3
3 ### Demotion
“Director. The Executive Director is asking for you.”
The female employee spoke cautiously. These days, the atmosphere in the department was a complete mess, and even a junior female employee knew that being summoned by someone higher up was probably not a good thing. That was probably why she had such a cautious expression.
“Really? All right.”
As Department Head Jeon got up from his chair, the female employee asked,
“Would you like me to bring you some coffee?”
“No. It’s fine.”
It definitely wasn’t going to be good news. Coffee tasted awful when you were drinking it after getting chewed out.
In front of the executive director’s office, Department Head Jeon Je-cheol took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
Knock, knock.
“Come in.”
That unpleasant voice, no matter how many times he heard it. A harsh, phlegmy voice that sounded like it had been soaked in cigarette smoke.
Department Head Jeon Je-cheol carefully sat down in one of the chairs around the eight-person conference table in the middle of the executive director’s office, which was larger than Jeon Je-cheol’s fourteen-pyeong officetel.
“How are you? Doing okay?”
The executive director asked while sitting at his desk, without even looking at Jeon Je-cheol.
“I’m fine.”
“It looks like we won’t be able to quietly sweep this under the rug. He keeps stirring things up at the executive meeting just now. We can’t cover it up anymore.”
“Is Managing Director Choi doing that?”
“Yeah. That bastard has made up his mind to screw us over.”
Damn it. If Managing Director Choi had decided to tear them apart, there was no way this would quietly go away.
“The loss isn’t that large. It’s within the range of what could occur in a project of this scale.”
“Who doesn’t know that? You can throw away the meat stuck to a pig’s trotter bone, or you can eat it. We said it was fine to throw it away, while that bastard Choi says it’s still edible.”
He had gotten caught in something filthy.
This was a power struggle between the executive director and the managing director. The managing director had found an issue that could humiliate the executive director, and it was obvious he intended to keep biting at it until the very end.
The executive director watched Department Head Jeon’s expression for a moment before cautiously speaking. This was the reason he had summoned him.
“Department Head Jeon. No, Je-cheol. You trust me, right?”
“Yes, hyung.”
Damn it.
He had said, “You trust me, right?”
The words asking him to take the fall would surely come next.
His vision went white.
“Just keep your head down for two years. I’ll definitely bring you back after two years. I’ll prepare a business card with the title of director and bring you back. I promise.”
Demotion.
It was a word he had heard countless times, but it had always belonged to another world, one that had nothing to do with Department Head Jeon Je-cheol.
He had graduated from S University, the most prestigious university in Korea, and had worked cleanly without making a single mistake until now.
An elite whom everyone acknowledged.
And now that man was being demoted.
It was one of those famous sayings in the workplace: It takes a long time to build something up, but it can collapse in an instant.
Suddenly being advised to take voluntary retirement, departments being merged or abolished, being passed over for promotion.
A salaried employee could have everything collapse in a single moment.
“Where am I being sent?”
There was no point arguing.
Once the executive director had said he would have to keep his head down for two years, there was no taking those words back.
It had already been decided at the executive meeting.
“The outlet store in the basement of the main building.”
An outlet store created by eliminating the employee parking lot under the guise of improving management efficiency.
It had been established to dispose of the company’s outdated inventory.
A graveyard for department heads who had failed to get promoted to executives.
And he was supposed to climb back out of that grave?
On top of that, he was supposed to get promoted to an executive?
What a load of bullshit.
“Department Head Jeon. Don’t worry. You’re the only person I trust. Do you think I’m going to abandon you there? Two years at the most. Before then, I’ll crush that bastard Choi and bring you back. Don’t worry. Just wait.”
The scenario was that Department Head Jeon would take responsibility for the crime of throwing away the meat stuck to the pig’s trotter bone and go down to the basement.
Department Head Jeon quietly stood up, bowed to the executive director, and left the office.
He didn’t do something stupid like slam the door behind him.
---
“Bring out whoever’s in charge! Are you people playing games with me right now? Who doesn’t know that outlet stores sell leftover merchandise? But you can’t sell defective products and call them leftover merchandise. Am I wrong? Bring the person in charge out right now. I didn’t give you money so I could buy defective goods! You people think I’m an idiot!”
A middle-aged man was shouting at the top of his lungs in the middle of the store.
His face was red, and he looked like he had been drinking.
In front of the middle-aged man stood a female employee who didn’t know what to do and a young male employee whose face was twisted into an expression of irritation.
It was obvious what had happened.
He had bought a hiking jacket, gone hiking happily as if he were on a picnic, and probably torn the jacket after catching it on a tree branch or falling down.
Although he had bought it at an outlet store, it was still a fairly well-known brand.
He had probably spent money he could barely afford to buy that jacket, so having it tear must have been irritating.
With the mindset of having nothing to lose, he had come back to exchange it.
A first-class nuisance customer.
His shamelessness had probably been fueled by the alcohol he had drunk during the day.
In just three months since being sent down to the store, Jeon Je-cheol had already dealt with more than ten people like him.
Department Head Jeon Je-cheol had spent his career negotiating back and forth with well-dressed, educated people in hotels and conference rooms.
His pride was simply too strong to deal with ignorant people like these.
Ignoring the employees who were struggling with the situation, he left the store and drove to the place he had been visiting most often lately.
Despite it being the middle of the day, there were many people along the Han River.
One thing he had learned during the past three months, something he had never noticed before, was that there were surprisingly many middle-aged men dressed in suits wandering around during weekday afternoons.
His first impression had been that they were pathetic.
But now he understood.
Those middle-aged men probably felt no differently from him.
They were trying to blow away even a little of the frustration weighing them down.
His cell phone interrupted him.
He had expected it to be a call from an employee suffering at the hands of a troublesome customer.
But it was a call from an old colleague.
“Department Head Song. What brings you to me? You actually called someone like me? Haha.”
Department Head Song, who had joined the company at the same time as him, was now the head of the Human Resources team.
They used to meet quite often and share drinks, but after Je-cheol was demoted to the outlet store, Song had not called him even once.
“Where are you right now? I came down to the store, but I don’t see you.”
“What's the occasion that brings you all the way to the store personally?”
“You bastard, this isn't the time to talk like that. Where are you? Hurry up and come. No, forget it. I’ll come to you.”
“I’m outside right now. What happened? Did the hotteok shop catch fire?”
“You’re outside? Good. Let’s meet outside instead. You know the coffee shop behind the main building? Wait there. Hurry your ass over!”
When Department Head Jeon had been a new employee, places where people went to drink coffee were called dabangs.
They weren’t self-service. You could sit at your table, place an order, and have your coffee brought to you, and you could smoke as much as you wanted.
They were comfortable places.
Twenty years later, coffee had become expensive, you had to get it yourself, and smoking was no longer allowed.
It had become an inconvenient place, but times had changed to the point where there was nothing you could complain about.
“What’s going on that you’re making such a fuss?”
“Sit down quickly. This isn’t the time to sit around leisurely, you bastard.”
Department Head Song was drinking his coffee with a serious expression, refusing even the hand Je-cheol extended for a handshake.
“Why? What happened?”
Song glanced around for a moment before lowering his voice.
“Department Head Jeon. What really happened with that logistics center site purchase last time?”
“You bastard. Why? You think I don’t know that’s why I’m in this mess?”
The subcontracting factory in Qingdao, China, and the local factory had grown larger every year, making it necessary to inspect the logistics system.
There were more than several thousand types of subsidiary materials produced at domestic subcontracting factories, and delivery requirements from China were becoming increasingly unpredictable.
As a result, logistics costs had begun increasing exponentially.
They had determined that establishing a logistics center and maintaining an appropriate level of inventory would be more advantageous in terms of production schedules and costs than transporting everything separately from Korea.
The final site for the center had been decided to be Pyeongtaek.
Managing Director Choi had suggested building the logistics center in China, but his proposal had been dismissed because it would be disadvantageous for quality control and final inspection.
Managing Director Choi must have desperately prayed for the logistics center project to fail.
And his prayers had been answered.
After approximately six billion won had been poured into purchasing the land, the logistics center was canceled.
China’s endless demands for a local logistics center in China had won out, and the Pyeongtaek project was halted.
Managing Director Choi, who was scheduled to take charge of the Chinese factory the following year, had won.
A logistics center wasn't simply a place to store subsidiary materials.
The final inspection of all subsidiary materials produced in Korea would take place at the logistics center.
It determined who would become the super-powerful party controlling more than a hundred domestic subcontracting factories.
The executive director had intended to hold that power, but it had been taken by China instead.
Managing Director Choi had gained the power to control the domestic subcontracting factories.
Je-cheol had thought that would be enough to satisfy him.
But Managing Director Choi’s attack had not stopped.
And the result was Department Head Jeon’s demotion.
They had tried to make the executive director take responsibility for the six billion won that had been poured into the project.
But they had not actually lost six billion won.
The land was still there.
The money had simply been converted into a real estate asset.
“The entire audit team has gone to Pyeongtaek. They’re tracing the process of the real estate purchase.”
“Why?”
Jeon’s face turned pale as he asked again.
“You didn’t pull any tricks, did you?”
Just by looking at Jeon’s suddenly changed expression, Department Head Song could tell.
There had obviously been some kind of trick.
The problem was how extensive that trick was.
“I don’t know. Whether it was some damn trick or not, there was nothing.”
“This is all I can do for you. If the audit team has been sent out, it could potentially lead to criminal charges. If there’s anything you need to clean up, clean it up.”
Department Head Song left first, leaving even the coffee he had been drinking behind.
After confirming that Song had left, Jeon Je-cheol hurriedly went to find the executive director.
“Oh? Department Head Jeon. What brings you here? You’ve been having a tough time lately, haven’t you? Sit down. Have a cup of coffee before you go.”
This was the first time Je-cheol had visited him since being transferred to the store.
The executive director welcomed him much more warmly than he had expected.
“Executive Director. Do you know that the audit team has been sent out?”
“The audit team? Why?”
Judging by his expression, this seemed to be the first he had heard of it.
The audit team was investigating Pyeongtaek, and the executive director didn't know?
Could this also be one of Managing Director Choi’s schemes?
“They’re investigating the purchase of the Pyeongtaek site.”
“What? Where did you hear that?”
“Department Head Song from Human Resources told me. Just a little while ago.”
“Department Head Song? Your classmate from your joining year? What did he say?”
The executive director’s voice grew louder.
He must have thought everything was over.
Department Head Jeon had thought so too.
“What did he say? I told him it was pointless because there had been no wrongdoing.”
The executive director was silent for a moment before letting out a long sigh.
“Fuck. We got played.”
Only after hearing the executive director say they had been played did Jeon realize that he had been played as well.
“Department Head Song! That bastard!”
Whether it was a factory, warehouse, or building, the moment a large corporation purchased land, the price of that land would rise.
If the landowners in the area found out that the buyer was a large corporation, they would never sell at the market price.
That was why companies secretly used intermediaries to purchase land in advance.
Of course, the owner’s family could purchase the land beforehand and later sell it to the corporation.
Executives who knew about the plan could also buy land around the planned site in advance.
After all, the value of the surrounding land would rise once the building was constructed.
The executive director and Department Head Jeon had also made small investments and secured profits of more than twenty percent before pulling out as the land purchase neared completion.
Of course, everything had been done under borrowed names.
Because they hadn't been greedy and hadn't made large profits, they hadn't even considered that what they were doing constituted wrongdoing.
“Department Head Song was just testing your reaction. If he thought something was going on, he'll start digging from now on. Did you give him even the slightest clue that there was something to uncover?”
Song must have noticed.
The expression on Je-cheol’s face when the words “real estate purchase” came up.
His inability to hide his embarrassment.
Judging from Jeon’s silence, Song had probably already figured everything out.
“Department Head Jeon. You didn’t know Song had joined Managing Director Choi’s side? And if the audit team had been sent out, do you really think I wouldn’t know?”
He hadn't known.
The Human Resources team was a support department, not sales or production.
He had never imagined that Song would have secured a place on the promotion line.
“For now, go back downstairs. I’ll look into things and contact you. Keep your mouth shut.”
Department Head Jeon returned helplessly to the basement store.
He briefly considered going to find Department Head Song and beating the hell out of him.
But he couldn't do it.
Song was simply struggling to survive.
There was no malice behind it.
Je-cheol only hated himself for foolishly revealing everything when Song had casually tested him.
As a result, all of Je-cheol’s choices had been taken away from him.
He could only stand by and watch as someone else decided what would happen to his life.
It was only a job.
Just a company.
A transaction in which he provided his labor and received a little money called a salary in return.
That was what being an employee, a salaried worker, meant.
There had never been a clause in the contract saying he was handing over his life as well.
And yet Je-cheol had handed over his entire life.
To a person called the executive director, who was nothing more than another employee himself, rather than to the company.
The old song lyric, “I really lived like a fool,” had become Department Head Jeon Je-cheol’s theme song.
He no longer had the confidence to maintain this life in such a pathetic manner.
He had thrown away his pride.
He had thrown away his right to choose.
He had nothing left.
All he could think about was throwing down his resignation letter and going to America.
He could live with his wife and his two sons, whom they had sent to America for early education.
Whether he made and sold sandwiches or developed Korean-style kimbap and opened a business, making enough to survive wouldn't be a problem.
Besides, he had a considerable amount of savings and even some slush funds he had set aside through his little schemes.
Fortunately, he had hidden all of it in America.
The money he had painstakingly accumulated while living alone in a fourteen-pyeong officetel as a goose father.
He would use that money to start over.
He would begin his second life right now.
---
“Good work, Department Head Song.”
“Not at all, Executive Director. All I did was have a cup of coffee and test the waters. What did I really do?”
“No. Still, aren't we colleagues who joined the company together? I know this isn't easy for you.”
“Thank you. To be honest, I don't feel good about it either.”
At an izakaya, the executive director praised what Department Head Song had done at the coffee shop over a few simple side dishes and a bottle of soju.
They took turns pouring drinks for each other, and before even ten minutes had passed, the bottom of the bottle was already visible.
“I don't feel good about it either. I thought he'd resign and quit after that kind of personnel decision, but I never imagined he'd hold on. Department Head Jeon has a bit of an elite complex, you know.”
“I thought he'd resign too. Isn't that place supposed to be the graveyard of department heads?”
“It'll be troublesome if Department Head Jeon hangs on after we've gone this far.”
The executive director subtly watched Song's reaction before trailing off.
“Will it really be wrapped up if Department Head Jeon resigns? Managing Director Choi looks like he's going to keep pushing until the very end.”
“And if it isn't wrapped up? What can Managing Director Choi do?”
The executive director and Department Head Song didn't feel good about what they were doing.
To the executive director, Jeon had been like his right-hand man.
To Song, he had been his closest friend among the employees who joined the company at the same time.
Neither of them was Jeon Je-cheol’s enemy or sworn adversary.
There was one simple reason they had no choice but to do this.
Survival.
That was all.
“You know what you mentioned earlier? I’ll take responsibility for that. Your English isn't a problem, is it?”
“No. My TOEIC score is more than sufficient according to the personnel regulations. I'm also confident in my conversational English.”
“Then it's settled. I'll arrange for you to be transferred to the American subsidiary during next year's regular personnel appointments.”
“Thank you, Executive Director.”
In a company centered around manufacturing and exports, it was difficult to climb the corporate ladder unless you were in sales or production.
Human Resources was a support department, after all.
After spending nearly twenty years in Human Resources, Song couldn't even dream of moving to another department.
The only executive position he could realistically aim for was head of the Management Division, but only the finance people could reach that position.
Song was also approaching the seniority required for executive promotion in two years, but he couldn't see a path forward.
In America, Human Resources was highly valued.
It was called H.R., Human Resource, and was considered an important position.
Recruitment, promotions, dismissals, training, evaluations, and even talent scouting all fell under its responsibilities.
His children had also entered high school, so if he were transferred to the American subsidiary, he could send them to an international school.
It would be killing three birds with one stone.
His children could study in America, while Song himself could build an H.R. career, making it easier to get recruited by a headhunting company in Korea later.
And he could secure a high salary.
If the executive director backed him, getting transferred to the American subsidiary wouldn't be difficult.
The first task the executive director had personally entrusted to him after Song became his right-hand man was to drive Department Head Jeon into a corner.
He felt sorry and guilty about it, but what else could he do?
Didn't he have to survive?
He had five family members depending on him, including his parents.
Now he had to repay the executive director.
To finish the job perfectly, he needed to relieve the executive director of his lingering uneasiness.
“I’ll make sure he writes his resignation letter. I’ll just stir things up a little.”
“Oh, you can do that? Cleanly?”
The executive director’s face brightened as he poured Song another drink.