Chapter 25: An Unwelcome Revelation
Chapter 25: An Unwelcome Revelation
"Ladies and gentlemen, Thai Airways flight AA912 to Hong Kong, departing at 15:30..."
Incheon Airport.
He'd only been gone for two months, but he never expected to find the Korean announcements so welcoming.
The flight attendants had spoken Korean on the plane, but it wasn't until he was in the airport that it truly felt like he was back.
"Mr. Kim!"
"Over here!"
Lee Jong-yeop and Jo Soo-ah were at the airport to meet him, waving their hands.
The sales team's group chat.
He'd only answered when Lee Jong-yeop asked when he was returning to Korea.
"Why did you come all this way? You didn't have to."
"I had some work in Songdo, so I came straight here afterward."
Seeing Jo Soo-ah's bright smile, he felt a sense of welcome.
She was always pretty, but today, perhaps because of her vibrant outfit, she looked even more sophisticated.
"What about your afternoon shift?"
His flight had landed at 1 p.m., but by the time he collected his luggage and came out, it was nearly 1:40.
"I was planning to skip it, if you'd just look the other way, sir."
Lee Jong-yeop said, glancing around cautiously.
Being a foreign pharmaceutical company, employee management was fairly relaxed.
He was the only one who stuck to a tight schedule, covering twice as much ground as others on business trips.
He thought working five or six places a day would earn him praise from his superiors or a good performance review.
Driven by a diligence he'd cultivated since his part-time job days, he had worked himself to the bone.
"Well then, let's get something good to eat."
"Do you have a place in mind?"
"Let's go to a hotel."
A five-star hotel.
Even when entertaining doctors, it was extremely rare to eat at a five-star hotel in Seoul.
Even if the doctors paid for a buffet or a Japanese restaurant, the sales reps would eat a relatively cheap à la carte dish for around 30,000 won.
Food was like a wall that separated the doctors from the sales reps.
"Eat up."
"Thank you for the meal, sir."
"I'll enjoy it."
A Japanese restaurant in a Myeong-dong hotel.
He ordered the most expensive items on the menu and tried them one by one.
"You must have all been busy since I haven't been to work since the conference."
"It's the beginning of the year, so it was slow. If anything, you're probably disappointed you didn't save your vacation for the summer."
Lee Jong-yeop said with a smile.
It seemed the news of his resignation hadn't reached the staff yet.
He appreciated Team Leader An's consideration in letting him break the news himself, but he felt bad announcing his resignation right after returning from the States.
Since they were on the same team, he saw Lee Jong-yeop every day at work, so he could tell him later.
He also worked with Jo Soo-ah about once a week.
"Anything new at the office?"
"Same as always. Visiting hospitals, checking off lists. Handling complaints when they come in."
"I see."
The first year as a sales rep.
You learn a lot, but after that, it's just the same routine over and over.
"Assistant Manager Na Sang-guk talks about you often, Mr. Kim."
"Oh?"
"He says you probably lost most of your money on crypto, just like him."
He wasn't even surprised.
Na Sang-guk was a colleague from the same intake year and was notoriously jealous.
"That's just how Na Sang-guk is."
"Haha. Yes. Well, I have to get going. I have an appointment."
Lee Jong-yeop looked at the food with regret before standing up.
"Where are you headed?"
"I really have to go meet a friend, sir."
He stood up, his demeanor unusual.
Jo Soo-ah remained seated. And so, he had dinner alone with her.
"Did you enjoy your trip to the States?"
"Yeah. I saw a friend. And did some actual traveling."
"What kind of traveling?"
"Backpacking. I went all over the U.S."
As he talked about his trip, the conversation flowed endlessly.
Looking back, it felt like quite an adventure.
"Weren't you scared, traveling alone?"
"..."
He had traveled with Ellie.
But he wasn't foolish enough to bring up Ellie's name while he was with Jo Soo-ah.
"I had a lot of great experiences."
"How was New York?"
"The nights... were incredibly beautiful there."
A white lie was necessary.
* * *
After dinner at the hotel, Jo Soo-ah gave him a ride, and he arrived at his apartment building's entrance.
"Drive safe, Soo-ah."
"Get some rest."
He watched Jo Soo-ah's car drive away before heading up to his apartment.
The vast, 60-pyeong apartment.
The sun was setting, and it was the perfect time to see the city lights come on and the bridges over the Han River.
*'Finally home.'*
He dropped his bag and suitcase and lay down on the sofa.
Unpacking could wait; there was nothing urgent.
So he sat on the sofa, spacing out for a while before turning on his phone.
- Oh Myeong-woo: Come back to the States soon!
- Ellie: I had my interview with JPMorgan! I think it went well. Let me know when you get to Korea.
He sent them both a quick text saying he'd arrived safely.
Next, he checked his blocked messages for the first time in a while.
- Han Chae-won: We need to talk when you're back from your vacation. It'll be good news for you, too.
- Han Chae-won: I've missed you so much. I guess I still have feelings of love for you.
- Han Chae-won: It must've been hard living alone, right?
- Han Chae-won: I made some side dishes. It was my first time, so it was tough. Should I bring some over?
Mixed in with the spam in his blocked folder was a huge pile of messages from Han Chae-won.
*'I was the one who did way more of the cooking. And she made side dishes? She probably just bought them from a store.'*
He had absolutely no trust left in Han Chae-won.
He scrolled past them, deeming them unworthy of reading, and noticed the tone had changed after about twenty days.
- Han Chae-won: Did you lose your money? Really?
- Han Chae-won: Did you blow all the money you made from crypto on more crypto?
- Han Chae-won: Tell me now. I'm curious, hurry up!
After a few days of such demanding texts, the content changed again.
- Han Chae-won: Your silence says it all. You're probably just blowing what little money you have left on vacation, aren't you? What a pathetic mindset.
- Han Chae-won: I heard you bought your car with a loan, too. A leopard never changes its spots. How could you be so rotten to the core and just throw away all that money?
- Han Chae-won: You stupid bastard.
- Han Chae-won: I've sorted everything out. You'd better watch your back at work from now on.
*'What does she mean, sorted everything out?'*
He was a little curious, but he didn't want to read through every single message.
*'It must be about money. And it looks like she found a way to solve it.'*
She told him to watch his back at work. He felt a sense of peace.
He had agonized and struggled so much before breaking up with her.
*'Getting a divorce was the best decision I ever made.'*
* * *
He rode his bike to work for the first time in a long while. The office felt a little awkward after a two-month break, but the cold wind felt refreshing, clearing his head.
"Good morning."
"Yes, good morning."
After arriving at the office, he exchanged brief greetings with his colleagues and started his work.
Since his vacation had been long, he had no fieldwork assigned and was mainly tasked with handling phone calls.
"Yes, Director Yang. What error message are you getting? So you're saying the laser isn't firing even after you've turned it off and on and replaced the cartridge?"
Although he was a sales rep, he had received consistent technical training, so he could handle basic consultations immediately.
For anything ambiguous or requiring repairs, he transferred the call to the tech team.
At 11 a.m., he took a warm Americano up to the rooftop for a short break.
The weather was still bitterly cold.
"Team Leader Seo."
"Hey. Long time no see."
Team Leader An, Team Leader Seo, and seven other employees were there.
"Made a lot of money thanks to you, Assistant Manager Kim."
"It was your luck, Team Leader. Not me."
"Your advice helped me get out quickly, too."
It felt like the staff was being unusually welcoming.
Team Leader An explained the situation with a smile.
"The office was in an uproar over crypto for the past two months."
"Yes."
"It was a total rollercoaster, up and down."
He said the employees who invested in crypto had been through heaven and hell.
He was a little disappointed he hadn't been at the office to witness the spectacle.
If he had been there listening to the others, he likely would have given in and bought coins during the downturn.
"The chaos only ended after the crypto market crashed. A lot of employees are planning to use their incentives to pay off their overdrafts."
"I see. From the group chat, it seemed like the female employees were hit hard. I heard Ms. Park Hwa-young even lost her wedding funds."
"That caused quite a stir. Na Sang-guk got a real earful. I heard he ended up agreeing to buy her a refrigerator as a wedding gift."
A refrigerator was a considerable expense for an office worker. His fault in recommending crypto and encouraging investment was just that great.
"This is a gift."
When the other colleagues weren't around, he discreetly handed a wrapped box to each of the two team leaders.
Team Leader An was his direct superior, and Team Leader Seo, though from a different department, had always looked out for him.
The two of them were very close, so he had brought two of the same item.
"A gift from the States."
"Can I open it now?"
"Yep."
Team Leader An opened it to find a white box with a crown logo. It was a familiar, well-known brand.
"Assistant Manager Kim. Is this... a Rolex? Is it real?"
"Yes. I wanted to get you a nice watch."
He had bought them himself in San Francisco and even declared them at customs when bringing them into the country.
According to Oh Myeong-woo's theory, it was a reserve currency.
A watch you could wear on your wrist and sell anytime if needed.
"Wow. Who goes on a trip and comes back with a Rolex as a gift?"
Team Leader Seo was also stunned to see the Rolex.
"This is too much. I can't possibly accept this."
"It's no burden on my end, so please, just take it."
"I haven't done anything for you. Can I really accept such an expensive gift?"
"You can."
If he was going to give a gift, he wanted it to be something memorable, not something that would be quickly forgotten.
* * *
The company didn't have dinner gatherings often.
But of all days, one was scheduled for the day his vacation ended.
And to make matters worse, he was seated next to the stuffy Director Jeong.
"Assistant Manager Kim. The new hires this year really like me because I'm not one of those old-fashioned, bossy superiors."
"Ah. Yes."
He vaguely agreed.
He'd had drinks next to him a few times over the past four years. The only way to get through it was to listen patiently.
The pub was spacious and filled with other employees, but he could see them all trying their best not to look in his direction.
"You know our company's sales increased significantly last year, right? Who do you think is responsible for that?"
"It was all thanks to you, Director Jeong."
"Work... it's nothing special. Experience, I guess you could call it? To someone like me, the problems are obvious at a glance, and all you have to do is solve them wisely, you see?"
"Yes, yes."
Director Jeong mixed beer and soju in a soft drink glass and drank it.
He didn't know how many glasses that was, but it was a crisis.
"Want to know how I became a director so quickly? Diligence is what's important in this job. Guys who just stare at the clock waiting for quitting time have no right to work for this company."
"Of course."
They said that when Director Jeong was a team leader, everyone would stay until around 8 p.m., even if they had no work, just to avoid being singled out.
His work skills were debatable, but it was widely known that he had an incredible talent for flattering the president, who was dispatched from the head office in Germany.
Watching Director Jeong, he was reminded that in the corporate world, climbing the ladder and sucking up were sure paths to promotion.
Director Jeong downed two boiler-makers in a row.
"As your senior in life, Assistant Manager Kim, there's something I've been wanting to tell you."
"..."
He drank his alcohol quietly.
He wanted to throw his resignation letter in Director Jeong's face and leave, but he couldn't do that to his remaining colleagues.
"Divorcing a beautiful woman like Han Chae-won was a huge mistake."
"..."
Does being his boss give him the right to meddle in his personal life?
He was crossing a line.
"But thanks to you, I've become very happy."
"Pardon?"
"You don't know? Han Chae-won and I have started dating."
"..."
Director Jeong was in his mid-forties and still unmarried.
*'Was latching onto Director Jeong what she meant by 'sorted everything out'?'*
Recalling her text messages, the pieces of the puzzle started to fit together.
To think he was happy dating Han Chae-won.
He supposed this was what it felt like to offer condolences to a living person.