Chapter 66

Lim Ho-jin’s glance made Lee Sangsub grimace.

“It seems like I’ve unwittingly taken on the role of villain.”

“Go ahead.” Choi Donghae nodded at Lee Sangsub’s prompt.

“You have too many excuses, Mr. Choi.”

“Pardon?”

“Whenever someone points something out, you immediately start making excuses. When criticized, it’s important to acknowledge your mistakes instead of backing away from them.”

“I understand.”

”…Let’s just leave it at that.”

“Huh?”

Lee Sangsub smiled and poured soju for the puzzled Choi Donghae.

“Just stop here. If you try to change any further…it might be quicker to get reincarnated again.”

“With these changes, you should feel something, Donghae.” With those words, Lee Sangsub stood up.

“It’s been a while since our last team dinner, but it seems like Choi Donghae is dominating the conversation. Waitress! Could you bring us five more bottles of soju and beer each?” Lee Sangsub ordered additional drinks before continuing, “As you know, our department only has one round for these dinners. We don’t do karaoke or anything extra, so we should wrap up soon. From now on, let’s pace ourselves! Oh, and if anyone feels they’ve had enough, please turn their glass upside down. The trend nowadays is to discourage excessive drinking.”

Smiling, Lee Sangsub gathered glasses and began pouring both beer and soju. With the bomb shots he mixed, the employees quickly started to loosen up, and thoughts of Choi Donghae gradually faded from their minds.

As the night wore on and everyone got drunker, Choi Donghae couldn’t stop thinking about what he had heard earlier that day.

The dinner party ended at around ten o’clock.

“Manager Kang, have a safe trip home.”

“You too, Assistant Manager Choi.”

After seeing off his colleagues to the subway entrance, Kang Jin noticed Choi Donghae still lingering nearby.

“Aren’t you heading back, Mr. Choi?”

“I…I’d like to eat some ramen first.”

Kang Jin checked the time and nodded understandingly.

“Let’s go then.”

Since they dined near their workplace, it was also close to One Meal Restaurant. After a five-minute walk, they arrived at the restaurant where Kang Jin immediately started boiling water for ramen.

He cooked two packets of instant noodles with only enough water usually used for one packet, creating a dry noodle dish similar to jajangmyeon (noodles with black bean sauce). Kang Jin placed the bowl in front of Choi Donghae.

“Here’s your ramen. Would you like rice as well?”

When asked by Kang Jin about his ramen, Choi Donghae briefly glanced at it and shook his head.

“It’s fine.”

He then picked up his chopsticks and started eating. As he watched, Kang Jin spoke.

“Are you bothered by what was said during our team dinner?”

Choi Donghae paused momentarily while eating but continued with his meal. After finishing the noodles, he took a sip of water and looked at Kang Jin.

“Lee Kang-jin…”

Choi Donghae hesitated before continuing, “Can I call you hyung?” (elder brother)

“Sure, go ahead.” Kang Jin readily agreed to being addressed as such.

With Kang Jin’s permission, Choi Donghae proceeded.

“In truth…as you know, I didn’t really like you before.”

“I know.”

“It was jealousy,” Choi Donghae admitted.

Kang Jin looked at him intently as he continued, “Even though you weren’t from the trade department, you got accepted as an intern for a trading company. Despite my background, our team members preferred working with you over me. So I…resented you, I guess.”

“You said ‘resented’ in past tense? Does that mean it’s not true anymore?”

“Now…to be honest, I still feel jealous because they still like you more than me.”

At Choi Donghae’s words, Kang Jin shook his head slightly.

How timid of him…

“So, you’ll continue to hate me then?” Kang Jin already knew the answer. Since Choi Donghae addressed him informally and brought this up, it couldn’t simply be about maintaining animosity.

“Instead of hating you, I want to be friends.”

Kang Jin looked at Choi Donghae with surprise due to his unexpected response.

“The news today was quite shocking for you?”

“In truth…it’s because it’s true. And this is something I’ve been avoiding facing until now.” Choi Donghae then opened up further. “What should I do from here on out?”

“Lose weight.”

“I will.”

“No…you must lose weight.”

Choi Donghae nodded at Kang Jin’s words. Then Kang Jin continued while observing him.

“How’s your family situation?”

“My family?”

“I’m asking if taking a year off work without burdening your family financially is possible.”

“It’s not bad, but…a whole year off?”

In response, Kang Jin asked:

“When did you start gaining weight?”

“Probably during my second year of middle school…”

“So you’ve been overweight for about eleven years now.”

Since Choi Donghae was currently twenty-six… it meant he had lived as an obese person for roughly eleven years.

“That’s right.”

“And all those negative experiences due to being overweight over these past eleven years… do you want to experience them again for the next ten, thirty, or even more years?”

Choi Donghae’s face hardened at Kang Jin’s words.

“No, I don’t.”

“You must have attempted dieting several times before, right?”

“Yes.”

“But something always came up, preventing you from continuing your efforts. Am I correct?”

“How did you know that?”

“It’s similar to quitting smoking.”

“Do you smoke, hyung?”

“No, but observing acquaintances who tried quitting and then started smoking again, they all had their excuses. Family issues arose, stress drinking, etc.”

Hearing about excuses, Choi Donghae bit his lip. Reflecting on Kang Jin’s words, he realized they were true. He’d tried dieting during holidays but thought it was okay to indulge for just one day, only to ruin his progress. Another time, one of his few friends enlisted, and Donghae ended up overeating after deciding to treat himself that day. Yet another instance involved feeling dizzy from not eating enough, thinking he might faint if he continued, so he ate something then too.

Looking back now, all those were merely excuses.

“I guess…I’ve been making excuses.”

Kang Jin observed Choi Donghae before replying, “It’s hard to maintain a diet while working at a company. Plus, once your internship ends, you’ll have to graduate and prepare for job hunting. The stress will give you even more reasons to make excuses.”

“What should I do then?”

“There are two options. One is to quit your internship now, take a year off from school, and focus solely on losing weight. The second option is to lose some weight while interning, finish up, and then spend about a year focusing only on dieting.”

“You’re suggesting I do nothing but diet for a whole year?”

As someone nearing graduation with plans to job hunt, this was difficult advice for Choi Donghae to consider. However, Kang Jin’s well-being weighed heavily on his mind, making him prioritize weight loss over employment. After all, health concerns were more pressing than career issues at this point.

“I’ve never personally tried dieting, but I imagine it’s as challenging as quitting smoking. Shedding excess weight can’t be easy since you’re essentially transforming your body. That’s why I recommend dedicating an entire year just to dieting without any distractions.”

“That’s…”

Losing weight for a whole year is no easy feat. Especially for Choi Donghae, who was preparing to enter the job market soon.

“Donghae, what’s your height and current weight?”

Choi Donghae hesitated momentarily before answering Kang Jin’s question.

“I’m…197 centimeters tall…and weigh 128 kilograms.”

He had lost about two kilograms. There’s quite a difference between being in the 120s versus the 130s. Of course, this was from Choi Donghae’s perspective; others would still find both numbers astonishingly high.

“You realize that’s quite heavy, right?”

”…Yes.”

“People talk about living to 100 these days, but realistically, it’s challenging to reach… Still, aiming for 80 isn’t unrealistic.”

“True.”

“So if you have approximately 54 years left in your life, sacrificing one year now to invest in the remaining 53 years doesn’t sound bad, does it?”

“Wait, there’s a difference between living healthily until eighty and being crippled with pain at eighty.”

Choi Donghae nodded in agreement.

“So what do you think?”

“I…”

I’d like to finish my internship.

“…not immediately?”

Start by losing weight first.

“In all my part-time jobs, I’ve met many people, but none as good-hearted as our team members here. No company has had such a pleasant atmosphere like Taekwang Trading Company.”

“That seems true.”

“The practical experience and relationships you build during your internship will benefit you greatly moving forward. Even if you don’t become a full-time employee directly after this, you can still apply through the regular hiring process later.”

“You’re right.”

“During your one-year internship…focus on dieting. Then take the official entrance exam and join us.”

Kang Jin’s words elicited a nod from Choi Donghae. Seeing this, Kang Jin had another idea and chuckled.

“I know a great place for you to lose weight.”

“A good place?”

“There’s a private academy located in the mountains of Gangwon-do. It operates like military boot camp with fixed times for waking up, eating meals, and going to bed. The nearest town is ten minutes away by car, so there won’t be any distractions.”

“Such a place exists?”

“I worked part-time there before. They provide free meals too, so if you eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner while taking walks to and from the nearby village, you’ll definitely shed some pounds.”

Choi Donghae pondered Kang Jin’s suggestion for a moment before nodding.

“Understood. Once my internship ends, I’ll go there and lose weight.”

“Well then, it’s time for me to leave now.”

“Huh?”

“I need to run my business now. Time to go.”

“Let me help you.”

“Not for me…for yourself.” Choi Donghae got up as Kang Jin started clearing dishes towards the kitchen.

“It was delicious,” said Choi Donghae before taking out 5,000 won from his wallet and placing it inside the acrylic donation box on the counter. Then he left the store.

Kang Jin watched Choi Donghae’s departing back from the kitchen and nodded.

“If one doesn’t change oneself, the world will not change either.” Muttering quietly, Kang Jin finished washing the dishes and began preparing for the next wave of ghost customers.

The next morning, Kang Jin observed Choi Donghae closely.

“Why…do you ask?”

Kang Jin shook his head at Choi Donghae’s question.

“You used powder?”

“It smells too strong?”

“No, it’s fine.”

“I’m glad to hear that. And…” Could you please let me know if I start smelling bad?”

“Of course.”

In response, Choi Donghae softly said:

“And feel free to call me by my first name. We agreed on being informal yesterday, remember?”

Kang Jin shook her head gently.

“In the workplace, let’s maintain professionalism. Outside of work, we can be more casual. It’ll make things easier for both of us, Donghae.”

“Understood.” Nodding, Choi Donghae continued: “Also…I apologize about the group chat incident before.”

“The group chat?”

“With our colleagues, yes.”

“Ah… Don’t worry about it. I didn’t intend to be close friends with you anyway. Let’s get back to work.”

As Choi Donghae nodded and started working, Kang Jin turned his attention to the documents on his desk.

Since the sports event was scheduled, Kang Jin had become the busiest among them. All tasks from Team 2 of Export Management fell onto him now. He needed to double-check each document against the business summaries submitted by team members.

Fortunately…

“I’ve reviewed these. Here.” Park Chungman had been keeping an eye on the documents spread out next to Kang Jin.

Kang Jin handed over the papers as instructed and continued reviewing others.

“The numbers here seem incorrect.”

Following Park Chungman’s words, Kang Jin examined the document. The summary provided by one of his teammates contained inaccurate figures compared to the original records.