TGMND 1
by Springlila‘Save me, I’m going to die from the heat if this continues.’
The fan spinning with a whining sound only blew out hot air. A sealed office with no air conditioning in the middle of summer. This was employee abuse. Yeo-woon sighed and opened the messenger app at the bottom right.
Fake O’Friends
(Ad) On a hot day like today! This will cool your heart…
Nowadays, everything makes people sad. Why was it that the only ones who contacted him first every time were advertising texts? He just wanted to make some real friends. He opened a group chat and sent a message filled with boredom.
: Did you guys eat lunch?
Seon-yong: No, I want to eat pizza
Jeong Se-hyung: Ah, fuck. I ate so many curse words that I could starve until tomorrow.
Jeong Se-hyung: That f*cking Manager, how can I finish this shit in one day?? If he were me, could he do it?
Jeong Se-hyung: Next time I get drunk, I’ll pretend not to know, then punch that tightwad and make him pay.
Seon-yong: LOL
Seon-yong: Well, at least you’re better than Yeo-woon. I noticed him opening an installment savings account.
Seon-yong: A “Murder-for-Hire” savings account.
Jeong Se-hyung: ? Haha, it’s probably an emergency fund, but he’s pretending it’s a “Murder-for-Hire” savings account.
: Yeah, I’m going to make a new one for you too^^
Jeong Se-hyung: Scary
Seon-yong: Scary
Once again, he realized that it was working hours. Those who cannot be contacted after six in the evening read messages faster than anyone else at this hour.
Jeong Se-hyung: Hey, where can I download a resignation letter template?
Seon-yong: Oh wait, I heard you bought a car haha
Seon-yong: Do you have a lot of money?
Jeong Se-hyung: Oh, thank you. Thanks to you, I calmed down…
‘I’m bored.’
There was a chat room that caught Yeo-woon’s eyes while he was scrolling the mouse wheel aimlessly on the monitor. The display name of the conversation partner was ‘Business Partner’.
‘I’m bored. Should I initiate a conversation first?’
Yeo-woon double-clicked the chat room to open it and placed his hands on the keyboard.
: Are you still sleeping?
He pressed Enter to send the message, but the ‘1’ next to the speech bubble didn’t disappear. ‘Business Partner’ was usually quick to respond if awake. While waiting for a reply, Yeo-woon guessed that ‘Business Partner’ was probably still sleeping.
: They still haven’t fixed the air conditioner today.
: Remember that the deadline is today?
: I won the bet haha.
He was laughing in the text, but in reality he couldn’t laugh at all because it was so hot. President, is the money for fixing the air conditioner really that precious to you? You should value your employees’ lives just as much. Yeo-woon picked up his cell phone that was connected to the charger and opened the banking app. After depositing an additional 30,000 won into the “Murder-for-Hire” savings account, he looked at the accumulated amount for a while and put down his phone.
“I’m having trouble saving money…”
He sighed deeply and looked at the clock on his phone. It was just past one o’clock. What an enviable life, still sleeping at this hour. Yeo-woon leaned back in his chair like a sloth.
“…It’s hot.”
Hot, sleepy, hungry, and tired. If this isn’t poverty, what is it? He really wanted to go home. He wanted to quit his job. He wanted to go home and play games to his heart’s content, and when he got tired, he wanted to sprawl out and fall asleep.
“Assistant Lee.”
“Ah!”
Startled by the voice from behind, he frantically pressed the Esc key to close the chat window. When he turned his stiffened head, he saw Assistant Manager Kim grinning while wiping his sweaty face with the back of his hand.
“Assistant Manager?”
“What’s wrong? What were you doing?”
“Oh, no. It just startled me…”
“Why did you get startled?”
“… Well, I just got… startled?”
Yeo-woon smiled calmly and swiveled his chair around. Hopefully, he didn’t see the chat content. If his superior found out about the murder-for-hire plan, his carefully crafted image as a diligent and polite elite would crumble.
“Here, Assistant Le, have some coffee.”
…He probably didn’t see it, right?
“Haha, thank you…”
Yeo-woon smiled awkwardly and accepted the coffee he offered with both hands. Ice rattled inside the disposable cup as he accepted the coffee offered by Assistant Manager Kim. Water droplets clinging to the surface of the cup slowly trickled down as he handed it over, moistening his palm.
“You haven’t had lunch yet, right? Are you okay?”
“I’m feeling a bit queasy today. Whenever I eat in this condition, I end up vomiting.”
“Oh, come on, why is a guy so fragile?”
“Haha, I’m a bit weak in the summer.”
So, fix the air conditioner already, damn it… Yeo-woon muttered to himself.
“You sure you’re okay with coffee on an empty stomach?”
“Yes, it’s fine.”
“You don’t usually eat breakfast either. Putting caffeine on an empty stomach can be tough on your stomach.”
“Thank you for your concern.”
“Assistant Lee, you might die like this.”
Perhaps collapsing from heat stroke would come before suffering from a sour stomach due to coffee.
“I have life insurance.”
“Is that good?”
“I haven’t died yet.”
“That’s true. Let me know if it turns out to be a good investment.”
Assistant Manager Kim laughed inexplicably while flapping his t-shirt as he teased Yeo-woon. His face was as red as if he was just as hot as Yeo-woon was. He couldn’t believe the air conditioner broke in the middle of the summer. It felt like being boiled alive in a simmering pot on such a scorching summer day.
“But what have you been up to after work these days?”
“Me? I’ve been exercising.”
“Exercising? …Oh, right, you’re still swimming, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Still? Every day?”
“Yes.”
He squinted at Yeo-woon’s response, as if muttering that it couldn’t be the only thing he was doing.
‘… He’s like a ghost, how can he be so perceptive?’
In fact, he did go swimming, but he can’t do it consistently every day. The life of an office worker was like that.
“The swimming pool is closed on Mondays…”
“…”
“I was too tired the day before yesterday so I couldn’t go.”
“…”
“I sometimes take weekends off.”
“… Hmm.”
“Uh, something suddenly happened yesterday too… .”
In the end, the answer was that I couldn’t go more than once or twice a week.
“Assistant Lee.”
“…”
“I know everything.”
Hearing those words, Yeo-woon felt a bit unjust. It wasn’t usually like this. He used to be fairly diligent about going to the swimming pool, but this week was just an exception…
“But I’ll definitely go today. I even brought my swimsuit.”
“No… I wasn’t talking about that.”
“Yes?”
He smiled slyly at Yeo-woon’s stammering. His expression was somewhat ominous as if he knew something. It made Yeo-woon feel uneasy for no reason.
“Assistant Lee! Didn’t you find a girlfriend?”
“…Yes?”
Yeo-woon’s eyes were just blank. He had no idea how to respond to Assistant Manager Kim’s question. Where would he find the time to have a girlfriend suddenly… He was too busy for that.
“I’m just curious. Assistant Lee, whenever it’s time to leave work these days, you rush off like lightning to do something.”
“…”
“I can tell just by looking. You do have a girlfriend, don’t you?”
“No, I don’t…”
Yeo-woon closed his eyes with a troubled look on his face. He really didn’t have a girlfriend, but he was a bit reluctant to tell the truth.
His image at work was that of a completely flawless and diligent young man, and admitting that he played games to the level of addiction… It would be somewhat pathetic to receive looks as if he had nothing better to do than play games whenever he had free time.
Yeo-woon’s hobby was playing online MMORPG games. The game he played, ‘Illusion,’ had been hosting a summer festival event for the past two weeks, and he had to log in for at least three hours a day to receive rewards.
Furthermore, to complete guild quests for limited items, he had to rush out of work as soon as it was over. Especially during the current summer vacation season, if he didn’t do this, he would fall behind in the event rankings. He didn’t really care about rankings, but there was one item from the event that he really wanted, so he had no choice.
“Is she pretty?”
“She doesn’t exist.”
“No girlfriend?”
“No, I don’t have one.”
“No way…”
“Really…”
“Oh, I get it, or it’s just a fling?”
He snapped his fingers and had a sly smile on his face. Yeo-woon tried hard to suppress the frown that kept trying to form on his face. Dating or not, why was this guy so interested in other people’s dating lives?
“To get married to your girlfriend, you’ll need to save up a lot of money, right? Hmm?”
“Haha…”
He should make sure not to become a superior like that in the future. He should quit before he becomes like that. Yeo-woon thought to himself as he forced a shy smile, even as he mentally rolled his eyes.
Tiring!
“…”
“…”
The assistant manager’s inquisition momentarily stopped when a sound came from the monitor. Both of their gazes turned towards the monitor.
Business Partner: Ji-gu(Earth) is awake> <