Saturday morning.
Yena counted the days, crossing them off on the calendar one by one. Her birthday was now just five days away.
Looking at the collection of X’s Yena had marked, one could see how meaningless the days that had already passed were.
“Yena-ya, your only wish for your birthday is to eat cake with Mommy and Grandma. Are you really that happy? Are you looking forward to it?”
“Yes. Of course.”
“Why?”
“Because Mommy comes home early.”
Jeong-o couldn’t help but reflect on how much she hadn’t been able to care for her child.
*I work because I love you the most, yet I lack the time to actually show that love.*
A mother always feels sorry for her child.
“And Mommy is giving me a present, too. That’s why I’m happy.”
Yena had chosen her gift a long time ago. She had asked for a coding robot. Fearing it might go out of stock, Jeong-o had purchased it early. The gift had arrived last Thursday, and Yena knew it was there.
What is it like to wait for a gift that is already in your house?
The child was patiently holding back, bearing the wait for what she longed to receive, counting down the days to her birthday with diligence.
Jeong-o sat Yena on her lap to look at the calendar together.
Turning one page, she saw a circle drawn on Monday, June 7th.
“Yena-ya, why did you circle this?”
“That’s the day I go to Do-Bin’s house.”
After smiling sweetly at the circle on June 7th, Yena headed to the living room.
Jeong-o picked up her phone to check her messages. There was one from Ji-Heon from the night before, containing a short note and a link.
*—I’m sending this because I thought it would be good for a copywriter to see.*
It was a lecture video by a famous overseas creator that Jeong-o also knew.
While it would be informative, Jeong-o didn’t feel pleased.
*Why send a lecture on a Friday night?*
As she sat there, listlessly placing her phone face down, Yena returned with a Go board and stones.
“Mommy, play Go with me.”
“Mommy doesn’t know how to play Go.”
“Then I’ll teach you.”
Yena’s enthusiasm for the game was always sincere.
She became a passionate teacher, explaining the rules. There were things Jeong-o knew, but some she didn’t. She should have been focusing, but after checking Ji-Heon’s text, her heart felt unsettled.
Should she reply, or not?
If she replied, the conversation might drag on. The words Mi-Ran Seong had said yesterday came to mind.
“……I’m just worried. The Director is getting married soon, isn’t he? Plus, we’re in the same company.”
She couldn’t create a situation that would worry her colleagues. Jeong-o had to push him away before he could get any closer.
As Jeong-o was lost in thought, Yena raised her voice.
“Mommy, Mommy! You save stones by finding their liberties.”
“Yes. That’s right. Liberties…….”
“The line is the liberty, and that side isn’t a liberty. You have to go toward the liberty. Get it?”
“Yes. I have to go toward the liberty.”
Right. In Go, as in life, one must seek the liberties to survive. Jeong-o found herself enlightened by the teachings of Master Yena Lee.
*That’s right. I only need Yena.*
*I must be the one to hold the line first.*
*
For some, the weekend was a mere passing shadow, a brief dip of the feet. For Ji-Heon, it had been a dull weekend.
A wedding of a friend he wasn’t particularly close with, a meal with an advertiser, a summons from his mother…….
What he wanted was never within reach, and what he didn’t want kept lining up.
He had sent a message to Jeong-o Lee on Friday, but she had ‘read and ignored’ it.
At least when Monday came, it felt like he could finally breathe.
*—Yes. I will watch it carefully.*
At 9:00 AM sharp on Monday, a text arrived from Jeong-o.
Ji-Heon read the words over and over. It was a reply to the text he’d sent Friday night.
*Not ‘I watched it well,’ but ‘I will watch it carefully?’ After all this time?*
Ji-Heon snorted and replied immediately.
*—Are you replying after three days?*
*Ding.* This time, the reply came quickly.
*—It’s work. Excluding the weekend, it’s only one business day.*
*—You send texts like they’re parcel deliveries.*
The expression that had been locked away all weekend finally softened. Ji-Heon typed back.
*—Yes. That is correct. Work is processed based on business days. If you want same-day delivery, please send it before 3:00 PM on weekdays.*
*—No, same-day response.*
Seeing the two texts arrive side-by-side, Ji-Heon burst into a loud laugh.
Thinking the sound might have leaked out of his office, he cleared his throat, sat up straight, and sent one more message with a link to a video collection.
*—It’s better to watch this together as well.*
*—Yes. Text received. I will process it.*
*Pfft.*
For some reason, he could imagine her expression as she typed that. He didn’t dislike her boldness in treating her boss’s messages like a mere bothersome task.
It was so amusing that a new desire was slowly budding.
A desire to keep her sitting right next to him.
*
In the afternoon, a new advertisement meeting for Dawon Liquor was held. The AE briefed them on the status from the previous week.
“After last week’s dinner and meeting, Dawon Liquor gave us feedback. The advertiser is interested in all of our ideas, and they think all of them are good…… so they’re asking us to combine them all…….”
The production team was horrified.
“Combine them? Combine them!”
“Combine them to do what? Make a stew?”
The AE continued stoically.
“They want us to combine them…… and prepare three drafts.”
“Three drafts after combining them? If you combine them, it’s one—why three?”
“That’s the same as saying we have to do it all over again.”
Assistant Manager Jo Si-Nae was particularly vocal. Bizarrely, the sparks flew at Jeong-o.
“Assistant Manager Jeong-o Lee. Do you have nothing to say?”
“What would I have to say?”
“If you hadn’t said this and that to the advertiser at Thursday’s dinner, I don’t think this would have happened.”
“I only talked about what Team Leader Chanseon An said I could talk about.”
Jeong-o answered without shrinking from Si-Nae’s chiding.
“Well, that could happen! Since we’ve grasped the advertiser’s intent early, it’s a relief. Ahem.”
Team Leader Chanseon An cleared his throat and offered a flimsy excuse.
“What’s the deadline?” Jeong-o asked.
“They want the first proposal by this Friday. We don’t need storyboards; just scripts based on storytelling should suffice.”
“A first proposal? That means they’re going to flip it over again. That’s too much.”
“We have to try to pass it on the first try.”
“Is that easy?”
As the production team grumbled, Eunbi stepped up.
“Time is tight, but I’m counting on you. And please prepare plenty of copy candidates. You know how picky Dawon Liquor is about that. Right?”
Eunbi looked at Jeong-o.
“I’d like for Assistant Manager Jeong-o Lee to do the final organization of the drafts. She’s the one who talked to the advertiser the most, and she doesn’t have much other work.”
The production team nodded, clearly trying to wash their hands of it.
Jeong-o decided to accept. It was better to take the wheel herself than to be dragged around and have her time stolen. Thursday was her daughter’s birthday. She had to finish this before then.
“Yes. Then I ask for your cooperation. Please send your ideas via email. Since time is short, I’d like us to share opinions for an hour every evening. I’ll do the consolidation.”
“Ha! I like how decisive you are!”
Team Leader Chanseon An clapped. Since Jeong-o took the burden, the meeting ended quickly.
As Jeong-o was tidying up, Eunbi approached her.
“Assistant Manager Jeong-o Lee, this is my copy for now. You can incorporate it without another meeting.”
Eunbi abruptly held out a slip of paper with scribbled handwriting.
“……You didn’t type this up?”
“I did it by hand.”
“This is just a memo. Could you please put it into a file for me?”
“If I give it to you in a proper file, you’re just going to copy and paste it without thinking, right? You have to organize it anyway, so it’ll be a good way for you to learn by transcribing my opinions yourself.”
“…….”
“It’s not that hard.”
*Right. So that’s how you want to play it.*
The Planning Team leader was watching. Eunbi was clearly trying to make Jeong-o look difficult. Jeong-o quickly made a decision to minimize future trouble.
“Then I’ll take care of the manager’s memo myself. You know that since I’m the one organizing, I’ll be the one delivering the final report, right? Don’t be too upset if your copy doesn’t make it into the final version.”
Eunbi’s face twisted slightly, and she left.
Gihun, who had been watching, secretly gave a thumbs up.
After Eunbi left, the manager turned to Gihun.
“Gihun, we have another presentation next Wednesday. Would you mind doing the design? They say when you touch a proposal, it turns into art. Do you have time this evening?”
“Ah… you mean today?”
Gihun hesitated. He was already drowning in work. Jeong-o, realizing he couldn’t refuse, stepped in.
“How about we start next Monday? Gihun has a lot to do for the team, too. I think it would be fine if we started then.”
“Ah… is he that busy? Fine. Alright Gihun, I’ll count on you for Monday.”
Once they were the only ones left in the room, Gihun let out a sigh of relief.
“Oh my, thank you so much, Assistant Manager. You saved me.”
Jeong-o felt bad for him.
“Gihun, have you been getting pulled into these requests constantly?”
“How did you know?”
“People who are good at proposals always get called for this. Proposals get revised until the last day, so there’s no need to burn yourself out now. Just do it Monday. If they don’t call you by then, it means it passed.”
Gihun nodded, enlightened.
*A reliable person on my side. The cool Assistant Manager Lee.*
Come to think of it, things had gotten much easier since she joined. From tidying up to managing schedules, he’d received so much help. He’d been awkward with the team, but she had made the atmosphere soft and warm.
She was more like a mentor than his actual senior, Eunju Go, and someone he could lean on. She was pretty, fun, and smart. When he thought about it, she was his ideal type.
Gihun called out as she was about to leave.
“Assistant Manager, I have something to tell you.”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
He thought it would be best to secure a spot quickly before someone else reached out.
“I like you, Assistant Manager.”
At that same time.
*Thump, thump.*
A very urgent, irritable-sounding knock echoed through the room.
Both the conversation and the confession were cut short.
Someone had pounded on the open conference room door. Not a ‘tap-tap,’ but a ‘thump-thump.’
Standing there was Ji-Heon.
The fist he had clenched looked slightly savage.
“Assistant Manager Jeong-o Lee.”
Ji-Heon called out without hesitation, his expressionless face so cold it made one wonder if he had come to collect a debt.
“Yes, Director.”
“There’s something you owe me, isn’t there?”
Jeong-o’s eyes, which had been fixed on Gihun, trembled toward Ji-Heon.
“My clothes.”
His gaze, glaring between Jeong-o and Gihun, was suffocatingly fierce.