****
The president’s office is in a 45-story building.
A beautiful woman put a suit jacket on a man and smiled.
“Come down on time.”
“Yes. I will.”
The woman gave the man a kiss on the cheek and turned away.
The young-looking man nodded and turned his gaze back out of the window.
In life, people sometimes think a certain way.
“If I could have another chance, I would live a different life.”
“If I could go back to the past even for a day, my life would change.”
“If I am given another life, I wouldn’t live like this.”
It was the same with this man. He was born poor and worked hard, and still nothing changed as he went on living an unhappy life. Poverty, death, divorce, separation, and layoff.
He felt that he would be left all alone at the end of his life.
Then good luck came.
The man looked down at the world from a building that seemed to be above everything and pondered for a moment.
“That. When was it···.”
**
“For our team leader who has encouraged our team members for 3 years with the heart as wide as rivers and seas! We will never forget you!”
“Cheers!”
Kim Chulsoo lifted his beer mug at the farewell party thrown by his team members.
It had been 17 years since he joined the company.
Because he joined the company he was just a fresh college graduate, he managed to get promoted as an assistant manager 6 years after joining the company, then was promoted to manager after another six years, and was narrowly promoted to deputy director after five years. However, he failed to get promoted to director and got laid off.
“Before we begin this event, team leader-nim please say something.”
Jang Haesung, who was in his third year as an assistant manager, was not very good at his work, but he was a good mood maker.
After receiving a spoon from Jang Haesung, Kim Chulsoo looked at each of the 16 team members sitting together.
Today at 18:00 he became a man who had nothing to do with them, and in the current state of the world, it is difficult to have such occasions, so he was thankful to them.
Kim Chulsoo smiled naturally, although layoffs are not a laughing matter.
For about 17 years at work, he could now make facial expressions as good as an actor’s.
“Thank you for giving me such a meaningful farewell party, even on this cold winter day.”
“Hey! Why are you using honorifics already, Team Leader-nim!” exclaimed Jang Haesung.
“Ya! You punk! Team Leader-nim is still talking, so why are you interrupting!”
When Kim Chulsoo shouted back, everyone burst into laughter.
“That’s how you become a team leader!”
“Hey really! Even when you’re outside the office, you can’t just say whatever you want. Do you guys want to go back to the office and work until 10 p.m.?
Everyone burst into laughter again.
Kim Chulsoo scratched the back of his head and spoke again.
“It was cold last winter, wasn’t it? The weather is colder due to the new corona outbreak. Our company is also very cold. No matter how we meet or how we part, and I wanted to shake things up, but!…. Haesung, you punk! Don’t interrupt while your boss is talking!
“Yes! Team Leader-nim!”
“I’ll tell you just one thing. Don’t work like me.”
Manager Lee Jinsoo, who was holding a beer mug, shouted “I want to live like hyung-nim.”
“Bullshit!”
The company dinner burst into laughter again.
Kim Chulsoo looked at the new employees, who were holding back their laughter, and spoke again.
“Corporate life is like a marathon l, but if you only keep looking forward, you might hit a wall. When the time to choose comes, keep thinking about what is best for you. It is my last piece of advice as an Ubervisor. Come! Let’s have a drink.”
Kim Chulsoo finished like that and lifted his beer mug.
“Sales Team 5, fighting!”
“Fighting!”
**
After the farewell party given by his team members, the moderately drunk Kim Chulsoo stopped by the pop-up bar he frequented, ordered soju and golbaengi, and drank by himself.
“Are you drinking alone again?”
“Aigu. Hyung-nim. You must have come from a late meeting.”
Lee Joonhak, who had gray hair, and was wearing gold-rimmed glasses, sat next to Kim Chulsoo. When Lee Joonhak sat down, the owner of the pop-up bar quickly brought out a soju glass.
“What are you doing? Pour me a drink.”
“Yes. Hyung-nim.”
They bumped glasses and drank the soju in one go.
“Are you okay?”
When Lee Joonhak asked, Kim Chul-soo nodded and said “Should I not be okay?”
“Surely, I didn’t think they would lay you off. Managing Director Park, that bastard.”
“Don’t criticize the restructuring team too much, hyung-nim. I didn’t like school, I’m not from a wealthy family, and I’m not that talented either. You know that, right?”
“Hey, isn’t it unfair?
“Hahaha.”
Kim Chul-soo poured soju instead of answering.
“I wonder why I changed my course instead of pursuing performing arts that I wanted in college. I don’t know any foreign languages, I don’t know anything about trade. I didn’t know how to do this.”
“Hey, what are you going on about? I’ve never seen such a strong-willed person like you.”
Lee Joonhak raised the glass, and the two bumped glasses and drank again.
“And I was looking forward to it because you were pretty good at your job too, but you got laid off unexpectedly.”
“Hey, hyung-nim really. Can’t I do anything if I get laid off? I would like to use my experience to set up a small trading company.”
“Wasn’t your dream to be the president of our company?”
“Hahaha.”
Kim Chulsoo filled the two glasses with soju.
“It’s an old dream. I knew it when I became a manager, I am on the wrong path. I still didn’t give up and moved forward.”
“Yeah, you’re not Kim Chulsoo if you don’t press forward even though you know you can’t. But, it wasn’t enough.”
“It wasn’t enough.”
“If you look up, you shouldn’t even bow down.”
“Then how do you take care of your subordinates?”
“Does this mean that you should be responsible for all of them? You idiot. Phew···.”
Lee Joonhak patted his chest to calm himself down.
“Because I’m greedy! I’m a greedy person. I wanted to be respected by my subordinates and recognized by my boss. I had to do it all.”
“It’s okay up till there, but why did you get smart with executive director Park?”
Kim Chul-soo smiled sadly and filled the soju cup again.
“Aunty, please give me one more bottle of soju.”
Lee Joonhak patted Kim Chulsoo on the back several times.
“I tried hard. I’m sorry that the company couldn’t repay you that much.”
Kim Chulsoo covered his eyes with his sleeve at those words.
“It’s not good for an adult to cry.”
“Bastards.”
“I can’t be the general manager, but I’ll be able to set up a small office and act as the president.”
“Right, you’re not Kim Chul-soo if you give up here.”
“Let’s have a drink. Hyung-nim.”
***
Lee Joonhak, who was under the cool wind of the river after drinking and eating side dishes, opened his mouth.
“Are you done organizing?”
“Yes. I stamped it last week.”
“Okay, I told you not to be a goose dad, right? If you send a woman abroad alone, she’ll cheat.”
Kim Chulsoo answered as he poured alcohol into an empty glass.
“I should have listened to your advice.”
“The children?”
“They’ll be with their mom”
“Phew. You wretched little bastard. Alimony?”
“I’m broke as f*ck, Hyung-nim.”
Lee Joonhak sighed loudly and gave a chestnut to Kim Chulsoo, who had half his portion on the table.
“You should have at least gotten something!”
“I can make money again, and I can meet a woman again.”
“Even if you say that, I know how bad you are feeling inside.”
At his words, Kim Chulsoo put his head in his arm and started to cry.
Lee Joonhak muttered while emptying the soju glass alone.
“If there was only one guy like you in the company, I wouldn’t be working hard at all.”
**
After separating with Lee Joonhak, Kim Chulsoo sang while staggering with an old briefcase.
The song called Heoyara(허야라) by Na Hoon-ah was a song with lyrics about an empty life.
After his puberty ended, he devoted his life to singing and guitar with his natural beauty and ability.
Until his father died in an accident in the third year of college.
In the blink of an eye, he had to provide for his mother and younger brother who was then going to high school. After giving up singing and playing guitar, he worked hard and joined a general trading company in 2003.
After joining the company, he supported his younger brother for 7 years, so he didn’t even dream of getting married.
By the time his younger brother, who had a better brain than him, joined a large company, their family situation which had been bad got better.
That’s when a marriage was hastily arranged and his wife gave birth to a son and a daughter.
His wife wanted to educate them in the United States for the children’s future, and Kim Chulsoo, who was paid well, accepted her proposal.
He thought there would be a sweet future at the end if he looked forward and ran hard, but the reality was harsh.
After joining the company, for 17 years, he did not take a single day off.
He worked, met buyers, managed business partners, and studied.
However, at the end of his life, which he worked hard for without missing a single day, there was nothing but ruins.
“It’s not you, it’s not me, no one knows what it’s like to live…..”
It was a song that no one knew after the times had passed, but after hearing the sad lyrics, a young couple turned around to look.
“Is that a singer?”
“No, he looks like an office worker?”
Kim Chulsoo, who was drunk, staggered while singing and walking, and fell to the ground.
Where he disappeared, there was a manhole without a cover, it was not properly finished after construction.
**
“Hyung!”
Kim Chulsoo woke up to the feeling of someone shaking him.
But soon after, a thumping sound and a big shock hit his forehead. He laid down again as he hit his forehead against the second floor of the double-decker bed.
“Stupid.”
Kim Chulsoo frowned at the pain and touched his forehead.
“When did you get back from Germany?”
Kim Chulsoo’s younger brother Kim Youngsoo was working as a German expatriate after finding a job at a large company. He was curious why a guy who only came on the anniversary of his parents was next to him.
“What dreams did you have to be spouting such bullshit? Didn’t you say you were going to work starting today?”
“Going to work? But I got laid off.”
“What? I thought you got a job?”
Kim Chulsoo opened his eyes when he felt that the conversation was going strangely.
“What?”
Where did the 30-something brother go? The bald head wearing a fuzzy beard, caught his eye.
“Chulsoo! Wake up quickly! Youngsoo, what are you doing? Why didn’t you wake your hyung!”
Where.
He heard a familiar voice.
“What the hell happened?”
Chulsoo gave Youngsoo an absurd look.
“Mom. Hyung got up!”
“Go ahead and wash while the boiler is on. The price of gas is expensive.”
“What are you doing, hyung?”
Youngsoo grabbed Chulsoo’s hand, and Chulsoo got out of bed and looked around in a daze. Youngsoo pushed him into the living room.
In the eyes of Chulsoo, he saw Yoon Jinsook setting up the table in the kitchen.
“Oh?”
There was a time after Yoon Jinsook saw her grandchildren from both of her sons, and said she was okay to go now, and she went to their father’s side. At that time,she was not able to talk because she got afflicted with lung cancer.
However, Kim Cheolsoo rubbed his eyes as he couldn’t believe that his young mother was in front of him.
“Is it a dream? It must be a dream. How do I wake up from this dream?”
Yoon Jinsook stood blankly and struck Kim Chulsoo’s back, who kept rubbing his eyes.
“Can’t you wake up for your first day of work? This child!”
– Chak!
It was only then that he remembered how spicy his mother’s touch was, and Kim Chulsoo realized that this pain was a reality.
“Ahh!”
Maybe because of the pain or maybe it’s because he felt happy..
A strong exclamation popped out of Kim Chulsoo’s mouth.
**
The breakfast was so delicious. It was only sour kimchi, dried seaweed, fried eggs, plum pickles, and tofu doenjangguk.
He remembered.
She collected some money that she earned while serving at a charcoal-grilled meat restaurant and received savings, but when she found out that her son got a job, she broke the savings and bought him a nice suit.
He didn’t know it at that time.
“My son is handsome! It’s the first day, so say hello to everyone you see. The more you bend your back, the more you will be recognized. It’s going to be late. Hurry up and go already.”
Kim Chulsoo left home like he was getting kicked out by Yoon Jinsook, without her knowing that he was about to cry because he saw his mother again.
MTL’s Notes:
꼰대(Kkondae/ Ubervisor) – someone who forces their outdated way of thinking on another person.
꼰대 is who give guidance you never asked(and its useless).
Someone in Hinative said that Ubervisor = Awesome Supervisor
기러기 아빠(Goose Dad) – is a South Korean term that refers to a man who works in Korea while his wife and children stay in an English-speaking country for the sake of the children’s education.
Pojangmacha -> Pop-up bar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pojangmacha
Golbaengi-muchim – Spicy Sea Snails Salad
jjangachi -> Pickles
doenjangguk -> Soybean paste soup