As soon as he got inside his room, Mark took off his coat and threw it on the bed. The very first day and he was worn out now. There were not many difficulties except that he should get used to this CEO life.
After cleaning himself, he sat down on the chair before the table in his room and took out the employees' files. One by one he looked at the names and stopped at a file.
The file he was searching for.
Park Jinyoung. Holder of a Master Degree in Human Resource Management. Excellent performance for 2017. That was his father's note.
Mark could not understand this. Excellent performance? Jinyoung did not make that impression on him. In fact, he was scanning this file to trace some flaws or weakness of Jinyoung.
But perhaps, he just could not understand this manager. Mark did not like the way Jinyoung treated his staff and wanted everything to be business-like.
"I should have a close eye on him."
"When it comes to customers, their satisfaction is your responsibility. There are rules to follow and things to avoid. These are basic rules and you must know them. Also your probationary period is three months, and your performance will be reported to the CEO."
At the end of Jinyoung's words, all the trainees stood up off their seats and bowed at the direction of Jinyoung.
Jinyoung was startled and confused until all of their voices came out together as "Good morning boss".
Jinyoung turned around to greet him as well, but Mark had already continued his way.
After Mark had been out of the sight, all the trainees took their seats back.
"Since when had he been here?" asked Jinyoung.
"When you were explaining."
"OK, now you can go back to your places. Remember that your performance within this probationary period is important."
"Yes, we got it."
"Hyungnim, I have something to ask."
Jinyoung was typing on the computer when Leesung came to him with a file in his hand.
"Wait a minute."
Jinyoung saved the file before turning his attention to Leesung.
"What's it?"
Leesung took the seat beside Jinyoung and opened the file.
"I don't understand this," Leesung pointed at the figures, "Is that an error or am I just mistaken?"
"Let's see," Jinyoung looked at the figures and thought for a moment.
"Let me check here. The original file might be here."
Jinyoung went through the files on the computer and searched with the file name.
Leesung stared at Jinyoung, his profile and handsome features. 'Hyung is handsome', that was always what came into his mind whenever he looked at Jinyoung. His love for Jinyoung was hopeless; it was the forbidden love. If only there were no boundries between them as an ordinary employee and his manager.
"Here, see the difference? When something like this happens, you have to..."
Jinyoung continued explaining but all Leesung paid attention to was Jinyoung's voice alone and his features; and everything else was out of his attention.
"The meeting with the board of directors is next week, sir. They want a weekly report."
Mark nodded at his secretary's words, heading towards his office room. He had just come back from an appointment; he took a quick look around at the staff.
A sight stopped him immediately and he waved the secretary to stop for a while. She looked at the direction he was looking and sensed the trouble already.
It was really obvious that Leesung was not actually listening to what Jinyoung was saying; but with those love-filled eyes, he was only gazing at Jinyoung. And the latter did not seem to notice it, his eyes stuck at the computer screen, pointing at something on it and explaining it to Leesung.
Mark took time to watch this, to see when that boy was going to move and come back to his sense. But Leesung did not move his eyes off Jinyoung a bit.
The secretary was getting worried about both of them, looking at them and then at Mark.
"Sir"
"Tell Park Jinyoung to come to my office."
Mark left the secretary and continued his way to his room.
He sat down on the chair and waited with frustration. It did not take long before he heard a knock on the door.
"Come in."
"He's here, sir." The secretary said, opening the door wide for Jinyoung to enter.
"You can wait outside for a moment."
The secretary bowed and went out of the room, closing the door.
Jinyoung walked towards Mark all in confusion and stood right before the table.
"Sit down."
Mark looked at Jinyoung for a moment, to judge him, before starting the conversation.
"I've been wanting to say this since yesterday. You have such a high position as an HR manager and you must know your responsibility. To get to the point, whenever I see you with the trainees around, there is barely work-atmosphere between you. You have been working here quite for long and it is unreasonable that you don't notice it or let it be just like that."
Jinyoung could find no words because he had never thought of that as a problem. Now, Mark pointed it out as a problem, and what Mark wanted, he could barely understand. And he had never let the trainees have casual atmosphere between them during the work time.
"I don't understand this, sir, I may be a very good-natured guy for them outside the office-time. But I've never let them treat me casually at work."
"Are you saying that you're utterly clueless or pretending to be clueless?"
"As far as I'm concerned, I'm saying the truth." Jinyoung had to control his voice not to match Mark's rising tone, although he was also getting as annoyed as Mark.
"Then, what I just have seen, do you want to deny that? That boy, I don't know his name, staring at you with the honey-filled eyes the whole time you were talking to him, and you know nothing of that? And whether office-time or not, it's your duty that they always keep respect for you as their leader. Whether at the cafe or restaurant or at work, they should treat you with respect, not as friends. Do you understand? How can I rely on you if you are being like this?"
Mark's temper was showing in his voice and he did not miss the sight of Jinyoung's biting his lower lip to control his own anger.
Jinyoung kept his eyes on Mark's and steadied his voice before saying, "I can only say that it is no new thing, sir. I am aware of my responsibilities and duties, and how I should train the trainees. They have never got out of my hand, lacking skills or having no consciousness how to respect the superiors. This is all I can do, sir."
The silence fell with the intense air. Both did not turn away their stubborn stares at each other and there was apparently no solution to this problem.
"I'm giving you a warning. Keep in mind that you need to reconsider the way you get along with the trainees. You can go now."
Jinyoung stood up in an instant, and with a quick bow, he left the room, with his mind seething with anger.
