TL: KSD
People fear rejection.
Its because they lack the courage to be disliked by soone. This is why, in organizational life, strong opinions are adopted more often than the right ones.
But Moon In-seop is different.
Its not because he was deeply impressed by the book The Courage to Be Disliked. Its because kids from the New Light Spring Orphanage grow up strong. Moon In-seop has always shouted, I hate school violence! The problem is, it didnt work.
Anyway, Moon In-seop was a person who could say No.
I dont want to.
For Lee Eun-bi, the team leader of Baekhak Publishings promotion team, this was unfortunate.
Team leader Lee Eun-bi stiffened her expression. She didnt want to admit that she was intimidated by a middle schooler. Naturally, her tone beca more forceful.
Author Moon. This is a decision made by the company. It was decided after careful consideration by many people. Im not saying you have to blindly follow, but outright rejection isnt polite.
Then, Moon In-seop declined politely.
Operating a YouTube channel is an activity aid at gaining recognition and advertising revenue, but Im not interested in either. I want to focus on my writing. Im sorry, but I will have to decline your offer.
Team leader Lee Eun-bi was silent. Now that it ca to this, she didnt have much else to say.
And then, a belated realization ca to her.
Could it be.
That Baekhak Publishing has no way to control this genius boy?
Is there none?
Side EP-Princess Maker
Through Lee Eun-bi, the well-connected team leader of Baekhak Publishing, rumors circulated that this kid is no ordinary kid.
Surprisingly, the prickly and coolly chic image of the genius boy they encountered through the dia was not an exaggeration.
But the history of humanity is a history of challenges and progress.
Civilization could advance because there have always been those who devoted themselves to innovation and research. Every modern person should be thankful to the ancient people who first dared to eat a pufferfish.
Anyway, there have always been people who needed to taste to distinguish between what is crap and what is bean paste, and Baekhak Publishing was no exception.
In an era when literature has beco a vulgar joke, the educational departnt, which continued to sell workbooks refreshingly and beca a solid cash cow for Baekhak Publishing, also reached out to Moon In-seop.
Would you consider being the cover model for this years workbook series? Youre the dream of parents nationwide, Author Moon! The photo shoot wont take long. How about taking just one picture with the older sisters at the studio?
Im a bit reluctant to do modeling activities. Im sorry.
Why, why?
Its just a bit yeah
The publishing sales departnt, thinking that bringing Moon In-seop to any business field would magically open doors, also shalessly approached him with a breezy attitude.
Ah, this friend is Author Moon? Wow, younger than I thought. Hey, Author Moon. Im Lee Han-jae, the head of publishing sales. How about going for a drive to Yeouido with ? Do you like sushi? I was thinking of treating you to sothing really expensive and delicious.
Are you trying to involve a minor in a business eting and have him pour alcohol?
No, no, no, no!
The editorial departnt, currently benefiting from Moon In-seops works at Baekhak Entertainnt and wanting to transfer them to Baekhak Publishings lineup, also ca with a benign impression and contracts.
Hello, Author! Im here with news about the reprint of your novel. Ah! Congratulations on becoming a bestseller! So, weve prepared a special exhibition featuring only your novels! If you sign here, special displays will be set up in Baekhak Publishing stores nationwide, and well renew your existing novels as well
Discuss business matters with my editor.
Eh? But, Departnt Head Lim is currently on standby
Thats unfortunate.
Eventually, after every departnt in Baekhak Publishing, almost all departnts, attempted to use Moon In-seop for business and got rejected, they finally understood the true identity of this genius boy.
Hes not a middle school student. Hes sothing else in the guise of a middle school student.
The Baekhak Publishing employees, facing indescribable fear, ran to the Publishing Managent Departnt to protest, questioning the responsibility of managing Moon In-seop.
Why is he like that? I an, the kid doesnt act like a kid!
Why does he dislike fa? Was there so kind of incident? Or is it just rebellion?
He dislikes variety shows, being a cover model, even book promotions, so are you saying we should just let him sit in a corner and write?
Exactly! Then what about the variety shows he appeared on until now!
Everyone, calm down
Swept up by the tsunami of complaints, the employees of the Publishing Managent Departnt tried to calm their bewildered feelings and thodically sort out the complaints.
So
.
Without any particular reason, he declines variety shows, being a cover model, and shows a remarkable aversion to any activities outside writing
Yes!
Hes precociously mature for a child, doesnt listen to adults, and does only what he wants
Right!
Above all, he dislikes making money and fa, wants to just write in seclusion, and doesnt listen to anything the company asks, staying cooped up in his room
Yeah. Thats right.
Having organized the complaints up to this point, the Publishing Managent Departnt employees looked at each other with puzzled faces.
What exactly is the problem here?
Isnt this just how he normally is?
?
?
?
Just the usual Moon In-seop?
?
?
?
* * *
anwhile, Lim Yang-wooks phone was buzzing with hundreds of text ssage notifications.
In reality, it was thousands, but due to system limitations, it only showed hundreds.
Half of these notifications were from Moon In-seop, and the other half were from Baek Seol.
However, since Moon In-seop did not know Lim Yang-wooks ho address and Baek Seol did, Baek Seol was the first to get in touch with him.
Hello! Is anyone in there?!
Bang bang. The entrance door shook with the loud knocking, and a familiar voice could be heard. Lim Yang-wook sluggishly got out of his blanket.
Without even thinking of trimming his unkempt beard, Lim Yang-wook was drawn by the voice to the front door.
Baek Seol?
The mont the door opened, Baek Seol took a step back from the burst of alcohol fus.
The source of the alcohol fus was, of course, Lim Yang-wook. He was in no state to be seen as a person.
My goodness How much did you drink?!
How did you know where I live?
I went through the HR departnts files.
It must be nice being an director.
Leaving a comnt that could either be taken as a complint or sarcasm, Lim Yang-wook went back inside his house.
Co on in.
Baek Seol hesitated before entering Lim Yang-wooks ho.
Her hesitation stemd from the worry that Lim Yang-wooks ho might resemble a garbage dump, just like Lim Yang-wooks appearance, but fortunately, Lim Yang-wooks ho was the exact opposite of him.
A neatly organized ho welcod Baek Seol.
It was so clean that it almost seed like a case of OCD.
However, Baek Seol knew Lim Yang-wook, who had endured two years of humiliation in the underground parking lot, and subconsciously realized that this tidy ho was indeed Lim Yang-wooks last bastion of pride.
Upon a closer look, Lim Yang-wooks appearance wasnt that of a hermit. The sll of alcohol was just too strong, but after washing his face in the bathroom, he looked as usual.
Lim Yang-wook was always ready to go to the company.
Realizing this, Baek Seol felt relieved.
So, without further worries, she got straight to the point.
How did this happen?
What do you an how? The company abandoned .
That doesnt make sense!
Baek Seol was about to passionately argue about the significant impact Lim Yang-wook had made in the publishing industry. It was wrong that discovering a star author like Moon In-seop resulted in a disciplinary personnel action like being put on standby.
Thats what she intended to say.
However, Lim Yang-wook preempted her, answering before Baek Seol could speak.
It must be CEO Kim Sang-guk pulling strings.
But still!
What can I do about it? Kim Sang-guk is the CEO of Baekhak Publishing, and the Publishing Managent Departnt is now under Baekhak Publishing. What can I do if the CEO decides to fire his departnt head?
And the transfer of the Publishing Managent Departnt from Baekhak Entertainnt to Baekhak Publishing was facilitated by so hastily assembled, bizarre departnt called the Organizational Innovation Departnt, to which she belonged.
Feeling guilty for inadvertently contributing to Lim Yang-wooks dismissal, Baek Seol bowed her head.
Im sorry.
What are you sorry for? Lets eat sothing.
Lim Yang-wook made fried rice with eggs and ham.
While Baek Seol was dazedly trying to gather her thoughts, she found herself sitting at the dining table, scooping rice.
Eating the steaming fried rice, Baek Seol suddenly muttered.
Its delicious.
Right?
You cook really well.
Well, I live alone.
The topic of Lim Yang-wooks family, which he usually avoided with his keen senses, unexpectedly ca up from Lim Yang-wook himself.
I also co from a orphanage. Like In-seop.
!
Thats probably why I felt more attached to him.
Even as he faced being abandoned by the company for the second ti, Lim Yang-wook smiled gently. Baek Seol easily guessed that it was because of Moon In-seop.
To be honest, as an editor, I feel like Ive done everything I wanted to do.
Ive shared beautiful writing that must be known to the world. Will there ever co a day when I find a second Moon In-seop? Probably not. He was just like a destiny that cos once in a lifeti.
At so point, I forgot all about revenge and whatever, and focused on promoting Moon In-seops books. I ended up in this situation because I was too complacent But thats how much fun it was. Hanging out with that cheeky little kid, teaching Baek-seol this and that
Now, I feel like. Ive achieved everything. So, its okay. You dont have to worry too much, Baek Seol.
Baek Seol, unlike Moon In-seop who ca back in ti, did not know that Lim Yang-wook was longing for a genius writer and close friend who had died too young in his youth.
But Baek Seol had spent a lot of ti with Lim Yang-wook. Now, Baek Seol knows who Lim Yang-wook is. He is not a businessman but an artist.
He is the kind of person who can be satisfied just by sharing beautiful writing with the world, regardless of not making money or being ousted from the company.
What else could you call him if not an artist?
But in the end, Lim Yang-wook was driven out by scoundrels like Kim Sang-guk and Yang Sung-jun. They are the kind who see art not as art but as capital or soft power.
The chairman is no different. Whether its the deceased chairman or the current one, they do not regard art as art. The world they have created is too dry and harsh.
Therefore
It must be protected.
Baek Seol was so engrossed in her thoughts that she was not aware of the realization she was coming to.
It was an untidy, chaotic ss of thoughts, closer to an impulse than a dream.
Yet, this realization would decisively change Baek Seols life.
* * *
In the end, Baek Seol couldnt bring herself to suggest to Lim Yang-wook that they take Moon In-seop and start their own publishing company independently.
She realized how fanciful that idea was.
Baekhak is a massive, ticulous, and cruel corporation.
The mont a sheep escapes the fence, Baekhak would not hesitate to slaughter it.
Not to consu it, but to set an example.
Thus, one must act within that fence.
Here, fortune favored her.
Most people cannot escape the predicant of being a sheep within that fence because they are born as sheep.
However, Baek Seol was born as the granddaughter of the illegitimate child of the Baekhak Group founder.
At the very least, she was qualified to stand at the starting line.
But Baek Seol was not a chaebol.
She was jokingly referred to as of noble blood, and indeed, she ascended the corporate ladder with the power of her lineage, but that was always due to external factors.
Baek Seols inner self was not that of a chaebol.
She had never thought of herself as a chaebol.
Baek Seols father was not a chaebol either. He was rely a wealthy idler. Content with the rental inco from inherited buildings, he loved his family in an ordinary way, passing the ti as an idler engaged in various arts and entertainnt social activities.
There was only one chaebol that Baek Seol knew.
As the eldest son of the Baekhak Group founders illegitimate child, he managed to protect his business entity against all sabotage and led a legal battle over inheritance rights for a whopping seven years
Hello, Uncle.
It was Baek Seols uncle, Baek Do-hyun.
Baek Do-hyuns office was located in the headquarters strategic planning office. He was a team leader-level official in the strategic planning office.
And since the lowest rank among the team leader-level officials in the Baekhak Groups strategic planning office was COO, Baek Do-hyuns naplate read as follows:
Head of Personnel Support Team, Strategic Planning Office, CEO Baek Do-hyun.
CEO Baek Do-hyun rose from his seat with a warm smile, just like the old tis when he used to encourage his niece to study abroad.
Oh, my daughter. Youre here?
*****
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