An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 38

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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 37
Part 4. You Must Be a True Person of Fortune (3)
Misfortunes always arrive in clusters.
And sometimes, blessings do the same.
Today was one such day for Kang Hyung-seok.
Ding!
“Kang, come to my office with Min-ah.”
A message from Gwak Young-ho.
Kang Hyung-seok blinked, glanced toward the Manager’s Office where Gwak Young-ho sat, then tapped his keyboard.
“If I may ask without overstepping, might I inquire the reason for this summons?”
“Min-ah’s been converted to permanent staff.”
Kang Hyung-seok unconsciously uttered a brief “ah,” then turned to look at Namgoong Min-ah beside him.
She was leaning forward as if her head might merge with the monitor, comparing two documents and organizing something.
When she rubbed her hand as if her fingers ached, Kang Hyung-seok smiled, recalling a promise he’d once made to her.
‘I should order her a keyboard.’
There had been a time when Namgoong Min-ah had deeply envied Kang Hyung-seok’s new keyboard.
Back then, he’d promised to buy her one once she became permanent staff, and now he could finally keep that promise.
“Min-ah.”
Completely absorbed in her work, Namgoong Min-ah didn’t even flinch.
“Min-ah.”
So he had to call her twice, and she startled so violently her chair creaked.
“Oh! W-what is it? Sir?”
“The manager’s calling us. Let’s go.”
“What? The manager?”
“Yes. No need to prepare anything—we can go right now.”
It wasn’t common for an intern like Namgoong Min-ah to be summoned by Gwak Young-ho.
So as she rose from her chair, her face bore the anxiety of someone wondering if she’d made some mistake.
‘Should I give her a hint?’
Kang Hyung-seok immediately dismissed the thought.
It was better for Gwak Young-ho to tell her directly.
Besides, there was something amusing about keeping quiet, so Kang Hyung-seok stood before the Manager’s Office door with Namgoong Min-ah without saying a word.
Knock, knock!
Kang Hyung-seok rapped on the door and entered the Manager’s Office with Namgoong Min-ah.
Gwak Young-ho sat in his chair, and before him stood Shin Jung-ah.
Everyone from the department was gathered—everyone except Lee Jin-pyung, who was hospitalized.
“Min-ah, stand beside her. Kang, you stand in the back.”
Shin Jung-ah spoke in a cold voice, and Namgoong Min-ah nervously positioned herself at her side.
The atmosphere was anything but light-hearted.
Without any prior coordination, everyone had fallen into perfect synchronization, playing along with something.
“Haa!”
When Gwak Young-ho exhaled with a fearsome expression, Namgoong Min-ah stiffened rigidly.
“Min-ah, why did you do that?”
“Yes, yes?”
“I’m asking why you did it. Didn’t you hear from Kang?”
At that moment, Shin Jung-ah made a subtle gesture with her index finger against her lips, signaling silence.
Kang Hyung-seok clenched his jaw and swallowed his laughter, while Namgoong Min-ah, glancing back, grew even more flustered.
She seemed to have mistaken Kang Hyung-seok for being genuinely angry.
“Kang! You’re my mentor—what did you do! Huh!”
Gwak Young-ho bellowed and even slammed his desk with a loud bang.
Watching Namgoong Min-ah’s face grow increasingly pale was so amusing that Kang Hyung-seok hung his head low.
Otherwise, his expression would surely give him away.
“I apologize, Manager.”
“Stand there with your hands up!”
“Yes!”
When Kang Hyung-seok actually raised both arms, Shin Jung-ah hid her laughing face by looking at the wall as if suppressing her anger, while Namgoong Min-ah floundered in bewilderment.
“I-I’m so sorry, Manager!”
“Min-ah, do you know why I’m doing this? Huh!”
“I-I honestly have no idea.”
As Namgoong Min-ah spoke as if about to cry, Gwak Young-ho finally burst into laughter.
Then Shin Jung-ah laughed, and even Kang Hyung-seok’s shoulders shook with laughter.
In the midst of it all, Namgoong Min-ah looked around at everyone with glistening eyes.
Her face still bore the bewilderment of someone who hadn’t yet grasped the situation.
“Puhahahaha! Ahahaha!”
After laughing heartily, Gwak Young-ho wiped his tears and gazed at Namgoong Min-ah with a satisfied expression.
“Min-ah, it was a joke. Just a joke.”
“…Yes?”
“Sorry about that. But you see, this is a tradition in our department.”
That was a lie.
When Kang Hyung-seok was promoted, nothing like this happened.
“Yes…? A tradition?”
“Yeah! Congratulations, Namgoong.”
Namgoong Min-ah’s eyes widened, then narrowed.
“You’re tricking me again, aren’t you? I won’t fall for it, whatever it is!”
“No, no. I’m serious. Min-ah, you’ve been converted to a permanent position.”
“…Yes?”
As Namgoong Min-ah showed a dazed reaction, Gwak Young-ho grinned so widely his gums showed.
“The Human Resources Department will contact you soon. You’ll get new business cards too. Congratulations on becoming permanent staff, Namgoong.”
Namgoong Min-ah’s mouth fell open slightly.
Then, making sounds of “Huh? Huh?”, she looked at Shin Jung-ah and Kang Hyung-seok and her face crumpled.
“Ah! What! That’s too much!”
“Hahahaha!”
The sight of it reminded Shin Jung-ah of a younger sister throwing a tantrum, and she too clutched her stomach in laughter.
“Manager—!”
“Oh, sorry, sorry. Wow, I didn’t think you’d fall for it that easily.”
“You’re too much, Kang Hyung-seok!”
“I’m sorry, Namgoong Min-ah. Congratulations on becoming a full-time employee.”
“Ah—!”
Namgoong Min-ah pouted even as she laughed.
It was only now beginning to feel real.
That her internship had ended and she’d become a permanent staff member.
That the Company had recognized her efforts and achievements, and accepted her as one of their own.
“Thank Kang Hyung-seok for this.”
“Pardon?”
Namgoong Min-ah looked at Gwak Young-ho in surprise, and Gwak Young-ho pointed with a smiling face toward Kang Hyung-seok standing at the door.
“Kang Hyung-seok worked hard behind the scenes for you. Really.”
“Ah….”
Watching the emotion in Namgoong Min-ah’s eyes, I shook my head with a smile.
“It’s not like that. It’s all because you did so well, Namgoong Min-ah.”
“K-Kang Hyung-seok….”
“Oh no! Shin Jung-ah, she’s crying. She’s crying!”
“Hey, hey, hey. Why are you crying?”
Shin Jung-ah, even more flustered than Namgoong Min-ah, pulled a tissue from Gwak Young-ho’s box and handed it over.
“Waaaaahhh!”
I watched silently with a smile as Namgoong Min-ah sobbed with her face buried in the tissue.
Everyone seemed to share the sentiment—Gwak Young-ho’s lips curved upward too, and Shin Jung-ah patted Namgoong Min-ah’s back to comfort her.
“Sorry. We took the joke too far. Namgoong Min-ah, we’re really sorry.”
“No, sniff! It’s okay. Waahhh.”
Seeing this, Namgoong Min-ah had an innocent side to her.
I waited until her sobs subsided before speaking.
“Go get some fresh air on the Rooftop. Wash your face in the Bathroom too.”
“Kang Hyung-seok.”
“Don’t cry. And be sure to call your parents.”
“Oh!”
Namgoong Min-ah’s face turned toward Gwak Young-ho in realization.
Gwak Young-ho then gestured for her to go quickly, and Namgoong Min-ah bowed deeply enough to show the crown of her head.
Then, gripping her phone, she hurried out of the Manager’s Office.
“Wow, I didn’t expect it to be this much.”
“Was it too much?”
“No, well, who would’ve known it’d go like this.”
“But Manager, is this really a tradition?”
“From today onwards, it’s the traditional summer solstice, you know.”
“Pardon?”
I watched as Gwak Young-ho and Shin Jung-ah conversed warmly together.
“Oh right, and Kang, you’ll be having a meal with the executives soon.”
“A meal?”
Gwak Young-ho nodded enthusiastically, his face beaming the same way it had when he’d announced Namgoong Min-ah’s conversion to permanent status.
“Yes, that’s how it turned out. The warehouse contract went through beautifully this time.”
“Ah….”
“Don’t feel burdened. And later, make sure to thank Director Shin Chang-yong.”
Kang Hyung-seok looked at Shin Jung-ah in surprise.
Shin Chang-yong and Shin Jung-ah were relatives.
Did he perhaps say something on my behalf?
When Kang Hyung-seok asked with his eyes, Shin Jung-ah shrugged as if she wasn’t quite sure.
Yet the smile playing at the corners of her mouth suggested she’d lent some support regardless.
“Ah… thank you.”
“Kang! You’re supposed to smile at times like this.”
Gwak Young-ho’s chiding laughter lifted the corners of Kang Hyung-seok’s mouth.
“You’re right. Thank you, Manager, Section Chief.”
Shin Jung-ah spoke first, and Gwak Young-ho applauded her with the same expression.
“You did well, Kang!”
Since it was work hours, the applause wasn’t particularly loud.
Yet somehow it resonated deeply through my chest.
“Sigh, I wish Lee had been here today. That would’ve been perfect.”
At Gwak Young-ho’s words tinged with genuine regret, Shin Jung-ah’s lips curved down bitterly.
A bitter taste rolled across her tongue, like the aftertaste of coffee.
Lee Jin-pyung, who had suffered the greatest damage in this affair, still hadn’t awakened.
“Ugh, I’m sorry. That was thoughtless of me.”
After Gwak Young-ho created the awkward atmosphere, he turned his gaze away uncomfortably.
Kang Hyung-seok, who had been keeping his head down with his lips pressed firmly shut, finally spoke.
“I’ll go visit Lee.”
“You, Kang?”
“Yes. Since it’s good news, I thought it would be right to share it with him.”
Shin Jung-ah’s eyes shifted in that instant.
These were words from Kang Hyung-seok, who walked the path of Shamanism.
There had to be something more to it.
In her eyes, a faint glimmer of anticipation began to take shape.
“Well, um.”
Gwak Young-ho chose his words carefully, his face creasing with fine wrinkles as he slowly nodded.
“Yes. You’re in the same department, the same family. It’s right that you tell him.”
“Right. We’re in the same department and part of the same team, so it’s only right that I pass it along.”
“Understood.”
“Come by whenever it’s convenient. I can process it as an outside task.”
“I’ll stop by after work.”
Gwak Young-ho nodded in acknowledgment.
And when Namgoong Min-ah arrived with a radiant expression, having already shared the news of her permanent position with her parents and friends, the atmosphere naturally shifted toward celebration.
***
Vrrrroooom.
Kang Hyung-seok drove alone toward the Hospital where Lee Jin-pyung was admitted.
“Are you sure you’ll be alright going alone?”
Shin Jung-ah had said this, but he declined.
“It’s a Hospital. I’d prefer to go alone.”
Having said this, Kang Hyung-seok craned his neck to see the Hospital building and slowed the car.
He parked in the Parking Lot and entered the Hospital with a backpack containing the Shaman’s Bell slung over one shoulder.
Before the Hospital Room where Lee Jin-pyung lay, Kang Hyung-seok carefully peered inside.
There was a chance he might encounter Lee Jin-pyung’s parents.
‘They’re not here.’
Confirming the room was empty, Kang Hyung-seok steadied his breathing and opened the Hospital Room door.
The Hospital Room’s characteristic dimness and stuffiness greeted him first.
Swish.
Drawing back the curtain, Kang Hyung-seok stood before Lee Jin-pyung and gazed down at him with a bitter expression.
At the same moment,
-Woof woof.
The Spitz Victim Spirit sitting on Lee Jin-pyung’s chest wagged its tail in greeting.
The surroundings were blocked off by curtains.
So Kang Hyung-seok reached out without hesitation and stroked the Spitz’s head.
You were quite frightened, weren’t you? Everything’s alright now.
There’s nothing to fear.
It was a thought he didn’t voice, yet it seemed to have been conveyed—the Spitz Victim Spirit wagged its tail.
Beep, beep, beep.
The steady sound of the heart rate monitor reached his ears.
Kang Hyung-seok shifted his gaze to Lee Jin-pyung.
Intravenous needles bristling from his arms, bandages wrapped around his head, bruises lingering on his face.
Closed eyes and his right hand protruding from beneath the blanket.
The wrinkled blanket around it was likely from Lee Jin-pyung’s mother massaging her son’s hand.
“There’s good news at the Company, Manager Lee.”
Kang Hyung-seok continued speaking as he looked at the unresponsive Lee Jin-pyung.
“Namgoong Min-ah has become a permanent employee. Everyone was celebrating, but they all felt your absence.”
Beep, beep, beep.
The heart rate monitor sounded as if responding, though it was neither Lee Jin-pyung nor anyone else.
Kang Hyung-seok fell silent for a moment, his lips pressed together, then continued with a measured tone.
“I need to get back to work. Everyone at the office is waiting for me to return.”
Beep, beep.
Kang Hyung-seok adjusted his bag across his chest and retrieved the Shaman’s Bell.
Though he couldn’t shake it in a hospital, the Shaman’s Bell purified the spiritual energy surrounding Lee Jin-pyung.
Click.
He placed the Shaman’s Bell upon Lee Jin-pyung’s chest and rested his hand on the bed rail.
“I’ll offer a prayer before I go, Lee Jin-pyung.”
Kang Hyung-seok was no medical professional.
He possessed no power to heal the sick.
Yet he could recite blessings and chant sutras in supplication.
He could carry the hopes of those who wished for his recovery up to the heavens.

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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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