Good Night, Brother! - Chapter 7.9

This was the company he had desperately wanted to join. When he received the acceptance notice, he’d vowed to dedicate himself fully. But now, he couldn’t even bear the thought of returning to the office. Was this why I fought so hard to break into the narrow job market?

Suddenly, the saying about 3, 6, and 9 months being critical turning points for new employees came to mind. Having joined in December after finishing his training, he was nearing the six-month mark.

“Six months… not even enough for severance pay. Damn it,” he muttered darkly, leaning on the rooftop railing.

While Eun-hyun brooded on the rooftop, lunchtime ended, and Su-ah returned to her desk. She’d bought some donuts, worried about her junior skipping lunch, only to find him gone. Her gaze fell on his monitor, still connected to his laptop, and some unsettling words caught her attention.

“…What the—?”

Scrolling through the email Sang-jin had sent, Su-ah’s brow furrowed sharply.

By the time Eun-hyun returned, having just managed to compose himself, Su-ah’s message popped up in his messenger.

[Su-ah (Assistant Manager): Eun-hyun.]

[Eun-hyun (Employee): Yes.]

[Su-ah (Assistant Manager): Meet me at the café in front of the office.]

[Eun-hyun (Employee): Now?]

[Su-ah (Assistant Manager): Yes. Quickly.]

[Eun-hyun (Employee): Okay…]

Sitting across from Su-ah at the café, Eun-hyun’s face was clouded with worry. Su-ah had a pretty good idea of what had happened.

“I saw the email from Sang-jin when I stopped by your desk earlier. You didn’t agree to do it, did you?”

“What? Oh… no, I didn’t.”

“Good. That idiot… How dare he try to dump his team’s work on us? He must be out of his mind.”

Eun-hyun’s eyes widened in surprise at Su-ah’s harsh tone—he’d never heard her speak like this before.

“If you’d done it, you wouldn’t just be a pushover. You’d make our team leader look bad too. It could easily spark conflict between teams. Never agree to something like that again.”

“Yes…”

“Trying to sneak his work onto you like a stray cat pilfering food… The nerve.”

This was the first time Eun-hyun had seen Su-ah this angry. She took a long sip of her limeade and then, with an annoyed expression, asked, “What did Sang-jin say when you refused?”

“Uh… he said I was handling office life well… and…”

“And?”

“He said I was arrogant for a rookie…”

“And?”

“…”

Do I tell her he swore at me too? As Eun-hyun hesitated, Su-ah pressed him.

“What else? Tell me everything.”

“…He called me a son of a—”

Su-ah snorted, then muttered under her breath, “Unbelievable.”

“…”

“You know I joined the company the same year as him, right?”

“Yes.”

“He was infamous from the start.”

“For what?”

“For being all talk and no work. Everyone hated him.”

“…”

“But he’s great at sucking up. He’s probably rubbed his hands together so much he’s worn off his palm lines. And he spends ages on smoke breaks, batting his lashes and schmoozing.”

“Oh…”

“Do you know what his nickname is?”

“What is it?”

Su-ah glanced around to ensure no one was listening, then leaned in and whispered, “E-Jinsang. Not Lee Sang-jin, just Jinsang—a total nuisance.”

Eun-hyun didn’t know how to respond, so he simply blinked.

“But no matter how much of a nuisance he is, how can he dump his work on someone from a different team? Did he eat something bad for lunch?”

Her deadpan expression was so serious that this time Eun-hyun couldn’t help but laugh.

The rest of the afternoon was a blur. Like a robot, Eun-hyun repeated to himself, I am a machine. I enter data and write purchase orders, as he slogged through his tasks.

It wasn’t until he scanned his ID card at the office exit that he could finally call it a day.

It had felt like an entire year packed into one day. But there were still Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday left. After just one day back from a three-day holiday, he was utterly spent.

On the subway, leaning against the steel pole near the door, Eun-hyun swayed with the train’s movements.

Once he left the office, he was no longer “Employee Jeong Eun-hyun.” He was just himself. But the events of the day kept replaying in his mind: the way Manager Choi had berated him, Sang-jin’s insults.

“God, what a day…” he muttered under his breath, his curse swallowed by the rumble of the train.

When he got home, Yi-hyeon greeted him at the door.

“Hyung, you’re back!”

“…Yeah.”

But Eun-hyun’s face didn’t match his words. Yi-hyeon frowned and asked, “Did something happen at work?”

“No… nothing.”

“You look like something happened.”

Trailing behind Eun-hyun like a puppy as he went to his room to take off his jacket, Yi-hyeon kept asking, “What’s wrong? Come on, tell me.”

“It’s nothing. Work was just busy.”

“You’ve worked late before and never looked like this.”

What kind of face am I making?

“It’s nothing. I’m just tired.”

“Hmm…”

Yi-hyeon didn’t seem convinced.

“Can you leave? I want to change.”

“Why? Just change here.”

“…”

Instead of his usual playful shouting of “Get out!” Eun-hyun simply gave Yi-hyeon a cold glare. Sulking, Yi-hyeon left the room.

After changing, Eun-hyun headed to the kitchen, grabbed a can of beer from the fridge, and drained it in one go, leaning on the counter.

“Phew…”

Watching from the sofa, Yi-hyeon was startled to see his brother crumple the can in frustration.

“Hyung, are you sure nothing’s wrong?”

Seeing the genuine concern on Yi-hyeon’s face, Eun-hyun almost spilled everything. But he steeled himself. He didn’t want to whine to his younger brother, who was five years his junior.

“It’s fine.”

He grabbed another beer and plopped down on the sofa beside Yi-hyeon. The cushion sank under his weight, echoing his exhaustion. Popping open the second can, he asked, “Did you eat dinner?”

“Yeah, with my classmates. Did you?”

“I’m not hungry. I’m skipping it.”

“You can’t just drink on an empty stomach.”

“Beer’s made from barley. It’s fine.”

“…Fine,” Yi-hyeon sighed.

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