Episode 76 – Workplace Manager Authority

Hyun-woo should have been happy that he had taken a step closer to conquering Choi Go-eun.

However,

,Shibal, shibal’ (Fuck, fuck)

“Hyun-woo-ssi, have you compiled the data we talked about earlier?”

“Just 10 minutes… no, I’ll report it right away.”

It wasn’t just Hyun-woo. Everyone on the Organizational Innovation TF team was having the busiest time.

Complete re-examination!

It was a hellish word for office workers that made them shudder just hearing it.

In short, it meant overturning the results that had been accumulated with time and effort and starting over. Deleting a well-raised character and raising it from level 1 again. That’s what ‘complete re-examination’ meant.

,No, it’s harder than raising a character from the beginning again.’

It’s much more difficult to do a second try than the first because you have to find problems and solutions in the original project and proceed. If you ever get to the third try, the next thing is… I don’t even want to imagine it.

So, it’s best to get approval at once. The moment you get rejected once, the difficulty jumps exponentially.

Hyun-woo and all the other team members had experience writing proposals and reports, so they were well aware that the current situation was not good.

Heelkkeok (glance)

In a busy situation where he didn’t even have time to drink a glass of water, Hyun-woo slyly turned his head to look at Choi Go-eun.

Neatly combed-back updo and a sharp suit with not a single wrinkle, like a private’s combat uniform on a 100-day vacation. Intense eyes behind black horn-rimmed glasses and a poker face that was no different from usual.

It was Choi Go-eun’s usual appearance. But Hyun-woo

– Toktoktoktok (tap tap tap tap)

He could somewhat confirm Choi Go-eun’s condition through her fingers nervously tapping the document.

[User: Choi Go-eun]

[Age: 33] [Height: 171] [Weight: 61]

[Stamina: 9/10] [Charm: 9(+1)/10] [Sexual Desire: 2/10] [Mental: 10/10]

[Satisfaction: Locked] [Affection: Locked]

[Psychological Message]

[Satisfaction] that her abilities have been recognized

[Expectation] for the company’s successful innovation

[Confidence] as a team leader

[Contempt] for incompetent employees

[Disdain] for insecure opposite sex

Of course, Choi Go-eun’s condition, as confirmed by the work system, did not budge. What was particularly surprising was [Mental], which didn’t even flinch at this level because it was at the highest level.

And that also meant that Hyun-woo and the rest of the team would still be buried in work and ground down.

“Hyun-woo-ssi! Are you still not done?”

“I’m… I’m going, Team Leader-nim.”

So Hyun-woo couldn’t just laugh happily.

* * *

– Kwang (thud)

,Ah… is it a rejection again.’

TF team’s Deputy Manager Kwon Yong-chan sensed it when he saw Choi Go-eun slamming the approval board on the desk nervously. That the second try was also a failure.

It was a report that the entire team had re-examined while working overtime until 2 a.m. yesterday, but it was clear that it had been rejected again at this morning’s meeting.

“Haa…”

,I should have just stayed in the budget team.’

Deputy Manager Kwon still believed in Choi Go-eun’s capabilities. Special promotion twice. Youngest team leader appointment. He thought that the projects she was in charge of would proceed smoothly. But as a result, he should have abandoned his desire to be assigned to the Seoul branch without knowing his place.

It was Deputy Manager Kwon’s grumbling, who was confirmed to be working overtime again today.

“Everyone… we will revise and correct the report and upload it again.”

Her voice was husky and clear as usual, but Choi Go-eun’s forehead, which had no wrinkles, was slightly furrowed.

* * *

– Kkwang (thud)

Heumchit (flinch)

This time, the approval board was thrown roughly onto the desk to the point where even the employees in the next department were surprised and looked over.

– Ususu (rustle)

A bunch of documents inside the approval board fall to the floor as if scattered.

“Everyone… go home early today.”

Choi Go-eun, who bit her lip tightly and held back her anger, lets all the team members go home. The team members, including Hyun-woo, who had been working overtime until dawn for two weeks, were secretly happy to be alive, but

,Hieek’ (gasp)

Everyone tiptoes out of the office at the sight of the team leader, who looks like a bomb that will explode with the slightest touch.

“Haa…”

Choi Go-eun, who had vowed never to reveal her personal feelings in front of her subordinates, finally lets out a deep sigh after all the team members leave.

,Where did it go wrong?’

After hearing from the CEO that the heads of departments and team leaders had antipathy towards the projects she was promoting, Choi Go-eun made several attempts to persuade them.

Visiting each person for interviews and persuasion. She even held meetings to listen to their opinions and reflect them in the report.

But the CEO’s answer in today’s report was no different. To be exact, it was the heads of departments and team leaders who had not changed. This was the third rejection.

– Kkwak (grip)

Choi Go-eun wanted to throw the report in their faces, but she clenched the innocent pencil as if she would break it.

Until the second rejection, her pride was hurt. It was because she thought that she had failed to understand and persuade the company’s members due to her lack of ability.

But after being rejected for the third time today, she wondered if they were trying to slander and destroy her regardless of her work ability. Such a question arises.

,Is it because I’m a woman? Or because I’m too young?’

Choi Go-eun had definitely been promoted exceptionally compared to her peers and seniors. But she had never once doubted her promotion. This was because it was the result of purely performance, not illegal methods such as luck, connections, or lines.

,I even turned down a double salary offer and came here.’

The foreign company offered her a groundbreaking condition. The reason she was able to reject the offer so firmly was because of Choi Go-eun’s affection for the organization.

The reason she took on the Organizational Innovation TF team despite the advice of those around her who dissuaded her, saying it was a difficult task, was precisely that. She was confident that she could change the company in the right direction.

But she feels that her confidence is crumbling.

,Is it the vice president?’

She had always been bothered by his blatant gaze, but she had always ignored it. But recently, she visited his office to explain the project in more detail.

– Oh my. Team Leader Choi, you have something on you here. How clumsy, hehehe…

The vice president subtly put his hand on Choi Go-eun’s skirt as she was reporting. An unpleasant sensation as if a bug was crawling on her thigh.

Tak (smack)

– If there’s a stain, I’ll wipe it off later. It’s okay.

She firmly and decisively brushed off his dirty hand.

,Was it because of that back then?’

It seems that it’s not just the vice president who harbors resentment towards her. The disapproving expressions towards her that she felt at the meeting, although she doesn’t know when it started.

Choi Go-eun couldn’t figure out why they were now expressing antipathy towards her.

Choi Go-eun overcame all these obstacles with outstanding performance and results: lecherous gazes and sexual harassment because of her young age, unmarried woman status, and eye-catching body, and seniors stealing her achievements.

Thanks to this, she had never thought about such reputation or human relationships. She didn’t even feel the need. Isn’t proving everything with performance and results what office workers do?

,There are clear and definite results in front of them, but they’re rejecting it just because they don’t like me?’

In a situation where the company needs change, the solution is here in this report, but the managers are only expressing their dissatisfaction with her without even suggesting other alternatives.

Choi Go-eun, who has always broken through everything with her work ability, stays up late into the night to think about it, but she can’t find a solution to this unfamiliar obstacle.

* * *

“Deputy Manager Lee, the office atmosphere is really fierce these days, right? Ugh…”

Deputy Manager Kwon Yong-chan, who usually never loses his sly smile. He is also very cautious because of Choi Go-eun, whose condition is at its lowest.

“Hoo… I know. What exactly is going on?”

Hyun-woo, who took a deep drag of his cigarette, knew the problem Choi Go-eun was experiencing, but he asked as if he didn’t know.

“What’s certain is that it’s not a problem with the project itself. In other words, it’s not the fault of the team members who made the report, hahaha… But it seems like she’s been disliked by someone higher up. Our Team Leader-nim.”

“Really? Wasn’t she brought in with a special promotion to push her so hard?”

“That’s what I’m saying. Tsk tsk… I don’t think someone with such a strong pride will be flexible… I’m worried she’ll break.”

Kwon was worried about Choi Go-eun, but he was more worried about successfully completing the project and being assigned to Seoul.

“Well, won’t she solve it well? She’s the best talent in the company, after all.”

“Hoo… Yeah, well, is there anything we can do? We’ll have to trust her.”

The two return to the office after a short cigarette break.

,Shall I slowly step up as a relief pitcher?’

The [Slander] that Hyun-woo spread was putting pressure on Choi Go-eun. She wasn’t talking about it because of her pride, but her report had been rejected several more times. Hyun-woo approaches Choi Go-eun, who is frowning deeply.

“Team Leader-nim.”

“Yes, Hyun-woo-ssi. What is it?”

Choi Go-eun doesn’t even lift her face from the documents when Hyun-woo calls her. She was still annoyed that he was omitting her title and calling her -ssi, but she could put down her pride enough to fuck her.

“I heard that you’re having difficulties with the recent project report.”

Hwik (whip)

Choi Go-eun lifts her face abruptly as if Hyun-woo had touched on her weakness.

“That’s not a problem that Hyun-woo-ssi should be concerned about at all.”

She answers with an intense gaze and a more rigid tone than usual. It was as if she had politely told him to get lost.

“So, I was wondering. Can I report to the higher-ups once?”

“Ha! What did you say? Hyun-woo-ssi is going to report directly?”

Even she, as the team leader, is losing every battle, so what will change if a mere deputy manager reports? You? Choi Go-eun looks at Hyun-woo with such a condescending look.

“Well, isn’t it worth a shot? Please give me a chance.”

“…Okay. Go ahead and try.”

Choi Go-eun, who is on edge because her report has been rejected several times, hands the approval board to Hyun-woo as if she doesn’t want to look at it anymore.

“Yes, thank you.”

The reason she is struggling so much is because of the negative reputation that Hyun-woo created with [Slander] in the work system. In other words, there is no problem with the content of the report itself.

,If you know the cause of the problem, the solution is simple.’

Hyun-woo, holding the approval board in his hand, immediately visits the head of department’s office.

– Toktok (knock knock)

“Come in.”

“Yes, hello. I’m Lee Hyun-woo, Deputy Manager of the Organizational Innovation TF team.”

“Oh, yes. Deputy Manager Lee. What’s going on?”

“Ah, I came to report on this project.”

“Oh, really? Have a seat.”

Hyun-woo hands the head of department the same report that Choi Go-eun had reported, with not a single word different.

“This is a report that has been completely rewritten after receiving the opinion to review it again.”

“Really? Shall we take a look?”

– Peolleokpeolleok (flip flip)

The head of department roughly flips through dozens of pages of the report to check the contents.

“Hmm… hmm. The report is very good, Deputy Manager Lee.”

“Haha… Thank you, Head of Department-nim.”

Instead of Choi Go-eun, whose reputation has completely plummeted due to [Slander], the head of department reads the report without prejudice just because Hyun-woo is entering. Of course, the content of the report itself is perfect as Choi Go-eun put her heart and soul into it.

“Okay. There won’t be any problems with this content. Good work, Deputy Manager Lee.”

“Yes, then I’ll be on my way.”

– Cheolkeok (click)

“Keuk keuk keuk keuk (chuckle chuckle chuckle chuckle)”

It’s the same report, but when Choi Go-eun brought it, it was rejected, and when Hyun-woo brought it, it was passed. In the end, what was important to the head of department was not the content.

,This fucking organization.’

It was an episode that showed why Choi Go-eun emphasized organizational innovation so much. Incompetent managers and inefficient reports.

,The old men who don’t even know if the report content has changed are occupying positions… sigh…’

It was really a hopeless company. But that wasn’t important to Hyun-woo. He went around to each head of department and team leader and got the same report approved as if he had rewritten it.

“Good. Team Leader Choi-nim. It seems that the internal coordination for this case has been done to some extent. Good job.”

– Seuseuseuk (scribble)

The CEO signs the report coolly. Choi Go-eun, who did nothing but entrust the report to Hyun-woo, leaves the office with an unknown expression, holding the approved report.

,What is it?’

– Ttogaktogak (click clack)

She hurries her steps to hear an explanation of the situation from Lee Hyun-woo right away.