An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 40

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

Chapter 39
Part 5. They Talk About You a Lot at the Company! (2)
“What’s going on?”
“D-Director, you’ve arrived.”
Lim Jin-gil lowered his hand from Kang Hyung-seok’s shoulder, glancing nervously, while Shin Jung-ah closed the door, sipping from a large coffee cup from a major franchise chain.
“I asked what’s going on.”
“It’s nothing, Director.”
“How many times do I have to ask? What’s going on?”
Shin Jung-ah appeared genuinely and thoroughly furious.
No matter how much she tried to hide her mouth behind the takeout coffee cup, her eyes blazed with fierce intensity.
“Ah, it’s really nothing. Just having a conversation with Manager Kang….”
“Hey.”
When Shin Jung-ah looked at you with those eyes, it was truly terrifying.
“I heard everything outside. Where do you get off playing dumb?”
Receiving the full force of that gaze, Lim Jin-gil could only swallow hard, unable to utter a single word.
The difference in rank and age played a role, but more than anything, the fact that Shin Jung-ah was the niece of Director Shin Chang-yong weighed heavily.
“I, that is….”
A mouse confronted by a cat must feel like this.
With such thoughts crossing his mind, Lim Jin-gil shrank back helplessly, his shoulders hunching.
As he stood there, his face drained of color, unable to speak, Shin Jung-ah let out a sigh and spoke quietly.
“You’re really annoying. Seriously.”
Then, with eyes cold enough to cool even hot coffee in an instant, she fixed Lim Jin-gil with a piercing stare and continued.
“Manager Lim.”
“…Yes.”
“Watch your mouth. This is a company.”
“…Yes, yes.”
“Get out.”
Lim Jin-gil lowered his head, then caught Shin Jung-ah’s gaze and silently cast his eyes downward.
With his shoulders drooping, he shuffled weakly out of the break room.
“Phew! What an idiot.”
Alone in the break room now, Shin Jung-ah muttered, barely containing her anger.
Then she turned her sharp gaze toward Kang Hyung-seok.
“Why didn’t you just punch him?”
Thinking it was a joke, Kang Hyung-seok tried to laugh it off.
But Shin Jung-ah’s eyes remained serious, so he quickly dropped the smile.
“How could I do that? This is a company.”
“Would you have punched him if it wasn’t a company?”
“Probably?”
Shin Jung-ah’s eyes said she didn’t believe him.
“Tch! As if you’d really do it.”
Kang Hyung-seok exhaled a laugh.
Strangely enough, Shin Jung-ah seemed to view Kang Hyung-seok as nothing but a good person.
It was probably because of the first impression.
Even though Shin Chang-yong had asked him, helping someone move when you barely knew them wasn’t an easy thing to do.
“You know I’m not always like that.”
Kang Hyung-seok knew how to distinguish between when he was angry and when he wasn’t.
“Ah.”
Shin Jung-ah seemed to remember something and raised one eyebrow.
When she had received a harsh talisman from the Shaman, Kang Hyung-seok had been angry.
It was because the Shaman’s actions were wrong.
“And honestly, this time was something I didn’t need to be angry about.”
“What?”
Shin Jung-ah narrowed the space between her eyebrows, not understanding.
“Those who receive divine descent are protected by their guardian spirit. If you insult such a person, the spirit becomes angry.”
It was when Shin Jung-ah still showed no sign of understanding.
Crash!
A loud sound of something falling was heard.
Then came Lim Jin-gil’s groan, followed by a female employee from another department’s piercing shriek.
“What?! What are you going to do about this? This is a new outfit!”
From the sound reaching even the Break Room, it was clear that Lim Jin-gil had collided with someone and gotten into trouble.
Shin Jung-ah looked at Kang Hyung-seok in shock, and he spoke calmly, as if he had known this situation would occur.
“Stay away from that person for a while. You’ll get caught in the crossfire.”
“What, what is it? Why is that happening?”
Kang Hyung-seok’s face twisted bitterly.
“The guardian spirit has fled.”
Due to Lim Jin-gil’s words and actions, the guardian spirit showed faint anger and displeasure.
It was only natural.
The vessel that had accepted it had been insulted—what guardian spirit would remain calm?
In any case, the guardian spirit, showing its displeasure, had caused Lim Jin-gil’s protective spirit to flee, and Lim Jin-gil would have to pay the price dearly for it.
Until the guardian spirit returned, every moment of his would be difficult and nothing would go smoothly.
“And thank you for being angry on my behalf.”
“U-uh?”
Kang Hyung-seok looked at Shin Jung-ah, who had been angry as if he himself had been insulted, and lifted the corners of his mouth.
“No, never mind. Let’s get back to work.”
This morning was going to be busy.
Kang Hyung-seok left the Break Room with Shin Jung-ah and returned to his desk.
Then he focused intently on his morning work until Gwak Young-ho returned to the office.
***
“Phew, you’ve worked hard. Is all the work done?”
“I’ve sent all the materials the client requested. I’ve also made calls to all the contact points.”
“Good work. What’s left?”
“Everything urgent is finished.”
Gwak Young-ho, seated in the passenger seat, exhaled deeply and tilted his head back.
They were inside Kang Hyung-seok’s car, and the navigation system was displaying the remaining time and distance to the restaurant.
“You did well, Kang.”
“Not at all. How are you feeling, sir? Any problems?”
Gwak Young-ho smiled, his face creasing with wrinkles the way it always did when he was in a good mood.
“Problems? The doctor said there’s nothing major to worry about. Recovery is just natural, and he kept going on about what treatments come next—as if I could understand any of it.”
He had clearly passed through the critical phase.
The nuance in Gwak Young-ho’s words and expression made this unmistakably clear.
“That’s a relief. Truly.”
“Jo’s parents are heading back to the United States this weekend, by the way. That friend of his—funny looking fellow, like he’s been marinating in soybean paste—who would’ve thought his parents live in America?”
Gwak Young-ho seemed to have heard plenty of encouraging news from the hospital, given that he could make jokes like this.
“Ha ha, indeed.”
“But I never did find out what he does in the States. If things work out, we might even have a business connection.”
“Wouldn’t Jo have mentioned it first if that were the case?”
“That’s not the kind of person Jo is.”
Kang Hyung-seok found himself laughing loudly without realizing it.
His heart had grown lighter from the news Gwak Young-ho had shared.
“Alright! We’re almost there, so stay sharp! Don’t let them see anything sloppy, understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
Kang Hyung-seok answered, wiping the smile from his face.
A dinner with the executives.
This was no casual affair.
And it was an occasion arranged by Gwak Young-ho and Director Shin Chang-yong.
“Just be yourself. Like always. You’re good at it.”
Kang Hyung-seok smiled slightly and nodded in acknowledgment.
The restaurant was a large two-story Chinese establishment located just as one entered Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province.
The entire building was the restaurant, with a gravel-covered parking lot and a sprawling lake stretching out before it.
If you passed by, you’d inevitably wonder: “Who on earth dines at a place like this on a weekday?”
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
The tires rolled over the gravel as Kang Hyung-seok parked within the lines, then he and Gwak Young-ho stepped out.
“Welcome. Do you have a reservation?”
“It should be under Daejeong Materials.”
“I’ll show you to the private room on the second floor.”
Following the formally dressed staff member, who even wore a radio, the two men climbed the stairs.
Beyond the crimson curtain, a large round table immediately came into view.
The table could be rotated to bring desired dishes directly in front of you.
The table was the kind Kang Hyung-seok had only seen in Chinese films, and Gwak Young-ho chuckled as he settled into his seat while I admired it.
“What, impressed?”
“Not at all. It’s just my first time coming to a place like this through the Company.”
“If you work hard, you’ll find yourself in places like this often. Grow well. Get promoted steadily. Then who knows—maybe one day you’ll be the one hosting dinners at establishments like this.”
Gwak Young-ho’s eyes held a sincere longing for such a day to arrive.
“I’m not sure that will happen.”
“It will. It absolutely will.”
It was right after Gwak Young-ho gave Kang Hyung-seok a light pat on the back.
Swish.
The curtain drew back, and a well-built man entered.
“Executive Vice President, you’ve arrived.”
Gwak Young-ho hastily stood and bowed to the man, while the Executive Vice President settled into his chair and glanced around.
“The CEO hasn’t arrived yet?”
“No, not yet.”
Soon after, other executives began filing in one by one.
“Park Mu-sik hasn’t arrived yet?”
“He’s running late due to traffic.”
“He probably didn’t use the navigation again. Why won’t he use it when it shows real-time traffic information?”
“As you know, he’s not very good with devices.”
“Ah, that man.”
“What food was reserved?”
“I chose the menu myself. The Peking duck here is absolutely exquisite.”
“If Jo says so, then it must be. When it comes to food, Jo’s the one to trust.”
It was quite a spacious room.
The space quickly filled with executives, creating a warm and lively atmosphere, yet Kang Hyung-seok felt like a thorn lodged in someone’s mouth.
Then it happened.
“You are…?”
The Executive Vice President furrowed his brow, trying to recall Kang Hyung-seok, whom he was seeing for the first time, and Kang Hyung-seok immediately bowed to him.
“I’m Kang Hyung-seok, an associate from the Sales Department.”
“Ah! That fellow!”
The Executive Vice President’s voice was so loud that the lively atmosphere instantly stilled, and all eyes turned toward me.
“I’ve heard a lot about you. That contract you closed was absolutely brilliant.”
The Executive Vice President’s warm reception of Kang Hyung-seok elicited varied reactions.
Jo Tae-sik, Lim Jin-gil’s direct superior, exhaled a heavy sigh toward the floor, while conversely, Gwak Young-ho wore the proud expression of a parent whose child had been praised.
Shin Chang-yong sipped the jasmine tea in his cup while observing the expressions of the other executives.
Fortunately, they all seemed favorably inclined toward Kang Hyung-seok.
“Manager Gwak! This fellow is from your department?”
“Yes, that’s correct!”
Gwak Young-ho answered enthusiastically, and the Executive Vice President gave Kang Hyung-seok’s shoulder a pat with his large, pot-lid-like hand.
“This fellow has a sharp look about him and is quite handsome. What do you say about transferring him to the Strategic Planning Department?”
“Y-yes?”
“Just kidding, just kidding! Gwak’s family wouldn’t let me shuffle things around like that.”
Gwak Young-ho laughed awkwardly while casting a brief glance at Kang Hyung-seok.
The Executive Vice President seemed to have taken a liking to him.
Kang Hyung-seok responded in kind, meeting his gaze with a knowing look.
“Anyway, this young man pulled off something impressive. What are we waiting for? Let’s give him a hand. Come on, applause!”
Starting with the Executive Vice President, the executives began clapping for Kang Hyung-seok.
It wasn’t forced applause.
Their genuine appreciation came through clearly in their eyes and the atmosphere they created.
Tap!
Gwak Young-ho nudged my ribs with his elbow.
Reading the signal, I immediately bowed to the executives in acknowledgment of their applause.
Clap clap clap!
The applause erupted even more vigorously, and the executives’ eyes grew more serious as they looked at me.
“Alright, that’s enough. Let’s have a drink.”
The Executive Vice President moved to the seat beside me and picked up the bottle.
Refusing something like this wasn’t an option.
As I lifted my glass, the Executive Vice President filled it with a hearty laugh.
“Gwak, does this young man know what he’s accomplished?”
“He’s always so diligent with everything that he probably doesn’t realize it himself.”
“Is that so?”
The Executive Vice President looked at me with amusement and filled his own glass.
I tried to pour for him, but I couldn’t stop the Executive Vice President.
“Being young, you might find this hard to understand, but the first step is always crucial in any endeavor.”
The Executive Vice President seemed intent on keeping his explanation brief.
Still, I could already make an educated guess from what Gwak Young-ho had told me.
The Company was considering a new business venture related to direct imports.
That’s why the Warehouse had been so important, and I had cleanly resolved that issue for them.
Thud!
The Executive Vice President placed a hand on my shoulder, grinning widely as he thanked me for my hard work.
That was when it happened.
“The Chairman has arrived!”

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