NOVEL NEXT 42
“No, Team Leader. What are you saying?”
Roh Se-hee spoke, suppressing the indignation that threatened to spill out.
“We made it clear from the beginning, didn’t we? This project carried significant risks, and anyone could have failed…”
“Manager Roh. Who doesn’t know that?”
The team leader cut Roh Se-hee off abruptly.
“That’s why I entrusted it to you. Didn’t you eagerly volunteer?”
Roh Se-hee felt words of protest rising to her throat: ‘When did I ever volunteer? You arbitrarily dumped it on our team.’
She clenched her fists and bit her lip, feeling her anger-heated head cool slightly.
‘It’s already too late. He has no intention of listening to me.’
Roh Se-hee coldly assessed the situation.
A project that suddenly came down from above one day. After bouncing between various departments, it ended up in the sales team due to the team leader’s ambition to impress his superiors.
Among them, Roh Se-hee’s Sales Team 3 was forced to take it on.
There’s always a reason why other departments avoid such projects.
In Roh Se-hee’s view, this project was doomed to fail. It was a balloon of a project, empty of substance, cobbled together from grandiose words and superiors’ greed.
‘And yet, I’ve managed to coordinate schedules and negotiate to bring it this far!’
The feeling of having to run while knowing the end was inevitable.
It was a project she had pieced together night after night, racking her brains, like a patchwork quilt.
And now what?
“Ah, forget everything else! The most important thing in a company is results, isn’t it? Manager Roh. You’re the project manager, do you even realize how much loss this has caused the company?!”
The team leader suddenly shouted.
“Why do you think they call it ‘person in charge’? It’s because you’re supposed to take responsibility!”
“……”
“Anyway, remember this! Do you know how disappointed the managing director is because of this project’s failure?”
“……”
“It’s not just you. Your team members have also tarnished Hyeonmu’s name! So don’t expect any promotions this time.”
The team leader waved his hand dismissively, gesturing for her to leave.
Roh Se-hee stood still, looking down at him. The team leader flinched slightly and turned his head away.
Roh Se-hee exhaled softly, then slowly closed and opened her eyes.
“I understand.”
“Hmph. You finally seem to get it.”
“Team Leader. Thank you for everything up until now.”
“Ah, yes, well, you can go now… What?”
The team leader’s eyes widened as he looked up. Roh Se-hee pulled out a white envelope from her bag.
In neat handwriting, it was clearly marked ‘Letter of Resignation’. It was that very thing every office worker is said to carry in a corner of their heart.
“I’m quitting.”
⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱
The clinking of glasses and the sizzle of grilling meat filled the air.
“Ahh!”
“Manager! The meat is perfect right now. Try some quickly!”
“Thanks, Assistant Manager Park.”
Roh Se-hee looked down at the plate of meat in front of her, then suddenly raised her head.
“And who’s a Manager? Didn’t you hear I said I’m quitting?”
She had blurted it out to show they didn’t need to try so hard to act cheerful, but her team members looked at her with somewhat choked expressions.
“Don’t say things like that!”
“That’s right. When our Sales Team 3 was always getting beaten up outside and pushed around, who covered for us if not you, Manager!”
“Once our Manager, always our Manager!”
“Stop with the nonsense. What good is it to stay close to a Manager without strings? You’ll just get on the team leader’s bad side.”
Roh Se-hee chuckled and popped a piece of meat into her mouth.
“Besides, your names are all attached to this project in some corner, so I’m not sure if you can completely avoid responsibility.”
“Ha!”
Assistant Manager Park slammed down his drink, his face flushed red. Silence suddenly fell over the table.
“Manager. Isn’t this too much?”
“What’s wrong, Assistant Manager Park? You seem a bit drunk.”
“No. How could the team leader do this to us? I know office life can be crappy, but this time he’s really crossed the line.”
“That’s right!”
“Hear, hear!”
“I’m sick and tired of Sales Team 3 being treated like a nuisance! And we don’t want any Manager other than our Manager Roh!”
“Well said, Assistant Manager Park~!”
Encouraged by the others’ responses, Assistant Manager Park raised his voice even more.
“With that in mind~! I, I want to go wherever Manager Roh goes!”
“Right…! Huh?”
Even those who had been agreeing were startled and looked at Assistant Manager Park.
Roh Se-hee looked at Assistant Manager Park, still holding her glass.
“Hey, hey. You’re drunk. What are you saying?”
“No, don’t stop me! Manager Roh. You’re so capable. You must have received scouting offers from other places, right? I, I can’t take how filthy and petty Hyeonmu is anymore.”
As Assistant Manager Park poured out his true feelings, even those who had been trying to stop him hesitated.
“Manager Roh, I want to ditch Hyeonmu and go with you too!”
“Me too! Me too!”
“Ah, whatever. I’ll go too!”
As the team members clamored, Roh Se-hee put down her glass with a smirk.
Though it was just drunk talk, seeing them trust and follow her like this made her feel that the past years weren’t entirely in vain.
“I’m sorry, but you’re wrong, Assistant Manager Park. Because I don’t have any scouting offers right now and…”
It was at that moment.
“That scouting offer, I’d like to make it.”
⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱
“That scouting offer, I’d like to make it.”
As I cut in abruptly, Roh Se-hee turned her head in surprise. She tilted her head, looking at me quizzically.
Hmm. I suppose I do look like a fresh graduate, so it’s understandable.
“Who are you?”
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Song Woo-yeon.”
I introduced myself and handed out my business cards. Seeing these familiar faces brought back memories. They were all so young back then.
“CEO of
Roh Se-hee read the words on the card softly. She probably didn’t even know what
“
“Where’s that?”
“Were they one of our clients? I’ve never heard of them.”
“Me neither.”
The team members chattered among themselves. Roh Se-hee turned away without joining in.
“This is a private gathering. I don’t know how you found us, but please leave.”
How did I know?
‘You told me yourself.’
-After I was fired from Hyeonmu, I felt so lost.
I pictured the future Roh Se-hee, with deeper wrinkles and the beginnings of gray hair.
It was a conversation we had in a bar with yellowish lighting, sipping on some unknown whiskey.
-I barely managed to stop our team members from all quitting together. I told them to at least stay put. I still remember it vividly. There was a place selling galmaegi-sal if you followed the alley behind Hyeonmu. The name was just crudely written as ‘Galmaegissal’ with an extra ‘s’.
Thanks to that, I found it easily.
-So I left with nothing and struggled for about 5 years? Bouncing from place to place… until I met our CEO Song.
-I should have brought you on board earlier. I’m not one to regret things easily, but that’s my biggest regret!
-Haha! That’s right. If I had met CEO Song right then, I would have brought our team members over immediately.
Roh Se-hee lowered her eyes, fiddling with her whiskey glass.
-One by one…. It was tough bringing my people over from Hyeonmu. I know CEO Song put in a lot of effort. You even looked after our kids’ conditions.
-It was my pleasure. I got to snatch up some great talent. But this collaboration with Hyeonmu is a bit awkward now. All their people are here now. Haha.
-…I suppose so.
-Come on. Let’s shake off the past and fly high from now on. Cheers, cheers~!
Roh Se-hee seemed to smile faintly at the forceful clinking of glasses.
She looked like she had something to say. But it didn’t seem to be anything cheerful, and I didn’t want to see her make an even sadder expression, so I stopped.
Perhaps understanding my intention, Roh Se-hee also raised her glass without saying anything more.
Now, I dare to ask.
‘What were you trying to say back then?’
To you in that unreachable past.
“I’d like to take a break from work for a while.”
The present Roh Se-hee was flatly rejecting me, but.
She seemed even more decisive than I remembered, though much younger.
If Jo I-ruk played the role of applying the brakes for me, Roh Se-hee was the one who allowed me to safely step on the accelerator.
She was like a lubricant, smoothing out the spaces between tasks.
When I would come up with a brilliant idea and charge ahead recklessly, she would follow behind, neatly tidying up the path I had taken, ensuring I wouldn’t lose my way.
Roh Se-hee.
You’re the perfect person to sort out and convey this chaotic period.
Looking at your cold profile, you seem like an iron fortress. It seems like no words could possibly penetrate, but I have a secret weapon.
Because I have hints from your future self.
“Wherever you go, you’ll be at the mercy of your superiors, forced to take on work you don’t want.”
“……”
“Don’t you want to work freely?”
Roh Se-hee flinched at my words.
Just as I thought.
“You’ll plan your own work and carry it out yourself. No need to worry about other departments, no need to grovel and beg for cooperation, and no useless reports or procedures.”
“……”
“How about it? Are you starting to get interested?”
Roh Se-hee looked at me with wavering eyes.
It must be a very sweet temptation. She had just quit after being pushed around by her superiors.
‘This time, I’m not too late.’
I’ll keep the promise I made with you.
“It seems like the others are also considering changing jobs…”
I glanced at the other team members. They flinched and averted their gazes, having been silently watching this unexpected situation.
“As it happens, we have just the right number of openings. It would be great if you could all come together.”
“Whoa. Really?!”
“So we can keep our Sales Team 3 intact?!”
Before anyone could stop him, Assistant Manager Park, his face bright red, jumped up and shouted.
“I’ll go!”
That’s right, jackpot!