My Company Is Black

#025

Hwi-kyung had been truly busy. He was consumed with investing in stocks, racking his brain, and organizing what would rise or fall in the future. The period right after regression was always the busiest for Hwi-kyung.

He had to frantically obtain certifications suitable for the company he chose, while also deciding whether to invest in stocks for short-term or long-term, domestically or internationally, and study separately for that.

While he was already overwhelmed with getting certifications and managing finances, he also had to personally check on his grandmother at the hospital before hiring a caregiver. Korean hospitals could hardly do anything without the guardian’s consent. And Hwi-kyung was his grandmother’s only guardian.

Even in the midst of his frenzy to make money, Hwi-kyung spent three to four hours a day sitting with his grandmother, playing Go-Stop or watching trot programs together. By now, Hwi-kyung had become a card shark who could guess his grandmother’s hand with his eyes closed, and he knew the competition results and winners up to season 3 of the trot program.

Still, he deliberately lost points for his grandmother’s sake and kept his mouth shut about who would win to prevent spoilers. Even if his own mind was in shambles, Hwi-kyung was still a good grandson. That’s how his grandmother had raised him.

It was difficult to worry about a co-regressor on the other side of the world during such a busy time. For one, Gyo-ha shouldn’t have been in Korea at this time. Even if he wasn’t pursuing a degree, he would need at least another month to wrap up his life in America and return to Korea.

Hwi-kyung planned to properly contact Gyo-ha once he entered the country. He judged that Gyo-ha would be busy handling his own affairs, given that there was a regression routine.

Whether buying a degree with money or joining a modeling agency… The initial choice was similar to choosing an initial job class in a game. For Hwi-kyung, whose future company depended on how he prepared during this period, meeting with a co-regressor wasn’t the top priority.

But somehow, Gyo-ha managed to come to Korea and find Hwi-kyung just a week into the regression. When Gyo-ha said he was just entering Korea, Hwi-kyung was too busy checking the stock market at 9 AM every morning to promptly reply to messages.

As a result, Gyo-ha eventually tracked down Hwi-kyung’s movements and came to find him in person. For a chaebol, his apple-peeling skills next to Hwi-kyung’s grandmother were impressive. Whether it was his dexterity or not, the rabbit-shaped peeled apple seemed to have a sparkling effect behind it.

“Why are you so good at peeling apples?”

“Isn’t this basic?”

“…Do chaebols take classes on apple peeling too?”

“Haha, of course not.”

Thanks to the prejudices created by media, Hwi-kyung thought Gyo-ha wouldn’t be able to do such mundane tasks at all. How could someone who supposedly couldn’t even tie his own tie be so good at peeling apples? This was a contradiction no matter how he looked at it.

“I thought you couldn’t tie a tie by yourself.”

“Ah, that…”

“And you said you were sensitive to caffeine and couldn’t drink coffee well.”

What Gyo-ha brought along with the fruit basket was an Americano with an extra shot from a large franchise cafe. It was bewildering to see someone who looked like they’d only drink espresso drinking coffee from a franchise cafe known for its watered-down taste.

Can’t drink coffee… Poor dexterity, can’t even tie a tie… When Hwi-kyung looked at him suspiciously, Gyo-ha sheepishly rubbed his cheek.

“Actually, I know how to tie a tie by myself.”

“…”

“And I like coffee.”

“Then why did you do that to me?”

“I was curious about how the system window would change…”

“…”

“Just kidding, I just wanted to tease you a bit at first.”

Do you know I went to graduate school more than ten times because of you? I wrote the thesis abstract ten times without a single mistake in punctuation! Gyo-ha tried to prove his justification with gestures to Hwi-kyung, who was looking at him coldly.

“Right. You said you wanted to throw me into a drum and dump it in the Pacific Ocean.”

“I don’t think that way now.”

“Why? Even though I’m not forcing you, you’re regressing because of me.”

“The last cycle was largely my fault.”

“…It’s good that you realize that.”

“But how long will I be ‘Executive Director’ to you?”

“What?”

“I’m not an executive director anymore.”

Hwi-kyung’s grandmother was dozing off with the TV on. Meeting someone other than Hwi-kyung after a long time seemed to have tired her out unknowingly. Hwi-kyung covered his grandmother with a blanket and then talked to Gyo-ha in a low voice.

The private hospital room was worth its high price. Beyond the door, the sound of busy footsteps could be heard, but inside the room, there was little noise except for the soft hum of the TV. Thanks to this, the two could continue their conversation quietly without worrying about their surroundings.

“Then what should I call you?”

“How about just calling me ‘hyung’?”

“…”

“You don’t like it. Hwi-kyung, you’re quite shy, aren’t you?”

“It’s not exactly shyness… Anyone wouldn’t want to suddenly call their boss from the previous cycle ‘hyung’.”

“Then will you keep calling me ‘Executive Director’? Even though I’m not one anymore?”

“…”

“I won’t ask you to speak casually. You probably can’t do that. Just call me by my name. Like ‘Gyo-ha-ssi’, like this.”

“Ah, yes…”

“We’re connected by fate, so it would be nice to be close, right? It’s almost destiny at this point…”

Jung Hwi-kyung, with just an average Korean office worker’s level of social skills, couldn’t keep up with Lee Gyo-ha’s casual approach. What’s this? Does he really like me? Such misunderstandings naturally arose.

Among the people Hwi-kyung knew, there weren’t many as thick-skinned as Gyo-ha. His high school friends had all lost touch, busy with their own lives after military service, and he wasn’t that close with his college classmates. This was because Hwi-kyung had never properly participated in university events.

The people he met at work after that were diverse, but even these relationships were difficult to deepen because they were work-related. Acting like Gyo-ha towards coworkers was a double-edged sword. It could leave a good impression, but there was a higher chance of being criticized for being too informal.

So Hwi-kyung usually treated everyone professionally. At first, he frequently interacted with coworkers and shared personal stories, but as the cycles repeated, he evolved into a closed-off person who rarely even gave out his personal number.

Living through it, he found there were too many strange people in the world. With toxic individuals running rampant, if there was no chance of becoming immune to all poisons, it was safest to simply not get close to anyone.

However, Lee Gyo-ha, also experiencing his fourteenth cycle like Hwi-kyung, acted friendly towards Hwi-kyung as if he had never been burned by human relationships. Hwi-kyung found such a Gyo-ha a bit difficult to handle.

“Is your personality originally… like that? Getting close to just anyone easily?”

“Me? Isn’t this normal?”

“…”

“Besides, we’re in a relationship where it’s better to get close, right?”

“That’s true.”

“In this cycle, I’ll really help you well.”

Hwi-kyung dismissed his suspicion that Gyo-ha might like him romantically. After spending some time together, he realized Lee Gyo-ha was just a good person. His informal kindness was proof of his nature.

Sometimes, miraculously, people like Gyo-ha appeared in the world – thoughtless and kind. People who willingly help others even when they’re at a disadvantage, if the other person seems to be struggling more. They were very rare, but even in Hwi-kyung’s long company life, there had been a few of these endangered species. They just didn’t adapt well to the harsh modern society and soon went extinct.

“I’m not going to BK International this time.”

“I don’t think I can be an executive director there this time either. Coming to Korea without saying anything.”

“That’s fortunate. Ah, poor Manager Kang…”

“Why Manager Kang Moon-chul?”

“Since I’m not going to the HR team, I think he’ll want to change jobs this time too.”

Hwi-kyung recalled the bear-like Manager Kang who used to whisper to him about going for a smoke. Without Hwi-kyung there, he would end up shouldering all the miscellaneous tasks alone this time too.

His heart ached, but it was a problem Hwi-kyung couldn’t do anything about. Hwi-kyung had already lost all affection for the HR team leader and BK Group in general, making it impossible to rejoin BK International’s HR team just because he felt sorry for Manager Kang.

“If it’s okay, could you check where Manager Kang transfers to later?”

“…”

“So I can follow him there…”

Gotta go where at least one person works well… Thinking this, Hwi-kyung looked back at Gyo-ha, who was staring at him. Before he could ask why Gyo-ha was looking at him like that, Gyo-ha spoke first.

“Hey, Hwi-kyung-ssi.”

“Yes.”

“Is it enough just to be a workplace enrollee?”

“…”

“I’ve been thinking about this the whole flight here.”

Gyo-ha paused briefly. He felt like Hwi-kyung would look at him with a “What kind of person is this?” expression again if he heard what he was about to say. But since the investment cost for making this proposal was zero… Gyo-ha presented the plan he had been considering to Hwi-kyung.

“I’ll set up a business, so why don’t you get hired at my place?”

“What?”

“Then, since it would be just you and me, wouldn’t it be less likely to meet the black company conditions?”

“I think we’ll get a notification saying it’s a startup with less than 5 employees.”

“What if we adjust the job code? Not office work…”

“I still think we’ll get a warning about it being a workplace with less than 5 people.”

“Is it okay if we have more than 5 people?”

“…”

“Four major insurances guaranteed, separate incentives, full meal allowance, overtime and weekend pay separate.”

“…”

“Full-time employment with separate holiday bonuses, free use of annual leave, and casual dress code.”

“…”

“And the starting annual salary is 50 million won.”

“…Is this a scam?”

“No.”

“Are you in a cult? Or interested in organ trafficking? Or a voice phishing money collector?”

“None of those either.”

“But how can the conditions be so good? Won’t there be a BK Group audit at the end of the year if you set up this business?”

“So you don’t like it?”

“No, that’s not it.”

…Well, then let’s give it a try. An annual salary of 50 million? It was too big an initial salary to refuse. Hwi-kyung nodded as if entranced, without even properly hearing what the job entailed. What is this? This is the first time I’ve been employed like this…