Chapter 25
25. I Like Assistant Manager Lee 2021.07.24.
Saturday morning. Yena marked off each day on the calendar with an X. Yena's birthday was now only five days away. Looking at the X's Yena had collected on the calendar, one could see how meaningless the past was.
“Yena, is eating cake with Mom and Grandma the only thing you want to do on your birthday? Are you still this excited? Looking forward to it?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Why?”
“Because Mom comes home early.”
Jeong-o couldn't help but reflect on how little she had taken care of her child. I work because I love you the most, but I don't have enough time to actually love you. A mother is always sorry to her child.
“And Mom's going to give me a present, too. That's why I like it.”
Yena had already chosen her present a long time ago. She said she wanted a coding robot. Fearing that the product might be sold out, Jeong-o bought the gift early. The gift had already arrived last Thursday, and Yena knew this. What must it be like to wait for a present that's already at home until your birthday? The child is eagerly counting down the days to her birthday, patiently enduring the wait for what she wants and what she wants to receive. Jeong-o sat Yena on her lap and looked at the calendar together. Turning the page, there was also a circle drawn on Monday, June 7th.
“Yena, why did you circle this one?”
“That's the day we go to Do-bin's house.”
Yena, who smiled sweetly at the circle on June 7th, left for the living room. In the meantime, Jeong-o picked up her phone and checked her text messages. She had received a text message from Ji-heon last night. There was a short message along with an internet address.
- I'm sending this because I thought it would be good for a copywriter to see.
It was a lecture video of a famous overseas creator that Jeong-o also knew. It would be very helpful to watch, but Jeong-o wasn't thrilled.
‘Why send a lecture on a Friday night?’
She listlessly put her phone face down and sat still, when Yena returned with a Go board and Go stones.
“Mom, let's play Go.”
“Mom doesn't know how to play Go.”
“Then I'll teach you.”
Yena's enthusiasm for Go is always genuine. Yena became a Go teacher and explained passionately. Jeong-o knew some things, but there were also things she didn't know. She needed to concentrate as much as she didn't know, but after checking Ji-heon's text message, her mind was in turmoil. Should she reply or not? If she replied, it felt like the conversation would get longer. What Team Leader Seong Mi-ran had said yesterday came to mind.
“……I'm just saying this because I'm worried. The Director is getting married soon, and you two work at the same company.”
She couldn't create something that would worry her colleagues. Jeong-o had to reject him before he approached her. As Jeong-o was blankly lost in thought, Yena raised her voice.
“Mom, Mom! You save stones in Go with liberties.”
“Yeah. That's right. Liberties……”
“That line is a liberty, and that side isn't a liberty. You have to go to the liberty. Got it?”
“Yeah. You have to go to the liberty.”
That's right. In Go and in life, you have to go to the liberty. That's how you survive. Jeong-o gained enlightenment from the teachings of Teacher Lee Yena.
‘That's right. I only need Yena.’
I have to draw the line first.
\ For some, it was just a weekend where they dipped their toes in and pulled them out, but for Ji-heon, it was a boring weekend. A wedding of a friend he wasn't very close to, a dinner with the head of an advertiser, a summons from his mother…… What he wanted was never within reach, and what he didn't want kept coming one after another. He had sent a text message with useful content to Assistant Manager Lee Jung-oh on Friday, but she had 'read' and ignored it. At least Monday felt like a breath of fresh air.
- Yes. I will watch it well.
Monday morning, exactly at 9 a.m. A text message arrived from Jeong-o. Ji-heon read the seven letters written neatly in one line over and over again. It seemed to be a reply to the text message he had sent on Friday night. I watched it well, or I will watch it well? Now? Ji-heon snorted and immediately sent a reply.
- Are you sending a reply after three days?
Drrr. This time, the reply came quite quickly.
- It's work. Excluding the weekend, it's only one day based on working days.
- You send text messages like a delivery.
The expression that had been locked up all weekend finally loosened. Ji-heon immediately sent another text message.
- Yes. That's right. Work is processed based on working days. If you want same-day delivery, please send it before 3 p.m. on weekdays.
- No, same-day reply.
Ji-heon couldn't help but laugh out loud at the two text messages that arrived side by side. Thinking that his laughter had leaked out of his office, he cleared his throat, straightened himself, and sent one more message. It was the video address that compiled the works of the creator he had sent on Friday night.
- It would be good to watch this together as well.
- Yes. Text received. I will process it.
Pfft. Somehow, he could even imagine her expression when she sent the text message. He didn't dislike her boldness and shamelessness in accepting her superior's message as just another bothersome task. It was so fun that a new desire was slowly sprouting. He wanted to keep her sitting next to him. \ In the afternoon, a meeting was held for the new Tawon Liquor product advertisement. The AE briefed on the updated content from last week's situation.
"After last week's gathering and meeting, Tawon Liquor gave us some feedback. First of all, the advertiser showed interest in all of our ideas, and they said all the ideas were good…… They want us to…… combine all these ideas.”
The production team was shocked as expected at the AE's cautious announcement.
“Combine them? Combine them!”
“What are we supposed to do by combining them? Make budae jjigae?”
The AE continued the briefing steadfastly.
"By combining them... they want us to prepare three drafts."”
“Three by combining them? If you combine them, it's one, so why three?”
“That's the same as saying we have to prepare everything again.”
Assistant Manager Jo Si-nae's voice was especially angry. The blame fell on Jeong-o, absurdly.
“Assistant Manager Lee Jung-oh. Do you have anything to say?”
“What is there to say?”
![](data/file/novel/6135/80217/16551141435228."I think this wouldn't have happened if Assistant Manager Lee hadn't said this and that to the advertiser at the dinner gathering on Thursday.”
“I only said what Team Leader An Chan-seop told me I could say.”
Jeong-o replied without being intimidated by Si-nae's nagging.
“Well, that could be the case! Now that it's happened, it's fortunate that we quickly grasped the advertiser's intentions. Ahem.”
Chan-seop, the team leader of Production Team 1, cleared his throat and made a lame excuse.
“What's the deadline?”
Jeong-o asked about the deadline.
“For now, they want us to send the first proposal this Friday. They said the first proposal doesn't need storyboards. They said it would be good enough to have a script based on storytelling.”
“A first proposal. That means they're going to overturn it again. That's too much.”
“We have to try to get it approved in the first round.”
“Is that easy?”
As the production team members continued to grumble, the planning team leader stepped forward.
“Time is tight, but please do your best. And you need to prepare plenty of copy candidates, considering both quality and quantity. Tawon Liquor is very picky about choosing copy. You know that, right?”
Eun-bi looked at Jeong-o and said.
"I'd like Assistant Manager Lee Jung-oh to do the final arrangement of the drafts." She's talked to the advertiser the most individually, and she doesn't have much work to do.”
The members of Production Team 1 nodded. It felt like everyone in Production Team 1 was trying to back out. Jeong-o decided to accept Eun-bi's suggestion. It seemed much better to take the reins and move on her own than to be dragged around and waste time. Thursday is her daughter's birthday. She had to finish the work before then.
“Yes. Then, please cooperate. Please send me your ideas by email. Since there isn't much time, I'd like to share our opinions for just one hour every evening, if possible. I'll collect and organize them.”
“Wow. I like how cool and decisive you are!Team Leader An Chan-seop applauded as Jeong-o made a decisive decision with drive. The meeting ended quickly because Jeong-o took on most of the work. Eun-bi approached Jeong-o, who was almost the last one left cleaning up the conference room.
“Assistant Manager Lee Jung-oh, this is my copy for now. You can reflect it without having to call a meeting.”
Eun-bi suddenly handed over a piece of paper. Several lines of sentences were written on it in handwriting.
"......You didn't organize it separately?”
“I worked on it by hand.”
“This is just a memo. Could you please organize it into a file with sincerity and send it to me?”
“If I give you a file with sincerity, Assistant Manager Lee will just copy and paste it without sincerity. Since Assistant Manager Lee has to organize it anyway, it would be good to transcribe my opinions and my copies yourself to study.”
“……”
“It's not that difficult.”
"Yeah, so that's how it is." The planning team leader was watching. Chae Eun-bi seemed to be trying to make Jeong-o look like an eccentric person. Jeong-o quickly made the least problematic decision.
“Then I'll take care of the director's memos. You know I'm the one organizing it, so I'll be doing the final report, right? Don't be too disappointed if the director's copy doesn't make it in the end.”
Eun-bi slightly distorted her face and left. Gi-hoon, who had been watching from the side, secretly gave a thumbs up. After Eun-bi left, this time the planning team leader spoke to Gi-hoon.
“Gi-hoon, this is another matter, but we have another Competitive Presentation next Wednesday. Could you design the proposal? I heard that when Gi-hoon touches a proposal, it becomes art. Do you have some time tonight?”
“Ah… you mean today?”
Gi-hoon hesitated to give a definite answer and asked about the schedule again. He was already handling a lot of work for a new employee, and now another task was added. Jeong-o, quickly realizing that Gi-hoon was in a difficult situation to refuse, intervened between the two.
“Then how about starting around next Monday? Gi-hoon also has a lot of work to do in the team. I think it would be possible to start on Monday.”
“Ah… you have a lot of work? Then we'll have to do that. Okay, Gi-hoon, I'll ask you next Monday.”
After even the planning team leader left, leaving only Jeong-o and Gi-hoon in the conference room, Gi-hoon let out a long sigh of relief.
“Phew, I owe you one, Assistant Manager. Thank you.”
Jeong-o felt sorry for Gi-hoon.
“Gi-hoon, you've been constantly called for these kinds of requests, haven't you?”
“How did you know?”
“People who are good at making proposals get called around like that. Anyway, proposals are always being revised until the last day of the Competitive Presentation, so there's no need to waste energy from now. Just do it when you go on Monday. If they don't call you then, just let it pass.”
Gi-hoon, having gained a great realization, opened his lips and nodded blankly.
“Got it?”
A reliable ally he could trust and depend on. The cool Assistant Manager Lee. Come to think of it, things had become easier since Lee Jung-oh joined the team. Jeong-o helped a lot with organizing the conference room, writing meeting minutes, discussing meal menus, and taking care of schedules. He had been a bit awkward with the team members, but he was now able to treat everyone comfortably. Gi-hoon realized that Jeong-o had made the team atmosphere soft and warm. She was more like a mentor than his actual mentor, Assistant Manager Go Eun-ju, and someone he could rely on. Sometimes she was like a warm older sister, and other times like a like-minded friend. Plus, she was pretty, funny, and smart. Thinking about it, Jeong-o was his ideal type. Gi-hoon called out to Jeong-o, who was about to leave the conference room.
“Assistant Manager, I have something to tell you.”
“Oh, go ahead.”
He thought it would be better to quickly secure a good position before someone else reached out.
“I like you, Assistant Manager.”
At the same time. Knock knock. A very urgent and slightly irritable knock sounded. The conversation and confession were interrupted. Someone was banging hard on the open conference room door. Not a 'knock knock' but a 'bang bang'. The person standing in front of the conference room was Jeong Ji-heon. His tightly clenched fist, used to bang on the door, looked a bit savage.
“Assistant Manager Lee Jung-oh.”
Ji-heon called out to Jeong-o without hesitation. With a scary, expressionless face, as if he had come to collect a debt.
“Yes, Director.”
“Don't you have something to give me?”
Jeong-o's pupils, which had been roundly revealed towards Gi-hoon, trembled this time towards Ji-heon.
“My clothes.”
His gaze, glaring at Jeong-o and Gi-hoon, was breathtakingly fierce.
