The New Business Card
A week later.
"Yes. Well then, we look forward to working with you."
Kang Hyeong-seok gathered up the contract bearing his signature and rose from his seat. The man across the table rose with him, seeing him out with a warm, good-natured smile and a few parting words of goodwill for the road ahead.
The contract was sealed.
The car door thudded shut, and Kang Hyeong-seok let out a long breath of relief, sweeping a hand down his face. It hadn't been a major client by any stretch, but viewed over the long run, it was the kind of place that would clearly do the company some good.
Beep—drrrr-rrrr-rrrr-rrrr.
He dialed Kwak Young-ho to report in, and the call connected on the first ring, as if the man had been waiting by the phone.
"Oh, Assistant Manager Kang! How'd it go?"
"We signed. They came out more agreeable than I expected, honestly."
"Heyyy! Good man. Anything unusual come up?"
"No, sir. It all went by the usual procedure."
"What's your afternoon look like?"
"Just working the phones, sir."
"Then you're heading straight back to the office?"
"Yes. Was there something you needed from me?"
Department Head Kwak Young-ho was, without question, a pushover for this sort of thing.
"Assistant Manager Kang..."
His voice went thick with emotion on the spot.
"If there's nothing else, shall I pick up some snacks on the way in?"
"Ooh, now you're talking. You've got the company card on you, right?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then just swipe about forty bucks' worth at that bakery there and bring it back. I'll square it with the receipt."
Strictly speaking, this was not the sort of thing one was supposed to do. But the culture at Daejeong Mulsan was never that rigid, and there was an unspoken rule that landing a contract bought you a little latitude.
"Understood. I'll grab something you like along with the snacks, then."
"You bring back that receipt, you hear!"
"Of course. Yes, sir."
It would never actually come to that, but if anyone ever asked, the expense would have to be quietly filed under office supplies.
Kang Hyeong-seok bought a sensible assortment from a chain bakery nearby. Bread prices these days were damn outrageous. He had spent exactly forty bucks and come away with a single bag.
"I'm back."
Returning a little past the lunch hour, Kang Hyeong-seok opened the bag and laid the bread out across the table.
"I'll go pour the coffee!"
Namgoong Min-ah fetched the coffee from the break room while Kwak Young-ho brought over small plates and forks.
"What about Section Chief Shin?"
"She's out on business. You know how hard she's been working lately."
"Ah, of course. She must be very busy."
That was the sales department for you. The work done inside the office mattered, but the real workplace was out beyond it, in the field.
"How are things going for you these days, Min-ah?"
"I've been keeping in steady contact with the accounts assigned to me, sir. One of them has already sent us samples."
"If a meeting ever comes up, coordinate your schedule with Assistant Manager Kang and go together. Got it?"
"You got it!"
At Namgoong Min-ah's spirited answer, Kwak Young-ho beamed at her as though she were a favorite niece. Then he sliced the bread with his own hands, passed the pieces around on the small plates, and collected the receipt from Kang Hyeong-seok.
"Now—eating bread on the clock is slacking off, but eating bread while you hear the announcements? That's a staff meeting. Everyone clear on that?"
"Huh? That actually counts?"
Namgoong Min-ah shot back in wide-eyed astonishment, and Kang Hyeong-seok answered for him.
"Yes. It counts."
"Oh."
Kwak Young-ho chuckled, plainly delighted by the ridiculous mood, and opened his mouth.
"Word is there may be a department reorganization some time next month."
"A reorganization, sir?"
"Yeah. Nothing that touches our department, though. We've got Sales Team 1 and Team 2 as things stand, right?"
"Yes, sir."
Kang Hyeong-seok sat in Sales Team 1. Team 2 existed too, but the two were rivals in spirit more than anything, and with no real point of contact between them, he had scarcely ever crossed paths with them.
"They're standing up a Team 3 this time."
This was news to him. Brow narrowing, Kang Hyeong-seok lifted his eyes from the sweetly fragrant bread and coffee to Kwak Young-ho.
"Out of nowhere, sir?"
As if he understood the reaction perfectly, a smile lined Kwak's mouth with small wrinkles.
"Sounds like they'll run it on a provisional basis at first. Rather than scrambling to make new hires, they intend to fill the headcount through the reorganization."
"If it's a reorganization, then our team..."
"They'll pull people from here and there, I imagine. For the record—nobody from our team is going to Team 3."
In that case, it hardly mattered. The family that was Team 1 wasn't being broken up.
"Looks like the people upstairs are serious about growing the company for real. You all remember the direct overseas purchasing talk from before, right?"
"Yes!"
"I do, sir."
"Right. Team 3 will handle the direct overseas purchasing work for now, on a provisional footing."
Building out the systems. Settling on a concrete business direction. If they launched their own online storefront connecting overseas products directly with buyers, the operation would only swell from there. And above all, everything would hinge on product selection—good goods at good prices were the only way a direct-purchase business could take root.
"All you need to keep in mind is that depending on how things shake out, some of that work could end up shared with us."
Kang Hyeong-seok glanced, unbidden, at Shin Jeong-ah's empty seat. Important matters were being discussed. Was it really all right that she wasn't here for it?
"I already briefed Section Chief Shin separately."
Reading the thought right off his face, Kwak Young-ho said it with a smile and tipped his chin toward the floor where the smoking room sat. Smokers really did have their own channel for this kind of thing. It wasn't for nothing that the smoking area had earned the name of second conference room.
"Anyway! Just keep the situation in mind as I've laid it out. And brace yourself—Team 2 is going to come in with their hackles up."
Only then did the humor drain from Kwak Young-ho's face, as though he had saved the serious part for last.
"Provisional or not, and their work being different from ours or not, sales is going to be three teams in total. Everyone will be charging out there to make the best impression they can, so we'd best stay sharp ourselves."
Where Namgoong Min-ah sat blinking in a daze, Kang Hyeong-seok nodded in silence. A new Team 3 was being born. Kwak hadn't said so outright, but the circumstances and the mood made it plain enough that at least a few people would be moving over from Team 2. It wasn't a rosy picture, exactly—though neither could it be called a bad one. Provisional label aside, it was still a brand-new team. People would grind themselves to the bone to shake that temporary tag, to leave a strong impression in the new unit and turn it into a rung toward promotion.
So we really will need to put up better numbers of our own.
Being measured against the other teams and chewed out over the results was a miserable thing.
"I'll do my best to scout out good accounts on my end too, so just trust me and follow my lead."
Kwak Young-ho said it with real force, and Namgoong Min-ah—fork halfway to her mouth with a piece of bread on it—nodded furiously, glancing around sheepishly.
"Oh, and Assistant Manager Kang. Your new business cards came in."
"I'm sorry?"
"You're due for promotion anyway, so I pulled a few strings and had the cards made ahead of schedule. From today on, when you're out on sales calls, you go by Section Chief."
Kang Hyeong-seok stared at him for a moment in surprise, then lifted the corners of his mouth and nodded.
"Understood."
"There are things that get easier once you're carrying the Section Chief title."
"Yes, I know."
In sales, rank was a weapon. People wanted to sit across from someone of comparatively higher standing, and everyone nursed the ambition to close with somebody who had a Director after their name, if they could help it.
Section Chief Kang Hyeong-seok.
It still sat a little uneasily. But it was by no means a bad feeling.
"Oh, come on—give me a big, hearty grin! Assistant Manager Kang."
"Sir, you're the one who said the cards simply came first."
"You'll be formally promoted before next month anyway! The higher-ups were the ones who told me to promote you over that warehouse contract."
Namgoong Min-ah, cheeks bulging like a hamster's with bread, hastily set down her fork and began to clap.
"Congraaats, sir!"
"Min-ah, swallow first, then talk."
"Mmph..."
Laughing, Kang Hyeong-seok dipped his head to Namgoong Min-ah and Kwak Young-ho alike. This was a promotion with reasons behind it. He had done solid work all along, and the warehouse contract had left a fine impression on the higher-ups besides. And now, with the teams about to compete, it amounted to pressing one more good weapon into Kang Hyeong-seok's hands.
"I'll work hard, sir."
"Same rank now—just remember you don't get to go toe-to-toe with Section Chief Shin, all right?"
"Of course not! I know better than that."
Kang Hyeong-seok burst out laughing at the curveball Kwak had thrown, and even as he did, another thought was turning over in his mind.
A big contract, hm...
It would be nice to land one, no question. It would spare Kwak Young-ho's face and raise the whole team's standing. It might even seed the notion upstairs that promote Kang Hyeong-seok and the kid just takes off flying!
But contracts like that didn't simply drop out of the sky, nor did they come bubbling up out of the ground.
"I expect I'll be spending most of my time out in the field for a while, sir."
"Yes, yes, of course. We'll cover your fuel, so make sure you get a receipt every time you fill up."
Daejeong Mulsan was not the sort of petty operation that only reimbursed fuel bought at one designated gas station.
"Yes, sir."
"So? Got anywhere in mind?"
Kwak Young-ho sent him a look brimming with expectation. Kang Hyeong-seok held his lips pressed together a moment before parting them.
"Nothing in particular just yet."
"Really, now...?"
"But there may be a place or two worth sounding out. I'll let you know once I'm certain."
He intended to make a run at the construction companies. A worksite devoured staggering mountains of concrete, sand, and rebar over years of building. Crack even one of those accounts and it would be a bonanza. But the incumbent suppliers had those doors shut fast, and new ground was never easy to break.
"Would you say I'm safe to get my hopes up about you?"
Kwak Young-ho asked, his face half in jest, half in earnest hope.
"If it goes well."
Kang Hyeong-seok replied with a sheepish grin.
"Assistant Manager Kang!"
It came just as Kang Hyeong-seok slid into his car to head home. The call was from Shin Jeong-ah, and the moment he pressed the answer button, her voice came pouring out of the car's Bluetooth speakers.
"Yes, Section Chief?"
"So how was it, eating bread without me? Tasty, was it?"
Word had apparently gotten around. Kang Hyeong-seok laughed without a sound and keyed his home address into the navigation. Truth be told, he could have found the way without it. But there were speed cameras to mind, and somewhere along the line it had become ritual—the day didn't feel like it was truly over until the navigation was running.
"I set your share aside separately, but you never made it back before I clocked out."
"Don't get me started. The old boys here drink like there's no tomorrow."
Listening closely, he thought he could just catch the alcohol in her voice.
"Are you all right?"
"I can hold my liquor just fine. Anyway—you got your cards, right? We're both section chiefs now."
"The cards simply beat the promotion here, that's all."
"Which makes it a promotion in all but name. Congratulations!"
With a faint smile, Kang Hyeong-seok wound out of the parking lot and onto the main road. He had deliberately left a good fifteen minutes late, and the lanes were still thick with cars.
"Thank you, Section Chief."
"Oh, right—the Department Head was saying something, apparently? That you know a place where you could land something big?"
"Ah—you heard about that?"
"He asked me whether I happened to know anything."
"He asked you the same thing?"
"You know how much the Head expects of you."
That was true enough. And now and then, it did hang heavy on him.
"So? You're not going to tell me either?"
"I've no reason to hide it. Besides, I'd say you've already got a fair idea."
"Me?"
"Yes. You know this whole thing started because of my uncle, right?"
"Huh? ...Right."
"My uncle works in construction. If it goes well, I may be able to wrangle an introduction into that side of things."
"Ah... How do you rate your chances?"
"He owes me a favor, so I expect he'll put in a word."
A safety manager was hardly a lofty post. But the role kept a foot in the head office's door, and it put a man in front of all manner of people—played well, who was to say it couldn't turn into something?
"I hope it goes well, Assistant Manager Kang—no, Section Chief Kang."
Only then did Kang Hyeong-seok laugh, every bit as awkward as the moment called for.
Brrring-brrring-brrring.
"Ah, pardon me—another call's coming in."
"Hm? At this hour?"
"Yes. It's my uncle."
"Pick up, quick!"
Shin Jeong-ah ended the call for him before he even had to. And so Kang Hyeong-seok found himself on the line with his uncle.