One Stress-and-Misandry Factory
Neither work nor romance was easy.
Normally, when something hard hits you at the office, you blow it off with your girlfriend or the girl you're seeing; when romance gets rough, you bury yourself in work until you forget for a while. Wasn't that the cycle that was supposed to form?
"I pulled a list of subcontractors. Call them and get the quotes organized."
"Subcontractors? Yesterday, with the illegal dispatch issue, I was supposed to report on alternative options…"
"Come on, as long as our employees and the subcontractor people don't mix, it's fine, right? Field staff come and go every damn day — how long are we going to waste time hiring for the center? We've got a ton to do. Just do it my way."
Our handsome team-leader bastard had somehow talked the CEO around and come back with the proposal that had already been shot down, openly ordering me to commit an illegal act.
He seemed extremely offended that I had bypassed him, met the CEO, and derailed the whole thing. He used to explode when I didn't pass things up and reported every little item myself — the son of a bitch. He was digging in because he expected major results from this plan.
Results? Oh, they'd be big. Absolutely massive. You commit something illegal, of course you get results. But the moment you get caught, you cough those results back up and pay the price of having the CEO arrested.
That said, the Ministry of Employment and Labor blowing something up big enough to put a CEO in handcuffs was not an everyday occurrence. Those people already had more than enough on their plates as civil servants — if they poked into everything and dragged people off left and right, the labor ministry staff themselves would die of overwork without the protection of the Labor Standards Act. Low probability, though, was not the same as never. These days, reporters got bored and went undercover as day laborers, sticking their noses into everything.
The dominant logic at the company was: nothing like that had ever happened, so if we were just careful going forward, we'd be fine. As someone who, in five short years as an HR staffer, had lived through every kind of accident and report and even done some poking around myself, it was far too complacent. And when a team leader started openly throwing check balls at his own subordinate and forcing the issue, I wanted to hand in my resignation on the spot.
But my career was already a wreck from hopping jobs after a year or so, multiple times. I had to stick it out at least three years or no one would take me. I'd already hammered that point home more than once, and this kind of thing would be common wherever I went. At this rate I was starting to wonder if I was the idiot. In a village of one-eyed people, the guy with both eyes intact is the weird one, right?
Ah. Just yesterday I'd finally slept well and, though it was incomplete, successfully kicked off the first stage of Riyeon's training as a teaching assistant from early morning — and now the company, no, the boss sitting right in front of me, was pissing me off beyond belief. If this blew up, this bastard would definitely pin it on me, and so would the CEO. The HR guy who got the CEO arrested for illegal dispatch. Career over. The team leader, on the other hand, came from marketing — even if management support went down in flames, he could just go back to his original field and survive.
Fine. I'll do it your way. I'll give you what you want — but being forced and crushed into it by this guy twisted my guts something fierce.
"Yes, understood."
What choice did I have? A salaryman goes when the people above say go.
"I've clearly warned you, all right?"
"Injae, why are you so picky?"
"I'll start calling the subcontractors."
As a final ultimatum so he couldn't frame me later, I delivered one last warning and immediately turned obedient. The team leader's face said, See, I knew you'd come around. This bastard made that same face with the female team members sometimes — highly suspicious.
I stayed silent. If I opened my mouth now, the rage boiling up from the pit of my stomach would come roaring out like dragon's breath.
"Oh, right."
The handsome team leader held out a business card.
"There's a company I've already set a meeting with. Someone I know personally — take good care of it."
"What time is the meeting?"
"I didn't tell you, did I. After lunch, around two."
"Am I going alone?"
"Yeah, I'm a bit busy."
Must be very busy. Busy enough to dump a meeting he'd set up himself onto me. Stress, stress, stress. I hated myself for losing to a bastard like this just because of rank. Ah — he was older than me too, I suppose. Still, this kind of papering-over would surface eventually. The problem was that when it did, the person who deserved punishment and any real justice wouldn't be sitting in the right seat.
Was I living my life too hard? Was I needlessly crying out for justice and the law? Then again, I'd thrown justice away a long time ago. I was only trying to keep the absolute minimum of laws that had to be kept — and even that wasn't allowed. And sending me to a meeting like this was ultimately a scheme to claim that I had handled and processed the work. Only if something went wrong, of course. If nothing happened, he'd take all the credit, gobble it up whole, and demand a raise or an incentive.
Ah. This company was fucking awful.
That didn't mean romance was going smoothly either.
The girl in the seat next to me. Riyeon's mood was absolutely terrible. While I'd been in the conference room with the team leader for that not-quite-power-struggle, Riyeon had apparently been summoned to the CEO's office. Sometimes he called people in one by one for these interviews, and everyone who came back looked equally unhappy. I'd been there myself. But this was extreme. Whatever conversation had taken place, she was sitting with her arms crossed, her gaze far more vicious and murderous than usual.
Her various expressions — especially that bright smile — were reserved exclusively for me, so I might have forgotten, but the default face she showed the office and everyone else was that kill-you-with-her-eyes look. I hadn't known that murderous stare could get even more intense. She was so pissed that even the team leader, who'd come out of the conference room with me, flinched, couldn't even speak to her, and quietly sat down at his desk.
I checked my phone chat history. After some casual banter much earlier, there was a message saying the CEO had called her and she'd be right back — and nothing after that. She must be really mad. She hadn't even noticed I'd returned. Honestly I'd wanted to vent by trash-talking the team leader with Riyeon over chat, but that was a no-go now. Better just quietly do my work.
I looked at the list the team leader had thrown me over messenger and called each one to check quotes. These goddamn outsourcing companies — when I asked how much it would cost, every single one hit me with "What's your budget?" What is this, an electronics market?
"Yes, hello, this is about the meeting we scheduled for today…"
I called the company from the business card the team leader had given me, the one with the meeting already set up. I had to tell them I was going in his place. But looking at the company name — it was an outsourcing firm that, back when I was somewhere else, used to siphon factory workers off to other industrial complexes. The team leader knew someone at this place? Had he taken a kickback?
Decision made. After the meeting, I was not going to sign with this company. Minimal resistance. The person who answered the phone was extremely solicitous, which somehow made my gut feel even worse.
"I'm heading out for a field meeting."
"Already?"
"Yes, it's a bit far. I should leave now."
"Go after lunch."
He pretended to be concerned, but the handsome team leader's eyes were smiling. I'd wondered why he was dumping a meeting he'd set up himself — the place was far enough that to arrive by two, lunch would have to be skipped. I couldn't blame Riyeon for social skills or business manners. There were just a lot of shitty people in this world.
I grabbed my coat, and Riyeon from the next seat stood up with me.
"I have something the CEO asked me to do as well. I'll be back."
"You too, Riyeon? Go after lunch. Let's eat together."
"It's related to a site — I have to go to that district office."
"Then shall I go with you?"
"Why? Aren't you busy, Team Leader?"
"Excuse me?"
"I heard you on the phone next to me saying you were too busy so Injae was covering the external meeting in your place. Do you have time to go to the district office with me?"
Under Riyeon's sharp point, the team leader couldn't say a word. So she had been listening to everything. How mad must she have been to not even react when I came back?
"I'll go alone."
"…Be careful."
"I'll manage."
As expected of a woman who treated the company as a hobby — she was bold even with the team leader. Powerless me just bowed my head to him and trotted off toward the elevators. I pressed the call button and stood side by side with Riyeon, the rage and irritation radiating from her side making it hard to breathe. I didn't know the reason, but if Riyeon's mood was this foul, I wouldn't be able to maintain the atmosphere I was trying to lead.
"Where are you headed?"
"Jongno."
"I'll give you a ride."
"No need. You're going to Gwangjin District Office. That's the opposite direction."
"That was a lie."
"What?"
"I just made something up because I was so fucking pissed. I wasn't in the mood to work."
The atmosphere was too serious for me to say anything. She wasn't even huffing — just staring blankly ahead, speaking calmly, like an active volcano right before it erupted.
"Yeah, everyone has days like that once or twice."
I rationalized it for her, obediently followed, and got into the passenger seat of Riyeon's car. Even after starting the engine and pulling out of the parking lot, Riyeon said nothing. Extremely uncomfortable. It felt like driving with a bomb in the next seat.
"Riyeon, what's wrong? Did something happen?"
"No."
"You don't seem okay. Talk to Oppa about it."
"…It's really nothing."
"If it were nothing, you'd have spilled it all to me already. Today marks one week of us seeing each other, and if Riyeon's in a bad mood, I feel a bit…"
Before I could finish, Riyeon gave me a deep kiss. For a moment the tension around her eyes eased slightly, but they were still vicious.
"Oppa, I just got drained listening to the CEO's nonsense. Wait until I recover. I'm sorry. Really sorry."
"…Okay."
Okay, my ass. My insides were already twisted, and I'd put on a mask of my own. Outwardly smiling, everything else growing more and more rigid. Even Riyeon, whom I'd trusted, reacting like this — I felt betrayed. Except for the parts where she goes overboard, I like you a lot too, and yet you're pushing me away like this. After saying you like me that much. After being that obsessed. And on top of that the company was doing a murderous dance aimed right at me.
"Oppa, want to get food first?"
"…No. I don't have an appetite."
Only then did she glance at me sideways. Whatever. After that there were no more words, and we quietly headed to the meeting place. Something black and heavy was pressing down on my insides.