Chapter 130: Eye Bags to the Jaw

JH Investment Company was located in Myeong-dong.

Whirrrr.

The sound of the copier never stopped ringing in the office.

Tatadadak. Tatadak. Tatadadadak.

Even the typewriter clacked away without pause.

The sounds of flipping through documents, the click-clack of staplers, and the groans of people with their noses buried in ledgers joined in.

"Kuhuhuuhk."

It was a whimper, almost like a moan.

"I can't live like this anymore. Please let us go home!"

"I came here to tutor, not to make copies, you know?"

"I feel like my fingers are going to break. No matter how much I type, it never ends!"

These were Jeong-hyuk's tutors.

Twenty tutors, all with dark, deep eye bags, poured out their complaints.

"No matter how I think about it, isn't this way too much work? Huhuuhk."

"The smell of paper and ink won't leave my nose."

"Where am I? Who am I?"

"I was just a college student doing a tutoring part-time job, but when I came to my senses, I'm an office worker now?"

Riiing. Riiing.

The phone rang loudly.

One of the tutors grabbed their head and shouted.

"Why does the phone ring every three minutes!"

"I think I'm getting neurosis. I'm going crazy."

"…Let's just unplug the phone line."

Then, a former Taeseong Construction executive sharing the office growled and shouted.

"Stop right there. What? Unplug the phone line?"

"You guys don't even know the basics of being an office worker, huh?"

"You're not going to do sales? Not going to take inquiries? Not going to do your work?"

"Yeah, some of us are running around so much to bring in clients that our livers are rotting away, five, seven meetings a day."

The former Taeseong Construction executives had even darker and deeper eye bags than the tutors.

"Things to envy!"

Every time they spoke, a terrible stench of alcohol wafted out.

"All you do is grunt about busywork, huh?"

"We get rejected bringing in clients! We have to pick promising investment opportunities, write proposals, get approvals, and get rejected again! We get shot down every day!"

"Do you even know what it's like to deal with this damn work intensity?"

Piles of documents were stacked high on the former Taeseong executives' desks.

It looked like at least ten times as much as what was stacked on the tutors' desks.

Just then, the president's office door banged open, and President Shim, looking haggard, walked out.

"Things to envy!"

He came out holding over thirty approval documents.

"You think now's the time to be sitting around chatting? There's a mountain of work to do!"

He was practically building and carrying towers out of approval documents.

"You lot just have to sort out what you've brought in or organize the investment targets! Me? I have to get a handle on the entire situation with the Woo-gwang affiliates we're acquiring!"

Now I saw why President Shim's complexion was so sallow.

Turned out his eye bags were hanging down to his jaw.

"While you all claim you're entertaining clients, laughing it up, I'm stuck in the office! Haven't been home for a month!"

President Shim twisted in his seat in misery.

"How many Woo-gwang affiliates are we acquiring this time?"

The mountain of approval documents he piled up wobbled.

"Woo-gwang Shipbuilding, Automobiles, Heavy Equipment, Hospital, Pharmaceuticals, Research Center! Damn, six! Plus the reacquisition of Taeseong Chemicals! Damn, seven in all!"

President Shim shouted in exasperation.

"Stop bragging so much! If you're not going to help me, just shut up!"

"…"

"You brats, you really shut up just because I told you to? Would it kill you to form teams of three and help me?"

"…"

"Damn it all!"

The office, gone quiet, filled again with the whirring of the copier, the quickening of the typewriter, and the quieter rustling of document pages.

Thud!

President Shim set the approval tower down on a desk in the far corner of the office.

It was the largest desk in the room, with the biggest and most expensive chair.

On that desk alone, there were at least ten stacks of documents as high as President Shim's approval pile.

Only the sound of pages being quietly flipped had come from there for a while now.

"Boss, when are we getting more staff?"

"With all that yelling, seems like you're still full of energy?"

Come to think of it, I could see a small head moving beyond the mountain of documents stacked high on the desk.

A child with tiny hands clutching a Montblanc fountain pen, quietly flipping through documents.

It was Jeong-hyuk.

"Boss, I'd rather go out and do sales! Let me entertain clients instead!"

"Come on, don't waste such precious talent on that."

At those words, the former Taeseong Construction executives looked up at the ceiling.

Tears welled up and sparkled in their eyes.

"At this rate, I'm going to die of overwork! Just let me take charge of one affiliate and raise it!"

"Then when will you get around to tutoring me?"

At that, even the tutors looked up at the ceiling.

On this side, even snot was flowing.

"Chief Yoo, please send this gold-colored box to President Shim."

"Yes, leave it to me."

Yoo Jong-tae, the quick-witted bodyguard and self-proclaimed right-hand man to the boss, sprang up.

Next to Jeong-hyuk's desk, there were always three large boxes lined up.

Each had a strange label: , , and .

The gold box was for President Shim.

"The silver documents…"

"Into the cabinet, and the poop box goes to the incinerator."

Yoo Jong-tae handled the job with practiced skill.

Whirr, whirr, whirr.

He delivered them to the president's office with a small handcart.

Jeong-hyuk pointed to the box next to the opposite desk.

"Is the research into the Woo-gwang Chemical union and executives all done?"

"Right here!"

Taeseong Group's bodyguards each grabbed their bundles of documents and rushed over in a line.

They watched Jeong-hyuk's expression carefully as they set the documents down on his desk.

"We're sorry, Young Master. As you know, paperwork isn't really our thing."

"But we've dug up dirt not just on the union leaders but also on everyone up to department heads."

"We've dug into their wives and children, even in-laws and cousins."

"We couldn't get to their eighth cousins. Time and all, and there are just too many of them. Tsk."

Jeong-hyuk grinned at the growing pile.

"Good work."

"Not at all."

"It's an honor if we've been of help, Young Master."

Jeong-hyuk started sorting the document bundles.

His eyes swept swiftly over the papers, his hands expertly organizing without pause!

Yoo Jong-tae, the ever-watchful right-hand, darted over.

Chak. Chak. Chak.

He laid out boxes labeled , , and .

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.

"Bundle the materials for the secret ledger by political, business, social, and other groups, sorted by class."

"Our Team 1 will take care of that."

"Group the information documents by business group, year, and project."

"Then Team 2 will handle that."

Jeong-hyuk smiled.

"You've all worked hard investigating Woo-gwang's union and executives. Teams 3 and 4…"

"Are out on business."

This was the job of Taeseong Group's bodyguards.

Paperwork just wasn't in their blood.

But they were being used just as Secretary Kim used to use them.

This was definitely an area where you needed specialists, you know?

"Team 3 is probably grabbing some back-alley fixers by the scruff of the neck right now."

"Team 4 is likely busy hitting up bars and gangster businesses."

"Good."

Satisfied, Jeong-hyuk grinned, and the bodyguards beamed.

"Young Master, I bought some Oda red bean jelly—would you like to try some?"

"I brought sikhye, but would you like some sujeonggwa?"

"You must be tired from sorting all these documents. Want a massage?"

The bodyguards quickly set out snacks and latched onto his arms and legs, kneading away.

"Soft… chewy… sticky rice cake… ahem."

"Hey, newbie. Go easy. What's with the marks?"

"Ah! Sorry. I must've poked him with my finger without realizing."

Yoo Jong-tae set down roasted sweet potatoes, warm milk, and kimchi on the desk and smiled.

"Strange how there's so little work today, huh?"

The tutors' jaws dropped.

Someone muttered, "That's little?" "Insane…"

"Young Master, at this rate, you could probably go home before three today."

The former Taeseong Construction executives' jaws dropped just the same.

Someone whispered, "That's possible?" "Monster…"

Regardless—

Pararararak. Pararararak.

Jeong-hyuk scanned through the approval documents President Shim had brought.

"As expected of President Shim!"

He quickly reviewed a file,

"You've really picked out the key points. It's clear, clean, thorough, and you even added your own analysis. Good!"

With his Montblanc fountain pen, he signed and stamped it.

Tak. Tatatak. Tak.

In this way, Jeong-hyuk took care of the mountain of documents.

Yoo Jong-tae stacked and straightened the approval documents as Jeong-hyuk finished. Done!

Jeong-hyuk turned to President Shim with a smile.

"President Shim, I've just finished all the approvals."

"Gasp!"

President Shim opened his eyes wide and hurriedly wiped his mouth.

Yoo Jong-tae narrowed his eyes.

"Don't tell me you fell asleep standing up?"

"Pulled two all-nighters. Ahem."

The former Taeseong Construction executives straightened up in shock.

Those who'd been whining blushed with embarrassment.

"Ah. I'm going to be late for my meeting."

"Gotta bring in more clients, sweat for development! Gotta earn my keep!"

"I'll make up the plan right away. Gotta secure investment."

"Working late was a blessing. Thank you for letting us go home every day!"

The former executives glanced at the tutors.

"Things to envy."

The tutors, who always got off work on time, scratched the backs of their heads awkwardly.

"For some reason, the copier paper looks especially beautiful today. Ahaha…"

"Did I empty the trash today? Did I refill the coffee pot? Ahem!"

"Typing is the easiest thing in the world."

Knock knock knock.

Ding.

The office door opened.

One of the tutors peeked out to check the visitor and cried out in surprise.

"Jeong-hyuk's father?"

"What? Who?"

Suddenly, a hush fell over the JH Investment office.

People froze like statues, and even the copier and typewriter fell silent.

Riiing! Riiing!

The phone was the only thing that broke the sudden silence.

But no one could bring themselves to answer.

Someone hurriedly yanked the phone cord, but nobody scolded them for it.

Everyone was far too busy glancing back and forth between the two new arrivals.

"Don't mind me, please continue working."

Jeong-hyuk's father, and—

"Three times one is three, three times two is six, three times three is nine."

The boss, Jeong-hyuk, suddenly started reciting multiplication tables.

"…"

"…"

Jeong-hyuk set down the approval documents in his hand and gave an awkward smile.

"Dad, what brings you here?"

"Hmm, I came to see President Shim. What about you, Jeong-hyuk—why are you here…?"

"To get tutored by President Shim."

"At the office, not at home?"

"…President Shim's been busy these days."

What? Why? What!

Of course I’m getting tutored by President Shim!

It's just that I’m not the one getting tutored.

And he really is busy, isn’t he?

Not that he's the only one who's busy.

"These people look like your tutors. What's going on?"

"…Field trip?"

Why? What? Why!

A field trip!

Learning by watching, isn't that right!

"Young Master, this way, please."

President Shim guided Jeong-hyuk's father to the president's office.

Clack.

When the office door closed, the former Taeseong Construction executives looked at Jeong-hyuk with dazed expressions.

Among them, Oh Jeong-seop, known for his guts, tilted his head.

"By any chance…"

"Why? What? Why! Never seen my dad before?"

Jeong-hyuk frowned.

"Are you free right now? Chief Yoo, deliver this box to Executive Oh."

"Ohhh!"

Oh Jeong-seop was startled.

Yoo Jong-tae rolled up with the handcart, delivering the big box.

The label on the box: .

"Sort these out and find any viable business items, then write a report."

"…"

Oh Jeong-seop's hands trembled as he accepted the poop-colored box.

Yoo Jong-tae clicked his tongue at Oh Jeong-seop.

"It's a real shame you have no tact."

"Yoo Jong-tae!"

"What? Mr. Oh Jeong-seop?"

"Mr. Oh Jeong-seop? Mr. Oh Jeong-seop? Hey, we're sharing an office, and my rank is higher…"

"Boss, Mr. Oh Jeong-seop says this isn’t enough. His voice is brimming with venom."

Jeong-hyuk lazily kicked the other box.

It was labeled .

"Then have him organize this too. Attach identification codes to each person."

"Yes, Boss!"

Yoo Jong-tae grinned slyly as he wheeled the cart over.

Oh Jeong-seop groaned as he ended up with both the poop box and the others box, arms full.

"…"

Click.

Jeong-hyuk snapped his fingers, and the Reaper silently rose.

‘Go! Find out what my dad came here for.’

[Understood.]

---

The Reaper quietly slipped into the president's office.

Sitting on the reception sofa, President Shim and Father drank tea.

"President Shim, please help me."

Father got straight to the point.

President Shim looked puzzled.

"How can I help you?"

"Taeseong Chemicals."

"The negotiations for reacquisition are already all done."

It was something that was already out of President Shim's hands.

After Grandfather declared Taeseong Chemicals to be Mother's share, it took a whole month to wrap things up.

"All the employment succession is completed too, so all that's left is to run it properly."

"That's the problem. We inherited Woo-gwang's union as is, didn't we?"

Father spoke with a troubled look.

"Due to the Woo-gwang Chemical fire and the compensation issue, the union has been holding fierce protests every day. They've even occupied the office."

< Things to Envy > End