abcnovels
Chapter 66:
Chapter 66:
Chapter 66:
Chapter 66
We sat down again and resumed our conversation after chasing away Jeon Gwang-seok and his group, who had left in a hurry.
“That guy just now. He was your former boss, right?”
“Yes, he was. We didn’t get along well, of course. He exploited me a lot.”
“You don’t seem like the type who can’t do your job well, so why did he treat you like that?”
“It was because I did my job too well, I guess. And also, he tried to make me drink at a company dinner, and when I refused, he started to harass me like that ever since. I was relieved that I didn’t have to see his face after I quit, but of all places, I ran into him here today.”
“Wow. He’s such a scumbag. I should have beaten him up more before letting him go.”
“Pfft! Cough cough. Beat him up? Oh, you’re funny…”
“I was serious.”
“No, I didn’t mean it like that. Anyway, thank you. Thanks to you, I feel really relieved. I’ve been holding back my anger for a long time, but you did it for me, so I’m satisfied.”
“Let me know if you need me again.”
“Are you sure that’s okay?”
I knew what she was asking.
I had punched Jeon Gwang-seok in front of everyone.
Even if I was a teller and couldn’t be legally punished for it, it was certain that he would hold a grudge against me.
“Anyway, it wouldn’t have worked out if I had left him alone. People like him need to be taught a lesson.”
It wouldn’t have mattered if we had tried to reason with him nicely.
Would he have backed off if we had done that?
He clearly looked down on us and mocked us.
He was the kind of guy who would get more arrogant if we treated him politely.
“Some people can’t understand words. And some people think that we’re giving in if we use words, and they get more aggressive.”
“Ah. I think I know what you mean.”
“So we have to use force. Oh, are you uncomfortable with this kind of thing?”
“No. I’m not stupid either. I know better than anyone that fists are closer than laws.”
Well, she had suffered an unfair punishment and her family had fallen into debt.
She knew better than anyone that the world was not as fair as people thought.
“But still, I don’t do this all the time. Only when it’s necessary.”
“I know. You’re not that kind of person. I have an eye for people too, you know?”
“I’m a teller, remember?”
“Oh, come on. You know what I mean!”
“Heh heh.”
As we joked with each other, the tense atmosphere eased a bit.
I decided to bring up the main topic.
“So, judging by your reaction… You didn’t have a very good time at your previous job either.”
“Well, yeah…”
According to her explanation, she left Hanul Clan after her family fell into debt.
She had been doing her work flawlessly until then, but she received a notice that was almost like a dismissal.
“Someone must have badmouthed me behind my back.”
“They’re trash.”
“I was angry and resentful at first. But nothing changed by doing that. And more importantly, I had so much debt at home that I couldn’t afford to sit and despair. I had to do something.”
“So you opened a Management to make money.”
“Yes. But it was still hopeless. I didn’t think I could find a decent collector. After all, this place is also Red Ocean, so the competition was fierce. That’s why I’m really grateful to you. And Hye-rim too. Hye-rim is the most talented collector I’ve ever seen.”
She smiled bitterly as she spoke, but inside her smile there was still a heavy burden that weighed on her.
I felt serious as well knowing that she had been working hard without showing it.
“Honestly, I don’t understand why you chose me.”
“Seoryeon.”
I tapped the table with my fingertips and continued.
“I chose you not because of a whim or luck. It was because I thought you were the best fit for this job and you could do well.”
“Why do you think so highly of me?”
“Because you are.”
I took a sip of my coffee with a straw.
The ice had melted and the taste was bland, but I couldn’t throw it away.
“Do you know? I’m a teller. And tellers make contracts with collectors and show stories to the spirits. What do you think is the most important thing for a teller? It’s the ability to see people. To see how talented they are, how much potential they have. That’s what we tellers do. And in my eyes, you are a great manager. This is not an empty compliment.”
“But… I’m already hated by other big clans. To be honest, the reason why I’m having trouble with the waste disposal company is because of that. I’ve been marked. So they all make excuses and shush me.”
“I know.”
She had confessed with a big heart, but I already knew.
She looked at me with wide eyes, then smiled bitterly.
“Of course. You know everything.”
“It’s not a big deal. I thought there must be a reason why someone as capable as you couldn’t handle such a thing. And I was sure when I saw that guy Jeon Gwang-seok.”
Seoryeon was blacklisted in this industry.
She hadn’t done anything wrong.
If anything, it was her brother’s fault.
Her brother had done something stupid, and her family had fallen into debt and Seoryeon had lost her job.
And that wasn’t all, her brother’s shadow still loomed over Seoryeon and haunted her.
“Do you resent your brother?”
“At first, I did.”
Baek Seo-ryeon’s voice was trembling.
She lowered her head slightly and shrugged her shoulders weakly.
“I hated him so much.”
“I see.”
“But when I thought about it, I realized that he wasn’t a bad person. He was really kind and righteous. He was just passionate about his work, but that offended the higher-ups.”
“Did you know?”
This was unexpected.
I was wondering how to tell her the truth without hurting her too much, in case she didn’t know.
“I’m not a fool who lives in a dream. I know everything eventually. But even though I knew, I couldn’t say it out loud, or challenge the wrongs.”
“…I see.”
Even though she knew the terrible truth, Baek Seo-ryeon couldn’t confront it.
She was ultimately a powerless individual, and her opponents were the majority with immense power.
So she bowed her head and accepted their accusations silently.
She swallowed her screams with her mouth shut.
She hoped that this unfair reality would clear up someday, and endured it over and over again.
Foolishly.
“Miss Seo-ryeon. Do you know something?”
“What is it?”
“Your situation is really tragic, and this whole thing is unreasonable. But it’s not something that can be changed easily. Your actions are really foolish.”
“That’s…true. What can I do by myself? So I have to keep enduring.”
“No. What I meant by foolish is your attitude.”
“What?”
Baek Seo-ryeon looked at me with a puzzled expression, as if asking what I meant.
“In the end, I can’t do anything. So I’ll accept this injustice as it is. Do you think that’s right?”
“Well, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”
“Yes, you’re right. You can’t do anything by yourself. That’s why we’re here. Miss Seo-ryeon. You’re too naive right now. In this society, you’ll be eaten alive if you’re like that. You’ve been treated unfairly? The world points fingers at you? There’s only one thing to do in that case.”
I showed her my index finger.
“You have to hit back at this damn world. You have to say that you’re not wrong, and stand up to them with pride and defiance.”
“What?”
“Does it sound too unrealistic? Maybe it does. But you really have to do this.”
“…That’s something only powerful people can say.”
“That’s right. Powerless people can’t do that. And you’ll have a hard time by yourself.”
“So…”
“That’s why I’ll lend you my power.”
“…”
Don’t lower your head in fear.
If someone tries to push me down by saying that I’m wrong, I’ll push them back.
That’s my motto.
“I know it’s hard right now. But you’ll change your mind as things change.”
“…What are you going to do?”
“First of all, let’s get rid of the shadow that oppresses you.”
I got up from my seat and dragged her along.
“Where are you going?”
“To the place we were going to go at first.”
We left the cafe and headed to the scrap market.
There were signs and people buying and selling scraps everywhere.
I picked one of the suitable businesses and went there.
“Welcome…what the hell.”
The owner of the store recognized Seo-ryeon’s face and frowned naturally.
I knew why he reacted like that.
This was the place where Seo-ryeon had been rejected several times, but still desperately tried to make a contract with.
“Yu, Yu-hyun.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything from here.”
It wasn’t that Baek Seo-ryeon was incompetent.
She did her best in her own way.
Even if that brought unsatisfactory results, I never blamed her for her efforts.
What was the driving force behind Baek Seo-ryeon’s efforts?
Was it simply to earn more money?
Surely, that might have been the case at first.
But not now.
She must have not wanted to harm me and Hye-rim.
She worked hard not for her own greed, but for us, who had become a family now.
‘You’re really foolish.’
She didn’t have to let us know, but she suffered by herself and didn’t hesitate to go through hardships.
How foolish was this self-sacrifice?
When in fact, she was more desperate than anyone else.
‘And yet, she didn’t give up and challenged them over and over again.’
In the end, the reason why I chose Baek Seo-ryeon as my manager was because of this.
Not just because of her ability, but because she had a sense of responsibility for the work she took on and didn’t give up.
That was the human being named Baek Seo-ryeon that I had been watching for a long time.
‘I owed you something.’
Surely, she was a different person from the one in my previous life.
She had no memory of me, nor any experience after the apocalypse.
This debt was nothing but a burden on my mind that I made myself.
In this returned world, I didn’t have to pay her back.
Rather, it might have been better to stay away from her.
‘But still.’
I couldn’t pretend not to know.
I couldn’t leave her alone, even if she was like that.
Or rather, because she was like that.
If she was fighting a tough battle, I would help her out.
Even if it was an absurd fight.
Because we were now comrades on the same boat.
“Come on. Don’t be like that. Just listen to the terms.”
I put up a status window in front of the owner who tried to chase us away and said.
I help her out.
In a different way from Baek Seo-ryeon’s method of stubbornly clashing with them, in a sneaky but rational way of my own.
***
“Oh my. Thank you for the deal.”
The scrap dealer who was completely swayed by my words looked disappointed when he realized who he had signed the contract with, but the contract was already written.
In a similar way, I obtained the right to dispose of the scraps from three places.
With this, the problem that bothered Baek Seo-ryeon was not completely solved, but at least we could put out the fire on our feet.
“It’s amazing, truly amazing. I couldn’t do it even if I tried. Did you use some kind of magic?”
“I wish I could do that. It’s not magic. It’s just what I can do.”
“…At this point, I wonder if you even need me as your manager.”
“You’re only weak in this area, Seoryeon. Look at yourself. You’ve handled everything else perfectly.”
“Still…”
“We all help each other out like this. Come on, Seoryeon. Do you understand now? What it means for us to be on the same boat.”
Today, I heard about Baek Seoryeon’s past from her own mouth.
And I learned how much of a burden she was carrying.
She was worried that I would leave her if I knew. I had known that for a while.
That’s why I showed her today with my actions.
That I would never abandon her.
“You might regret it later.”
“Even if I regret it, I’m the type to do it first and regret later.”
“What if your feelings fade away?”
“Then we should give and receive more affection while we can.”
“You’ll definitely get interrupted a lot.”
“That sounds good. The more obstacles, the more passionate we get.”
“Really… You never listen to me.”
“That’s my personality. You know that.”
Baek Seoryeon said that bluntly, but her expression was very light.
She smiled playfully at me, and I felt like she had let go of some of the weight on her heart.
I was glad about that, so I smiled back at her teasingly.