My Company Is Black

#042

Jung Hwi-kyung was always afraid of liking someone. Dating? He wasn’t in a position to do that. He was busy getting certifications and working overtime, with no time to meet people. What nonsense was dating in such circumstances?

Even if it wasn’t exactly like that, whenever Hwi-kyung accidentally regressed, all the relationships he had formed would be undone. After regression, neither the people he was close to nor the bosses he wanted to kill would remember him.

Around his tenth regression, Hwi-kyung thought this world was just like a game. He was like a player endlessly loading saves, and the characters in the game had become himself. The people around him repeating the same actions countless times seemed like NPCs, and the mission to get a job at a good company felt like the goal for clearing the game.

It might have been better if it really was a game. Every time Hwi-kyung saw a face he had become unilaterally familiar with, he wished this was a game with an end. While company colleagues changed with each new job, the nurses at the hospital where his grandmother was admitted or the neighbors next door remained the same no matter how many times he repeated.

But then, Lee Gyo-ha suddenly appeared like a surprise DLC in this tedious multi-playthrough game. “Is this that boring game? Let me play along with you.” He said that abruptly and plopped down next to Hwi-kyung.

Moreover, Lee Gyo-ha wasn’t an NPC. He was in the same situation as Hwi-kyung. Even when moving to the next iteration, Gyo-ha remembered his relationship with Hwi-kyung. So Hwi-kyung could tell him everything he had experienced without holding back.

It was an undeniable fact that Hwi-kyung developed a liking for Gyo-ha due to their shared experience. Despite being occasionally obnoxious, he was the only person in this world who could understand Hwi-kyung.

“Still, this isn’t right…”

Condition not met: You have developed personal feelings for your employer.

Condition not met: Signs of office romance detected.

Condition not met: Unable to access job search sites for this company.

Hwi-kyung hurriedly closed the system windows that were popping up indiscreetly. The system was displaying his affection even before he was aware of it himself. Hwi-kyung felt like he would go crazy from embarrassment due to the system windows blatantly expressing his emotions.

If only these system windows were visible to just his eyes, but Lee Gyo-ha could see them too. What kind of law allowed such content to be displayed? The system windows were consistently unhelpful.

The system windows were particularly sensitive to office romances. They would pop up even at the slightest sign of affection towards Hwi-kyung, so he had expected something like this to happen eventually.

But having warning windows appear unexpectedly like this was really troublesome. He wished sensitive content would only be shown when he was alone.

Whether aware of Hwi-kyung’s complaints or not, the system windows kept whispering “You have developed personal feelings for your employer” every time Hwi-kyung became conscious of Gyo-ha. The system windows were causing him to develop feelings even when he had none.

Fine! He liked Lee Gyo-ha! Hwi-kyung had no choice but to admit his feelings because of the system windows. Every time he tried to deny it, the system windows would block his view. The anxiety that Gyo-ha might see them if he didn’t close them quickly made Hwi-kyung become aware of his emotions even faster.

These system windows would have made an excellent Cupid for people unaware of their own crushes. It was hard to deny when your emotions were visualized as text right in front of you.

But it was problematic to have it constantly asking, “You like him, don’t you?” Once you know I like him, stop popping up. Lee Gyo-ha can read this too, you know.

However, the system windows stubbornly refused to listen to Hwi-kyung. It was consistently unchanged, without a single update even after 14 iterations.

Condition not met: You have developed personal feelings for your employer.

“Alright, I get it. Stop nagging me.”

Instead of closing the newly appeared window, Hwi-kyung minimized it. Since it would reappear anyway if he closed it, it was better to keep it open but out of sight. Although the content was visible to Lee Gyo-ha, at least he couldn’t directly control the windows like Hwi-kyung could. That was somewhat fortunate.

It had been three days since Hwi-kyung started avoiding Gyo-ha due to the system windows throwing a fit about him having feelings for someone in the workplace. Now, every time Gyo-ha encountered Hwi-kyung, he wore a pitiful expression.

He seemed hurt that Hwi-kyung was avoiding him despite having apologized for the impulsive kiss, overlooked his unauthorized absence, and trying to get along well with Hwi-kyung.

Jung Hwi-kyung felt truly wronged. It wasn’t that he wanted to avoid Gyo-ha. He was just frantically hitting the avoid button out of fear that Lee Gyo-ha might check his system windows and ask, “Do you like me?”

It wasn’t as if he had confessed his feelings himself, but to have his affection exposed by the regression system windows that were of no help in life? No matter how positively he tried to think about it, it was really the worst. He’d rather grab Lee Gyo-ha’s hand and say, “I think I like you.”

Condition not met: You have developed personal feelings for your employer.

The window he had just minimized expanded fully again just from thinking about confessing his feelings. Hwi-kyung cursed inwardly.

“Hwi-kyung, are you still in the bathroom?”

“I’ll be out soon.”

“Okay. I’ve picked out some clothes for you.”

Despite the situation, Hwi-kyung couldn’t avoid Gyo-ha today. It was because Lee Jung-hye, who had been quiet for a while, had summoned Hwi-kyung again.

Jung-hye still disapproved of Hwi-kyung working as a housekeeper at Gyo-ha’s officetel. Her theory was that if he was going to date Gyo-ha anyway, he might as well secure a position for himself. Her reasoning was that it would be safer to have something to fall back on even if they broke up.

If there was no regression system, Hwi-kyung would have eagerly accepted Jung-hye’s proposal. What difference would it make if Hwi-kyung added one more spoon to a Korean society rampant with corrupt hiring practices?

However, Hwi-kyung couldn’t just follow Jung-hye’s wishes and suddenly become a manager. Even if he wanted it himself, the system windows wouldn’t allow such corrupt hiring. It was already hard to handle Lee Gyo-ha being parachuted in, but Jung Hwi-kyung himself being parachuted in? He would surely face regression within a month of joining.

To reject Jung-hye’s offer to look into connections in the entertainment or international sectors, he ultimately had to meet her in person. Rejecting multiple times remotely had no effect.

Jung-hye seemed to think that Hwi-kyung was playing hard to get for a better position. Hwi-kyung inwardly wept tears of blood. To have to give up such an easy opportunity for networking….

But as long as the regression system windows were intact, Jung Hwi-kyung had to be the embodiment of integrity. Hwi-kyung wanted to flexibly accept positions offered by others like a cunning person. But what couldn’t be done, couldn’t be done. What use was a parachute appointment if forced regression was imminent?

“Hwi-kyung?”

“I’m really coming out now.”

Hwi-kyung, who had washed his face with cold water, left the bathroom with his face buried in a towel. The suit Gyo-ha had picked out was neatly hung on a portable rack.

Hwi-kyung slightly lowered the towel covering his face to check Gyo-ha’s attire. Although he didn’t need to accompany him, Gyo-ha insisted on going along to meet Jung-hye.

His neatly combed hair, perfectly fitted suit, and blue tie caught the eye. Just looking at how he dressed, Gyo-ha really did seem like a former model. Hwi-kyung quickly averted his gaze before the system windows could cause a commotion.

“I was worried you might have fallen into the bathtub.”

Lee Gyo-ha casually approached Jung Hwi-kyung. Hwi-kyung was startled when he offered to help him dress. Despite Hwi-kyung’s protests that he could dress himself, Gyo-ha didn’t budge.

“How much longer are you going to take? We need to leave now.”

“I’ll change as quickly as possible.”

“It doesn’t seem like you’ll come out at this rate. Let me just help you.”

This crazy guy…. Hwi-kyung screamed internally. Aah! Don’t undress me! The system windows I just minimized will maximize again!

Hwi-kyung quickly minimized the system windows that kept trying to expand. In the process of reaching out to the system windows, he accidentally touched Gyo-ha’s face.

However, unlike when he was casually undressing someone else, Lee Gyo-ha was greatly flustered when Hwi-kyung’s hand touched him and stepped back. Hwi-kyung’s hand was left hanging in the air at that reaction.

It was hard to understand why he was so flustered. He always touched Hwi-kyung as he pleased…. Such indignation arose spontaneously. He undoes all the buttons on someone else’s shirt but gets embarrassed when his face is barely touched? It was truly contradictory behavior.

But before Hwi-kyung could say anything, Gyo-ha slowly stepped back.

“Ah, um… I’ll wait outside.”

“…”

“I’ll go get the car ready.”

At this point, even Hwi-kyung, who had never dated before, couldn’t help but notice something was off. The atmosphere in the room had become strange just from Hwi-kyung reaching out towards Gyo-ha.

Hwi-kyung changed clothes while pondering whether this was his imagination or not. The shirt and suit jacket Gyo-ha had picked out fit Hwi-kyung’s body surprisingly well.

Condition not met: You have developed personal feelings for your employer.

“This is really driving me crazy…”

The out-of-control system window popped up in front of his eyes again. Hwi-kyung inwardly thought of Guanyin Bodhisattva. Thinking of the elderly Bodhisattva finally calmed his mind.

If this gets exposed, I’ll really have to die this time…. Hwi-kyung ran his hand over his face, which still felt cool.