My Company Is Black

#018

Hwi-kyung persistently searched through the documents related to the previous public recruitment. While personal information of applicants had been discarded, he could easily find the personal information of successful candidates. After all, records remained when employment contracts were drawn up.

Jung Min-jun from the Operations Team was the final successful candidate. Hwi-kyung tried to recall what kind of person Jung Min-jun was. He seemed to have been in the Operations Team in the previous iteration as well…

He wasn’t particularly good at his job, but he wasn’t a bad person either. Despite his introverted personality, didn’t he get along well with the company people? At least to Jung Hwi-kyung, who belonged to the Sales Team in the twelfth iteration, Jung Min-jun seemed like a decent person.

“Hwi-kyung. How about a smoke break?”

Just then, Manager Kang, who had been sitting between the team leader and Hwi-kyung, watching them cautiously, tapped Hwi-kyung’s arm. Hwi-kyung reflexively nodded and followed Manager Kang to the smoking area.

“Why did you start smoking? You didn’t use to smoke, right?”

“I quit for a while… but I’ve been craving it lately.”

“Ah, it’s hard to quit while working at a company.”

The two entered the smoking area and naturally put cigarettes in their mouths. Perhaps because it was just before closing time, unusually, there was no one else in the smoking area.

Manager Kang looked around carefully, and after confirming that no one else was there, he cautiously opened his mouth.

“I heard loud voices from the meeting room. Did something happen?”

It was a kind question, but Hwi-kyung couldn’t answer carelessly. Regardless of whether Manager Kang was a good person or not, no one, not even the gods, knew how words spoken within the company could be distorted.

Hwi-kyung shook his head, saying it was nothing. Instead, he casually dropped a hint, like a fisherman hoping for a fish to take the bait.

“By the way, about Jung Min-jun from the Operations Team…”

“Yes?”

“He’s been here for a few months, right?”

“It’s been about 3 months, hasn’t it? Why are you asking suddenly?”

“Just…”

“Did someone from the Operations Team say something?”

He took the bait. Hwi-kyung subtly trailed off. As he slowly shook his head, saying that wasn’t the case, Manager Kang let out a deep sigh.

“This is just between us.”

Finally, the truly necessary sentence came up. Phrases like ‘This is just between us’ or ‘Only you should know this’ were the beginning of openly secret conversations.

Hwi-kyung originally didn’t like having these openly secret conversations with company people. He had no good memories of office politics. No matter how many times it happened, he couldn’t get used to the experience of being fired for unknowingly siding with the wrong faction.

It was truly bewildering how many factions there were. Why should the people working under executives get fired when the executives fight among themselves? This was still one of the seven mysteries of office life.

But now, Hwi-kyung desperately needed the gossip that Manager Kang was subtly dropping. Jung Hwi-kyung was now just a first-year employee. Even though he had worked for 13 years in the previous iteration, it was still difficult to know about matters outside the Sales Team.

“You know Jung from the Operations Team, right? He’s the second son of Executive Director Jung.”

“…Really?”

“You didn’t know? I thought you knew since you brought it up suddenly.”

Inappropriate condition: Nepotism is rampant in the company.

I thought only the Chairman pushed his son into the company, but it turns out the Executive Director does the same with his son. Hwi-kyung felt disillusioned with company life where other people’s sons ran rampant.

Having a father who was a company executive or chairman could be considered a kind of ability in modern society. Being born with a silver spoon was just one of the cards a person held. But understanding this intellectually didn’t mean one could accept it emotionally.

How could one feel good about not just one, but two people entering the large corporation through parental connections, when Hwi-kyung himself had barely managed to get in after several regressions? This sense of disillusionment was probably felt to some extent by others as well.

“Still, he’s a nice person, so there’s not much gossip about him… but it doesn’t look good.”

“I see…”

“They dropped a lot of good people just to hire Jung…”

Manager Kang awkwardly rubbed his cheek. Although he had just followed orders from above, Kang Moon-chul wasn’t proud of being involved in this hiring corruption.

Even if he said he just did what the team leader told him to do, in the end, it was Manager Kang who had rejected densely filled application forms and passed on the empty application form of the Executive Director’s son to the next stage.

“Sometimes I wonder if this is right.”

“…”

“I mean, making money is always like this, but I wonder what I’m doing.”

Hwi-kyung let Manager Kang’s hollow words go in one ear and out the other. It wasn’t surprising that Kang Moon-chul thought this way. Everyone experiences unfair things in life, but it’s not easy to pretend not to know about these unfair things every time.

That’s why Manager Kang had left BK International. Hwi-kyung recalled the HR team from the previous iteration. The HR team that had lost its power after losing a key staff member. The HR team leader had been idling around, but the people below him who were ground down changed every time.

“Forget about this conversation. I shouldn’t have told you this…”

“No, it’s okay. I need to know these things now.”

“Well, it’s a bit better with you here.”

“…”

“Let’s go back in. Spray some air freshener.”

As Hwi-kyung stubbed out his cigarette in the communal ashtray, he thought this was why office workers couldn’t give up their smoke breaks. Even excluding the break time, you had to show your face during smoke breaks or second rounds of company dinners to get useful information. Because the information that comes out here is real.

Inappropriate condition: Nepotism is rampant in the company.

Hwi-kyung dismissed the system window flickering before his eyes. Even he, who had entered a large corporation after creating an impressive spec through thirteen regressions, couldn’t be completely free from hiring corruption.

Although he hadn’t entered through connections because of well-off parents, Hwi-kyung had had more opportunities compared to others. While others lived their lives only once, he had lived thirteen additional times, so he had indeed taken advantage easily.

Thinking this way, his anger towards Manager Park subsided. He could guess what the team leader had meant about tattling on him. The issue of hiring corruption had already come up in previous iterations.

He probably asked Gyo-ha if he had tattled about the hiring corruption related to Jung Min-jun. It was clear that Gyo-ha had found out something and given Manager Park a hard time. Hwi-kyung thought about the continuous cycle of grudges. About the crazy cycle where if a superior holds a grudge, another superior who received that grudge holds another grudge…

“This is annoying…”

“Hm?”

“It’s nothing.”

He wanted to go up to Gyo-ha’s office right away and shout, “If you’re a parachute hire, just stay put!” But Hwi-kyung, a mere deputy manager, couldn’t do that to Gyo-ha, who was a managing director.

Hwi-kyung returned to his office and started Excel grunt work again to calm his mind. The repetitive grunt work quickly stabilized the stagnant office worker.

The next day, Lee Gyo-ha, the root of all evil who had angered Manager Park and troubled Jung Hwi-kyung, personally graced the HR team’s office with his presence.

It was 20 minutes before lunchtime. Everyone was already mentally choosing their lunch menu, but their eyes had to be glued to their office monitors.

“Hwi-kyung.”

“…”

“Are you busy?”

“Yes.”

“Can’t you go out for lunch now?”

The parachute managing director was insensitively provoking Hwi-kyung again today. He seemed to have developed a taste for beating people to a fast rhythm.

Hwi-kyung suppressed the urge to jump up from his seat and shout, “Ah! If you’re a parachute hire, fuck! Just stay put!” Unaware of Hwi-kyung’s feelings, Gyo-ha was smiling like a male lead in a drama.

“It’s still 20 minutes before lunchtime.”

“Ah, I see you’re flexible with arrival time, but strict with lunchtime?”

“…”

“…”

“Ahem, Deputy Manager Jung. You can go ahead.”

Inappropriate condition: The HR team leader thinks poorly of you.

Inappropriate condition: Most of the HR team members think poorly of you.

Hwi-kyung thought as he looked at the window that appeared in front of his face. Lee Gyo-ha, you Australopithecus bastard…

Gyo-ha also peeked at the system window that appeared in front of Hwi-kyung. He was bewildered that the HR team thought poorly of Jung Hwi-kyung without considering that he himself wasn’t doing any work.

“I’ll treat you to something delicious.”

So, this time, Gyo-ha really had no intention of tormenting Jung Hwi-kyung! After Hwi-kyung had been sick once, Gyo-ha wanted to be nice to this fragile regressor.

A world good for regressors to live in… no, a good company… well, that’s a bit troublesome, so I’ll make a good team for you.

However, as mentioned earlier, the road to hell is often paved with good intentions. Gyo-ha’s good intentions kept pushing Hwi-kyung into hell. Hwi-kyung suppressed his murderous intent. He had to endure. He had to endure to avoid forced regression… No, but if that bastard first…