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Season 2: Chapter 31. The Misunderstanding That Came to Light (3)

Team Leader Shin Sang-Hoon had worked with Sang-Hyeon ever since Sang-Hyeon joined the company.

"Why did he do that? I think I know exactly why he did that."

At his words, the employees momentarily closed their mouths.

"It wasn't Director Park's choice. It was Mr. Yu's. I would probably also choose to be seen as getting here through connections over a disabled person quota."

The employees looked down and didn’t say a word.

"But," Team Leader Shin didn't blame the employees. "Did Director Park genuinely ask out of concern for Yu Sang-Hyeon?"

"Huh?"

"Director Park probably knew he would choose the latter. He's got a knack for it. Sang-Hyeon would’ve chosen the same thing 100 out of 100 times. There must be background history for that."

"Well, I suppose so."

"Everybody here probably knows I'm not on good terms with Director Park."

Again, an awkward silence fell over the employees. They wondered what Team Leader Shin Sang-hoon wanted to convey.

"How many of you know that it's not easy for disabled hires to move departments?"

Most of the employees blinked, unaware. It wasn't common knowledge and only known to those with some company experience.

"There are lots of problems with the disabled quota, right? After the hire, the company forces them to move to lesser departments or send them to remote locations."

"That’s true."

"That’s why there's a law made by the country to prevent this. Disabled hires can't change their affiliation for five years."

Employing a disabled person was difficult in many ways from a corporate standpoint, especially giving them significant roles. To benefit from the tax incentives provided by the government, companies would hire and relegate them to roles or departments with minimal responsibilities. To prevent this, the government imposed a restriction of five years. After five years, the restriction was then lifted.

"Ah-ha... So?"

"Wow."

"We thought he was just here through connections, and he had an iron rice bowl..."

Despite making frequent mistakes, Sang-Hyeon continuously worked in a productive and thriving department. People thought that ought to be a reason for it and generally assumed he had strong connections, especially since Director Park hinted so. But no, he was put in that team through the disabled hiring process.

"Exactly. That was the reason, and Director Park placed this nepotism beneficiary image on a person who couldn't change teams and placed him in my team."

"!"

"And if you look at Mr. Yu's resume, it's obvious he wouldn't adapt to the company. Can you see the whole picture Director Park had drawn for us now?"

This was shocking news, and the employees whispered among themselves.

"Who will leave, you or him? I'm good with both. That's how he was watching us."

The employees felt stunned.

"Why was there a restructuring for Mr.Yu?"

"In such times, making an employee leave voluntarily counts as a performance metric. Yu Sang-Hyeon had been working here for almost five years and wasn’t very useful anymore. It was easy to let him go. He was the perfect prey."

"No...no way...I knew Director Park was clever, but... this is too much..."

"What do you mean too much? Nonsense," Team Leader Shin Sang-Hoon said and stood up.

Around that time, Evening Wide was almost ending.

"What a fun show."

With a sly smile, he returned to his desk to continue working over shift.

The employees watched him with an uneasy look before heading back to their seats. It was already 10 P.M., but they still had work. They would probably have to sleep at the company tonight.

***

The next day, the repercussions from Evening Wide were immediately felt.

Buzz. Buzz.

Sang-Hyeon's phone rung non-stop in the morning.

[Oh, Mr.Yu, you’re popular now!]

[Sang-Hyeon, I saw you on TV!]

[Oppa, you're becoming a celebrity now, hehehe.]

One of the messages came from a familiar acquaintance, Hyeon-Ju. Most of the rest weren’t worth reading.

The text messages were relatively better. Sang-Hyeon received a red notification with over 412 messages on Runestagram. Just the day before, the number was less than 100. It had reached this number in just half a day.

From advertisement inquiries to old acquaintances who had seen him on Evening Wide asking how he was... Many posts tagged Sang-Hyeon on Runestagram. Some claimed to be his friends from Ahsung.

[Indeed, an Ahsung alumni!!!]

[Wow, I used to work in the same department as him! I cried the whole time I watched the show....]

[Ahsung... You quit at the perfect time. I hope... I can be free someday.]

They said various things, but the main point was that they knew Sang-Hyeon and boasted about working at Ahsung. Of course, Sang-Hyeon wasn’t the type to pay attention to every post.

"It seems the show went well yesterday," he simply remarked and turned his attention to the Balloon Stars group chat.

It was bustling there too.

[Miho: Wowwwwwww, a celebrity!]

[Miho: (link)] freeweb(n)ovel

Miho had shared a link. It was a compilation of clips and YouTube shorts from SCB.

[Bubblegum: This guy's gone national!]

[Miho: Lol, calling him "national,” that's so old school.]

[StrawberryShooter: Bro, being defeated by you one-on-one was the greatest honor of my life!]

[Miho: Lol]

[Bubblegum: Lol]

[Takoyaki: Wait, what's this? Did you appear on such a show all of a sudden?]

[Takoyaki: Hey, Almond. Did you decide to give up the lonely path as an LIL Trainee and become a celebrity? I'm so jealous!]

[Miho: Lol]

[Bubblegum: Lol, so jealous!]

Everyone congratulated him. Amid all this, he received some good news as well.

[Bubblegum: By the way, I heard a rumor that our team might get to do a photo shoot for the end-of-year award ceremony.]

[Miho: A photoshoot? That's my expertise...!]

[Takoyaki: Oh, I’ve never shot before...! My legs are shaking.]

[StrawberryShooter: Wow! Photoshoot! I should wear a miniskirt!]

[Takoyaki: Stop it. Please.]

Almond chimed in just when StrawberryShooter sent a blushing girl emoji.

[Almond: Thank you, hehe.]

[Miho: Wow, a celebrity!]

[StrawberryShooter: Bro! Can I get an autograph??]

[Bubblegum: Wow, congratulations Almond! Even your mishap on YouTube has good views too!]

[Miho: Lol]

[Takoyaki: Lol]

[Almond: Haha... Please don't watch that...]

Almond said as if trying to hold on to any hope.

[Miho: Lol]

[Takoyaki: Lol]

Apparently, everyone had seen it already.

"Oh, were you up?"

Ju-Hyeok entered the room thinking that Sang-Hyeon was still asleep.

"Ah, yeah."

"I think my underwear got mixed in here."

He began searching through the drawers for his underwear. While searching, he suddenly recalled something.

"Oh, right. PD Jang contacted me. He wanted to see us again."

"Why?"

"He wants to treat us to a meal because things went well. He also seems to have a proposal."

"Proposal?"

Sang-Hyeon became curious. He wanted to hear what PD Jang had in mind since he enjoyed the talk show.

"What proposal?"

"I'm not sure..."

Ju-Hyeok seemed uncertain as he continued searching for his underwear. Then, he found it.

"Oh, here it is."

"Isn't that mine?"

"What are you talking about? It's mine."

It turned out that they bought the same one.

"Maybe we should write our names on them."

"The size is different though."

Sang-Hyeon wore large while Ju-Hyeok wore extra-large. He insisted on writing their names out of pride, but Ju-Hyeok ignored him and returned to talking about PD Jang.

"Anyway, PD Jang mentioned something about a new variety show. He didn't provide any details, but sounded quite excited."

"A new variety show?"

"Yeah, he kept saying he has a brilliant idea."

Sang-Hyeon couldn't possibly guess what it was.

"We'll find out when we meet him. You should ask. All the cast members are coming too, right?"

"Oh, is it a team dinner?"

"Yeah, they're treating us since the viewer ratings were good."

The show seemed to have gone well. Sang-Hyeon thought so and slightly smiled.

‘Thank god.’

He felt good thinking that his first major broadcast appearance went smoothly. He expected a decent response, but hadn't predicted it would turn out this good.

"It looks like this show did really well even though they say PD Jang is a cheapskate. Anyway..."

Ju-Hyeok approached and placed a hand on Sang-Hyeon's shoulder with a meaningful expression.

"Let's check that out now, the Evening Wide Garden."

“Pfft.”

Ju-Hyeok spoke so seriously that Sang-Hyeon thought it was a grave matter, but he simply suggested that they check out an online community.

Sang-Hyeon gladly agreed. The two met each other's gazes and let out a chuckle as they sat down in front of the computer. Nothing was as entertaining as seeing the community reactions when things went well.

***

As expected, the Evening Wide Garden buzzed with talk about the newcomer, Almond.

[Almond took all the screen time, LOL!]

[Wow, I'm so moved by the screen time.]

[My baby]

[Is this screen time for real!? From the start, Almond's presence was no joke.]

Almond already became "My baby," and was being simultaneously adopted into numerous households. The growing fandom indicated the live broadcast’s strong impact.

[Wasn't all the highlights about Almond? LOL]

[Haha the In-Ho stans can suck it.]

[Tired of seeing only idols on Evening Wide lately. Truly a shining presence]

[I really love this edit!!]

[Finally, they came to their senses. Damn director.]

It seemed the idol-focused edits weren't always received well. While Ju-Hyeok and Sang-Hyeon weren't very familiar with Evening Wide, the show apparently had some related issues or conflicts regarding that.

[Sang-Hyeon, please be my husband. I just stamped my divorce papers. You're responsible now.]

[I’m jealous of the archery targets. Sang-Hyeon always looks at them and even shoots arrows at them...] contemporary romance

[His smile really shines...]

[I'd buy a body pillow with Sang-Hyeon for 200,000 won.]

"Ahem, let's check the trending posts."

Sang-Hyeon blushed as he saw the overwhelming praises he wasn't used to seeing on LILPro. Perhaps feeling embarrassed as well, Ju-Hyeok quickly navigated to the trending posts.

1. The story uploaded to Ahsung’s All-Line due to Evening Wide.jpg

"Huh?"

"What's this about?"

All-Line was an anonymous company community app crucial for landing a chance in big companies. Authenticated employees could use it to offer fairly reliable information or shocking rumors about the company they were in.

Company workers used it for political reasons while job seekers referenced it to choose between companies.

"That's the app, right?"

"Yes, that app."

"Click it."

Ju-Hyeok's hand trembled.

"Ha..."

He hesitated as if the contents were unbearable. Anything about Sang-Hyeon on All-Line probably wouldn't be good news.

Ju-Hyeok was so scared to check it out.

"If it's something weird, what'll we do? Do you have something on you?"

Sang-Hyeon blinked and nodded. "Yeah, a lot."

"Ah, I'm an idiot for asking."

Well, that guy caused so many problems when he was working at Ahsung. He simply didn't fit in such environments.

"But you never harmed anyone..."

While Sang-Hyeon wasn’t adept at work, he never caused any harm. He'd spend the whole night trying to fix something even if he couldn’t do it. Such delays inconvenienced others, but publicizing such minor issues on All-Line seemed ridiculous.

"Just click it."

Sang-Hyeon clicked on the top post.

Click.

The content differed from their concerns.

[Director Park had hinted at nepotism, but Sang-Hyeon exposes the inside story about the disabled quota.]