Marriage Mate: 14

Finally, the door to the team leader’s office opened.

Yu-young walked out with the exact same expression the deputy manager had ten minutes ago. The team members’ sympathetic gazes followed him one by one.

Sinking into his seat, Yu-young let out a sigh deep enough to sink the earth. His mind hadn’t even fully processed the unbelievable fact that that guy was now his boss. It was such an overwhelming reality that his brain seemed to be outright rejecting it.

But before he could even accept and come to terms with this absurd situation, his illusions shattered completely. And truly, without an ounce of mercy—shattered into pieces.

His reflection in the small mirror on his desk looked pitiful. His face, still burning red, refused to cool down. Just over the weekend, he had thrown every insult he could think of at that guy while arguing. But now, he couldn’t even do that.

For a fleeting moment, the thought crossed his mind—Is this a divine sign telling me to just give up and quit my job…? Surely, there was no other explanation for this madness.

Yu-young blankly imagined barging back into the team leader’s office, landing a punch on his face, and throwing his resignation letter in the air. But with a sigh, he placed his hands back on the keyboard with a gloomy expression.

Instead of wasting time on useless fantasies, he should at least fix another sentence in his report.

The more he thought about it, the more unfair it seemed. Fine, I get it. That guy is different from my previous bosses. But strictly speaking, the one who was supposed to write this report was the deputy manager. It was bad enough that he had to take on his superior’s task, but hearing criticism about how it lacked the basics or was a headache to read—it was downright miserable.

Just then, the team leader’s office door opened again.

The rapid tapping of keyboards as team members exchanged messages came to an abrupt stop. Even Yu-young, slumped over his desk, instinctively turned his gaze toward Do-won.

But to his horror, Do-won’s footsteps stopped right in front of his desk. Yu-young’s pupils trembled like an earthquake.

No, why is he coming to me again?! I thought he said everything he had to say!

Close enough for Yu-young to catch a faint whiff of his scent, Do-won spoke in a firm tone.

“I already introduced myself to the team earlier, but since you weren’t there, let’s do it again. I’m Choi Do-won, your new team leader. I look forward to working with you.”

Yu-young couldn’t tell if this was meant as a formal greeting or just an excuse to scold him again for being late. Either way, he wasn’t thrilled about it. But he reluctantly reached out to shake the hand that was thrust toward him.

For a brief moment, he felt the strength in Do-won’s grip. He wasn’t squeezing to hurt him, yet his natural grip was firm and unwavering.

After a brief, no-nonsense handshake, Do-won withdrew his hand without hesitation and turned to address the team.

“From now on, within this team, no one should be dumping their work onto others.”

A chilling silence descended over the office. Even the deputy manager held his breath and lowered his gaze—a truly rare sight.

“Honestly, I shouldn’t even have to say something like this, should I? This is basic. So let’s make sure I never have to bring it up again after today.”

“Yes, understood.”

“Yes, sir.”

Replies came in unison.

As soon as Do-won returned to his office, the office returned to its usual background noise—the soft tapping of keyboards. But in the team’s group chat, the conversation was ablaze with messages about their new team leader.

[So the rumors about his personality weren’t exaggerated, huh?]

[Seriously. I heard he was the same at his last job—extremely meticulous, but super intimidating for his subordinates.]

[If you cross him, you probably won’t even have bones left to pick up.]

[Assistant manager Han, are you okay? TT]

[Yeah, he sounded really scary calling you over…]

[I’m fine….]

For a while, the chat was filled with messages comforting Yu-young. He stared at the words for a moment before sighing and minimizing the window, returning to his report.

As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Do-won’s words had made the flaws in his report painfully obvious. It wasn’t just something to brush off. His tone was irritating, but the content itself wasn’t wrong.

With a resigned sigh, Yu-young began digging through past data, searching for ways to revise his report.

Just as he was deep in work, the group chat notifications kept blinking persistently.

Unable to ignore it any longer, he glanced at the chat—only to find that the conversation had completely shifted in tone.

[Hahaha. Oh, seriously… ~~~! Agreed.]

[Hahaha, seriously, when he first opened the door and walked in, I thought my jaw was going to drop. I thought he was a celebrity who walked into the wrong office.]

[His voice is insane too, isn’t it? When he said, ‘Hello. I’m Team Leader Choi Do-won,’ I almost… just stood there with my mouth hanging open…]

“What do you mean, he’s handsome!”

Everyone was getting carried away. Seeing the endless stream of messages praising the team leader’s looks made anger surge inside Yu-young. Truthfully, most of what they were saying was exactly what Yu-young had thought when he first saw him. But now, with all the goodwill toward him completely evaporated—no, in the negatives—those thoughts had long been erased from memory.

Fuming, Yu-young juggled multiple reference materials and report files on the screen, along with a couple of open group chats where their colleagues were gossiping away. He pulled up the private chat for their close circle and furiously typed.

[So what if he’s handsome? His personality is absolute trash. You guys don’t even know how nasty his character is, do you? Ugh… I have a lot to say, but I’ll just hold back.]

After venting his frustration, Yu-young minimized the messenger and refocused on the report. He had to finish it quickly and go to the hospital later. More than the hospital, though, it would be too much of a blow to his pride if he couldn’t finish the task the damn team leader had assigned today.

Focus.

Scowling, Yu-young glared at the report on the screen.

But just as he was about to start organizing the content, an inexplicable sense of foreboding crept over him. Now that he thought about it, the once lively group chat—buzzing nonstop with notifications—had gone eerily silent.

What the…? Why isn’t anyone talking?

Puzzled, Yu-young reopened the messenger. Instead of the replies he expected, the chat was filled with reactions that were hard to understand.

[…Gasp]

[Yu-young… ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ;;;; What do we do?]

[??]

What’s going on?

Confused, Yu-young lifted his gaze from the monitor. Across the office, his coworkers were all staring at him with worried expressions.

‘What? What is it?’

Mouthing the question, he looked at Assistant Manager Kim Ju-yeon, who, looking pale, gestured toward her phone with her chin. Still clueless, Yu-young picked up his phone to check.

[Yu-young, you sent that to the wrong chat. ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]

‘…What?’

With trembling fingers, Yu-young reopened the private chat. But the message he had angrily typed—the one calling the team leader a complete piece of trash—was nowhere to be found.

No, no way. No way, f**k…

His fingertips went cold. With a face as white as a sheet, Yu-young minimized the private chat and switched to another one.

The official work chat.

A chat that included not just the assistant manager but also the deputy manager and—most importantly—the team leader himself.

As soon as he saw the screen, his face drained of all color.

[So what if he’s handsome? His personality is absolute trash. You guys don’t even know how nasty his character is, do you? Ugh… I have a lot to say, but I’ll just hold back.]

Maybe I should just die.

Staring at the message he had so confidently sent to the work chat, Yu-young felt an overwhelming urge to jump out the window.

And then… the name Choi Do-won, Team Leader appeared in the chat.

Unable to bear looking any longer, Yu-young squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face in his hands.

[Assistant Manager Han, it seems I gave you too much time to work on that report.]

So much for “falling and breaking your nose”—this was like someone had smashed it to pieces and taken the remains.

For the first time in his life, Yu-young truly loathed himself.

With a feeling of utter despair, he slammed his forehead onto the desk.

Maybe I really should just die…

This was a disaster of epic proportions.

Until now, Yu-young had been a diligent worker, even receiving praise for his performance. Mistakes like these were completely out of character.

But today, it felt like the universe itself had cursed him.

Should he visit a shaman and get an exorcism?

Why did all of this have to happen on the first day that bastard arrived?

Pitying glances rained down on him. Even the deputy manager, who would normally scold him, merely glanced at him before looking away—probably too drained from getting chewed out by the team leader himself.

With a groan, Yu-young slumped over his desk. Closing his eyes, all he could see was darkness.

Ah, so this is my future…

Feeling a crushing sense of doom, he curled up under his desk.

With that, the once lively group chat fell into an eerie silence.

Instead, personal messages started trickling into his phone.

[Stay strong, Yu-young…]

[Assistant Manager… ㅠㅠ Please hang in there…]

Staring blankly at the sympathetic messages, Yu-young sent back a lifeless [Thanks] before burying his face in his arms.

If he could, he would run up to the rooftop and hide.

But even so, leaving for a break just twenty minutes into the workday would be pushing it.

And no amount of fresh air could heal this level of damage.

Biting his lip, Yu-young hesitantly began typing with trembling fingers.

[I’m truly sorry.]

He wished he could add some kind of excuse, something to soften the blow.

But no matter how he thought about it, there was nothing to say.

He couldn’t even claim it was a “mistake.”

So he left it at that.

As he nervously waited for a reply, a new message popped up almost immediately.

[Cancel the team dinner tonight. We’ll have it tomorrow—after Assistant Manager Han finishes the report.]

It was just two simple sentences, but Yu-young could hear the coldness of the team leader’s voice ringing through them.

How had things ended up like this?

Of all days, today was the one day he wanted to take a half-day off.

No, actually, he wanted to submit his resignation.

Gripping his hair, Yu-young let out a low groan.