An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 61

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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 61
Part 4. An Old Connection (1)
Thump, thump.
The sound of crutches striking the floor echoed through the corridor of Daejeong Materials.
The sound drew steadily closer to a single destination.
Sales Team 1.
The office where Kang Hyung-seok, Gwak Young-ho, and Shin Jung-ah worked.
The door swung open.
As the owner of the crutches entered, Gwak Young-ho emerged from the break room, his face flooding with surprise.
“Lee Jin-pyung!”
Lee Jin-pyung, who had been hospitalized due to a traffic accident and had undergone rehabilitation therapy, offered a respectful nod in greeting.
With a clatter!
Kang Hyung-seok, Shin Jung-ah, and Namgoong Min-ah all jumped from their chairs in astonishment and rushed toward him.
“Deputy Manager Lee! What brings you here? Are you feeling better? Does it hurt?”
Namgoong Min-ah peppered him with questions, while Shin Jung-ah gazed at him with concern, and Kang Hyung-seok steadied him with a supportive arm.
“Are you alright? Can you walk?”
“Yes.”
Ah, this man truly never changes.
Kang Hyung-seok smiled as he watched the still-stoic Lee Jin-pyung, his lips curving upward.
Then his gaze drifted downward to Lee Jin-pyung’s feet.
-Woof, woof, woof, woof!
The Victim Spirit of the dog Lee Jin-pyung had once kept.
Only visible to Kang Hyung-seok, whose spiritual sight was awakened, the spirit wagged its tail as if overjoyed at the reunion.
“Hey! If you were coming, you could’ve at least given me a heads-up!”
At Gwak Young-ho’s affectionate complaint, Lee Jin-pyung bowed apologetically.
“Never mind! So, are you doing better now? How’s your body?”
“I’m fine.”
“Good then! When can you return to work? If there’s no problem, start today. If walking is difficult, I’ll reassign you to desk duties.”
“Ah, thank you.”
“So you’re starting today?”
“Yes.”
The exchange between the animated Gwak Young-ho and the composed Lee Jin-pyung felt like oil and water, completely at odds.
Yet undeniably, the atmosphere in the office was growing warmer by the moment.
“Right, Deputy Manager Lee.”
“Yes?”
“Manager Kang—he’s been promoted to section chief.”
Gwak Young-ho watched Lee Jin-pyung’s expression carefully, wondering how he might react.
But since Lee Jin-pyung’s face rarely showed emotion, it was impossible to tell from his eyes alone.
“He was promoted to section chief?”
“Yeah. While you were hospitalized, he achieved great results. That’s how it happened.”
Gwak Young-ho spoke as if to help me understand.
Lee Jin-pyung immediately bowed his head to me.
“Congratulations on your promotion, Manager Kang.”
His attitude was so free of envy and jealousy that I found myself bewildered instead.
“Oh, no, Deputy Lee.”
“Please, speak comfortably.”
Flustered, I looked at Lee Jin-pyung, then turned my gaze to Gwak Young-ho.
He nodded knowingly and pointed upward.
“Wait a moment. Let’s go to the Break Room together.”
I mentioned the Break Room instead, unable to bring myself to suggest the Rooftop to someone leaning on crutches.
After the other team members graciously stepped back, the two of us entered the Break Room alone.
“Why are you doing this?”
Lee Jin-pyung looked genuinely confused about why I had called him here.
“I got promoted first by luck. I was just worried, you know.”
“Worried about what?”
“…That you might think it strange.”
It was something I could only do because we were teammates and our relationship wasn’t bad.
Because he wasn’t the type to spread rumors.
So I hoped no misunderstanding would arise.
“But that’s a good thing, isn’t it? You became a manager.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m genuinely congratulating you….”
I stared blankly at Lee Jin-pyung, who seemed somehow deflated, then exhaled and laughed.
“Thank you, Deputy Lee.”
“Oh, and one more thing. Manager… Kang.”
“Yes?”
Lee Jin-pyung looked at me with such transparent eyes, then opened his mouth with some difficulty.
“What were you doing when I was hospitalized?”
My expression softened.
I had once offered a brief prayer for the unconscious Lee Jin-pyung.
Just as I wondered if he somehow remembered that, Lee Jin-pyung scratched his head.
“I’m not sure if it was a dream or not, but it felt like you did something for me, Manager.”
I looked at Lee Jin-pyung and gently lifted the corners of my mouth.
“There’s nothing.”
“Right? I’m sorry for saying something strange.”
“No. I’m sorry for getting promoted first anyway.”
“You earned it with your hard work, Manager.”
Grateful for Lee Jin-pyung’s words, I nodded with my lips pressed firmly together.
Then, sensing a gaze, I looked at the Break Room door, and through the small glass window the size of two palms, I could see the team members watching us.
I shook my head at them and extended my hand to Lee Jin-pyung.
“Congratulations on your discharge. I look forward to working with you going forward.”
“Yes.”
Lee Jin-pyung accepted the handshake, and I slipped out of the break room first.
“How did it go?”
Shin Jung-ah’s question.
I shook my head with a smile, and Gwak Young-ho gave my shoulder a light tap.
Either way, it was something that could have upset Lee Jin-pyung.
It was good that it worked out well.
***
“Manager Lee, do you have a moment?”
It was when I and Shin Jung-ah had stepped out for fieldwork, and Gwak Young-ho had gone up to the rooftop to smoke.
Lim Jin-gil from the Human Resources Department suddenly appeared and tapped Lee Jin-pyung on the shoulder.
“What is it?”
“Can we talk for a moment?”
“Yes.”
He wanted to talk alone, but Lee Jin-pyung, oblivious, simply turned his chair to face Lim Jin-gil.
As Namgoong Min-ah’s gaze naturally shifted toward him as well, Lim Jin-gil gestured irritably with his thumb toward the back.
“Just… the bathroom for a moment…”
“Why?”
“Come on. Let’s go!”
Lim Jin-gil, harboring something close to resentment and jealousy toward me, forcibly dragged the limping Lee Jin-pyung into the bathroom.
Click.
After locking the door, Lim Jin-gil immediately furrowed his brow.
“Didn’t Manager Kang say anything to you?”
“About what?”
“This is frustrating. About the promotion.”
“Oh, yes.”
Lim Jin-gil looked at Lee Jin-pyung with an expression that said ‘how can such a person exist,’ then rubbed his forehead vigorously.
“Do you know why you were promoted?”
“Do I need to?”
“Huh?”
“My leg hurts, and I want to sit down…”
Lim Jin-gil’s mouth hung open before his expression darkened.
“I’ll keep this brief, so listen carefully. You know Manager Kang, right? He got promoted by scheming over that warehouse contract you made before. That’s the truth.”
“…What?”
As Lee Jin-pyung’s brow furrowed, Lim Jin-gil’s face showed he’d finally gotten the reaction he wanted.
“Right, you didn’t know. You were hospitalized right after closing that warehouse contract, weren’t you? That’s when Manager Kang went and renegotiated it all by himself and took all the credit upstairs.”
Lim Jin-gil even made a gesture of rubbing his palms together like a fly.
“…That’s not right.”
And immediately following Lee Jin-pyung’s murmur, Lim Jin-gil stopped his rubbing hands.
“What? What do you mean it’s not like that?”
“Manager Kang wouldn’t do something like that, would he?”
Lim Jin-gil’s eyebrow furrowed at the loudness of his own muttering, and Lee Jin-pyung looked at him as if he were a strange person.
“You must be mistaken. I heard something about it.”
“No, no, it’s not a misunderstanding. It’s true.”
“I heard something about it.”
“…What?”
“When I was hospitalized, Manager Kang and our director were the first to visit, and they came to the hospital….”
“No! Ask other people about it. They said they even had meetings with executives.”
“You got promoted recently, didn’t you? My accident happened a long time before that. The timeline doesn’t match….”
It was after Lim Jin-gil exhaled a heavy sigh with his mouth wide open at Lee Jin-pyung’s stubborn faith in Kang Hyung-seok.
Thud!
“What?”
The locked bathroom door rattled, and a thick voice came pouring out.
It was Jo Tae-sik, Lim Jin-gil’s direct superior.
Thud, thud!
“What? Is no one in there?”
As Lim Jin-gil panicked and tried to signal Lee Jin-pyung to be quiet, Lee Jin-pyung, unable to read the room or the atmosphere, answered loudly.
“Yes, someone is.”
“What! What are you doing! Open the door! This isn’t a joke—why is the bathroom door locked!”
Lim Jin-gil silently vented his frustration at Lee Jin-pyung, then hurriedly opened the door.
And he faced Jo Tae-sik, whose face was twisted in displeasure.
“What? Why are you here?”
“Ah, no, Director. That is….”
Jo Tae-sik, forgetting that he had business of his own, alternated his gaze between Lee Jin-pyung, who was leaning on crutches, and Lim Jin-gil, his expression contorting as fearfully as one of Buddhism’s Four Heavenly Kings.
“You, this! You never learn!”
“Ah, no, Director. That is. Really. That.”
“Hey! Deputy Manager Lee, what did this bastard say?”
Even as Jo Tae-sik, whose temper was like fire, raised his voice sharply, Lee Jin-pyung answered with an unmoved expression.
“Manager Kang Hyung-seok monopolized the warehouse contract that was made before I was hospitalized.”
No matter how desperately Lim Jin-gil looked back at himself with pleading eyes, he answered according to his convictions.
“When did I ever do that!”
“…Is that all?”
“He also said that Manager Kang tried to curry favor with the higher-ups.”
As Lee Jin-pyung answered Jo Tae-sik’s straightforward question, Lim Jin-gil’s face drained of all color, turning a sickly blue.
Then it happened.
“Deputy Manager Lee, you go outside.”
Jo Tae-sik spoke in a low voice.
Lee Jin-pyung nodded and exited the bathroom, and Jo Tae-sik locked the door from the inside.
Then he began to glare at Lim Jin-gil with eyes whose outer corners rose in a terrifying manner.
“You pathetic bastard!”
“I-I’m so sorry.”
“Do you even know what you did wrong, you piece of trash!”
Jo Tae-sik’s voice thundered through the bathroom, his face flushed crimson as he loosened his necktie with trembling hands.
“Where the hell did a worthless wretch like you crawl out from to stir up trouble? Can’t you tell where you belong and where you don’t? What gives you the right to sow discord, damn it, damn it!”
Jo Tae-sik—the department head infamous for his volcanic temper.
And Lim Jin-gil, his subordinate, knew this all too well.
With his face frozen downward toward the tile floor, he had gone completely rigid, yet Jo Tae-sik’s roaring showed no signs of stopping.
“Kang Hyung-seok was your cohort when you joined, and he got promoted first—is that what’s eating at you! Then climb up on merit, you idiot!”
“I-I’m truly sorry….”
“Don’t apologize, you bastard! You don’t even deserve to apologize! And listen here, kid—do you think Manager Kang is easy prey? He’s the top ace in our entire sales division right now, the ace!”
The recent news that Kang Hyung-seok had secured a deal with Shinjin Construction had spread throughout the company.
Moreover, rumors circulated that Director Shin Yoseph viewed Kang Hyung-seok favorably, making him the most watched employee in the office.
“What am I supposed to tell Manager Gwak! Huh? What am I supposed to say to him!”
Lim Jin-gil’s face had crumpled into tears, his mind seeming to drain away entirely.
Even a thousand mouths wouldn’t have words enough.
“Get out! I can’t stand the sight of you!”
“D-Director.”
“Leave! You bastard!”
As Lim Jin-gil, his head bowed low, trudged toward the bathroom exit,
“And if I catch you scheming against Manager Kang or his team again! Firing a wretch like you is nothing!”
Jo Tae-sik’s words flew like a dagger, piercing straight into his chest.
Lim Jin-gil, his head bowed so low it nearly touched the ground, shuffled weakly out of the bathroom.
Then, rubbing his crimson eyes, he trudged down the corridor.

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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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