An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 26

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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 26
Part 1. Lay Down Some Foundation (1)
The door swung open.
Back at the Company, Kang Hyung-seok made his way to the Rooftop at Gwak Young-ho’s summons.
Whether it was because things had wrapped up nicely in Danyang or because it was afternoon work hours, the atmosphere was decidedly pleasant.
“Get up here quick! Kang!”
Gwak Young-ho’s reaction as he waited on the Rooftop set the tone perfectly.
“Manager Shin is here too, I see.”
When Kang Hyung-seok spotted Shin Jung-ah and gave a brief nod, she returned the gesture with an expression similar to Gwak Young-ho’s.
“Have some coffee. Coffee.”
Gwak Young-ho, cigarette dangling from his lips, handed over a fresh cup of coffee he’d placed on the Rooftop railing.
It wasn’t from the Break Room—it was packaged from a specialty café.
The thick paper cup with its plastic lid matched the ones sitting on the desks of other department members.
“Did the director buy these?”
“Ah, Kang! Are you being dense or just modest?”
Gwak Young-ho laughed, creasing his face, and took a drag from his cigarette.
“Ha Jang-seo sent these via gift certificate. We even talked on the phone. The hospital says there’s nothing wrong with his health.”
Kang Hyung-seok’s eyes widened, and a relieved smile spread across his face.
It was what I’d expected, given that the malevolent spirit had vanished.
Yet hearing the actual hospital results was vastly different from mere expectation.
“Phew! I’m not religious, but this business trip can only be described as a miracle.”
“Ha ha, thank goodness. Truly.”
“Manager Shin, you see? This is the kind of guy Kang is. Fortune favors him.”
Gwak Young-ho gave Kang Hyung-seok’s shoulder a hearty pat before turning his gaze toward Shin Jung-ah.
Kang Hyung-seok’s eyes followed in her direction.
I could tell exactly what she was thinking.
So I shook my head as if to say not to mention anything.
“What a modest fellow.”
Gwak Young-ho laughed off his misunderstanding, but Shin Jung-ah’s eyes revealed she’d grasped that I’d done something.
‘Of course. So that’s what happened.’
Shin Jung-ah had witnessed me performing shamanic acts twice before.
So it wasn’t difficult for her to deduce that I’d done something in Danyang.
“It’s a shame, though.”
At Shin Jung-ah’s casual remark, Gwak Young-ho’s eyes asked ‘What is?’
“It’s not a small matter, but it’s awkward to report.”
It certainly didn’t look presentable.
But it wasn’t a matter of diminished importance either.
One misstep could someday catch Kang Hyung-seok in its snare, and it could affect Namgoong Min-ah’s conversion to permanent status.
It was significant in its own right, yet there was a lingering reluctance to present it to upper management as something I’d handled well.
“Ah, I’ll handle that myself.”
Gwak Young-ho took a sip of coffee and continued speaking.
“I have dinner plans with Director Shin tonight.”
“Which director?”
At Shin Jung-ah’s question, Gwak Young-ho didn’t answer, just lifted the corner of his mouth in a smirk.
That was answer enough.
“Well, that works out then.”
Shin Chang-yong, the director.
He was the director Gwak Young-ho had mentioned, and Shin Jung-ah’s uncle.
As a founding member of the company, he was the perfect person to inform upper management about this matter at an appropriate level.
“I need to make sure to tell him that Ha Jang-seo said he was grateful to Kang. What do you think? Not bad, right?”
“Should I add a word or two as well?”
“I’d appreciate it, but it should be fine. The director seemed to have a good impression of Kang.”
“Really?”
Gwak Young-ho smiled and lit a cigarette.
In the pleasant atmosphere, Gwak Young-ho smoked while Kang Hyung-seok and Shin Jung-ah sipped their coffee.
“Anyway, Kang! You really went through a lot this time. Ha Jang-seo asked me to tell you how grateful he is.”
“No, I didn’t really do anything.”
Kang Hyung-seok demurred, and Shin Jung-ah across from him silently shrugged once while holding her coffee.
“That’s how men are. When you feel powerless, the person who’s there beside you is what you’re most grateful for.”
Gwak Young-ho, who was no longer young, smiled with a somewhat bitter expression.
“Anyway, I was thinking we should have a company dinner, but is it too much back-to-back?”
“How about we do it when something good happens next time?”
That was what Kang Hyung-seok said.
For a moment, Gwak Young-ho, not understanding, furrowed his brow, then opened his mouth and let out an “Ah!”
“Right, right. Once Min-ah converts to permanent status, we should do it all at once then.”
“Yes, I think so too.”
“You didn’t give Min-ah any hints about this, did you?”
“No.”
At the firm answer, Gwak Young-ho nodded and stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray.
“Ah, that’s good. Real good.”
Gwak Young-ho rolled his shoulders to loosen up, then turned toward the door with a brightened expression in his eyes.
“Then I’ll head down first, so you two finish your coffee and come down. Kang, you don’t have anything urgent, so leave whenever you’re ready.”
“Yes!”
Gwak Young-ho headed down the stairs first, apparently to prepare for the evening meal with Director Shin Chang-yong.
Left alone on the rooftop, Shin Jung-ah pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
“You haven’t started smoking with the director yet?”
“Yeah, well. He’s practically old enough to be my father.”
“He’s not the type to worry about those things.”
“I know.”
Shin Jung-ah lifted one corner of her mouth and lit her cigarette.
“Phew! So how did things go this time?”
Shin Jung-ah’s eyes already gleamed with the knowledge that Kang Hyung-seok had done something.
Kang Hyung-seok simply smiled silently and sipped his coffee in front of her.
“I did what I’ve been doing before.”
“You really do suffer for it.”
“Thanks to that, everything worked out well. That’s all that matters, isn’t it?”
“I don’t think I could live the way you do.”
Kang Hyung-seok looked at Shin Jung-ah and laughed as if letting out a hollow chuckle.
“What? Why are you laughing?”
Shin Jung-ah furrowed her brow and asked, but Kang Hyung-seok didn’t respond.
From what he could see, Shin Jung-ah wasn’t destined to say such things.
While she might not become a Shaman, she possessed a constitution far more susceptible to external influences than most.
“No, seriously, why are you laughing?”
“It’s nothing.”
No one knows what lies ahead for anyone.
Kang Hyung-seok swallowed his unspoken words and tossed the empty coffee cup into the trash.
Then he pointed toward the door with his thumb, and though Shin Jung-ah watched him with displeasure, she stubbed out her cigarette.
***
“Director, we’re here.”
Gwak Young-ho opened the door to a respectable sashimi restaurant.
It was a sashimi restaurant after work hours.
Still, because it was a weekday, there were empty tables scattered throughout, making it suitable for conversation.
“What did you want to talk about?”
Shin Chang-yong sat across from Gwak Young-ho after entering the restaurant.
“It’s about Kang, our associate.”
“Ah! That guy.”
Shin Chang-yong nodded emphatically, and Gwak Young-ho smiled with satisfaction.
Then he ordered the A course for two and a bottle of blackberry wine from the server.
Glug, glug, glug, glug.
Gwak Young-ho carefully poured the blackberry wine into Shin Chang-yong’s glass first.
“You see, Kang went on a business trip with an intern named Namgoong Min-ah, and I thought you should know about it.”
“With an intern? Where to?”
“The destination was Danyang. A place where they farm garlic.”
“Ah, that place. I know it well.”
It was a place the company had dealt with since Shin Chang-yong was young.
So even now that their clients had multiplied, it held a special place in his heart.
“Actually, word came up this time about ending the business relationship.”
“What?”
Shin Chang-yong’s face hardened exactly as expected.
Yet Gwak Young-ho continued speaking with an undaunted demeanor.
“You don’t need to worry. It’s been resolved.”
“What? How?”
“Apparently, he was planning to quit farming due to health issues. But while Kang Hyung-seok was down there, his health recovered. He even got a clean bill of health from the hospital.”
Shin Chang-yong raised his glass with a relieved expression, though his eyes betrayed a hint of doubt.
Gwak Young-ho hastily lifted his glass to toast, then turned his head and downed the blackberry wine in one gulp.
“Phew!”
As Gwak Young-ho exhaled sharply from the blackberry wine’s unexpected bite on his throat, the first course arrived.
A salad dressed with black sesame sauce, steamed turban shells, and abalone served in its shell.
Swish, swish.
Gwak Young-ho mixed the salad with his chopsticks as he spoke.
“Ha Jang-seo seemed quite grateful to Kang Hyung-seok. He said such people are rare and gave very earnest instructions.”
“Is that so? What do you think, Director Gwak?”
“I think he’s a fortunate man.”
Shin Chang-yong rubbed his lips thoughtfully, then tilted his head slightly to the side.
“Can it really be explained away as just luck? If that man was thinking of quitting farming, it must have been quite serious.”
“Kang Hyung-seok isn’t a doctor. It must have been a coincidence of circumstances.”
“Well, still, I’m glad he’s continuing with farming.”
“You know how it is sometimes, Director?”
Gwak Young-ho placed the well-mixed salad in front of Shin Chang-yong and brought the unmixed salad in front of himself.
“He’s an extraordinarily fortunate man.”
Shin Chang-yong, who was just about to pick up the salad with his chopsticks, furrowed his salt-and-pepper eyebrows.
Before him, Gwak Young-ho continued with a faint smile.
“In the Sales Department, you see such people from time to time.”
“Is that Kang Hyung-seok?”
“Yes. And since you work in a department dealing with people, you know how important luck is, Director.”
“Hmm.”
Shin Chang-yong set down his chopsticks entirely and crossed his arms, his expression deep in thought.
As a result, Gwak Young-ho had to watch the salad marinate in the sauce.
“You’re right, luck is a skill too.”
“Yes.”
“But that fellow—he didn’t have anything special before, did he?”
Gwak Young-ho smiled bitterly and answered.
“There are people who suppress luck, aren’t there?”
“Ah, I see.”
It was precisely after Noh Su-chul left.
Kang Hyung-seok’s momentum had subtly improved.
Both in the way he powered through his work and in the impression that things entangled with him were resolving favorably.
All of it had begun after Noh Su-chul’s departure.
“From what I can see, Kang Hyung-seok is finally coming into his own.”
Shin Chang-yong, who had been listening intently with his lips pressed together, nodded his head.
“You know the saying ‘seven parts luck, three parts skill’?”
“Of course! It means that success requires seventy percent luck and thirty percent skill.”
“That saying is rather cruel, when you think about it. It essentially means that no matter how skilled you are, if luck doesn’t favor you, you won’t succeed.”
Gwak Young-ho’s face registered disbelief as he lifted the blackberry wine to pour.
Splash.
As Gwak Young-ho poured, Shin Chang-yong exhaled heavily through his nose, accepting the drink.
“If your luck has turned, that’s good news. And from what I can see, you seem like a fellow with good character too.”
“Yes, sir. He’s a subordinate I rely on quite heavily.”
“You said he’s been with the company for three years?”
Gwak Young-ho gauged the mood carefully before nodding in response.
“Yes.”
“This case is a bit weak, so I’d like you to fabricate something convincing. If it goes well, I’ll see about creating a position for that friend of yours.”
A broad smile spread across Gwak Young-ho’s face.
“Thank you so much, Director!”
“That’s enough. Keep your voice down—we’re near the office. By the way, there was an intern who went with you, right? What’s your take on that person?”
“I didn’t send Kang Hyung-seok on this business trip with them for nothing. It would be good if that person became a full-time employee.”
“Hmm, Namgoong Min-ah, wasn’t it? I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Yes!”
“Lower your voice. I said we’re near the office.”
Gwak Young-ho maintained his smile without making a sound.
He had no choice.
Director Shin Chang-yong had just promised to back Kang Hyung-seok.
And Gwak Young-ho wasn’t petty enough to resent his subordinate for receiving recognition.
“Director, please finish all this abalone. It’s good for your health.”
“You, right now… that’s enough!”
“No, sir. You like abalone, don’t you? Please eat, and if you need more, I’ll order it.”
“I said that’s enough!”
Clink, clink.
At that moment, other dishes began appearing between Gwak Young-ho and Shin Chang-yong.
Gwak Young-ho pushed all the eel and sushi toward Shin Chang-yong, while keeping the silkworm pupae soup and boiled beans in front of himself.
“This makes me uncomfortable!”
“It’s because I prefer it that way, Director.”
“Come on, stop it!”
The meal concluded smoothly in this pleasant atmosphere.

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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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