Chapter 38: Chapter 38

Translator: – –  Editor: – –

Translator: cspyon

Editor: Modlawls123

“Hey, guys, come together!”

At the manager’s instructions, the team members moved quickly. They knew how hard it would be for them once they lost his favor.

Looking around, the manager fixed his eyes on Hyunwoo as if he wanted to torment him with his glittering eyes.

“As soon as the vacation season is over, management has decided to create a break room inside the company. You already heard about it, right?”

Hyunwoo knew about it. Some time ago, the management ran an idea contest for a break room. The break room had some conditions: low construction cost, efficient use of vacant room, an attractive appearance, and availability as a temporary dormitory for the employees.

As the dormitory of Aurum was too outdated, it needed remodeling as soon as possible.

Hyunwoo offered his own idea. Each team was supposed to offer at least two ideas, so Hyunwoo set the example.

“Various ideas were offered, but management adopted the idea presented by the purchasing team.”

The team members’ eyes opened wide. Though there was no award money, they deserved the credit. They expected the manager’s mood to get better with this good news.

However, the manager’s expression never changed. Rather, he seemed to be dissatisfied.

“Who offered the idea of making an earth house with the rooms floored with flat stones? Whose idea was it?”

At that moment, Hyunwoo’s eyes opened wide because it had been Hyunwoo’s idea.

In fact, Hyunwoo felt sentimental about traditional Korean houses.

He wanted to feel the excitement of lighting wood fires and roasting potatoes or chestnuts over the fire. He also wanted to see white smoke rising from the chimney.

Hyunwoo raised his hand.

Park looked at him with an unpleasant look.

“You guys know that each team has to support the construction on a rotation basis, don’t you?”

Of course they knew about that. Lots of employees complained about it, but they accepted it on management’s assurance that each team’s working hours at the construction site would not last over two hours. Management wanted to build the new dormitory with its employees with the promise of some special allowances for the participants.

“We agreed to work with the general affairs team on the first day. We need two people. Will anybody volunteer?”

When the manager asked, they avoided his eyes because they were reluctant to be picked at all.

The manager smiled as if he had already expected their reaction well in advance. In fact, nobody wanted to volunteer for hard manual work at the construction site instead of comfortable office work.

However, Hyunwoo was thinking differently. Ah, I would like to volunteer.

Hyunwoo liked to work in the field better than in the office. Rather than type on the keyboard and touch the files at his desk, it was much better for him to work up a sweat. Despite that, he didn’t volunteer because he didn’t want to create misunderstandings, which was his colleagues might think that he was making an excuse to not work in the office.

Above all, he was a new hire and a high-school graduate. It was inevitable that he lagged far behind Min Suji and Oh Sangho in terms of work. Accordingly, he had to stay in the office and learn business knowledge instead of spending time in the field.

“Assistant manager Jang Hyunwoo!”

The manager shouted, at which Hyunwoo raised his head suddenly.

“This is your idea. So, you have to volunteer instead of giving your colleagues trouble. Don’t you think so?”

Hyunwoo was glad to hear that. At the very least, he could avoid any misunderstandings. Though he had less time to master business knowledge, he still felt good about the fact that he would be getting out of the stuffy office. However, he was opposed to the manager’s thinking that the person who offered the idea was responsible. What was more surprising was the manager’s order.

“You pick one more person to go with you.”

Suddenly, Hyunwoo found himself in a difficult situation. Who would he choose? Though he was an assistant manager, he could not point at his superior. He was a bit uncomfortable about picking Oh. Though he felt more friendly toward him since the brainstorming session, clearly this was not the kind of work he would choose Oh for.

At that moment, Yonggu raised his hand abruptly and said, “Let me go with him.”

The manager turned his head quickly like lightning. Though the vacation season was at an end, it was extremely hot and humid because of the continuous rain during the vacation season. Even the new hires would balk at the manager’s direction in a weather like this, but Yonggu, the veteran member, volunteered unexpectedly.

Suddenly, the manager thought about Hyunwoo and Yonggu’s relationship.

Ah, I see. They are from the same high school.

He could then understand the situation. Suddenly, he felt sorry about Yonggu.

But another person shouted, “I would like to volunteer, sir.”

The manager’s jaws dropped at that. It was no other than Oh Sangho.

The other members were just as surprised because manual work didn’t fit Oh’s image at all.

Park asked again with a perplexed look, “Mr. Oh, can you do it?”

“Of course, sir. I’m a member of the purchasing team. I would like to contribute in a situation like this,” Oh said in a confident manner. At that moment, each of the team members began raising their hands without exception.

The manager was now embarrassed rather than surprised.

“Even you, Min Suji?”

“Yes, you said that female employees should not think of exceptions when it comes to hard work.”

Park felt as if he had been stabbed in the back by them.

Actually, the reason Park chose Hyunwoo to send to the construction site was because he wanted to make an example out of him as a warning that if someone loses his favor, he or she would get the axe like Hyunwoo. If the purchasing team members would volunteer as a whole like this, that meant that his intentions were futile. He felt as if all of the members were protesting against him.

When he thought about it, he suddenly got angry.

“What are you doing now? You guys want to fight it out with me?”

“How could we, sir? We just want to help as team members.”

“That’s the same thing!” shouted the manager.

In fact, Park was not wrong, as he had grasped the picture of the situation accurately. The team members were making a protest against him, and the main instigator was Kim Yonggu.

In fact, Yonggu recently gathered his team members and instructed them on how to deal with the manager. He came to one conclusion, which was ‘whenever our members have the same opinion, we just push ahead regardless of what the manager says.’

Yonggu added one more condition. If they were faced with any discipline because of this, he would be totally responsible for it as the veteran member.

Initially, they were in doubt, but he set the example by bravely speaking out, not caring at all about Park whenever something happened.

And this time, Yonggu took the initiative in shaping the atmosphere in a certain direction.

When Oh said he would volunteer, other members followed him, picking up their courage.

“So, what are you going to do? Are you guys all going to the construction site, leaving the office empty?” asked Park in a scolding manner.

However, the team members didn’t flinch.

“Just send me to the construction site. Also, why don’t you assign the person who’s available for the day, given his or her workload?” said Hyunwoo.

Other members supported his idea.

“Yes, that sounds good.”

“I second his idea.”

They were looking at Park, as if they were asking for his decision.

Park could figure out what their motivation was. It was like ‘just try to crush our determination if you want, as we’re firmly united like this.’ That would make even the toughest manager step back.

However, they underestimated Park too much.

Though Park was hired only three years ago, he met with all sorts of subordinates. There were some who were obedient, some who were gallant, some who were greedy, and some who challenged like the current purchasing team. He got to cultivate some sort of knowhow on managing them. He was confident that he could make them tremble and feel afraid.

He needed to make an example of somebody for this. In other words, he would show them how harsh the punishment would be when they challenged the manager.

Park chuckled and said,

“Hummmm… you guys are incurring a whipping. I was going to send someone to the Umsung factory anyway, and you guys are now competing to be sent there. Let me agonize over who I should send over there.”

He then looked around at the team members.

Their reactions were exactly what Park had expected. As soon as he mentioned the Umsung factory, their faces turned ashen. It looked like they had seemed to have felt sharply that Park was not an easy guy to handle.

However, it was too late. If Park only pretended to draw a sword but put it back, he would be treated as a funny man. He was determined to send someone to the Umsung factory by all means.

Of course, that would be hard as part of the official reshuffle, but it would be possible to send someone for one reason or another.

To single one out, Park stared at the team members one by one. Even though they had been confident a moment ago, they tried to avoid his eyes.

Kim Yonggu and Oh Sangho were excluded from the list because it was impossible to make an example out of them as they were the president’s possible son-in-laws.

Min Suji was also excluded. At a mid-sized company like Aurum, it was fortunate to work with such a beautiful and able lady. She was to be kept by all means so that she wouldn’t be scouted by other teams. Park also found Hyunwoo a bit difficult to pick because the president kept an eye on him, though he was not among the possible bridemen.

Park’s eyes were fixed on assistant manager Han Sanghun. As a middle-level employee, Han was perfect as a scapegoat.

“Assistant manager Han Sanghun!”

“”Yes, sir.”

Han was startled enough to shrug his shoulders.

“Have you worked at the Umsung factory?”

“No, sir.”

“Good. Just go down to the Umsung factory for work experience there. That will help you a lot in the days ahead while you’re working for this company.”

“Oh, that I…”

Though Han was trying to say something, Park cut in, and he then looked at Hyunwoo.

“Okay, let me accept Hyunwoo’s idea on choosing who’s to go to the site. Instead, let me send one of our team members to the Umsung factory. Keep on behaving like that, and you will find your life here very troubling,” Park said, leaving the office.

Han let out a troubling sigh and said,

“Damn it!”

Yonggu approached him and tapped his shoulder.

“Don’t worry. I said I would be totally responsible for that. You’ll never be dispatched to the Umsung factory. If that happens, I’ll go there on your behalf.”

“What? Are you going there?”

Yonggu nodded his head strongly.

Quite unexpectedly, another came to him and said,

“I’d like to help out. If we are united and offer our opinion, the president will take that into consideration.”

With a surprised look, all of them looked at Oh Sangho. They hadn’t expected Oh to take part so aggressively.

However, Yonggu was suspicious instead of surprised.

Why did Oh change so much suddenly?

There was only one reason he could think of.

Then the president gave Oh…?

When Yonggu thought that far, he could understand the situation before and after he met the president. It was clear that the president had told not only him but also Oh about what he had to say, which went something like this.

‘I know well what type of person Park Yongsu is, and that’s why I sent him to the purchasing team. You’re an able man, but an ordinary employee’s abilities are different from those of the manager’s. Don’t you think you should get promoted to section chief sooner or later? You have to prepare for the manager’s role in advance. You guys will have a hard time because of Park for the time being. Whenever they are stressed, just try to comfort them well. Show me that you have the qualities of a manager. Can you do that?’