Chapter 7
“I’m leaving now. I’ll come again.”
Just as I finished saying goodbye to Grandma with all my heart...
Ding.
That unfamiliar notification sound.
The same sound I had heard before reached my ears again.
Just hearing it sent goosebumps across my entire body.
“What...?”
I hurriedly pulled my phone from my pocket and checked the notification.
“Don’t tell me another news article came from the future.”
I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment.
Then I opened them and cautiously looked at the screen.
“No way...”
[Photo]
There was no news article this time.
Only a single photograph.
“What kind of picture is this?”
I enlarged the small image and began reading the words inside it.
“Honam’s largest food-supply mart opening... Donggil-ro 100...”
It was nothing more than a promotional flyer for a supermarket.
I stared at it in disbelief.
“Grand opening mega sale for three days only. From the 1st to the 3rd. Friday through Sunday?”
The moment I finished reading, a laugh escaped me.
“I got this nervous over a supermarket advertisement?”
I shook my head and looked at the image again.
“But Donggil-ro 100... They’re opening the largest food-supply mart in Honam there?”
New food-supply marts opened all the time, so naturally I could not know about every single one.
Still, the words [Largest in Honam] made me frown.
“If it’s that large, Manager Kwon might already be handling the sales approach.”
I checked the address in the message again.
“I should find out.”
After graduating from university...
The company I chose for my first step into society was the very company standing before me now.
WG Food.
There were countless different kinds of jobs and companies.
But the food industry I had chosen could broadly be divided into two categories.
Huge corporations whose names everyone knew.
And countless small and medium-sized businesses.
Simply put, those were the two main groups.
Most people prepared for employment while aiming for large corporations.
Some dreamed only of joining one.
But I had been a little different.
From the beginning, my goal had been a small or medium-sized company.
At least for my first step into society.
Large companies usually had well-established systems, which allowed employees to focus deeply on the work assigned to them.
Smaller companies were different.
Compared to large corporations, employees often handled work from many different areas.
Even though I worked in sales, I did not only sell products.
I participated in new-product development, packaging, idea meetings, and sales management.
From the beginning of a product to food quality, marketing, sales, distribution, management, and company revenue...
I was involved in many parts of the company beyond simple product sales.
That meant I could not focus deeply on a single specialty the way someone at a large corporation might.
Instead, I could gain broad experience across many different areas of the company.
Some people would probably consider that a weakness of working at a smaller company.
But to me, it was an enormous advantage.
Especially for my first job.
My final life goal was not to stay at a small company forever.
But I wanted the first step toward that goal to begin at one.
That was why I had chosen WG Food as my first stairway.
I intended to build up as much experience as possible here before climbing higher.
And if that was my plan...
Then I had to become the best here first.
Literally number one.
Building a career and ability at a smaller company did not mean simply spending time here to gain experience.
If I could not become the best even here...
I would never be able to move forward.
I could not get the first button wrong.
I had to succeed.
“Good morning!”
Monday morning.
As always, I loudly greeted everyone while opening the office door.
After visiting Grandma over the weekend, I had not had any strange dreams.
I slept peacefully without worrying.
And since I believed all my questions about the mysterious message had been answered, I felt lighter than before.
Someone waved at me.
It was Manager Kwon Seunghun.
“Oh, Assistant Manager Choi. You’re here.”
“Yes, Manager Kwon. You came early.”
I put my bag down and immediately walked over to him.
“Yeah. I have to visit a client this morning, but the materials I need were in the office, so I came by early.”
“Are you leaving right away?”
“No. If I leave now, I’ll hit rush-hour traffic. I’m going to wait about thirty minutes.”
He looked at his watch.
I looked at him and asked.
“Have you... had coffee yet?”
“Should we have a cup?”
“Sounds good. I’ll grab some from the break room.”
“Sure. The weather’s nice. Let’s go up to the rooftop.”
“Yes.”
I had already wanted to speak with Manager Kwon, so I quickly prepared two cups of coffee.
It was a July summer morning, but somehow the weather felt pleasantly warm rather than uncomfortable.
“The sky looks nice.”
“It does. Here’s your coffee, Manager.”
“Thanks.”
We stood side by side against the railing and looked at the sky while taking sips of coffee.
“Manager Kwon.”
“Yeah?”
“About last week, when you asked me to buy something from Shinwoo Department Store.”
“Right. Thanks to you, that worked out perfectly.”
I had gone to Shinwoo Department Store because of his errand.
There, I had encountered the arsonist and stopped him.
That had led to the Brave Citizen Award and eventually the supply contract with the department-store food hall.
“I wanted to tell you that I’m thankful... and sorry.”
Manager Kwon tilted his head, clearly not understanding.
“Why?”
“When I went to the food hall that day, I found the arsonist...”
Only a few employees knew about that incident.
I was not intentionally hiding it.
But there was also no reason to tell everyone.
However, Manager Kwon did not know how I had secured the Shinwoo Department Store deal.
I thought he deserved to know.
I explained everything that happened that day without leaving anything out.
Manager Kwon listened with clear interest.
“Wow. Something like that happened?”
“Yes. That’s why I asked them to let us supply products to the food hall.”
I had no idea how Manager Kwon would react.
He was difficult to read.
Part of me also worried that he might think the Shinwoo Department Store deal should have belonged to him since he had originally sent me there.
But he set his coffee down on the railing and clapped his hands.
“Wow... Assistant Manager Choi. That’s incredible.”
“Excuse me?”
“How did you actually catch an arsonist?”
I had assumed the Shinwoo Department Store contract would be the main topic.
His reaction caught me off guard instead.
“Ah, well...”
“If it were me, I probably wouldn’t have even noticed the smell of gasoline. And even if I had suspected something, I’d probably have been too scared to approach him.”
Manager Kwon let out an impressed sound.
“Inwoo, I always thought you were kind of soft, but you’re tougher than you look.”
“Haha. Not really.”
“Didn’t the police give you something for catching someone like that? Usually there’s some kind of Brave Citizen Award, right?”
I laughed quietly.
“How did you know?”
“What? You actually received one?”
I scratched my head.
“...Yes.”
“I’ve never met anyone who received something like that before. What an honor.”
He suddenly grabbed my hand and laughed loudly.
“Wow. You’re a real man, Assistant Manager Choi.”
Then he asked me another question.
“If anything, I’m the one who should feel sorry for sending you to a department store where something like that happened. Why are you saying you’re grateful and sorry to me?”
“If you had gone there yourself, the Shinwoo Department Store contract... might have become your achievement instead.”
“Hey, Choi Inwoo.”
“Yes.”
He turned his body toward me.
“How does that give you any reason to feel grateful or sorry to me?”
Manager Kwon waved his hand.
“If I had gone, I probably would’ve just bought the products and left. Or if the fire had started, I might’ve been the one who got hurt. If anything, I’m the one who should be grateful and sorry.”
“No, Manager.”
“And that contract was something you won with your own ability. You don’t need to thank me or apologize to me for it.”
“...Understood.”
One corner of his mouth lifted.
“It feels like just yesterday when some kid fresh out of university entered society and could barely speak properly. When did you grow enough to negotiate directly with the CEO of Shinwoo Department Store?”
After graduating from university, I had known nothing.
Just as he said, I had practically been a kid.
Back then, all I had was passion and the desire to succeed in my first job.
When that enthusiasm caused me to make mistakes, Manager Kwon was always there.
He had scolded me many times.
He had also given me plenty of advice.
Back then, he had been Assistant Manager Kwon Seunghun.
He must have been around my current age.
Sometimes, when I made a mistake, he even stepped forward and took responsibility as though he had done it himself.
He had been a wonderful senior who showed me what working life should look like.
Of course, he was still that kind of person now.
“It’s all because of what you taught me, Manager Kwon.”
“Oh, come on. Are you trying to flatter me now too?”
“Haha. I mean it.”
He laughed and patted my shoulder.
“You did well. This time, you should get your A rank back. The immediate incentive isn’t the important part. The bigger issue is who gets promoted to manager first, right?”
I nodded.
The forest, not the tree.
Getting promoted to manager first mattered much more than a quarterly incentive.
Just like when I had been the first among my peers to become assistant manager.
“Yes. This time, I’ll definitely take back my position.”
Manager Kwon also knew.
Lee Sejun had not been receiving A ranks because of his own sales ability.
“If you need help with anything, let me know.”
“Thank you, Manager.”
I bowed politely.
“Oh, right. You know the food-supply mart in front of City Hall? They called saying they’re increasing their order volume. Did you hear about that?”
Manager Kwon suddenly snapped his fingers as though remembering something.
“No. That account belongs to Assistant Manager Im Sanghyeon, so I’ll contact him.”
“Good. They called the office earlier and I answered.”
“Yes. I’ll tell him right away.”
“Thanks.”
His words reminded me of the flyer from the text message.
I had almost forgotten.
The message I had checked several times because it said Honam’s largest food-supply mart.
“Manager Kwon, about the largest food-supply mart in Honam that’s opening soon...”
Before I could finish, he answered.
“The biggest food-supply mart in Honam is the one in front of City Hall. That’s the place I just mentioned.”
“Huh? No, I mean a new one that’s opening.”
“Where?”
Even after several years working in sales and building my own information network, the amount and quality of information available to a senior manager like him could not be compared to mine.
When a new food-supply mart was opening, senior employees often heard about it before I did.
And by then, the sales opportunity was often already theirs.
I clearly remembered seeing [Largest in Honam] written on the flyer.
Whether Manager Kwon had secured the account or not, there was no way he would be unaware of something that large.
That was why I had asked.
Yet he looked as though he had never heard about it.
“You really haven’t heard, Manager?”
“No. I haven’t heard anything like that.”
“...One moment.”
I tilted my head and pulled my phone from my pocket.
At this point, it was no longer about whether I should share a sales lead with him.
“The grand-opening flyer came through text... Huh?”
Saturday morning.
I had clearly seen it with my own eyes.
I had even read the words out loud.
The promotional flyer announcing the opening of a food-supply mart.
That text message was gone again.
Just like before.
