Sungmin's POV
The office was the same as it always was. The busy bustling of reports and reviews, the document preparations and ringing some employees' mobiles. Bongseon's keyboard was clicking at a speed that said she was either working very hard or stressed, and with Bongseon, those two things were usually the same.
I had to go back to work as usual. I wasn't able to meet Joohwan face-to-face yesterday, and I walked away from a restaurant. I didn't know what to even talk about in the state I am in.
"You okay?" Bongseon asked before I could take my bag.
I nodded with my usual smile that was always concealed by the stress and exhaustion. But it didn't convince that little devil.
She shook her head, pressing her lips into a thin line, and leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed. I pulled my chair back to sit.
"You took a whole day off yesterday, Han Sungmin. "You, who once came to work with a fever, are now reported for reviewing."
"People change, Ms Knag," I said, settling into my chair and pressing a key on the keyboard.
"Yes, people change, but not you," she said, tilting her head. "What happened?"
"My head got too achy, so I had to," I replied. Well, not a lie, though; my head throbbed intensely yesterday.
Bongseon, though, remained neutral; her eyes softened in concern. Her gaze turned to the computer screen, and her finger flew across the keys. "You should take care of yourself, Sungmin. Some wounds have such an effect that they might look healed but need a very long time."
"Some wounds do have such an effect but atsome point they must have to heal right when they have time. Then why do they ache?" I asked, looking at the blue screen of my computer.
"But the healing only happens when you give it proper care rather than working on being unhealed, thinking time could heal it's not right; you should be responsible for being healed on time when you have it. Time is only there as support to depend on; that's all." She said with a loud press on the key. She does that when she presses the enter button. "And mostly when you know the pain is aching you, it's a sign, but you are just ignorant to acknowledge it."
"Sometimes it's easier to ignore the pain than to face it head-on."
"And that's what you pay for it now by not taking care of it properly."
I glanced at her, and she looked back with a slow smile rising on her lips. "But believe me, at a time where you give rest to the pain, accepting it even if it's unbelievable, your healing would begin."
I don't know why, but for some reason her words made me wonder if she was really talking about my headache or emotional ache, but somehow her words resonated with me.
She had already turned back to her work again.
"Bongseon-ah, since when did you become a saint?"
Bongseon let out an exasperated sound that's somewhere between an alugh and a scoff; her finger paused in mid-typing and plonked them flat on the desk with a low tap. "Yeah, I was talking out of concern, and here you are making fun of me?"
"I am not making fun, Bongseon-ah; I am just saying that you are very philosophical today," I said, fighting the muscle-pulling at my mouth.
She rolled her eyes at me, throwing her hand in the air and shaking her head as if she were done with me. I burst into laughter, settling back to our work. But her words were right; if we keep ignoring the ache, though we know what it is, it slowly swallows you like a snake.
I think Yoonsuh hyung did ignore the ache, but at the end he was swallowed by the snake that wrapped around him tightly before Joohwan could even pull him out of that spiral that had already sucked the life out of him.
And Joohwan is in the same danger now. If it's not me, would he also…
No, no, don't even think of it, Han Sungmin. You've got work; focus on it….
…"Sungmin hyung"
I flinched at the sound of my name snapping out of my thoughts. Minjae was standing in front of my desk. His full lips turned into his usual angelic smile, which sometimes looked so forced as if he hid something behind that handsome, kind face.
"Oh, looks like you zoned out. Are you okay? Do you want another day off?" He asked softly as ever. I shook my head, waving my hand dismissively. "No, I'm fine, just thinking about work."
Minjae shook his head, clicking his tongue. "Tsk tsk, you are stressing yourself too much about work, Hyung," he said, placing his palms on my desk. "But if you really need a leave, just tell me. I will convin-
"Tim-jang-nim, I am totally fine." I immediately cut him off with a tight-lipped smile. "And as an assistant manager, our team needs me right along with you, so I can't afford to take time off. Besides, yesterday was enough; I'm fine now."
Minjae's lips press into a thin line, nodding his head while glancing somewhere before getting his attention on me again. He sighed as if he were defeated in a tug-of-war and said, "Fine, if you say so."
Before I could ask him if there was any work or something, Bongson spoke, "Let's keep Sungmn's day off aside. Why were we most absent yesterday? She asked, the last part very teasingly, her eyebrows dancing up and down.
Minjae, for a quick second, looked taken aback by the sudden change of topic from me to him. Before putting on his smile back, but with a pinch of blush to it. It would have been hard to notice how he was taken aback by the question if I were my normal self. Unfortunately today I was somehow very hyperaware for some unknown reason.
"Well…I…" He stuttered under his breath, his hand rubbing his nape, and his smile turned more bashful than confident, and I got it; I really got it.
"You met your girlfriend, aren't you?" I asked.
His lip pouted slightly and his eyes widened, and that's it. I conformed.
"He did!" Bongseon said with a teasing smirk. "Look at his face; it's written all over it."
I glanced at Bongseon and back at Minjae; he let out a nervous laugh, his cheeks turning a shade of pink. I almost scoffed at how obvious it was. I mean, I have been through it before – the nervous laughter, the blushing cheeks.
He let out a groan, with that bashful grin, "Alright, you guys always know me, and now it's not time to talk about my personal life. We have a team meeting in fifteen minutes," he said, finally getting to the main point.
"And this meeting is without department head Yu Shil-jang-nim; just get ready to be bashed again," with that, Minjae left.
All the light environment has all vaporised out with that announcement; the department head, Yu Seunghyun, the last time meeting where Junwoo defended our team against his harsh criticism, is now again meeting with him, which will be a headache.
Bongseong fell back into the chair like an air-diffused balloon. I have gone through the research reports and our team's project reviews and plans that were put in the future, and everything is online. I leant back on my chair with a sigh.
But…
There was still a problem; we don't have a chef.
"Ready for meeting, Mr Han?" Junwoo's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
I turned my head, looking up at him standing right behind my chair, like a tall tower in his very professional dark blue suit and black tie. His eyes were fixed on me, waiting for my response. He looked at me as if asking if I were ready for the war.
I nodded at him, and then he turned his gaze from Bongseon, who was already preparing her notes and grabbing her pen. "There is no need of taking those with you, Ms Kang; it's just our team," he added before walking to the meeting room as if he came to us to remind us of our meeting time.
Just our team; wait, so no other teams. Our department consists of at least 10 teams. Each team has the same goals to reach, but we were involved in the chef hunt. Of course, I must say they all saw the potential in our team because of our youngest manager and team leader, but they haven't seen how picky we can be while choosing a chef.
***
When Bongsoen and I walked in, Minjae and Junwoo were already seated at the meeting table. We walked in, bowing to department head Yu, and quietly dragged out chairs to sit down as Yu's eyes followed us to our seats.
He cleared his throat loudly, a habit he does have before speaking up. Except for Junwoo, three of us exchanged glances nervously about what this man would say.
"So, I know you all have been working tirelessly to find a chef for our company." He began, pressing on "tirelessly", which somehow felt mocking us under his calmness. He placed his hand on the table, clasping it. "So, to make your job easy, I have decided to hire my nephew instead."
The news hit us like a tonne of bricks; our hard work seemed for nothing. Yu's nephew was known for his lack of experience and laziness. The most frustrating part is that guy can't take collective criticism and find what the product lacks.
At least the chefs we rejected had this knowledge, where they said what they lacked but still couldn't give the previous flavour that our company products used to have. But no, this can't happen.
"But Shil-jang-nim, your nephew is still inexperienced in felids; our products need the preservation techniques that professionals use, but you yourself mentioned many times." Junwoo spoke up confidently, which made me feel proud of him.
Department head Yu didn't answer immediately. Instead, he leaned back in his chair, slowly adjusting the cuff of his expensive watch that costs my half salary, as if Junwoo had merely commented on how wonderful the decision is rather than questioned his decision.
"I did," he replied at last, his voice perfectly levelled. "But everyone needs an opportunity to grow, right, head manager Joo?"
I and Bongseon looked at each other, then at Minjae, who gave us a nod, as if we could handle this. I gave a very slight nod back. Yu continued his blabbering again: "My nephew graduated from one of the country's best culinary institutes. He simply lacks experience."
"Experience is exactly what this position requires, sir," Junwoo answered without raising his voice. "We're not opening a training kitchen."
Across the table Minjae quietly rested his elbow on the armrest of his chair. His face remained polite, but the easy smile he always wore had disappeared completely. And finally he opened his mouth.
"Our clients expect consistency, Shil-Jang-nim; one mistake in production affects every branch." He said.
Yu's eyes shifted toward him, with one eyebrow raising. "So, you're refusing my recommendation?"
"No, sir," Minjae answered smoothly. "I'm saying our hiring criteria should remain the same for everyone," he continued. His tone was respectful but his words were not.
Bongseon subtly glanced at me. She knew the room had become a battlefield, and the leaders had already drawn their swords. As the assistant manager, I knew it was my turn to step in. I straightened in my chair, quietly opening the folder I had brought with me.
"Shil-jang-nim."
The department head looked at me. I met his gaze without flinching.
"We understand your intention of giving someone an opportunity, but this recruitment has never been for finding someone with the best academic record. I slid a report across the table toward him. "Over the past four months, we've interviewed thirty-seven professional chefs."
Yu lowered his eyes to the report but didn't touch it, as if it were something useless to see.
"Plus, we rejected all of them," Bongseon said before he could interrupt me. "Not because they lacked experience but because none of them could reproduce the original flavour profile our customers have known for years."
The room was so silent that while we gave our explanation, I could hear my own heartbeat drumming in my ears.
"The position isn't simply about cooking." I turned another page. "It's about preserving consistency across every branch, training future kitchen staff, understanding large-scale production, food preservation, inventory management and recipe standardisation."
I paused to take a breath that I had held until I finished my speech. "Even experienced chefs struggled. If we lower our standards now simply because the candidate is related to someone within the company…" I stopped there, resting my fingers lightly against the edge of the file, because I didn't need to finish, as everyone already knew the rest.
Across the table, Minjae looked at me with his eyes shining like stars that almost blinded me, and Junwoo remained perfectly still beside him, but I could notice the slightest curve on his lips, as if he were proud of what I did.
"So," Yu said slowly, "you're all questioning my judgement."
"No, sir," I answered immediately.
Yu raised his eyebrow at me. I know we have no option left yet, but still we can't let him choose his decision to win. Not when I have finally found the best chef that gives an original taste of our company. I took a slow breath. I knew what I was about to say sounded dangerously close to making a personal recommendation.
But unlike this one…
My confidence was based on months of searching. It felt like I had been walking through a dry desert for months and finally found a body of water. Even if it felt like a mirage, I couldn't give up on it.
"I request one more week, Shil-jang-nim," I said, keeping my voice steady. "Within that time, I believe I can introduce a chef who truly deserves this position."
"Oh? And what makes this candidate different from the thirty-seven you've already rejected?" Yu's tone carried a little interest, but his eyes were still narrowed.
I straightened in my chair. I can feel Junwoo's intrigued stare and Minaje's and Bongseon's confused yet wanting gazes, not knowing whom I am about to refer to or talk to.
"Because he isn't someone I found on paper."
The room went quiet, wanting me to continue.
"I've spent the last four months interviewing chefs with impressive resumes, outstanding culinary schools and years of experience." I rested my fingertips on the report before me that carries the history of our hunt. "Yet none of them could recreate the flavour profile our customers have trusted for decades."
I paused, making sure my every word got into his mind, not just his ears.
"This candidate can."
Yu's fingers tapped lazily against the tabletop, swinging his chair. "Can…according to whom?" he asked, tilting his head with his narrow eyes.
"According to me,"
The answer came before I had time to reconsider it. Even Bongseon turned to look at me. "And our team," I added and looked at three of them.
I ignored their stares and turned to Yu. "We have tasted his food," I said calmly. "I've tasted dishes prepared by countless chefs during this recruitment process. This is the first time I've tasted something that reminded me of home, the taste that our original recipes have and are known for."
Minjae's eyes widened imperceptibly as if he caught what I was saying about him. Junwoo looked calm with him intimidating, yet his eyes didn't miss his work in showing how he too got surprised. And Bongseon's mouth parted in a gape with, "Are you serious about it right now?"
Yu let out a humourless chuckle. "So now we're relying on your team's taste buds, Mr Han?"
"No, sir." I shook my head. "I'm just asking you to let him prove it himself."
Another silence settled over the room. I glanced at three of them; they still looked like I was even making the right decision about this. But…they weren't wrong to look at me like that. After all, we had been refused by that same man. We heard him say no. We have walked out of that restaurant empty-handed. Even I could question my own judgement if I were sitting where they were.
He smirked. "And if I agree", he said lazily, flapping his hands over one another, "then you should accept whoever I choose afterwards. Whether it is my nephew…or someone else."
No one moved a single breath. I could feel Bonseon's gaze burning into the side of my face, silently asking if I had completely lost my mind. Even Minaje, who usually looked unscalable during meetings, was watching me with his unbelieving eyes. Junwoo remained composed, but his fingers had stopped tapping the table.
I inhaled slowly. "…Agreed."
Bongeson sucked in a sharp breath. "Sungmin…" she whispered under it.
Yu's eyebrow lifted. "You accepted rather quickly."
"Because I'm asking for a chance, not favour."
His finger stopped tapping; I continued before anyone could interrupt. "If I can't prove my judgement after four months of leading this requirement, then I have no right to reject your decision."
Across the table, Minjae looked more astonished. Yu leaned forward slightly.
"And what if your…miracle chef refuses to come?"
The question struck exactly where it hurt. For a brief second, the rejection day flashed through my mind. The day Junwoo hadn't come out from his cabin was for days. And the other days were when I had seen Joohwan's tired eyes that had already given up before I even asked.
My fingers tightened beneath the table. "He won't."
Three pairs of eyes snapped towards me. Not because they believed me. Because I had answered too quickly. I corrected myself before the silence could expose the lie.
"…He deserves to be asked properly."
Juwoo's gaze lingered on me. He had caught it. Of course he had, as he was the one who was directly giving the offer and brought us a big-ass no. Yu noticed it too, the corner of his mouth curling.
"So you haven't even secured the candidate?"
"No."
"And yet you're asking me to postpone an appointment."
"Yes."
Yu laughed loudly as if he heard the best joke ever.
"Your team is really something, Mr Park," he said in between his irritating laugh, for which Minjae promised a smile.
"Fine…fine…One week. One week, Mr Han."
My heartbeat echoed loudly in my ears at the pauses.
"If by this time next week, you candidly prove he can satisfy the evaluation panel under the same standards as every other applicant…" He looked directly into my eye. "…Then I will consider him a failure."
A flicker of relief threatened to escape me. It disappeared just as quickly when he continued.
"But if he fails…" His voice became closer as he spoke, "…I don't want a single objection when I appoint the next chef."
"Yes, sir."
For a long moment, Yu simply stared at me. Then gave a single nod.
"The meeting is over."