episode_0023

***

The holiday was short, and I returned to my daily routine.

Still, as if learning a job over the weekend wasn’t in vain, I was able to do the occasional job Mina threw at me without difficulty.

She passed the work to me as if checking the liver, and after completing the work well several times, the work increased one by one, and now it is enough to do one serving (according to Mina).

Thanks to this, overtime work also increased.

Her promise to keep things fair was kept. Thanks to this, working overtime alone has decreased.

It seems like the other employees working overtime with me are starting to get annoyed.

The girls looked dissatisfied with the increased workload, but honestly, there is a lot I want to say about this.

At best, it’s an increase of one hour from the regular work time, so is there a need to accept it as if the world is falling apart?

And if you do something else during work hours, you end up working overtime.

When I mentioned this thought to Mina, Mina let out an unprecedented burst of laughter and slapped my shoulder.

“Hahahaha I didn’t know Inho would say that.”

Everyone else had gone home and the two of them were alone in the office. The woman who was working next to her covered her mouth with her hand and burst into laughter.

A month passed like that.

The energy of early summer has now boiled over into full-blown heat, and it has become impossible to live without turning on the air conditioner due to the humid air.

People’s clothing became thinner, and it became difficult for me to focus my gaze as it became unclear where to place my eyes.

If I even looked at someone else, Mina would come running and glare at me, so I had to be even more careful.

I feel like she and I are already halfway in a relationship.

He didn’t just confess, he held hands and even had light skinship without hesitation.

I think we became psychologically closer during our last movie date.

Go to work, work, and leave work.

On the weekends, go to the movies or the park.

We spent the day with similar yet different routines, and Mina, who had a taste for Instagram, took pictures everywhere we went.

When I asked him why he took pictures so often, he said he was happy to take pictures of the moments he spent with me, so he said it was a trade or something.

As I listened, my face turned red and I had to look away.

I thought I was adapting to this dimension without any problems.

***

But didn’t they say that unpleasant things happen suddenly?

On a Thursday like any other day, Mina and I received a call from the director.

“What is happening?”

I was a little frightened by the call from the director I hadn’t spoken to since I came here.

Usually, this type of call is not good for business.

“Okay. If it was just me who called, I would at least roughly understand. What did you call Mr. Inho? Oh, maybe you’re telling me to become a part leader or something?”

“You’ll find out when you go.”

When Mina knocked on the door, she heard someone from inside telling her to come in.

I’ve bumped into people on the way, but I’ve never seen them move so head-on.

He looked to be in his early fifties and was well-groomed.

“I heard that you were looking for me and Inho.”

As she spoke after closing the door, the director, who had been looking at us poutingly, threw it away.

“How are you distributing work these days?”

“Yes?”

She responded to the unexpected question.

“As I walked by, I heard stories that work was only given to certain people.”

Mina said as if she understood what he said.

“Ah, Mr. Inho is overloaded with work, so please distribute it fairly…”

“What are you talking about?”

The director responded bluntly as if he had heard something absurd, and I felt that things were a mess.

“If you look at In-ho’s work uploads these days, it has decreased by more than half compared to before. Inho, you’re handing over your work to someone else, right?”

“No, Director. That’s usually what Inho does…”

“That’s it. I know that you two have worked for a long time and are close friends, but please don’t reduce work due to personal feelings.”

He waved his hand as if he didn’t want to hear it.

Mina seemed aggrieved and tried to say something, but I stopped her by tapping her side.

“Yes. Okay.”

“Tsk. I wonder why people who are good at their jobs are like that.”

The director clicked his tongue and gestured for us to leave, and we left the room with a brief nod.

“Try to have a little fun with the team. Don’t just play together.”

As we were leaving, we heard Director’s words behind us.

***

Mina, who heard a scolding that was not a scolding, was unable to control her anger for a while.

She left the office with a stiff expression on her face, and I followed her.

“Phew… Phew…”

I kept taking deep breaths as if trying to relieve my boiling anger, but it didn’t seem to be improving much.

“Are you feeling better?”

We walked down the street with take-out Americano from a cafe.

“A little bit. But I still feel bad.”

From her stiff words, I could clearly feel how angry she was.

“Should I just quit my job? Me and Mina?”

When I said it in a joking way, she, who had been walking straight ahead, looked up at me.

Her eyes were slightly blank.

“Don’t say things like that. It’s a space that Inho and I created. Why should we quit our jobs? If you want to quit, people who came in late have to quit.”

Grinning, she continued.

“This is where our time and our sweat are. I can never leave.”

“Ah, okay. I just said it as a joke.”

I was afraid of that momentum and took a step back, and she glared at me.

After the director called us, Mina informed everyone that there was a problem with the distribution of work, and distributed it as before.

The team members who had less work left work in a hurry, and Mina and I were forced to work overtime again.

“I’m sorry.”

When she saw that I was having a hard time with the increased workload, she muttered.

Who is worrying about who right now? I answered my worries by smiling when I saw Mina with dark circles all the way down to her cheekbones.

A hectic week passed like that.

***

friday. The sky was damp, perhaps because it was the beginning of the rainy season.

I came to work early, did some business in the bathroom, and returned to the office, but the atmosphere was unusual.

Mina stood in front of Yoon Hye-young with an annoyed face.

Hyeyoung Yoon was explaining something to her with a very scared face.

“So, you forgot to deliver the schedule?”

“It’s not that I didn’t do it, I forgot…”

“That’s it. What happened there?”

“I don’t have that manpower… I don’t have anyone today, so I can’t do it alone.”

Mina roughly messed up her hair.

“Whew, how do you do something so basic?”

“Well, that’s…”

“Well, I can’t help it. Pack your bags right now and go down to Busan. Come see everything from packaging to shipping.”

“That Mina. I can’t go far because my father is sick.”

“Then who is going? This happened because Hyeyoung made a mistake. Who is going to Busan?”

“Well, that’s…”

The atmosphere in the office suddenly became cold, and it was difficult to breathe loudly.

The director intervened in that rigid atmosphere.

“In-ho can go.”

The director came out of the bathroom in the center of the office.

He looked down at Mina.

Despite the pressure from the height difference, Mina did not back down.

“This was clearly Hyeyoung’s fault. But why does Inho have to come down?”

“Can’t we do something like that with the same team? And your father is sick. Mina, you’re so heartless, aren’t you?”

“Before acknowledging it, isn’t this a public part? It was the director who told us to clearly distinguish between construction projects.”

“Talking back?”

Their argument showed no signs of calming down, so I set out to resolve the situation.

“I’ll just go.”

When I intervened, Mina looked at me with wide eyes.

“Then let’s assume that’s what happened. Well then, thank you for your hard work.”

The director left the place as if running away.

“Mr. Inho. Let’s talk for a moment.”

I was taken to the conference room.

She asked as soon as the conference room door closed.

“Why did you come forward?”

“It was a conversation that would end only when one side stepped down anyway.”

“They could have backed down.”

“You know that the possibility of that is small, right?”

“…….”

“If we continue to clash, Mina and I’s position will be greatly shaken.”

You know it well, right? I made that face.

“There is nothing we can do to get along well. If we keep pushing forward, Mina and I will be excluded from this group.”

“This may happen a few more times in the future.”

“Let’s think about it then. When I return from Busan this time, please ask the director to take something with me. I think you will accept that much.”

“Okay. I will strongly protest this.”

“In times like this, it’s good to have a car. It’s sad because it’s so stupid. I’m going down after making a reservation for the train, so please speak kindly to me over there.”

“Yes. As expected, there is only Inho.”

At my lively words, Mina laughed helplessly.

***

It’s been 4 hours since In-ho said he would go down voluntarily.

The office has been restored to its original appearance.

“It’s almost time to call.”

Watching the pouring rain through the window, Mina waited for his call.

I was sure they contacted me when I was getting on the train, but it was already time before we arrived in Busan.

The rain fell endlessly, and her heart was submerged as if submerged in rainwater.

“I’m anxious.”

-Crack cluck cluck

She was chewing her nails and shaking her legs.

“Oh my!”

A loud noise was heard from across the office.

Feeling like something unusual had happened, she headed toward the place where the sound came from.

Even though it was a short distance, a thick feeling of anxiety held her back.

The other employees’ faces turned blue when they saw her approaching.

“What… is happening?”

“Mina… this…”

An employee pointed to the screen.

[Train derailment. Compiling casualties]

Her mind went blank for a moment after reading the headline.