Ch.139Chapter 139. Futile Efforts

“Ah. I don’t want to go to work.”

“Me neither.”

“……”

Jinsoo and Juliane, both dressed in formal attire.

The two trudged out of their room and collapsed onto the sofa with a sigh.

Watching them while taking a bite of bread, Cuss thought to herself.

‘I need to find a job where I get paid without working.’

No matter how she looked at it, labor was not something worth doing.

She’d heard that if you owned a building, you could receive money without working.

She thought she should tell Jinsoo to work hard and leave her a building as inheritance.

“Our cute daughter! Mommy’s going to work now, okay?”

“Ugh… I’m not your daughter yet… the adoption process isn’t complete…”

“You’re practically my daughter!”

Tightly embraced by Juliane, Cuss resigned herself.

She knew by now that resistance would only make it more painful.

“Will you give Mommy a kiss?”

“Ugh…”

“Please! Just once! Pleeeease!”

“……”

Seeing Juliane on the verge of tears made her heart soften.

She didn’t really dislike Juliane.

Besides Jinsoo, she was the only human who knew all her secrets and still loved her.

It would be a lie to say she felt no attachment.

Though she had shown resistance to Juliane’s aggressive affection until now…

Now they were mother and daughter, weren’t they?

To make it look natural, a kiss between mother and daughter was only natural.

“Hmm…”

Cuss closed her eyes and puckered her lips.

Soon she felt something moist and soft, then—

“Mmph?!”

She jerked back in surprise when she felt something pushing in.

When she glared, Juliane looked just as surprised.

“Wow… You stick your tongue in when kissing your daughter?”

“No, this was a mistake. A mistake. I’ve only kissed Jinsoo, so I just did what I usually… Wait, you were pushing your tongue in too!”

“I don’t do that anymore.”

Liar.

When Cuss wasn’t looking, she was constantly giving tongue kisses and groping her chest.

It seemed neither Jinsoo nor Juliane were qualified to be parents.

Cuss came to that conclusion and shook her head.

“Ah! Look at the time… I should get going.”

“Wait. Kiss before you go.”

“Mmm… Hueh…”

“By the way, why don’t you call me oppa anymore?”

“What? Well… now that we’re married…”

“Being married doesn’t mean you can’t use that term. I want to hear it again.”

“No, no! I call you that plenty at night… I’m too embarrassed right now.”

Though she said she was leaving, they clung to each other and carried on like that for quite a while.

Growing bored of watching, Cuss clicked her tongue and lay down on the sofa.

Finally, after a few more kisses, Juliane pulled away with a deeply flushed face.

Were all newlyweds like this?

Out of curiosity, she’d learned that the divorce rate in America was 20 percent.

For remarriages, it rose to 30 percent.

What was the marriage rate between adopted daughters and fathers again?

“Hey. Study hard. Otherwise you’ll end up working your ass off for peanuts like me.”

“I think Jinsoo is considered middle class. The ‘peanuts’ metaphor doesn’t seem appropriate.”

“I guess so.”

Naturally climbing onto Jinsoo’s lap and snuggling against him, Cuss felt a sense of security.

Now Jinsoo had to go to work, and she had to go to school.

The time they could spend alone together was just about 10 minutes in the morning.

Short, but no time was more precious.

“Your school starts tomorrow, right?”

“Yes.”

“Have you packed your bag?”

“Not yet.”

“Pack it by this evening. Don’t rush around in the morning.”

“Okay… I will.”

“Make sure you write down the list of textbooks you need to buy tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

“What else… Oh, get your homeroom teacher’s phone number. This teacher might accept some gifts.”

“Okay…”

Answering halfheartedly, Cuss pressed her face against Jinsoo’s chest.

Thump-thump. The sound of his heartbeat against her ear made her feel at ease.

Soon, Jinsoo, who had been stroking her head, slowly got up.

So it’s over now.

“I’m off. Take care of the house. Don’t open the door for strangers. If any packages or mail come, tell them to leave it at the door.”

“I know all that, Jinsoo.”

“Right… If you go out with Bella somewhere, make sure to let me know.”

“Okay.”

Jinsoo adjusted his clothes and headed for the door.

Watching his back, Cuss felt all her energy drain away.

After Jinsoo left, she’d be bored no matter what she did.

She almost wished she could go to school already.

“Oh!”

“What? What’s wrong?”

Just then, Cuss remembered something she’d forgotten.

On the last day of school, when she’d ignored everything Jane said.

She definitely assigned some vacation homework that day.

“I have vacation homework…”

“What is it? You can do it quickly today.”

“Visit a parent’s workplace and do a report…”

“Hey! Why are you only mentioning this now?!”

***

“Yes, Assistant Manager. I’m asking for a favor. No, just a simple interview would be fine. Come on… it’s just a kid’s vacation homework, so you can just give some quick answers. Yes, yes. Thank you. I’ll hang up now.”

The fire was at my feet.

It always happens.

Kids who tell their parents about vacation homework the day before school starts, making them worry.

That was me.

Living together, she seems to have picked up even my useless habits.

Anyway, looking at this girl’s behavior, I can’t shake the impression that she’s similar to how I was as a child.

“Hey. You know you’re causing a lot of trouble, right?”

“I know.”

“We’re just going to take a few pictures and leave.”

Visiting a parent’s workplace, huh?

They still give this kind of homework these days.

It brings back memories.

But having a kid wandering around the company will really annoy those nerds.

I need to finish this quickly and send her back.

“Jinsoo! You’re here? We’ve been waiting!”

“What the…?”

I had to doubt my eyes as soon as I parked the car.

Aren’t those guys the nerds from our department?

Why aren’t they working, and why are they all swarming out to the parking lot?

“What are you guys doing?”

“Your daughter’s here for a tour! We need to guide her!”

“No, I’ll be the one guiding her… You guys should be working. Do you want her to take pictures of an empty office?”

“Ah! Right! Researchers, get back to work!”

“Geez…”

Those bastards were so excited about goldbricking that they all came out.

About half of them turned around and went back into the building.

But quite a few still remained.

While I was standing there dumbfounded, the door slammed shut and Cuss came out.

“The young lady is here!”

“Welcome!”

“Welcome to Tactum!”

“What are you guys really…”

Anyone watching would think the company president’s daughter was visiting.

Or rather, it looked like a gangster boss’s daughter had arrived.

“Ahem! I’m Cuss, Jinsoo’s daughter, here for a tour! Nice to meet you all!”

“Ohhhhh!”

Cuss’s shoulders were raised high, seemingly excited by the atmosphere that was subtly elevating her.

This girl is so easy to please…

“We’ll treat you with the utmost respect!”

“Follow us! We’ll show you our company’s pride, the world’s largest maintenance facility!”

“Are you stupid? We should show her the lobby first! That’s where all the company history is!”

“Who needs to see the history of this company with no roots!”

Why are they fighting among themselves?

“Cuss. Let’s just go by ourselves.”

“Yeah. That seems better…”

As their voices grew louder, we quietly slipped away.

Idiots. Do they think I’ll help them goldbricking?

The more people who slack off, the harder the company gets on everyone.

As soon as we left the parking lot, we first went to where the test room used to be.

“Look. That’s where I almost died. Because of that accident, Tactum lost all government support.”

“Hmm…”

“And over there is the assembly plant. That’s where engines are produced. We outsource only the parts production, but essentially all assembly is done here.”

Cuss just followed me quietly while listening to my explanation.

Without taking any notes.

Can she remember everything just by hearing it once?

I felt a bit envious of Cuss’s memory.

I forget things so often that people ask if I have early-onset dementia.

“What kind of work does Jinsoo do here?”

“Me? I… I…”

Wait. What was my position again?

As I thought about it, I became confused.

What do I actually do?

I work with the assistant manager on overall supervision, create designs, check for defects, and sometimes go to the maintenance facility to help engineers with internal repairs when they’re short-handed.

“Various miscellaneous tasks…?”

“Occupation: handyman. Got it.”

“……”

I couldn’t deny it.

No matter how I thought about it, my job was indeed that of a handyman.

A handyman who could handle most tasks within the company.

“Is Jinsoo happy doing this job?”

“Happy? Hmm…”

Disregard for human life, unexpected overtime as the norm, and a strictly vertical structure.

It’s a company that consistently receives correction demands from the Labor Department, definitely in the top ten worst companies in America.

Thanks to that messed-up structure, they demoted the assistant manager after an accident last time.

So if you ask whether it’s a good company or a bad one, I can answer immediately.

“I’m happy. It’s the place that lets me send you to school.”

Tactum is the best company.

Where else could I find a better workplace where I do less work and get paid more?

As for overtime, well, if I think of 10 PM as the regular quitting time, it doesn’t bother me much.

The vertical structure doesn’t feel like a disadvantage to me, maybe because I’m Korean.

The executives blaming each other after every accident isn’t my problem since I’ll never become an executive.

They accepted someone like me with just a high school diploma, and I met my eternal benefactor, the assistant manager, here.

Even though I complain about how shitty it is, I don’t quit because I still have good feelings about it.

What they call love-hate.

It’s a company that’s shitty but can’t be completely hated.

“Now go interview the assistant manager and then go home.”

“Okay.”

The tour was taking longer than expected.

I need to finish quickly and send her back before noon.

*

We went to the office to interview the assistant manager.

She seemed to have prepared questions to ask…

“I understand that Tactum has received inadequate safety management ratings for three consecutive years. Are there any measures being taken for this?”

“Huh? Um? Well… we’re trying to improve every year…”

“After the test room explosion, there were concerns that the factory is vulnerable to fires. Have solutions been prepared for this?”

“Regarding fires, we have double and triple fire suppression systems in place, so you don’t need to worry too much…”

“Then were those fire suppression systems not present in the test room?”

“That was a special case… Haha…”

There was something strange about her questioning.

What is this, a congressional hearing?

Seeing the assistant manager in difficulty, I had to stop the interview quickly.

We’ve taken several photos, heard explanations, and done the interview.

This should complete the tour.

I thought I could just casually spend time showing Cuss around, but it was more exhausting than I expected.

And it’s only been the morning so far.

“Yawn… Tours are tiring. I’m exhausted.”

“We did walk a lot. Get some rest.”

As soon as she sat in the passenger seat, Cuss drifted off to sleep.

Just like a kid.

She seemed to be running around energetically, but she crashed right away.

I should make her some food at home and then go back to work.

I felt like I could collapse at any moment, but seeing her sleeping face somehow gave me energy.

When she keeps her mouth shut, she’s really pretty and cute…

“Ah!!!”

“What?! What’s wrong?!”

Just then, Cuss suddenly opened her eyes wide and sat up.

Scared the hell out of me.

My heart almost dropped.

“This was first-grade vacation homework.”

“So what… Oh.”

Come to think of it, Cuss is skipping ahead to 7th grade this year.

So the first-grade vacation homework…

“Don’t tell me you didn’t need to do it?!”

“……”

Cuss bit her lip and nodded.

This little brat.