WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Potter
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Regressed Assistant Manager Kim Can Read Minds ◈
Chapter 36
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The team gathered in front of the fax machine and looked down at the bid.
[Taeseong Trading’s final purchase price: $132.01 per ton]
While everyone else stood in silence, Oh Sangcheol tilted his head.
“Isn’t that too expensive? I think $130 would be enough.”
Every pair of eyes, red from days of trying to raise the price by even one cent, turned toward him.
“Ahem. Why are you all glaring like you want to eat me alive? I was just saying. It’s a shame about the margin, that’s all.”
Oh Sangcheol was only looking at the profit from this shipment.
But I wasn’t after a one-time deal for 20,000 tons.
Soon, Ukraine would block wheat exports, and a poor harvest in Australia would make things worse.
Once wheat became hard to find even for willing buyers, the company that had taken delivery of 20,000 tons without any problems would be first in line for the next offer.
In my previous life, Hando Trading had used this deal to secure a Canadian supplier, then increased its volume every time wheat prices rose.
One cent per ton.
Even across all 20,000 tons, that was only $200.
If that money could buy me the business relationship Hando Trading had claimed, it was practically free.
“I’m sending it.”
The machine slowly drew in the paper.
As soon as the transmission finished, Kang Minho called the agency in South Korea.
“Have you received the bid we just sent? Yes. And none of the pages are missing?”
The clock showed exactly 2:59 p.m.
After checking a few more things, Kang Minho hung up.
“They’ve received it without any problems. They’ll fax us the final result on Monday morning.”
Even after hearing that it was done, no one moved away from the fax machine.
Park Soyeon picked up the transmission confirmation and asked,
“How much do you think Hando Trading bid?”
“It might be much higher than we expected.”
“Why?”
“It wouldn’t be the first time they’ve used money to crush smaller companies. They might have pushed their price way up again, even if it meant taking a loss.”
This was the company that had hidden behind Seonghwa Boiler to try to destroy Daemyeong Electronics.
They were more than willing to accept a short-term loss if it meant driving out a competitor.
“Oh. So that’s why you kept trying to raise our price, Manager Kim.”
“We’ve done everything we can. Now we wait.”
Oh Sangcheol, who had been listening, dug at his ear with his little finger.
“Who knows? That one cent might finish someone off.”
“Hando Trading would go crazy if that happened.”
“Going crazy would be the least of it. That manager, Kwon Dohun or whatever, came here in person, remember? If they lose by exactly one cent, they’ll tear into Kwon for leaking something to us.”
I pictured Kwon Dohun’s face, looking down on us right to the end.
If that really happened, it would be quite entertaining.
‘At least the climb to executive director won’t be as smooth as it was in my previous life.’
I stretched to loosen my stiff muscles.
Still looking at the transmission confirmation, Park Soyeon spoke with disappointment.
“Anyway, isn’t Monday too late for the result? If they got the bids today, they should tell us right away.”
“What do you expect from a foreign company? They always take their time.”
“Let’s catch up on our other work while we wait.”
Oh Sangcheol’s eyes lit up.
“How about a team dinner tonight to celebrate finishing the job?”
“Let’s save that for after we win the bid.”
“Don’t you know a job isn’t finished until the team dinner?”
Choi Yeongjin was the first to wave off the idea.
“I have a date tonight. With Park Mina, the person you introduced me to, Department Manager Oh.”
“Really? Is it going well? Then how about the three of us going for a drink at a street food tent?”
“You want to join my date?”
“...That would be a bit much, wouldn’t it?”
Rebuffed by Choi Yeongjin, Oh Sangcheol turned to Park Soyeon and Kang Minho.
As though they had been waiting, both waved their hands and said they had plans.
His gaze finally settled on Song Jaepil.
“Assistant Manager Song. How about a drink?”
“...I can’t drink much.”
“Then let’s have beer. I know a place with great fried chicken.”
Song Jaepil glanced at me as though asking to be rescued, but I pretended not to notice.
Now that Song Jaepil was working with Team 2, a drinking session with Oh Sangcheol was a necessary rite of passage.
They could put up with his drunken antics for one evening.
* * *
On Saturday morning, I went to Mood Bean to help at the café as promised.
When I opened the door, Han Ara, dressed in an apron, brightened at the sight of me.
“You’re here, Seongjun.”
“Yes. I’m not late, am I?”
“You’re right on time.”
Nayeon, who was supposed to work with us, was nowhere in sight.
“Where’s Nayeon?”
“She can’t come today because of a school assignment.”
Han Ara looked cheerful as she answered.
“You’re not disappointed, are you?”
“Of course not. I’m even more excited now that it’s just the two of us.”
“Me too.”
A familiar voice interrupted from the counter.
“I’m not invisible, you know.”
It was Lee Juhye, the blonde woman I had met before.
“Hello. We’ve met before, haven’t we?”
“Yes. You’re Ara’s boyfriend now, right? You’re very brave.”
“Well, they say fortune favors the bold, especially when it comes to beautiful women.”
Han Ara burst out laughing and hugged my arm.
Lee Juhye shook her head.
“How’s a girl without a boyfriend supposed to bear this?”
“You could get one too. You said plenty of people like you.”
“What good is that if I don’t like any of them?”
Han Ara held out a brown apron and a name tag she had prepared.
[Kim Seongjun / Trainee]
“It’s been a while since you were a trainee, hasn’t it?”
“So long I can barely remember.”
“If you do well today, I’ll promote you to a regular employee.”
“I’ll do my very best.”
I even bowed before slipping the apron over my head.
Han Ara went behind me to tie the strings, then gently hugged my waist.
“Ahem. A perfect fit.”
“Really? Could you check one more time?”
“Like this?”
Her arms tightened a little.
Lee Juhye watched us through narrowed eyes.
“You called me here so you two could have a date, didn’t you?”
Pretending not to hear, Han Ara spread an order sheet in front of me.
While business was quiet, I learned how to take orders and the serving routine.
After finishing her explanation, she placed an empty cup in front of me.
“Would you like to make some coffee?”
“How about a latte?”
First, I filled the portafilter with finely ground coffee and pressed it down firmly.
Once I fitted it into the machine, rich espresso flowed into the cup.
I poured the milk slowly, then gave my wrist a slight turn at the end, forming a heart on the surface.
The barista classes I had taken every Saturday had paid off.
Han Ara took a sip and nodded.
“Wow. All that teaching was worth it.”
“I had a good teacher.”
What proved surprisingly difficult was memorizing the dessert names.
There were far more varieties in the display case than last time.
After I brought up the idea of a franchise, Han Ara had expanded the menu. Customers who used to order only coffee had started buying desserts too, multiplying sales several times over.
She pointed to the items in the case one by one.
“From the left, cheese crepe cake, chocolate ganache cake, strawberry tiramisu...”
“Did you make all of these?”
“Not all of them. I have a nearby bakery make and supply a few.”
“What’s the unit cost? It might be worth focusing on five of the best-selling cakes.”
My sales instincts had slipped out before I knew it.
Han Ara put her hands on her hips.
“Today, I’m the boss, and you’re the trainee.”
“I’ll be more careful.”
“Ahem. If you slip up again, I’ll kiss you, so watch out.”
“Then I might have to do it on purpose.”
We were smiling into each other’s eyes when the door opened.
“Welcome to Mood Bean.”
After that, the door barely stopped opening.
Couples and groups of women arrived, followed by foreign customers, and the café quickly filled up.
When one foreign customer hesitated over the menu, I asked in English what flavors they liked and recommended a drink.
Lee Juhye glanced at me.
[He said he’d never worked in a café, but he’s good with customers.]
Taking orders and recommending drinks wasn’t much different from sales.
I loaded drinks and cake onto a tray and headed to a table where three women sat.
“Here are your drinks and cake.”
“...Thank you.”
One of them blushed and stole glances at me.
[...He’s handsome. Should I ask if he has a girlfriend?]
Just as her friends noticed and were about to speak, Han Ara called from the counter.
“Seongjun, could you clear table three?”
She was smiling, but her thoughts were another story.
[Whew. We need matching couple rings or something. Everyone keeps hitting on him.]
Lee Juhye, who had been watching beside her, chuckled.
“What’s so funny?”
“I was just wondering how Han Ara, the Ice Princess, became the goddess of jealousy.”
“You’d understand if you fell in love.”
“I’ve dated several times more people than you have.”
“But the intensity’s different. I’m espresso. You’re an Americano.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Laughing, Han Ara darted away from Lee Juhye.
Before noon, Suyeon arrived at Mood Bean with her art club friends.
Her eyes widened when she saw me in an apron.
Mine did the same when I saw her short skirt.
“You...”
“Seongjun...”
We spoke at the same time.
““What are you wearing...?””
Han Ara smiled and welcomed Suyeon.
“Oh, Suyeon. Why do you look so pretty today?”
“Really?”
Now that Han Ara had called her pretty, it was hard for me to say anything more.
“I saw the photos you sent me, but I thought I could draw it better if I saw the café in person.”
“Of course. I’m glad you came. Order anything you want.”
Suyeon’s shoulders rose proudly at Han Ara’s warm welcome.
Even as she sat down with her friends, she sneaked a glance at me.
“That little kid’s already going around in short skirts.”
“Everyone’s like that at her age. Don’t be too strict. It’ll only get worse later if you are.”
I took Suyeon’s drinks and cake to the table myself.
Her friends bowed to me one after another.
“Hello. I’m Suyeon’s friend, Kim Yungyeong.”
“I’m Lee Eunyeong.”
“Nice to meet you. Keep being good friends with Suyeon, and enjoy the food.”
“...Thank you.”
As soon as I turned around, the whispers behind me grew louder.
“Suyeon, you said your brother was some old guy.”
“He’s thirty-three. That makes him an old guy.”
“No way. He’s so handsome. Can’t we ask him to model for our sketches?”
“No. He’s busy with his office job.”
Listening to the lively chatter of high school girls made me smile.
As lunchtime approached, customers poured in.
Even after Suyeon and her friends left, the orders kept coming.
Between serving drinks and clearing tables, I barely noticed it growing dark outside.
“Whew. The day went by so quickly.”
“It really did. We had even more customers than usual today.”
Han Ara’s and Lee Juhye’s hair had both grown a little messy.
Before taking a break, I checked the cakes left in the display case.
“It really is only the popular ones that sell. What do you do with the cakes you don’t sell?”
“We discount the thawed ones before closing.”
We put a closing-time discount sign in front of the remaining cakes.
Before long, the display case was completely empty.
Lee Juhye gave a small laugh as she checked it.
“You know you look like someone from head office right now?”
After we closed, Han Ara handed me an envelope with my pay.
Inside were several 10,000-won bills.
“I put in a little extra for you.”
“Then shall we use this to get something nice to eat?”
“I can’t take away a trainee’s part-time wages, so I’ll pay. Juhye, you’re coming too, right?”
“What makes you think I wouldn’t have plans on a precious Saturday night?”
“Oh? Do you have plans?”
“...No.”
We tidied up the café and went to a nearby street food tent.
Han Ara seemed to want Lee Juhye and me to get to know each other better.
After a few rounds of drinks, the conversation naturally turned to Lee Juhye.
The granddaughter of Woosung Chemical’s chairman, she had graduated with a degree in fashion and was now planning to work under her mother, who ran an in-house brand at Woosung Corporation.
She and Han Ara had been inseparable since high school.
‘I expected as much, but she really does come from an impressive family.’
“You have no idea what an Ice Princess Ara used to be, do you? Our friends would be shocked if they saw her with you.”
“Why are you bringing up ancient history?”
“What? It’s true. You kept rejecting handsome guys, saying you didn’t like them. Now I see they just weren’t handsome enough.”
Han Ara gave Lee Juhye’s foot a few light kicks under the table.
She was different from when we were alone together, and it was fun to watch.
“What about you, Seongjun? How’s work?”
“It’s the same for office workers like me everywhere.”
“But don’t you get all kinds of drama in sales?”
Lee Juhye looked at me expectantly.
I told her how we had recently ended up competing with Hando Trading in a bid for 20,000 tons of wheat.
“Hando Trading?”
She frowned.
“Why? Do you know someone there?”
“Not exactly someone I know. There’s a really obnoxious jerk there. Kwon Dohun...”
The unexpected name surprised me too.
“How do you know Manager Kwon Dohun?”
“We went on a blind date once. Imagine how obnoxious someone has to be for me to remember their name after just one meeting.”
Han Ara joined in as though she had remembered.
“The one who told you to dye your hair black first if you wanted to date?”
“That’s the one. Wouldn’t stop bragging about having a father who’s an executive director at Hando Trading. I’ve never met anyone like that with a decent personality.”
If Kwon Dohun’s father was an executive director at Hando Trading, that explained the confidence about both head office support and the bid price.
“Please knock that jerk down a peg.”
“That’s exactly what I’m planning.”
“Oh. Are you confident?”
“We’ll find out on Monday.”
The drinks and cheerful conversation continued.
Lee Juhye was more fun and straightforward than I had expected.
[I’m glad he seems like a good person. He and Ara make a good couple.]
After we finished drinking, I walked home with Han Ara.
“Was today tiring?”
“Not at all. It felt like a date, so I enjoyed it.”
“That’s the right attitude. Next time, I’ll promote you to a regular employee.”
“Oh. Does that come with a bonus?”
“Of course.”
Han Ara glanced around, then slipped her arms around my neck, pulled me close, and kissed me.
“That’s not quite enough.”
“That was the down payment.”
“Can I get the balance in advance too?”
“As much as you like.”
* * *
On Monday morning, Team 2 quickly got to work on the tasks that had piled up while we were focused on the wheat business.
“Manager Kim. Anantakul Group’s second shipment has arrived at Mongsil Latex. They’re starting pillow and mattress production right away.”
“Good. They were desperate for stock.”
On the surface, it was no different from any other day.
But whenever the phone or fax machine rang, everyone in the office looked up at once.
Kang Minho collected a sheet from the fax machine and shook their head.
“It’s an ad for safety training.”
“Why does that thing turn up every few days?”
Everyone pretended otherwise, but they were all tense.
I was waiting for the result too, but I wasn’t anxious.
The $132 Kwon Dohun had pictured was the bid ceiling Hando Trading had secured by giving up its margin.
There was little chance of head office having approved an even higher price afterward.
Before long, the phone rang.
“Manager Kim, it’s the agency.”
“We’ve just faxed you the final results. Please check them.”
As soon as I hung up, the fax machine began moving as though it had been waiting.
The staff rose from their seats one by one and gathered in front of it.
The paper emerged painfully slowly.
Hando Trading’s name and price appeared first.
[Hando Trading: $132 per ton]
As the paper slid out a little farther, Taeseong Trading’s name appeared below it.
[Taeseong Trading: $132.01 per ton]
[Final buyer: Taeseong Trading]
“...A one-cent difference.”
For a moment, no one could speak.
The team stared blankly at one another, then burst into cheers almost at the same time.
“We did it!”
“We really got it!”
Oh Sangcheol picked up the result sheet in disbelief.
“Is this for real? We actually got it?”
“Hando Trading must be in chaos right now. Taeseong Trading, the company they looked down on so much, just landed a punch.”
“That Manager Kwon Dohun or whatever is going to get a serious dressing-down.”
Only then did I lean back in my chair and let out a long breath.
‘That was tough.’
As the tension left me, several days’ worth of exhaustion hit all at once.
Oh Sangcheol looked around at the celebrating team and raised his voice.
“We’re having a team dinner tonight, no matter what. This is when we should go wild with the company card. Right?”
This time, no one said they couldn’t come.
“Then are we having beef?”
“No. Sashimi for the first round. Beef for the second!”
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