Chapter 300: Longing and Regret
“Well, if it isn’t Kim Jae-heon!”
The Branch Chief exclaimed, looking at me with a voice full of delight, or perhaps the tone of someone who’s run into a pleasant surprise.
“I thought you were off today. What brings you here?”
“Just here to hang out.”
“Ah-ha…”
At my words, the Branch Chief narrowed her eyes and looked at our group.
“Really? I thought the entire HR team had gathered for some reason.”
“...”
“And you’re even in casual clothes? Did you all plan to meet up, or… wait, did you sleep over somewhere?”
The Branch Chief poked my shoulder with her elbow, causing my body to sway back and forth.
If only half of that deductive power had been applied to her fashion sense, she’d be a fashionista by now.
“Well, it’s natural to become friends when you work together.”
“Ah-ha, that’s true. I also became close with the girl next door, Ok-sunni, back in the day because we worked together. Friendships that transcend status do exist.”
The Branch Chief nodded sympathetically, then looked at us.
“So, here for shopping? Whose clothes are you looking at?”
“Everyone’s except mine.”
“What? Then who’s going to pick out clothes for Kim Jae-heon?”
The Branch Chief deliberately widened her eyes and looked around at the others.
“Don’t tell me there’s no one here to choose clothes for Kim Jae-heon? Is that it?”
“I’ll do it.”
And, almost before the Branch Chief finished speaking, Jang Chae-yeon raised her hand and replied in an emotionless voice.
“Oh, really? Are you sure it’s okay if I don’t do it?”
“Uh, I think it’ll be fine.”
The Branch Chief looked at me, and I also hurriedly shook my head.
If the Branch Chief started picking my clothes, I’d probably end up with a century-old fashion style.
In that case, it seemed better to entrust my fashion to Jang Chae-yeon.
“Well, I guess there’s no helping it.”
The Branch Chief shrugged her shoulders and stood next to us.
“Shall we go then?”
“…Where are you headed, Branch Chief?”
“I’ll just tag along.”
“You really don’t have to…”
“Hey, even a chance encounter is a connection. I’ll buy everything for you.”
I’m not exactly broke, you know.
It felt like running into the company president while shopping and having him suddenly insist on tagging along.
In other words, it was incredibly annoying and burdensome.
“Where should we start first?”
But what could I do?
I was outmatched in both physical power and social standing.
“Uh, um. Over here.”
And so, Park Ye-eun, acting a bit timid, began to lead the way.
*
Third floor, women’s clothing section.
“Oh… this one’s not bad.”
“It seems like it would suit A-rin.”
“Yeah, but it wouldn’t really suit someone with black or white hair.”
“Hmm, this one seems okay too.”
“That looks like something only teenagers would wear.”
“I am a teenager, you know?”
As I stood still, listening to the HR team members’ conversation from a distance, the Branch Chief came over to me.
“I bought this for you.”
“Thank you.”
The Branch Chief held out a coffee cup to me. I bowed my head slightly and accepted it. She then stood beside me.
“You look like you were dragged here against your will.”
“It’s not like that. I’m just waiting for my turn.”
“How loyal of you.”
She laughed, but then shook her head after seeing the clothes Song A-rin had picked out.
“Oh dear, I was thinking of joining in, but those clothes are just too young for me.”
“Branch Chief, just looking at your appearance, you don’t seem that old?”
“Ugh. It’s too masculine for me to wear clothes like that. And what do you mean, ‘just looking at my appearance’?”
“My apologies.”
I hurriedly bowed my head and continued my train of thought.
The clothes she’s wearing now are even more masculine.
In fact, quite a few people were staring at the Branch Chief.
That face with those clothes? Anyone would find it strange.
But seeing how no one said anything, maybe humans, being animals too, can sense the presence of a superior being?
“What are you thinking about?”
“My thoughts on the Branch Chief’s fashion sense.”
“Ah, this?”
The Branch Chief lifted the hem of her black dress. The flower patterns embroidered on it shimmered under the department store lights.
“This is a camellia. This is a lilac, and this is a tulip…”
“…That’s really amazing.”
Did she think I said that because I genuinely didn’t know what those flowers were?
“It was some years ago… sixty years, maybe? There was a girl named Suk-ja back then who had a great sense of style. She’s the one who taught me about this fashion.”
“…I see.”
Ms. Suk-ja, if it’s been sixty years, you should have told her to update her wardrobe a bit.
“We were working at the northern branch office back then, but contact was lost after the Management Bureau was dissolved during a localized extinction event. I hope she at least died comfortably.”
“...”
What could I possibly say to that?
I looked up at the Branch Chief’s face.
She was looking elsewhere, her expression tinged with a hint of loneliness.
“Or maybe I should have gone there myself back then.”
“Where were you at that time, Branch Chief?”
“I was at the main headquarters.”
She said that and nodded.
“I was working with the current Director-General.”
“Were there incidents serious enough to require the two of you to step in?”
From my perspective, with those two, it seems like they could have gone and beheaded Aestheticism without much trouble.
“Ugh. There were plenty. There still are.”
The Branch Chief laughed, waving her hand dismissively.
“Just yesterday, I went down underground to deal with an anomalous phenomenon coming from a diamond mine.”
“There’s something like that too?”
“Yeah, didn’t you know? There’s a diamond mine underground near Yongsan.”
How would I know that?
As I looked at her with a bewildered expression, she laughed and nodded.
“Anyway, so I’ve heard bits and pieces of the story.”
“Huh?”
“Putting aside the fact that you handled the Wedge operation, I heard you roughly resolved the Butterfly Dream incident over at Riverside too?”
“…That’s right.”
“And in the process, your arm got twisted a bit, and you got a hole in your stomach.”
“That’s… right.”
“...”
The Branch Chief gave a small laugh, then suddenly brushed her bangs aside.
I noticed her bangs were swollen and bright red.
“I got a really hard flick on the forehead from the Director-General that day, and the bruise still hasn’t faded.”
“...”
Is the Director-General even human? Can a simple flick on the forehead cause that much injury to the Branch Chief?
If I were to try that, my fist would undoubtedly turn to dust.
“But Branch Chief, you—”
“Kim Jae-heon.”
“…Yes.”
The Branch Chief cut me off, and following the principle of superiors giving orders, I slowly responded to her call.
“I know.”
“Yes?”
The Branch Chief looked at me.
“I know that incidents follow you around, Kim Jae-heon, whether you want them to or not.”
“...”
She looked at me with a serious face.
“I’m a senior who’s been through similar things, you see.”
“...”
“So I’ve been trying my best to help you, Kim Jae-heon, but it’s… really difficult.”
She gave a wry smile and scratched her cheek.
“Many more incidents might come looking for you in the future. No, actually, an enormous number already have.”
She nodded, her straightforward gaze fixed on me.
“But I believe you will overcome them.”
“...”
“Anyway, that’s what I wanted to say. That’s why I followed you.”
“Huh?”
Then, before I could even react, the Branch Chief turned around and started walking away.
“Come to work after this is over.”
“Branch Chief, I’m on leave tod—”
“I’ll give you leave another day, so just come. And come alone. It’s not about an incident, so don’t worry.”
With only those words, the Branch Chief strode off briskly and disappeared somewhere in the distance.
“...”
“Are you going to go?”
“Ah, you startled me.”
I turned around at the voice coming from behind me. Yu Daon was looking at me with a smile.
“Daon, weren’t you over there just now?”
“My fashion sense isn’t that great anyway.”
She smiled softly, looked at me, and then gazed in the direction where the Branch Chief had disappeared.
“The Branch Chief is really strange.”
“Huh?”
“She smells strange.”
“…Like an old lady’s cosmetics?”
“Ah, she changed her cosmetics, so that smell is gone now.”
At my words, Yu Daon shook her head and continued.
“It’s precisely, um…”
“What is it?”
“Regret.”
Yu Daon muttered, looking at me.
“She smells like someone who regrets.”
“You can tell that sort of thing?”
“I call it a smell, but it’s more like a feeling. The atmosphere someone gives off, I suppose.”
Yu Daon smiled awkwardly.
“…I see. Then, what kind of smell does A-rin have?”
“Ah, A-rin is always the same.”
Yu Daon closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Song A-rin was over there, talking about something with Jang Chae-yeon.
“Longing.”
Then she opened her eyes and looked at Jang Chae-yeon.
“Eternity.”
Next, Yu Daon looked at Park Ye-eun.
“Deficiency.”
Finally, Yu Daon stared straight at me.
“And Jae-heon, you are… Resolution.”
“…That’s amazing.”
Resolution.
Have I ever resolved to do something?
I’m not sure.
“It’s just a manner of speaking; it’s ultimately just a feeling I get, so don’t think too much about it.”
Yu Daon laughed, waving both hands, and stood next to me.
“Shall we go together afterwards?”
“Well…”
“You never know. But still—”
“Hey, it’s still my day off. Even if I get another day off later, you, Daon—”
“Jae-heon.”
Yu Daon cut me off and smiled.
“I don’t need a single day off like that.”
“...”
Looking at Yu Daon’s smile, I ultimately had no choice but to nod.
*
After shopping was over,
Having seen Park Ye-eun off, the four of us were walking together.
Why four?
“The black-haired one is having mischievous thoughts.”
“Stop reading my mind…!”
“Well done.”
Song A-rin stared intently at Yu Daon, and Jang Chae-yeon also stared intently at Yu Daon.
Yu Daon alone fidgeted uncomfortably as she followed behind us.
“Jae-heon, I’m sorry…”
“No, it’s fine.”
If Song A-rin was determined to find out, what could I possibly do about it?
We entered the Management Bureau headquarters and walked on, accompanied by the three of them.
“Wait here for a moment.”
“Call us if anything happens. Like if the Branch Chief tries to pull something…”
“If she even has that intention, I’ll be dead on the spot.”
If the Branch Chief sets her mind to it, my head would pop easier than swatting a fly.
In that case, well, I’d have to humbly accept my death.
I gave that answer and headed towards the Branch Chief’s office.
I took the elevator, pressed the button, and the floor for the Branch Chief’s office opened.
“…Ahem.”
I walked down the corridor, stood in front of the Branch Chief’s office door, cleared my throat, and knocked.
“Come in!”
I opened the door.
The Branch Chief, who had somehow changed her clothes, was smiling as she looked at me.
“You came, Kim Jae-heon!”
“Yes.”
“...”
She was silent for a moment, then spoke.
“The extraction is complete.”
“…Yes?”
“The extraction of the regressor, Kim Wan-woo, is complete.”
Smiling, she looked at me.
“And I’ve come to share the contents with you.”