WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Natty

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Black Badger ◈

Chapter 9: Senior Partner (1)

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People didn’t give me a detailed explanation.

Having found a job in an instant, I was left to spend one more day in the lounge.

“Sleep there just for today. Starting tomorrow, under your senior partner’s... I mean, Mr. Yoon’s guidance, we’ll decide where you’ll live and various other things.”

Joo smiled broadly.

Then he added, bright as ever, something ominous.

“Enjoy your one remaining day of leisure.”

One remaining day of leisure?

Even more color drained from my face, but Joo didn’t explain. Ska, Ami, Ricardo, even Ye-hyeon, only looked at me with pity.

Why is everyone making that face? I’m just about to take my first step here. Please look a little happier.

In any case, the interview was over.

Then Ye-hyeon bought me a phone.

I tried to refuse, but was ignored. The Commander-in-Chief went so far as to pay out of pocket to get me one.

“It’ll be delivered to the lounge around evening.”

Then he said this.

“I’ll give you my private number.”

Ah. Do you see why I still have a bad feeling about this?

“If Yoon gives you trouble, contact me right away. Don’t hesitate.”

At this point, I reconsidered throwing away my enhanced body.

Had I actually made a horribly wrong choice?

But it was too late to take it back. I could only hope this growing sense of dread was unfounded.

I barely pulled myself together and nodded.

When Ska began reporting to Ye-hyeon about the media, I took that as my cue to leave the office.

I returned to my room in a slight daze. Ami followed close behind as I staggered down the hall.

“Hilde! You need to get a grip!”

Her eyes went round as she clenched her fists.

“I’ll give you my number too, so tell me everything without holding back if Oppa does anything wrong!”

Her clear voice only deepened my foreboding. My worries sprouted and grew like bamboo shoots, until I forgot to look around me. Ricardo’s smiling addition became nourishment for those worry shoots.

“Must be nice... Even I don’t know the Commander-in-Chief’s private number... Hardly anyone knows his second number...”

Ha ha ha.

Ami made the strange observation that Ricardo would refuse even if Ye-hyeon offered his number. I didn’t know exactly what that meant. Still, one thing was certain: the Commander-in-Chief wouldn’t give me his private number for no reason...

No.

I forced myself to run the hope circuit.

Ami seemed perfectly normal, so surely her biological older brother wasn’t completely insane. And from what I’d heard, he and Ye-hyeon were very close. Commander-in-Chief Ye-hyeon was a good person recognized by everyone, so perhaps this Yoon person, who spent time with him, wouldn’t be a total disaster either.

The hope circuit was practically burned away.

Still, I slept comfortably. The bedding was soft and clean again today. It was a real shame that I wouldn’t be sleeping here from tomorrow onward.

But what would happen to my home?

As I drifted off, I had a small worry. I still had no money. If they told me to leave immediately, I had nowhere to go.

Could I get an advance on my salary? Thinking that, I fell into a dreamless sleep.

*　　　*　　　*

When I woke up, I had a message.

It was from someone I didn’t know.

More precisely, someone whose name was all I knew.

[Research Building, second floor. Cafe Senabi. 3 p.m.]

That was all.

There was no unnecessary information. No long greeting, no introduction. I could hear the hopeful thoughts I’d worked so hard to build collapsing.

For a while, I stared at the message in distress.

This is driving me crazy.

No, still... The head of personnel said he never misjudged people.

Anyway, I had nothing scheduled until three. Until it was time to leave, I fiddled with my phone. I replied to Ye-hyeon’s message. (This is my number. Don’t hesitate to text me if you need something.) I also replied to the messages Ricardo, Ska, and Ami had sent.

Their messages suited their individual personalities.

[Survive, rookie~. Contact me when you’re hungry.]

[Looking forward to working with you, Hilde. If anything is difficult, feel free to contact me anytime.]

[Hilde! Keep in touch! (Flapping sparrow)]

I smiled faintly at the emoticon Ami had attached.

Then, when the time came, I headed for the Research Building.

Finding it wasn’t difficult. Once I stepped outside the Main Building where I’d been staying, my view opened up. Walking to the right from there led me to the Research Building.

The sky was high and cloudless.

As the cool wind brushed against me, I tried to familiarize myself with the unfamiliar grounds.

People in all kinds of clothing passed me by. The spacious grounds were so clean that it was hard to believe a creature had appeared here only days ago.

It’ll take quite a while just to learn the layout.

I arrived at the Research Building around 2:45. Unlike the Main Building, hardly anyone here wore suits.

The cafe was also filled with people in comfortable clothes.

I ordered an iced Americano and took a seat in the corner. As time passed, my heart began to race.

Please, let this be someone I can communicate with.

Please let him be someone who’ll let things slide if I butter him up!

Tap.

A plastic cup was set on the table, and someone sat across from me.

“Hildebert?”

At the low, flat voice, I quickly looked up.

I came face-to-face with an understatedly handsome man.

“Hildebert Taleb?”

“Y-yes.”

He really was handsome.

I stared blankly at the man seated across from me. Choi Yoon was a handsome man with a cold impression. A neat sky-blue shirt and white lab coat. Black hair and dry eyes. He reminded me of something inorganic.

Leaning back in his chair, he met my eyes with a gaze that held little warmth.

Colder eyes than anyone I’d met so far.

I probably shouldn’t get carried away around him.

I reflexively shrank back.

“I’m Hildebert Taleb, the new recruit. Please call me Hilde. ...I look forward to working with you.”

“Do you know my name?”

“Yes. Senior Choi Yoon...”

“Just call me Yoon.”

The answer came without emotion.

I met his unblinking gaze, then nodded.

“Yes.”

It seemed that the claim people here called one another by name hadn’t been an exaggeration.

Yoon reached for his coffee cup. Every one of his movements seemed dry.

He took a lazy sip, then spoke.

“I heard the basic situation yesterday. You still don’t remember anything?”

“No. I’m sorry. No useful memories have come back at all...”

“Have any useless memories come back?”

I nodded politely.

“Some fragments have returned. A madeleine and lemon juice sitting on a windowsill. Looking down at the night view from a rooftop. Things like that.”

“When do those memories come back?”

“I’m not certain, but I think they come back when I encounter situations similar to experiences I had before.”

“You don’t have trouble using things like phones?”

“No. For the most part.”

I didn’t know why he was asking, but Yoon seemed satisfied with the answers. He nodded and slipped his hand into his lab coat pocket.

Then he fell silent, as if organizing his thoughts.

As silence descended on the table, the noise of the cafe surrounded me. The sound of people talking, plastic cups being set down on tables, all rushed in.

I sat tensely until he broke the silence.

He raised his lowered eyelids.

“I get the idea. Then let’s deal with the bothersome matters first. You don’t have a cent right now, correct? And you don’t have a place to stay?”

“Yes.”

I truly had nothing, aside from what my kind seniors had bought me.

“Let’s deal with housing first. In principle, new recruits receive a dorm room where it’s easier to adapt to an enhanced body, and they stay there until they can control their strength. But you’ve already adapted to your enhanced body, so there’s no need for you to live there. It may cause problems in an audit, so we’ll leave a record that you lived in the dorms for a certain period.”

Huh? If there were dorms, I wanted to live there.

Before I could reveal my thoughts, he continued.

“So choose whichever of the two you want. You can move into the Badger staff housing here, or live in the cabin in front of my house until you find a place.”

“A cabin?”

My eyes widened.

Why was the cabin in front of my senior partner’s house an option?

Did he mean I had to live there? That it was better than the staff housing? Or did he mean I would live there and pay him rent?

As I sat there without understanding, Yoon explained further.

“It belongs to me, but I have no use for it, so I left it alone. I want to tear it down, but it’s annoying, so I’ve kept putting it off. It’s more convenient for me if you’re nearby, so if you live there until you find a home, it’ll be convenient in several ways. I occasionally hired people to clean it, so it should be clean.”

“Ah.”

I still didn’t understand everything, but I got the general idea.

“Then could I buy that cabin?”

Installments... Partial payments... If I could get an advance on my salary... I cautiously brought it up.

I didn’t want to miss this opportunity. I had been worried because I had nowhere to live, and now there was an unwanted empty house at just the right time. I didn’t know how much it would cost, but rather than tearing it down, I hoped he would sell it to me.

The dorms seemed all right too, but there was no guarantee I could stay there forever.

At my words, Yoon raised an eyebrow slightly.

“...Well. I could sell it. No, if you want it, you can just have it. But it’s not a house meant to live in for the rest of your life. It’s not dirty, but it is a cabin, so it isn’t sturdy.”

“Did you just say I could have it?”

I must have misheard. Things couldn’t possibly go this well.

Perhaps my thoughts showed on my face, because Yoon folded his arms and spoke coolly.

“Yes. But I added something important afterward. It isn’t a house worth living in for long.”

“I’m desperate enough to go anywhere with a roof to keep out the rain and a bathroom.”

“It’ll collapse immediately if there’s an earthquake or a hurricane.”

“I’ll figure out how to get out of the way if that happens.”

“The heating probably doesn’t work well. Neither does the soundproofing. Well... None of that is my concern.”

“That’s right. Those are my problems. I’ll handle them myself.”

I agreed emphatically.

I couldn’t understand how having an unused cabin was such a burden.

Still, I pretended to agree with all my might. Senior, this is a win-win arrangement! You can get rid of the troublesome cabin, and I can enjoy conveniences I can’t even begin to imagine!

Yoon brushed off my desperate gaze without any reaction.

“Are you normally like this?”

What was that supposed to mean about my personality?

I wanted to ask, but I was the one who needed something, so I held back.

I gave him a smile completely free of ill intent.

“What do you mean, normally like this? If you don’t like it, I’ll try to change. And as you know, I was in a state where I couldn’t even remember my own face...”

“Enough. And I just remembered. The cabin has one more disadvantage.”

What is it?

Actually, it would be stranger if there weren’t any additional drawbacks under such good conditions.

Yoon completely ignored the look in my eyes that said I would overcome any drawback.

“I live with Ye-hyeon and Ami. In other words, if you live in that cabin, you’ll be neighbors with the highest-ranking person at your workplace.”

Oh. I see.

That was certainly something to consider. Of course, Ye-hyeon was a good person. I had only met him briefly, but even that short time was enough to tell.

But Ye-hyeon was my highest-ranking superior, so I couldn’t possibly talk comfortably with him. It wouldn’t be easy on the nerves to run into him in front of my home after work, either.

But if the cabin was free?

What if I thought of it as accepting only those disadvantages in exchange for moving in for free, when I might face the same discomfort after paying a great deal of money elsewhere?

Relieved by the reality that unbelievable good fortune was rolling right toward me, and by the fact that the senior partner in front of me seemed far more reasonable than expected, I smiled.

“I’ll find a way to overcome that much of a handicap.”

Yoon looked at me impassively, his arms still crossed.

After watching me beam for some time without changing his expression, he finally gave a strange sigh.

“Fine, then. The cabin is yours. Move in tonight or something.”

“Yes! Thank you so much! I’ll find a way to repay this kindness!”

“I clearly warned you.”

As I wondered whether I should leap up and press my head against the table, Yoon added firmly.

He stared expressionlessly at me as I barely restrained my face from blooming into a smile.

“It isn’t a house worth living in for long. Don’t resent me later.”

Resent you? I wanted to kneel and thank you for letting me meet a senior partner like you.

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