Chapter 126

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While reading the press release, all of the reporters thought about the same thing.
What was the real reason the snack house owners change their attitude?
Maybe a teacher with a professional sense of duty moved them, or one of the parents of the students who suffered the food poisoning might have started the campaign in anger.
However, there was another possibility.
The veteran reporter who first read the press release paid particular attention to the ‘angel without a face.’ He smelt a rat. He regretted not having checked out the previous release, but reporters could not write a story based on their feelings alone.
They decided to split up the roles.

Let me cover the school.


Let me interview the owners of the snack houses.


I’m going to meet the Jamohoe representative.

The veteran reporter, Park Mungyu, also offered to do his bit,
Let me try to find out who this ‘angel without a face’ is. If you guys find out good tips, let’s try to share them, okay? Don’t you think we can make a nationwide scoop this time?

In fact, this was a piece of cake to Mungyu, with 20 years of reporting under his belt.
Angel without a face. Who are they?

What? Assistant Manager Younghwan Koh resigned?
Daebong Park, president of Aurum, raised his voice, stunned.
The sales team manager hunched shoulders,
I tried my best to dissuade him to the end, but failed. He was very firm.


What’s the reason?


He didn’t give any particular reason. He said he would resign for personal reasons. I think he did so because of Minhye Park, the publicity team manager.

Daebong pulled a face.
Younghwan was not the only one who resigned. Sangho Oh with the purchasing team also resigned yesterday.
Daebong expected Sangho’s resignation because he had no reason to work at Aurum without his former girlfriend Minhye, but Younghwan’s resignation really caught him off guard. He didn’t apply for Aurum with an eye on Minhye. Actually, Daebong hired him for his excellent sales ability and fluency in Japanese. Younghwan later joined some of the team members’ competition to win Minhye’s heart, but the reason was not that important. Younghwan had a great expectation for Minhye, so his sense of loss was also big, which led to his resignation, after all.

Bring him here. Let me talk with him directly.


Yes, sir.

Soon after the sales team manager left, Younghwan came into Daebong’s office.
Daebong tried to change his mind in every way, but Younghwan was firm.
With a big sigh, Daebong said,
Well, I think I have to let you if you insist like that. Good luck.


Thanks, president,
said Younghwan, leaving the office.
But that was not the end. This time the research team manager came in to report about one of his men’s resignation.
When Dabong looked at the envelope of the resignation, the name was familiar to him. It was Byungwon Kang, who had been with Aurum for ten years. Though Byungwon was quite capable, he didn’t get promoted to the team’s manager for the past ten years.

What the heck is this? Why are these guys resigning like this?

It was not Daebong alone who was stunned. Hyunwoo was among those astonished to hear about Byungwon’s resignation. Hyunwoo was so shocked that he stopped his work for the moment and went to the research team to meet Byungwon.
Actually, Byungwon had a plausible reason,
In fact, I had an offer from a venture company called Design Room.


Oh, I didn’t know that.


The annual salary is much higher, and they’ll allow me to work at home sometimes. I’ll be joining them as one of the founding members. They pay and treat me much better in various ways.

Hyunwoo fully understood his position. In fact, Byungwon was not well paid at Aurum given his excellent ability. If his health had been in good condition, he would have got promoted to the research team manager.

When is your last day at Aurum then?


Well, I think I have to wrap up my research, so I think I will be here at least one month more.

Back to his office, Hyunwoo was busy again, transferring his duties to his successor.
Today was his last day at Aurum, so everything was messy all day.
Suddenly, he got a call from the press room of Ansan City in the middle of a busy day.
The call was directly related to the ‘angel without a face.’ Obviously, they found out who the ‘angel without a face’ was after digging and exploring.

Please make sure you don’t reveal the name of Hyunwoo’s Mom.

The veteran reporter Park Mngyo rightly got puzzled and tried to persuade Hyunwoo away.

Why are you trying to hide her name when she’s doing such a good thing? It will be of great benefit to her business, too.

Hyuwoo wouldn’t budge a bit. He didn’t want it, and if he wanted it, the timing was not right.
Hyunwoo explained that.

Don’t you think the longer the real identity of the angel without a face gets hidden from the public, the better it is for the paper?


Well, that’s true, but you can’t hide it forever.


Anyway, this is not the right time to reveal her name, so please don’t reveal it.

Then, Hyunwoo hung up the phone and got back to work.
He was absent-minded all day long. Still, he was better than Yonggu who was only half way through transferring his work to his successor.
And that was understandable, given the unique job characteristics of the purchasing team.
In terms of performance, Hyunwoo made a huge contribution, but it was not because he mastered the business of the purchasing team but because of brilliant sales ideas.
On the other hand, Yonggu was the key man of the purchasing team. Nobody could take his place immediately.
That’s why his successor, Sanggu Han, had been getting the training from Yonggu for more than one month, but the transition was not that smooth.

How did you get the outcome that way, sir?
asked Sanggu.

Hey, I taught you about it already. You already forgot what I taught you?


Sorry, sir.


Sorry is not enough, dude. This is my last lecture on this, okay? You have to solve it yourself next time. Don’t even ask for my help over the phone.

A day passed like that, and it was time to call it a day.
It was time for Hyunwoo to say goodbye to his team members.
Though they had a farewell party the previous night, they still felt sorry Hyunwoo had to leave.
In particular, Suji Min missed his absence. When she held his hand, tears were already in her eyes.
With a smile, Hyunwoo tapped her on the shoulder and said,
I’m going to see you at the mountain during the weekend.


Oh, you’re going there in spring, not now.

Suji said as if she turned sulky. Though Hyunwoo didn’t do anything wrong, she seemed resentful, which he felt was all the more lovely.

Just come to see me with your mother this weekend then.


Don’t you think I won’t? I may move to the house next to yours if need be,
said Suji as if she was ranting.
While watching them on the side, Yonggu laughed loudly and quipped,
Hahaha. Why don’t you get married to him? Why are you trying to get around the long way when you see the shortcut?


Wow, that’s a good solution, hahaha,
seconded other team members.
Suji let go his hand reluctantly.
Hyunwoo felt something strange about her behavior, though.
If she likes me like this, why did she reject my request for dinner?
In fact, Hyunwoo offered to have dinner with her a moment ago. Not to be caught by other team members, he asked her on a post-it note.
<Shall we have dinner after we’re done for the day?>
But her response was cold.
<No thanks>
Hyunwoo understood her but was puzzled at the same time.
Her sulky face might be in consideration of him since she could not work with him anymore, but that didn’t fully explain it. Normally, she would accept his request after she rejected it a couple of times, but she continued to reject it coldly.
So, Hyunwoo got confused again. He thought she might have rejected it for some other reason.
He felt she might be thinking of dining within him in heart, though she rejected his request like that.
Let me ask her one more time later.
Hyunwoo then said goodbye to the team members.

Okay, then. Take care!


Goodbye, everyone!

Everybody was leaving the office with such greetings.
At that moment Hyunwoo quickly approached Suji and said,
Let’s go. Let me give you a ride.

Suji got in his car quietly.
As if he had an appointment with her already, Hyunwoo asked naturally,
What shall we eat for dinner?

Then, Suji came up with an unexpected reply,
Didn’t you choose a menu when you decided you wanted to have dinner together?

That meant she wanted to have dinner with him.

Oh, I did, of course. Shall we go to the clam restaurant you like?

They went to the clam restaurant and had some light beer near Suji’s house.
The atmosphere was better than before. Suji said lots of good things for him as if she was his mother, such as
Never skip the meal
and
Have a good sleep
etc.
Little did Hyunwoo know that time passed so fast when he was with her. He felt he spent about an hour, but the clock was ticking toward 11 pm.
Hyunwoo gave her a ride to her house.
His heart was full when he walked with her shoulder to shoulder.
He wanted to extend his arm to cover her shoulder.
Once he felt like doing so, he got more and more nervous.
On the one hand, he thought, ‘What’s the big deal about putting my hand on her shoulder?’ but he felt at the same time, ‘What if I get rejected?’
But how would he know without giving it a try?

Aren’t you cold?
said Hyunwoo, slightly putting his arm on her shoulder as if he wanted to shield it from cold.