Chapter 8 – Is That Possible

Thump!

“Ugh!”

Sure enough, the woman collided strongly with Geum Nae-yeong, and both rolled and fell on the street.

As the items inside the bumped woman’s bag scattered on the main road, she hurriedly picked up the items and ran straight into the subway station.

It was before Geum Nae-yeong could even say anything. Geum Nae-yeong stood up, dusted off his briefcase, and picked up the phone that had fallen on the ground.

“This is…”

The screen was miserably cracked in all directions.

Ting—

A text notification popped up on the cracked screen.

[Due to internal circumstances, this afternoon’s interview has been canceled.]

“…Hmm?”

Looking at the screen again, Geum Nae-yeong paused for a moment.

It was strange. The shape of the phone was definitely different from his.

“Is this… that woman’s from earlier?”

At that moment, a white envelope lying next to the phone caught his eye.

Carefully opening the envelope, there was a document inside.

Resume

Name: Cha Ra-ri

Applied Position: PR Team

Qualifications

• Laughter Therapist Level 1

• Feng Shui Consultant

Awards

• National Chunhyang Selection Contest Friendship Award

• Muwon-gu Volunteer Award Encouragement Prize

Scanning the document, Geum Nae-yeong immediately put the resume nicely into the envelope, packed it in his bag, and arrived at the office, intending to start working.

At that moment, the cell phone placed on the desk began to ring loudly.

Drrrrrrr—

“Hello? You’re the one who picked up my phone, right? That’s mine!”

“No. The phone of the person who is calling now is mine.”

“…That means the same thing!”

“…….”

“Ah, anyway! I’ll go pick it up right now. Where are you?”

The other party’s voice was urgent enough to be out of breath.

“Come out in front of Seocho Station, Exit 3. If you walk straight for fifty-seven to sixty steps at an average person’s stride, you will see a red brick building. Go to the second floor, Teum Joint Office, and ask for Geum Nae-yeong.”

“…Fifty-seven to sixty… steps. I’ll go right now.”

“Yes, and your name?”

“It’s Cha Ra-ri.”

The woman cut off the call, seemingly in a hurry.

***

Click-clack, click-clack, click-clack—

The sound of high heels echoed in the hallway. Soon, a woman entered the Teum Joint Office.

The eyes of the office staff widened.

The woman standing at the door was a beauty with long wavy hair, a short skirt, and high heels.

She exuded an aura that made her look like a model or a celebrity to anyone who saw her.

Assistant Manager Kim jumped up from his seat first.

“Wh… Wh… Who… are you looking for?”

“Geum Nae-yeong-ssi…?”

“Ah… Ah, do you mean Attorney Geum Nae-yeong?”

“Yes? I don’t know if he is a lawyer…”

“Please wait a moment.”

Assistant Manager Kim went to the front of Attorney Geum Nae-yeong’s office and knocked.

Knock, knock.

“Yes.”

“Attorney, a guest… has arrived.”

Before Assistant Manager Kim could finish his words, the woman strode into the office.

“Hello. I am the owner of the phone.”

“Cha Ra-ri-ssi?”

“Yes.”

Geum Nae-yeong opened the drawer, carefully pulled out the cell phone, and handed it over.

“Here it is.”

“Thank you.”

Cha Ra-ri’s face stiffened when she saw her phone, which had its screen miserably cracked.

“Your phone is here.”

She handed over Geum Nae-yeong’s phone and tried to turn around and leave immediately.

At that moment, Geum Nae-yeong’s voice came from behind.

“Excuse me, and also… your interview has been canceled.”

“…Yes?”

“It came as a text message. Saying ‘Interview Canceled’.”

Cha Ra-ri let out a short sigh.

In fact, she had two interviews scheduled for the same day, but she had already given up on one, and hearing the remaining one deliver this news made her feel bitter.

“…Yes. Then, I’ll be going now.”

“Wait a moment.”

Geum Nae-yeong called Cha Ra-ri.

“Yes?”

“Receipt confirmation. You must sign.”

“…Yes? A sign?”

“Even if it is a gratuitous deposit, it is legally a deposit contract. Since I, as the depositary, have properly returned the cell phone to the depositor, you must confirm that the obligation is discharged.”

“…Deposit what?… Is such a procedure even necessary just to get a phone back?”

But Geum Nae-yeong’s expression was serious as could be. Instead of answering, he held out a sheet of paper with ‘Receipt’ written on it and gestured for her to sign.

“…Okay.”

Cha Ra-ri reluctantly took the pen, signed it, and handed the document back.

“Are we done? Then I’ll be going.”

“Excuse me.”

Geum Nae-yeong called the turning Cha Ra-ri.

“You are currently unemployed, right?”

“Yes? What does that…”

“I heard the interview was canceled, so I wondered if you were unemployed.”

“…Yes, I guess so.”

“Then you must be looking for a job?”

Before Cha Ra-ri could even respond, Geum Nae-yeong continued speaking.

“I am also looking for an employee. I checked the resume briefly to confirm the identity of the phone owner. I saw you have PR-related experience. And your interpersonal relationships seem very smooth.”

Geum Nae-yeong grinned subtly and continued.

“Then, by any chance, would you like to work at our office?”

“…Here?”

Cha Ra-ri looked around the office. It was called a lawyer’s office, but it was small and gloomy.

‘The office itself looks too crummy…’

The building looked to be at least 30 years old, and the restroom was shared. A outdated office in a shabby building wedged between other flashy law firms.

‘There’s no way they would give a proper salary to someone like me with no experience in a place like this, right?’

Just as Cha Ra-ri was about to shake her head,

Ting—

A text notification popped up through the cracked screen.

[Hyeontae Card Outstanding Balance Guide]

‘…Right, I can just work for a month or two in a hurry and then quit. Especially since the interview got canceled.’

“Hmm… Then what is the salary?”

When Cha Ra-ri asked, Geum Nae-yeong tilted his head for a moment and opened a search window.

“What kind of company was the place where you were originally scheduled to interview?”

“Yes?”

“The place that sent the interview cancellation text.”

“…An event agency.”

“An event agency… Then what kind of work did you engage in?”

“Mainly PR… I also did event modeling work occasionally, and support roles as well.”

“If it’s an event…?”

“For example, introducing a car at a new car exhibition, things like that.”

“Ah, event PR. What about your experience?”

“It is my 6th year.”

“Since you have no experience as an office staff… How about applying the salary of a 3rd-year office staff first? 2.5 million won after tax. Bonus separate, and 4 major insurances included.”

Geum Nae-yeong liked Cha Ra-ri’s experience very much.

A professional in event PR, along with a laughter therapist and feng shui consultant. Qualifications to properly respond to the client’s psychology.

It was excellent to supplement Geum Nae-yeong’s weakness, which was the lack of interpersonal relationships and empathy.

Considering PR and interpersonal friendliness, total score 89 points.

“Yes?”

Cha Ra-ri’s eyes widened.

When she did event part-time jobs, the daily wage was about 150,000 won, but it was irregular work, so it couldn’t become a proper income.

But 2.5 million won as a fixed salary was not bad, contrary to expectations.

At least she would be able to block the overdue card bills.

‘This is a decent condition for now? If even the 4 major insurances are included… if I just work hard, I might be able to get unemployment benefits.’

“Then when should I start working?”

“If possible, come starting tomorrow. We can write the employment contract tomorrow.”

“Yes, then I’ll be going… Boss.”

Cha Ra-ri bowed to Geum Nae-yeong in a formal manner.

“I am not the boss, but an attorney.”

“You pay me my salary. Then you’re the boss.”

“…Then I will go with boss.”

Like that, Geum Nae-yeong completed hiring the employee he was trying to obtain.

That afternoon.

Attorney Shin Chang-ryul of Teum Law Office was sitting across from his long-time friend Park Hyeok-jae.

“So, your company is in a lawsuit?”

“Yeah. A lawsuit flew in early this year. These days, they keep picking fights over patent infringement and whatnot. Their intention is to grab a share.”

CEO Park Hyeok-jae was a friend he had shared glasses with since college, and was now a successful CEO of an IT company with sales ranking in the top 10 of the industry.

“Shall I take a look at how far the trial has proceeded?”

“That would be great.”

“Give me the case number.”

When Park Hyeok-jae rummaged through his phone to show the case number, Attorney Shin immediately opened his laptop and brought up the search window.

Click, click—

“…Hey, why is it like this?”

Even when he clicked the mouse, only error codes kept popping up on the screen.

“Damn it… It’s down again. I should ask the staff to look at it.”

He stood up and opened the office door, but the outer office was desolate.

“Since it’s afternoon, they must have all gone out for filing…”

Not a single employee was in sight. At that moment, the light in Attorney Geum Nae-yeong’s office opposite caught his eye.

‘…A young kid should know internet stuff much better, right?’

Attorney Shin hesitated slightly and then opened Geum Nae-yeong’s office door.

“Attorney Geum, are you busy?”

Geum Nae-yeong, who was focusing on his laptop screen, raised his head.

“Yes. I am working.”

“I’m sorry, but could you take a look at something? An error keeps popping up on the system, but the staff are all away.”

“Normally I would refuse, but since it is right after moving into the office… I will help you to build a smooth rapport.”

“Uh…? Uh, okay…”

Geum Nae-yeong entered the office with Attorney Shin, who had a dubious expression.

Inside, a man of Attorney Shin’s age was sitting.

“Ah, this is the newly joined attorney here. Young, right? Hahaha.”

“Ah, is that so? Oh my, you are a young attorney. Nice to meet you.”

The man reached out his hand first. Geum Nae-yeong shook hands while putting on a dry smile out of habit.

“What should I look at for you?”

To Geum Nae-yeong, who asked about the business first, Attorney Shin Chang-ryul turned the laptop screen to show him.

“This message keeps appearing. I wonder if I touched something wrong…”

“This? Wait a moment. There is a problem with the firewall. It is basic.”

While Geum Nae-yeong was typing skillfully on the keyboard, the two naturally exchanged small talk.

While they were exchanging this and that, CEO Park Hyeok-jae suddenly lowered his voice.

Even though no one was around, he seemed to be revealing a secret for no reason.

“But… this is just between us… Do you remember Im Sin-yeong?”

“Im Sin-yeong? No way… Your first love from college?”

“…Yeah.”

“What about Im Sin-yeong?”

“I ran into her on the street by chance a while ago.”

“What?”

“Yeah… but her face was very worn out. Her family went under, and on top of that, her husband passed away in an accident a while ago. She looked struggling.”

“…Really? Her family used to be quite well-off before.”

“Right. When I was preparing for the administrative exam, Sin-yeong went through a lot of trouble paying for my living expenses and tuition… We shouldn’t have broken up like that back then.”

“That’s true. But when you’re young, the exam doesn’t go well and all… Still, didn’t she treat you really well?”

“I still feel so sorry that I couldn’t repay that debt.”

Park Hyeok-jae smiled bitterly.

“My mind felt very uncomfortable. I kept wondering if Sin-yeong’s life became hard like that because of me.”

He chose his words for a moment and then continued the conversation in a low voice.

“I couldn’t repay anything she did for me. Now I’m older… and I don’t know when something might happen to me. I’ve taken good care of my family’s share, but after doing that, I keep thinking I should repay Sin-yeong.”

“……”

“Chang-ryul. If I happen to go first, I want to leave a little bit to Sin-yeong. Even if not right now. Is that possible?”

Attorney Shin shook his head.

“Hey, if you say such things carelessly, you’ll only get misunderstood by your wife. She’ll think you had an affair and left something behind. When there are normal heirs, leaving a will to give part of the inheritance to another person? That is a bit difficult.”

“Of course, I don’t even dream of doing anything with Sin-yeong again. But now that I have some money and look back on my life… that weighed on my mind. And it just so happened that I ran into her.”

“…Is that so?”

“But since all my money is managed by my wife, I can’t give it separately either. There’s no other way, right?”

The moment Park Hyeok-jae let out a sigh, Geum Nae-yeong raised his head from above the monitor.

“There is a way.”

“…What? You’re saying there is a way?”

The moment Park Hyeok-jae turned his head in surprise, Geum Nae-yeong said without his expression changing a single bit.

“If you do it yourself… six hundred won.

If you leave it to me, I will handle it cheaply and perfectly… without any legal loopholes.”