My Company Is Black

#015

After admitting Hwi-kyung to the hospital, Gyo-ha started commuting to the hospital.

“Mr. Executive Director.”

“Yes.”

“Have you finished your work?”

“…”

“Did you attend today’s meeting?”

“…”

Jung Hwi-kyung calculated the possibility of dying from stress. What on earth is this executive director trying to do…

“I’m really fine, so I’d appreciate it if you could follow the schedule starting tomorrow.”

“I’ll do things properly once Jung Hwi-kyung returns.”

“Mr. Executive Director.”

“Yes.”

“…Are you perhaps really interested in me?”

Being American-influenced, he might like men too. Hwi-kyung thought with an open mind for a young conservative. But unlike Hwi-kyung who gathered courage to ask, Gyo-ha nodded readily without much thought.

“Yes, I’m very interested.”

Lee Gyo-ha was definitely interested in Jung Hwi-kyung. It wasn’t romantic interest. If Hwi-kyung wasn’t a regression person, Gyo-ha wouldn’t have cared this much.

But Hwi-kyung could send Gyo-ha back to graduate school at any time. This meant he was someone who needed to be held onto somehow.

In the luxurious private hospital room, Hwi-kyung and Gyo-ha were having different thoughts. Hwi-kyung was thinking, ‘The executive director must be gay and likes me,’ while Gyo-ha was thinking, ‘When will this regression guy finally get healthy?’

It was truly a case of different dreams on the same bed.

However, a consistent rumor began to spread within the company. It was a rumor with an unknown origin. It might have started from Manager Kang in HR, or it might have started from Assistant Manager Lim in the support team.

The problem was that regardless of its origin, this rumor spread as fast as a legged word. The saying that a word without legs travels a thousand miles was true.

‘They say the parachute executive director likes the HR deputy manager.’

‘I heard he made him his temporary secretary because he fell for him at first sight?’

‘But the HR deputy manager is a man.’

‘That’s crazy. Maybe he’s open to that sort of thing because he came from America.’

As Hwi-kyung had worried, a more open-minded Korea had arrived.

The rumor spread through lunch breaks and company dinners. The distortion was almost at the level of light passing through a prism.

‘I heard that HR deputy manager’s specs are no joke.’

‘Nah, from what I saw, he must have gotten in through the executive director’s backing. They don’t usually hire people for HR.’

‘I heard from somewhere… that he was the executive director’s lover even before joining the company.’

Behind the scenes of such crazy talk flowing freely was Lee Gyo-ha. The root of all evil in Hwi-kyung’s view. A man who grew up with American influence and had so few prejudices that he thought such behavior was acceptable in Korea.

Inadequate conditions: Negative rumors about you are rampant.

Do you want to regress?

Hwi-kyung dismissed with a glance the system window that had been frequently recommending regression lately. What regression for this level? He hadn’t even done unpaid overtime once yet.

Lee Gyo-ha became even more attentive after Hwi-kyung was hospitalized. He didn’t just bring coffee every morning, but also bought jambon-beurre from a sandwich specialty shop, saying to eat meals properly. For Hwi-kyung, who used to eat only 2+1 convenience store sandwiches, the morning special jambon-beurre from a sandwich specialty shop was a bewildering gift.

If it had ended there, it would have been just a matter of “Haha, Deputy Manager Jung must be close with the executive director.” But as mentioned earlier, Gyo-ha had a flowery head and didn’t know moderation.

We all witnessed him coming down to the 10th floor office every lunchtime, pestering Hwi-kyung to have meals together. Manager Kang, who used to have lunch with Hwi-kyung often, had already backed out, saying not to include him in that kind of relationship.

Even when Hwi-kyung refused meals saying he had prior engagements, Gyo-ha didn’t back down easily like before. After making excuses that eating out is bad for health and that he brought packed meals, he started bringing his own lunchbox.

They say even dogs aren’t bothered when eating, but Gyo-ha enthusiastically bothered Hwi-kyung. It was at the level of stimulating a person with a fast-paced rhythm. It was basic for him to park his car in front of the company at closing time, saying he’d drive Hwi-kyung home.

What’s barely one in the morning, disappears at lunch, and becomes minus in the evening? It’s Jung Hwi-kyung’s patience.

Gyo-ha was genuinely doing this because he was worried the regression person might die at this rate, but to others, it just looked like the executive director was head over heels for the HR deputy manager.

Moreover, Hwi-kyung also thought Gyo-ha was acting this way because he liked him. Jung Hwi-kyung was unaware that Lee Gyo-ha was an unfortunate person going through regression with him. The superior who had been tormenting him suddenly changed his attitude and tried to take care of him in every way? It wouldn’t be surprising if he wrote about this situation online asking if it was a green light.

“Isn’t someone like the executive director okay?”

“What?”

“Our company doesn’t prohibit office romance anyway.”

Manager Kang said casually that while side jobs are prohibited, there’s no clause prohibiting office romance. It was a statement that made nicotine tempting. Jung Hwi-kyung went straight to the convenience store and bought cigarettes.

The executive director is interfering with my smoking cessation… Hwi-kyung, who had also neatly purchased a disposable lighter, stepped into the smoking area.

“Hah…”

A sigh came out involuntarily. How hard it had been to quit smoking. Hwi-kyung wished he was a non-smoker himself. Although regressing would restore even rotten lungs to new, he wanted to avoid the tragedy of having to regress due to lung cancer while working well at the company.

However, the immediate stress was more of a problem than future health conditions. Just a few days after being forcibly hospitalized for collapsing at home with the flu and then discharged, Hwi-kyung had openly become Gyo-ha’s plaything.

Look at that! It’s the mark of the parachute executive director!

Even in the smoking area, several employees who recognized Hwi-kyung exchanged glances. Due to the bruise remaining on Hwi-kyung’s face after returning to work from paid leave, there was also a secret rumor circulating that Gyo-ha had terrible tastes.

‘I didn’t think the executive director was like that, but he seems violent…’

‘Don’t you think he enjoys that kind of play?’

Hwi-kyung really disliked how people parted like the Red Sea whenever he appeared. What do they mean by ‘that kind of play’ when they don’t even know him well? It’s people like this who gather and push others into the pit of forced regression.

He put a cigarette in his mouth and inhaled deeply until it burned close to the filter. Even though it was his first time smoking in this cycle, the nicotine felt sweet.

He wanted to chain smoke, but Hwi-kyung quickly left the smoking area, fearing the smell would linger on his clothes. Even after brushing his teeth immediately and washing his hands thoroughly, the smell of cigarettes didn’t go away easily.

“Hwi-kyung, were you a smoker?”

As expected, Manager Kang, sitting nearby, asked in a low voice. Hwi-kyung nodded. He couldn’t deny it, as he might smoke anytime as long as that executive director bastard existed.

“If I had known, I would have gone out with you.”

“Let’s go together next time.”

“Mmm. I’ll give you a deodorizer when we go out…”

“Ahem. We should ventilate the office.”

“Ah, I’ll open the window.”

But the HR team leader, who was usually never at his desk, was surprisingly there. Hwi-kyung had never seen so many people in the HR office since joining the company. Even team members he had barely seen in a year were visible.

Perhaps because of this, the office that was usually empty felt stuffy today. It was also awkward that the HR team leader, who had recently quit smoking, was giving him looks for smoking.

Aren’t you supposed to be out of the office at this time?

The HR team leader usually sauntered in between 9:30 and 10 AM if there were no meetings or audits. His argument was that it wasn’t a problem to come in that late since he left a bit later anyway.

In reality, because Manager Kang managed his attendance card for him, the HR team leader’s late arrivals had never been an issue until now. The same was true for other older team members. It was an unwritten rule of the HR team that only Manager Kang and Hwi-kyung arrived on time.

Hwi-kyung didn’t think this was particularly bad. The old team members and the team leader weren’t helpful even if they came in early. If made to arrive on time, they would just postpone their work and stare at the stock market.

“Is something happening today? There are a lot of people in the office.”

“…Hwi-kyung, haven’t you heard?”

“Heard what?”

“I heard the executive director will now directly manage attendance.”

“…What?”

Not strictly enforcing arrival times was one of the few good points of this company, and he’s going to ruin it himself?

Inadequate conditions: HR team members’ morale has decreased.

Inadequate conditions: The HR team leader dislikes you.

Inadequate conditions: Most HR team members dislike you.

“Didn’t you say something to the executive director, Hwi-kyung?”

Would I have?

Jung Hwi-kyung inwardly shouted, ‘It wasn’t me!’ It was a cry that reached no one. Even with flexible attendance, Hwi-kyung was always at the company by 8:30 AM anyway. Why would he persuade Gyo-ha to strictly enforce attendance?

However, the truth is usually not very important. Including Manager Kang, the other HR team members thought it was Jung Hwi-kyung’s fault that the executive director was showing such interest in the HR team. In a group, it’s more important to create someone to blame than to know the truth.

Do you want to regress?

Hwi-kyung inwardly gave Gyo-ha the middle finger. That executive director bastard, really… I should have known from when you were clocking in at the hospital instead of working. That you’re the bastard who came to ruin my regression…