Episode 4: The Work Increased
Episode 4: The Work Increased
"Think you'll like it?"
"Yeah, it's good."
"Let's have some bulgogi later."
"Bulgogi?! Nice."
The way her face brightened at the mention of bulgogi was just so innocent.
"Loving meat that much makes you seem like a kid."
"You like meat even more than I do. Don't you, oppa?"
She rested her chin on the back of her hand and poured on the aegyo.
She was actually cute, so I couldn't bring myself to say anything snarky.
"What are you talking about?"
But I couldn't let her win.
"Really? You don't think I'm cute?"
At my cold reply, she leaned her arms onto the table and pushed her face right up close.
She was even cuter than before, but I'll say it again: I could not let her win.
"Nope."
"Then what am I?"
She pouted a little, pulled her chin off her hand, and glanced at me sideways, eyes slightly narrowed.
"Well, if I had to put a label on you, I'd say you're elegant."
"You give me the same answer every single time~."
It was nearly the same question and the same answer every time, but seeing her smile meant my reply was scoring somewhere around a hundred.
I wanted to just leave it there, but teasing her would make the ending more fun.
"But not when we're having sex, of course."
"Excuse me?"
"'Master, spare me~ Oppa, save me~ Please, enough~'"
I repeated what she'd said with just a touch of exaggeration. Her face flushed red.
"Did our Eunhwi want to do it with Oppa? Or was it Master?"
"Hey!"
When I kept teasing, she yelped, half-indignant.
"But, by the way."
"Hmm?"
"Why did you suddenly start with the 'Oppa' and 'Master' stuff, anyway?"
"Well, it's just that..."
She explained that our relationship had been going on for a long time, and while she was still more than satisfied, she thought adding a little novelty might be nice. I caught myself nodding along before I knew it.
"Mm... I suppose so... It was refreshing. Definitely stimulating."
"Especially for you... We can't even go on a proper date, you know."
"Well, that's... something we could work around, but you're a total homebody."
"That's part of it, but you're an office worker too, so your life barely changes. I at least get to experience a lot of things indirectly since I'm an actress."
To be honest, new students pour in every year, so my life wasn't exactly unchanging.
Still, she seemed to feel bad about it, so I went over to her side and stroked her hair.
"Aww~ You did? Our Eunhwi is such a sweetheart~."
Smack!
"Ack!"
I got hit, in the end.
----
"Come here."
"Hm?"
She was adjusting my tie and collar, then suddenly melted into my arms.
"Can't you take the day off today?"
If it were up to me, I'd love to take the day off.
"I can't, and guess whose fault that is."
"Whose?"
"Yours, Ms. Ji Eunhwi."
"Me?"
Back when she was just a professor, if she didn't have any classes, it didn't really matter if I came in or not. I just had to manage her classes.
Now it's different. The Department Manager title didn't get tacked on because I was the Department Head's TA — it means I manage the TAs for every professor in the department.
How should I put it... I'm not sure if this is the perfect comparison, but it's like being the chief secretary to a group chairman — you also manage the secretaries for all the other executives.
I gently pushed her back and gave her a light kiss on the forehead.
"I'm heading out. You get some rest."
"Okay."
She looked disappointed, but she let me go like the adult she is.
'If she'd grabbed me one more time, I wouldn't have gone.'
I felt disappointed myself as I left the house.
"Mr. Choi! Department Manager Choi!"
"Choi Sijun!!"
I'd parked my car and was walking toward the building when I heard someone calling me from behind.
"Huff... huff..."
"Oh, Deputy Director Kim."
"Hey, I'm calling your name and you just breeze right on by! A tall guy like you walks so fast, I had to sprint to catch up."
"I didn't realize you were calling for me..."
To be honest, it's been less than a month since people started calling me Department Manager. I'm still not used to it.
"Ah, right, you got the Manager title this year, didn't you?"
"Yes."
"Then it makes sense. I'm still awkward being called Deputy Director myself. Whew... hold on a sec..."
I waited a moment while he caught his breath.
"Hoo... thanks."
"No problem."
"This isn't really something I should be bringing up out here, but the decision came down very suddenly."
"Please, go ahead."
"You know about that Department 4 incident, right?"
"Yes, roughly."
Compared to other schools, Daehanyedae had relatively few incidents, but that was only relatively speaking.
Due to the nature of an arts university, especially the Entertainment departments that teach broadcasting-related subjects, they had far more incidents and scandals than the other departments.
People often joke about it like this:
'If something blows up at Daehanyedae, first check the Entertainment departments.'
It's basically the same joke from world history — if something weird or problematic happens, just blame the British and you'll be right over ninety percent of the time.
"They said HR screened everyone so thoroughly, but..."
"Well, it can't be helped. If you could filter everyone out, you'd be a god."
"True enough. Still, the standards are way too strict."
I agreed with Deputy Director Kim's opinion.
Things had decreased a lot as Daehanyedae's reputation grew, but corruption and scandal in the entertainment industry were always there.
Things like quietly slotting in a rookie actor, backing a rookie singer, viral marketing, or in severe cases, sponsors and sexual favors — in an industry where such things are rampant, this place stands tall like a noble crane.
"This time around, it could've just been passed over with an appropriate pay cut or something. Did they really need to fire them... anyway, the Department 4 Head and Manager got axed, so it's a vacancy. I need you to take over as their Department Manager."
"Excuse me??"
"The new temporary Department Head personally recommended you, Mr. Choi... sorry."
Hearing Deputy Director Kim's apology, I smoothed out the scowl that had twisted my face. It wasn't even his fault, and I'd nearly taken my irritation out on him.
"It's not something you need to apologize for, Deputy Director Kim. So who is it? The temporary Department Head."
"Professor Choi Mi-ae."
"Ah..."
"You'll get the official document by email... but I figured you ought to know about it first."
"Yes... understood. Thank you. This early in the morning and all."
"No, no."
Deputy Director Kim patted me on the back a couple of times in encouragement.
I walked into my office, opened the official email that had come in, and let out a deep sigh.
"Hah... it's for real."
No matter how temporary, what salaryman in the world is happy about his workload increasing?
Of course, at the very start, this job was more or less dumped on me, but things now are worlds better and more satisfying than those days when I just idled around.
Even so, I still don't like working.
Ring-ring-ring. Ring-ring.
The internal line rang. I snapped to attention and picked it up.
"Yes, Entertainment Department 5, Choi Sijun speaking."
- Sijun-ah?
"Yes, Professor."
I could tell who it was from her voice alone.
- Did you see the official document?
"Yes, I saw it."
- I'm sorry. You're the only person I can trust with this.
"It's nothing."
- Pff-hahaha, 'nothing' my foot! Look at you, all grown up into a proper working adult now, huh? You even know how to say empty things like that? Tell me honestly.
The voice coming through the receiver laughed so loud it almost distorted the speaker.
"Hah... ugh, why does it have to be me, Auntie?"
- Because you're my nephew, so I trust my nephew. Who else would I trust?
"Anyway, our family has way too much familial affection. Other people fight over inheritances, tear each other apart over hurt feelings..."
- Our family, you say? Do you want to die by your father's hand? I personally don't. So you are going to help me, right?
"Do I even have a choice? When you've already sent the official document stamped all the way up to the president's seal?"
- Nope, you don't. You are a working professional.
"Ugh, why on earth... does my aunt have to be the Department Head..."
- Let's just have lunch together. I'll come by later. Also, there's stuff we need to talk about.
She talked right over my grumbling, as if she didn't even hear it, and hung up. Probably didn't hear it.
When I logged into Department 4's network, which had been attached to the official document, I wanted to work even less.
"I'll buy you something tasty. Wipe that look off your face."
The person who showed up at lunchtime was my aunt — no, now my temporary boss, Professor Choi Mi-ae.
"Just pay me a good salary."
"You're loaded, but you're always going on about money."
"Don't you know the more money, the better?"
"Alright, alright. I'll even give you an allowance out of my own pocket. How's Eunhwi doing?"
"She's doing well."
"Oh-ho~? Look at that — just mention his girlfriend and his face lights right up?"
Seems like my expression really does soften just at the mention of Eunhwi-noona.
I spent a somewhat long lunch with my aunt, going over how to manage the work.
"Let's head out."
"Where to?"
"We've got to go make introductions."
"Ah..."
I got into my aunt's car and we headed to the Entertainment Department 4 building.
"It's huge..."
Entertainment Department 4.
If Entertainment Department 5 was the place that taught established actors, Entertainment Department 4 was the place that taught established singers.
The difference, if you could call it that, was that the main entrants weren't solo singers but idols.
You might ask what kind of college idols in their busiest years would attend, but since they teach everything from singing and dancing to songwriting and composing, it's not a bad deal from an idol's perspective. Plus, the school's name on your resume.
Honestly, it seems to me like a few of the departments — including our Department 5 and this Department 4 — were just sort of thrown together, but they're running well, which is amazing in its own right.
Clap clap!
When my aunt walked into the main hall and clapped her hands, the students who had been practicing their group dances all looked toward her.
"Treat this man, Department Manager Choi Sijun, well. He's here to help us. Understood?"
"Yes!!"
"You should introduce yourself, shouldn't you?"
My aunt smoothly stepped back and gave me the floor, but I only gave them a very formal greeting.
It was short — just who I was and a polite 'I look forward to working with you.' My aunt stared at me in disbelief, but I stood there confidently.
"See how different it is?"
"What is?"
"From Entertainment Department 5."
"Mm... Yeah, it really is different."
Compared to our department, with its free-spirited atmosphere where the whole student body barely assembled outside of class, Entertainment Department 4 was strictly regimented.
"Because the kids are who they are. If you don't keep a tight leash on them, they cause accidents."
Unlike actors who work solo, since they work in groups, cliques form, factions arise, and in a bad year, it's said that love-and-hate dramas rivaling the trashiest soap operas unfold.
"Will you be clocking out now?"
"Yeah, I have to."
Time flew by as I sat in my aunt's office receiving the handover of duties.
Very kindly, my aunt drove me back to the Department 5 building.
"Drive safe. I... won't be here tomorrow, so let's meet the day after."
"Yes. Drive safe. No, wait, Auntie."
"Hm?"
Just before getting out of the car, I voiced a question that had been puzzling me.
"Why didn't you just use your own TAs? Why promote me to Department Manager?"
There are professors like Eunhwi-noona who only keep a single TA, but usually, they keep three or more. Especially professors like my aunt, who have a ton of work, keep even more.
I wasn't just talking about the headcount of TAs. Having someone you already worked with get promoted is one thing, but having some parachuted-in rando suddenly show up — even if only in name — as your superior is never a good thing.
"They're busy. When would they even promote someone to Department Manager? Besides, they don't want the job either."
"What about me! I'm busy too!"
"You're already the Department Manager. Bye."
Without even listening to my anguished cry, my aunt drove off.