An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 13

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 13
Part 5. There Are Many Shamans Like Lumps of Mud (1)
Monday morning arrived.
Kang Hyung-seok, with a backpack slung over his shoulder, hesitated briefly before opening the office door.
What kind of reaction would Shin Jung-ah show if she had already come to work?
Would I be able to treat Shin Jung-ah as I did before?
‘What’s there to worry about?’
Kang Hyung-seok narrowed the space between his eyebrows and reached his hand toward the door.
I was the one who helped her.
It made no sense to be self-conscious about Shin Jung-ah, who had received that help.
“Good morning.”
It was right after Kang Hyung-seok entered with his usual greeting.
“Hyung-seok….”
Shin Jung-ah rose from her chair as if she had been waiting only for his arrival, and her expression changed.
“You’re here, Deputy Manager Kang?”
Blunt and cold impression.
The usual Shin Jung-ah.
“Yes. You came in early.”
“I wanted to look over what my predecessor left behind. You know? I never even received a proper handover.”
That was certainly true.
Noh Su-chul had quit as if fleeing, so Shin Jung-ah had received no handover at all.
This was the most difficult part.
Just figuring out what her responsibilities were, how to handle them, and what scope she needed to manage would be headache-inducing.
‘The rank difference must be tough too.’
A deputy manager left, and a manager arrived.
From the company’s perspective, it was an excellent way to cut labor costs, but from a practical worker’s standpoint, it was maddening.
Not just for her, but for those around her as well.
So Shin Jung-ah seemed determined to do her best to minimize the burden on other department members.
“Have you had your coffee?”
Shin Jung-ah checked the time on her smartwatch and shook her head.
“Since we have time, shall we grab a cup?”
“I’ll prepare it right away.”
“Thanks. I’ll be by the emergency exit.”
“Yes.”
Watching Shin Jung-ah grab her cigarettes and leave the office first, Kang Hyung-seok gave a small nod.
From her behavior, it seemed the concerns he had harbored would not materialize.
The door swung open.
It was after Kang Hyung-seok had followed Shin Jung-ah up to the building’s rooftop.
Click, crackle.
Shin Jung-ah lit a cigarette and leaned her back against the railing, then took a sip of the coffee Kang Hyung-seok had handed her.
He closed his eyes, then opened them with his brows furrowed.
“This is exhausting. Really.”
“If you’re having trouble understanding the work, wouldn’t it be better to ask the department head for help?”
“No!”
We were alone on the rooftop.
Shin Jung-ah raised her voice abruptly, then pressed her eyes with the hand holding the cigarette.
“I really don’t know how to treat you.”
“You seemed fine this morning. Just keep it that way.”
“Sigh…”
Shin Jung-ah let out a groan as if she were truly exhausted, then put the cigarette between her lips.
“You seem so unflappable. I spent all of Sunday with my head pounding from worry.”
“I wasn’t any different.”
The moment I opened the office door, I was worried about how Shin Jung-ah would behave.
Standing three paces away from Shin Jung-ah, I sipped my coffee and exhaled a sigh through my lips.
“Let’s just forget it happened. That would be more comfortable for both of us.”
“…It’s not that simple.”
Shin Jung-ah muttered this while squeezing her eyes shut.
“Just in case, I searched through all the articles. And it was real. A son killed his mother in that house.”
It was an article from twenty years ago.
Even if she hadn’t revealed which house it was, she’d revealed the neighborhood.
It was an article about a son brutally murdering his single mother and even desecrating her corpse.
The more I read, the more my anger rose, but what infuriated me most was that the son ended his own life.
He escaped through death without ever facing punishment for his crimes.
“Just forget about it. That would be more comfortable for both of us.”
“…When did you start doing that?”
“You mean exorcising spirits?”
Shin Jung-ah nodded with the cigarette still in her mouth, and I pressed my lips together before opening them again.
“Not long ago. This is only the second time.”
“Really? But how are you so skilled at it?”
Shin Jung-ah’s eyes widened in disbelief.
It seemed absurd—that day, I had appeared as skilled as a seasoned shaman.
“I think studying various things over time has been helpful.”
“Ah… you said you studied folklore, right?”
Is that why?
Shin Jung-ah furrowed her brows in question and exhaled a long stream of cigarette smoke.
“What was it like at first?”
“There was someone called Noh Su-chul, a deputy manager who was your predecessor. It happened when I was with him.”
“Is that so?”
His eyes were so full of curiosity that I gave him a brief explanation.
“Back then, I was being chased by Changgwi.”
“Wait, Changgwi? Where from?”
“From the Foggy Mountain.”
Shin Jung-ah’s face contorted with revulsion.
I didn’t know what Changgwi looked like, but I knew it was a spirit.
The thought of being chased by such a creature on a mist-shrouded mountain—like something out of a horror film—made my skin crawl.
I felt genuinely grateful I hadn’t experienced something like that myself.
“In any case, Noh Su-chul resigned the very next day. And then you took over the position, Manager Shin.”
“…So it really hasn’t been long.”
“That’s right.”
Shin Jung-ah rubbed her forearms as she looked at Kang Hyung-seok.
Goosebumps prickled across her skin for no apparent reason.
She wasn’t a blind believer in shamanism, but she visited tarot readers and fortune tellers fairly often.
She’d encountered many practitioners over the years, but never anyone quite like Kang Hyung-seok.
“So you received a calling and all that?”
“Something similar.”
“When?”
“When I exorcised a spirit for the first time.”
Shin Jung-ah’s expression turned completely exhausted, so much so that she didn’t even notice the cigarette ash falling onto her shoes.
“You really are something…”
That was when it happened.
Bang.
Gwak Young-ho pushed the door open with his shoulder and, upon seeing Shin Jung-ah and Kang Hyung-seok, widened his eyes in apparent surprise.
“What’s this? You two were together?”
“Good afternoon, Director.”
“Hello.”
Gwak Young-ho waved his hand once and then lit a cigarette.
Shin Jung-ah quickly hid her cigarette behind her back, while Gwak Young-ho shook his head firmly as he lit his.
“Don’t do that. Our company doesn’t have that kind of atmosphere, Manager Shin.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Make yourself comfortable. Really. But what were you two talking about?”
It was the moment Shin Jung-ah felt caught off guard by Gwak Young-ho’s question.
“We were discussing the previous employee.”
“Noh Su-chul?”
Gwak Young-ho’s eyebrows furrowed sharply.
“Why him?”
“It’s nothing. Manager Shin didn’t receive a proper handover of duties. As we discussed various work matters, the conversation naturally turned that way.”
“Ah, I see.”
Gwak Young-ho nodded with understanding, then sucked hard on his cigarette filter as if feeling stifled.
“Phew! I’m sorry about that, Manager Shin. The previous employee was such an irresponsible person—you must have had a rough time.”
“No, it’s fine. He just wasn’t a very suitable person, I suppose.”
“Don’t even mention it. Did you hear why he quit?”
Shin Jung-ah didn’t look at Kang Hyung-seok, but she was acutely aware of him as she shook her head.
“Phew! He quit saying he saw a ghost. A ghost, can you believe it? Does that even make sense?”
It was as Gwak Young-ho exhaled cigarette smoke tinged with irritation while gazing into the distance.
Shin Jung-ah looked at Kang Hyung-seok, and when their eyes met, he gave a subtle nod.
I suddenly understood why he’d asked to keep it secret from the company.
“That is rather irresponsible.”
“If I’d known he was like this, I would’ve done something about it long ago. Ugh, just thinking about Noh Su-chul keeps me up at night. Keeps me up.”
Gwak Young-ho grumbled with a bitter laugh, then pointed at Kang Hyung-seok with the hand holding his coffee.
“Anyway, if you run into anything you don’t understand while working, ask me or Kang Hyung-seok. He’ll know.”
“Kang Hyung-seok?”
Shin Jung-ah asked back in a surprised tone, and Gwak Young-ho nodded as he answered.
“People like Kang Hyung-seok are hard to find.”
Gwak Young-ho’s gaze toward Kang Hyung-seok was profound.
It was the look of someone regarding a person worthy of trust.
In case Noh Su-chul had unfairly tried to implicate the company, I had conducted an investigation.
Through this process, I learned several things.
‘If you were struggling, you should’ve said something.’
Noh Su-chul was the type who kept revealing more layers, like an onion.
It wasn’t just one or two of his own tasks that he’d pushed onto Kang Hyung-seok.
He’d taken on so much work relative to his position that remarks like ‘he’d be fine for a promotion soon’ had come up.
“Understood. I’ll ask Kang Hyung-seok a lot of questions.”
“Is Kang Hyung-seok okay with that?”
It wasn’t a question wielding rank as a weapon, but a tone genuinely seeking consent.
“Yes.”
When Kang Hyung-seok answered readily, Gwak Young-ho had no choice but to nod while exhaling a sigh-like plume of smoke.
“Really, if only everyone were like you.”
Kang Hyung-seok laughed awkwardly.
Then Gwak Young-ho laughed along with him, checked his wristwatch, and stubbed out his cigarette.
“Let’s head back in. By the way, are you both free tonight?”
“What for?”
Kang Hyung-seok turned back as he was about to open the door, and Gwak Young-ho was pointing at Shin Jung-ah.
“We need to have a welcome dinner. We couldn’t do it last Friday because things were hectic.”
“But it’s Monday?”
This time Shin Jung-ah asked, and Gwak Young-ho laughed awkwardly.
“Is that not good? If it feels like too much, let’s just do a light dinner without alcohol.”
“Yes. That works for me.”
“Got it. Then Shin Jung-ah, just think about what you’d like to eat.”
“Understood.”
Watching Shin Jung-ah and Gwak Young-ho with faint smiles, Kang Hyung-seok opened the door to the emergency exit.
A welcome dinner on Monday.
It felt a bit off, though.
Still, I knew the atmosphere of company gatherings well enough that it didn’t feel burdensome or irritating.
***
“Come on, let’s go somewhere nicer.”
The department members, who had left work thirty minutes early under the pretense of the welcome dinner, headed to a restaurant two stops away from the Company.
It was a Pajeon Restaurant.
The place reeked of heavy oil, and they served makgeolli in dented brass kettles—a true Pajeon Restaurant.
It would be fine for a gathering on a rainy day.
But for a welcome dinner, there was undeniably a sense of disappointment.
“Why? I actually like it here.”
“Still, the menu is pretty ordinary, isn’t it?”
“I checked the reviews, and they say the seafood pajeon here is really excellent. And the makgeolli is homemade, so it’s rich and delicious.”
“Really? Ah, no—you don’t have to drink if you don’t want to. Don’t push yourself.”
“I want to drink.”
“Is that so?”
Gwak Young-ho’s mouth spread into a grin, but Namgoong Min-ah could not match it.
She seemed to have expected much more from a welcome dinner.
Her lips were pouted, as if she’d thought it would be somewhere better than this.
Lee Jin-pyung, standing beside her, was the type who seemed invisible even when present, so he remained quiet.
“You’re fine with this too, Kang?”
“Yes. I like pajeon restaurants as well.”
“Good then. Let’s all go in.”
Shin Jung-ah opened the door and stepped inside.
From the first impression, it felt unmistakably like a hidden gem.
The food spoke for itself.
The seafood pajeon came out crispy without a hint of sogginess, the potato pancake was crunchy outside and fluffy inside, and the kimchi pajeon was nothing short of moving.
“Wow, they really do it well here.”
“Have you never been here before, sir?”
“Well, we always go to the same old places. Honestly, I didn’t even know a place like this existed.”
“You should come often. It would be perfect on rainy days.”
“Shin…”
Until now, there had been no one in the department who particularly enjoyed drinking.
Gwak Young-ho now looked thoroughly pleased with Shin Jung-ah.
“Kang, can I have one of those dumplings?”
“If you’d like them, Min-ah, just order some.”
“Really? Boss, one plate of dumplings, please!”
Namgoong Min-ah, unlike her initial reaction, now seemed to be warming up to the Pajeon Restaurant.
Glug, glug, glug, glug.
Shin Jung-ah poured makgeolli into a glass and extended the kettle toward Lee Jin-pyung as well.
“Is Deputy Manager Lee always this quiet?”
“Yes.”
Observing Lee Jin-pyung devour the pajeon without even touching his glass, Shin Jung-ah nodded as if she had grasped what kind of person he was.
The welcome gathering proceeded in an overall warm atmosphere.
It was more so because, while it was called a welcome gathering, it was simply a place to share casual conversation while enjoying delicious food without any pretense.
“Deputy Manager Kang, don’t you drink?”
“I’ve brought tea instead, sir.”
“Just call me by my title. I’ll pay for it.”
“No, sir. I’m not particularly fond of alcohol.”
It was a conversation between Shin Jung-ah and me, but suddenly Gwak Young-ho’s eyes grew melancholic.
“That’s unfortunate. Then it’s only you and the director who drink.”
“In that case, perhaps I should have a glass.”
“No, no. You don’t need to drink that much. Goodness, Director, why are you like this?”
Shin Jung-ah waved her hand in alarm at Gwak Young-ho, who was quietly reaching for the bottle.
In the end, the meal concluded without any additional orders of makgeolli.
“Ah, that was delicious. Manager Shin, thank you for joining our department.”
“Not at all, Director. What are you saying?”
“No, I’m genuinely grateful.”
Gwak Young-ho glanced around, reluctant to part ways just yet.
The Commercial District.
There were a few bars nearby and a convenience store, and even a cafe in this bustling commercial district.
“There’s a cafe over there. Let’s get takeout and have just one cigarette before we part. How about it?”
“Actually, Director.”
“Yes, Deputy Manager Lee?”
“I think I should be heading out soon.”
“Then just take the coffee with you. Understood?”
“Yes.”
It was the moment Gwak Young-ho was pulling a card from his wallet to hand to Lee Jin-pyung.
“Huh? Isn’t that Chief Manager Noh over there?”
Namgoong Min-ah, who had been peering toward the convenience store, pointed to one side.
Immediately, everyone’s gaze turned in that direction, and Kang Hyung-seok’s brows furrowed sharply.
Because Noh Su-chul was indeed standing there.
Moving about in a manner so suspicious, as if he were doing something he absolutely should not.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————