't she calling back...? Honestly, I thought she would. That’s why I just cut the line. Doesn't this woman even send a text? I mean, I asked to see her! If someone calls you and hangs up without reaching any conclusion, shouldn't you call back? Then I could have steered the conversation into a softer, more relaxed tone... and if we talked it out, I could have set up a meeting.
Just then, my phone buzzed.
"I'm busy. No."
"What the hell...?" Ah, right. This woman... she isn't the type you can just pressure with rank or status. I’d misjudged her. Still, even so, where did she sell her manners? At the very least, shouldn't she explain why she's busy? Or give a reason for saying no! So, I picked up my phone to reply.
After sending that message, I sat in my car, unable to go anywhere. As I stared out the window, I wondered if this was all just a massive waste of time, but... "...her talent is incredible. Her specs are..." She was just too good a person to let slip away. Even when she sent back such rude, trashy messages, reading one of her research papers made all my anger vanish.
But... "..." No matter how long I waited, the phone didn't ring. I couldn't believe what kind of woman she was, but I had no choice. For now, I was the one in the weaker position. If we actually met, I planned to act cool, without showing any of that, for example...
"I can resolve your financial difficulties to a certain extent."
"If you state your conditions, I'll accommodate them as much as possible."
"What is it that you want?"
"Do you like me?"
Ah, no, not that. ...I let my mind wander for a second. Anyway, that was how I intended to talk, but it was a bust. I’d planned to promise to meet her conditions, then pour out a mountain of words to get her confirmation to join my team, and then go home. ...But what was the point of accommodating her when the other party wouldn't even come to the negotiating table?
However, right around then—
"Ah, hello."
...I should have just said 'hello' normally. It felt like I’d been too eager to pick up. A call had come in from the woman I thought would never call.
"Is the weather nice?"
"....? I think the weather today is,"
"The weather, ha... are you kidding me? Hey, are you crazy? I'm busy as hell and you're talking about the weather?"
No, could you please speak a little softer... be a bit more careful...
"...Are you going to keep using casual speech?"
"What the fuck, what are you going to do, fire me? Isn't that what you're planning to do anyway? My performance review is already a piece-of-shit score, do you think I'm scared of you?"
"..."
Why is she so hostile?
"...First, please calm down and let's have a conversation. I didn't ask to meet you to fight, and besides, I never said I was going to fire you..."
"What conversation with you, huh? You think if I grovel, it'll end with a disciplinary action? Do you know how many times I've heard that shit, you think I'd do it?"
I hadn't said a word yet... ...She’d heard it multiple times? Disciplinary action? What... I praised myself in my heart for maintaining my composure and trying to keep the conversation going amidst this barrage of profanity, then cleared my throat and spoke.
"Do you hate me?"
"...?"
"I haven't said anything yet. I didn't even tell you why I wanted to meet... why are you so aggressive?"
The woman was silent for a moment. Holding the phone, I smiled quietly. Yes, if she's this logical, I can overcome her emotions—
"You asking because you don't know?"
....?
"Right, you wouldn't understand, you with your piles of money at home. Commoners like me are busy working even on weekends because your dad pays us a measly, pathetic salary!!!"
"Hey, you talk to yourself, I care about money. You go ahead and talk all you want at bars with people who like you. You all live like that, don't you? Am I wrong?"
"Acting like she's something special... Ugh, does she have a talent for making people curse or what?"
No, I was pretty sure the chemical company paid good salaries and the performance bonuses were no joke... At the very least, I knew there had never been any complaints about salary conditions within the company. The External Cooperation Department monitored sites like JobPlanet, Blind, and Saramin every week, collecting opinions left by employees after verifying their company emails and delivering them anonymously to each affiliate. There shouldn't have been anything like that, so why did this woman say the salary was peanuts?
"That's why I'm saying, let's talk about those parts."
"What are you going to accommodate, you troublemaker. Just do your own job, please."
"..."
Ugh, I'm getting dizzy. This fuck... Troublemaker?
"What trouble did I, ah. Right. I understand. But that was..." If I said it wasn't my doing here, it would just sound like I was a trashy parachute executive trying to dodge responsibility, so I stopped talking there.
"...Where are you?"
"If you know, are you going to fire the part-timer too?"
She did tell me where she was. But she also told me not to act like I knew her... What was that supposed to mean? She told me to come, but not to talk to her? Ah, of course, she also told me that since acting like I was going to fire her wouldn't work, I should just get gas and get lost.
"Hello, President Joo? Is the chemical division in the red?"
"General Manager, what's the matter?"
Joo Sangwon, the president of DW Chemical, where Min Suyeon worked. As I drove, I spoke as soon as the president picked up.
"No, seriously, how little money are you paying them that an employee is working a part-time job at a gas station on the weekend?"
"....? That's not the case. Uh... our average annual salary is 160 million won. That's last year's figure, but I'm sure it's higher this year..."
"I'm not asking for the average, do you know the salary of a regular staff member?"
"That is..."
The chemical president, thinking about whether he needed to know the salaries of the staff, was looking through data on his phone without even being able to rest on the weekend.
"We usually pay between 70 million and 100 million won per year."
"But an employee I'm trying to see is working a part-time job at a gas station because her salary is low. What is this?"
"Uh..."
The president, wondering if he should apologize, said—
"General Manager, excuse me, which employee is it? If it's alright, I'll look into it once..."
"Min Suyeon! Her name is Min Suyeon. I don't know the department. I'm trying to see her right now, but she says the gas station part-time job is more important than me seeing her!"
"..."
The president, who was about to say, "General Manager, it's the weekend...", kept his mouth shut. Thinking that if he provoked Han Suhyun, who was currently riding a wave of success, he might get slapped with the very oar he was rowing with, he paused. Wait, Min Suyeon?
"General Manager, no, are you talking about Min Suyeon?"
"Oh, do you know her?"
"If you don't know Min Suyeon in our company, you're an industrial spy."
What is this... is she a world star?
"What kind of person is she?"
"By any chance, are you two in some kind of special relationship or..."
"Ah, it's nothing like that. She just... she yells at me,"
Relieved, the chemical president said, "Min Suyeon, she's a crazy bitch."
"...? President, even so, cursing at an employee..."
"That's not it, that employee's nickname is 'Crazy Bitch.' Didn't you know? Even at headquarters..."
Ah, well... did she go around breaking the ranks of the hierarchy step by step...?
"How bad is she?"
"...It's beyond imagination. Have you met her?"
"Yes, she speaks roughly, but..."
"Roughly? No, you don't know her well yet."
The president started to explain what she was like, saying he’d gone through all sorts of hell because of that one woman. She wouldn't do the work she was assigned and would do other things instead, but then she’d finish all her work an hour before leaving. Well, that wasn't a problem... but sometimes she’d make mistakes, or work too forcefully, or when a team leader told her she had to do work that another team member couldn't do due to circumstances, she’d pack her bags and leave work.
...It was 4:00 PM.
"Is that all? No, she makes unreasonable claims that her department head is giving her more work. It's a persecution complex. This doesn't even count. And after that..."
"I, I get it for now. I'll call you again later."
"Yes, General Manager."
What the hell, it's scary... The president even seemed to have held back from saying what happened after that, as if those things were really nothing.
— "Welcome,"
"If I get a lot of gas, do you get paid more?"
Having never worked a part-time job, I finished the call and deliberately drove the car in circles until the fuel light was close to E before showing up. I really thought that was how it worked. But seeing Min Suyeon, who rolled down the window and told me to welcome, I smiled brightly and said that.
"...Are you crazy? I told you not to come—"
"If you told me not to come, why did you give me the location of the gas station in such detail? Did you think I could just not come?"
"..."
Min Suyeon, pulling her hat down low, waved her hands at me to get lost quickly. Her expression was completely rotten. But I couldn't just turn back after coming all the way to Incheon.
"Just pump gas all day, into my car. Just keep it plugged in and let's talk for a bit."
"Are you a psychopath?"
"It's not like that, I want to have a conversation, that's all."
"Are you a stalker?"
"...I want to, have a conversation,"
"It's so fucking gross..."
What the fuck, what do you want me to do, really...? Yeah, let me just take a deep breath...
"Fuck, isn't this like grooming? You're a real pervert..."
"...Conversation, let's... ha... seriously... let's have one..."
"Don't you see the car behind you? Ah, I guess this is how you guys live, not caring even if a chaebol causes a nuisance like this."
No, I really came with the intention of having a conversation, but at some point, I had become a psychopath, a stalker, a crazy bastard, and an attempted rapist. I opened the car door roughly and shouted,
"I have something to say, please!"
The woman was holding the gas nozzle, and I was in my suit, both of us red-faced and shouting at each other. Min Suyeon, hearing my words that I had one last thing to say, stared straight into my eyes and said,
"President, this perverted old man keeps pestering me! Ah, fuck, I can't work, seriously, ah!!"
Should I just fold, GPL?