In Another Life: Han Ji Pyeong's Happy Ending (Start Up)

Chapter 49: Saboteur

Dal mi's POV

"Good morning." I greet as I step into In Jae Company's office. The walls of the office are of a brighter colour than the cooler colour of the Samsan Tech office walls. It takes a moment for me to adjust my eyes.

"You're here." In Jae says and gives me a small smile.

"Everyone," In Jae calls the attention of all the workers, they look up at me. I try to ignore the strange expressions that they wear on their faces, especially Hyeon and Jeong. On some level, they're still bitter that Samsan Tech won Alex's deal.

"This is our new member of In Jae company." In Jae introduces me to the company. "Ms Seo Dal mi."

"Hello. It is nice to meet you all. I'm Seo Dal Mi. I hope we get along well." I give them a formal greeting.

Hyeon raises an eyebrow at me while Jeong looks nonchalantly at me.

"Your desk is here." In Jae directs me to one of the empty desks.

She proceeds to run through the nitty gritty of the company's programmes. Everything is very impressive.

"And here's your name card." In Jae says as she passes me a deck of name cards.

"Thank you." I say as I take them. When my eyes fall on the name cards, my eyes fly open in shock.

"In Jae- I mean, sorry, I mean CEO Won, why does my name card say..." I ask in shock. My name card reads that my title is COO.

"Is there a problem?" In Jae asks with her usual nonchalant look but the skip in her tone betrays a small congratulatory sentiment.

"I mean... Why is my position..." I ask again in shock.

"You said you wanted to help us change the pace of innovation, so that we don't go too fast." In Jae explains. "You need a certain degree of power in order to do that, don't you?" In Jae says with a small smile.

"I will do my best, CEO Won." I smile at her.

In Jae gives me a smile for a split second before she heads back to her desk.

~

"Ms Jeong, can I have the data archives for the Nylon City Traffic Company?" I ask Jeong who sits across from me.

I feel the thrill again that I haven't felt in a while of studying trends, studying the movement of the markets... It's exhilarating.

"Not now, I'm off for my coffee break." Jeong says as she proceeds to get up and sashays out of the office. She makes eye contact with Hyeon and he follows her out. Mentally, I roll my eyes at them. Jeong and Hyeon aren't exactly the easiest people to work with.

Hyeon's POV

"Did you see Seo Dal mi's name card?" Jeong asks me as we step out of the office.

"I know... I can't believe Won In Jae gave her the title of COO just like that." I roll my eyes.

"Maybe In Jae is just trying to make Seo Dal mi feel better about the fact that 2STO didn't want her." Jeong laughs proudly. "But it's ridiculous that we need to bear the consequences." Jeong rolls her eyes and studies her nails.

"If we make life hard for her, do you think she'll leave on her own?" I ask Jeong.

Jeong brightens up like a light bulb.

"What do you have in mind?" Jeong asks.

"The usual." I laugh. "Planting bugs in her files. Slowing down her internet. Same ol', same ol'."

"Sounds like a plan." Jeong smirks.

Dal mi's POV

"Mr Hyeon, is there something wrong with this file? It's been loading for the past half an hour." I ask Hyeon.

"Should be fine." Hyeon says in a dismissive tone.

"Are you sure? The file isn't that big. Could you take a look at it? I don't think it should be taking this long to load." I ask, willing myself to be patient at Hyeon's attitude.

"Ms Seo, I am a developer! Not an IT man." Hyeon bursts and carries a surge of anger in his tone. "Please be respectful in the workplace, this is so demeaning!" Hyeon exclaims.

"What?" I mutter in disbelief, feeling helplessly lost.

"Then don't trip her files in the first place." In Jae's voice booms across the office. The sound of her heels clicking against the floor resound throughout the office.

"What?" Hyeon says in a baffled voice. "Are you accusing me of tripping Dal mi's files?"

"Yes." In Jae says flatly. "You and Jeong really need to keep your volume down in the lift lobby. You're terribly loud. If you're going to dabble in sabotage, at least be discrete about it!" In Jae almost hisses.

"Restore her files now. We have no time for this childish nonsense. And also, address her formally from now on." In Jae commands.

Hyeon and Jeong give her a sour but defeated look.

~

"Why do you put up with them? Hyeon and Jeong." I ask In Jae when we're in the meeting room.

In Jae stretches her neck and arms.

"I know moral wise, they're not exactly the best candidates around." She admits. "But as developers, they are really quite talented and are an integral part." She explains. I nod.

"Anyway, what did you want to talk to me about?" In jae asks me.

"Oh right!" I say excitedly. I draw out my laptop and show In jae the charts of the market trends that I've been studying.

"This is the surplus we have now." I start to explain. "And I had an idea of a project for us to direct the funds into so that we can grow In Jae company into a global one."

In jae perks up at the idea of a global company.

"I'm listening." She says, sounding intrigued.

"A self-driving car system." I say firmly. "Look at these trends, if we manage to pull it off, we'll be able to hit many markets outside of the domestic one..."