The (Strange) Daily Routine of Each
"...Maybe I should just run away overseas. Seriously."
In this office, devoid of both his secretary and her, even the office no longer felt comfortable. He had worried that she might be listening to his words from somewhere, but he hadn't expected her to just barge in like that. And this burdensome, "I don't even want to look at eel..."
When they were married, he had sung songs begging her to do things for him, but he hadn't even seen a fish, let alone an eel. It was rare for her to cook at home in the first place, so what did fish or meat or whatever even matter? He moved his chopsticks like that. Since she had given it to him, he ate it. No, he had to eat it. He thought he would only survive if he ate. Because she had put special care into it. He tried hard not to think about the words that followed.
It was certain that he would be squeezed dry once again when he went home today. He felt like dying. It was a lunchbox with a visual that anyone could see had been prepared with immense care—one could call it a lunchbox packed with special attention, with the person she loved drawn in her heart—but as he received and ate it, he was once again filled with the suspicion that this might be his Last Supper.
"I'm not exaggerating..."
At some point, he felt like he would faint from having intercourse and never be able to wake up again. He felt regret, wondering what on earth he had been thinking in the past to ask for it three times a day. He shouldn't have just tried so hard, he shouldn't have looked like someone who liked that sort of thing.
Still, having forced it all down, he sat in his chair and, feeling like he might get indigestion, opened his drawer to look for cigarettes for the first time in a while. It was something he used to smoke one of whenever he had a hard time. It was a brand-new pack, not even unwrapped, but...
...He returned to his seat, tossed the cigarette pack with about ten left in it roughly aside, and closed the drawer. Then, his secretary entered.
"I really didn't hear—"
"Before I send you to another department, please, just be quiet..."
"..."
The secretary, who had been full of laughter but covering it with his mouth, finally pressed his forehead against the wall and started to giggle. He glared at the secretary slightly and let out a deep sigh. That was his position in the company. In dramas, the chairman's son would have immense power, swinging it around here and there to make company life comfortable, but—
"Ah... Director, by any chance at home, pfft, that, that..."
"Please..."
One might wonder how a secretary could laugh at an executive he served, but his image was different from others. He only showed a sincere and kind side at work, and in reality, he was that kind of person. When someone else made a mistake, instead of getting angry, he would say:
"Ha... th-this... you shouldn't do it like this. Okay? This... this is a bit... haa... please do it well. By tomorrow... I'm going to die again..."
Or, if it was a serious matter, he would raise his voice for a moment, then:
"...I, that, um... I'm sorry. About earlier. I didn't mean to get angry like that, haha... The position really makes a person like this. Hmm... rather than that, how about doing it this way? For example, when calculating efficiency..."
Like that. So, hadn't he become a flower in a greenhouse? He hadn't grown up in a society where people didn't trust each other or tried to stab each other to death; he had seniors who pushed him, smart juniors clinging to his side, and friends who had each secured a place in society, so he appeared to be a person without a single jagged edge. Not only that.
"Hey, you idiot!! Do you intend to ruin the company like that? Huh! You idiot!!!"
"...I misunderstood, I will correct it quickly..."
"You bastard, if you correct it, does everything go back to the original state? You keep doing this, bankrupting the place, and then you're going to blabber about correcting it then?"
It was a given that he, as the person in charge, would be scolded for any mistake a subordinate made, and it was at a level that happened at least once a week for the chairman to fly into a rage, come down to the lower levels himself, and tear him apart in front of other employees. At first, the working-level staff who made the mistake and the team leader who was the middle manager would clutch their heads, get cursed at, and think about jumping off a building while watching him slowly look back, but—
"...Next time... you'll be able to do better, right...?"
"I... then I'll be going..."
He was that kind of person. So, even seeing the secretary laughing like that, he couldn't get angry, and so all the employees—especially lately—liked him even more than the chairman. If he brought something that needed modification with difficulty and asked for it to be done, they just did it and brought it back. When he got angry, the surrounding employees wouldn't say, "That bastard is starting again, that ill-mannered bastard...", but would look at the person being scolded and react with, "Just how big of a disaster did they cause for the Director to say something like that...?"
Since he had no jagged edges, he didn't say things to twist people's words, and he never said anything derogatory or critical at will. On top of that, there were times when he would shake his own spoon, for example, as follows. Was it three months ago?
"Anyway, I was greatly disappointed in Father because of that."
He said this while sitting in the chairman's office, looking at the chairman, who was moving his lips here and there. "I was so shocked to find out that there is countless bullying due to office politics in this company, the wonderful organization that Father was so proud of."
"What on earth was Father thinking when he ran the company, that such bullying occurs, not even in school?"
"I was greatly disappointed in Father. Too greatly! Ah... I didn't know that the Father who scolded me so much was someone who didn't pay any attention to employee welfare behind the scenes."
The chairman, with an annoyed expression, could only say nothing, and then—
"...Well, I'll take care of it, so..."
"Is this what you mean by taking care of it?"
"Yes... yes, you're excited, aren't you... I'll solve it, so go do your work. Okay?"
He was also playing the role of cutting off employees who were like cancers to the company and keeping good talent in the company. Of course, it wasn't because the chairman told him to, but because it was 50% genuine pity for the employee and 50% the purpose of getting revenge on his father, who treated the company like his own family and openly embarrassed him.
Anyway, that was why the secretary was laughing like this. The secretary, whose laughter had subsided and who now had a serious expression, looked a bit sorry.
"...I laughed too much. I'm sorry. That..."
"Yes, yes."
"...Are you sulking?"
"Yes, yes."
"No, I just think it doesn't fit at all that the Director, who was so gentle, would be that kind of person at home..."
"Think it doesn't fit."
"Haha..."
The secretary, who had left the room saying he would be away for a moment, pretending he had remembered urgent business, disappeared, and he thought about going out of the office, but it was questionable whether he could survive if he went out. This secretary... no, this secretary 'hyung' was not a person to stay still. If something else happened, he would spread the word. How much incitement and fabrication would he do this time? Imagining the employees who would burst into laughter as soon as they saw him, he just looked at the monitor and did his paperwork. Occasionally, he would go out very carefully and quickly to smoke a cigarette. Then—
"Yes, Chief, this is the Support Director!"
"Yes, Suhyun."
"Yes, Chief."
"That... haa... please stop the Chairman. It's really hard to work at this company. Okay?"
"Why again! ...Why! What's going on!?"
The extension phone rang. He picked it up. Written on the phone was Vice Chairman Park Dongseok, Office Chief. Thinking, Why all of a sudden, did I make a mistake? he picked up the phone carefully. Then, shocking sounds followed.
"...Is it true? No, you didn't say anything to me..."
"What on earth is your wife, isn't she just an interpreter? The person suddenly changed and what..."
He listened to what the Office Chief was saying while his hand holding the receiver trembled. She had caused a disturbance in the lobby, came up, smiled brightly like a long-tailed fox as if nothing had happened, handed over a lunchbox, and left. He was so angry, but she was already gone. He also heard that the Chairman was in a great rage, having punched his desk a whopping 178 times, and that he had ordered a complete reshuffle of the security team and the higher-ups while his eyes were bloodshot the whole time he was talking. When he heard that he had scolded them until the sound could be heard outside the conference room, asking how they could not even recognize the face of the owner's family and treat them like criminals, he thought, That fucking bitch isn't even family, really... But if he said this, he felt like his head would be chopped off. He was just enduring it because he didn't want to die. So he just said:
"My wife made a mistake. Chief. I will handle it well."
"It's okay, just consider a 20% pay cut as giving Suhyun pocket money."
"...Ha, that too... I will handle that too..."
"No. It's okay. I got kicked in the joint for the first time in 13 years, but his strength has weakened, so it's okay. I really..."
"I will pay for the medical expenses... *sob*, really..."
"Hey, there's no need to cry. Suhyun. Uncle always supports you. Even when your father grabs my head and shakes it, I look at my nephew..."
The Office Chief had heard the rumors going around the company in his own way. He hadn't thought it was serious enough to grasp the truth, but hearing what she did today, he wondered if the rumors were true, and if that was why they were divorced. Still, because he was the chairman's son, he couldn't ask if they were really divorced, so he just comforted him indirectly.
As soon as he apologized hard and the phone call ended, the extension phone rang as if it had been waiting. Seeing it written as President Cha Beomho, Planning Chief, he let out a deep sigh, thinking about what he had done wrong in his past life for such trials to unfold out of nowhere, and then, preparing his heart, he answered the phone carefully:
"Yes, President, this is the Support Director. I caused this situation because I couldn't manage my wife properly. I will also try my best so that you, President, do not receive disciplinary action such as a pay cut. It is my negligence. Why on earth is she doing such a thing when the party involved is staying still? I thought I would die of shame after hearing it from the Office Chief..."
However, here again:
"...No, Director, are the security team really human beings? She even revealed who she came to see, so why did they block it like that and cause this to happen? No, isn't the Director's wife innocent? I felt like jumping off a building while listening to it. I feel a serious sense of shame wondering if I've worked at this company for 24 years for this..."
Wait. Why are you defending that bitch?
"Disciplinary action, of course, I can accept it willingly. I don't even believe the rumors about the Director's wife floating around. Honestly, does this make sense? Isn't it because the Director is too kind? Because you're soft, the employees are making such rumors and not working..."
The 41st open recruitment, the Planning Chief, also started defending him and her like this because he wanted to be a Vice Chairman once too. Of course, the person listening was trying hard to hide his quite unpleasant feelings, but he listened steadfastly. His personality was originally like this, so what could he do.
"Anyway, I'm okay. Director. If you give me a chance to give you advice, it would be effective for the Director to directly ask the security team for responsibility. If you say you will fire them entirely, I will ask the legal department to create grounds for dismissal..."
"Wait, wait!"
He stopped the Planning Chief, saying that wasn't it. And then—
"Please, only you know about this, Chief."
"...What..."
"That bitch is really a crazy bitch, that bitch! What I'm saying must never be told to the Chairman either. It's true that I divorced that crazy bitch! She always scolds me when I come home, tries to handle me according to her own taste, and even handed me divorce papers saying she couldn't live with me anymore, but for some reason, her mind has changed and she's acting like that now! Chief, rumors don't end as rumors. This is all happening for a reason."
"Di, Director...?"
He spoke in a machine-gun style, trying to tell the Chief the truth. If the Planning Chief attached a turbo engine and started doing this and that, things would grow uncontrollably. He had to evolve. Someone was about to be fired, and responsibility for something... it was about to reach an irreversible level.
"President, just keep your place. You know? Stay still there. Don't do anything else. Please."
"...."
"If you do things I didn't ask for at will and get caught... as soon as I become Chairman..."
The sound of swallowing saliva could be heard on the phone. The Planning Chief became silent, and he began to change his gaze to be dark and evil, just like when he was training her. And then—
"...I will fire you immediately... definitely... I will even destroy the advisory position created after retirement so you can't even receive severance pay..."
Having sensed a threat to his survival, he threw away his original personality.
-
"I'm sorry, Director. Still..."
"No. You did very well. Situation Room Chief? I'm not being sarcastic at all. Really. That... for now, I will approve those who worked hard today, so please submit the attendance records and send them on vacation. They must have suffered great mental damage, so give them about 4 to 5 days, excluding weekends."
"Still, how could such a scandal be caused..."
"I will contact the Security Team Leader separately. As I keep saying, please make sure to mention that it is a [Reward] vacation."
Immediately after that, he called the Security Team Leader. After the signal went on for quite a long time, he slowly answered the phone and said in a dejected voice:
"...Director, I submitted my resignation. I've packed all my bags..."
"I've already told the Situation Room, so go on vacation. You can go for about 4 days."
"...Yes? What does that mean,"
"You did well. That woman is a monster that must be stopped. Team Leader. You performed your duties excellently."
He continued the phone call with a comfortable smile and at the same time brought up the vacation story from the beginning so that the Security Team Leader could lower his guard.
"You must stop that bitch. As you know, the rumors going around the company... they are all true."
"...."
"However, I hope you will carry out a perfect operation without any loopholes in the future. I don't want to see that woman's face even in this company. Just say she's away from her seat unconditionally. If they ask where she is, say she went out without telling you. If they ask if it's a lie, tell them to call her. Then I will respond."
"...Ah..."
The Team Leader was using a happy tone to the point where a smile could be drawn on his face by the time the phone call ended while listening to his words, and he was thanking him, and thanking him again and again. He put down the phone and was very proud of himself for having made perfect preparations so that she would not be able to barge into the company. Now it was time to go to the Chairman.