Bamboo Forest Manager - Chapter 357



Manager Yoon

A small breeze was starting to blow at Wooju Global.

For some, it was a favorable wind encountered while sailing the vast ocean.

For others, it was an endlessly ruthless bloodstorm.

A storm with various meanings was about to hit.

“……I’m so damn tired.”

I, who was closest to the eye of the storm, was now lying on my desk, sucking on a red ginseng stick.

Did you know?

These days, you can buy red ginseng sticks individually at convenience stores.

Whenever you feel weak, buy one and eat it.

“Ahem, Mr. Woojin?”

I slightly turned my head at the voice calling me from the side.

Employee Kim cautiously asked while watching my reaction.

“Would you like some coffee?”

“Why do you speak formally to me, Employee Kim?”

“Pardon?”

“And what’s with ‘Mr. Woojin’? Who calls me that?”

“I’m sorry, young master!”

“Oh, come on?”

Look at that, it got worse.

“Just call me Woojin. If you want to be more comfortable, you can speak informally.”

“Well, that’s a bit…”

“Others will think it’s strange, you know? I’m just a good-looking office assistant in their eyes.”

“……”

“Employee Kim?”

“Ahem, yes! That’s right!”

If the silence is too long, won’t I start to have strange misunderstandings?

“Th-then, Mr. Woojin, would you like some coffee?”

“I’ll get it. Ms. Kim, you can continue with your work.”

I was feeling tired, so I was craving coffee. After taking orders from the other team members, I headed to the café downstairs.

Normally, it’s a rule to just make do with the instant coffee from the break room, but today I felt like I needed caffeine, so I just bought it from the café.

By the way, the card was given to me by Manager Yoon.

“Here it is.”

I handed out the coffee to the team members one by one. After giving them all out, I was about to sit down at my desk when Manager Yoon cleared his throat and called me.

“Mr. Woojin?”

“Yes, Manager.”

For a moment, everyone’s eyes were on us. They didn’t expect the manager to call me first.

“Today… are you going out for external work?”

“No, I’ll be doing self-study today.”

“Pfft.”

Laughter was heard around.

Self-study reminded them of their old college days.

“Wow, I used to skip classes for self-study after drinking the night before.”

“My boyfriend used to beg me not to go, and I almost got an F.”

“I still went to lectures diligently.”

Suddenly, college stories bloomed while working.

Manager Yoon cleared his throat and brought the topic back.

“Alright, then join me for a meeting today.”

“Yes, understood.”

The employees were surprised once again.

Talking to me was one thing, but involving me in a meeting was a completely different matter.

“Manager? Isn’t today’s meeting attended by team leaders from other departments?”

Assistant Oh asked with a hint of concern, and Manager Yoon nodded slightly.

“That’s right. Just set up the PPT and take the minutes.”

“Isn’t taking the minutes a bit too much?”

“Just follow the format. It’s not difficult.”

“I’ll do whatever you ask.”

With a smile, Deputy Oh couldn’t say anything in the end.

Manager Yoon is on the move.

A somewhat small build compared to others, angular glasses, a bent back, and wrinkles.

A person who couldn’t help but go unnoticed in many ways.

But in the end, everyone will pay attention to Manager Yoon’s actions.

* * *

Team Leader Meeting.

A monthly meeting where each person briefly reports the end-of-month settlement in front of the manager.

Originally, team leaders reported individually, but recently, with increased inter-departmental cooperation, they gathered and reported in this way.

There was nothing particularly difficult.

If you worked honestly, you just had to report it.

If the performance didn’t come out, it was natural to be scolded as a salaried worker.

It wouldn’t be much different from usual.

Thinking that, I entered the meeting room.

“Hello, my name is Woojin Kim.”

The moment I saw the young man in the red suit, I felt like I had been hit.

The hottest man in Wooju Global right now.

Especially the story of him calling the chairman against the executive last time was already known to everyone who knew.

‘That Manager Yoon?’

‘Is Manager Yoon trying to climb the ranks?’

‘No matter how much, the youngest?’

Manager Yoon was already famous within the company.

A fool who only knew work.

Such a man brought not a deputy but a member of the owner’s family to the team leader meeting?

No one could deny that an uneasy atmosphere was flowing.

The manager who received the final reports from the team leaders entered.

“Huh?”

He too let out a brief exclamation of surprise, but sat down without showing it.

The meeting began as the manager sat down.

The team leaders briefly reported on this month’s work and next month’s plans.

But the atmosphere was not light.

Kim Woo-jin, taking the minutes.

The chilling sensation felt on the back of his neck every time he tapped the keyboard.

If you think about it simply, it’s natural to take the minutes.

But strangely, he wondered if he had made any inappropriate remarks.

Did he use any words that might be offensive?

It made him reflect on himself.

The report, feeling like being graded, continued, and next was the turn of the digital marketing team.

They always had similar content and insignificant results.

However, today was different.

The performance report itself was dull, but they had separately prepared a PPT for the expected project this month.

“PPT?”

The manager frowned.

He thought it was too sudden, but when he saw the person setting it up and flipping through it, he couldn’t close his mouth.

‘Why is he wearing such a conspicuous suit?’

Even if he wanted to pretend not to see it, he couldn’t.

“Let’s begin.”

November digital marketing work plan.

The PPT made by Manager Yoon was neat.

Without unnecessarily lengthening the text, it detailed the expected investment resources and the benefits they would gain through photos and graphs.

The logic supporting it was also quite solid.

‘…….’

Even Kim Woo-jin, who was watching it, was learning something.

‘Interesting.’

He felt like he understood what it meant to do a good job.

People often think of ‘logic’ as something used in arguments or debates.

‘You also create logic in work, like Manager Yoon.’

Why is it done this way?

Why does this result come out?

The thoroughly data-calculated solid logic firmly supported the presentation like a fortress.

So then.

Why has this digital marketing team been unable to produce results until now?

This could be attributed to the nature of the department.

From noble mtl dot com

“Wait a minute, Manager Yoon. Why did you include the sales department’s China export case? This is our job.”

“Ah, if I may speak… You mentioned the electronics side earlier, but I don’t see the need to do it together.”

“Isn’t digital marketing originally part of the PR department? To be honest, it feels like you’re stepping into something we’ve already done.”

The team leaders seized the moment to speak up.

Marketing, after all, is about improving relationships with customers and satisfying consumer desires.

In other words.

They can’t do anything on their own.

No matter how good they are at selling products, what good is it if there are no products?

‘The reason the digital marketing team was demoted is simple. The status of the Wooju Group is too high.’

Luxury goods sell themselves without promotion.

Wooju Global always sits at the top of the client list simply because it’s a large corporation.

‘It’s a battle for performance. They don’t understand why they have to share the fruits of their labor with the marketing team.’

Normally, Manager Yoon would have backed down here.

After all, he has to work with the team leaders to get things done, and if they say it’s unnecessary, he would have just stepped back.

“Hmm.”

The beam point of the PPT made Manager Yoon’s glasses flash.

Even though he had the remote control himself, he deliberately said,

“Woojin, move the PPT back to the profitability section.”

By calling Kim Woojin, he reminded everyone who was present.

“Yes, Team Leader.”

It also showed a kind of hierarchy, implying the solidity of their relationship.

The graph they saw earlier came to mind again.

It was the expected profitability when this project was carried out.

There was no room for argument, as he even brought in similar past cases to support his logic.

“Look at this. If we support this, the profitability will increase.”

There must have been no time.

He knew they had stayed up all night preparing the materials.

“This is the estimated minimum. If the digital marketing team takes over customer management and divides the tasks related to complaints and communication, it will reduce the burden on the sales team. Depending on individual capabilities, it can increase even more.”

Assistant Manager Yoon answered as if he had been asked this question several times.

He must have run hundreds of simulations in his head.

“What’s the problem? The sales team just needs to keep doing their job. Only our workload will increase.”

His confidently straightened back was like a baby’s breath flower blooming after a long time.

“If you have any questions or find any errors in the materials I prepared, please point them out. I will accept and correct them.”

His firmness only made the team leaders more intimidated.

They had just started looking at the PPT, and they knew there was nothing to fault in the content that Assistant Manager Yoon had reviewed and re-reviewed several times.

“Sigh, Assistant Manager Yoon.”

In the end.

It was the manager who stepped in.

He tapped the desk and glared at Assistant Manager Yoon.

“You know. You know. But, you see. Is our work simply made up of data? Can we work just by following logic?”

“…I don’t understand what you mean.”

Assistant Manager Yoon immediately bent his back at the manager’s words.

Seeing that, the team leaders smiled and felt relieved.

They must have thought he immediately backed down because the manager spoke.

‘Does it look that way to you?’

Kim Woo-jin wanted to ask sincerely.

Does that look like backing down to you?

‘I see it as a fishing hook.’

A fishing hook that became bait to catch a big fish.

“Look at that. The frozen chicken export to China. Do you know how much this team struggled to make that happen?”

“That’s right, some of us even got sick from drinking because of that. We opened several bottles of whiskey to please the buyers.”

“And! The electronics distribution! Even the executive director personally stepped in to connect and establish the line.”

The manager’s point was simple.

Despite all that effort.

Why are you getting involved and sharing the results?

What did you do?

You shamelessly intruded on a finished meal, and when profits come, you’ll laugh and say you did well.

“Manager Yoon, let’s not take away the achievements of those who have worked hard.”

The department head gently persuades.

Before you know it.

Manager Yoon and the digital marketing team were like people who only picked out the strawberries from a cake someone else bought.

But.

“Sir, it’s for the company’s benefit. There’s no reason to stop when we can gain more from this.”

“Manager Yoon.”

“Why are we here? Aren’t we the ones who bring profit to the company and get paid for it?”

“Manager Yoon! Are you going to be inflexible?! The company is ultimately a place where people live! Do you really want to divide the shares of those who worked hard like that?!”

“Yes! I must! Because that’s the direction that pursues more profit for the company!”

“Manager Yoon!”

The conference room table shakes roughly.

It was a signal that the bait had been taken.

A single cough.

“Ahem.”

A sip of water from the glass beside.

Gulp.

And then silence.

“……”

This was all Kim Woo-jin did.

It was really the end.

This was enough to assert his presence.

As the old saying goes.

Even the king is criticized when he’s not present.

What does it matter if they curse someone who’s not there?

Who would say anything when the salaried employees want to secure their own performance over the company’s profit to get more incentives?

But.

Here.

The king is present.

Wooju Group.

The youngest son, whom Chairman Kim cherishes the most.

The moment Kim Woo-jin, resting his chin on his hand, let out a faint smile.

“For the benefit of the company, sir.”

Manager Yoon declared once again, clearly and firmly.

The benefit of the company.

The words Manager Yoon kept emphasizing.

Words so obvious and orthodox that they bound everyone.

Before they knew it.

If anyone opposed here.

They would become someone denying the benefit of the company.

Just as they had made Manager Yoon out to be an unethical person.

A brief silence.

“If there’s nothing more to say, we’ll proceed as planned.”

Another silence.

There was no response.

“Thank you.”

Manager Yoon finished his report.

* * *

“Do you have time today?”

On the way back to the department after finishing the report.

Manager Yoon asked me.

“Is there something you need help with?”

“No, I was thinking we could have a drink of soju. Come to think of it, we haven’t had a welcome party for Woo-jin yet.”

“Ugh, I have a lecture tomorrow morning.”

I said this, but nodded with a smile. Today was a very good day, so a company dinner seemed appropriate.

“Are we using the company card? That’s my money, you know.”

I joked, and Manager Yoon chuckled and patted my shoulder.

“I’ll use my own money. So we can only afford pork belly.”

“I like pork belly. I should let my girlfriend know I’ll be late today.”

“You have a girlfriend?”

“Of course.”

“…Is she pretty?”

“Are you curious about that too?”

I was going to show him a photo, but I didn’t know whose photo to show.

But the manager just laughed and patted my back without even thinking about looking at a photo.

“Don’t get into trouble, that’s advice from experience.”

“Did you get into trouble and get married, sir?”

This is a bit unexpected.

He looks like a complete straight-laced person.

“Thanks to that, I have a daughter about your age, Woojin.”

“Can you tell me more? I’m really curious.”

“Later, after work.”

Looking at Manager Yoon’s back, which seemed a bit more relaxed, I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.

“Promise.”

A capable person cannot stand being ignored.

Manager Yoon was exactly that kind of person.

The conversation we just had.

I realized that it was the reason Manager Yoon could endure until now, after I sat down at my desk.