Chapter 9

It's all just a play on words.

Given the size of the company, it might be inevitable to have a section chief for the department's expertise, but to create a new position called 'responsibility' between the section chief and the team leader, which sounds like a play on words, and insert it in there?

I couldn't understand it.

But 30 years.

The world has changed so much during those 30 years that I didn't know, so how much more could it have changed for the company?

There must be a reason and circumstances I don't know about.

I didn't ask any more about that part and only asked a few more questions about the person named Joon-Young.

"Was he a good employee?"

"He has good personal performance. Moreover, Team 2 of the Sales Department was the team that received the most team performance bonuses last year. Among them, Joon-Young is a well-regarded employee within the Sales Department. His relationship with people from other departments also seems very harmonious. He even received the Employee of the Month award."

"Employee of the Month?"

"Sure. This is something we've been doing for 30 years.

"Yes, every month, we receive recommendations from each department and select one person. The Employee of the Month receives a one-night stay at a luxury hotel and a 200,000 won gift card from a department store. It's not just a reward for good job performance; it's more about recognition from other departments."

"That makes sense. It must be an award created to improve coordination with related departments."

"Related departments? What do you mean? Oh, do you mean departments that need to collaborate frequently for work?"

I just nodded and changed my term 'related departments' to 'departments that need to collaborate frequently.'

Where's the right or wrong in it?

If people nowadays use 'departments that need to collaborate frequently' for 'related departments,' then just use it that way.

"Yes, that's right, departments that need to collaborate frequently. I was mistaken."

"Yes, that's correct. Since coordination with departments that need to collaborate frequently is an important part, as you said."

"That's what you mean when you say Joon-Young is good at that."

"Yes, he's an employee who has received the Employee of the Month award twice."

"Twice?"

"Yes. If we assume he received it once because he deserved it, the Employee of the Month award he received after his promotion to responsibility must have been due to the support of the Sales Department head."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Usually, it's rare for a department head to recommend an employee who has already received such an award once."

That's true.

There are probably many employees who haven't received it even once, so a department head should normally distribute such opportunities fairly.

The Employee of the Month award isn't a big prize, and in the end, it's a matter of morale.

Giving such motivation to one employee twice suggests there's something special about that employee.

"It seems the Sales Department head wanted to promote him to responsibility as quickly as possible and then to team leader."

"Ah…"

"While it's not directly reflected in performance evaluations, it's not entirely irrelevant either."

"That's true."

"Moreover, Joon-Young has good personal performance and a high contribution to Team 2, which is the top-performing team in the Sales Department."

There were many things I wanted to confirm.

The company's organizational culture and state had changed so much.

"How many employees are there in this company now?"

"Do you mean only the headquarters employees?"

"Excluding the group headquarters, only the employees of JaeKyung Wool."

"Yes, so you're asking about only the headquarters employees of JaeKyung Wool?"

There's a group headquarters, and here they have a headquarters for the group?

"No, including production workers, how many are there?"

"Including non-regular employees?"

"Non-regular employees, how many are there… Just give me a rough estimate."

"I need to know the exact range to answer."

What kind of nitpicking is this?

"Regular employees are a little over 2,000."

Did I hear that right?

2,000?

I thought it was pitiful that they had streamlined all the subsidiaries, but they've grown JaeKyung Wool so much.

Does it mean they are focusing on specific businesses by reducing subsidiaries?

2,000 employees means the number of employees is nearly double compared to 30 years ago.

"But if you include non-regular employees, it's a little under 3,000."

"Wh-what? How many?"

"A little under 3,000."

What is this? 2,000 already shows the company has grown significantly, but a little under 3,000?

If I only listen to what Jung Daeri is saying, it means there are nearly 1,000 non-regular employees.

How can the number of non-regular employees be almost half the number of regular employees?

Non-regular employees, or contract workers, should normally be recruited only for executives and special or specialized departments.

How can nearly half of the total employees be non-regular employees?

And with this level of employment, they are only the third in the industry?

"Why… is that?"

"Is this normal?"

"What do you mean?"

"According to what Jung Daeri said, there are nearly 1,000 non-regular employees out of 2,000 regular employees, right?"

"Legally, the percentage of non-regular employees can go up to 40% of the total workforce. Of course, it's a lot, but there are no companies with production lines that don't have this ratio, so it's not a big problem."

"Wait, so you're saying that companies with production lines mostly have this ratio?"

"There are even worse cases. Many companies use separate names for their production lines due to the high ratio of non-regular employees."

"Why do you use so many non-regular employees?"

I don't understand what Jung Daeri is saying, but he seems frustrated with my reaction.

"Of course, it's mainly due to the burden of labor costs. Of course, there are many other reasons if you dig deeper."

This is clearly not something I can understand just by talking to Jung Daeri.

"Hmm… For now… Yes, I understand for now. I don't think I can understand this just by hearing it from Jung Daeri, and even if I do, there's nothing I can do about it. Do you remember what I asked you to do earlier?"

"The contact information for Chairman Jang Tae-San of Mirae Finance?"

"Yes, please look into that."

* * *

This is the money from Manager Wang's house.

"What? Why are you fine?"

Inside the employee lounge.

Kim Won-Ho, the personnel department manager, made Jung Hyun-Soo, the team leader, stand close to him and asked in a low voice so that other employees in the lounge wouldn't hear.

"Didn't you say over the phone that he was in a mess?"

Jung Daeri recalled the 10 million won in checks he had received from Manager Son's house and thought about it.

"I did everything to sober him up. I gave him hangover remedies, coffee, and even gum... In the short lunch break, how much could he have drunk, and how drunk could he have been? At first, I thought it wouldn't work, but he sobered up faster than I expected."

"If he was so drunk, why did he come back to work instead of just going home?"

Jung Daeri showed off his best acting skills.

"How would I know? I was called, and when I got there, he was drunk. For some reason, he insisted on coming back to work…"

"Wait. Is it because the chairman or a head office executive is visiting?"

Jung Daeri thought it was a reasonable suspicion from Kim Won-Ho's perspective and was determined to do his part for the 10 million won he received from Manager Wang.

"No, I don't think so."

"Really?"

"Yes, he didn't tell me exactly, but it seems there are some documents he needs to take care of."

A moment later, Kim Manager patted Jung Daeri's shoulder lightly and said,

"Thanks for your effort. Don't think it's too X. What can you do? You're not the type to cause trouble with work during business hours. Of course, bothering people outside of work is a bigger problem, but you've already put up with it for six months. He's the chairman's son, so he won't stay in the wool division's personnel department forever."

"..."

"They say he's only here for a year or so, and I think so too. If you just hold on a bit longer, he'll be transferred somewhere else, so don't stress too much. Let's just focus on our work."

"Yes, that's what I'll do. I'm fine."

Jung Daeri felt a pang of guilt when Kim Manager continued.

"I'm sorry."

"…What for?"

"Manager Wang, I've been passing most of the dirty work related to that X to you, Jung Daeri."

"..."

"But I have no choice. I'm a manager, and I can't do the dirty work for a section chief myself, and I can't ask Manager Park to do it. Manager Park is in HRD, and Manager Wang is in HRM, so I can only ask you, who is in the same department as Manager Wang."

"Yes, I understand. It's fine."

"Fine, my ass. You have to do it even though you want to curse."

"..."

"I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about myself. I curse that X Manager Wang dozens of times a day, but I hold it in. I can't lose my job over that X."

"..."

"Anyway, thanks for your hard work. I'll go up first, so take your time, have a coffee, and smoke a cigarette. I'll say I asked you to do some errands. Here, take this card. Use it for coffee."

"No, it's fine. I'll buy my own."

"Shut up... I'm doing this because I feel guilty. I feel guilty because I can't cover for you properly and keep overworking you. Take it. Get something expensive. Keep the receipt."

Jung Hyun-Soo took the card from Kim Manager and went straight to the smoking room without buying coffee.

He had received 10 million won.

And before receiving the money, he had already agreed to a deal to keep Manager Son Jeong-Hoon's secret and help him.

No matter how he thought about it, it was a deal he shouldn't have made, and the money in his wallet felt uncomfortable.

So he lit a cigarette.

Was his self-respect so easily sold?

Was his conscience so easily compromised?

In the end, I'm just a guy who can't help it.

Jung Hyun-Soo reviewed the situation while burning the cigarette instead of his insides.

If I were in the same situation at Manager Son's house now, would I have done the same?

Would I have taken the money again?

I made a mistake.

A big mistake, something I should never have done.

Jung Daeri carefully smoked a cigarette, got rid of the smell as much as possible, and went back to the office.

"Hey, Jung Daeri."

When he returned to his seat, Manager Son approached him, leaning in close and speaking in a low voice.

"Yes."

"But how do you make this call?"

"What?"

"This. You gave me Chairman Jang's contact information earlier."

"Have you not called yet?"

Manager Wang shook his smartphone in front of Jung Daeri and frowned.

"I don't know how to use this thing…"

Jung Daeri was still skeptical.

It doesn't seem like Manager Son is joking or acting.

But it's really strange.

If he really has no memory, as he claims, how can he be so normal?

He seems even more normal and human than usual.

It's as if his personality has changed.

What's really going on?

Jung Daeri thought.

If this is a joke, there's no reason for him to go this far with me.

"Jung Daeri, you know how to use this, right? Can you make the call for me to the number you found out earlier?"