GITDS 05

Chapter 5

“Hello. I’m Min Jungwon.”

Jungwon bowed politely toward the team members sitting at their desks.

Although there were several people in the office, a heavy silence followed her greeting.

Jungwon slowly raised her head and smiled at them even more brightly, as if daring them to say something.

She had expected this, but just as she began wondering whether she would really be able to adjust to this place, Do-jin was the only one who clapped his hands and welcomed her.

“Senior Engineer Min, it’s great to have you! As I introduced myself earlier, I’m Yoo Do-jin, the team leader, and these are the members of Design Team 1 who’ll be working with you.”

Do-jin naturally introduced each of the team members.

Although they looked uncomfortable as they glanced at Jungwon, they each introduced themselves.

Jungwon was about to say that she looked forward to working with them when her eyes met someone sitting at the very end.

It was Ah-young.

“So… you’re a senior engineer.”

Ah-young let out a hollow laugh.

Then, with an expression of contempt, she looked away.

Jungwon also withdrew her gaze from her.

After introducing Jungwon to the team, Do-jin showed her to her desk.

Unfortunately, because she was a senior engineer, she had been given a rather uncomfortable seat where she could see all the team members at a glance.

As Jungwon pulled out her chair and sat down, she unconsciously looked at Ah-young, whose desk was directly in front of hers.

Ah-young frowned deliberately, making her displeasure obvious.

“Senior Engineer Min, I sent you the program manual by email. Please look it over, and if there’s anything you don’t understand, feel free to ask me.”

“Thank you, Team Leader.”

“Ugh, so fake…”

Ah-young muttered quietly as she watched Jungwon talking to Do-jin.

Then she stood up and left the office.

Jungwon let out a small sigh and forced herself to focus only on her monitor, trying not to pay attention to Ah-young.

“Ugh, my head hurts…”

Jungwon had no idea how the morning had passed.

From learning the new program to constantly worrying about the people who clearly disliked her…

All the things she had been paying attention to made her head throb, and Jungwon slightly frowned.

Maybe some coffee would help.

She looked around the office and spotted the small break room set up in one corner.

She stood up and headed toward it.

Only during that short walk did she notice that none of the team members were at their desks.

She tilted her head in confusion.

Then, just as she reached the break-room door, she heard the voices of her teammates coming from inside.

“Oh, really? You knew Senior Engineer Kim?”

“Yes. We joined the company together.”

At the sound of Ah-young’s voice, Jungwon decided she would come back later and turned around.

But the conversation that followed made her stop in her tracks.

“What kind of person is the senior engineer who came in today? We’ve only heard rumors about her.”

“She was pretty incredible.”

“In what way?”

“She was famous for dating several people within the company. And she only dated managers, so she benefited quite a bit when it came to promotions.”

“Really?? But aren’t all the blueprints we’re using for reference hers? She can’t be completely incompetent.”

“Ah, Soo-young, you’re new here, so you don’t know, huh? Her father was the chief engineer here. So during every project, he helped her a lot, whether openly or behind the scenes. But what good did that do her? She got caught stealing blueprints and became a complete laughingstock. That’s why she quit and ran away.”

“My goodness, she stole blueprints? And she came back here again? She really has some nerve.”

Hearing their conversation from inside, Jungwon clenched her teeth.

Being ignored and insulted was one thing.

But dragging her innocent father into it was going too far.

Jungwon wanted to open the door and demand to know what Ah-young was saying.

But she decided to stay quiet.

It was her first day at work, after all, and she didn’t want to cause an even bigger scene and draw attention to herself.

While Jungwon swallowed her anger, the break-room door suddenly flew open.

The team members looked extremely flustered when they saw Jungwon standing outside.

Jungwon smiled brightly at them.

“I was just going to get some coffee.”

“Ah… yes.”

The team members hurried out of the break room as though they were escaping and returned to their desks.

Jungwon glared at them once before stepping inside.

Ah-young was sitting at the bar table, drinking coffee.

Jungwon approached the coffee machine and spoke to her quietly.

“You’re really good at lying, Ah-young. You know better than anyone that I only dated one person at work.”

“Really? I guess I was mistaken.”

Ah-young let out a sarcastic laugh.

Jungwon turned around and looked at her.

Ah-young also turned her head to face Jungwon.

“You must be happy. You became a senior engineer the moment you came back.”

“……”

“You know what? That position was originally mine. But you swooped in and took it away from me again.”

At Ah-young’s words, Jungwon simply stared at her with her lips pressed tightly together.

Ah-young continued.

“What’s your secret? Some of us have to work ourselves to the bone just to become eligible for a senior position, but you come back and immediately become one? Wow… Don’t you think the world is incredibly unfair?”

“……”

“I heard that Chairman Han personally went out of his way to bring you back. What’s your relationship with the chairman? Are you his girlfriend or something? Did you manage to secure yourself some nice position through him?”

“That’s not what happened.”

“Must be nice. Everything comes so easily to you.”

Ah-young bit down hard on her lip, apparently overwhelmed by anger.

Then she stood up and strode toward Jungwon.

She grabbed Jungwon tightly by the collar and glared at her viciously.

“Why Haesin? Of all places, why did you have to come back here?! Do you have any idea how hard I worked to get this senior position?! Why did you have to show up again and get in my way?!”

There was such murderous hostility in Ah-young’s eyes that it seemed as though she wanted to kill Jungwon.

Jungwon pushed Ah-young away and let out a deep sigh.

“I’m the one who was harmed, yet you’re sighing and looking down on people as if you’re the victim. I hate people like you—people who get everything without making any effort, relying on their privileged parents and using their pretty faces to get promoted. I can never forgive you.”

Everything Ah-young had said to her was wrong.

Jungwon had never benefited from anyone after joining this company.

She had reached this position through exactly the kind of relentless, backbreaking effort Ah-young had accused her of avoiding.

But perhaps, to other people, Jungwon’s life had always looked easy.

There had always been some kind of label attached to her.

Jungwon looked at Ah-young as though she were utterly exhausted by it all.

“Who says my life is easy? Do you really think I have everything? You were there too, so you should know better than anyone.”

“No. I don’t know.”

Ah-young glared at Jungwon one last time before leaving the break room.

Watching her retreating back, Jungwon sank down into her seat, overwhelmed by a wave of emptiness and futility.

She buried her face in her hands.

Jungwon and Ah-young had joined the company at the same time.

At the time, there weren’t many female employees in the design department, so the two of them attracted quite a bit of attention when they joined.

They had surprisingly many things in common.

They had similar tastes in food, similar fashion preferences, and even the same taste in perfume.

They had been so close that they went everywhere together.

But perhaps this was where their relationship had begun to fall apart.

It was around the time Jungwon and Ah-young entered their second year at the company.

“Ahh, I’m so nervous. What should I do?”

“You’re definitely going to get it, Ah-young. You finished this project really well. Besides, didn’t the team leader say you were a shoo-in?”

“Aren’t you nervous, Jungwon?”

“I’m not even up for promotion this time.”

“If I get promoted, I’m treating you to something really expensive!”

“Oh, I think the personnel announcement is up!”

Jungwon was checking the announcement board on the company intranet when she spoke to Ah-young.

Ah-young clasped her hands nervously and squeezed her eyes shut.

“I can’t look. Jungwon, you check first.”

“Okay. Here goes… One, two, three…!”

Jungwon checked the announcement before Ah-young and stared at the monitor with her eyes widening in surprise.

When Jungwon remained silent, Ah-young asked,

“What is it? What is it? Did I not make it? Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“Ah… well…”

Ah-young opened her eyes.

A dark shadow fell across her face.

[Shipbuilding Planning & Design Department / Design Team 1 — Research Engineer → Senior Engineer / Name: Min Jungwon]

It was Jungwon’s completely unexpected and extraordinary promotion.