Time Mansour - Chapter 2



Only Noblemtl

Episode 2 There’s time left.

“Don’t you have a laptop or tablet?”

“yes.”

I took off my backpack at the security guard’s instruction. Only after checking the contents of the bag was I able to pass through the security checkpoint.

Outside engineers were not allowed to bring in laptops because of complex security procedures.

But I can’t go to work without carrying a bag. If I go to work empty-handed, my superiors at client companies will have something to say.

“It’s all done.”

The security guard nods his head up and down. I nod along and pack my empty bag again.

And then, thuddingly, I passed through the hallway and headed towards the Jo Seong Bank office.

**

Joongang Bank Cloud Platform Operation Team.

When you swipe your external company access card at the door, the automatic door opens.

“huh?”

After the door opened, Manager Cho’s eyes widened when he saw me.

He looks at me without stopping the hand that was opening the coffee mix.

“Director Jeong? Why are you out already?”

“Hello, Data Products. I heard there’s a problem.”

“···Who?”

Jo Jin-woong, manager of Jo Seong-eun Bank, looks at me with a puzzled expression.

I smiled and answered Manager Cho, who kept tilting his head.

“Over there.”

I raised my hand and pointed with my fingertips at the white plasterboard ceiling.

Manager Cho frowns as soon as he sees my hand.

“From above? Who? Director? Manager?”

“I don’t know.”

“···”

Manager Cho looked at me as I shook my head from side to side, made a bitter expression, and pushed the instant coffee he was holding into my hand.

“Drink. Seriously. The person who’s been through a lot. Let him rest for a few days. This is too much.”

“That’s right. Please stop it with your authority, sir.”

“What power would I have? Oh my.”

Then he let out a deep sigh.

I know what you’re saying. You’re a customer. Whether you’re a manager or a powerless engineer, it’s all the same.

While drinking instant coffee like that, the powerless people were lamenting among themselves.

“Director Jeong?”

I heard a voice behind me. I unconsciously turned my head and saw a young female employee looking at me with wide eyes.

The representative of the British system, Chae Shin-ah.

He is an employee of a partner company.

Assistant Manager Chae looked back and forth between me and Manager Cho with his bright eyes.

“Huh? Weren’t you supposed to be off today? Did the manager call you?”

Another powerless engineer has been added. I muttered to myself and chuckled without realizing it.

When I responded to Assistant Manager Chae Shin-ah’s question, I just laughed without saying anything.

Manager Cho looks even more aggrieved.

“I’m crazy. Should I call Director Jeong?”

“Then who called you, sir?”

“I don’t know who called. I was contacted by the data team.”

Manager Cho answers on my behalf, frowning slightly.

“Oh, sir! I told you that I could do it, and that you shouldn’t call the director.”

At Manager Cho’s answer, Assistant Manager Chae Shin-ah clenched her small fist. I carefully stopped her from responding to Assistant Manager Chae’s bold attitude.

“Whoa. Whoa. Sir. Calm down.”

“I’m saying this because I’m angry. Those little guys···”

Assistant Manager Chae Shin-ah’s lips tremble. She tries to hold back from adding more words.

“Fuck you little shits. You have to pass on the work depending on the situation. To the person who held your sister’s funeral. Seriously.”

Then, Manager Cho swore at Manager Chae instead. Manager Chae blurted out the words he couldn’t bring himself to say.

Two people got angry on my behalf. They didn’t show it, but I felt grateful.

Manager Jo Jin-woong, Assistant Manager Chae Shin-ah, and me. We all belong to different companies.

We were like colleagues in the same company. No, we relied on each other more than that.

**

Chae Shin-ah, a cloud engineer at Daeyoung Systems.

Daeyoung Systems is a partner of cloud company Whitesoft.

Originally a subcontractor selling servers, it recently expanded its business to include cloud and SI development.

Still, it was a solid company that was comparable to a mid-sized company.

however.

The year before last.

The day when Daeyoung Systems was selected as a partner for Joongang Bank.

Manager Chae was thinking of quitting the company.

‘Josung Bank?’

When Manager Chae first heard that the client was Jo Seong Bank, he closed his eyes slightly.

Composition Bank.

It is a company with a bad reputation among SI developers. Because of the unpleasant incidents in the past, most developers are unwilling to participate in any of Jo Seong Bank’s projects.

Overall, the level of SI developers was miserable.

Naturally, the cloud operations team that supports developers also had a hard time.

Due to the lack of developers’ skills, problems that could not be solved were passed on to the operations team.

However, this does not mean that the platform operations team, which has no experience in software development, cannot solve the problem.

So, Manager Chae was sure that the business would fail.

“Mr. Chae. Any work outside the scope. Throw it all at me.”

Until a savior named Director Jeong Yeong-jun appeared.

After Director Jeong took over, the project began to gain momentum.

Infrastructure. Platform. Software and Data Products.

The cloud environment is largely divided into three parts.

The infrastructure that operates servers and networks is a technology that has not changed much in the past 20 years, so the level of existing technicians was high.

And since Manager Cho and Manager Chae were experts on the platform, they were able to resolve the issue to some extent on their own.

The problem was software development and data products.

Because it was so different from the existing development environment and the developers’ level was so low, work just couldn’t progress.

However, Director Jeong, who was dispatched as a platform expert, took charge of data and software development, which were not his own duties.

‘One person does it all.’

It wasn’t just Manager Chae who was surprised. Even within the picky Jo Seong Bank, there were exclamations of admiration and a thumbs-up toward Director Jeong.

I found out later.

Director Jeong is a person whose career has been tangled because he has changed jobs a lot.

There is nothing I haven’t done in the IT industry for over 10 years.

Of course, that doesn’t mean there were no drawbacks.

Overall, the work process was slow. He was a man who dug multiple wells in the first place.

It seems that the scope was wide but the depth was shallow. If you look at it one by one, the overall understanding was not high, so the skill level was low.

So, to make up for that weakness, Director Jeong Yeong-jun put in more time than others.

During the week, we operated the platform system, and on the weekends, we dealt with issues that the development team could not resolve.

I went to work after only uploading vacation payments to the internal system. I also went to the operations office during the holidays to check the system.

A person who devoted himself to work while reducing his sleep like that.

A person who always goes to work with dull eyes.

A person whose hobby is cloud computing, and it wouldn’t be strange to say that his specialty is software development.

That was the image of Director Jeong that Manager Chae remembered.

however.

“You’re already done?”

“Yes. It’s finished.”

“···”

Today was a little different. Director Jeong’s complexion looked good today.

**

Manager Chae looks at me with wide eyes. He looks at me with suspicion.

Because in the first place, it wasn’t something I could do in one day.

‘It wasn’t just a day. It felt like more than a week.’

I don’t know how many days I spent in my sister’s room. It wasn’t because of work.

I just wanted to check. What the heck happened.

I don’t know why, but I was checking the internet in my sister’s room and before I knew it, I finished my remaining work.

Habits are really scary. I never had a break in my life, so I didn’t know how to rest. Even when I had time, I just worked out of habit.

“Director. Director. Are you okay?”

“Ah. Yes. Sorry. I was just thinking about something else for a moment.”

I was lost in thought for a while, but came to my senses after hearing Manager Chae’s words.

“Now that the project is over, I feel a bit free. When will Manager Chae be leaving work?”

“Director Jeong. You go in first. When you have free time like this. You should teach him a lesson.”

Then he points with his eyes to the young employee sitting next to him.

A newcomer to the British system. A young employee who has just stepped into society.

“You must have had a hard time.”

“No. I’ll feel more comfortable once Seoyeon grows up.”

Song Seo-yeon, employee. Second year. No, was it first year? What is she doing? A young employee with her head buried in the monitor, concentrating.

“Huh? Director. Manager. Did you tell me about you?”

Song Seo-yeon, who had been staring at the screen like that, turns her head when she hears her name.

To those words, Manager Chae responds with a playful expression.

“I bet you never acted like a human being.”

“Hey, I’ll be fine soon.”

“It’s still far away. It’s still far away. When I was your age···”

When Manager Chae started nagging me like that, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

Manager Chae, who speaks like an old man. Manager Chae was four years younger than me. Manager Chae is also just in his thirties. There is a big age gap between him and the new recruits, at most three or four years.

“Hey. Mr. Chae, you majored in computer science. I’m not a computer major. I can’t help but be slow.”

“No. What does that matter? If you’re going to argue about that, Director Jeong…”

“Huh? Why? Director Jeong, you’re not a major either? What is your major?”

The deputy looked at me with an expression that said, “Oh no.”

And on the contrary, Song Sa-won asks back with curious eyes.

Manager Chae made an apologetic expression. I wasn’t thinking about anything. I feel embarrassed for no reason.

I thought the atmosphere would get even weirder if I kept my mouth shut, so I just awkwardly scratched my head and answered.

“Ah… I’m a high school graduate.”

At my words, Manager Chae grabs his own face.

On the other hand, Song looked at me with a purely surprised expression. These days, my friends are definitely more honest about expressing their emotions.

Manager Chae and Shin-ip.

Even though the two were not that different in age, the atmosphere they gave off was different.

“Wow. A high school graduate moving to Whitesoft? That’s amazing!”

“No. I’m not a director. I’m just a director in name only.”

Song Seo-yeon, an employee, smiled brightly and gave a thumbs up. I waved my hand at her with pure admiration.

“So, did you also go to an academy like me and get a job?”

“Ah… Stop it… Stop it.”

Song Seo-yeon continues to ask questions. Unable to bear it any longer, the deputy gets up from his seat and grabs Song’s arm to stop him.

“No. I learned it by eye while working part-time as an office assistant behind the developers.”

“What about the academy?”

“I’ve never been there. I just learned it on the job. It was all on the job.”

“Oh! That’s awesome. You just self-taught yourself??”

But Song Seo-yeon continues to ask questions without paying any attention.

and.

Manager Chae put his hand on his forehead at the sight of such a bright new recruit.

“Oh, no. This won’t work, sir. You go in first. I’ll finish up.”

He hurriedly put his bag in my hand and pushed my body away.

“You come see me later.”

But he doesn’t forget to slyly glare at Song.

The new employee was still smiling brightly without knowing English, and the deputy manager was frowning and repeatedly gesturing for me to go.

“Okay, I’ll go in first. Thanks for your hard work.”

I also quickly got up from my seat because I thought it would be awkward for both of us if we sat down any longer.

Somehow, I ended up getting kicked out of work.

2pm.

I can’t remember how long it’s been since I left work while the sun was still up.

‘But what do I do when I get home now?’

I’ve lived every day of my life, chased by time.

Now that I have some free time, I don’t know what to do.

therefore.

The pronunciation of “leisurely” was still so awkward for me.