Time Mansour - Chapter 9



Only Noblemtl

Episode 9: Can’t sleep

Sunday night.

11:30.

The light radiating from the Joongang Bank IT Center brightens the world.

I walked towards the bright lights, holding my staff coffee in both hands.

In the middle, I found Manager Cho smoking a cigarette in the smoking area.

He raises his hand slightly, holding the coffee carrier, and makes a knowing gesture.

“Manager Cho. No. Mr. Cho. Caramel macchiato, right? Here it is.”

“Thank you, Mr. Jeong. I’m really dying.

“I pray that the work will be completed safely today.”

Mr. Cho and Mr. Jeong came to do the night work.

I handed coffee to Manager Cho, who was smoking a cigarette.

Manager Cho, who received the coffee like that, exhaled cigarette smoke into the air and made a joke.

“Okay. Mr. Jeong, how much is your daily wage today?”

I laughed in response to Manager Cho’s lame joke.

“It’s free. I’m free.”

“Yes? Director Jeong, you don’t get any additional allowance?”

Manager Cho turned his head with a surprised expression as he rubbed his cigarette butt against the wall to put it out.

“Yes. It’s free. Feel free to call me anytime in the future.”

“Oh, again. I’m sorry. Why do you say that?”

“I’m joking. Of course I should come out. There’s no Manager Chae either.”

“I’m sorry. I just don’t have the confidence to lead the newbies by myself.”

Manager Cho looks at me with an embarrassed face.

I understand how you feel.

Because I can’t just trust and leave it to the kids.

Manager Cho also has to work with me.

There won’t be any room to worry about new recruits.

“Engineers say this is a headache.”

“I guess I have more overtime work to do than developers. I also have to be on standby for emergencies.”

“Having tried both, which do you think is better?”

Manager Cho turns his head toward me as he presses the elevator button.

“Someone else is doing it.”

To my half-joking reply.

That’s right. That’s true. Manager Cho laughs.

“That is correct.”

“Originally, what I do is the hardest.”

Let me smile brightly.

Manager Cho also laughs along.

Anything looks better to others.

My rice cake is originally small.

So, Manager Cho and I joke around and go into the server operation room.

Inside the operating room, the air felt stuffy.

“Strawberry latte, please. Thank you.”

“thank you.”

Song Seo-yeon, who was sitting in her seat, spots us and waves her hands left and right.

Mr. Song, who always smiles with a bright expression.

And Mr. Choi glances at his pineapple watch even while working at night.

Looking at the two, I let out a sigh without realizing it.

‘Okay. What crime did you commit?’

I heard you’re working at night.

It’s great that you came to stay the night.

I took a short breath and went to where they were sitting.

“Here you are. Is everything okay?”

“yes!”

I looked around while handing out drinks.

The infrastructure team is busy doing something.

Internal bank system inspection work

It’s the work of the infrastructure team.

In this work, our team plays a supporting role in opening and closing the environment.

Once the infrastructure team is done with their work, we just need to push it into our environment at the end.

A boring task that is essentially just waiting time.

however.

“I miss Manager Chae.”

“Yes, Manager Cho. Why did you take a vacation?”

“Me? We’re in different companies to begin with. How can I tell you to go?”

I’m blaming the manager for nothing.

There wasn’t enough trust between us to delegate work to newbies.

It’s not very important, but it’s work we do with other teams anyway.

If the work goes wrong, there will be chaos with people pointing fingers at each other.

I couldn’t trust the kids, no matter how simple the task was.

**

Patty sandwiched between bread.

That’s what we called the platform team.

Infrastructure network below. Software development above.

The platform operations team is the meat in between.

“Okay. This side is finished too.”

“Okay, I’ll start dispatching containers.”

Once the infrastructure team gave the okay sign.

Manager Cho and the new employees started working at the same time.

To put it a bit exaggeratedly, it’s a simple task like turning the computer off and on.

Nevertheless, the sight of the wandering newcomers.

I sighed inwardly without realizing it.

‘No. It’s not your fault.’

The average age of the subcontractors dispatched to Joongang Bank is young.

Experienced department heads and managers did not want to come.

so.

The new recruits had no choice but to be pushed here with Manager Chae.

It just happened that way.

It’s not your fault. I kept hypnotizing myself and pounding away at the keyboard.

**

“It’s hard.”

I finished my work safely and went out to leave work.

After the new recruits were sent home first.

I followed Manager Cho to the smoking area.

Manager Cho smoking a cigarette in a corner of the smoking area.

It was a simple task, but I was mentally exhausted because there was so much to worry about.

After smoking the cigarette all the way to the end of the filter, I put my hand back on the cigarette pack.

“Phew. Since there’s no deputy manager, even easy things are becoming difficult.”

“That’s right. It’s not like this is that hard.”

“Director Jeong. Have you heard anything separately from Manager Chae?”

A sentence that has completely cut off the context.

But I immediately understood Manager Cho’s question.

“No. But still. Manager Chae… It wouldn’t be strange if he quit. He’d be treated better if he changed jobs.”

“That’s right. You said your annual salary went up by 2 million won. The project was a huge success. But your annual salary didn’t even increase by the inflation rate···”

Manager Cho and I just looked at each other and sighed.

Since Manager Chae and I work at different companies, I couldn’t make a strong appeal about the salary issue.

If you’re not careful, it could easily turn into bullying.

Daeyoung Systems, CEO Chae’s company.

It was originally a wholesaler of mechanical equipment.

The company, which used to sell hardware such as servers, recently expanded its business into software.

Because we were a wholesaler that started out selling equipment, we were insensitive to the importance of technicians.

Salary set for the 6th year.

Even if I have to take on other managers’ work all by myself.

I couldn’t go beyond the boundaries of the salary table.

There is no upper limit to work, but there is a cap on salary.

Even if the agent does the manager’s work.

They didn’t pay that much salary.

It’s probably just a matter of time before Manager Chae leaves.

no.

It might be more surprising that I haven’t quit yet.

Manager Cho and I, looking at each other like that, thinking the same thing.

Even the bright lights of the IT center couldn’t do anything about it.

Our expressions are getting darker and darker.

**

I just want to walk without thinking about anything.

I got off the taxi one stop early.

I walk aimlessly along the road at dawn, just like I did when I was young.

‘In the gap between night and morning, in the dawn that neither begins nor ends.’

I walk down an empty street and hum the Red Blue song.

He sang, his lips quivering, barely audible.

Even though you work night shift, you still have a lot of free time.

If it were like before, I would have fallen asleep as soon as I got home.

I had to go to bed as early as possible so I could go to work late the next afternoon.

But now there’s no need to rush for time anymore.

Sister.

It’s a gift, right?

I raised my head and looked at the sky.

The darkest star in the night sky was shining brightly.

**

In the room.

Music floats.

‘I’m sorry, sister.’

The words I couldn’t say remain in my heart and weigh on me.

I felt suffocated.

I couldn’t communicate with my sister.

I thought it was because of my sister’s illness.

That’s not it.

It was because of me.

My older sister who always greeted me with a smile even when I was annoyed.

In this empty room, I finally miss my sister.

In the cell phone.

My sister’s smile, with only one sheet left.

I kept looking at it so I wouldn’t forget.

Before I knew it, my eyes were moist.

In this way, I leisurely enjoy my sadness in the time that has stopped.

Forget about work for a moment.