Jiyeon soon forgot about the sticky note Hyunjung attached to the hot water bag.
Recently, a foreign customer they had just signed a contract with was coming to visit the factory. Chengxiao was busy receiving them, and since she couldn’t deal with the work at hand in time, she handed most of them over to Jiyeon.
She had to contact the freight forwarder, plan the shipping schedule with the logistics side, make various kinds of forms, sort out a large number of complicated documents, and watch over the shipment process at the factory . . .
With everything combined, she was so busy her head was about to explode. She didn’t even have the time to occasionally daydream.
After a whole day of working, her brain almost couldn’t function anymore.
She needed to relax.
Jiyeon sighed and opened the group chat, sending a “?”.
Its meaning was basically “wanna hang out?”.
Before long, Luda and the others, all appeared, frantically sending “!!!!!!!”.
It seemed like they all were desperate to go out.
Seeing the long string of exclamation marks, Jiyeon couldn’t help but laugh.
Everyone had been a bit busy lately, especially Sojung, who was hung up on online dating and even went out of town. After meeting the other person, she discovered that they were younger than her by over a dozen years, not having even graduated from elementary school.
She couldn’t question the other person. When she did, all she received in response was: the photos were fake, stories made up, and dating techniques learned online.
But the heart that loved you was real.
Sojung was so stunned she couldn’t help but laugh. She scolded the child, telling her to behave well and study hard. Afterward, she still felt angry, so she turned around, drove to the beachside, and stuffed herself with many pounds of lobster.
But she got unlucky, the place she went to probably wasn’t very clean.
She didn’t feel anything wrong when she was eating but after returning home, she became sick and had diarrhea for several days. All she did during those days was lie down.
So the moment Jiyeon sent the message, she emerged immediately.
She also sent the most exclamation marks in the group chat.
Ready to leave anytime.
—
Half an hour later, the four met in a commercial street in the city center.
One of Luda’s friends opened a new restaurant, and he invited them over to check it out a long time ago. Since they didn’t have time then, they kept dragging it on. Now, the chance finally came.
Seeing an acquaintance come over, that friend was extremely enthusiastic. He gave them a lump of free meat, a fruit plate, and many bottles of beer.
Luda immediately showed courtesy, saying that both she and Soobin drove their cars here, and the remaining two friends couldn’t drink all this beer, so he should take them back.
“I already brought them here, so don’t worry and just drink. If needed, I’ll find you guys substitute drivers!” The friend laughed and patted her, and before waiting for her to say anything, he raised his eyes and looked in the direction of Sojung, then grinned and said, “Look at how happy she’s drinking.”
“Ah?” Luda quickly turned around and discovered that Sojung had already drunk half a bottle of beer while the two were talking.
“. . . . . .”
This unbelievable thing.
Afterward, she walked up and patted Sojung's head heavily. “Why are you drinking so quickly, are you crazy!”
Sojung grunted from the force of her pats. “I’m hurting.”
“Didn’t you recover?” Jiyeon sighed after hearing her words. “Where else does it hurt?”
Sojung pointed at her chest. “It hurts here!”
“My heart’s hurting, it’s broken into small pieces . . .” she murmured while pouring herself another drink, then said some lines, “Love breaks the heart, love makes people shed tears.”
“F*ck love, I’m a b*tch if I ever fall in love again!”
Everyone was dumbfounded.
Luda’s heart was tired, and thinking that this person just recovered from a cold and shouldn’t drink too much, she wanted to stop her. But she was blocked by Soobin on the side.
“Let her drink a little,” her eyes smiling and her tone teasing, “She’s sad right now.”
“Let’s eat.” Afraid that Sojung was able to hear, she then moved closer to Luda, lowering her voice to say, “Let’s stop her in a bit.”
Afterward, she stood up again, picked up the kettle, and poured a glass of water for everyone except Sojung.
She glanced at Soobin, then raised the glass and said, “Let’s replace the beer with water.”
“And cheers . . . to our friendship.”
—
The meal lasted almost two hours.
Jiyeon didn’t like drinking. Aside from some special occasions, she barely touched alcohol. Just like Soobin and Luda, she wasn’t drunk at all.
Looking at Sojung, on the other hand, she was drunk to the point that she’s begun smiling in a daze.
After paying the bill, the group helped Sojung out the door, swaying along with her as they walked. And listened to her talk nonsense the entire way.
Jiyeon was the closest to her, so she suffered the most. She was about to grow callouses in her ears if that were possible.
After a while, she finally arrived home. With the smell of food still on her body, she quickly took off her clothes and threw them in the washing machine, then walked into the bathroom and took a refreshing shower.
After blow drying her hair, she opened the group chats to tell them that she’s gotten home safely. But just as she pressed the voice record button, she suddenly sneezed without warning.
Guessing that it might’ve been because she was exposed to the air a little too long when showering, She didn’t think much of it. When she adjusted to press the record button again, another sneeze followed.
This time it was a loud “Ah-Choo”!!!
She stood in place and regained her composure, a bad guess popping into her mind.
Did she get infected by Sojung?
No way . . .
—
Jiyeon had no energy the entire morning the next day.
Her body felt heavy, her nose stuffed, and she was almost unable to lift her eyelids.
There was no doubt she had a cold.
When she got up in the morning, she already realized that she was indeed sick. She wanted to take a sick leave and rest, but then she remembered all the work Chengxiao left for her.
So many tasks and each so complicated. If she didn’t do them, it’s not like someone else would.
And if she didn’t finish them, there would be serious consequences.
So . . . she had no choice but to come.
Jiyeon wanted to cry, and she rolled around the bed a few times before finally going to the company.
And just as she imagined, she rushed around and toiled for the whole morning. It wasn’t until noon arrived did she finally come to a rest.
There were still more than ten minutes before break started. She was both sleepy and exhausted and wanted to endure until break started to get a good nap.
But she didn’t make it. Her body was too unwell, and after struggling for a few minutes, Jiyeon fell asleep in the end.
Truthfully, under normal circumstances, nothing would’ve happened.
However, she happened to be unlucky. The president immediately returned from a business trip.
She stopped the movement of her steps, her expression quickly turning cold.
She paused and coughed meaningfully as if trying to wake Jiyeon up.
After finding this method to be unsuccessful, she stretched her hand out, crossing her index and middle fingers and knocking on the table.
They were light taps but seemed like a devil’s whispers.
Jiyeon was stunned awake by the sound and raised her head, coincidentally meeting Hyunjung's gaze.
Half of her sleepiness was scared away, and a few words suddenly appeared in her mind—
It’s over, I’m going to be yelled at.
She was called into the office a few minutes later.
By this time, work had already started. After everyone clocked out, they went in two’s and three’s to eat in the cafeteria, the atmosphere harmonious.
Except for her, standing here like a child, bearing the pressure coming from Hyunjung’s direction.
The crybaby was fierce right now.
Hyunjung frowned, her expression cold and indifferent as she questioned her word by word, “What’s the matter, Jiyeonsshi? Aren’t you usually very active, why did you start lazing around?”
“There were only less than 20 minutes left before break started. Were you so sleepy that you couldn’t even wait for that long?”
So on and so forth, her tone very cold.
Way too fierce.
She knew that she was in the wrong, so she didn’t say anything the entire time and simply listened silently.
Jiyeon heard her seem to sigh slowly.
Her tone became much gentler than before, and she told her, “I’m just discussing the matter honestly. I’m not trying to target you.”
“It’s just as an employee who receives the company’s salary and enjoys the benefits provided by the company, it’s necessary to follow the rules and regulations, whether it’s at KeRui or other companies.”
She was silent and perhaps realizing that she spoke a little too much, she had an uncomfortable expression on her face.
After some hesitation, she lightened her voice and quickly concluded, “It’s better to be scolded by me than by . . . some other people later.”
She was trying to reason with her.
Jiyeon soon reacted in surprise as she looked at her boss. After a moment, she lowered her head again and responded, “I understand.”
The nasally sound in her voice was very obvious.
Hyunjung was taken aback when she heard her words. Thinking that she had cried, panic grew in her eyes, and she hurriedly grabbed a few tissues and handed them to her tentatively. “Hurry and wipe up.”
“You’re already so old, why are you crying over such a small matter.”
Are you introducing yourself?
Jiyeon's mood suddenly improved somehow.
She accepted the tissue papers and shook her head, “I didn’t cry, I just have a small cold.”
“A cold?” Hyunjung nodded. “It seems like you do have one.”
“Then why didn’t you ask for a leave?”
“There was too much work at hand,” she replied honestly, “And I was afraid I couldn’t finish them, so I came anyway.”
Hyunjung inadvertently pursed her lips. This person told her a while ago to take care of her body, but now she suddenly plays a hero here. This was a little too much . . .
But what was even worse was that she just yelled at her without finding out the truth first.
She fell silent, and after standing there in place, she finally stretched out her hand.
Jiyeon didn’t understand. “Is there something wrong?”
“Let me see what you haven’t finished,” Hyunjung said, “I just returned from a trip and happen to be free right now.”
“You should go rest in the lounge for now. If something ever comes up again, tell me. I’m not some inhumane boss,” she said with some hint of dissatisfaction. Hyunjung quickly walked back to her desk, opened the drawer, and took out a box of cold medicine before placing it on the table.
“Drink it and go to sleep,” she then said.
Jiyeon was a little moved.
She took a deep breath and was about to thank her when she suddenly heard that person continue to speak, “The resting room costs money ah, a hundred an hour.”
“. . . . . .”
Everything she wanted to say was now stuck in her throat.
Were you this black-hearted?!