"I heard a commotion just outside my office. What are you two, thinking, huh?" The chairman's voice loudly echoed in his office.
The chairman glared at the two men in front of him. He had a good morning when he woke up beside his wife, but now it's all ruined because of the two!
"So who is going to speak first?" The chairman raised a brow. He glanced to the left and saw Peter there. Across from him stood the marketing director.
The marketing director was an aging man with a shiny bald head and thin gray hair around the sides. His stomach was so large that it was already pushing against his tight suit. Despite the annoyance on the chairman's face and the anger of Peter, he still had a big and proud smile on his face.
When Peter noticed it, his anger just increased.
"Sir," he started, trying to keep his voice calm, "the proposal about the phone that locks itself twenty hours a day is mine."
The marketing director let out a short mocking laugh after that.
"What? Your idea?" he said while he pretended to be shocked. "Young man, please. I have been in this company longer than you!"
"With respect, Sir," Peter replied in a formal tone, "I worked on that proposal all night. I have the draft on my laptop about it. All of it."
The marketing director scoffed again.
"I submitted it at six this morning," he argued back. "I presented it clearly, so that means it's my idea!"
"It is not!" Peter shot back before he could stop himself. This is why the man is balding. It's because he's spouting nonsense!
"I mean… sir," he coughed and corrected himself before looking at the chairman, "this is clearly a misunderstanding. But this concept is entirely mine."
"Hey! Are you accusing me of stealing?" The bald man's face turned red. "Watch your words."
"I am saying," Peter said slowly, choosing each word with care or else he will curse this old man, "that I created that idea yesterday. If you happened to think of the exact same thing, then that is a very strange coincidence."
"What strange coincidence?" the marketing director barked. "Maybe it's you who heard me mention it and decided to copy me!"
Peter stared at him as if he had just heard the dumbest thing in his life.
"Copy you?" Peter repeated. "Sir, with all due respect, the only thing I have ever heard from you is a ten minute speech about your tight suit that you continue to buy because you want to lose weight!"
"You arrogant brat," The market director snapped."You think one lucky product makes you a genius?"
"At least my 'lucky' product sold out," Peter shot back. "What did your last campaign do? Oh right. It needed three discounts and a free tote bag to sell."
"You—!" The marketing director pointed at him with a shaking finger. "Young people these days have no respect! No loyalty! No gratitude!"
"You are nothing but an overgrown ugly shit!" The marketing director huffed loudly.
"And you, y-you—" Peter replied with a shaky voice. How can this bald guy call him ugly when he's more ugly?
Peter looked at the man in disbelief. He was right, but that can't do! But what can he say back when he's called ugly?
[Tell him that he's an idiot sandwich.]
Peter froze.
'What?' He blinked when he suddenly heard a voice in his hand.
"See! You can't even say something back because you're really ugly!" Peter's head snapped back immediately to the man.
"Ha! I'm ugly, but you're uglier than me! You know what you are? You're an idiot sandwich!"
'Isn't that line familiar?' Peter immediately asked himself as he dropped that line.
[Good job, Host.]
'Huh?' Peter frowned slightly.
"Your attitude is really terrible!" The marketing director turned red because of what he heard. He has never heard of an insult like that. Veins popped in his neck as he pointed his finger directly at Peter's face.
"You two! Stop talking!" The chairman rubbed his temples.
'What is wrong with these employees?' he thought. These two men are arguing in front of him like children.
Both men fell silent because of it. Each one swallowed their own saliva so as not talk back further.
The chairman sighed deeply.
"The vice president's memo has already been signed by me earlier," he said calmly. "The board also already approved it this morning."
'Does that mean…' Peter felt his stomach drop because of that.
"That means," the chairman continued, "even if this idea originally belonged to you, Peter, I cannot reverse the decision."
The marketing director's smile widened at that. He cleared his throat and fixed his suit straight. Now he was all proud, with pride shining in his eyes.
'That's that?' Peter clenched his fists at his sides but he said nothing.
The chairman looked at him carefully.
"You must feel wronged, young man," the old man said. He folded his hand and leaned forward.
"You know, we recently acquired a new holding," he muttered. "A standalone supermarket, named Sunshine Market in the countryside that we plan to expand into a chain. The former owner sold it to us last month. It is doing well right now, but it is still relatively small."
"Sunshine Market?" Peter blinked at that. He wasn't sure why the chairman was suddenly telling him that.
"Yes," the chairman nodded. "We plan to expand it nationwide in the next few years. How about I assign you to that? I will make you the sole director of that supermarket."
"Wow, congrats, Peter. You're now a director of a supermarket!" The marketing director let out a soft chuckle.
'…' Peter couldn't even open his mouth to say something. How embarrassing is that?
He had dreamed of becoming the Vice President of a tech company. Not running a small supermarket in the countryside!
"Chairman…"
"Think of it as an opportunity, Peter," the chairman added. "If you succeed, your future here will be very bright."
Peter lowered his head slightly. Was the chairman telling him to back off and not disturb him any further?
'This is unfair.' He burned with anger. He had given this company his best ideas. For the last 3 years, his products were all the best sellers!
And now, when he finally had another breakthrough to succeed, it was taken from him.
And what did he get?
A supermarket in the countryside.
"Sir," Peter slowly raised his head, "I… I do not want to move."
The chairman blinked.
"You do not want to?"
"My experience is in technology, research, and development. I believe I can contribute more here."
The chairman scoffed lightly.
"Do not worry," he waved his hand. "This is a very good arrangement. You will be the sole director of that supermarket. I will give you its full authority and the complete rights to manage it. You can act as the chairman there. If you want then after a year, you can come back here again."
The marketing director covered his mouth slightly, hiding a smile. It sounds good on words, but the reality is not.
Peter's fist just clenched more.
"Is that not what you want, Peter? Power? A chance to prove yourself?" The chairman continued.
Peter felt insulted in every way. He indeed wants power, but not like this. This is not even power!
The marketing director's shoulders were shaking slightly by now. He was clearly enjoying this.
Peter closed his eyes for a second. But when he thinks of it, he could not afford to lose this job at all. This was already his pride and glory.
"I understand, chairman," Peter said finally.
"Good. I knew you were a sensible young man." The chairman quickly clapped his hands, satisfied by it.
"Congratulations again, Director Peter." The marketing director also smiled brightly.
Peter could only smile, but he really felt humiliated inside. They did him dirty on this one.
[It is fine, Host.]
Peter's body stiffened.
'What the hell? Why am I still hearing this?' He forced himself to keep a straight face in front of the chairman.
'You are not real… you are not real,' he thought to himself, getting scared now. 'I am just stressed.'
[Hey, you are not hearing things, Host.]
'Am I really crazy now?' Peter's eyes twitched.
[No, Host. Instead, let me introduce myself. I am MoniMoni, your newly acquired system.]
'Oh no… I am indeed crazy!'