WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Potter
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Regressed Assistant Manager Kim Can Read Minds ◈
Chapter 29
──────
On the tour bus heading to Gyeongju.
[Have a good trip. Don't hurt yourself hiking.]
I smiled as I read Han Ara's text.
It reminded me of the night I'd driven her home a few days earlier.
Even after I parked outside her house, Ara hadn't taken off her seat belt.
With her hand on the buckle, she glanced at me, then looked straight ahead again.
[I just have to do it. Why am I so nervous?]
Number two on her bucket list.
I knew what she was trying to do, but I pretended not to and waited.
“Close your eyes for a second.”
“Like this?”
Holding back a smile, I closed my eyes.
Click. Her seat belt came undone.
Her clothes rustled, and I felt her breath draw closer.
Just as I held my breath without realizing it, soft lips touched mine.
It was a brief kiss.
When I opened my eyes, Ara hurried out of the car, her face bright red.
She looked at me through the open door.
“Kissing before we say goodbye outside my house. That's number two!”
The door closed before I could answer.
I watched her walk into the house, then lightly touched my lips.
I'd been in a good mood the entire drive home.
“Huh? Manager Kim, your face is red. Have you caught a cold?”
Choi Yeongjin's voice pulled me out of the memory.
After studying my face, Yeongjin quietly leaned away.
Oh Sangcheol, who had been dozing up front, turned toward us.
“Assistant Manager Choi, if you're going to make noise instead of sleeping, sing us a song.”
“Oh, I was just about to sleep.”
Yeongjin quickly leaned back and closed their eyes.
After a stop at a rest area, a warm, nutty smell drifted from the seats behind us.
Park Soyeon, Im Jaeho, and Kang Minho were chatting as they shared walnut cakes and chestnuts.
The three had grown especially close lately and spent time together outside work, too.
Minho leaned toward me with the bag of cakes.
“Manager Kim, would you like a walnut cake?”
“Thanks.”
“Kang really does stick to Manager Kim like glue.”
Minho smiled sheepishly at Soyeon's teasing.
I chewed a walnut cake and looked out the window.
The tightly packed buildings grew fewer, giving way to green mountains and fields.
The bus stopped in front of a hostel in Gyeongju.
I got off with my bag and stretched my back as Oh Sangcheol called out to the staff.
“All right, everyone. Let's move our luggage first.”
Among the employees gathering by the luggage compartment, I spotted a familiar face.
‘Was that Assistant Manager Song Jaepil from the Logistics Team?’
Since taking charge of the Thailand business, I'd had more to worry about, from shipping costs to shipment schedules.
If I wanted to expand our business further, I needed someone in logistics I could trust and consult.
In my previous life, Song Jaepil had left Taeseong Trading for a major logistics company and handled logistics for industrial plant projects in the Middle East.
Eventually, Jaepil's skills had earned enough recognition that Taeseong Trading paid a hefty sum for their help.
‘Right. I'd forgotten about them.’
I wanted to take this chance to have a proper talk.
After unpacking, I went to the auditorium at one in the afternoon. Song Jaepil's name was the first thing I noticed on the group assignment sheet.
[Group 3]
[Management Support Division, Human Resources Team: Manager Hwang Insu]
[Purchasing Team: Manager Lee Jaehun]
[Logistics Team: Assistant Manager Song Jaepil]
[Overseas Sales Team 1: Employee Choi Jihye]
[Overseas Sales Team 2: Manager Kim Seongjun]
We were both in Group 3.
Lee Jaehun and Hwang Insu were already sitting on Group 3's mat.
Once I sat down, a plump female employee with bobbed hair spoke.
“Shall we take turns introducing ourselves? I'm Choi Jihye from Sales Team 1. It's great to meet you!”
After her energetic greeting, Jihye stole a glance at me.
[He really is handsome, just like Minho said. Didn't he say he's good at his job, too?]
“Did you join the company with Minho?”
“Yes. I've heard a lot about you from him, Manager Kim.”
After Lee Jaehun and Hwang Insu introduced themselves, Song Jaepil stood up.
“...I'm Assistant Manager Song Jaepil from the Logistics Team. It's a pleasure to meet you.”
Since none of the executives were attending, the opening ceremony was short.
The employees stopped chatting and looked toward the front when the host announced the prizes.
“Each member of today's overall winning group will receive a 100,000-won gift certificate! We've also prepared a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label for you to enjoy together tonight!”
Cheers rose from all around.
Jihye clapped and turned toward us.
“They're even giving us whisky. Let's make sure we win.”
Lee Jaehun smiled.
“Come on. Even if we win it, we'll have to pour some for the higher-ups.”
“And earn ourselves a few points while we're at it.”
The first group game was charades.
One person acted out a prompt, and the rest of the group had to guess it.
Each group randomly chose someone to do the acting.
I was laughing at Group 1's ridiculous gestures when Manager Han Gyeongsu stepped forward for Group 2's turn.
“Manager Han...! Could you... make your movements bigger?”
As far as I could tell, Gyeongsu was already doing their best.
After they came back down with only a few correct answers, our group's Hwang Insu confidently stepped forward.
“Let's go, Group 3!”
After checking the prompt, Insu brought both hands together overhead to form a mountain, then suddenly swung both arms as if swimming.
“Hiking?”
“Swimming at the beach? No, a mountain stream! A live octopus!”
Insu shook their head hard.
They raised their hands overhead again in frustration, and I heard an urgent thought.
[Through hell and high water! It's through hell and high water!]
Oh, so that was it?
I watched Insu make a mountain and swim once more before answering.
“Through hell and high water.”
“Cooorrect!”
Our group burst into cheers at the announcement.
Watching from the side, Park Soyeon pointed at Insu.
“Oh, come on. How is that supposed to be through hell and high water?”
“Manager Kim understood!”
“That's the strange part!”
I nearly burst out laughing.
Insu straightened their shoulders proudly and checked the next prompt.
The others were good at guessing, too, so I only helped with the ones that stumped everyone.
We got every answer right, but dropped to second place in the next event, team jegichagi.
Too many people in our group had no coordination.
“Ah, this is where we fall behind.”
While Insu lamented our setback, the final game began.
It was a higher-or-lower game. Each group competed to guess a number between 1 and 1,000 in the fewest attempts.
Every group had a different answer.
When our turn came last, the host told us the record so far.
“The current record is three guesses. If Group 3 gets it faster than that, you'll be the overall winners.”
Our group grew quiet as the host wrote a number on a sheet of paper.
Even Jihye, who had been so lively earlier, looked quite serious now.
[Let's go with 319 this time. The company's founding date.]
Lee Jaehun called out the first number.
“508!”
“Lower.”
It was my turn next.
If I got it right now, we'd win.
“Does everyone want that whisky?”
“Yes, of course!”
Jihye answered most enthusiastically.
I looked at the host.
“319.”
The host looked between me and the paper, then raised the microphone.
“Correct!”
Our group erupted in cheers.
“What? Isn't this rigged? Collusion! It's collusion!”
Oh Sangcheol shouted the loudest.
The host laughed and held up the paper with the number on it.
“Manager Kim, how did you get it?”
“I took a chance and guessed the company's founding date.”
Belated groans came from all around.
I smiled innocently and high-fived my group members.
Then I collected the bottle of whisky we'd won.
It was cheating, but using my ability for something like this was pretty fun.
* * *
After a short rest in our rooms, we went to dinner.
Boxes of soju and beer were stacked at the dining area, with rows of makgeolli beside them.
People were already asking for glasses, so I took out the hangover remedies I'd brought.
“Have one each. Let's not do anything embarrassing tonight.”
“Thank you, Manager Kim.”
I offered one to Han Gyeongsu separately, then handed bottles to my juniors. Kang Minho glanced toward Oh Sangcheol.
“What about Department Manager Oh?”
“The problem is, the department manager can already drink too much without these.”
Oh Sangcheol didn't just drink alone. Everyone nearby was expected to keep drinking, too.
The sooner the department manager passed out, the easier our night would be.
Minho swallowed a laugh, but Oh Sangcheol didn't hear us, too busy boasting about drinking to someone from another department.
When I approached the people who had been in my group that afternoon, Lee Jaehun made room beside them.
I set the whisky on the table, and Jihye asked,
“Can we drink this ourselves?”
“We won it. Go get some glasses.”
I filled everyone's glasses, and we raised them together.
“Good work today, everyone.”
We were drinking and laughing about the afternoon's games when Lee Jaehun placed a piece of nicely cooked meat on my plate.
“Manager Kim, have some of this, too.”
[Surely things aren't still awkward over that incident?]
I remembered how Jaehun had allocated the Gwangjin Precision stock to Team 1 before us.
I ate the meat, then took the tongs from Jaehun.
“You should eat, too. I'll do some grilling.”
Only then did Jaehun pick up their chopsticks.
“Haha, thanks. Anyway, it's nice not to have the phone ringing today.”
Across the table, Jihye asked,
“Does the Purchasing Team hate it whenever we call?”
“As long as you don't call right before we leave for the day.”
Song Jaepil, whose face was already red after only a few drinks, added a comment.
“...And please try not to ask us to load one more thing after the truck has already left.”
“But we only do that because we know we can count on you, Assistant Manager Song.”
“If you trust me, please listen to what I say, too.”
Lee Jaehun stood with the whisky bottle.
“I'll go pour a glass for the higher-ups.”
“I'll stop by another table for a bit, too.”
Once Jihye got up, the others also began leaving one by one to find people they knew.
Before long, only Song Jaepil and I remained at the table.
[I can put up with a heavy workload. But I'm sick of people sending things off without thinking, then blaming logistics.]
I filled Jaepil's glass and asked,
“How's work in the Logistics Team, Assistant Manager Song?”
“Well, it's tough.”
“People in sales tend to think only about meeting deadlines.”
“I understand that. If it's urgent, I have to try to make it work somehow.”
After a sip, Jaepil turned to face me.
“But when I say something can't be done, shouldn't they listen? They tell me to send it no matter what, then when there's a problem, they say I didn't explain it properly.”
“Even though you told them it couldn't be done?”
“They say I should've been firmer.”
Jaepil set down the empty glass.
“I left a transport company and came here because I wanted to handle large shipments. But my days are spent taking calls from people rushing me and cleaning up after them.”
[If they'd just tell me in advance, I could look for a way. They think the Logistics Team only has to ship whatever we're told to.]
I'd thought this was a complaint about having too much work, but the more I listened, the clearer the difference became.
Song Jaepil wanted a proper chance to do the work they were capable of.
“Here I am, saying all this to a sales team manager.”
“It's fine. I need to know, too.”
I refilled Jaepil's glass.
“I don't know much about logistics myself, so I'll have to ask you for advice from now on.”
I put some freshly cooked meat on Jaepil's plate to replace the pieces that had gone cold.
Jaepil picked up their chopsticks, then smiled a moment later.
Just then, Oh Sangcheol's voice rang out especially loudly.
“Deputy General Manager Seo, stop drinking if it's getting too much.”
I turned to find Oh Sangcheol and Seo Jeonguk sitting across from each other, exchanging drinks.
“I'm fine. Shouldn't you start looking after your health, Department Manager?”
“Why are you worrying about my health when even my wife doesn't?”
[You tried to steal Manager Kim from me, didn't you? You think I'd forget?]
Seo Jeonguk calmly held out a glass.
Oh Sangcheol smiled and poured.
It was obvious that neither had any intention of backing down first.
Employees gathered around them one by one, watching to see who would give up first.
“How many glasses have they had? They're both absolute tanks.”
“I heard nobody's ever seen Deputy General Manager Seo drunk.”
“Come on. How could anyone never get drunk?”
Oh Sangcheol's voice had grown louder and face redder, but Seo Jeonguk looked no different from when giving a report at work.
Oh Sangcheol stole a look at Jeonguk.
[Does this punk even get drunk?]
But Seo Jeonguk's thoughts while emptying another glass told a different story.
[I won't lose. I won't lose. I said I won't lose. I won't...]
Thud!
Reaching for the glass, Seo Jeonguk dropped headfirst onto the table.
“Deputy General Manager Seo?”
Startled, the Team 1 employees rushed to either side and helped Jeonguk up.
Though their boss was leaning against them, Jeonguk's expression hadn't changed at all.
Oh Sangcheol looked around triumphantly.
“See that? Hahahaha!”
As the employees carried Seo Jeonguk to a room, people began wondering how they were supposed to go hiking tomorrow.
“What's the fuss over a little drinking? I'll have another glass at the summit tomorrow.”
* * *
Early the next morning, the employees gathering for the hike still looked half-drunk.
Team 2 was doing a little better, thanks to the hangover remedies we'd taken in advance.
My stomach was fine, too, since I'd drunk in moderation.
When Oh Sangcheol emerged from the room with a deep scowl, Choi Yeongjin approached as if they'd been waiting.
“Department Manager, didn't you say you'd have another drink at the summit?”
“Don't mention alcohol. I'm going to throw up.”
I handed over the hangover remedy I'd saved the day before.
Oh Sangcheol brightened and took it.
“I can always count on you, Manager Kim. Thanks.”
An announcement asked everyone to gather for a group photo before setting off.
“Manager Kim, let's get our team together for a picture.”
After the photos, we headed onto the mountain trail. I spotted Song Jaepil among the walkers.
Remembering what I'd meant to discuss last night, I quickened my pace and caught up.
“How's your stomach, Assistant Manager Song?”
“I'm managing.”
“Could you spare me a little time when we get back to the office?”
“What is it about?”
“I'd like your help with the Thailand shipments.”
Jaepil took a sip of water, then shook their head.
“...You'll have to find someone else for that.”
“Why?”
“I'm handing in my resignation on Monday.”
Footnotes:
“Through hell and high water” represents the Korean idiom sanjeon sujeon, meaning to have endured all kinds of hardships. Its literal image is battles in the mountains and on water, which explains Insu's mountain and swimming gestures.
Jegichagi is a traditional Korean game in which players keep a small weighted shuttlecock in the air by kicking it.
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