Chapter 49 – Invincible Intern – Part 9

Chapter 49 – Invincible Intern – Part 9

At Woojin’s serious question, Manager Lee, who had been laughing so loudly the surroundings seemed to shake, blinked his eyes.

“What? Cold noodles?”

“Yes. Would that be alright?”

“Ha… Hahahaha! Intern! Is cold noodles the problem? Order everything! Order!”

Assistant Manager Im said.

“Then I’ll have spicy cold noodles, what about Manager Lee?”

“I’ll have regular cold noodles! What about Woojin?”

When Woojin slightly furrowed his brows and remained silent, Assistant Manager Im asked.

“What’s wrong?”

“I have a dilemma. I think I’m experiencing indecisiveness.”

Manager Lee replied, uncharacteristically, as if it were nothing.

“Order both spicy cold noodles and regular cold noodles and eat them.”

Woojin’s eyes sparkled.

“Can I really do that?”

Manager Lee burst out laughing at Woojin’s serious expression.

“Hey, lucky charm, why is your expression so serious? You always make that face when you eat something, don’t you? Order everything! Hahahaha!”

“Understood.”

Woojin pressed the bell and ordered immediately.

“Two regular cold noodles, two spicy cold noodles, one cola. One cider. Please add three more servings of the same ribs.”

After finishing the order, Woojin said to Manager Lee.

“Considering the length, width, and thickness of the meat, it seems like each person should eat two servings.”

Manager Lee and Assistant Manager Im laughed heartily.

Then Woojin started grilling the meat and cut it into bite-sized pieces.

Manager Lee took a piece of meat and nodded.

“It tastes even better than last time’s dinner party? Is it just my imagination?”

Assistant Manager Im also agreed.

“Woojin seems to be good at grilling meat? Woojin, what level is your grilling skill?”

Sometimes, people try to frame the other person as being good at grilling meat.

They use the psychology of making the other person feel proud, thus getting them to grill the meat.

But Woojin was not someone who would fall for such a simple frame.

Manager Lee and Assistant Manager Im were speaking sincerely.

Others might not know, but Woojin could tell if something was a lie or the truth just by looking at their faces and actions.

More than anything, Woojin didn’t want to hand over the meat tongs to anyone else.

Because he could grill well, and it was for him to eat.

Woojin replied,

“I used my own skill to lock in the juices as much as possible.”

“He’s a master, a master! Hahahahaha!”

The enjoyable gathering, filled with laughter, continued.

Assistant Manager Im, who was on Manager Lee’s side, couldn’t help but be happy.

Unless they were fools, both of them were well aware of who had created this situation.

When Woojin first joined the company, the distrust that had filled their hearts melted away like snow in the spring sunshine.

To summarize the process from then to now,

Is this guy messing with me…? Oh? Huh? What?! Wow!

It was very simple and clear.

“Woojin, talk while you eat.”

“Assistant Manager Im, leave him be. You don’t interrupt someone who’s enjoying their food.”

*

After parting ways with Manager Lee and Assistant Manager Im, Woojin got on the bus.

“Oh…”

Woojin spotted an empty seat in the back and immediately went to sit down.

By the window, a mother and a little girl who looked about seven were sitting side by side. The mother was looking at a notebook and scolding her daughter.

“What are we going to do if you don’t even know the alphabet order? Your mom is so embarrassed she can’t even lift her head. Really.”

“I’m sorry.”

Mom sighed deeply and looked out the window at her daughter’s disheartened voice.

And she got off right at the first stop.

Woojin, who had been watching the mother and daughter get off, averted his gaze and turned his head to the seat where they had been sitting.

A notebook was left there, which they had forgotten.

Woojin picked up the notebook.

And he flipped through it, reading each page.

It was a square-ruled notebook, and it looked like someone was studying Korean, written in a shaky hand.

And judging by the ‘/’ marks on the incorrect spellings, it seemed there was someone correcting it.

Woojin, who had looked through it, albeit quickly, but thoroughly, nodded his head.

Unlike Mom, who had scolded her, asking if she didn’t even know the alphabet, Woojin’s mouth uttered the exact opposite murmur.

“How smart.”

[A B C E D R G H I J L K M N P O Q F S T U V W X Y Z]

Woojin looked at the cover of the notebook.

[Han Bora]

Woojin slowly nodded his head and took a picture with his cell phone camera of the child’s name, the middle of the notebook, and the page with the alphabet written on it.

And he sent the photo along with a message to Detective Kim Taehyun.

[I think a child named Han Bora is being abused. They got off at XXX Station. I saw them going to an area where villas are concentrated, so if you investigate, you should be able to find out where they live.]

Woojin looked out the window.

He didn’t think it was something he shouldn’t care about.

The child’s eyes, which had briefly cast a glance at him, wanted interaction.

Woojin thought he had reacted.

That was all. Or rather.

Theoretically, he couldn’t explain it, but he wanted to act this way.

Soon after, Woojin got off the bus and headed home.

*

8 PM.

When Kim Taehyun returned to the police station, the team leader’s nagging flew at him.

“Hey! Why aren’t you answering your phone?!”

“I forgot it. Oh, it seems we might be able to locate Kim Jaecheol.”

“Really?”

“Yes. This bastard seems to be trying to confuse the investigation with his petty tricks, but it won’t work on me. There’s a place called Yongan-myeon…”

Kim Taehyun, who had been talking with the team leader, soon returned to his seat and checked his cell phone first.

There were calls as if the phone was on fire, and messages too.

Kim Taehyun’s eyes widened slightly as he quickly checked his cell phone.

Woojin, from whom he rarely heard unless he contacted him first, had called him first.

But…

Kim Taehyun, who was staring intently at his cell phone, called Choi Gicheol.

“Gicheol. Come here.”

“What is it?”

“Look at this. Woojin gave me some kind of mission? He said he seems to be getting abused. There seems to be a hint in this photo, find it.”

“I don’t know?”

“Hey, you bastard, don’t answer right away, think about it, think.”

Choi Gicheol blinked and stared intently at the photo.

But nothing particularly came to mind.

It just looked like a young child acting out Korean and the alphabet.

“All I know is that the Korean spelling is wrong, and the alphabet order is wrong. Senior, it would be faster to just ask Woojin instead of wasting time like this.”

“That would be better.”

Kim Taehyun immediately called Woojin.

At that moment.

Woojin answered Kim Taehyun’s call.

“Hello, Detective Kim. It’s been a while.

Woojin, what’s this picture? You’re saying she’s being abused?

Kim Taehyun’s voice, indicating he didn’t understand, prompted Woojin to speak.

“There’s a misspelled word in the description of the outing. If you correct all the misspellings, it spells out, ‘Mom keeps hitting me.’”

-Wait a minute.

Kim Taehyun was silent for a moment, apparently checking the picture.

-Damn it… It’s true, isn’t it? What about the English?

“There are four misspelled letters: D, E, F, K. If you don’t simply rearrange them, but look at the swapped letters with suspicion, they spell out HELP, sending a Distress Signal.”

Kim Taehyun blinked.

He didn’t know what it meant, but if Woojin said it was right, then it was right.

It was an answer he’d learned through experience.

-Where is the location?

“It’s in the message I sent.”

-I can’t just stand by and watch this. But where did you get this picture?

“I picked it up on the bus.”

-Huh? Picked it up?

“Yes.”

-…Alright, I understand. I’ll make sure immediate action is taken.

“I’d appreciate it if you could update me on the situation.”

-Of course, it’s my duty since you asked.

“Thank you.”

Woojin, having ended the call, thought of the child.

She was a clever child.

Han Bora is not the type to grow up under such parents.

Even at a young age, she was a child who could quickly spread her wings.

He hoped she would fly away soon.

Suddenly, Woojin tilted his head.

Just now, and again now.

He began to observe himself intensely, wondering why he was having these thoughts.

But he couldn’t find an answer until he fell asleep.

* * *

The next day.

Woojin was moving between departments, handling tasks as usual.

When he arrived at Sales Team 4, he saw an intern sitting alone at her desk.

It was Intern Baek Jihyeon, who had joined at the same time as him, and whom Woojin had previously helped with Japanese.

Baek Jihyeon greeted him first.

“Hello.”

“Yes, hello. But you’re here alone?”

He gave a wry smile.

“They went into a meeting.”

Just then, Baek Jihyeon answered a ringing phone.

“Yes, this is Baek Jihyeon from Sales Team 4.”

Suddenly, the phone on another assistant manager’s desk rang again.

Woojin answered the phone as if it were natural.

As always, it was an action that conveyed the meaning of the Management Support Team.

“Yes, Sales…”

-Hello. Lpon…….”

As soon as he heard the woman’s English voice, Woojin immediately replied.

“Hello.”

-We don’t have any special issues and we will proceed as Kim advised.

Her extremely businesslike tone and stiff voice made Woojin decide to continue the conversation more smoothly.

Woojin spoke again in English.

“Ira isn’t at her desk right now, she’s in a meeting. What should I tell her, that it’s from someone with an attractive voice?”

She chuckled softly.

Her tone slowed and became much softer.

-Please tell her it’s Jessica from Lpon.

“Should I just tell her that?”

-Hmm… and the part about the attractive voice? Hahahaha. You made me laugh. Thank you.

“You’re welcome. Yes. Yes. I understand.”

As Woojin finished the call, Baek Jihyeon approached, looking hesitant.

“You told me not to answer outside calls…”

Woojin, ignoring him, handed Baek Jihyeon a memo.

“It seemed like an important call. It sounds like they want to proceed immediately. I think I should deliver this now, shouldn’t I?”

Woojin was aware of what Sales Team 4 was working on.

He knew that this call would lead to a favorable outcome.

That’s why he complimented Jessica, to amplify that positive direction.

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. Well, good luck!”

As Woojin left, Baek Jihyeon, who had been debating whether to enter the conference room, made up his mind.

He slightly opened the conference room door and said in a voice barely audible to a retail investor,

“Um… Assistant Manager Kim, I came to deliver a memo because it seemed like an important call.”

“An important call?”

“Yes. Here.”

Baek Jihyeon carefully handed over the memo.

It contained Woojin’s handwriting.

[We don’t have any special issues and we will proceed as kim advised. This is what Jessica of Lpon, who has a good voice, said.]

‘Jessica with a good voice?’

Assistant Manager Kim reflexively thought that, but it wasn’t important right now.

Assistant Manager Kim said in an excited voice.

“It seems Lpon is accepting our proposal?”

“Oh? Really? Contact them quickly. Quickly.”

Assistant Manager Kim, who had sprung to his feet, patted Baek Jihyeon’s shoulder.

“You received it well. I thought you were a mannequin, but you have good sense.”

Baek Jihyeon felt bewildered by the first compliment she had ever received. And conversely, a sense of unease swept over her.

It wasn’t her work, but the work of Intern Shin Woojin from the Management Support Team.

‘He’s not asking me to do something difficult, is he? What if I make a mistake…? Should I tell him now that Woojin received it?’

Baek Jihyeon’s judgment was quick.

She quickly followed Assistant Manager Kim and said,

“Assistant Manager Kim, that memo was received by Shin Woojin from the Management Support Team.”

She needed to tell the truth to save herself.

Assistant Manager Kim, who was picking up the handset, let out a hollow laugh.

“It’s him again?”