WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Potter
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◈ Regressed Assistant Manager Kim Can Read Minds ◈
Chapter 23
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Mai was startled when she spotted me.
I pushed aside a chair floating in the water and held out my hand.
“You remember me, right? It’s okay. Come here.”
Mai reached out, close to tears.
I caught her hand and pulled her into my arms.
On the way in, I’d at least been able to brace myself against the wall. With a child in my arms, even taking one step was a struggle.
“Athit!”
I shouted toward the outside, and the rope tied around my waist pulled tight.
Holding Mai close, I made my way out through the doorway, one step at a time.
When we reached a spot where the current was weaker, relief workers rushed over and grabbed us.
Before I could even put Mai down, her grandmother ran over, calling her name.
She sank to the ground with her granddaughter in her arms and cried louder than the rain.
I lay flat on the wet grass.
Raindrops fell on my face, but I didn’t even have the strength to wipe them away.
Even though I’d finally made it out of the water, my legs wouldn’t stop shaking.
‘Hah, hah. When I get back to Korea... I need to start working out again.’
* * *
We returned to the hotel with Mai.
Thanks to Lalita, the evacuated villagers were also able to warm up and get something to eat here.
When Kang Minho heard how I’d rescued Mai, he couldn’t stop marveling.
Athit also told the story several times, describing how I’d tied a rope around myself and gone into the water.
The look in Athit’s eyes reminded me of a second Kang Minho.
I chuckled.
“I served in the Marine Corps, so I’m used to the water.”
Kang Minho’s eyebrows twitched.
One hand rose halfway into the air.
“Minho, were you a Marine too?”
“...Victory! Class 947, sir.”
“Really? I was Class 711.”
Kang Minho’s hand stiffened.
“To think I’d meet such an esteemed senior... I mean, Manager Kim...”
“That’s enough. Sit down.”
Laughing, I lowered Kang Minho’s hand.
Athit watched us with interest.
“So you both served in the military. No wonder you weren’t scared, even with the coup going on.”
Athit looked as though everything finally made sense, from my jumping into the water to our making sales calls in the middle of a coup.
It was more because I knew nothing much would happen despite the coup.
I didn’t bother correcting that impression and took a spoonful of rice noodle broth.
As the hot broth went down, my body slowly began to relax.
Some of the hotel guests glanced at the villagers entering the restaurant.
I also heard a thought in English from the next table.
[What does that make us, the paying guests? Are those people eating and staying here for free?]
Yet when their eyes met the villagers’, they smiled as though nothing was wrong.
At times like this, I thought it might be better not to hear people’s thoughts.
Mai’s grandmother kept pressing her palms together, even toward the staff bringing her food.
Meanwhile, another villager shook an empty glass to hurry a staff member along.
When the employee couldn’t come right away because they were serving another table, the villager clicked their tongue and put the glass down.
Among those adults, the children ate their noodles, laughing and chattering.
‘That’s just how it is.’
There was nothing new about people acting differently from how they felt inside.
But today, I didn’t want to have to hear those thoughts as well.
For now, I decided to focus on the fact that I’d brought Mai back safely.
I got up from my seat.
“I’m heading up to my room. I’m a little tired.”
“I brought some medicine for aches and fever. Would you like some?”
“Thanks.”
Back in my room, I took a warm shower first.
As I washed away the mud and leaves stuck to my body, something wriggled on my thigh.
Several leeches, swollen with my blood, were clinging to me.
I pulled them off one by one, and dark red blood ran from the spots where they’d been attached.
‘So I ended up bleeding after all.’
I came out of the bathroom and took the medicine Minho had given me.
When I lay down on the bed, my whole body went limp.
I’d accomplished everything I’d set out to do in Thailand, so I could rest for a while before heading to the airport.
‘This isn’t too bad, is it?’
That question was probably meant for the old Department Manager Kim, who’d been so clueless and naive.
The medicine and my fever left me slightly dazed.
I picked up my phone to check the time.
Four in the afternoon.
It was six in Korea, so Han Ara would be busy.
I started writing her a text saying I’d successfully signed the contracts, then changed it to the story of rescuing Mai.
After staring at the screen for a long time, I deleted that too.
Someone whose thoughts matched her actions.
Someone who was always the same with me.
Once again, I wrote exactly what I felt.
[Ara, I miss you.]
I sent it and drifted off to sleep.
Soon, the phone still in my hand chimed.
[I miss you too.]
* * *
I slept for a full twelve hours.
Perhaps thanks to that deep sleep, the fever and aches were gone.
I saw Han Ara’s text and sent a late reply.
Outside the window, the rain had stopped as though it had never happened.
“You’re awake, Manager Kim?”
“The weather in Thailand is impossible to predict.”
“It really is. It keeps clearing up and then pouring again.”
Our flight back to Korea was at noon tomorrow.
According to Kang Minho, Lalita had come to the hotel yesterday while I was asleep.
She’d wanted to thank me for saving Mai, but she’d left because I was sleeping.
“It sounded like Mai was a child Director Lalita cared about a lot.”
“Really?”
“Yes. She said she wanted to show her gratitude before we left for Korea, but I’m not quite sure what she meant...”
With Kang Minho’s English skills, understanding even that much was impressive.
“You’re going to study English when we get back to Korea, right?”
“...Actually, I’ve been taking English conversation classes since our trip to Cambodia.”
“Good. Keep working at it.”
I spent the remaining day resting at the hotel.
On the morning of our departure, I changed and went down to the lobby, where Lalita and Athit were waiting for us.
“Mr. Kim. How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine.”
“I heard you served in the military. No wonder you’re so fit.”
Athit must have told her.
Lalita continued.
“Thank you for saving Mai. You have no idea how shocked I was when Athit told me.”
“Is she doing all right?”
“Yes. She’s safe with her grandmother. Apparently, she fell asleep in the study room and couldn’t get out.”
“That’s a relief.”
“By the way, Mr. Kim, how did you know Mai was there?”
She asked casually, but her thoughts were anything but.
[Athit said Mr. Kang asked about some Thai words.]
ฉันกลัว. ช่วยฉันด้วย. (I’m scared. Please save me.)
The voice Mai had sent out so desperately.
“I just heard her.”
“Perhaps a thewada showed you the way so you could save that child.”
“A thewada?”
“A divine being in Buddhism. We believe they protect good people and help them keep doing good deeds.”
I nodded.
At first, I’d thought this ability was a gift given out of pity for the foolish, clueless life I’d led.
But thanks to that ability, Mai had returned to her grandmother’s arms.
Maybe it was also meant to help me help someone else.
Lalita pointed toward the restaurant.
“Let’s have breakfast first. I’ll take you to the airport.”
I didn’t refuse.
As we ate from the lavish buffet, Kang Minho marveled at the food.
“If nothing else, I’ll never forget the hotel food.”
“What about the tanks and the flood?”
“Oh, of course I won’t forget those either.”
Lalita’s smile grew more relaxed.
When we came out after breakfast, local Thai specialties and souvenirs had been set out beside our suitcases.
‘Was this what she wanted to give us?’
There was nothing bad about getting gifts to take home too.
We loaded the luggage and split up between two cars.
When I got into the same car as Lalita, she brought up her father.
“My father was curious about you, Mr. Kim.”
“Me?”
“Yes. He called you one of the few friends who didn’t betray Anantakul.”
A friend.
Thanks to the contract I’d signed, Lalita had gained an advantage over her older brothers.
On top of that, I’d saved a child from the village she supported. It was no surprise she’d told her father about me.
“Do you believe in karma, Mr. Kim?”
The idea that what you did would come back to you someday.
I nodded.
“To some extent.”
Lalita handed me a folder from the seat beside her.
It contained an operating report on Segwang Pump’s water pumps.
The eight at the construction site were still running without any problems.
One of the pumps installed in the village had also kept pumping out water.
The other had been placed lower down and stopped after being submerged.
‘It was still running.’
I pictured that pump, left to pump out water alone even after everyone had been evacuated from the flood.
Lalita pointed to the report I was reading.
“The people at the site want to keep using them. People at other construction sites have been asking where we got them too.”
The following pages listed sites and companies that needed water pumps.
The list was longer than I’d expected, and I straightened in my seat without realizing it.
“Mr. Kim.”
“Yes?”
“How many units do you have left in Korea?”
“Three hundred.”
“Then, to start with...”
How many would she order this time?
I lowered the folder onto my lap and waited for her next words.
“Please send all three hundred.”
“...”
I’d thought I might sell a few more, but I hadn’t expected her to empty the entire warehouse.
Lalita smiled at my expression.
“This is karma for the kindness you showed, Mr. Kim.”
* * *
On the flight back to Korea, I looked down at the documents Lalita had given me and recalled what she’d said in the car.
“I’d like fifty units sent by air. Please send the rest by sea.”
“The air freight will be expensive.”
“Anantakul will cover it. Just send them as quickly as possible.”
Anantakul Group had its own hotels, construction sites, and logistics warehouses.
They could put the pumps to work wherever they were needed immediately and sell the remainder through Anantakul’s distribution network.
Even after the rain stopped, more companies would keep looking for pumps to prepare for flooding.
Karma for my kindness, huh...
‘I’m not that good a person.’
Anyone who could hear my thoughts might think I was a mercenary sort.
I claimed to be helping others, but underneath it all, I was calculating how it would improve my own sales performance.
I turned past the contract.
The folder Lalita had given me contained more than the water pump contract.
It also held the investigation materials on Team 3 that I’d requested a few days earlier.
If the contract I’d just received was a reward for kindness, this was Team 3’s karma for what they’d done.
On the days Deputy General Manager Jang Taeho had claimed to have met local companies, the car had traveled between resorts and golf courses in Pattaya.
Casino names kept appearing in Manager Shin Jaeuk’s records.
This hadn’t been a single sightseeing visit.
Shin Jaeuk had gone on every business trip and had sometimes visited the same place several days in a row.
I read the statement from the driver assigned to them.
[They said they’d be out soon, but whenever I went to pick them up, they said they wanted to play just one more round. They kept putting off our departure like that and didn’t come out until dawn.]
Segwang Pump’s representative, Choi Dongsik, had waited for half a year, believing those bastards were meeting clients in Thailand.
All while paying for their flights and hotels, and even providing separate funds for local sales activities.
After taking that money, Shin Jaeuk had stayed in casinos until dawn.
‘They kept asking for more time, and this was the shady business they were up to?’
I separated out the evidence of misconduct.
It was too valuable to expose now and end with just a few people from Team 3 being disciplined.
‘For Chairman Han Myeongcheol or Vice President Baek Seungwon, this would be the perfect gift for striking at President Cha Myeongguk’s faction.’
Even if I handed it over eventually, I needed to get something out of it too.
Kimchi and evidence of corruption had one thing in common: they tasted best when you let them mature before digging in.
I closed the folder.
“I’m tired.”
Despite my words, a smile formed on my lips.
Outside the window, the sunlit sea stretched on endlessly.
Islands covered in deep green forests dotted the water.
After arriving at Incheon Airport, we headed toward the arrivals hall.
My shirt was wrinkled, and dark stubble covered my chin.
Kang Minho was wearing colorful clothes bought at the hotel because they looked comfortable.
“I’ll never forget this business trip to Thailand.”
“Yeah. Now that we’re back, let’s get some rest.”
I was pushing the cart into the arrivals hall when I stopped.
Among the people waiting, I spotted Han Ara’s pale face.
As soon as she saw me, she ran straight over.
I thought she was going to stop in front of me, but instead, she threw herself into my arms without hesitation.
I swayed a little.
Her warmth reached me, and a sweet scent brushed my nose.
Only then did I say her name.
“...Ara?”
“You said you missed me.”
I remembered the text.
“I missed you too, so I came.”
[I’m so glad you’re safe. I’m so glad you’re not hurt.]
I was startled for a moment, but soon wrapped my arms around her.
“I probably smell.”
“I don’t care. More importantly, I was really worried about you.”
Han Ara held me even tighter, as though she had no intention of letting go.
Standing beside us, Kang Minho went blank for a moment.
Then Minho came to and quietly edged away.
“...Manager Kim. I’ll be going ahead.”
“Minho.”
“I suddenly really need the bathroom.”
Just as Kang Minho was about to flee with the cart, I heard something fall nearby.
Thud.
I turned my head.
A short distance away, I saw the last faces I wanted to run into right now.
Chairman Han Myeongcheol and Jeong Eunho, the office head.
Han Myeongcheol stared at his daughter in my arms, seemingly forgetting that he’d dropped his phone.
His eyes were open impossibly wide.
“...Ara...? Why is my baby...?”
[...in that pretty boy’s arms!?]
Footnotes:
Korean Marine Corps veterans identify their service cohorts by numbered classes. A lower class number marks an earlier, more senior Marine. “Victory!” is a military greeting.
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