It’s a familiar yet unfamiliar scene.
That was my first thought as I looked out the window at the view of Pangyo Techno Valley.
“I used to be here.”
mories from a past life overlapped.
I had lived in this neighbourhood for a quarter of my previous life. When I rummaged through my mories, I could vaguely imagine the future of Pangyo.
“The restaurant district.”
That intersection used to be a restaurant district where the prices were outrageously high, but the lines were disgustingly long. There was a popular soba restaurant that people lined up for, and a traditional Korean restaurant where people prepared for overti work during rush hours.
All of that would soon be in this place.
What had already opened was a cheap fast food restaurant that would eventually go out of business with the quality of “Only Somone who is threatened will eat this?”.
“And the cafe town.”
Next to it, an alley was filled with franchise cafes. During lunchti, you had to stand in line the whole ti just to get a cup of coffee.
“And…”
The company I used to work for.
In the distance, I saw a fairly large building.
It was a building that hadn’t been occupied yet.
Suddenly, a nostalgic feeling welled up inside .
The fact that I had returned to this neighbourhood, and that I would be commuting to a different place, was hitting .
While I was trying to shake off those emotions, Han Seorim spoke.
“It’s really a vast wilderness.”
“Yeah, we’re just starting to move in now.”
“Do we really need to work here? It’s so far from everything. The transportation is inconvenient.”
“It’ll get better gradually. Trust on that.”
From what I rembered, in about 3 to 4 years, the public transportation lines in this area would improve. Until then, we might have to rely on shuttle services, but it wasn’t a big deal compared to the advantage of being able to move in early.
“This place will beco the centre of Korean IT. We’ll have an overwhelming advantage in terms of infrastructure.”
Not only that, but all the major Korean ga companies would be concentrated here. It would be harder to find a significant ga company that wasn’t located here.
I didn’t need to explain the advantages of such infrastructure in detail.
The important thing was that now, when Studio Rewind needed to start expanding in earnest, if we didn’t seize such a good location, it would be a foolish move.
“We’re almost done with the move, so start thinking about the layout of the Art team’s office. You’ll be in charge of that, so it should be tailored to your environnt.”
“How many people are you planning to hire, anyway?”
“For now, about 20 to 30 for the art team.”
“That many?”
“This is actually on the small side. We’ll expand gradually.”
Han Seorim looked sceptical, but this was the average.
In AAA-grade gas, art was crucial, and just allocating 2 to 3 people for each departnt, even if we assud a 2:3 ratio between graphics and illustration, was still far from enough.
“You’re good at managing people. Don’t worry too much.”
I patted Han Seorim’s shoulder.
I wasn’t just saying this. Among all the people at Studio Rewind, Han Seorim was the most reliable person.
Even if we set aside the fact that she was one of the founding mbers, she had a sharp mind and excellent leadership qualities.
If I gave her a whole floor, she would probably manage it just fine.
The only concern was the future company employee community, but…that wasn’t a problem I needed to think about right now.
Han Seorim hesitated for a mont, then sighed deeply and said, “Raise my salary.”
“Is a salary increase all you want? When we go public, you’ll be a major shareholder.”
“Are you tying us together by shares?”
“Yeah, for life.”
“That sounds terrible.”
There’s really no need to make such a contemptuous expression…
While thinking, Han Seorim turned around.
“When will you hire people?”
“Soon.”
“How soon is ‘soon’?”
“There’s soone I need to hire first. After I get him…”
Hiring employees is an essential part of building a solid foundation. And it’s also about finances. Up to this point, I’ve managed to handle it within my capabilities, but once we start expanding significantly, my limited managent skills will only create holes in the dam.
So, we need to hire.
“We should start with managers.”
From the perspective of soone who used to be a director, they were dreadful devils. But from the company’s perspective, they were indispensable pillars. They were commonly known as “suit-wearers,” with nas starting with ‘C,’ such as ‘C-bastard’ and ‘CAO,’ among others. They were nothing other than the business departnt.
“Hmm, do you have anyone in mind?”
“Yeah, one person.”
Recruiting talent. It’s one of the rare monts when the advantages of going back can be utilized.
“How are you planning to approach him?”
mories resurfaced. My gaze was fixed on a distant snack bar.
That’s how it is in a company. When there’s soone like , treated as a troublemaker by superiors, there are also those who receive overflowing love and beco idols.
He was like that.
“Assistant Manager Yang is really cool, isn’t he?”
“Absolutely! He’s young and talented. Isn’t he rewriting the company’s promotion records?”
Yang Gilsang, the icon of a successful suit-wearer. He had lived in the United States from middle school, graduated from university there, gained three years of practical experience, and then returned to Korea to join the company as a super elite.
Why did such an exceptional person join the company? There are few people who truly know the reason. Perhaps, there’s only .
If you were to ask how I knew, there was only one answer I could give.
“Hmm? Is this Cheon Yeonho?”
“…Assistant Manager Yang.”
We were al buddies. Whether you could call that friendship, I’m not sure.
“I see you here. Do you like this place’s snacks?”
Back then, in the second year of my employnt, Pangyo didn’t have many dining options, and seeking culinary delights required enduring the labor of “waiting in long lines.”
The snack bar that had the stance of “Who’s threatening you to eat this?” survived for six years because of that.
I t Yang Gilsang at that snack bar.
“Can I join you for a al?”
“…Sure.”
“Wow, thanks. Their bibimbap here is amazing, right?”
He discovered that it was a quiet place for a al and realized that it had beco his regular spot on his third visit.
I was eating bibimbap, burying my head in it. He approached from a distance and joined , ordering bibimbap as well.
If you were to evaluate first impressions, it was like that.
“I heard you graduated top of your class at Korea University… Are you doing well at work?”
A guy who morized other people’s profiles and recited them.
His smiling face was the perfect example of a suit-wearer’s physiognomy, so I wasn’t inclined to like him.
“There’s a lot to learn.”
“Oh, you’re being humble. People used to say you’re really smart.”
“…I mostly just get scolded.”
“I think it’s good to be assertive. Manager Kang sotis says that Yeonho is not a suitable talent for a dostic ga company.”
“Isn’t that an insult?”
“The word “talent” was used, so it was a complint actually”
I responded casually, feeling uncomfortable with the pretence of being close.
After that eting, quite often, without much thought, we would run into each other at that snack bar and have a al together.
That’s exactly the kind of relationship we had.
eting on the street, exchanging greetings, not curious about each other’s well-being, and not seeking personal closeness – a brief connection that you forget when you turn around.
“Today, are you having bibimbap again?”
“It’s the soul food of Koreans, you know. I really missed it in the US. So, how’s the tteokbokki from Yungho today?”
“Feels like I’m eating animal feed.”
“You’re being sarcastic.”
We didn’t bother talking about work.
The topics that ca up during our al were about food, brief comnts on the news on TV, and other light conversations that could be had within the short 20-minute alti.
I learned about Yang Gilsang’s past during those tis.
“This company? I ca here because I love gas. But I realized I didn’t have the talent for developnt. I couldn’t feel the sa excitent in developnt as I did when playing gas. So, I switched to the business departnt. I’m pretty good at using my head though.”
“I’ve heard a lot about it. The youngest deputy manager…”
“Hehe, you’re embarrassing .”
He loved gas but lacked the talent for developnt, which was the reason.
Even after that, we had quite a few conversations, but in reality, there was nothing else I rembered about the person Yang Gilsang.
The strange connection between him and ca to an end on the day the snack bar closed down.
I was on the verge of a promotion to team leader, and he was in the midst of being nominated for a director position.
“Now, even this bibimbap here will co to an end.”
“Yes.”
“Where will you eat now, Yeonho?”
“Well, I’ll have to look for sowhere else. What about Director Yang?”
“I will have to go to the company cafeteria. Their bibimbap there is too bland, but what can I do?”
The last nu for both of us was bibimbap.
That day, we finished our al without any special words.
There were no farewells.
After all, we would run into each other as we went back and forth in the company.
“Now, let’s go back to work.”
That was our last conversation we had.
After I left, he was promoted to director before I even resigned.
Becoming a director in your late 30s was a remarkable achievent.
Anyway, putting aside that past, what I needed to focus on was Yang Gilsang’s abilities.
I knew better than anyone else how capable he was in office managent, having observed his growth within the sa company.
He was exactly what we needed.
A growing company like Studio Rewind would be vulnerable to managerial shortcomings as it expanded.
As far as I knew, the best way to address that issue was Yang Gilsang.
A sweet option, why go far?
Just pick him up.
So, the problem was how to approach Yang Gilsang and where to et him at this point.
It wasn’t that difficult.
I entered the snack bar.
“Welco!”
He was there.
Wearing a red apron, shining glasses, and a friendly smile.
The icon of an elite intellectual, Yang Gilsang.
The reason he frequented this snack bar was none other than because of this.
“Mom! We have a guest!”
This guy was the snack bar owner’s son.
“In fact, this is my mom’s place.”
“?”
“I’m sorry. Actually, yesterday, Yeonho said the teokbokki tasted like animal feed, right? It was a mistake, a mistake. But I felt guilty for keeping that to myself.”
“The owner’s gaze is quite sharp.”
“I told her well, so just bear with it for today. But you did say you like bibimbap.”
The past and the present overlapped.
Yang Gilsang spoke nervously, just as I rembered him from my mories.
“Would you like to sit here at this vacant table? Oh, all the tables are vacant? Hahaha, we haven’t had many custors since we opened! Oh, by the way, what nu would you like?”
“Bibimbap.”
“Oh, excellent choice! It’s our store’s signature dish!”
I sat down and looked at Yang Gilsang.
More precisely, I looked at his head.
Hair slicked back with pomade.
A gentle M-shaped hairline.
With that, I sighed, overlaying my mories from the past.
“At that ti, it was this thick.”
For quite a while, I realized sothing while eting and having als together up close.
Yang Gilsang’s hairline had been receding further and further as ti went by.
And,
“Oh, my hair? I shaved it because it was stuffy. Like a real bald man.”
He eventually resorted to shaving his head, unable to watch the receding hairline.
“Baldness? Nah, it’s just a style. A cool one.”
Five years later, Yang Gilsang beca bald.
It hurt.
***
Yang Gilsang, 29 years old.
After three years in the financial and business sector in the United States, he returned to his ho country and now helps his mother with her store, enjoying so leisure ti.
As always during lunch, while eating his bibimbap, Gilsang noticed a custor who seed oddly familiar.
“Why does he look so familiar?”
Gilsang squinted his eyes.
Despite his best efforts, that annoyingly handso face seed familiar.
But he couldn’t rember who he was.
“It’s strange…”
Gilsang was usually good at rembering people’s nas and faces. He could even recall the faces and nas of his classmates from elentary school.
But he couldn’t figure out who this man was.
It was odd. If soone looked so familiar that it gave him a sense of déjà vu, it ant he had definitely seen that person’s face before.
And if that person was as good-looking as this man, there was no way he would forget.
Gilsang absentmindedly rubbed his forehead, a habit he had when deep in thought.
Then, out of nowhere, the man spoke.
“Excuse .”
“Oh, yes!”
Gilsang stood up and approached the man with a friendly smile.
The bibimbap bowl was empty.
“Oh, you finished already?”
Usually, people couldn’t finish their al, but it seed this man had quite a modest appetite.
Thanks to his annoyingly familiar face, Gilsang’s dwindling interest in him increased slightly.
Gilsang’s smile grew wider.
“Can I bring the bill for you?”
“No.”
“Huh?”
“Would you mind sitting for a mont?”
The man pushed the bibimbap bowl aside.
Gilsang hesitated for a mont, wondering why it would matter when there were no other custors.
He asked, “Why?”
Without much concern, he decided to sit down across from him.
“Why are you doing this?”
It wouldn’t really matter since there were no other custors, Gilsang thought.
As he thought about it and was about to ask, the man handed him a business card.
“I’m this kind of person.”
It was right after that.
“Oh!”
Gilsang realized why the man looked so familiar when he read the na on the business card.
His eyes widened as if they were about to burst.
His mouth opened in shock.
“Right! I rember where have I seen you before!”
Gilsang jumped up with an excited expression.
It didn’t matter,
“Studio Rewind! Hellic!”
Gilsang was also an enthusiastic player of Hellic.
Gilsang’s index finger pointed at the logo.
“3-ter Alice!”
“?”
“…The director was cosplaying her!”
It couldn’t be recognized imdiately.
What Gilsang saw was a picture of Cheon Yeong dressed as a character from the community!
Gilsang happily said,
“I had a great ti playing the ga!”
“… “
Director Cheon’s mouth remained tightly /RomanceMTL
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