"Even when there's a strike like today?"
"That too, but…"
Director Joo picked up a skewer of grilled shrimp piled high on the plate and handed it to Yoojin and Lin. As Yoojin took it with both hands and twisted off the shell, a nutty aroma spread through the air.
"These are people who beat the Americans in the Vietnam War. The simple farmers working the fields were the Viet Cong. I've been in Vietnam for over ten years now—and I still don't fully understand what's inside them."
Lin, who had been eating shrimp, tilted her head from side to side when she heard the words Vietnam and Viet Cong trying to figure out what was being said.
"Working for a foreign company like Samho Apparel in Ho Chi Minh City—even in factory management—means you're considered elite. But Lin falls behind compared to the others. If this were somewhere else, she'd just be an average employee."
Yoojin nodded. Being "slow" or "lacking" was always relative. Lin was, by all accounts, an entirely ordinary young woman for her age.
"Not long after Lin joined, I had her organize a defect list. Then one day, the entire file was gone. Turned out another office worker—jealous of her—had deleted it. Lin didn't even know that and thought it was her own mistake. I scolded her until she cried."
Bitterness crept into Director Joo's expression.
"After that, I started calling her Jjimse and kept her close, like a secretary."
Too ordinary to survive—that thought unsettled Yoojin. Wasn't she the one Lee Hyuk had yelled at not long ago?
"What makes you think you're so special?"
"You've only been working two days—how dare you talk like that to another department?"
"Just because you went to a top university and came in through open recruitment, you think you're above everyone?"
Yoojin squeezed her eyes shut. His words clung to her memory like barbed hooks.
Director Joo's voice continued beside her.
"I only finished middle school myself. It wasn't easy climbing up to factory manager—there was politics, dirty work, all kinds of crap. Vietnam's… different. It always feels like you're in a constant power struggle with the workers. Not all of them, but still."
As he thought of the employees who had stayed by his side for years, his expression softened.
"There are Vietnamese staff who've followed me for over a decade. Loyal ones. When I look at it that way, Yoojin, you're pretty thoughtful for a 21-year-old, aren't you?"
He raised his beer glass. Yoojin and Lin lightly clinked theirs against it.
"Most people run straight to their bosses to report every little thing, trying to look good. But you held back because you didn't want me to get cornered. I appreciate that."
Embarrassed, Yoojin scratched her forehead.
"Director… I was honestly really scared earlier."
"I was more surprised. Less than five minutes after you stepped outside, the workers poured out. Turns out they'd agreed to throw their shoes at three o'clock. Seriously."
"So it really was three o'clock when I went out… I should've stayed inside."
"Call it a learning experience."
"It must be exhausting being stationed overseas."
Her words seemed to comfort him; Director Joo smiled.
"It's fine. I earn dollars here and send them home to my family. And Director Nam Gi-cheol is coming."
"Director Nam? The Vietnam subsidiary director?"
"Yeah. And I asked him for a favor. Though I've got something to scold him about, too."
They began eating properly while waiting for Director Nam. As Yoojin tasted the steamed and stir-fried seafood, she was reminded that Ho Chi Minh was, after all, a coastal city.
*
"Hey, Director Joo."
"Director Nam! Get over here!"
A middle-aged man in a short-sleeved dress shirt approached quickly. Yoojin sprang up and bowed deeply.
"Hello, sir. I'm intern Han Yoojin."
"Ah—okay. Sit, sit."
About 175 centimeters tall, slightly heavyset, Nam Gi-cheol gestured awkwardly for her to sit, flustered by her formal greeting.
"Director Joo—there's a strike at the factory, but the Korean staff are striking too? Looks like a party."
He grinned at the food and beer.
"Days like this happen," Director Joo replied casually, speaking informally as if he were the older of the two. Director Nam joined them naturally.
Looking at Yoojin, Nam laughed.
"You should've seen the guys today. Morale skyrocketed thanks to you. I had to fight them off just to get here."
"What?"
"Pretty female employee shows up, and suddenly the men who've been half-dead from expatriate life look alive again."
Before Yoojin could respond, Director Joo exploded.
"Are you insane?! Why did you put a young woman in a men's dorm?!"
Nam flinched.
"Director, Lee Hyuk insisted. Said it wasn't safe for a young woman alone in a hotel."
"And you took that at face value? A men's dorm? Those idiots wanted to save per diem by putting her on a Monday night flight!"
Director Joo's anger didn't subside. Nam's cheeks puffed out defensively.
"Anyway—HQ called. They said to move Yoojin to a hotel."
"What? Samho Group HQ? Not Apparel?"
"Exactly. So calm down. If you blow up, it'll ruin the help I'm giving you tomorrow."
Director Joo stiffened, reminded that he needed Nam's cooperation.
"Yoojin, Factory 1 agreed to cover the halted volume from Factory 3. Buyer doesn't know. Got it?"
"Yes."
Global buyers approved factories through strict audits. Though all Samho factories operated under the same system, Ocean Bay had only approved Factory 3. Director Joo was rerouting production without informing sales.
"Won't that be a problem?"
"They'd rather this than air-freighting late goods. Someone has to take the hit up front."
He drained his beer. For office workers, nothing beat drinking with colleagues and venting about work.
By now, night had fallen. Seafood restaurant signs lit up Ho Chi Minh's streets.
Motorbikes flowed like a river, couples leaning against them, whispering affection.
Seeing them, Dongha crossed Yoojin's mind.
He must've been worried.
Her phone call hadn't ended until Director Joo dragged her back to the office.
No matter how many times she said she was fine, he must've heard the chaos.
She wondered what Dongha might be thinking at that moment, but there was no way for her to know—because after that, all contact with him had been cut off.
*
The next morning, fully prepared, Yoojin stood by the window of a bright hotel room overlooking a pristine blue pool.
Pickup was at 7:10. Twenty minutes left.
She'd moved to the Mövenpick Hotel the night before. At first, the five-star rating shocked her, but Director Nam waved it off as cheap.
Still no word from Dongha.
Instead, a message from Seryeon arrived.
[Yoojin, I want to introduce you to my boy friend. When are you free?]
Boy friend? Seryun fell in love fast, but it never lasted. Had it worked this time?
[Really? Are you dating? I'm in Vietnam and have a workshop this weekend. Next week?]
[It seems like we might be dating lol. You went on a business trip to Vietnam? Wow!! You didn't even tell me this? Tsk!]
It seems like—what did that even mean? Yoojin tilted her head slightly.
[I'll buy you a souvenir from the trip. Okay?]
[Alright, I'll forgive you just this once. So what's good to eat in Vietnam?]
Yoojin let out a soft hmph of a laugh.
That was clearly her way of saying bring me back a local specialty.
[I'm not sure either, but I'll ask around.]
Thinking it was about time, Yoojin left her room and headed to the lounge.
Passing through the elegantly decorated lobby, she walked toward the hotel's main entrance—just as a familiar white vehicle pulled up.
Director Joo was sitting in the front passenger seat, waving at her as she approached. Yoojin bowed deeply in greeting and reached for the car door.
"Hel—"
Her words caught in her throat at the unexpected sight.
Dongha was sitting by the window, smiling gently at her.
As if he had just taken a night flight, his hair looked messier than usual, soft strands falling over his forehead in loose waves.
The dark eyes that always carried a faint violet hue seemed to shine even brighter the moment they met hers.
"Hello, Yoojin. I'm here to support your business trip."
"Uh… what?"
Then someone behind her waved and called out.
It was a foreign man with short hair and glasses.
"Yoojin, Yoojin? Nǐ hǎo! Wǒ shì Taitex de Xiaochen."
Xiaochen from Taitex? Wasn't he supposed to arrive separately?
And Dongha?
She couldn't believe he was actually front of her.