Episode 233
Chief Lee Jae-heon was a very harsh person.
Even if he only cut his finger on paper, he would make a big fuss, and if he occasionally handled something wrong and his skin got a little scratched, he would put a bandage on it even if there was no bleeding. Maybe it was because of his pride, but he would at least save face, but once he got hurt, he would look like he was in a bad mood for the whole day.
However, Director Lee Jae-heon has never really bled that much at the company.
“… … .”
Lee Jae-heon covered his lower body with his hand as the blood poured down as if he heard a thud. He glanced at the suddenly gathered gaze, then muttered quietly with an arrogant expression.
“… Hey, kid.”
“… Manager, are you okay?”
“Oh, never mind. Is this the first time you’ve seen someone with a nosebleed?”
He said sharply, rising from his seat.
“Stop wasting your time on useless things and just do your job well.”
Then, I saw him leave the office right away. He must have gone straight to the bathroom. He might have wiped the blood off his clothes and made it spread even more. While I was staring blankly at the door through which Jaeheon Lee had left, caught up in such trivial fantasies, Team Leader Woo cautiously approached me.
“Mr. Inho, don’t worry too much. The manager seems a little tired today.”
“… It’s okay, Team Leader. Thank you.”
“Yeah, yeah. If the manager ever passes over any more documents without permission, let me know… Okay?”
Jeong In-ho smiled neatly at the sight of her trying to comfort him with a tired face. There seemed to be no need to increase the worries of Team Leader Woo, who was the greatest contributor to making the planning team, which had Manager Lee Jae-heon, who did not work, function properly. He thanked him once more and returned to his seat.
“… … .”
That doesn’t mean I wasn’t worried.
A notification from a message that was set to silent appeared on the screen of my phone on my desk.
[What is it? Are you sick, boss?]
[Do you know anything, Inho? You bleed a lot from your nose…]
[ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅜㅠ??]
In order, they were Noh Yeon-seok, Kang Min-ah, and Kwon Yeon-hee.
During this personnel transfer period, I glanced at Kwon Yeon-hee, who ended up being transferred to the planning department, but unlike the tearful Tok, Kwon Yeon-hee was staring at the computer screen with a calm face. The only person who could tell the difference was Noh Yeon-seok, who was hunching over his large body.
Jeong In-ho, who thought for a moment, sent a message to the chat room.
[No, I don’t know anything about it either. I’m worried.]
[ㅠㅠㅠWhat are you doing again, Manager?ㅠㅜ]
After that, no one sent a message, and Kwon Yeon-hee continued her work as if nothing had happened, as if she didn’t particularly want a response. In the strange silence, I could hear someone on one side of the partition muttering softly.
“Why is it like that again today…?”
“It’s always Manager Jeong who suffers.”
“If you can’t recover, then just don’t come out.”
“Don’t take your anger out on someone you don’t like….”
As one person opened the door, the next complaint followed cautiously, and soon the office was filled with small whispers. Jeong In-ho, whose name was called, knew that someone was talking about him, but he just pretended not to hear and kept a faint smile.
Some of them were alive, while others died and were replaced by mannequins.
“… … .”
Jeong In-ho clenched and unclenched his hand.
My palms were filled with cold sweat.
‘…Why am I so anxious?’
Actually, people don’t die from nosebleeds. Jeong In-ho also often had nosebleeds when he was overworked, and he also had nosebleeds a lot when he was a student preparing for college entrance exams. It would be the same for other people besides Jeong In-ho. Nosebleeds were not considered a serious illness.
But even for that, the amount of blood Lee Jae-heon shed seemed a bit… large.
[Manager, are you okay?]
I wondered if I was the only one who thought that, and Kang Min-ah sent me a message.
[You looked pale. I couldn’t see clearly, but it looked like you were sweating cold.]
[That’s right, that’s exactly what my face looked like when I had the flu]
As Noh Yeon-seok added after Kang Min-ah, Jeong In-ho’s eyes narrowed slightly.
‘… I just tried to pretend I didn’t know… .’
Actually, I’ve been feeling uneasy for a long time.
It was not just Lee Jae-heon’s actions that made me feel that way, but also the fact that Hong Kyung-joon and Lee Jae-heon, who had not had much in common, had become noticeably closer. I tried to think that he had simply sought out Hong Kyung-joon separately to contact the survivors, but at this point, it was hard to dismiss it that way.
The reason Jeong In-ho pretended not to know until now was because he wanted the survivors, including me, to get back the daily life we used to enjoy, not because he wanted to let Lee Jae-heon dry up and die.
“… … .”
By the way, the person who always wears a suit came out today wearing a turtleneck and a light coat. He was also wearing gloves on his hands, which he doesn’t usually wear.
“Inho, should I get up soon? I need to eat lunch.”
“… Ah, yes.”
“Like I said before, don’t worry too much.”
Team Leader Woo’s words, “Don’t worry about it,” probably meant, “Don’t worry,” or “Don’t get hurt.” At those words that were purely concerned for Jeong In-ho, he once again showed a neat smile.
“Thank you for your concern.”
“I think Inho’s condition isn’t very good these days… I’m sorry if I worried you for nothing.”
“No, thank you for always caring.”
“Then that’s good.”
Team Leader Woo stood up from his seat and raised his voice.
“Okay, let’s all go eat! Don’t make things too chaotic, okay?”
“Yes, team leader.”
“Team leader, enjoy your lunch too.”
Jeong In-ho slowly blinked his eyes as he watched the employees slowly getting up from their seats to eat. In his field of vision, there were people who seemed to be trying to take care of Kwon Yeon-hee, who had just transferred from the marketing department. Kwon Yeon-hee bowed her head to them and gently declined their offer.
As Jeong In-ho, who was wearing a smile, took a step towards Kwon Yeon-hee, one of the employees asked with a puzzled look on his face.
“Excuse me, Yeonhee. Do you have something… with Manager Jeong? Something pink… .”
“Hey, why are you asking such a thing? Yeonhee, don’t worry about it.”
“No, I just… just in case… just in case…”
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Oh, no.
‘I guess it could be seen that way.’
After all, relationships between the sexes can seem complicated when viewed from afar.
When Jeong In-ho showed a hesitant look, the employee who had been talking excitedly stepped back with a red face. He seemed a little embarrassed, perhaps thinking that he had brought up something unnecessary.
“I’m sorry. I heard that Manager Jeong went to the marketing team to look for Yeonhee last time…”
“… Oh, I guess that’s the rumor going around.”
Who on earth started this rumor?
“It’s not me. Chief Kang Min-ah is close to Yeon-hee. Last time, I went to check on her. I heard that she and Yeon-seok exchanged names as they went back and forth.”
“I see. I’m sorry, really… Ah, it’s embarrassing.”
“Haha, it’s okay. Enjoy your lunch.”
“Let’s go eat stew together later! I heard there’s a delicious restaurant in front of here.”
After the employees had finished their greetings and left the office, the survivors of the other world who had remained inside quietly gathered together. Jeong In-ho realized that Kang Min-ah was looking at him with a strange gaze.
“Well… I didn’t know the rumor would spread like that.”
“That’s true. It was just one of us who went as a representative… .”
“Well, I guess Inho has a girlfriend somehow.”
“… Somehow? What kind of prize is that?”
“There is something like that.”
Kang Min-ah said, sighing as if she was tired.
“I want to check on the manager to see if he’s okay… I guess it’s difficult right now, right?”
“I guess there are a lot of eyes watching.”
Of course, there was no one in Oseong who was personally close to Lee Jae-heon, except for the executives or employees of the department head level. Furthermore, it was well known that Jeong In-ho and Lee Jae-heon were not on good terms, so if they were to carelessly talk about their health, it would cause trouble. Just like the false rumor that Jeong In-ho was dating Kwon Yeon-hee just now.
In the end, they left the office to have lunch alone, and even on the way, they couldn’t see Director Lee Jae-heon. Noh Yeon-seok, who had stopped by the bathroom, said.
“Oh… You’re not here. I don’t think you’re in the break room either.”
“Then you could have gone to the pharmacy first. Even if you had a nosebleed, your whole body looked unwell…”
“… … .”
“Yeonseok?”
At Jeong In-ho’s call, Noh Yeon-seok muttered with a slightly pale face.
“… I can smell blood…”
“… … .”
“Manager… Are you okay?”
As it was the headquarters of Oseong, their company’s facilities were quite good, and the bathrooms were large and clean. If you could smell blood in the bathrooms that even had high-quality air fresheners, it meant that the situation could be serious.
When they returned after having a hard time eating lunch, feeling depressed, they were greeted by the empty seat of Manager Lee Jae-heon.
“Oh, Inho. It seems like the manager isn’t feeling well. He took half a day off.”
“…aha.”
“He said he was going to rest until tomorrow.”
Binggeut, Jeong In-ho smiled.
“okay.”
At this point, I wasn’t worried, I was angry.
Jeong In-ho knew where Chief Lee Jae-heon’s house was.
* * *
“…so.”
A very bitter voice.
“You finally came all the way here?”
Jeong In-ho responded with a straight smile to Lee Jae-heon’s muttering.
“Yes, but I was stopped by the security guard.”
“… How did you know the number of our house?”
“You said that last time when you were drunk.”
“Why did I do that?”
Lee Jae-heon, who had just rescued the chicks who had been caught by the security guard, pressed his temples in a state of bewilderment. Kang Min-ah laughed awkwardly at his appearance, Noh Yeon-seok avoided eye contact, and Kwon Yeon-hee smiled brightly. With the troubling protagonist involved, Lee Jae-heon felt a pain in the back of his neck.
As soon as the elevator doors closed, Lee Jae-heon frowned and said.
“You crazy chicks…!”
Who would come to a man in his forties’ house to complain of a nosebleed? He didn’t even come to a housewarming party. He was a subordinate, and he came to the manager’s house without any reason.
“You all know my age, right? You know I’m the oldest among us, right? Right? No.”
“I understand you are turning forty-two this year.”
“… … ? If you really knew, that would be disgusting in its own right. Manager Jeong even memorizes the manager’s age?”
“I found it when I searched. Wow, Royal Family.”
“Why are you searching for that? No, that’s not it.”
Lee Jae-heon continued speaking, hitting his forehead with his fist.
“Why did you come?”
“Visit the hospital?”
“Do you know what time it is now?”
“It’s about 8:09.”
“Aren’t you guys going to work tomorrow?”
“Should I do it?”
“… … .”
Just as Lee Jae-heon was at a loss for words, the elevator door opened.
“Shall I get off, sir?”
“… you disgusting little bastard.”
“I will take that as a compliment.”
“There are no normal people around me….”
“Whose fault is it?”
“Then is it my fault?”
Lee Jae-heon, who had been walking slowly, stood in front of the front door of my house and pressed the door lock number repeatedly. I had been using the push-button door lock because it was annoying that it kept missing, but thanks to this, I was able to open the door even while wearing gloves.
Of course, it might look a bit odd to wear gloves while resting.
“Your hands are shaking a little.”
“…I know everything even if you don’t say it out loud.”
“… … .”
“Don’t even look at me like that.”
He acted as lightly as possible, but Lee Jae-heon’s body had not yet recovered. His temperature was so high that he felt nauseous and his hands were shaking, how could they not?
Jaeheon Lee opened the door, closing his black cardigan so that his wounds would not be visible.
“Come in.”
It was a mess, but I was able to let him sleep for a day or so.
Anyway, they came to me because they were worried about me.
