Today, I Was the Winner
Bae Yujin got in touch with Lee Doyun.
She said she wanted to join the boat party.
Most of her coworkers were going too, and she didn’t exactly want to be the only one staying behind with the boss.
She had a bad feeling he might pull some dirty trick if she did.
A little while later—
“...I could’ve come on my own.”
“I was nearby. It’s fine.”
A Ferrari came to a stop in front of her.
She could’ve taken a taxi and gotten there in no time, but the fact that he’d come to pick her up stirred up a strange feeling all the same.
Why am I like this...
Pathetic. He was just a younger guy she happened to be close with.
Still, the car was seriously cool. Honestly, if she got to ride around in something like this when she was stressed, it felt like she’d cheer right up.
The same went for today.
They arrived at the dock where the yacht was waiting.
“...Huh?”
When she checked the people who’d already been waiting there, she couldn’t help but stare.
If she wasn’t seeing things, then apart from two or three people, every single one of her coworkers was already here.
Then who was the boss staying with...?
“You’re here? So you came with the boss?”
“Well, since he’s like a close younger brother to me...”
“Right, right.”
“But... who’s left with the boss right now?”
She was genuinely curious.
“No idea. Told him to cut them loose and handle it himself.”
“Honestly, after coming all the way out here, it doesn’t make sense for everyone to spend their own money.”
“From what I heard, the boss at Uto Gym paid for everything. Even this yacht was arranged by him.”
“...”
The answer, in the end, was basically: who cares?
Everyone seemed worried about it, in a way, but not worried enough to actually want to go back.
Then—
“Shit, it’s calling. I’m not answering.”
“Ah, it’s calling me too.”
“Just don’t pick up.”
“He’s calling one person at a time.”
The coworkers frowned at their phones. It was the boss calling.
Nobody here answered.
Eventually her phone rang too.
“...”
She just didn’t pick up. She wasn’t the only one ignoring him, so whatever.
“Thank you all for coming. Since you took time off anyway, I prepared a boat party in hopes you’d have a fun trip. There’ll be a separate activity tomorrow as well, so please enjoy yourselves enough to keep up with the schedule.”
The mood flipped almost immediately.
As soon as Doyun stepped forward and spoke, everyone cheered.
He was nothing like the version they’d seen at the gym before.
Even the coworkers no longer saw him as the same Doyun they’d known back then.
She boarded the yacht.
“Wow... This is the kind of thing you see in dramas.”
“Feels even better than that.”
“Damn. I never dreamed it’d be this big.”
“Hey, are those safety staff over there, too?”
“The class difference is insane.”
“Aren’t those people chefs...?”
“If we’d gone to the place where our actual boss was, we’d have been kicking the ground in regret.”
She stepped onto the yacht beside Doyun.
Seeing her coworkers like this, she could sympathize. What would they have done if they hadn’t come? They really would have been kicking the ground in regret.
He’s different...
She’d felt it before, but Doyun really did seem completely different now.
No, not just seemed different.
He actually was different.
He’d gone from a twentysomething gym member to a young rich guy.
Hmm.
She was honestly glad she’d become close with him.
At first, he’d seemed strange...
Maybe he’d just been special.
***
With most of the staff nowhere to be seen, Lee Deokhwa could barely contain his rage.
“Have these bastards all gone insane together? Nobody’s answering their phones—what the hell is this? Did they all team up and set up some hidden-camera prank?”
He couldn’t understand it. One person not answering was possible. But for nobody to answer? That was impossible unless they’d all plotted it together.
He even started suspecting they’d really prepared a hidden-camera stunt.
But as time passed, nobody appeared.
“Uh... Boss. What about the campfire we prepared...?”
“Are you blind? A campfire at a time like this? What, are you messing with me?”
“...Sorry.”
“Haa...”
He should’ve known something was off from the start...
Ever since he met the Uto Gym staff, the whole day had felt strange.
That floor manager prick had been needling him nonstop.
And that disrespectful little punk who showed up as the new boss had just stood there grinning at him like he was some kind of joke.
He’d already been in a foul mood then.
Now this had sealed it.
More time passed, but nothing changed.
“Did they all drown in the ocean together or something?”
He was huffing and puffing when one of the few staff members still gathered finally called out to him again.
“B-Boss. You need to see this.”
“What is it?”
He looked at the phone the employee held out.
It was a photo uploaded to social media.
And that photo...
“What the hell.”
He doubted his own eyes.
The staff members he’d suspected of setting up a group hidden-camera prank were all there, popping champagne on the yacht and smiling happily.
No matter how many times he rubbed his eyes or pinched his cheeks, the picture didn’t change.
“...Did you fake the photo too? If this isn’t funny anymore, knock off the hidden-camera nonsense.”
“N-No, that’s not it. We checked, and it’s not just our employees. The Uto Gym staff are there too.”
“...What?”
Fuck. The curse slipped right out.
So they really wanted to do this, huh?
Had these bastards all taken drugs together or something?
“Hey, call them.”
“M-Me?”
“Then you expect me to do it? They’re ignoring my calls like they’re all hopped up on something.”
“I-I’ll try.”
Honestly, none of this made any sense.
After he’d gone out of his way to cover half the cost and bring them all down to Jeju Island...
They were going to screw him over like this?
The employee’s phone kept ringing.
And then, instead of a ringback tone—
someone actually answered.
His blood pressure shot up again. These bastards ignored his calls, but now they’d pick up on someone else’s?
Boisterous noise poured out through the phone.
“Yeah? Why’d you call?”
“W-Well... what are you doing...? There’s nobody here right now, so...”
-Ah, you weren’t there earlier? The boss from Uto Gym invited us to a boat party. Too bad. This is seriously insane. Way on another level from our boss.
“J-Just a second...”
He couldn’t take it anymore.
“Hey! Are you fucking serious? You don’t answer my calls? What the hell is wrong with you—”
Click.
“...”
What the hell...?
He was so taken aback by the completely unexpected turn that his anger turned into disbelief.
Had these bastards really all lost their minds together?
“Hey, send a text right now. Tell them if they don’t come back immediately, they’re all fired. Tell them I won’t let this slide.”
“Y-Yes!”
He wasn’t joking.
Right now, he felt like he could fire anyone at all.
Especially that bitch Bae Yujin.
Why had he planned this vacation and spent all that money in the first place?
And now she had the nerve to wander off on her own?
A little later—
“B-Boss...”
“Why are you still stuttering? Are you fucking stupid?”
“...”
“What is it!”
“They all say they’re quitting.”
“...What?”
“And... I think I need to quit too.”
“...Say that again.”
“Being talked down to like this makes me furious.”
“Hey! Is quitting that easy for you? You just say the word and walk out? You think I’ll let that happen?”
“Then I’ll go to the Ministry of Labor.”
“...”
This time too, instead of anger, he was left stunned by the unexpected news.
Why the hell were they all doing this together?
He felt like he was going to lose his mind.
“F-First, tell them to come in so we can talk. They’ll need somewhere to sleep, won’t they?”
“The boss from Uto Gym says he’ll arrange accommodations separately.”
“What the hell kind of bastard is he, that he keeps—!”
He was about to explode.
What kind of bastard was that, anyway?
Why did he have to show up and ruin everything like this?
“Hey! Fuck, I don’t even know who you are, so why are you making trouble for me—”
“Unc...”
“Don’t give me that uncle bullshit—because of you, everyone’s about to quit!”
“...”
In the end, he hadn’t been helpful about a single thing.
***
The Neo Gym employees were voicing their complaints.
So I prodded them a little.
“We’re already preparing to expand Uto Gym, so if any of you are interested, let us know. We’re hiring new staff right now.”
“...Re-Really?”
“If I may add, our boss is no joke. He even hired a nutritionist who provides meal plans so the trainers can focus on exercise and classes, and he’s brought in dedicated cleaning staff too. And to be blunt, the conditions are better than Neo Gym’s in every meaningful way.”
Once the manager had piled on with that confident sales pitch, everyone answered without even hesitating.
“C-Could I switch jobs? I was already thinking of quitting Neo Gym...”
“M-Me too! I really can’t keep working for Neo Gym’s boss anymore...”
“Please, tell him I’m quitting right away! At the very least, I won’t be a burden to the boss here! My résumé isn’t so bad that it’d be worthless anywhere else...”
Job-change inquiries came pouring in.
I took every one of them.
With the simple wish of letting Neo Gym go to hell.
Apparently Neo Gym’s boss had lost his mind and sent a text saying he was firing all of them.
They’d all replied with smiles, saying they were quitting too.
In the midst of the noisy chaos—
“You’re coming too, noona, right?”
“...If you’ll have me, I’d appreciate it.”
“Are you okay? You seem a little tipsy.”
“A little... The mood’s so good I’m getting drunk fast today.”
“Really? Then do you want to rest a bit? There’s a room inside the yacht, and there’s a bed in there.”
“...Should I?”
Today, I was the winner.