My Company Is Black

#026

At some point, Jung Hwi-kyung began to view job hunting as child’s play. With his qualifications, there was no company he couldn’t join. Of course, he occasionally failed interviews for positions with predetermined candidates despite his impressive specs, but barring such cases, Hwi-kyung had mostly only received acceptance notices.

The phrase “Please start work from next week” had become unremarkable to Hwi-kyung. He no longer even glanced at companies that rejected him. “I have plenty of other options besides you.” This was the audacity of a 14th cycle regressor.

As the cycles repeated, Hwi-kyung became less worried about employment. No matter how intense the pressure interviews were, he remained unfazed. After all, his experience exceeded that of the interviewers.

However, this was somewhat perplexing.

“You don’t need qualifications?”

“That’s right.”

“…Why on earth not?”

“Well, because I’ll be giving you tasks that only require basic life skills.”

“I’m good at English.”

“I’m good at English too.”

“I’m proficient in Chinese and can speak Russian as well.”

“I’m also good at Chinese. I can’t speak Russian though…”

“Then you could hire me as a Russian interpreter or something.”

“That’s a bit… I don’t have any plans to go to Russia.”

“…”

“…”

“…I’m good at coding too.”

“I see.”

“I’m telling you, I have a CPA license.”

“We have a 36-year veteran group corporate accountant.”

No document screening or executive interviews? This was somewhat bewildering. In an era where even part-time jobs require resumes, Gyo-ha didn’t ask Hwi-kyung for one.

Hwi-kyung, who had been managing a drive full of perfectly templated resumes, was greatly confused. He had prepared various versions of self-introductions, not knowing what position he’d be hired for, but none of them were needed.

“I’ve registered my home as a workplace, so come to work when needed.”

“A system window appears for 5-day work weeks, less than 52 hours.”

“Come to work every day except weekends.”

“But do you really need a housekeeper?”

“Actually, we already have a veteran housekeeper, so we don’t really need one.”

“Then why are you hiring me for this?”

“So that I can have you come to work at my house.”

“This is cheaper than renting an office, right?” Gyo-ha muttered that this way he could avoid troublesome procedures like registering a shared office space.

“I’m getting a tax break and we’re helping each other out.”

“If there’s an audit later, I know nothing about it.”

“Haven’t you ever been employed like this before?”

“…”

“We won’t know until we try.”

This was already the fourteenth cycle. Hwi-kyung had been out of his mind since the sixth, but Gyo-ha seemed quite calm even on the fourteenth.

Perhaps it was because he no longer needed to forcibly continue his graduate school life, but Hwi-kyung, unaware of the circumstances, became curious about Gyo-ha for the first time. How is this person’s mind still intact?

* * *

“Director…”

“I told you to just call me by name.”

“…Gyo-ha, are you really okay with going through these regressions?”

At that question, Gyo-ha turned to look at Hwi-kyung. In his hand was the key card for the officetel. Gyo-ha had brought Hwi-kyung to his officetel under the pretext of a tour.

Although he agreed that it was important to look around the workplace once, Hwi-kyung couldn’t figure out what he needed to check for a housekeeper job that required neither interviews nor qualifications (and even had a real veteran housekeeper present).

Even when Hwi-kyung said he would look around slowly while working later, Gyo-ha forcibly brought him along. It was because he felt that if left alone, Hwi-kyung might never leave his grandmother’s hospital room.

Observing him, Jung Hwi-kyung didn’t take good care of himself. It could be because he was a regressor, or maybe he was just someone more used to taking care of others than himself. But skipping meals was the norm, and he would casually pull all-nighters studying for certifications that weren’t even that important.

Gyo-ha made a decision after seeing Hwi-kyung drink high-caffeine beverages like water. In our officetel, nap time will be mandatory, and all caffeinated drinks except one cup of coffee will be banned.

Moreover, Hwi-kyung even smoked. At first, he didn’t notice, but at some point, Hwi-kyung started smelling cigarettes. Gyo-ha, unaware that Hwi-kyung had given up on quitting smoking because of him, added a no-smoking clause to the contract for working at the officetel.

Hwi-kyung said he wouldn’t die even if he got cancer before his honorary retirement, but Gyo-ha didn’t take his words at face value. Is not dying what’s important? Living healthily is what matters.

On the surface, he seemed fine, but a closer look revealed Hwi-kyung’s worn-out aspects. Even if most modern people aren’t in their right minds, Jung Hwi-kyung’s case was a bit severe. Even now. Truly okay people never ask others, “Are you okay?”

But Hwi-kyung was asking Gyo-ha such a question. To Gyo-ha, it sounded like he was saying, “I’m not okay.”

“When I was repeatedly going through the integrated master’s and doctoral program, I wasn’t okay. But now I’m fine.”

“Because you don’t have to go back to graduate school?”

“Well, that’s part of it… and because you’re here.”

“…”

“Because I’m not alone? It feels like we can find a way to end the regression somehow.”

It was a groundlessly hopeful statement. It wasn’t appropriate coming from the main culprit who had ruined the previous cycle.

But Hwi-kyung found Gyo-ha’s irresponsible words comforting. Unlike other cycles where he had been alone throughout, this time Gyo-ha was with him. It wasn’t practically helpful, but the fact that there was one more person strangely provided a sense of stability.

Even though no problems had actually been solved. It was really strange that he felt reassured even though he didn’t know if this could be recognized as a workplace just because Gyo-ha had registered a business and employed the existing housekeeper, driver, etc., to make it a workplace with more than 5 employees.

“Now that you’re not my superior, I’ll say this. You’re a really strange person.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“I think Hwi-kyung is the strange one.”

“…I’m pretty normal compared to this.”

The conversation didn’t continue much longer. They had already arrived at Gyo-ha’s officetel. When the silently operating elevator indicated the 33rd floor, Hwi-kyung inwardly felt anger towards the bourgeoisie. Living high and wide, huh…

After entering and looking around, this anger intensified. A space unattainable even if Hwi-kyung managed to win the lottery three times in a row unfolded before his eyes. Eradicate the inheritance of wealth.

“I have… family matters to deal with for a while, so I’ll mostly come in the evenings. Since I came back to Korea suddenly without saying anything…”

“If you come back without cleaning up loose ends like that, you’ll have problems later.”

“Still, now that I’ve met a real regressor, I didn’t want to waste time in America.”

Watching Gyo-ha speak while awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck, Hwi-kyung’s rising combativeness subsided again. Right, what fault could this person have? Thanks to him being rich, Hwi-kyung could receive a high starting salary while essentially doing nothing.

The officetel had a loft structure. But for someone who could afford a housekeeper, even a loft structure that was a pain to clean wasn’t a big problem. The refrigerator was neatly stocked with side dishes that Hwi-kyung wouldn’t need to fill, and instead of bottled water, there were two water purifiers that dispensed ice.

Only the living room had an exceptionally high ceiling, and the floor was carpeted. Hwi-kyung momentarily tensed, worried that Gyo-ha might enter the house wearing shoes. Whenever he was reminded that Gyo-ha had been influenced by American culture, a sudden tension would wash over him.

Fortunately, Gyo-ha didn’t step on the carpeted living room with his outdoor shoes. Instead, he wore house slippers. Hwi-kyung, who was used to walking around the house barefoot, found these house slippers rather uncomfortable.

“If you need anything, ask the driver and he’ll buy it for you. I’ve registered a corporate card too, so take this.”

The officetel access key card and corporate card fell into Hwi-kyung’s hand. Although they had already signed a contract, Hwi-kyung felt dazed throughout, as this was his first time being employed in such a manner.

It was a peculiar moment where the secondary regressor employed the main regressor.

* * *

Lee Baek-gyeong, the head of the BK Group and a self-made chaebol, loved all his children equally, but he favored his youngest son the most. While all fingers hurt when bitten, doesn’t it hurt more when you bite your pinky than when you bite your index finger?

“I’m telling you, he must be doing drugs.”

“That’s why I said we shouldn’t send him to America.”

So the other children couldn’t help but feel displeased knowing that their father liked the youngest son the most. Jung-hye, the eldest daughter, was mature enough to know how to look after the youngest, but Sung-ha, the second child, was desperate to get at Gyo-ha at every opportunity.

Unable to beat his older sister Jung-hye, he would pounce on the easier target, Gyo-ha, whenever he could. Sung-ha even had a record of cracking the back of his six-years-younger brother’s head. The incident where he hit young Gyo-ha’s head with a decorative object because he didn’t like his brother was still talked about in the family.

So when Gyo-ha said he was going to America, Lee Baek-gyeong actively supported him. He judged that it would be safer to separate the siblings.

Gyo-ha also seemed to fit well with life in America. Since Lee Gyo-ha had no desire for power or wealth to begin with, Lee Baek-gyeong was inwardly thinking it might be fine for his son to find a good relationship in America and settle down there.

But then Lee Gyo-ha came back to Korea without saying a word. The guy who would refuse to come even for a family gathering, complaining about the long flight time, had crawled back on his own. Without settling anything from his life in America, just asking Jung-hye to find someone for him…

Lee Baek-gyeong clutched his aching head and looked at his other children who were throwing fits, saying the youngest had lost his mind. He clearly feared his siblings enough that they thought he would never come back. And what he did after coming back was even more absurd.

Registering a business and setting up a separate corporation without permission?

This was an even more serious problem than doing drugs. Just look at how he suddenly hired an unrelated man at a high price for that corporation.

Chairman Lee Baek-gyeong thought his pampered youngest son had fallen for a man, not even a woman. It was a tremendous misunderstanding.