Chapter 40
“Take care, everybody.”
As soon as Park Youngsu left the office, his team members began to leave one by one as well.
Only new hires like Hyunwoo, Oh Sangho, and Min Suji were left alone with lots of files piled up on their desks.
Yonggu came next to Hyuwoo and said, “Do you still have a lot of work to do?”
“Oh, I have to finish this by this weekend.”
“Can I help you?”
Hyunwoo looked at him. Though Hyunwoo didn’t like Yonggu at all, he was now a stronger ally than anybody else.
“No thanks. I just wanted to finish it up because I don’t like leaving my work unfinished like this.”
Yonggu nodded his head as if he understood.
“By the way, did you learn to golf a lot?”
“I learned as far as the seven iron full swing.”
“Really? Do you want to have dinner with alcohol with me?”
Hyunwoo instinctively sensed that Yonggu had something to talk to him, which might be something he felt uncomfortable about talking to other members.
“Sure, you are going to treat me, right?”
“Of course.”
Cleaning the desk, Hyunwoo went out of the office. As there might be employees of Aurum at a nearby restaurant, they headed to a restaurant near Hyunwoo’s house.
They ordered soju with hot pork rib broth.
Though both of them didn’t get drunk easily, they didn’t drink that much. One bottle of soju was enough for them.
Filling Yonggu’s cup with soju, Hyunwoo asked,
“So, do you have anything to confide to me?”
“I think you should help me.”
“What is it?”
“The president called me in and asked me a favor, which was help the team manager break a bad habit. How can I do this alone?”
Hyunwoo opened his eyes a bit wider. Though he had expected Yonggu to ask him a favor, he had never thought that it would be about the team manager. What was more surprising to him was that the president had made that request to Yonggu.
“I’m afraid you’re going to get hurt by getting involved in it.”
Yonggu chuckled at Hyunwoo’s concern and recalled the president’s promise:
“Whatever happens, I will not blame you or any other team member. Let me promise that as the president. Just ignore Park’s mention of the Umsung factory. That won’t happen on my watch. So, no matter what he says, don’t get discouraged and keep up the work!”
Yonggu revealed the president’s reassurance to Hyunwoo. Only then was Hyunwoo reassured.
“So, have you thought of an idea?”
“The first thing is to make the team manager trust me. Only when he feels like I’m his strong ally can I take care of things easily. At the decisive moment, however, I’ll trample on him strongly enough so that he won’t be able to respond.”
“In other words, you’re going to have him by the balls, right?”
“You bet. After that, I’m going to appease him before changing him into a good person. For now, I have no other idea than that. I’m going to call in our team members one by one with my idea.”
It was too vague an idea in Hyunwoo’s mind. It is not easy to change a child’s character, much less an adult like Park.
However, the president promised to promote Yonggu to section chief on the condition that he succeeded in making the team manager a tame person. He could not give up on this.
“How should I help you then?” asked Hyunwoo.
The following afternoon.
Team manager Park got irritated and tapped on his computer.
“Oh, what’s the matter with this computer?”
It was certain that the speed of the computer became slow because it got infected with some strange spyware. The only thing the manager did on his desk was visit some strange websites and check out some strange pictures.
“Hey, did you say you knew how to fix a computer? Can you come over and fix it?”
“Yes, sir. As soon as I’m done with this, let me fix it.”
At that moment, Yonggu stood up abruptly and shouted loudly,
“Assistant manager Hyunwoo! What’re you doing now? Did you say ‘wait a minute’ when the team manager asked for your help? How dare you said that as his subordinate?”
With a surprised look, Hyunwoo and the other team members looked at Yonggu, for Yonggu’s voice was loud enough to resonate through the whole office.
“Didn’t you hear the manager’s directions? Just go and fix the computer immediately.”
Overwhelmed by Yonggu’s unusual behavior, Hyunwoo sprang to his feet and went to the manager’s desk at once.
“Sorry, let me fix it now.”
Park was satisfied at that, thinking to himself, Hummmmm.. Uncle called in Yonggu and told him something, I believe. Though he mentioned he would fire me, we’re related by blood anyway. At least, Yonggu is on my side for certain. I feel very secure.
“Good job. You didn’t feel bad about my instructions, right” asked Yonggu with a smile.
“Not at all. Why should I feel bad?” responded Hyunwoo, smiling back.
“Thanks to that, I feel like the manager seems to think better of me. Once I have him by the balls, let me stomp his life out.”
Hyunwoo nodded his head. In his heart, however, he felt nervous. He wondered if such a tactic would make Park change his behavior at all. He was worried that the bad blood between them would run deeper.
Also, the problem with N&C also troubled his mind.
Though Hyunwoo was physically in Korea, he was focused on N&C. He just refrained from calling Mr. Na because he didn’t want to put pressure on him. He was just waiting for the news that he had developed a new product. Also, he heard something good whenever he called Mr. Na.
‘We’re almost done. We can only improve the last remaining defect.’
Na said that he would get a new product sample soon.
Even though he and Aurum signed a draft contract, there was a possibility that they would have to revise it by then. Hyunwoo felt that if his relation with the manager soured, it would make unnecessary trouble. I wish I could have the manager on my side before we get the new product sample from Na. Is there something I can do?
Several days later.
Several people gathered at a small deserted area of the company, where they were supposed to build an earth house with yellow clay. It would be floored with flat stones and a furnace.
The groundwork was already done by the heavy vehicles, but the work of flooring it with flat stones was to be done manually by the people dispatched by Aurum.
Nobody moved, though, because the construction manager hadn’t arrived at the site yet.
Those from the general affairs team began to complain.
“Damn it. It’s hot even in the morning”
“You bet. What the heck are we doing here in this sultry weather?”
Among them were Lee Gangho and Hyunwoo of the purchasing team.
Complaining like that, the general affairs team members stole a glance at both of them because they knew it was Hyunwoo who had proposed the idea.
However, they didn’t badmouth him openly. Though he got hired only four months ago, he was an assistant manager. On the other hand, they were just rank and file employees.
Lee Gangho also felt bad because of the hot weather.
However, Hyunwoo thought nothing of it because he was accustomed to the hot weather thanks to his mountain climbing whenever he had free time.
“Aren’t you feeling hot?” asked Lee.
“I can stand it,” said Hyunwoo casually.
At that moment, they saw a couple of men approaching. One of them was an old man who looked like an expert on yellow clayed earth houses, but the other man walking next to him was someone they had never expected to see. He was none other than the “crazy dog.”
“Oh My God!”
“Why is the crazy dog the construction supervisor?”
While they were complaining about him, Park Youngsu and the old man arrived at the construction site.
“Sir, let’s start now. Finish it quickly and take a break, shall we?”
“Why are you in a hurry? This kind of work should be done after they have some makgoli, traditional Korean alcohol, first. Hey, guys, come over here and drink some makgoli.”
The old man called them as if he was ignoring Park’s instruction. When they were trying to read Park’s face, he scolded them with a raised voice,
“Do you feel guilty about drinking one cup of makgoli? Don’t care at all about Park. Come here now.”
However, Park felt like he had egg on his face because the old man’s remarks suggested that they would have to follow his instructions.
“I don’t feel like drinking it.”
Park turned his back. It was not the kind of atmosphere where the dispatched employees would chat over maggoli. They just stood up as soon as they tasted the maggoli.
“Damn it. The atmosphere here makes me feel I’m skating on thin ice. Okay, both of you guys, bring me some earth from over there and tread on the yellow clay dough. Take breaks whenever you need to and work hard.”
They began to work according to the old man’s instruction, but the old man didn’t like how slow they were.
“Hey guys, why are you so slow? Do you think you can finish this today?”
However, he fixed his eyes on one man, Hyunwoo, who stood out because of his fast movements.
When they made some yellow clay dough, the old man called Hyunwoo,
“Hey, dude, come over here with some yellow clay dough.”
While moving the clay dough, Hyunwoo put some in a basket and came to the old man.
“You lay bricks here. Put plenty of clay dough and apply it firmly. Can you do it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Okay, go ahead.”
Hyunwoo laid the bricks as instructed by the old man. He put in the proper amount of clay dough, creating a brick and then fixing it firmly by tapping it with a hammer.
Nodding his head, the old man asked, “Have you ever done this kind of work before?”
Actually, Hyunwoo had a lot of experience. As soon as he graduated from high school, he found a job at a factory specializing in flooring rooms with flat stones. He worked there for as many as two years. Though he worked for only two years, Hyunwoo had already become a skilled worker thanks to his dexterity and sharp eyes for learning things.
“Yes, sir. When I was young, I helped floor rooms with flat stones several times.”
“Oh, I see. How long did you do it?”
Aroused by Hyunwoo’s reply, the old man got him to talk. Hyunwoo conversed with the old man while laying bricks, which came into Park’s eyes.
Because Park didn’t like the old man’s attitude, he became all the more annoyed when he saw Hyunwoo happily chatting with the old man.
“Hey, Mr. Jang, did you come here to play? Just do your work right!”
Then, the old man took Hyunwoo’s side, replying,
“Why are you trying to find fault with this man? He’s working so well. And are you here to play? If you don’t have anything to do, just go over there and make some clay dough.”
Park was just dumbfounded at that. However, he could not quarrel with the bad-tempered old man.
“What are you doing? Just go over there and help them.”
The old man pressed on again.
“Do you think I’m free?” Park retorted sharply before leaving the site.
One hour later.
“You just keep laying bricks here. This is the most important part of the work. You know that, right?”
“Sure. Just rely on me.”
“Let me go to a nearby supermarket.”
“Can I go instead?”
“No, let me go. Hey, guys, are you still taking a break? Bring those flat stones to me.”
Only then did those taking a break under a tree clean the dirt off their buttocks and stand up.
They carried the flat stones from the truck.
“Oh, this is very heavy.”
“Don’t hurry. Be careful not to get injured.”
Having said that, the old man walked to the supermarket slowly, folding his hands behind his back.
A little while later, Park Youngsu appeared again at the work site.
They were carrying heavy flat stones while Hyunwoo alone was laying bricks comfortably.
Park felt bitter about that.
“Hey, Hyunwoo. What are you doing there?”
“I’m laying bricks”
“What? Laying bricks? While others are carrying the heavy flat stones, you are just staying here alone laying bricks?”
“Well, the old man assigned me to do this”
“Are you now talking back to me?”
Hyunwoo scratched his head at that. Though it looked easy to lay bricks, it was really a difficult job indeed. When the bricks were laid by someone with no dexterity and expertise in the field, they might need to tear down the existing bricks and redo it when something went wrong.
Hyunwoo was forced to carry flat stones, and a young guy took his place.
The young guy began to lay bricks casually, thinking that simply laying one brick after another was all he needed to do.
Looking at him, Park raised his lips and said to himself,
How dare Hyunwoo try to play a stupid trick on me with such simple work?
A little later, the old man came back to the site slowly and noticed a strange young man, not Hyunwoo, laying bricks.