Episode 233
Director Lee Jae-heon was a very cruel person.
Even if I cut my finger on a piece of paper, I would make all kinds of fuss, and sometimes if I mishandled an object and my skin got a little scratched, I would put a bandage on it even though it wouldn’t bleed. Maybe it was because of my pride, but I kept at least some face, but once I got hurt, I looked bad for the rest of the day.
However, Manager Lee Jae-heon has never really shed blood at the company.
“….”
As if hearing a loud noise, Jaeheon Lee covered his lower abdomen with his hand as his nose bleeded. As he suddenly looked around at all the eyes, he muttered quietly with a look of arrogance on his face.
“…Aissi.”
“…Chief, are you okay?”
“Oh, don’t worry. “Is this your first time seeing someone with a nosebleed?”
He scolded sharply and stood up.
“Stop focusing on useless things and do your job well.”
Then he was seen leaving the office straight away. I’ll go to the bathroom right away. Maybe I could have spread the blood further while wiping it off my clothes. As I was staring blankly at the door Jae-heon Lee left out, caught up in such a trivial delusion, Team Leader Woo cautiously approached me.
“Don’t worry too much, Mr. Inho. “I think the manager is a little tired today.”
“…It’s okay, team leader. thank you.”
“Okay, okay. “If you see the manager handing over documents arbitrarily again, please tell me… okay?”
Jeong In-ho smiled neatly as he tried to comfort me by smiling with a tired face. There seemed to be no need to increase the concerns of Team Manager Woo, who was the biggest contributor to ensuring that the planning team, led by the idle Manager Jae-Heon Lee, was functioning properly. He thanked me again and then returned to his seat.
“….”
But that didn’t mean it didn’t bother me.
A chat notification that was set to silent appeared on the screen of the cell phone that was placed on the desk.
[what? Manager, are you sick?]
[In-ho, do you know anything? You’re bleeding too much from the nose…]
[ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅜㅠ??]
In order, it was Noh Yeon-seok, Kang Min-ah, and Kwon Yeon-hee.
During this personnel transfer period, I glanced at Kwon Yeon-hee, who was eventually transferred to the planning department, but unlike Tok, who was filled with tears, Kwon Yeon-hee was looking at the computer screen with a calm face. The only person whose face was visible was Noh Yeon-seok, who was shrinking his large body.
After thinking for a moment, In-ho Jeong sent a message to the chat room.
[No, I don’t know anything else. I’m worried.]
[ㅠㅠㅠI wonder what you’re doing here again, Managerㅠㅜ]
After that, no one posted a message, and Kwon Yeonhee didn’t seem to particularly want an answer, so she continued working as if nothing had happened. In the strange silence, I could feel someone on one side of the partition muttering softly.
“Why are you talking like that again today….”
“It’s always only Assistant Manager Jeong who has a hard time.”
“If you can’t recover, just don’t come out.”
“Why take out your anger on someone you care about…” As
one person turned on the subject, he cautiously continued to complain, and before we knew it, the office was filled with small whispers. Even though Jeong In-ho, who was called, knew that someone was talking about me, he just kept a faint smile and pretended not to hear.
Some of them were alive and some were dead and replaced by mannequins.
“….”
Jeong In-ho clenched and unclenched his hands.
My hands were full of cold sweat.
‘…Why am I so anxious?’
In fact, a little nosebleed does not kill a person. Jeong In-ho also often shed tears when he was given a heavy workload, and he also shed a lot when he was a student preparing for entrance exams. The same would have happened to people other than Jeong In-ho. Nosebleeds were not treated as a serious disease.
But even with that in mind, the amount of blood Lee Jae-heon spilled seems to have been a bit… a lot.
[Are you sure it’s okay, Manager?]
Kang Min-ah’s chat came up to see if I was the only one who thought that.
[You look pale. I couldn’t see it closely, but it seemed like he was sweating coldly.]
[That’s right, that’s exactly what his face looked like when he got the flu.]
As Kang Min-ah and Noh Yeon-seok added, Jeong In-ho’s eyes narrowed slightly.
‘…I was just trying to pretend not to know…’
Actually, I had been feeling uncomfortable for a long time.
It was felt not just because of Lee Jae-heon’s actions, but also in the fact that the relationship between Hong Gyeong-jun and Lee Jae-heon, who had not had much contact, became noticeably closer. I tried to think that he had visited Hong Gyeong-jun separately simply to contact the survivors, but at this point, it was difficult to dismiss it that way.
The reason Jeong In-ho had been pretending not to know until now was to restore the daily life that survivors, including me, had enjoyed in the past, not to let Lee Jae-heon wither and die.
“….”
Now that I think about it, the person who always wears a suit came out today wearing a neck-tie and a light coat. He was wearing gloves on his hands that he didn’t normally wear.
“Will Inho wake up soon? “I have to eat lunch.”
“…Oh yeah.”
“Like I said before, don’t worry too much.”
Team Leader Woo’s words ‘don’t worry’ could have meant ‘don’t worry’ or ‘don’t get hurt’. When Jeong In-ho said that he was completely concerned about himself, he once again showed a neat smile.
“Thank you for your concern.”
“I feel like Inho isn’t feeling well these days either… I’m sorry if I was worried for no reason.”
“No, thank you for always caring.”
“Then that’s a relief.”
Team Leader Woo stood up and raised his voice.
“Come on, everyone, let’s go eat! “Don’t make the atmosphere too messy, okay?”
“Yes, team leader.”
“Team leader, enjoy your lunch too.”
Jeong In-ho blinked slowly as he watched the employees quietly getting up from their seats to eat. People who seemed to be looking after Kwon Yeon-hee, who had just been transferred from the marketing department, came into his field of vision. Kwon Yeon-hee bowed her head to them and gently declined their invitation.
As Jeong In-ho, with his smile on his face, was slowly taking a step towards Kwon Yeon-hee, one of the employees asked why with a flushed face.
“Hey, Yeonhee. Is there anything… with Assistant Manager Jeong? It’s just pink…”
“Hey, are you asking something like that? “Don’t worry about Yeonhee.”
“No, just… just in case… just in case…”
Oh no.
‘It might seem that way.’
After all, relationships between opposite sexes can be a bit complicated when viewed from a distance.
When Jeong In-ho showed signs of hesitation, the employee who had been talking excitedly withdrew with a red face. He seemed a little embarrassed, probably because he thought he had said something pointless.
“I’m sorry. I heard that Assistant Manager Jeong went to the marketing team to look for Yeonhee the other day…” “
…Oh, I guess there are rumors like that.”
Who on earth did this rumor spread from?
“It’s not me, but Director Kang Min-ah is close to Yeon-hee. Last time, I went to check on his well-being instead. “They said that he and Yeon-seok also spoke in unison as they went.”
“I see. “I’m really sorry… I’m so embarrassed.”
“Haha, it’s okay. Enjoy lunch.”
“Let’s go eat hotpot together later! “There’s a delicious house right in front of me.”
After saying goodbye neatly and all the employees leaving the office, the survivors of the other side of the world who remained inside quietly gathered together. Jeong In-ho realized that Kang Min-ah was looking at him with a strange gaze.
“Well… I didn’t know it would spread like that.”
“That’s right. It was just that one of us went as the representative…”
“Well, In-ho, he’s probably going to have a girlfriend.”
“…Somehow? “What kind of award is that?”
“There is such a thing.”
Kang Min-ah sighed as if she were tired.
“I want to see if the manager is okay… It must be difficult right now, right?”
“Because there are a lot of eyes watching.”
Of course, there was no one within Ohsung who was personally close to Lee Jae-heon unless he was a manager-level employee or executive. Moreover, it is well known that Jung In-ho and Lee Jae-heon have a bad relationship, so if they spoke carelessly out of concern for their physical condition, it would cause noise. Just like the rumor from earlier that Jung In-ho is dating Kwon Yeon-hee.
In the end, they left the office to have lunch by themselves, and they couldn’t even see Director Lee Jae-heon on the way. Noh Yeon-seok said after stopping by the bathroom.
“Uh… you’re not there. “I thought you weren’t even in the bathroom.”
“Then you could have gone to the pharmacy first. Even if you had a nosebleed, your whole body looked bad…”
“….”
“Yeonseok?”
At Jeong In-ho’s call, Noh Yeon-seok muttered with a slightly blood-stained face.
“…I smelled blood…”
“….”
“Chief… I’m sure you’re okay?”
As it is Oseong headquarters, their facilities were quite good and the bathroom was large and clean. If the smell of blood could be detected in a bathroom with high-quality air fresheners, it meant that the situation could be serious.
When they returned from lunch feeling frustrated, what greeted them was Manager Lee Jae-heon’s empty seat.
“Oh, Mr. Inho. I think the manager is not in very good condition. “He paid half a meal and left.”
“…aha.”
“He said he would rest until tomorrow.”
Jeong In-ho smiled.
“okay.”
At this point, I wasn’t worried, I was angry.
In-ho Jeong knew where Director Jae-heon Lee’s house was.
* * *
“…So.”
A very bitter voice.
“Why did you come all the way here?”
Jeong In-ho answered Lee Jae-heon’s muttering with a straight smile.
“Yes, I was blocked by the security guard.”
“…How did you know the number of our house?”
“You said it last time while you were drunk.”
“Why did I do that?”
Lee Jae-heon, who had just rescued the chicks held by the security guard, pressed his temples in a bewildered feeling. Seeing him like that, Kang Min-ah smiled awkwardly, Noh Yeon-seok avoided his gaze, and Kwon Yeon-hee was smiling brightly. As the disgusting main character became involved, Lee Jae-heon felt a pain in his back.
As soon as the elevator door closed, Lee Jae-heon frowned and said.
“You crazy chicks…!”
Someone came to my house to say that a man in his 40s had a nosebleed. I didn’t come here for a housewarming party. Also, a subordinate recklessly goes to the manager’s house like this.
“Everyone knows my age, right? You know I’m the oldest out of all of them, right? huh? “Do you know?”
“I understand you are turning 42 this year.”
“…? If you really knew, it would be just as disgusting. “Does Assistant Manager Jeong even memorize the manager’s age?”
“It came up when I searched. Hey royal family.”
“Why are you searching for that? “No, not this.”
Lee Jae-heon struck his forehead with a clenched fist and continued speaking.
“Why did you come?”
“Visit?”
“Do you know what time it is?”
“It’s around 8:09.”
“Aren’t you guys going to work tomorrow?”
“Should I?”
“….”
Just as Jaeheon Lee was at a loss for words, the elevator door opened.
“Shall we get off, Manager?”
“…gross bastard.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“There are no normal people around me…”
“Whose fault is it?”
“So is it my fault?”
Lee Jae-heon trudged along, stood in front of the front door of my house, and pressed the number on the door lock. I was using the button-type door lock because it was annoying to keep missing it, but thanks to that, I was able to open the door even with gloves on.
Of course, it may seem strange to be wearing gloves even while resting.
“Your hands are shaking a little.”
“…I know it all without you having to say it out loud.”
“….”
“Don’t look at me like that.”
Although he acted as lightly as possible, Lee Jae-heon’s body had not yet recovered. My fever rises to the point where I feel cool and I feel nauseous, but my hands aren’t shaking.
Jaeheon Lee opened the door, adjusting his black cardigan so as not to show his wounds.
“Please come in.”
There is nothing like this, but I was able to let him sleep for about a day.
Anyway, these are the people who came to me because they were worried about me.
