The clock at the company had to be out of battery. Either that, or there was something wrong with the mechanics. It felt like it had been ten hours since she came back after eating lunch, but it was still only 6. Eunhye looked at general manager Choi. The department’s closing hours were the same as the time when general manager stood Choi up. If general manager Choi kept his fat butt on the chair, then they would spend another day of meaningless overtime work, but if he picked up his jacket behind him, then they would be going home.
“Looks like we’ll be working overtime again today. Even though there’s nothing to do,” whispered the employee sitting opposite her.
The general manager clearly must like holding things back, whether it was their salary or the employees. General manager Choi moved. The people in the department raised their heads like meerkats.
“Let’s go home early today. Good job, you all.”
Six on the dot? Eunhye quickly cleaned up her desk. She had to leave the company as soon as possible. General manager Choi may come back and give her extra work if she loitered around any further. The other employees seemed to have thought the same and cleaned up instantly. The employees of other departments on the same floor gave them envious gazes. Today alone, she felt proud of general manager Choi.
“Eunhye, Hyunji is buying us drinks.”
Senior Yoon waved at her. She didn’t have a reason to refuse when she was getting treated. She wanted to say in a cool fashion that the youngest one shouldn’t be opening their wallets, but her own wallet was too sorrowfully thin for her to say anything like that. She followed Hyunji on the condition that she’d treat her ‘twice’ if she got her salary. Their first destination was the teppanyaki fried rice restaurant in front of the station, where the three of them went to quite often.
“My two unnis, I’ll treat you two to a full course today. First, let’s have some food, then go to a pojang-macha to get drunk, and finally, we’ll go to a noraebang. How is it, perfect, isn’t it?”
Her words alone were perfect. They talked about the secrets behind the closing hours while eating some seafood fried rice. Senior Yoon spoke first. Apparently, general manager Choi, who had a fight with his wife in the morning, miraculously made up with her just before closing time, so he ordered them to go home early because he felt good.
“How can he adjust the closing hours according to his mood?”
“It’s not like this is the first time; we just gotta deal with it.”
“Still, it’s good that we got off early today.”
Senior Yoon said that talking about him made the food taste bad and that they should go to the pojang-macha to roast him. Eunhye agreed. Snacks were better chewed over some drinks. After they had dinner, they went to a pojang-macha. It was ‘Mrs. Kim’s Pocha’ that they frequented.
“I still need some time until I can open, about two hours.”
Mrs Kim was just unloading the truck.
“Then let’s go to the noraebang first. Let’s try singing while still sober.”
We go anywhere our money lord wishes to go – senior Yoon said as she locked arms with Hyunji. Eunhye agreed. Soju would taste even better if they drank after running wild for a bit. As soon as they entered a booth, they selected ‘mal dalija’[1] as the song. They inserted general manager Choi’s name between the ‘shut up!’s[2]. It was a song that they always sang at get-togethers without general manager Choi. When they enjoyed themselves for some time, they found that an hour had already passed. The remaining time left on the machine was also close to zero. They were just about to wrap things up and leave, only to find out that the time had increased.
“We don’t really have any customers, so play around for some more.”
The owner of the store had been generous to them. Eunhye looked at senior Yoon and Hyunji alternately. Both of them looked like they had some energy left. They jumped around like crazy for another hour.
“This is the first time I’ve played around like this since college.”
“My throat hurts.”
“Sometimes, general manager Choi does help. I didn’t notice the flow of time when I was swearing at him while singing. Man, that was a good session.”
They headed back to the pojang-macha with messy hair. Mrs. Kim welcomed them after finishing her preparations. She even gave them some free eomuk-tang[3], thanking them for not going anywhere else. The company had general manager Choi, one of the worst humans out there, while the pojang-macha had the angelic Mrs. Kim. She felt like it was true that everything in life added up to zero in the end.
After they all drank a glass of soju each, she ate a piece of spicy roasted eel. She looked at Mrs. Kim as she chewed on it. Mrs. Kim was staring right at her phone.
“Mrs. Kim. What are you watching?”
“A drama. I found this rather good these days.”
Mrs. Kim showed her the drama. She was watching ‘Doctors’. Eunhye also took out her phone.
“Unni, let’s watch together.”
Hyunji, who was sitting on the other side, pulled her chair over and sat next to her. Senior Yoon did the same. Eunhye flipped the beer glass over and leaned the phone against it. There weren’t any other customers at the pojang-macha, so they raised the volume a little which made it possible to hear the lines they said. She focused on the screen while drinking some soju that Hyunji poured for her.
“Lee Heewon’s so good-looking.”
“I personally think Choi Changsoo looks more handsome. Lee Heewon looks dense.”
“The way he looks dense is a charming point.”
Senior Yoon and Hyunji both commented as they looked at Heewon standing in front of the operation table. The operation followed. It was a laparotomy and the internal organs looked pretty realistic. Hyunji said that she was creeped out and turned her head around for a bit. Though, on the other hand, senior Yoon liked it for being realistic. The surgery was performed successfully and everyone celebrated. A rival had dug a trap in order to put the genius-like Heewon in check, but he managed to overcome that without a hitch thanks to Yoonseo’s help.
“I thought she’d be terrible when she first came out, but she wasn’t actually that awkward.”
“Are you talking about Yoonseo?”
“Yeah. It is a little cringey when she shouts, but I think everything else is okay.”
“Right. I heard that singing and dancing isn’t everything that idols practice these days. Apparently there are some who solely focus on acting.”
“Someone like Yoonseo must own a building in Gangnam, right?”
“One? I’m pretty sure she has two or three.”
“I dreamed of becoming a singer when I was young too. Who knew I’d be drenched in a company lifestyle like this. Since we’re at it, what were your dreams when you were young, Hyunji and Eunhye?” Senior Yoon asked as she ate a piece of fish cake. Hyunji replied after wondering for a while,
“Me, I wanted to become a civil servant.”
“From when you were young?”
“Yes. I have wanted to become one since I was in middle school.”
“How old are you again, Hyunji?”
“I’m twenty-two this year. I lived a goshiwon lifestyle without going to college for just two years, and I thought I wouldn’t make it. I thought that I would be in big trouble if I didn’t collect myself and start working, so I got into this company…. Who knew that my first salary would’ve been my last.”
“How unlucky. You just had to come here of all places.”
“I’ll still hold on for a bit since they said they’ll pay. Eunhye-unni, what was your dream?”
The two of them stared at her. The drama had switched to a scene where Heewon and Yoonseo were on a date in the park. Eunhye looked at the screen and spoke,
“When I was in elementary school, a pianist. But I found out how hard it is to earn a living by playing an instrument as soon as I entered middle school. Since then, I didn’t have a dream. I just thought I’d study and go to a good college and that I should find something I like. Well, the result of all that is drinking here. If you think about it, how many people do you think in Korea have a dream they live by? What do you think, senior Yoon?”
“Almost none. The first thing you learn when you enter first grade is the thought process that you’ll get praised by your parents if you get a higher score than the one sitting next to you. How is there any room for dreams in that? Look at Hyunji. She said her dream was to become a civil servant since she was middle school. She changed like this in just a few years, so I’m sure people younger than her have it even worse. I’m sure they study like their life depends on it, you know?”
Hyunji then trembled, saying that an elementary school boy living next to her had an even stricter life than hers.
“He goes back home at around 10p.m. most of the time, and whenever I ask, he says he’s coming back from cram school. Kids these days have it tough.”
“Just wait another twenty years. I’m sure elementary school kids will be talking to each other in English.”
“That sounds terrifying.”
Eunhye poured some drinks for the two people who were laughing in vain. She was originally going to watch the drama, but she couldn’t focus. If she was by herself, she would’ve immersed herself in it, but now that they were talking about what was actually going on in the world, the drama looked like too much of a fantasy. For a while, they talked about meaningless dreams as they drank. It was when she heard that voice that her attention was changed to her phone again. The two others also became quiet and watched the phone.
“Bigfoot’s here,” Eunhye said those two words before focusing again.
Bigfoot was facing Choi Hyunjin, the cause of his change in shift.
-I heard that the shifts changed because of me before.
-Yes.
-Is it true that your mother is unwell?
-Now, I wonder how you found out about that. It’s supposed to be a secret.
-Why didn’t you tell me? I wouldn’t have changed shifts if you told me that day.
-It’s already a thing of the past. It’s fine.
-I’m not fine. I feel like I became a bad person suddenly. Also, I heard from the head doctor that day that you didn’t have anything to do that day, so you could stand in for me.
-Yes, you don’t have any faults at all, so you don’t have to be sorry for me.
Bigfoot put on his unique sorrowful smile again. Choi Hyunjin’s eyes twitched.
-Don’t you feel unjust? If you do then just say it. If you’re a man then just say it out loud.
-What good is being manly in all this? Just change with me when you’re off duty one time. That’s fine.
-Don’t you have any guts? A member of your family is unwell, yet you can just gloss things over like that?
-So what if I don’t? I’m sure the daughter of the director must think that the world is limitlessly liberal, but the world as I see it definitely isn’t. I’m sure the head doctor is kind to you, but he’s nothing more than a fierce judge who has a hold of my intern performance sheet. I want to do well in front of him.
-Isn’t that just an excuse? Aren’t you just lacking courage? If it was me, I would have said it boldly. It’s my holiday after all.
-If it’s you, yes. If it’s you.
Bigfoot nodded before trying to walk past Choi Hyunji. Choi Hyunjin frowned in displeasure and blocked his way.
-Are you saying that I’m immature because I’m the director’s daughter or what?
-I never said you were immature. I was just saying that we were different.
-Just how are we different? I also put in the same effort as you and passed the national exams. Do you think I received benefits or something?
-You just have to make me feel tragic. I’m not sure what good it is for me to say any of this to you, but still, let me ask you something. Have you ever worked in order to study? Have you ever found yourself thinking that it’s such a waste of time to work when you can study?
Bigfoot’s expression was filled with endless sorrow. There was a sense of vanity in there as well. He probably found it absurd that he had to explain himself in this situation, and pitied himself for it. Choi Hyunjin wasn’t able to say anything.
“Was Choi Hyunjin always that good at acting?”
“No, she was dissed until just last week because she was terrible. I’m pretty sure many said that she was like a child playing around.”
“Then how is she so good today?”
“Right?”
“And she goes strangely well with Bigfoot.”
Just as the two said, Choi Hyunjin’s acting was first-rate. She was good at acting like a prideful high-class lady even though she was awkward until just last week.
Bigfoot shook his head. He shook off the thick and dark emotions that filled his face with a single breath and put on that signature clueless smile of his.
-I shouldn’t have said that. Don’t worry about it. I know that both you and I had it hard. Just change shifts with me one time, yeah?
After flicking his hair in a funny fashion, Bigfoot walked forward like a toy soldier. The camera showed Bigfoot’s figure walking away before shifting angles to Choi Hyunjin.
-Fine, you’re awesome, okay!
Choi Hyunjin shouted.
[1] A Korean-style punk rock released in 1996. It’s usually a song that’s sung at the very end to ‘blaze’ their remaining energy.
[2] ‘Shut up’ is in the lyrics of the song.
[3] Fish cake stew.
