Chapter 22 — Last Week (2)
We had been walking for three hours.
Or was it four?
Anyway, we had walked quite a lot.
The current time was 4 AM.
On a dark national highway in Gangwon Province, people wearing fluorescent clothes were walking like a line of ants.
One of those ants was quite pissed off.
She kept poking my waist from behind.
“Hey! Hey! Are you really going to quit?”
“I said I’m quitting. Have you ever seen me lie?”
“When are you quitting!!”
“I don’t know exactly.”
I couldn’t remember.
After walking and walking, we reached a midway rest area, and that was where I remembered Han Jia had given up and was sitting on a chair. Later I heard it was because of an ankle injury or something.
That was all I remembered.
Thud.
The sound of footsteps stopped.
Kim Ain was glaring with wide, axe-like eyes.
“I’m not going anymore.”
“We’ve already come this far? Don’t you think it’s a waste?”
“It’s not a waste, it feels unfair. I feel like I’ve been tricked. Are you tormenting me like this because I wouldn’t sleep with you?”
“You—”
“I said I wouldn’t cook for you, didn’t I? And there’s no one else around anyway.”
“Is Park Sanghoon hyung a mannequin?”
“Haha. I’m fine. But yeah, there really isn’t anyone else.”
We were at the very back.
Kim Ain had been walking reluctantly, so we fell behind everyone else.
“Anyway. I’m not going. I’m quitting!”
Kim Ain walked toward the HR staff member who had been following us.
The HR staff shook his head firmly at Kim Ain.
“You don’t look injured. Since you’ve come this far, try to finish it. In the end, the only thing you’ll have left with your colleagues are memories like this.”
“I don’t need memories, so I’m quitting.”
The HR staff looked flustered. Kim Ain was probably the first new employee to try to quit midway like this.
As a company senior, he seemed to want her to finish if possible. He looked at me with eyes that said, ‘She’s your colleague. Try to persuade her to complete it.’
At that moment—
Bzzzt. Bzzzzt.
The walkie-talkie crackled.
“Yes, this is Choi Jin-hak, assistant manager at the rear. Yes. All three have no intention of quitting. They don’t look injured either.”
“I’m going to quit though.”
“Sir! She says she’ll go all the way!”
“I’ll take the penalty points and stop here.”
“One dropout reported? If there are others who want to quit here, should we send them together by ambulance?”
Kim Ain’s eyes widened roundly.
The HR staff looked at Kim Ain and spoke.
“You said you wanted to quit.”
“No! I’ll keep going for now.”
“You just said you were quitting.”
“It’s fine. I’ll try walking a bit more.”
She must really want to beat Han Jia badly.
The girl who was talking about quitting moments ago now walked forward with renewed energy.
Was it because she was only twenty-four? She was still so young.
She was basically still a kid.
As I stared at her, Kim Ain, who was walking ahead, suddenly turned around sharply.
Her expression was a bit sharp.
“Aren’t you coming?”
“Why are your eyes so sharp?”
“Something just occurred to me. I have something to ask, so walk next to me.”
When I walked beside her, Kim Ain whispered softly so Park Sanghoon couldn’t hear.
“But how did you know Han Jia was going to get hurt?”
“Huh?”
“You talked like you already knew she would quit.”
“I think I misheard you?”
“Now that I think about it, you drank with Han Jia last week. Did you see her get injured that day?”
I was the one who got injured from her breath attack.
But how do you even know about that?
When I tilted my head in confusion, she spoke bluntly.
“I saw it on Instagram.”
“You have Instagram too?”
“Yeah. So… did you two drink until late?”
“Maybe?”
“Until really late?”
“You seem really concerned.”
“Yeah. I’m extremely concerned.”
“Why?”
“Because I was worried you might have fallen for her.”
“Jealous?”
“Maybe? It would piss me off if I saw you dating her.”
“Possessive?”
“Maybe? I already said that. Stop trying to make me angry. So, did anything happen between you two?”
I shook my head firmly.
“Don’t worry. I’m a non-marriage, non-dating person. We’re not dating.”
“Then it’s fine.”
Only then did her face brighten up.
Is this what female possessiveness looks like?
It was a situation I had never experienced in my previous life.
***
We walked quickly.
Sweat filled the inside of my long padding jacket.
Kim Ain’s breasts must be sweating too, right?
I walked while naturally imagining that, and we finally arrived at the rest area.
Drinks were placed on plastic tables. There was an ambulance, and Han Jia was sitting in front with a nurse.
She was getting her ankle taped.
There was no one else around. She was alone.
We approached her. She smiled brightly when she saw us.
“Oppa. You’re late.”
I stood in front of her. Kim Ain asked Han Jia directly.
“You’re quitting?”
“Yeah. My leg hurts. Juchan Oppa told me to be careful, but I still got hurt.”
“Is it bad enough that you can’t walk?”
“It’s not that bad, but I didn’t want to slow you guys down, so I sent you ahead first. There’s a prize for first place, right? I have to get it. Later when we get department assignments, I can brag about it too.”
Kim Ain tilted her head. She didn’t seem to understand what there was to brag about.
Since their common sense differed, I decided to act as interpreter in the middle.
“When you’re a new employee, you want to tell your superiors that you did well at everything. So she means she wants to brag that she got first place during training.”
“Why is that something to brag about?”
“For people who try hard — unlike us who just coast through life — that’s something worth bragging about.”
“I see.”
Kim Ain ended it there. She didn’t particularly mock or act superior.
This is boring. I was expecting something like a trashy drama scene where she’d say “Hmph, serves you right” or something.
She moved completely differently from what I expected.
“I’m going to quit here too.”
“Why are you being difficult again? That wasn’t your original goal.”
“It’s hard and I’m sick of everything now.”
Kim Ain plopped down next to Han Jia.
The two-shot looked good, but wasn’t this too disrespectful to the training?
What kind of new employee quits just because they’re tired?
As expected, I felt a stinging gaze on the back of my head. Our HR assistant manager was glaring at us with displeasure. Unable to hold back, he walked over and stood next to Kim Ain.
‘Please don’t. This young lady is someone who can actually do that.’
The truth was something I could never say out loud.
I kept my mouth shut. Instead, the HR assistant manager spoke.
“What exactly are you all doing?”
The atmosphere turned chilly. Kim Ain looked up at him with an incredibly rude expression.
I was about to step in when Han Jia acted faster.
“I felt bad that I dropped out, so my colleagues were comforting me for a moment.”
“And what about Kim Ain? Are you quitting as well?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“No, she’s not.”
Answers came from all directions. The HR manager let out a deep sigh.
“I’ve never seen a batch like this before. Everyone else tries their best to complete it, but you’re all trying to quit and chatting instead. Kim Ain. Are you injured somewhere?”
“No.”
“Then why are you saying you want to quit?”
“Because it’s hard.”
“There will be many things in your company life that are much harder than this. Are you going to quit easily every time?”
She was someone who could actually quit without consequences.
It seemed like things would only get worse if this continued, so I made a gesture for her to shut her mouth. Thankfully, Kim Ain listened.
Good. I’m already thankful for that much.
But why are you looking at me now?
The HR assistant manager turned his attention to me next.
“Min Juchan, I had a very good impression of you. Seeing how active you were during the factory tour and the promotional event, I thought you were someone who knew when to step up. Yet you quietly took care of the lacking new employees instead. I really liked that considerate attitude.”
I was just being lazy though.
“However, I’m disappointed that you’re not trying to stop your colleague from quitting today.”
Because she’s not the type to listen.
“I’m sorry. I’ll talk to her properly again.”
“Make sure that includes Han Jia as well.”
“Huh? Han Jia is injured and can’t walk.”
The HR assistant manager looked at Han Jia.
“Is that really the case? Min Juchan.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll give you one mission. Consider it a work order.”
“Yes.”
“Bring all the members here to the finish line.”
Why me?
Before I could even ask that, he had already walked away.
Me, Han Jia, Kim Ain, and Park Sanghoon were left stunned. After a moment, we replayed the HR manager’s words.
‘Is that really the case?’
How many employees faking injuries had the HR manager seen during training? In his judgment, Han Jia wasn’t actually hurt.
But in my previous life, Han Jia had quit. She even regretted it later and told me she should have kept going.
Combining the two clues, the answer became clear. I looked at Han Jia.
“Han Jia.”
“Yes, Oppa.”
“Your ankle doesn’t hurt so much that you can’t walk, right?”
It seemed I hit the mark.
Han Jia couldn’t answer.
“I’ll ask again. Does it really hurt so much that you can’t walk? If so, I’ll ignore the manager’s order and we’ll go by ourselves.”
“It’s… not that bad.”
“Then why did you quit?”
“Well…”
“Your ankle is a little uncomfortable, and since you realized you wouldn’t get first place at this pace anyway, you decided to quit, right?”
I must have hit the bullseye. Han Jia couldn’t say anything.
Ha. Seriously. In my last memories, Han Jia was a smart and capable woman, but right now she’s literally just a kid. Why is she acting like a kindergartener? Is it because she’s still young?
I became a kindergarten teacher and started scolding her.
“Even though I’m nobody special, the manager told me to bring you, so I’ll nag a bit. You got first place in almost every single training event. You were proactive and full of passion. I thought that was really impressive.”
“Thank you.”
“But… there are times when someone like you suddenly stops trying. You become strangely passive.”
“Do I?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know. It happens exactly when you think you can’t get first place. It was like that during the promotional event when I danced, and during the factory tour too. Whenever you think you can’t come in first, you lose all motivation. This time is the same.”
“……”
Han Jia lowered her head deeply.
“Yeah. I get why you do it. If you can’t be the best, you’d rather be somewhere in the middle so you can make excuses, instead of accepting second place as a loser, right? Like ‘I didn’t give it my all, so it doesn’t count as losing.’”
“……”
“What kind of high school behavior is this?”
“I’m sorry. From now on, I’ll work hard and at least get second place—”
“That’s not what I’m saying. Why do you even care about first or second place?”
“Huh?”
“Look at Park Sanghoon hyung over there. You probably think he’s an idiot most of the time.”
“……”
“This hyung owns a 10,000-pyeong orchard.”
“How do you know that?”
“He told me in his sleep. Even if his performance evaluation is bad, when it comes to land size, he’s number one among our batch. You don’t have to compete fiercely for first place in the company. Everyone has their own area where they can be number one. Let’s just live comfortably.”
Han Jia’s expression changed. Her eyes sharpened slightly.
“I see. Since everyone else has a lot, they might not need to fight for first place outside the company. But I’m different. You heard it too, Oppa. My family situation. In a situation like mine, if I don’t obsess over being first, even in the company, then what’s the point of my existence?”
“Are you happy doing that?”
“……”
“If you keep doing this to get first place, does it make you happy? If it does, then keep going. But tell me — are you happy?”
A person who chases first place not because they want to, but because of other people’s gazes.
I poked at her because I knew she couldn’t possibly be happy, and it seemed I was right.
Han Jia couldn’t answer.
However, she didn’t accept what I said either. She clenched her fists tightly as if her insides were rotting.
Well, I probably crossed a line. I didn’t even know her full situation, yet I kept lecturing her. Just as I couldn’t fully understand her, she probably couldn’t understand me either. Any more of this would just be an old man’s nagging, so I softened my tone.
“And you are already first.”
“What?”
“You’re the prettiest, you have the best personality, you’re the quickest at reading the room, and you do your work the best among our batch. You’re first in presentations, first in studying, first in academic background.”
“Are you making fun of me?”
“No, I’m serious. Anyway, you have so many things going for you. Unlike me, Kim Ain, and Park Sanghoon hyung. So what I’m trying to say is—”
I looked at Han Jia gently.
“Even if you can’t finish something like this stupid night march, it doesn’t change the fact that you’re the brightest person among our batch.”
This seemed to make her feel better. Her expression brightened.
“Really? You think I’m the brightest?”
“Yeah. Everything you’ve built up while trying to be first. It may not show up in numbers, but we can all feel it. You’re that kind of amazing person, so stop obsessing so much and take it easy. Or try coming in last place this time. Then you’ll understand.”
I had said everything I wanted to say.
Would it work?
Or would she say something like “What are you talking about, idiot?”
That’s what I was expecting.
But—
“I’ll try.”
It worked.
Han Jia stood up. She was limping. It looked only slightly uncomfortable.
“But because of me, we’ll be really slow. We might arrive extremely late. Huh?”
Without saying anything, I moved to her side and supported her.
“Is it more comfortable now?”
“You don’t have to do this.”
“Last place people are supposed to help each other.”
Kim Ain also moved. I thought she might be jealous, but she grabbed Han Jia’s other arm and helped support her.
“You grill meat well.”
“Huh?”
“Teach me next time.”
“……I’m sorry.”
There seemed to be a double meaning in that “I’m sorry.” It looked like she was apologizing for the meat incident that day.
The two of them could figure that out themselves. Finally, Park Sanghoon moved too. He picked up Han Jia’s bag.
“Let’s take turns supporting her.”
The cheerful rebellion of the four last-place members had begun.
……There was no such cool rebellion. We simply arrived one hour late.
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