Chapter 10

Chapter 10

“Hey, Inwoo.”

Im Sanghyeon glanced outside the break-room door and tapped my arm.

“What?”

He raised his eyebrows and gestured toward something.

“Look over there.”

I followed his gaze.

Lee Sejun.

The moment he entered the office, he walked with his shoulders raised high and repeatedly glanced toward my desk.

“Is Lee Sejun seriously heading toward my desk right now?”

Im Sanghyeon answered immediately.

“Yeah. Why the hell is that bastard going over there?”

“Exactly. It’s not like Lee Sejun has any reason to talk to me.”

“Want me to go over and make him uncomfortable?”

Im Sanghyeon cracked his neck from side to side, clearly irritated by Lee Sejun’s behavior.

“No need.”

He tilted his head.

“Why?”

“Look at Lee Sejun’s shoulders.”

I lifted my chin toward him.

Both shoulders were raised proudly.

His chest was pushed forward.

His eyes were full of confidence.

He seemed to be wandering near my desk because he wanted to brag about something.

“What about his shoulders?”

“Just like you said, he must have landed some kind of client.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, look...”

Before I could finish...

Lee Sejun looked around the office and made eye contact with me inside the break room.

The corner of his mouth rose.

Then he quickly walked toward us.

“What are you two doing in here?”

At Lee Sejun’s short question, Im Sanghyeon and I exchanged glances.

Then we both struggled to suppress our laughter.

This was the first time he had approached us like this inside the office.

No.

More accurately...

Lee Sejun usually only approached people when he wanted to brag about something.

Or when he wanted to put another employee down.

We knew his intentions so well that the very fact he had approached us was amusing.

Instead of answering, Im Sanghyeon raised his coffee cup.

“Oh... okay?”

“Yeah.”

Then he looked at me.

“Inwoo, if you’re done with your coffee, let’s go work.”

“Sure.”

Im Sanghyeon and I poured the coffee still sloshing inside our cups into the sink.

Watching from behind us, Lee Sejun spoke again.

“Assistant Manager Choi.”

“What?”

His question stopped me before I could leave the break room.

“You’re not planning to rely only on Shinwoo Department Store for the third quarter, are you?”

“What?”

He spoke in a mocking tone.

“From what I can see, you haven’t landed any major clients other than Shinwoo Department Store this quarter.”

“What are you trying to say?”

I frowned.

“Shinwoo Department Store is a big client, sure. But you don’t even know how much revenue it’ll actually produce.”

“Assistant Manager Lee. What exactly are you trying to tell me? If there’s something you want to say, say it properly.”

My expression hardened.

Perhaps noticing it, Lee Sejun smiled instead.

“I just wanted to tell you that if you think landing Shinwoo Department Store alone is enough to get an A rank in the third quarter... you’re dreaming.”

“...”

His words left me speechless.

Not because I was angry.

And certainly not because he had hit a sensitive point.

“My words are so accurate you don’t even know how to answer, right?”

Since I did not immediately reply, Lee Sejun apparently thought he had seen straight through me.

I let out a small laugh.

“No. I’m just amazed by how ridiculous you sound.”

“...What?”

I stepped closer and looked directly into his eyes.

“Sejun, you’re scared, aren’t you? You think you might fail to get an A rank in the third quarter.”

“What the hell are you talking about? When have I ever failed to get an A?”

His voice grew louder.

One corner of my mouth rose.

“No. That’s not it.”

I paused.

“You’re actually scared because you think I’m going to get the A rank, aren’t you?”

“...”

Lee Sejun stared at me as though he wanted to kill me.

I met his eyes and shrugged.

“I heard you’ve been going around actually doing sales lately. It’s nice to see you working so hard. Keep it up.”

Lee Sejun’s face twisted.

I placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Because when the third-quarter rankings come out, things aren’t going to go your way this time.”

He violently slapped my hand away.

“Don’t talk nonsense. Choi Inwoo... you’ll always be below me.”

“How long do you think you’ll be able to overturn everything with one last-minute sales push?”

“...What?”

“This time, things won’t happen the way you expect. Lee Sejun, instead of struggling to overturn the rankings at the end, try working properly during the quarter.”

Lee Sejun’s eyelids trembled.

Every employee knew.

He did not build his sales through skill.

He built them using his mother’s money.

But no one had ever mentioned it directly to his face.

It probably was not because they were scared of him or worried about making an enemy.

There simply had never been any reason to deliberately bring it up.

There was no need to openly insult Lee Sejun for increasing his sales with help from his parents.

The moment I indirectly mentioned it, however...

Lee Sejun seemed too stunned to speak.

“You... Are you finished?”

“No.”

I deliberately spoke each syllable clearly.

“Let’s act like adults and have some healthy competition for once, Assistant Manager Lee Sejun.”

Lee Sejun clenched his teeth and glared at me.

“The third quarter... won’t go the way you want either.”

I answered his warning with nothing more than a smile.

Then I left the break room.

I returned to this place again.

Even now, there was not a single obvious sign that a food-supply mart was being built here.

An empty lot.

Metal barriers surrounding the construction site.

It looked almost as if someone wanted to prevent outsiders from knowing what was being built inside.

I did not know exactly what the owner intended.

But one thing was clear.

They were deliberately hiding the identity of the building for now.

“Why? Usually if you’re opening a food-supply mart, wouldn’t you announce it early so salespeople can approach you with supply contracts?”

I tilted my head and took another step toward the construction site.

Several days had already passed since I gave my business card to the real-estate agent.

My phone remained completely silent.

There had been no call from anyone connected to the mart.

Not even a single text from the real-estate office.

Sales was not about sitting around and waiting for someone to contact you.

If you wanted to sell even one more product...

If you wanted even one more client...

You had to move yourself.

That was why I had come back to the construction site again today.

Of course, that did not mean my previous visits had produced anything.

Out of five visits, all five had been wasted.

The construction workers acted as though they knew nothing.

The real-estate agent only repeated that she would pass along my business card.

“Maybe no one important is here today either...”

I wanted to meet anyone connected to the food-supply mart.

Now I knew that the future messages were real.

Even so, I wanted to see and hear confirmation for myself.

And I did not want to waste the information those messages gave me.

I did not want to stop at merely knowing a food-supply mart was going to open here.

I wanted to use information no one else had...

And secure this entire food-supply mart account before anyone else.

That had to be why I was given this ability.

It had to be the ability Grandma gave me so I could succeed.

As I walked closer to the site step by step, I began hearing people talking.

The sounds were coming from inside the construction area.

I looked around, wondering whether someone important might be there.

Then...

“Who are you?”

A cold voice reached my ears.

I immediately stopped walking.

“Who are you to walk in here without permission?”

I quickly turned around and bowed.

“Ah, hello. I’m...”

I had assumed he was one of the construction workers, so I was about to introduce myself.

But when I saw what he was wearing, my eyes widened.

He was easily over 180 centimeters tall.

His body was large and muscular.

The man looked somewhere between his late forties and early fifties.

And he clearly was not an ordinary construction worker.

No one would do construction work in a perfectly fitted light-gray suit.

He quickly looked me up and down.

Then he asked again.

“So why are you here?”

The tall, heavily built man stepped closer.

His tone was slightly threatening.

I quickly pulled out my business card and handed it to him.

“Hello. I’m Assistant Manager Choi Inwoo from WG Food in Gwangju.”

He accepted the card and stared at the writing.

His voice became lower.

“WG Food?”

“Yes. I heard a food-supply mart is being built here, so I came because I wanted to meet the owner or someone involved with the project.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. If you don’t mind me asking... are you the owner?”

He shrugged.

“I am.”

Those two short words.

He was the owner of the food-supply mart.

I had come here again and again for several days just hoping to hear those words.

So meeting him directly made me unbelievably happy.

“Really?”

Without thinking, I immediately offered him my hand.

“Sir, I’ve really wanted to meet you. It’s an honor to finally see you in person. Haha.”

They were not empty words.

I meant every one of them.

I had not even known who the owner was.

I had not known whether the owner was a man or a woman.

All I had was one future message saying a food-supply mart would open here.

That was why I had kept coming back.

I had not secured a contract yet.

I had merely succeeded in meeting the owner.

Yet even that alone was enough to make me excited.

He raised his eyebrows and looked confused.

“You... know me?”

“No. This is the first time we’ve met.”

“Oh. You looked so happy to see me that I thought perhaps we knew each other somehow.”

His guard seemed to lower slightly.

Still, he maintained a certain distance.

Then he asked.

“But how did you know a food-supply mart was being built here?”

I could not answer immediately.

No one had told me about the food-supply mart.

There had not even been any rumors in the surrounding area.

And I certainly could not say I had seen it through a message from the future.

Even if I did...

Who would believe me?

What should I say?

It looks like he deliberately tried to keep the opening information hidden...

The owner raised his eyebrows as he watched me.

I carefully began speaking.

“Well... whenever I notice new construction, I tend to pay attention.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m always watching to see whether a new food-supply mart or some other food-related business might be opening. You could call it an occupational habit. Haha.”

“Oh? But there isn’t anything written around my construction site saying it’s going to be a food-supply mart.”

His eyes sharpened as he looked at me.

I answered without hesitation.

“The food-supply mart...”

Before I could finish...

Someone suddenly came running toward us.

“Sir! Sir!”