New Employee Kim Chul-soo

Chapter 28

Several days passed.

“Kim Chul-soo.”

At Team Leader Ahn Jeong-gyu’s call towards Team 5, Kim Chul-soo quickly turned his head.

“Yes, Team Leader-nim.”

Ahn Jeong-gyu handed Kim Chul-soo a single sheet of paper.

“A local distributor has been established in Kenya. That’s their contact information, so from now on, you’ll be working with them.”

“Yes, Team Leader-nim.”

As soon as Kim Chul-soo received the document, he checked who the distributor agent was.

━Kennedy Zouma.

‘Okay! I needed this anyway.’

Kim Chul-soo checked the time and then contacted the Kenyan agent distributor.

After a long ring, a ‘click’ sound was heard, followed by a dial tone.

━Hello. This is Kennedy from Han-Young Corporation’s agency distributor in Nairobi, Kenya.

At the familiar voice, Kim Chul-soo smiled and replied.

━Hey, it’s Kim. How have you been?

━Wow!!! My precious friend. Thanks to you, I got a stable job. Thank you so much.

━What are you talking about? You got it because you had the skills.

━Thanks for the compliment. I like hearing those often.

Kim Chul-soo chuckled at those words.

━But what’s up?

━Uh, I need you to investigate something.

━Just tell me anything. I’ve been bored all day with nothing to do anyway.

━Could you figure out the current status of mineral resources being investigated in Kenya?

━Mineral resources?

━Things like gold, rare earth elements, iron ore.

━Ah! Why that?

━I think it would be good to try developing undeveloped mines if there are any.

━Huh? Isn’t that a huge project?

━It is. I’m planning to make a business plan, so please investigate thoroughly.

━Of course I’ll handle it well since it’s my precious friend asking.

━Thanks. Also, 250 units of machinery will arrive around the end of July. I’ll let you know the docking date when I get the schedule from the ship.

━Okay. When those arrive, I’ll check the quantity here and confirm the transportation to ATC, right?

━Yes. Once you confirm it locally, we’ll finalize the paperwork here.

━Alright. I’ll email you the investigation results about the minerals. But I’m new to computers, so I’m not sure if I can do it well. Should I just send it by airmail?

━No. Learn how to use a computer.

━Okay.

As Kim Chul-soo hung up, Lee Jun-hak turned his chair.

“Kenyan minerals?”

“Yes, Assistant Manager-nim.”

“Were there minerals in Kenya?”

Lee Jun-hak tried to recall for a moment.

“Neighboring Uganda and Tanzania are actively developing minerals, but Kenya doesn’t seem to have any such movements, so I’m trying to look into it.”

“That’s certainly true, isn’t it?”

“Yes. If there are undeveloped mines, they could be targets for resource development, and since there’s no infrastructure in place, large-scale development plans would also be possible.”

“It’s certainly possible if there are mines. It’s a good idea.”

“Thank you, Assistant Manager-nim.”

Manager Pyo Il-soo, who was listening nearby, spoke up.

“Chul-soo, you shouldn’t be sharing those kinds of ideas.”

Lee Jun-hak chuckled at his words.

‘This is a business only Chul-soo can do, Manager Pyo. He knows that too, so you don’t even realize he’s telling you that.’

“I’m already making a business plan. I won’t steal Chul-soo’s idea. What about you, Manager Pyo?”

“I’m already making one too. It’s something with a much higher probability of success than such an uncertain topic. What about you, Team Leader-nim?”

“Stop talking nonsense and get to work! Work!”

As Manager Pyo Il-soo focused on his work at those words, Lee Jun-hak spoke up.

“Good luck.”

“Yes, Assistant Manager-nim.”

Ahn Jeong-gyu, who was checking his email, glanced at the back of Kim Chul-soo’s head.

‘That sly guy. He’s calculating everything, isn’t he? By the way, Kenyan minerals? Isn’t that a bit outlandish?’

******

Friday, June 30th.

The first-half business performance announcement was held.

It was a time to officially share with all employees what projects were pursued, what tasks were completed, and how much of the management goals were achieved.

Korea, having overcome the foreign exchange crisis, was running its economic engine at full speed, and Han-Young Corporation, also riding on that engine, achieved the best performance, making the announcement a heartwarming event.

“Now, we will present the awards for the outstanding employees of the first half.”

Everyone was curious about who it would be.

A reward of 5 million won and a special vacation of 2 nights and 3 days.

Of course, even if they received the special vacation, they might not be able to use it, but the 5 million won reward was a large sum that could buy a small car or the latest trendy kimchi refrigerator.

For some, it wasn’t even a dream to take out their deposit money, add a small loan to this amount, and buy their own house.

Employees who thought they had excellent performance harbored their own ambitions.

“Assistant Manager Lee Jun-hak from Sales Team 5.”

Those who had ambitions were disappointed, yet they readily clapped.

They thought Assistant Manager Lee Jun-hak deserved the award.

Only Ahn Jeong-gyu was quietly watching from behind.

As Lee Jun-hak went up and received the certificate and encouragement from President Yoo Ji-hoon and returned, people began to prepare to get up.

“There is a newly established award this time. It’s an award given to new employees who have achieved the most outstanding results in the first half. A prize of 2 million won and a special vacation of 2 nights and 3 days will be awarded. We will now present the outstanding new employee award.”

At the host’s words, almost everyone thought of one person.

“Employee Kim Chul-soo from Sales Team 5.”

A surprised Kim Chul-soo stood up.

“Wow, our team hit the jackpot today!”

Pyo Il-soo was very happy and gestured for Kim Chul-soo to quickly go up, then looked at Ahn Jeong-gyu, whose expression had hardened.

“Team Leader-nim, is something wrong?”

‘Jun-hak is understandable, but why are they creating an award that doesn’t exist and giving it to Chul-soo? Park Joon-hyung, that bastard. I’ll have to fight him to the death if he’s trying to poach Chul-soo.’

“No. I was just thinking about the buyer I’m meeting with this afternoon.”

As Kim Chul-soo stood in front of the podium, President Yoo Ji-hoon looked at him, read the certificate, and then handed him the certificate and reward.

“I heard you’ve been doing an amazing job lately. I hope you continue to contribute even more to the company’s growth.”

“Thank you. I will continue to work hard.”

“Good. You’re very reliable.”

Yoo Ji-hoon was pleased with Kim Chul-soo’s assertive answer and shook his hand.

‘Whose subordinate was he? This guy’s performance is also my performance.’

As President Yoo Ji-hoon and Kim Chul-soo shook hands, the people next to them congratulated Ahn Jeong-gyu.

“Congratulations, Team Leader Ahn.”

“Your team members are sweeping the awards.”

“I’m envious.”

Since a team leader’s performance evaluation depends on team member management and team performance, it was natural that the team leader’s evaluation would be good if the team members received awards like this, and the year-end bonus could even be higher than the annual salary.

“Oh, thank you.”

Ahn Jeong-gyu relaxed his expression and responded to their congratulations one by one.

After the first-half performance announcement was over, Lee Jeong-seok made up his mind and spoke to Shin Dong-hyun.

“Assistant Manager-nim.”

“Why?”

“I have something to talk to you about.”

So he’s finally coming out with it.

In a quiet place where there were no people, Lee Jeong-seok started to speak.

“Assistant Manager Shin.”

“Yes? What did you want to talk about that you brought me all the way out here?”

“I actually saw it.”

Shin Dong-hyun was puzzled by Lee Jeong-seok’s words.

“What…… did you see?”

“Didn’t you receive a rebate from Taeyang Textile?”

“What?”

“Isn’t that something you shouldn’t be doing?”

“What are you talking about? What did I receive?”

“Didn’t you receive that and proceed with the contract in their favor?”

“Oh, this bastard.”

Shin Dong-hyun grabbed Lee Jeong-seok by the collar and pushed him against the wall with a frown.

“Hey! What are you talking about? What did I receive that you’re saying such things! Are you crazy?”

“Assistant Manager-nim, shouldn’t you return that and renegotiate the contract?”

“Wow! What do you think I am?”

“If you do that, I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

The problem was that Manager Cha had asked Lee Jeong-seok to accompany him while he was teaching him the ropes during the negotiation process with Taeyang Textile.

Of course, Lee Jeong-seok wasn’t present when the money was received.

However, just because he saw it didn’t mean it was evidence.

This kind of situation was common in general trading companies, and he thought it wouldn’t be a big problem.

“Do you want to ruin your career?”

“I want to do things right.”

“Then why are you making an innocent person look like a bad guy? Do you have any proof that I received money?”

“Yes.”

At the firm answer, Shin Dong-hyun let go of Lee Jeong-seok’s collar, smoothed out his wrinkled shirt collar, and spoke quietly.

“Let’s just overlook it this once. I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again. Think about it carefully. If you distance yourself from me, your supervisor, because of this, you’ll also have a hard time. Right? And, this kind of thing happens often. You’ll face countless situations like this once you start your own business. How can you survive working like a slave for 2 million won a month? You have to buy a house, a car, and get married, but you can’t do that with such a meager salary, can you? Just think of it as a bonus that falls into your lap while working. Okay?”

While Assistant Manager Shin’s calm words sounded reasonable, his heart was saying something different.

“Still, I don’t think this is right. It might be good to receive money now, but the company regulations clearly state that both the person who receives a rebate and the person who condones it will be severely punished. I can’t overlook this to protect myself either.”

“Ah, you’re so frustrating!”

Shin Dong-hyun finally lost his temper and shouted, kicking the wall.

“You. You know the saying ‘sacrifice yourself for the greater good,’ right?”

“Yes……”

“Remember that if you report this, only the ‘sacrifice yourself’ part will remain. Don’t kill yourself. I’ll be watching you.”

After Shin Dong-hyun said those words and stormed out, Lee Jeong-seok sighed deeply and took out the voice recorder he had put in his pocket and pressed the stop button.

[If the corruption ends with Jeong-seok-ssi’s words, that would be the best. If it doesn’t end there, it’s important to secure evidence of how much Jeong-seok-ssi tried to maintain teamwork.]

Lee Jeong-seok thought he would have lost his mind in this situation if it weren’t for Kim Chul-soo’s advice.

******

After lunchtime.

“Hey! Lee Jeong-seok. Can’t you be quicker? Why is this kid so slow? Can he even do his job properly like this?”

Seeing Shin Dong-hyun, who was itching to pick on Lee Jeong-seok, Pyo Il-soo quietly spoke to Lee Jun-hak.

“Why is he acting like that?”

“I don’t know. Something must have happened.”

“That guy’s no different from you, is he?”

“Come on, Manager-nim. When did I ever do that?”

“Trying to play innocent, are you? Did you pass that personality on to Assistant Manager Shin?”

“I don’t know, Manager-nim.”

Lee Jun-hak pretended not to know and brushed off Pyo Il-soo’s words, and Pyo Il-soo burst into laughter.

When the office became quiet, Kim Chul-soo called Lee Jun-hak.

“Assistant Manager-nim.”

“Why?”

“Regarding this case, it seems like it could be profitable, so why did it stop?”

Looking at the case displayed on Kim Chul-soo’s monitor, Lee Jun-hak spoke.

“That’s a corruption case. One of the executives created a paper company locally. And they conducted four-party trade through that company. If they had done three-party trade, the company could have earned a high margin of over 10%, but that paper company took 6%. They took advantage of the loophole where most business plans would be approved as long as the margin exceeded 3%.”

“Then why isn’t this project being resumed?”

“Because the buyer is China. If a contract falls apart once, they change their business partner. Probably another company took over.”

“That’s a big loss for the company.”

“Yes. That’s why the disciplinary action was quite severe compared to the scale of the corruption. Four people were fired, and two received heavy disciplinary action. Currently, all six are no longer with the company.”

“I was thinking of using it for next year’s business plan, but it’s a shame.”

Assistant Manager Shin Dong-hyun felt uneasy hearing the conversation between Lee Jun-hak and Kim Chul-soo.

Then he glared at the back of Lee Jeong-seok’s head with an uncomfortable expression.

Lee Jeong-seok, feeling Shin Dong-hyun’s sharp glare, clenched his fist and recalled Kim Chul-soo’s words.

[Once is not enough. Show that you’re trying to persuade him a few more times. Try to hold out until the Team Leader of Team 4, who’s on an overseas business trip, returns.]

‘I’ll try to hold out somehow.’

******

“Where’s Chul-soo?”

Ahn Jeong-gyu asked when Kim Chul-soo was nowhere to be seen as they were about to have their end-of-day meeting.

“He said he went out for a bit and would be back soon, oh, there he is.”

Everyone looked at Kim Chul-soo’s hand as he came back, dangling something in it.

“Sorry I’m late.”

Kim Chul-soo bowed his head and handed out the gifts he had brought, one by one.

“What’s this?”

“I think I received the Outstanding New Employee Award thanks to Team Leader-nim, Manager Pyo, and Assistant Manager Lee. This is a small token of my appreciation. I heard children and women like it a lot.”

Lee Jun-hak subtly glanced at the brand and exclaimed, “Oh.”

“This is quite expensive, isn’t it?”

“The prize money I received was significant, so I had to do this much.”

At Chul-soo’s words, Pyo Il-soo asked.

“How much is it?”

“It’s about 80,000 won per set.”

Pyo Il-soo’s eyes widened at Lee Jun-hak’s words. Ahn Jeong-gyu also subtly looked inside and said.

“What kind of snack box costs 80,000 won each? Anyway, thank you.”

“No problem. I’m rather thankful to you all.”

Pyo Il-soo patted the head of Kim Chul-soo sitting next to him.

“This kid is doing well.”

“Indeed.”

Lee Jun-hak also slightly raised the corners of his mouth and nodded in agreement.

Ahn Jeong-gyu looked at the paper bag in Pyo Il-soo’s hand and said.

“Manager Pyo.”

“Yes, Team Leader-nim.”

“You don’t eat this kind of stuff, right? Isn’t that right, Assistant Manager Lee?”

“Yes. I know he doesn’t eat snacks.”

Pyo Il-soo watched Ahn Jeong-gyu nervously, unsure what he was going to say.

“What are you going to do with it if you don’t eat it? It’ll just become a decoration at home, won’t it? Give it to me. I’ll give it to my kids.”

Pyo Il-soo, who had been thinking it would be great to give it to Assistant Manager Park Eun-sook, put on a serious face and replied.

“Eh! Come on, Team Leader-nim. Why would you take away a gift? I need this too.”

Ahn Jeong-gyu glanced at Pyo Il-soo at his words.

“You need it?”

“Well…… that is to say, I’ll eat it.”

“Eat it? That’s suspicious.”

Ahn Jeong-gyu narrowed his eyes and looked at Pyo Il-soo.

“Oh, come on. Why are you looking at me like that? It’s almost 6 o’clock. Aren’t we having the end-of-day meeting?”

Assistant Manager Lee Jun-hak clicked his tongue inwardly from the side.

‘It’s only a matter of time before he gets caught.’

Ahn Jeong-gyu’s gaze shifted from Manager Pyo Il-soo to Assistant Manager Lee Jun-hak.

“What about you, Assistant Manager Lee? Don’t you have anything?”

“Ah. I’ll arrange a team dinner next week, Team Leader-nim.”

“Alright. Hanwoo?”

“Yes!”