CH 178

Jun Yeong continued to lay out his plan of action. “Boss, that girl is an innocent little lamb. All I need to do is press the right buttons.”

Han Seon-Gu narrowed his eyes. “...Hey, you. Maybe you're wrong about Kang Se-Ah being an innocent little girl? I mean, isn't she famous for being abrasive and hot-headed?”

“Boss, haven't you seen that clip online? You know, the one with that crazy bastard interrupting the broadcast.”

“Mm? Are you talking about that incident of Kang Se-Ah's oppa dragging her away during the live broadcast?”

“Yeah, that one.” Jun Yeong nodded in affirmation.

Han Seon-Gu frowned deeply. “Man, it's great to be an agency with plenty of weight to throw around, isn't it? Even after causing such a massive scene, look how they aren't even barred from showing up on TV. If that was us, hell, we would've been barred from entering the TV station buildings!”

Jun Yeong tutted like an old man. “Boss, is that all you saw in that situation?”

“What? What else is there to see?”

“Seriously now, who would stop in the middle of their performance and come down the stage just because their older brother demands it?”

“Ah... Hey, you're right.” Han Seon-Gu nodded with a look of sudden realization on his face.

Jun Yeong chuckled in a 'see? I told you so' manner. “If she's as hot-headed as the rumors say, that girl wouldn't have obeyed her oppa like that. It's all just baseless rumor, boss.”

Unfortunately for these two men, they were falling deeper and deeper into a serious misunderstanding.

Han Seon-Gu also remembered something else just then. “Oh, right. Did you see her oppa's face? Man, that was shocking, right? That dude should've debuted as an actor or something instead of his sister.”

Jun Yeong pouted slightly. “...Well, I thought he was some dandy-looking gigolo wannabe.”

“Hey, that's what girls want in a man these days.”

“No, Boss. Girls nowadays don't like faces like that bastard's.” Jun Yeong tutted again.

Han Seon-Gu smirked at that. What an amusing kid Jun Yeong was, acting all jealous when another guy got praised for his good looks. "In any case. So what are you gonna do? You really gonna go through with this?"

“Of course...”

“...Got it. From this moment on, I have no idea what you're on about. Got that? You deal with everything yourself.”

Jun Yeong nodded confidently. “Alright. Boss, you just sit tight and enjoy the fireworks, that's all. However, there's something I need your help with.”

“What is it?”

“Kang Se-Ah hasn't returned to her agency since that day, you see? Can you find out where she is right now?”

“Hmm. Well...”

“When reporters show up later, can you ask them on the sly? No matter how confident I am, I gotta physically meet her first before I can work my magic, you know.”

Han Seon-Gu slowly nodded. “Got it. I'll find that out for you.”

“Thanks, Boss. Well, I'm gonna go now.” Jun Yeong got up and did a cheeky little wave goodbye before exiting the office.

Han Seon-Gu groaned deeply. “Damn it... I was gonna bite his head off, though. How did he manage to convince me instead?”

However, he still couldn't pick a fault with Jun Yeong's logic. Even if Jaegyeong tried to pressure FRC, there should be a limit to how far they could go. Besides, Jun Yeong's group was already not getting much attention from the broadcasters, anyway. In that case, Jaegyeong pressuring the TV stations ultimately wouldn't change much.

'If they stop the press and even search portals from carrying news about us, well, that's gonna be bad, but... I'm sure they can't go that far.'

If Jaegyeong was willing to go that far to protect Kang Se-Ah, surely the press would start to get really curious about the relationship between one of the top corporations in Korea and the rising idol, which meant they would start to dig around for answers.

Han Seon-Gu kept racking his brain over and over again, and in the end, he also arrived at the same conclusion as Jun Yeong. Doing things as Jun Yeong suggested meant FRC could reap great profits.

“...What's life without taking risks, anyway? Let's just do it and see where it'll take us.”

Han Seon-Gu muttered to himself, blithely unaware that his life was about to enter an inescapable quagmire.

***

“Enjoy your food, young man! Take your time!”

“Young man, you worked hard, so don't neglect on filling yourself up properly, okay!”

“I will,” said Kang Jin-Ho in his usual flat tone while receiving his food tray.

The normal practice in the warehouse's cafeteria for day laborers was to wait until the regular employees were done receiving their food, and it was only then would they get their share. However, the warehouse manager made an exception this time by putting Kang Jin-Ho right in front of the queue consisting of regular employees.

“Who's this kid?”

The regular employees working in different loading bays frowned in dissatisfaction, and they wanted to drag Kang Jin-Ho away from the queue. However, they were quickly stopped by their fellow employees that happened to be working at the same loading bays as Kang Jin-Ho.

“Hey, let that kid be.”

“Right, right. He can get ten servings if that's what he wants.”

“Eh?”

“That man's not a human being. I'm telling you. Don't you dare provoke him too. He's strong enough to pick up and toss someone like you all the way to the roof.”

“...W-what are you even talking about, Hyung?”

One of the employees in the queue swallowed nervously, then explained all the heroic feats Kang Jin-Ho had performed during his shift. “He needed only ten minutes to empty out a rice sack container, you know? And how about soloing a cement container? Yeah, he did that, too!”

None of the listeners could believe the testimony of their fellow workers. It was like hearing about a mythical exploit of a legendary gamer who went on a microtransaction spending spree to get overgeared before soloing a boss raid.

“I'm telling you the truth! That guy did ten people's worth of work by himself. It's not right to pay him according to a day laborer's standard wages, let me tell ya. Even paying him the same hourly rate for renting a forklift wouldn't be good enough!”

“Man, that's not fair. A forklift can only move things, right? But that guy also loaded and unloaded stuff! He was working like a forklift in locations where an actual forklift can't enter, so he should get paid more.”

“Oh? Then, how much? Forty grand per hour?”[1]

"Nah. That's for a seven-ton forklift. We gotta think of him as a sixteen-ton."

“Holy cow. That's incredible.”

Some workers still couldn't wrap their heads around it even after listening to the explanations.

“Wait, what? That man carried four rice sacks at once? And he didn’t break his back doing that?”

“Nope, he's totally fine as you can see. I figured he'd stop after doing that once or twice while complaining about his back, but he kept on doing it without even once breaking a sweat. He unloaded everything by himself.”

“I thought his spine might snap in the middle, and we would have to call an ambulance or something!”

“...Maybe he's a North defector? I mean, someone who worked at Aoji might be strong enough to do this, no?”[2]

“Hey, you dumbass! You think Aoji is some kinda monster breeding center? Where would they get the strength to lug rice sacks around when they don't even have enough food to eat over there?”

“Ah, you're right...”

And so, every employee in the warehouse started viewing Kang Jin-Ho as a monster in human skin. However, Kang Jin-Ho silently consumed his food without raising a fuss over the gazes.

“...Shouldn't, uh, that guy eat at least five trays' worth of grub?”

“Hey, look. The manager is bringing another tray.”

“Wow. The manager's gonna bring food to a newbie on his first day? Well, I'll be damned. I guess this qualifies as a big event, alright.”

The reactions were split into two camps. Those who didn't get to see Kang Jin-Ho in action continued to grumble, unable to understand what the fuss was about. Meanwhile, those who witnessed Kang Jin-Ho's feats nodded away at the manager's friendly attitude as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

How could they not, though? At this point, the 'witnesses' wouldn't have been surprised to see the manager bringing glasses of refreshing cold water to Kang Jin-Ho like an obedient servant. Besides, Kang Jin-Ho's antics meant those assigned to the same loading bay as him had their workload massively reduced. It was no wonder they viewed him favorably.

The manager put the new tray of food down in front of Kang Jin-Ho. “There you go~. Have some more, young man.”

“...Sir, I'm fine,” Kang Jin-Ho replied while staring weirdly at the extra food.

“What do you mean, you're fine! You worked so hard today, so it's okay to eat lots! Besides all that. You're coming back to work tomorrow, right?”

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head. “But, manager...? Didn't you tell me that I can only work for a day since there are always a lot of people applying for this job?”

“A lot of people?! Who! Who said that?! Which idiot dared to say that?!” the manager yelled angrily before lowering his voice, “Ahaha. There are plenty of people in this world, but someone like you has to be pretty rare, am I right? So, how about it? You are coming to work tomorrow, right?”

“I'll think about it, sir.” Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes slightly.

The manager noticed that and hurriedly spoke up, “H-hey, how about I pay you double tomorrow, then? No, wait! Triple! We will, uh, stop charging the middleman fee and give you the full hundred grand. Triple that, and it'll be three hundred grand. How about that? That's pretty good, right?”

“...I thought the full wage was seventy grand per day?”

“Well, I'm the one who sets the rules, you see!”

Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded. Even if he was assigned to a different role, he was already thinking of working here for at least two weeks or so anyway. Kang Jin-Ho rubbed his chin before replying, “However, as I'm on a night shift and my home is far, I don't think I can work here long-term, manager.”

“No need to sweat, fella. Our company operates a shuttle bus. Just tell us your home address, and the bus will come to pick you up.”

“Well, if it's like that...”

Other workers could only shake their heads at the sight of their manager going overboard to secure Kang Jin-Ho's future services.

“Huh. Is the shuttle bus route going to change because of a part-timer?”

“...Wowsers. What an incredible part-timer.”

***

After mealtime, Kang Jin-Ho got back to work. His job remained the same as before—when the trucks arrived at the loading bay, he would open the container doors and unload the contents onto the nearby conveyor belt. Simple enough.

However, a new problem reared its head after he got a little more familiar with the process.

A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled.

“H-hold on, man! Slow down! You're loading the cargo too quickly on the belt! The guys at the sorting station are pleading for their lives over there! They say they are getting crushed by too much cargo coming in at once!”

“Excuse me?” Kang Jin-Ho furrowed his brow. Did he just get asked to work slower? What kind of nonsense was this? Not even once during his military service did someone tell him to slow down, so why now?

The manager got wind of the situation and hurriedly rushed outside his office. “You idiots! Just change your roles, and that will be all! You, and you! Stop meandering about the bay and stand right here! As for you, Jin-Ho. Don't put the cargo on the conveyor belt directly. Just put them down in front of these guys, then go back to the truck, okay? Other people will load the cargo on the belt instead.”

An impromptu collection house was formed in the middle of the process. And now, the workflow had become like this—once Kang Jin-Ho was done bringing in the cargo, the other workers would load them up onto the conveyor belt.

Now that he didn't have to worry about unnecessary stuff anymore, Kang Jin-Ho got back to unloading and carrying the cargo with his usual expressionless face.

“Is he... even human?”

Humans had something called 'common sense.' However, it was also true that some people were beyond the scope of common sense. The warehouse's workers soon came to realize that someone in this world was capable of moving cargo faster than a forklift.

Around the time other workers were getting tired of Kang Jin-Ho's relentless speed, an unbelievable piece of news reached their ears.

“...Hey, you lot. It's, uh, finished.”

“What?”

“All the cargo has been unloaded, apparently.”

“Really? W-what time is it now?”

“Three in the morning.”

“Holy sh…”

Usually, their work ended around five o'clock, yet they managed to do everything two hours early. With that, the workers still viewing Kang Jin-Ho in an unfavorable light had to gasp loudly in shock.

“Gee whiz. That's crazy.”

“...Where did this guy even come from, anyway?”

While the workers were whispering among themselves, the manager strode over to Kang Jin-Ho. “Fella! Thanks to you, we managed to finish much earlier. But what will you do now? The shuttle bus will only show up around six in the morning, you see? Is there something you wanna do in the next three hours? Or will you just wait?”

“Ah, no, sir. I've come with my own car today, so I'll just use my ride to go home.”

“Ah, I see...” The manager forced a cramped smile on his face. Inwardly, though, he was sighing in disappointment.

Someone with enough financial security to afford their own car wouldn't want to keep doing this job. Kang Jin-Ho seemed to be born for this kind of work, but... If he didn't want to continue, what choice did the manager have?

“...Well. Here's your pay for today, young man.” The manager pushed forward an envelope with money in it. Kang Jin-Ho bowed his head and accepted his wage. The manager patted him on the shoulder. “Okay. Drive home safely, and we'll see you again tomorrow. Right?”

“Yes, sir.” Kang Jin-Ho bade goodbye and walked over to the parking lot.

A worker watching on from the side approached the manager and asked, “Manager, do we still hand out daily wages in cash?”

The manager shook his head. “Of course not. Everything's supposed to be wired into your account. Who hands out cash these days, anyway?”

The worker tilted his head. “Mm? Then why did you give him cash?”

“...Listen. Does that guy look like he's in need of money, and that's why he's here?”

“Nope.”

“That's right. He looks like someone trying to get some life experience, doesn't he? So, I should show him that it’s worthwhile to work here. Feeling the cash in your hands feels a bit more satisfying than some numbers popping up in your bank account, don't you agree?”

“Well, you're right, Manager. Getting paid in cash all those years ago did make me feel like I was really earning something for my hard work.”

“And that's why I paid him in cash. He should be trembling in gratitude right about now.” The manager harrumphed triumphantly.

“Mm. He got paid three hundred grand in cash for a day's work, so he'll be more willing to show up tomorrow, I guess. By the way, will you be able to recover that amount somehow?”

“Yeah. That kid does the work of ten men, after all. 300 grand is a steal in that case. It might not look like a good investment, but trust me, we'll get our money back by simply hiring fewer day laborers. Around three fewer would suffice.”

“I see... By the way, what is that?”

“Mm? What are you talking about?” The manager's eyes followed the worker's pointing finger.

Vroooooom!

A bassy, sonorous exhaust noise rumbled through the ground as a sleek white Lamborghini slowly drove toward the parking lot's exit.

Screech...

The wedge-shaped supercar came to a stop in front of the manager. The driver's side window wound down, and Kang Jin-Ho peeked his head out. He bowed slightly. “Then, I'll be on my way now.”

Rumble! Vroom!

The Lamborghini accelerated away in a cloud of noise and tire smoke. The worker standing next to the manager muttered, “...Worthwhile to work here, you say?”

“...”

“But, Manager. I don't think his wage is enough to pay for his gas.”

The manager wordlessly stared at the distant Lamborghini, then muttered in dismay, “Seriously now, just who is that bastard?”

1. This is in South Korean Won. ☜

2. “Aoji” is the name of an infamous coal mine in North Korea's Kyonghung County, known for its inhumane conditions. ☜