WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Potter
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Regressed Assistant Manager Kim Can Read Minds ◈
Chapter 32
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Before Song Jaepil could even sit down after returning from Team 2, Assistant Manager Lee set a folder on their desk.
“Assistant Manager Song, take a look at this before the end of the day.”
“Isn’t that your work?”
“The client keeps changing the shipping date. You’re good at this sort of thing, so just finish it off for me.”
Assistant Manager Lee returned to their desk without waiting for an answer.
When Song Jaepil opened the folder, they found that the schedule had already changed three times. The client’s documents were missing plenty of information too.
They would have to check everything again from the beginning.
‘Because I’m good at it.’
At first, they had thought it was a compliment.
Now it was just an excuse people used to push their work onto them.
Whenever they tried to find a better way, the response was always the same.
- Stop wasting your time and just do it the way we always have.
Whenever they came up with even a small improvement, their superiors only found it annoying.
“Assistant Manager Song, you know changing that now means contacting the companies we already work with again and revising all the paperwork, right? We’ve been doing it without any real problems. Why stir things up and create more work?”
“If you do too well, people expect more from you. You have to take it easy most of the time if you want praise when you actually make an effort.”
‘If there’s a problem and a way to improve it, we should fix it. Why do we have to keep doing things the same way?’
The workplace was very different from what they had expected.
The harder they worked, the more criticism they received instead of praise.
At some point, other people’s paperwork had started piling up on their desk.
“You handle paperwork more neatly than anyone else. I’m only asking because it’s urgent. A few documents won’t take you that long, will they?”
“Just help me out this once. Please? I’ll buy you coffee later.”
Whenever a problem came up, they called Song Jaepil first. But when things went well, they left Song Jaepil’s name out of the report.
The harder they worked, the more responsibility they had to bear.
‘There’s no future for me here.’
So they had decided to leave.
At a workshop they had expected to be their last, they met Manager Kim Seongjun.
Until recently, Kim Seongjun had been an assistant manager. After delivering results at Gwangjin Precision and Mongsil Latex one after another, he was now in charge of the entire Thailand business.
And that man had asked Song Jaepil to handle the Thailand logistics.
“If you find a better way, tell me.”
He was different from the superiors who told Song Jaepil to stick to the old methods even when Song Jaepil found something better.
“Reducing costs counts as an achievement too. I’ll put your name on it in the report.”
After hearing that, they had put their resignation on hold.
Unable to wait until Monday, they spent the entire weekend digging through the company’s computer records and even put together a freight rate sheet.
Now they also had to look into unloading and storage for 20,000 tons of Canadian wheat, but for the first time in ages, they enjoyed their work.
They were considering ways to reduce the logistics costs further when Deputy General Manager Jo Cheonho called them over.
“Assistant Manager Song. Hand your current work over to Assistant Manager Yang.”
The enthusiasm that had returned during their conversations with Manager Kim Seongjun suddenly cooled.
“Didn’t you hear me? Hand the work you’re doing with Team 2 over to Assistant Manager Yang.”
“But I’ve been reviewing it all this time.”
“I know that. Just hand over the materials you’ve put together so far. This is a large-scale job. Someone experienced needs to handle it.”
“Manager Kim asked me to handle...”
“Manager Kim?”
Jo Cheonho scoffed.
“You spent a little time with him at the workshop, and now you’re already one of his people. Does a manager’s word matter more than your own team’s deputy general manager’s?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Then do as you’re told. Organize the materials and hand them over to Assistant Manager Yang before the end of the day.”
Jo Cheonho turned away as if they had heard enough.
But Song Jaepil didn’t hold back.
They pointed at the other people’s paperwork piled on their desk.
“Then can I hand these over too?”
“What?”
“You said someone with more experience should handle the work.”
One by one, the sounds of typing stopped around the office.
“That’s different.”
“I’m the one who put together the Thailand shipping plan. I requested the quotes from the shipping lines and obtained the resale list too.”
“Assistant Manager Song Jaepil.”
“You don’t have to like the way I work. But you should at least let me keep the work I’m responsible for.”
Jo Cheonho’s face turned red.
“Hey. I’ve been going easy on you, and now you think you can talk back? You think you’re that good?”
“I’m not saying I’m so great. I’m saying I want to finish the work I started.”
Song Jaepil refused to back down.
“You tell me to take responsibility for the work other people put off. So why do I have to hand over the materials for the work I started?”
“Song Jaepil!”
Jo Cheonho clenched their teeth and rose from their seat.
Gripping the folder in their hand, they approached Song Jaepil.
Just as they were about to swing it, the Logistics Team’s door was thrown open.
* * *
I could hear Deputy General Manager Jo Cheonho shouting from the hallway before I even reached the Logistics Team.
I stopped briefly to listen, and the situation became clear.
It was just like what I’d gone through in my previous life.
At least Song Jaepil knew how to demand an answer when someone tried to put their name on Song Jaepil’s work.
The moment Jo Cheonho raised their voice again, I threw the door open.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
The hand holding the folder twitched and stopped.
“Ahem. Manager Kim. This is an internal Logistics Team matter, so stay out of it.”
“Does the Logistics Team hit its employees too?”
When I looked at the folder, they quietly set it on the desk.
“All right, I suppose I got a little worked up. Let’s talk in the meeting room first.”
I glanced at Song Jaepil, then followed Jo Cheonho.
Once we entered the meeting room, they offered me a seat as if nothing had happened.
A moment later, the door opened and a slick-looking man came in.
“You haven’t met him before, have you? This is Assistant Manager Yang Jiho from the Logistics Team. He has more experience than Assistant Manager Song, and he’s handled large shipments several times.”
“Is that so?”
The way he kept sneaking glances at me to gauge my reaction told me enough about him.
“If he’s better than Assistant Manager Song, I don’t mind the change.”
Jo Cheonho brightened at the unexpected answer.
“I knew you’d be reasonable, Manager Kim. I’ll make sure Team 2’s work gets special attention from now on.”
“I’d appreciate that. But you don’t mind if I ask Assistant Manager Yang a few questions, do you?”
“Of course. Ask anything you like.”
I placed Song Jaepil’s Thailand shipping plan in front of Yang Jiho.
“Assistant Manager Song proposed combining the Thailand shipments with the Vietnam shipments to reduce freight costs. What do you think?”
“We’d have to request another quote from the shipping line.”
“What parts of this plan would you change?”
“I think we should proceed with it as it is for now and look into the terms further.”
“But you didn’t put this plan together. Are you going to keep making Assistant Manager Song do the work for you?”
“No, that’s not what I meant. I’ve only just been given it.”
When I tilted my head, Yang Jiho’s face stiffened.
This time, I spread the sale notice for the 20,000 tons of Canadian wheat beside it.
“You know we’re planning to buy wheat, right?”
“Yes, I heard about it.”
“First, check the available space in the silos at Incheon Port and the unloading schedule. We’ll be selling it to milling companies after that, so look into transport companies separately too.”
“For that, I could take over the contacts Assistant Manager Song has already made and continue from...”
“What?”
I looked up at Assistant Manager Yang sharply.
He flinched.
“So, to sum it up...”
I pressed a finger firmly onto the documents.
“For Thailand, you’ll use the existing plan. For the wheat, you’ll use the companies Assistant Manager Song found?”
“Yes. The approach they’ve prepared isn’t a bad one.”
“You’re not getting my point.”
I looked from Deputy General Manager Jo Cheonho to Assistant Manager Yang.
“Assistant Manager Song put this plan together. They’re also the one who found the wheat sale notice.”
“...Yes.”
“If you’re just going to take their work and follow it, what makes you better than them?”
“Well...”
I turned to Jo Cheonho.
“He can’t even get started without Assistant Manager Song’s materials. Why should I work with Assistant Manager Yang when he hasn’t prepared anything?”
“Ability isn’t everything at work. You need someone you can talk to and feel comfortable with.”
“That’s for me to decide. I don’t need someone who’ll say whatever pleases me. I need someone who can do the work properly.”
[Why’s he being so difficult? He should just do what I say.]
Before Jo Cheonho could speak, I got ahead of them.
“You know the chairman is personally following this matter, don’t you?”
“What? The chairman?”
“Yes. Since we’re changing the person in charge, we’ll need to submit a report. Please have it written up today.”
“...Hold on. Why write a report? Let’s not make this bigger than it needs to be.”
“Who made it bigger in the first place? You called me while I was busy working to tell me you were replacing the person handling it.”
Jo Cheonho avoided my eyes as I challenged them.
They had been lucky enough to get promoted to deputy general manager recently. They were used to throwing their rank around, but they didn’t have the nerve to go up against the higher-ups.
“Or are you looking down on me because I’m only a manager? Should I call Department Manager Oh?”
“...Wait, why would you put it that way? You know I’d never do that.”
Jo Cheonho meekly backed down.
They looked back and forth between me and the freight rate sheet, then sighed.
“Whew. Fine, I made the wrong call. Let Assistant Manager Song keep handling it. You don’t mind, do you, Assistant Manager Yang?”
“...No, that’s fine.”
[Better to leave it to Assistant Manager Song than work with someone this exhausting.]
Things had gone the way I wanted, but I didn’t stop there.
“From now on, I’ll be putting Assistant Manager Song in charge of all my Thailand shipments and shipments for new deals.”
“All of them?”
“Yes. I don’t want to waste any more time on pointless matters like this.”
“All right. You have my word.”
It hadn’t even been five minutes since I’d come down to the Logistics Team, and I already had a firm promise.
“I’d like to speak with Assistant Manager Song alone.”
“Of course. Go ahead. You can use this room.”
Jo Cheonho went out and called Song Jaepil over personally.
Song Jaepil entered the meeting room looking tense.
“Sit here.”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to give you a loud scolding now. Just say you’re sorry.”
“Pardon?”
Song Jaepil looked at me in confusion.
I glanced toward the door and repeated myself.
“Do as I say.”
“Oh... Yes.”
I cleared my throat and raised my voice so the entire Logistics Team could hear.
“How have you been handling this job that I had to come all the way down here!? Don’t you know how urgent this is?”
“...I’m sorry.”
“And what’s all that paperwork piled on your desk? You barely have enough time for Thailand and the wheat. How are you supposed to get anything done like that?”
“...”
Song Jaepil lowered their head, as if they had forgotten I was acting.
“Doing other people’s work doesn’t make you good at your job. Do the work you’re assigned properly. I’ve spoken to Deputy General Manager Jo, so from now on, only accept work related to Team 2. Don’t get distracted and fall behind. Understood?”
“...Yes, understood.”
There wasn’t even a sound of typing beyond the door.
“We’ll be having meetings over lunch from now on too, so come up to Team 2.”
Then I added quietly, so only Song Jaepil could hear.
“You like webfoot octopus, right?”
“...Pardon?”
I gave their shoulder a light pat and left the meeting room.
The employees who had been sneaking looks at us hurriedly turned back to their monitors and paperwork.
‘That should get the message across.’
“I’ll be going now, Deputy General Manager Jo.”
“Right. All right. Keep up the good work.”
[...That ruthless bastard.]
* * *
After Seongjun left, sighs rose from all around the Logistics Team.
“...Manager Kim Seongjun’s even more ruthless than I heard. Things are going well for him lately, so he thinks he can come into another team’s office and tear into someone?”
“Shouldn’t you say something to him, Deputy General Manager Jo?”
“Me? Ahem. What good would come from fighting with the Sales Team?”
No one offered Song Jaepil any sincere comfort.
If anything, they were relieved that Song Jaepil had caught Kim Seongjun’s attention instead of them.
Assistant Manager Lee approached Song Jaepil’s desk and picked up the folder they had left there earlier.
“Assistant Manager Song, I’ll just handle this myself.”
After that, the other employees came over one by one to collect their paperwork.
Jo Cheonho looked around the office with a displeased expression before speaking.
“Assistant Manager Song, you’ll only handle Sales Team 2’s work from now on.”
“Yes, understood.”
“I’ll be watching, so don’t cause any unnecessary trouble.”
Only then did a few employees pat Song Jaepil’s shoulder as they passed, as if encouraging them to hang in there.
Once they had moved away, Song Jaepil looked down at their desk.
After just one visit from Manager Kim Seongjun, all that remained on it were the freight rate sheet they had made and the Canadian wheat documents.
‘Did he plan all of this?’
When lunchtime came, the Logistics Team employees left the office one by one.
“Don’t you need to go up to Team 2, Assistant Manager Song?”
“Tsk. Hang in there. Once this job’s done, watch for a chance to get out.”
Left alone, Song Jaepil opened their drawer and took out the resignation letter lying on top.
They looked down at it for a moment, then tore it in half.
Riiip.
They tore it into pieces so small that the writing could no longer be read and threw them into the trash. Then they picked up their report and headed to Team 2.
Manager Kim Seongjun was waiting for them at the door.
“What took you so long? You have to move fast at lunchtime.”
“Aren’t we having a meeting?”
“What meeting? It’s lunchtime. Minho’s already got us a table at the webfoot octopus restaurant. Let’s talk over lunch.”
Song Jaepil followed as if being dragged along, but they didn’t look unhappy.
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