Oppa, That Must Be A Mistake - Chapter 8

“Help me…….”

Hye-Joo stepped in front of Joo-Won, feeling like a cow being led to the slaughter.

She’d gotten a call from Ruby half an hour before work. He said that the oysters he ate yesterday were bad, that he’d been up all night, and that she couldn’t go to work in this condition.

Ruby was a coworker who worked in the same business unit as Hye-Joo and had gotten to know her well. He asked if she could take over his morning duties, and I said yes. That morning job was Kang’s buddy.

‘I had completely forgotten.’

Yesterday, I heard that Ruby had become Joo-Won’s buddy, but I was so out of the loop that I didn’t think about it. After I hung up the phone, I received a text message from Ruby summarizing the morning’s work, and it was only then that I realized that I was supposed to be Kang’s buddy today.

She tried to call to say that maybe she should find someone else, but she couldn’t reach Ruby to see if he had gone to the hospital, so Hye-joo came to work in her blue skirt, crying and eating mustard.

“Good morning, Mr. CEO.”

Hye-Joo greeted him in a voice that sounded like it came from a keyboard.

‘Let’s get this over with as soon as possible.’

Thankfully, the first task of the day was to take a picture of the two of them in blue, and it would only take 10 seconds.

“You claimed to have changed your mind, then you tried to get me to be your buddy. You pretended you didn’t, and then you applied for it again?”

What the hell.

The arrogant curl of his lips made her feel a thousand years of resentment. Hye-joo’s brow furrowed as she replied.

“I didn’t apply. your buddy was Mr. Lee Ruby from the business department, but he had an stomach ache, so I came in his place.”

“Really?”

“That’s right.”

“It’s true, you just jumped at the chance.”

This guy!

Hye-Joo clenched her molars and spat out each letter.

“Let’s just take a picture and tear it up.”

“I don’t think today’s mission is to just take a photo and tear it up. Don’t you even know what the buddy program is for?”

I don’t want to know the point what that means.

“How can you be so complacent when you’ve been with the company for so many years?”

I can’t believe this is happening.

“If you have a brain, think about it. Why is the company paying you to spend your time running a buddy program?”

“Hey.”

Hye-Joo, steam rising to the top of her head, snorted and was about to protest.

“First.”

Joo-won held out a single finger. Hye-joo’s half-open lips clamped shut as if she’d been struck by a magical spell.

“The reason we wear the same color is to give us a sense of belonging and to naturally eliminate the hierarchy between seniors and juniors.”

“I know …….”

“We’re going to take pictures, partly to evaluate your mission performance, but mostly to get to know each other better.”

“…….”

“We don’t have a buddy program to make fun of our expensive workforce, we have a buddy program to help new hires relax and give them access to information from existing hires to help them do their jobs better. It’s not about a single picture.”

Hye-Joo was dumbfounded by the words that poured out of him.

It was the first time she’d ever heard Kang Joo-won speak so eloquently, and she would have been stunned if she’d realized he’d been the one arguing for the Buddy Dance theory just a few moments ago.

Gulp.

Hye-Joo blinked, but only after a few seconds did she regain her composure.

“Yes, sir. I understand what you mean.”

She couldn’t argue with the heavenly CEO, and she couldn’t deny that he was actually right.

“Mr. Ruby will be back tomorrow, so I think you’ll have to find that good meaning with Ruby.”

Joo-Won shoved his hands in his pockets and smirked.

“You have no responsibility.”

“Who. Me? That’s the first time I’ve heard that since I lost my hair.”

“Do what you’re supposed to do, and don’t make it personal.”

Who’s making it personal now?

Why are you making a big deal out of something that’s going to end with a photo and then part ways?

“So what do we do?”

“Let’s go out and take a picture. Pretty.”

“Why?”

“It’s for the brochure, it’s for the company website, it’s for the job board. It’s a chance for us to showcase our free-spirited company culture.”

You can’t beat words…….

“Okay, great, where do you want to go?”

“You want to go to the ocean?”

“Crazy……! Whew.”

Hye-Joo clamped a hand over my mouth at the unfiltered reaction.

Despite the fact that he must have heard, Joo-won didn’t react much. A quick glance with his dark eyebrows was all he showed.

“We shouldn’t go anywhere too far from the office, because we’ll be back at work soon.”

“Well, that’s the idea behind the outfit, so let’s eat.”

“It’s nine in the morning.”

“I need a break, I drank too much last night.”

In other words, he’s using the company program to fulfill his own selfish desires.

‘Can the CEO do this?’

Hye-Joo stammered and quickly grabbed her phone.

I instinctively searched for haejangguk restaurants near the company and felt the misery of a salaryman.

*

Hye-joo chose a haejangguk restaurant five minutes away from the office. The restaurant is known for its amazing seonjiguk, but there weren’t many customers because it was a windy morning.

“Do you eat seonjiguk?”

“I can’t eat without it.”

I was surprised to find myself eating brunch in Times Square. Hye-Joo threw up her hands and ordered.

“Then I’ll unify the menu, aunti! Here’s two orders of seongjiguk.”

Joo-won stared at her in disbelief. Feeling uncomfortable with his crossed arms and stare, Hye-joo continued to flip through the menu.

She wondered why the less-than-three-minute wait for the sunjitguk seemed so long, and her stomach felt like  it was being dumped before she’d even taken a bite.

Where am I…… Who am I…….

“Let’s take a picture first.”

Fortunately, Joo-won broke the silence.

“Ah…… Yeah, okay.”

“Take a picture with your cell phone.”

“Okay.”

Hye-joo quickly grabbed her phone and put it in selfie mode. The view of Geumgangsan Mountain is also a post-meal view, but Hye-joo was more concerned about completing the mission than eating.

“Come inside, I can’t see your face.”

The table was so wide that she couldn’t see his face even if I stretched my arm to the max. I’d have to get close enough to see their matching blue outfits, but I didn’t want to sit next to Kang Joo-won.

“Tilt your body inward, don’t you know how to take a selfie?”

Joo-won looked at Hye-joo pitifully as she twisted and turned at different angles.

“Don’t blame me for your skinny arms.”

“What do you mean, they’re skinny? I have good proportions.”

“Hell no.”

Hye-joo glared at him. Joo-won sneered and held out his palm.

“Give it to me.”

She held out her phone with a reluctant expression, and Joo-won stretched out his arm to snap a picture.

Click.

In less than a second, a picture of their entire upper bodies.

I wondered why he had long arms, and I wondered why my eyes were half-closed.

“Take another picture.”

“Forget it. That’s it.”

“My eyes were closed! You’re the only one who can get a good shots?”

“It’s an immutable law of the universe.”

Do you want to fight this?

My fighter instincts kicked in.

“Two seonjiguk!”

If the food hadn’t come at the right time, she might have rolled up her sleeves and gone for it.

Hye-Joo was pissed, so she sprinkled a lot of chili powder on it. Then she buried her face in the pot and started eating.

‘They say dogs don’t touch their food, so I’m not going to argue with you again.’

I felt like I was going to lose if I said anything, so I decided it was better to say nothing and just focus on eating.

Clap. Clap.

I teased my spoon nonstop with the sole intention of not talking.

“Hey, Oh Hye-ji.”

“Why?”

“Why did you answer? You’re not Oh Hye-ji.”

I looked up, wondering if this was some kind of fat joke, and Joo-won reached out and tugged on the temple card around Hye-joo’s neck.

“You’re not Oh Hye-ji, you’re Oh Hye-joo. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Oh, that?”

Hye-joo replied, chewing on a grain of rice.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“What?”

“Because I don’t care what you call me.”

Joo-Won’s eyebrows went up at the coldness of her tone.

“You don’t care, why?”

“Actually, I didn’t have a chance to correct you. You see, things were a bit…… when we met again at Seung-won’s house, and I don’t think there’s much chance of you calling me by name at work.”

Joo-won’s complexion visibly subsided.

‘It doesn’t matter, huh.’

For a moment, Joo-Won felt confused.

Didn’t she say she liked me? Doesn’t she feel bad when someone she likes calls her by the wrong name? Why doesn’t she care? Why? Why? Why?

Unaware of the whirlpool that occurred in his mind, Hye-Joo spoke casually as she open her seonjiguk.

“Could you please let go of my employee card?”

“Uh.”

Unable to finish his sentence, Joo-Won let go of the certificate. Hye-joo, who had been tugging at the temple card, let go in a momentary vacuum of strength.

And, boom!

“Wow!”

The temple certificate floated into the air and landed squarely on the Seongjitguk.

“!”

The moment the square of plastic hit the top, a bright red complexion splashed out. It stained her white blouse. Hye-joo’s face was red and flushed from the stool.

“What the hell are you doing? What if you suddenly let go of my hand? I told you to take a picture in the lobby and let’s tear up! Were we enemies in a previous life? How can you tackle me like this?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.”

Hye-joo looked up at the sound of Joo-Won’s eerie voice.

Her eyes caught sight of Joo-Won’s condition, which she hadn’t noticed while wiping her clothes with a tissue, and an triumphant smile flashed across her face that she could not hide.

“Hehehehehehe!”

Hye-joo wasn’t the only one who suffered terror attacks.

Joo-Won’s situation was even worse. His smug face was now covered in the soup that had splashed down on him as he hurriedly retrieved his temple card.

She was especially impressed with one drop that landed squarely in her throat. Hye-Joo couldn’t stop laughing at the sight of it running down her nose.

“Puh-ha-ha! Look at your face……!”

“Are you …… laughing?”

Sorry Sorry.

Hye-joo pursed her lips to keep from laughing, but once she did, she couldn’t stop.

Joo-Won pulled out a tissue to clean up his face and glared at her, a dark glint in his eyes.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh, it just came out as if I had a…… off…… nosebleed!”

“Do it in moderation.”

“Okay. oops…….”

“Ha.”

Sighing deeply, Joo-won put down the corporate card and stood up.

“Clean up and get back to work.”

“You’re leaving?”

“So you’re going to eat while I’m gone?”

It’s a great way to get the most out of your time, and it’s a great way to make sure that you’re getting the most out of your time.

It’s not enough that Joo-Won is the CEO and he terrorized Seonjiguk, but he even sneered at her heatedly…… Isn’t this the kind of thing that should get you removed from your desk tomorrow?

“Surely you’re not that despicable…….”

At that moment, Joo-won turned around. Hye-joo, who was talking to herself, clasped her hands together and straightened her back.

‘Did you hear that? What’s that look on his face? He’s not going to hit me, is he?’ she asked.

He shouted.

With each step he took, Hye-Joo’s back stretched as if being pulled up and down.

She tensed, and Joo-won suddenly held out his hand in front of her nose. Hye-Joo reflexively squeezed her eyes shut, but the expected disaster didn’t happen. Instead, a cozy scent of fabric softener wafted to her nostrils.

“Put it on.”

With a pop.

Falling into Hye-Joo’s lap was the blue knit that Joo-Won had draped over her shoulders.