Time Mansour - Chapter 94
Only Noblemtl
Episode 94: The hidden shining star
Laughter gathers in the stainless steel water cup. As Manager Chae drinks the water, a smile forms in his mouth. The restaurant is filled with the sound of laughter.
I wonder if he’s feeling that good. Chae’s face lit up. As the sunlight shined across the table, a shadow naturally fell on my face.
“Sir? You look happy today.”
“Oh. That’s not true. I feel bad for Director Jeong, seeing him having a hard time. Because I feel bad.”
An answer that doesn’t feel sincere at all.
Manager Chae shows his teeth while smiling.
I was quite nervous.
I’m talking about the pepper powder stuck in your teeth.
At the sight of the deputy so happy.
“Mr. Chae, there’s pepper powder stuck in your teeth.”
I just tried to nitpick for no reason.
“I know. It’s because I just ate kimchi.”
But the agent didn’t care at all.
He smiles brighter as he answers.
The chili powder reflected in the fluorescent light twinkles like stars.
I was going to try to win over Manager Chae with words here, but if I said one more word, I thought I would end up in more trouble.
“You didn’t call me today to really tease me, did you? What’s going on?
Enough joking, let’s get to the point.
“I was just joking. Actually, I have something to say.”
“Is it Ive’s job?”
“Yes. I brought inside information.”
Manager Chae spreads his palm, puts it to his mouth, and whispers secretly like a spy.
“···”
I’m so happy. It looks like you’re in a good mood today, seeing you acting so convincingly.
I guess there’s something you want to tell me about the stories you heard at work.
After making a rough guess like that, I asked again.
“Would you like to hear about this inside information?”
“I did some research, and the current atmosphere in the development team is a mess.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
“The development team is almost entirely comprised of people from the executive level. I think they’re probably trying to get out of the situation if necessary.”
“Ah… That’s why you did such a sloppy job… Well, I kind of expected it. There’s no way the developers working at Ive have that level of skill.”
I nodded. Since my mind was away, I guess I did my work half-heartedly. Well, that didn’t make much of a difference. I didn’t expect them to help me from the start anyway.
While chewing his lips like that, in the middle of a conversation with Manager Chae.
“It’s all done. You can eat it now.”
The waiter came over and opened the lid. When he lifted the lid, the chicken galbi was revealed. Cheese was sleeping soundly on top of the well-cooked chicken galbi.
After Mr. Chae smiled and put the cheese on, he lifted the ramen noodles with tongs. He wrapped the cheese around the chicken skin and placed it on the plate in front of him.
Then, Manager Chae lowered his head and put the noodles in his mouth.
“Oh, sir. Are you still exercising these days?”
“Yes. Well… Even if we keep doing this, it hasn’t been that long.”
“I think I should work out too. Don’t you think I’ve gained weight lately?”
Manager Chae turned his head from side to side and looked around his body.
“I don’t know. It doesn’t show on the outside.”
“is it so?”
“Yes. Well, weight is something that you gain and then lose.”
The cheese stretched and then shrank. I turned my chopsticks to cut off the cheese. I moved the ramen noodles and dakgalbi to the plate in front of me.
“So, what’s the atmosphere like at the gym you go to? Is it something I can go to?”
“well.”
I hesitated for a moment, unable to answer Manager Chae’s question.
Blunt but affectionate uncles.
The people are all nice, but there are too many old men… Of course, I wasn’t bad, but I’m not sure if Manager Chae would like that kind of atmosphere.
After thinking about it for a while.
“It’s just a neighborhood gym with a lot of old men… The people there seem to be nice. They’re all friendly. And… I don’t know if the equipment is good or bad. I don’t know much about it.”
I answered, mumbling. As I continued to chew the chicken galbi, the spiciness gradually began to rise.
“Hey. That’s because in your eyes, they’re all good people. Are there any bad people in the world, Mr. Director?”
Mr. Chae smiled as he answered. The amount of pepper powder stuck in his teeth increased. Countless stars formed a group and transformed into the Milky Way.
With a smile like that.
“This is Manager Chae.”
He answered firmly.
“Hey. Only Director Jeong will do it.”
There is some light banter going on around the table.
Laughter echoed across the hot iron plate.
Killing time by making pointless small talk.
When there are no more jokes to tell.
suddenly.
A story about the future suddenly came out of Manager Chae’s mouth.
“Anyway, I’m worried about the future. The number of engineers is decreasing.”
“But, Mr. Chae, you’ll survive, right? And if that doesn’t work out, you can learn how to code.”
“I don’t know. I don’t know what will happen to coding in the future. They say that AI is better at writing code than developers. These days, I just wonder how long I can do this.”
“Well, I’ll think about it when I get there. Even if it’s late, I can’t help but think that I’m late.”
“Then, sir, aren’t you learning AI separately?”
Agent Chae asked with a serious expression. His lips were tightly shut. The twinkling stars disappeared.
“I can’t do that.”
“Why? Sir, you are an expert in coding and data. If you make up your mind to move to AI, you can do it, right?”
The deputy tilted his head.
He looks at me with an expression of incomprehension.
‘The fact that my math skills are worse than a middle school student’.
It seemed that Manager Chae had forgotten that fact.
“Sir… Do you know another word for AI?”
“Huh? Suddenly? What kind of nonsense quiz is this?”
“No. AI is differentiation and integration.”
After I finished speaking, there was silence for a moment.
“Ah… that’s right. Mr. Director, math….”
Realizing it belatedly, Manager Chae nods.
You can start by learning the basics of differentiation and integration.
This means that if you want to enter AI, you have to learn high school math again.
It’s not that IT technology is the problem, but that there was a big barrier called mathematics from the beginning.
“So I never even thought about AI.”
“So, sir, what are your plans for the future? What if you can’t work in IT?”
“No. I guess I’ll just do something to survive.”
I’m single, so how could I live without earning a living? I answered nonchalantly.
Because I wasn’t a sincere person enough to worry about the distant future.
So I just focused on the dakgalbi in front of me.
Before I knew it, my chopsticks were covered in red dakgalbi sauce.
“Mr. Chae. Would you like some fried rice?”
“I’m full. You, sir.”
“Me too. Then shall I get up now?”
Manager Chae nods in response to my question.
Chae Dae-ri and I stood up at the same time, leaving the empty iron plate alone.
“I ate well.”
“Me too. I enjoyed the meal.”
As I went outside, I felt the chilly weather. I continued walking down the street.
“I’m going to catch the bus here.”
I had a light conversation with Manager Chae in front of the bus stop.
“Okay. I have to go to the subway station.”
I waved my hand and said hello, then turned my back.
Manager Chae walked a few steps.
“Sir, really? Can you do all the app tuning by yourself?”
Suddenly he turned his head and looked at me.
“I’ll do it if you tell me to. I just don’t want to do it.”
“If there’s anything I can do to help you, please let me know. It’s our company’s business anyway.”
Of course. After emphasizing this several times, Manager Chae turned his back. His long hair rose and then fell back down.
Honestly, there isn’t really anything that Manager Chae can help with.
Still, I was truly grateful for that sentiment.
City center in cloudy weather.
Of course, not a single star was visible.
Still, the stars in the night sky twinkled as always.
**
When I got home, I started analyzing the code again.
A high school math lecture is streaming from the cell phone on the desk.
I followed the code with my eyes and listened to the lecture with my ears.
Sometimes.
“Really. You made the code like a beggar.”
He plays the keyboard while singing a tired chorus.
As I analyzed it, I came across code that required me to know the function to analyze it.
Maybe it’s because they’re educated people from large companies. They’ve made the code more complicated than I thought. Thanks to that, I’m taking math classes for the college entrance exam, which I never thought I’d get.
If I had studied like this in high school, I would have gone to a prestigious university.
I briefly imagined going back in time. I fantasized about going back to my childhood and studying, but then I gave up.
Even if I go back, there’s no way I’ll be able to study.
“ah···”
While I was thinking about something else like that, I missed the lecture.
I pressed the back button. I kept sliding the LCD.
The math teacher on the screen says the same thing over and over again.
I code while multitasking in class.
How much time has passed like that?
at last.
“Wow. I really don’t know anything. Should I take a middle school class?”
He sighed and got up from his seat.
Since I was bored, I made an excuse and went out to the living room. I opened the refrigerator door and both the top and bottom doors and looked around to see if there was anything to eat.
-Jiying. Jiying.
Seongtae got a call.
After answering the phone, I put it on speakerphone and go back to rummaging through the fridge.
“why?”
“You’re not busy on weekdays.”
“busy.”
I answered bluntly.
“Then let’s go to Wolgye Temple together.”
He just says what he wants to say.
Seongtae who doesn’t even listen.
If that’s the case, then why are you asking?
Well, actually.
Because I’m already used to Seongtae’s conversations like that.
I wasn’t particularly offended.
I answered Seongtae’s questions half-heartedly.
“Why Wolgye Temple all of a sudden?”
I even searched the refrigerator. It seemed like there wasn’t anything worth eating.
**
Dang. Big eagle. Big eagle.
The sound of the bell lingers in the temple. It circles the grounds for a while, then soon leaves without a trace. The sound of birds chirping takes its place.
“thank you.”
The abbot bowed his head and answered concisely.
“No. We didn’t do it alone. Many people helped us.”
I came to Wolgye Temple to donate money for a charity performance.
“Let’s eat and go. It’s lunchtime.”
The head monk points to the restaurant with his hands clasped together.
There’s no meat in the rice, so will it taste good? While I was worrying about that, I looked at Seongtae’s expression.
“I guess so. It’s been a while since I’ve had a meal with you.”
Seongtae answered first.
And then, without even giving me a chance to say anything.
Quickly. Quickly. Seongtae pushed my back.
The head monk also followed us, walking slowly.
Hurry up. Hurry up. Let’s go. Seongtae’s mind is in such a hurry.
“It’s been a while, Nobosalnim.”
The abbot’s footsteps kept stopping. Whenever Buddhists passed by, he would put his hands together and greet them.
Seongtae couldn’t say anything to the monk.
I stood quietly in my seat and waited for the monk to finish his conversation.
“I’m sorry. You should go now.”
As we took a step forward, this time we followed suit.
In the monk’s slow gait, I felt a sense of leisure that I couldn’t explain.