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n“Yes,” said Youngsu.

nThough that was the most sensitive question these days, Youngsu answered without any hesitation, but his tone and look grew colder.

nWhile drinking with his colleagues recently, Youngsu heard about Yonggu’s past behavior more often than not. It was none other than Yonggu’s reaping what he’d sown.

nThough Youngsu trusted Yonggu as much as Hyunwoo, he could not turn a blind eye to Yonggu’s behavior. Then, at the decisive moment, Yonggu was trying to show his bad behavior again, and Youngsu was greatly disappointed.

nI wonder if this guy’s best efforts for Hyunwoo up to now was just a fake.

nBut Yonggu didn’t budge a bit. Obviously, he didn’t know that Youngsu had already found out about his past behavior or that Youngsu was thinking negatively about him.

n“I know it’s not polite for me to say this, and I’m ready to be reprimanded for this, but I’ve got one thing to tell you, sir.”

n“What is it?”

nYoungsu’s tone was already icy as if he’d read Yonggu’s mind, “If I made any contribution for my potential promotion, I would like to give the credit to Assistant Manager Jang.”

nYoungsu opened his eyes wide. It was something he didn’t expect at all, rather the opposite.

n“As you know, it’s Hyunwoo who made the purchasing team what it is today. He exhibited extraordinary performance by saving the unit price, and in Vietnam, especially…”

n“Oh, that’s enough.”

nYonggu stopped for a moment, and then he looked into Youngsu’s eyes cautiously.

n“Don’t talk to me about the matter of promotion. Whatever the reason may be, it’s not something you want to bring up to me,” said Youngsu.

n“I know that, sir. I’m sorry.”

nYonggu bowed to him.

n“And you know, there is one thing you should never make any concessions to your colleagues at the company.”

nOf course, Yonggu knew what it was. It was none other than promotion.

nWhen management was promoting someone, it meant the management judged he or she was qualified for promotion, so if he or she made concessions about promotion, it was like saying to the management ‘you chose the wrong person for promotion’ as well as ‘I’m not qualified for promotion.’

nThough Yonggu knew that, he had to tell Youngsu. Otherwise, he could not get over his sense of guilt toward Hyunwoo that he had piled up for long.

nIn fact, Youngsu was agonized over the matter of promotion.

nIt was Yonggu who needed the promotion the most because Youngsu knew there were three competitors trying to win Minhye Park’s heart.

nSangho Oh, one of the three, would be included in the list of those due for regular promotion. Though the final decision had to be made by President Daebong Park, Sangoho was included in the list because he made some contributions to cost reduction of the new dorm construction, and above all, he was already dating Minhye, but Sangho’s performance was not enough for Yongsu to recommend him for special promotion.

nIf there was anyone up for special promotion this time, it was Yonggu, but in the upcoming reshuffle, there was nobody getting promotion to team leader. Youngsu could have singled out Yonggu for special promotion, but that would have been another headache for Youngsu because Yonggu might get a higher performance credit, but Youngsu would have to give up a special promotion chance for somebody else.

nIt was difficult for Youngsu to recommend Hyunwoo for special promotion because Hyunwoo already got promoted to an assistant manager less than three months after he got hired, and it was still less than one year since he had started working. Youngsu felt it might be too early for Hyunwoo to get promoted to deputy manager. Of course, it was not impossible if he pushed for it. As Hyunwoo had an extraordinary performance record, nobody would take any issue with his promotion to deputy manager.

nYoungsu thought about the consequences of Hyunwoo’s promotion. His too speedy promotion would bring about his colleagues’ jealousy. Youngsu knew it clearly because he had experienced it before.

nFifteen days later, Youngsu submitted a list of promotion candidates to President Park Daebong for approval, and the list was announced on the company bulletin after it was finally approved by the promotion committee.

nAurum team members gathered around the bulletin board. Among them were the purchasing team members, of course.

n“Who got promoted this time?”

n“There must be someone from our purchasing team.”

n“Of course, we had an unprecedented performance, didn’t we?”

nEverybody looked at the announcement with high expectations.

nThere were a total of five employees who got promoted, and among them was one with special promotion. The person who got a special promotion was from the purchasing team. In addition, there was another one who got regular promotion.

n

n

nEach of the staff who read the announcement stood with their mouths wide open.

n“Wow! Assistant Manager Jang got promoted to deputy manager. It’s been less than one year since he started working here. Isn’t his promotion too fast?”

n“Well, he deserves it. Look at how wonderful he performed last year. Now we have to go and see him for his approval. You know, he’s only a high school graduate.”

n“Though he joined us late, he’s much older than you, man.”

n“I just feel sorry for Sangho. He’s two levels behind Hyunwoo, his high-school colleague here. That means Hyunwoo is more competent, right?”

nThere were pros and cons to Hyunwoo’s promotion, and people were evenly divided between those who supported it and those who thought it was too speedy.

nWhat’s the point of ordinary employees making a fuss about it? The decision was made by the management anway, and they would forget about it after they had a couple of drinking parties.

nThe purchasing team had other things to celebrate this time because as part of the reorganization, they gained two more staff members.

nAssistant Manager Yongrak Cho and Manho Cho were transferred to the purchasing team to manage the material being managed by the purchasing team so that there was a more clarity around the line of responsibilities of the production team and the purchasing team.

nIt signaled that the purchasing team was doing excellent work, management wanted to beef it up by adding two more staff so that it could do more. Thanks to management’s decision, the purchasing team got two more staff while the number of the production team reduced by two. The chief of the production was shocked to see two of his members transferring to the production team and thought, Why am I out of luck this time? Why don’t we have a member like Hyunwoo or Yonggu in my production team?

n***

nHyunwoo looked around the restaurant. As he had never visited such a luxurious restaurant before, he was kind of awkward. Even the restaurant staff were watching him closely, ready to expel him if he didn’t behave properly.

nBut things would never end up that way because a stunning beauty, who wasn’t the type to ever date someone like Hyunwoo, was waving her hands at him. She was a popular entertainer on TVs these days.

n“Hey, brother, come this way.”

nShe was Nami Yu, the current Miss Korea. Thanks to her stunning beauty, figure and talent, she was an actress on TV soap operas and as an MC on other entertainment programs.

nHyunwoo approached her with a happy look on his face, “Why are you alone here? Where is your boyfriend, Dukwoo?”

n“Oh, he said he would be a bit late. He’ll be here in a moment.”

n“Shall we order after he arrives?”

n“It doesn’t matter. Are you sure you’re going to treat us here? The menu here is very expensive. Even though you got promoted, don’t you think you’re spending too much?”

n“No worries. I don’t come here often anyway,” said Hyunwoo casually.

nBut, Nami felt uncomfortable. Hyunwoo didn’t tell Dukwoo Jang and her anything about N&C Korea. It was not because he didn’t trust either of them, but he felt that he could keep it secret for as long as possible when he didn’t share it with anybody else.

nSoon, Nami’s cell phone rang.

n“Oh, it’s you, Dukwoo! Hello?”

nWhile she was talking to him, she knitted her brows, which was enough for Hyunwoo to figure out her conservation with him.

nAfter the call, she let out a sigh, “He said he couldn’t take time off at all this time. Looks like he values his work more than me, doesn’t he?”

n“Don’t say that! Don’t you remember you, too, couldn’t take time to meet him when you were preparing for the Miss Korea contest because you were too busy.”

n“Still I didn’t break my promise. He should not have made the promise if he couldn’t keep it.”

n“It depends how you think about. The fact that he made the promise suggests that he wanted to meet you, right? Don’t get mad because of this.”

n“Oh my god! Are you on my side or his?”

nHyunwoo scratched his head at the moment. Though he tried his best to mediate between them, he was being attacked for taking Dukwoo’s side.

nNami giggled at his embarrassed look, “Hahaha I’m joking, brother. I know you said that for both of us, and I love Dukwooo. Don’t worry. I’m not going to fall out with him because of things like this.”

n“Oh, you should not. In my opinion, you’ve found a good boyfriend, and Dukwoo has found a nice girl.”

n“That’s enough, brother. I’m hungry.”

nAt the same time Nami and Hyunwoo were meeting at the restaurant, Sangho Oh took Minhye’s wrists.

n“What’s wrong with you this time?” Minhye asked sharply.

n“You did broke the promise. Why isn’t my name in the promotion list this time?” asked Oh.

n“Promise? What kind of promise?”

n“Wasn’t our original plan that I would get the title of the manager as soon as possible so you and I could get married? Just look at what happened! A guy who doesn’t have a college degree has been promoted to a deputy manager. Why am I still an ordinary employee?”

n“Stop kidding yourself! You earn promotion on your own, and our talk of marriage was based on the assumption that you can prove your capabilities. I’ll say this very clearly to you: I’ve never made that kind of promise. When I talked about my father, you made up the plan on your own.”

n“You said you liked my idea at the time, didn’t you?”

n“Well, I liked it on the assumption that you could prove your capabilities. Up to now, you haven’t show anything particular.”

nMinhye was disputing everything.

nSangho had nothing to dispute. As she said, he hadn’t demonstrated his capabilities at all. Though he didn’t work badly, his performance was shallow when compared with Hyunwoo’s.

nNonetheless, he could not lose her.

nIn fact, he didn’t have any reason to cling to the idea of a promotion, for he would be the president of Aurum once he got married to Minhye.

nSangho softened his expression and said, “Yea, let’s not talk about it anymore. I’m sorry. As a human, I vented my anger because I felt heavy with worries.”

nMinhye also stopped talking. In some respects, she was responsible for pushing him. So, she felt a bit sorry, too.

n“Cheer up! You haven’t yet finished one full year since you got hired. It takes a couple of years for any new hire to get promoted to an assistant manager, so don’t get nervous.”

n“Got it. Shall we have a dinner together? I know a very nice restaurant.”

nMinhye didn’t feel up to it because she knew what Sangho really wanted was not dinner. Still, she treated him heartlessly these days. Though she didn’t want to recover her ardent feelings toward him, she was willing to dine with him.

nSo, she headed to the restaurant Sangho suggested. It was the most expensive restaurant in Ansan, and she like the atmosphere very much.

nThey ordered some food and ate together.

nSuddenly, she cast a glance at the table on the other side and opened her eyes wide before she knew it.

nNoticing her surprised look, Sangho also turned his head toward that table.

n“What’s the matter? Do you know someone over there?” asked Sangho .

nSangho also opened his eyes wide and found his colleague Hyunwoo there.He couldn’t believe it. This restaurant was too expensive for someone like Hyunwoo to visit anytime.

nWhat’s more surprising was a woman sitting beside Hyunwoo.

nOh, that woman is… Isn’t she Nami Yu?

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