Chapter 14: When the Team Leader is Obsessed, There’s a Lot of Overtime-6
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 14: When the Team Leader is Obsessed, There’s a Lot of Overtime-6
Her family had struggled, but she was brilliant.
Because of that, she couldn't afford to spend much time job hunting. She had to start earning her keep as quickly as possible.
That was how Lee Mina ended up at her current company, sending most of her income back home.
The place she belonged to was too pathetic to even be called a department. It was a hollow organization, led by an executive who had been pushed out in a political power struggle.
Having lost his support base, the executive had no passion for work, and all sorts of miscellaneous administrative tasks fell to her.
One by one, her superiors and colleagues left. Eventually, she was the only one remaining.
As someone who had always been high-achieving, her pride was deeply wounded, but she couldn't resist. The meager salary that hit her bank account at the end of every month was her only, albeit dull, consolation.
And so, the days repeated.
A succession of meaningless tasks. Her body and mind grew increasingly exhausted.
Did I struggle so hard just to live a life like this?
She asked and answered herself. Her world was gradually turning achromatic.
Then, one day, a new recruit joined the department.
One executive, one senior staff member—her—and one rookie. It was a state of affairs too embarrassing to even call a department.
"Hello. I'm the new employee, Kang In-ho. I look forward to working with you."
Even though a handsome new recruit had joined, she didn't think much of it. To her, it just meant her workload had increased.
"In-ho, why did you apply here?"
A few days after he joined, she asked her first personal question.
"I figured that here, my results would reflect the effort I put in," he answered naively.
Thinking it was just the clumsy ambition of a newcomer to society, she laughed inwardly.
However, she soon changed her mind.
The new guy was hardworking in everything he did, and his pleasant personality earned him a good reputation even in other departments. The image of their organization being a dumping ground for the company's "unmanageable" personnel began to fade. The proposals he occasionally brought in were a bit unpolished, but they were full of brilliant ideas.
For the first time, she started to find work interesting.
The time she spent at the office began to grow longer. Sometimes, she would even volunteer to work through the weekend with the rookie, spending the whole day there.
She still remembered the taste of the coffee they shared in that empty office.
On a hot summer day, he had bought iced Americanos to quench their thirst. She loved that bitter, icy chill.
Just as the time spent with him was becoming truly happy, a change occurred.
As her organization began to show results, the higher-ups started to take notice. They pushed out the original executive and installed one with a promising future. Then, they began to bolster the staff.
Sometimes it was through internal transfers, other times through new hires.
As the scale of the organization grew, she became the Team Leader. However, he refused any title, saying it was too burdensome.
"Shouldn't you at least take a Part Head position?" she asked after he had declined the role during an interview with the Director.
"I'm not really the type of person who can manage others. I know my limits. I'm strictly the hands-on, practical type."
"I see. It would be a loss for the team to send someone so good at practical work elsewhere."
She smiled faintly, subtly hinting at her inner thoughts.
"Oh, come on. Where would I go? I'm going to keep working with you, Mina. Don't worry. If you think about it, these results are something the two of us achieved together."
He responded with a bright smile.
The word "us" felt so lovely to her, making her heart swell. She thought this time would last forever. She firmly believed that only she and he would exist within the fence of the "us" he spoke of.
But that wasn't the case.
Remaining a regular employee, he began to drown in the mounting workload, while she was frequently called away to leader meetings for organizational management rather than practical work.
The time she spent with him gradually decreased, and she didn't like it.
And she didn't like the "pests" who spoke to him as if they were close.
He was her sanctuary, her healing. He was the trophy she had won after enduring those colorless years.
But those pests, unaware of this, cast greedy eyes on her possession with light hearts. Just because he was handsome, just because he was kind.
She didn't like it at all.
But she wouldn't show it. That was what she decided.
That was why she gave him an excessive amount of work. The longer his overtime lasted, the longer the time he spent with her would be.
He looked tired, but she considered it an unavoidable sacrifice.
Then, one day, his attitude changed.
He, who had always smiled for her, looked at her with an expressionless face. His once positive attitude became chillingly cold.
Is it because of me?
Was he angry? She was suddenly terrified. The thought of him just up and leaving made her heart race frantically.
I have to apologize.
That was the only thought in her mind.
When she sought him out and talked to him, he didn't seem as angry as she had feared. He just looked a little tired.
She felt glad she had summoned the courage to go to him. Thanks to that, she even got to hear him call her "Nuna."
She vowed to restore their relationship and get even closer to him. As she returned after giving him the porridge, she made that firm resolution.
However, she was mistaken.
It was the weekend. A notification popped up on her phone—an alert that a team member had clocked in for weekend work.
Realizing he had come into the office, she hurried there. Her face was etched with a joy she couldn't hide as she made her way to the company.
But that joy was short-lived.
While he was away from his desk for a moment, she sat in his chair and looked at his screen, only to discover something strange.
"A recruitment site?"
This was... a job change?
Why? For what reason? Didn't things just get better between us?
You said we'd stay together. You said we'd work together forever.
Why did you change your mind?
Since when have you been thinking this?
The thoughts invaded and violated her mind.
The headache grew more intense. She looked at him as he just returned to his seat.
Snap.
She felt as if she heard something break.