"Since we're still in the onboarding program, doesn't it make sense for one person to work and the other to support?"
"But Manager Lee said work is something you do alone."
"Then let's just say you're working alone, Yoojin. And you delegate the tasks to me. That works, doesn't it?"
Dongha gave her a playful look and winked. Sunyoung calmly sucked hard on her coffee through a straw, her cheeks hollowing, and chimed in as if it were nothing.
"Right, that'll do. If you draw the line too strictly like, 'This is yours, this is mine,' you'll be the only one killing yourself, Yoojin. And you know Manager Lee—he changes his tune all the time. Don't let yourself get dragged around by that."
"Yes."
At Sunyoung's words, Yoojin nodded, understanding. Working on the OB orders together with Dongha would be a huge help. She'd already been feeling the weight of doing all the tasks and follow-up alone.
"Oh, and that Taitex extra order? I heard even if it's not on your books, they can roll it into another buyer's order. Apparently it's not a big deal."
"Ah…"
Yoojin suddenly recalled the sound of Chen's voice from Taitex, so casual as he reassured her. He must have had it all calculated out already. He'd said he'd check the dyed quantity and get back to her today, so once she checked that email she'd probably be able to find a solution.
Yoojin let out a deep breath without realizing it. She'd thought she'd caused an 18-million-won loss, but maybe they could avoid it after all.
"Oh, and Manager Lee said to set up a separate meeting with Assistant Manager Oh Myeong-ju. Sounds like you'll be getting some instructions there."
Dongha passed along the rest of Manager Lee's message.
So this is why people say you can't skip men's smoke breaks and coffee breaks, Yoojin thought. She nodded, but it bothered her that Dongha had walked away from that coffee meeting carrying two sets of directives from Manager Lee.
Lost in thought, she unconsciously wrapped both hands around the milk tea Dongha had brought and took a sip.
As she did, Dongha noticed the necklace peeking out at the nape of her neck. The silver cross, tarnished to a burnt black, didn't really match her at all, but just seeing it on her made the corners of his mouth curl up into a satisfied smile.
It wasn't expensive, it wasn't pretty, and it was so old the silver had gone dark—he'd worried she might dislike it. But she was actually wearing it, and that alone filled him with quiet pride. When he couldn't be by her side, that cross would be there instead, watching over her for him.
He was lost in that thought when his phone buzzed in his pocket. It was Sunho, the junior who'd promised to come in right at the start of work.
Wherever he went, Sunho was known for being diligent and solid. No one ever seemed to dislike him.
He was the kind of junior who followed Dongha almost blindly—making him the perfect person to station down in the basement logistics warehouse to pick up whatever information was flowing through the company and funnel it back to Dongha.
Dongha got up to go meet him in the lobby.
After dealing with the purchase order mishap over the weekend, Yoojin had been sure that something big would explode the moment 8:30 a.m. Monday rolled around.
But time slid by in an almost eerie calm.
When Manager Lee came back from coffee time and sat down, Yoojin braced herself, expecting to be summoned to his desk. Instead, he only shot her a brief sideways glance and offered no reprimand at all. Assistant Manager Kim Se-hee, who rushed into the office just before 8:30, was no different.
Neither of them checked in with Yoojin about how the issue had been handled. They simply sat down and started working through the backlog of emails piled up from the weekend.
A little later, an all-hands email went out to the Overseas Trade Department.
This week's department-wide meeting would be held at 10 a.m., chaired by Executive Director Park Jin-hee.
As soon as Yoojin read the message, she worried Dongha might miss the notice, stuck down in the warehouse.
She sent him a text.
[There's a weekly meeting at 10 in the conference room.]
[Got it, thanks. I'll be there on time.]
Yoojin printed the documents over the weekend and began picking out which points needed to be raised in the weekly briefing.
From the last meeting, she remembered how people with issues would voluntarily report their problem items. It felt right that she should share the issues she was seeing as well.
At the same time, the question she'd been keeping stuffed into one corner of her chest finally unfurled.
What's going to happen to Senior Kim Jang-woo? Is he coming back? How long am I supposed to keep doing his work?
Thinking of Kim Jang-woo made her brow knit without her noticing.
As ten o'clock drew near, the staff of the Overseas Trade Department began filing into the conference room. Yoojin sat in the seat farthest from the head of the table and went over the materials she'd prepared.
She started to worry when Dongha didn't appear, even though he should have been there by now.
Just as the seats were nearly full, Dongha slipped in and dropped into the empty chair next to her. Yoojin gave him an awkward little smile for cutting it so close, and he just flashed her an easy grin as if it were nothing.
A moment later, Manager Lee walked in—and someone followed behind him.
He looked like a pretty boy verging on pretty girl. Dongha's features could be called beautiful too, but where "handsome" or even "striking" suited Dongha better than "pretty," this guy looked so pretty you might honestly mistake him for a woman at first glance.
And his appearance was… a lot. His short hair had been bleached a bright yellow and streaked with patches of blue dye. He had piercings in his eyebrows and at the corner of his mouth. His ears were pierced as well—at least ten studs between both sides, from what Yoojin could see.
Samho Apparel, being a fashion company, had a culture of respecting individuality. Male employees sometimes showed up in faux-fur coats in winter or even hot pants in midsummer. Even so, the shock-value look of this pierced newcomer made every gaze in the conference room snap toward him.
Everyone had already thought Yoojin and Dongha's looks were on a different plane from normal office workers. But this newcomer looked like some kind of extra-terrestrial.
Manager Lee turned to the team to introduce him.
"This is Lee Sunho, our new temp working in the warehouse starting today. I hear he's a university junior of Dongha's. Since we want him to stick around a while, don't work him to death, okay?"
When the introduction ended, Sunho—dressed unusually neat for his first day in a simple coat, beige chinos and a white shirt—bowed politely.
"Hello, I'm Lee Sunho. Please take good care of me."
He introduced himself in a light, clear voice and flashed the room a smiling eye-smirk. From that smile alone, it was obvious he knew exactly how charming he could be.
The women in the department silently offered thanks to whatever invisible deity might be listening.
So now, on top of Yoon Dongha, You send us this creature called Lee Sunho? Thank you for the rain in our desert of office life.
As soon as Sunho finished his greeting and turned to go, he ran straight into Executive Director Park Jin-hee, who was hurrying in late to the meeting. For a moment she just stared, stunned by his piercings. Then, caught by his smiling eyes, her face softened into a broad grin as she addressed him.
"Maybe take a few of those out when you're in the office, hmm?"
Sunho only deepened his eye-smile and walked out without replying.
Executive Director Park took her seat at the head of the table and began running through the division announcements.
"One month from now, on December 15, we have the ISPO trade fair in Germany. The Overseas Trade Department needs to decide who'll attend. And currently, Department Head Hwang Ji-yeon is on a sales trip in Europe. She's trying to land orders from high-end brand Caramax. Once the Design Team sends over samples later this week, Department Head Hwang will be meeting buyers with them."
Manager Lee's expression soured the moment Caramax was mentioned. He hated that Department Head Hwang was off in Europe on the company's dime chasing high-end clients.
In his mind, a high-volume, low-margin model—churning out big quantities—kept the overseas factories busy and made life easier for the Overseas Trade Team. That was the "correct" structure.
Executive Director Park moved on to the next item and glanced over at Dongha and Yoojin.
"This next one was communicated last-minute only to the directors who've received interns. Dongha, Yoojin—you two have a four-day, three-night workshop in Jeju next week, Thursday through Sunday."
At the words "Jeju workshop," muffled exclamations and sighs of envy went up around the room.
"It came together a bit suddenly, so I'm asking for your understanding. Please adjust your personal schedules. Honestly, I'm jealous—most interns don't get a Jeju workshop two weeks after joining. Is there anyone who can't go?"
When Executive Director Park looked at them, both Yoojin and Dongha answered, "We can go."
At the same time, Manager Lee's face twisted. His thick lips jutted out, then he pulled himself together and reported the current situation.
"Director Park, Yoojin is already handling real work."
Executive Director Park's eyes went wide.
"Real work? She's a one-week-old intern. What kind of work?"
"It's the Ocean Bay orders that Kim Jang-woo was in charge of."
"What? Kim Jang-woo? I was told he was on leave. Yoojin's handling his orders?"
"Yes. You told us to give Yoojin some assignments, so…"
Having her name suddenly thrown into it, Executive Director Park stared at him like she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"I didn't say to put her in charge of a brand. How did you twist it into that? Does it make any sense to give a first-year intern the workload of a three-year employee?"
At her sharp tone, the color rose in Manager Lee's face. His jaw clenched and his deep double-lidded eyes turned fierce.
"What's the final decision on Kim Jang-woo, then? Assistant Manager Kim Se-hee?"
Executive Director Park's voice turned even more cutting. Assistant Manager Kim couldn't meet her eyes, bowing her head as she answered.
"He's decided to resign."
At her words, both Yoojin and Dongha felt their hearts sink. There would be no one coming back to reclaim the workload. Even after their internships ended, it seemed more and more likely they'd be stuck handling overseas purchasing for Samho Apparel.
At the same time, the blood drained from Executive Director Park's face until it took on a sallow, furious cast.
"So we just let a three-year employee, who's been working his tail off, walk out like that? Over a mistake made by Sales? You let a team member go over their error?"
Her voice rang out, sharp and booming, filling every corner of the conference room.