Chapter 380
Chapter 380
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Absolutely Do Not Answer
-----------------------------------------------------------------
In the silence, we all pick up our spoons.
"...H-how do you eat this?"
"Just put it in your mouth and chew."
"N-no..."
And Park Ye-eun, tasting offal soup for the first time, grimaces at the branch manager's words and turns to me.
She shoots me a pleading look begging for some help.
"Uh, if you chew it long enough, it gets nice and savory."
"As expected, Kim Jaeheon knows that flavor—he's a real working adult!"
...
Betrayed, Park Ye-eun stares at me before slowly lifting her spoon.
"Eeup..."
She lets out some inexplicable noise and very, very slowly scoops up the rice soup.
...
She looks so pitiful like that.
I glance at the branch manager, subtly signaling her to do something about it, and she gets the hint and stands up.
"Whew, I really didn't want to bring this out."
Oh. So she really did have an ace up her sleeve.
As I watch her with that in mind, she trots off and returns with a proud look, carrying some food.
"Here, I knew this would happen, so I prepared it! Even the elementary school kids love it when I make this for them—not just the public!"
What she holds out is a pink sausage.
Wow, when did she even get that?
...
Park Ye-eun stares at the sausage quietly before slowly reaching out to take the plate.
"I'll dig in..."
Looks like she's compromising a bit.
Park Ye-eun picks at the sausage and rice, while the branch manager winks at me and smiles.
What does she want? Praise for handling it well?
If it had been a Vienna sausage, I would've given her a thumbs-up, but since it's pink...
"Hey, give me one too."
"No way."
Petty.
Ignoring the branch manager's smile, I start eating.
In the end, the branch manager finishes her meal with pursed lips and stands to do the dishes.
"Then I'll go wash up."
"Oh, then I'll come with you, oppa."
"No."
As Park Ye-eun stands, the branch manager stops her and gets up herself.
"The sink here's pump-style, so it'd be tough for you alone without knowing how... I'll go with you."
Then she stares right at me.
She must have something to say.
"Got it. Take care of it, then."
I nod slightly and move aside as the branch manager leaves, and Park Ye-eun watches us go.
"Uh, um, so what should I do?"
"Who cares what the kid does."
"Right. Just lie down and sleep more!"
As if on cue, the branch manager and I speak, and I hear Park Ye-eun sit back down as we head to the backyard.
Wow, it really is a pump sink.
"Kim Jaeheon."
The branch manager sets down the dishes and looks at me.
"Yes?"
"It might not be fully ready until tomorrow, but there's something I want you to check first."
"Something to check first?"
What could it be?
I give her a puzzled look, and she starts walking again.
Now into a path where not even a sliver of light reaches.
...
I watch her for a moment before slowly following.
"Take a look at this."
How far did we walk? The branch manager speaks calmly and shows me something.
"...Hm."
What she's pointing out...
Is a massive tiger carved from stone.
It feels like a nicely sculpted rock.
"What's this?"
"Don't you feel or see anything special?"
I stare hard at the tiger statue in response to her question.
"...Nothing."
Nothing.
It's just a stone tiger statue.
"...Hm."
The branch manager rests her chin on her hand, thinking.
-Thunk!
She slams her fist down on the tiger's head, and it sinks right in.
-Rumble...
Stone stairs appear beneath it.
"Shall we?"
"Why are the stairs always underground?"
"Because we can't make them in the sky?"
Fair enough.
I nod and follow her down the stone stairs.
Soon, pitch darkness engulfs us, so thick I can't see an inch ahead. Just as I reach for my phone...
-Fwoosh!
The branch manager holds up a lantern and looks at me.
"What're you doing?"
"Is there a reason it's a lantern?"
"I've always left one here."
Got it.
I decide not to ask more.
Following her with that thought, a massive cavern soon opens up before my eyes.
"...What is this?"
"Park Ye-eun's resting up there."
The branch manager mutters calmly and raises the lantern high.
The stairs I came down were only one level, but that ceiling up there is like ten stories high.
"Weird, right?"
"Not really surprising."
Hearing my reply, the branch manager laughs happily and turns to me.
"Truth is, this isn't a place we let just anyone in."
"...So why me? Kinda worrying me now."
"Hm..."
The branch manager ponders for a moment before looking at me.
The emotion in her eyes...
Guilt?
Why guilt?
As I think that, she speaks up.
"Truth is, the Management Bureau recruits by looking at the person."
"Well, yeah, they scout people."
Who hires just anyone?
I look at her like she's stating the obvious, and she shakes her head.
"You've probably heard it too, Kim Jaeheon—the talk about Management Bureau people."
...
I did, just recently. Song Arin and Jang Chaeyeon said even half-crazed, they're still Bureau folks.
But what does that exactly mean?
I look at her curiously, and she explains calmly.
"Basically, the Management Bureau has standards for recruiting."
"Yes."
"And those standards aren't about ability."
"...Pardon?"
Not ability? Then what?
I stare at her, and she slowly continues.
"Selflessness, sense of duty, people who won't bend their convictions unless it's extreme circumstances, and those who walk the righteous path."
...
"For the Management Bureau, it's not about what abilities you have. It's about what kind of person you are."
As I listen to the branch manager, countless incidents flash through my mind.
Management Team members who bit their lips and sacrificed themselves, people from riverside branches who helped without hesitation when I asked, folks who moved to help others instead of stabbing them in the back.
"So all those other people so far were... good, righteous types..."
"Exactly. That's who they all are from the start."
The branch manager nods with a calm expression.
"Originally... well, up until about two hundred years ago, the Bureau hired based on ability. But that led to massive internal corruption."
Hence, she mutters, and continues.
"Accidents kept happening, so eventually, they shifted the talent standard from ability to character."
So that's the backstory.
As I think that and look at her, the branch manager speaks again.
"But you're different, Kim Jaeheon. Or rather, the HR Team is."
"...Pardon?"
What?
I look at her uncomprehendingly, and she explains further.
"The HR Team's results right now, the abilities on display—they far exceed what one team should have in terms of combat power."
"An Sang-hyun could probably smash the whole place if he rolled into it."
"Honestly, if we fought to the death, we wouldn't lose."
...
If HR Team and An Sang-hyun went all-out to kill each other...
We might not win, but we'd find some way to escape.
"An Sang-hyun's our biggest firepower. Like a nuke, in simple terms."
The branch manager says calmly.
"But it's worrying that a single team's members could potentially fight and beat our nuke if push comes to shove. And..."
"And?"
"The people around you, Kim Jaeheon."
...
The people around me.
Instantly, three faces pop into my head.
"By Bureau standards, teams can always be disbanded or reorganized. It's a job, after all."
The branch manager adds that it rarely happens.
"But HR Team's different. If the team disbanded, don't you think everyone would follow you?"
...
I can't say no.
Even during that promotion exam, Yoo Daon said she wouldn't want to be team leader if it meant splitting from me.
Hard to imagine the others wouldn't do the same.
"That's the problem."
...
"You've got combat power that's too much for a company man—or even a team member. Your own abilities, and those around you."
The branch manager continues calmly.
"But we can't disband the team either. We'd lose all that manpower."
"Are you worried I'll betray the Bureau?"
"Pardon? No, you wouldn't betray us. Worst case, if HR Team really rebelled against the Bureau... We'd have to step in, me and the headquarters chief included, but we could suppress it with some sacrifices."
She and the HQ chief together to beat us?
That's overestimating us.
Shaking off the thought, the branch manager goes on.
"But that's unlikely anyway... What I'm trying to say... It might sound stupid, but this is really, truly important."
"Yes."
Her red eyes fix on me.
"For now, don't confess to anyone on the HR Team. And if they confess to you, absolutely do not answer."
...
Sounds like the Jang Chaeyeon situation.
"I know it's a tough spot. I know it sounds like trash talk. But I'll take responsibility and someday..."
"I've already gotten confessions from two of them."
"Pardon...? From others too...?"
At my calm words, the branch manager stares at me in shock.
A brief silence falls in the cavern.