Autumn leaves drenched in various colors fluttered in the wind across the campus.
Ti, which had been flowing busily on a deep autumn day, was finding its place one by one like the fallen leaves.
On the day I, Lim Hyunjun, finished my midterm exams, the shoulders carrying my bag were light, but my head was heavy instead.
The anxiety about sothing approaching in the future weighed down, more than the relief of finishing.
At that mont, soone struck my shoulder with a thud.
“Hey, Lim Hyunjun. Let’s rest a bit today. Midterm exams are over, are you going to go ho right away?”
It was Jang Wooseok.
I glanced at Wooseok and imdiately realized he wanted sothing.
“It looks like there’s sothing you want to do.”
“It’s more strange if there’s nothing you want to do on the day exams end! Hey, don’t even think about escaping today and just follow !”
Wooseok led the way while pulling my arm.
Like that, the two of us went down a small alleyway near the school.
At the end of it, there was a snack shop run by an elderly woman.
As we entered the shabby-looking snack shop, the sll of fried food stimulated my nose.
“Grandmother, I’m here. Tteokbokki and five rolls of gimbap. Oh, and please give us the fried items by type. Sundae too!”
“You’re going to run out of breath, you rascal!”
Wooseok scratched his head at the order that didn’t even leave room to breathe.
I greeted her, sat in an inner seat, poured so water, and asked.
“Are you a regular here? You look very familiar with it.”
“Actually, the son of the owner here is a senior from our school. Right, Grandmother?”
The grandmother, who was filling a plate with tteokbokki until it was just about to overflow, heard Wooseok’s words and spoke excitedly.
“Of course, our Jongseok is a great senior.”
“That’s right, Grandmother.”
Agreeing with her, Wooseok began to explain about the person nad Jongseok.
“Senior Jongseok was very good at studying, but he’s also a person with really wonderful ambitions. Even after getting a job, he ca to school and gave a lot of counseling. Seniors who had many worries about their career paths benefited quite a bit.”
“I guess you benefited a bit too?”
“Well, I can’t say I didn’t.”
Actually, I also knew the stories about Senior Kim Jongseok well.
However, the information I knew was through mories of my past life.
Kim Jongseok was the team leader of the Technology Developnt Team at Daehan Shipbuilding &
Marine Engineering.
Even though he knew about the supply corruption and technology royalty rebate problems occurring in the departnt he belonged to, he could not just let it pass without a word.
In fact, most of the executives and employees had done just that.
If they kept their mouths shut and closed their eyes a few tis, money was made.
However, he kept records until the end and even went as far as reporting it.
Afterwards, he was suspended from duty, and pressure, conciliation, and even threats followed, but Kim Jongseok did not back down.
That incident was made known to the world by the dia, and a modifier was attached to Kim Jongseok.
[The Whistleblower Who Made Daehan Cry]
That beca the starting point, and he went around giving lectures and later entered politics.
I, who was Jeong Taeshik back then, still could not forget the look in Kim Jongseok’s eyes at the hearing on television.
“I simply did what I naturally had to do.”
I felt it then.
That person stood on the side of setting the world right.
The road walking while facing the autumn wind after coming out of the snack shop.
I parted ways with Wooseok and looked at the sky silently.
‘It’s almost ti.’
October 14th.
It was the day the na Kim Jongseok was revealed to the world.
It was because I rembered that day when the internal corruption case of Daehan Shipbuilding &
Marine Engineering was first reported.
That day was the birthday of Taeshik’s late mother.
That was why I could not forget it even more.
The day Kim Jongseok brought out the truth even amidst danger.
I rembered my late mother, whom I, as Jeong Taeshik, could not even buy a common cake for.
When that day actually arrived.
I checked the news this morning.
However, no articles about Daehan Shipbuilding &
Marine Engineering were posted.
‘…That’s strange.’
Until now, my mory had never been wrong.
If so, it ant that sothing was changing.
I entered the school cafeteria with Wooseok while wearing a serious expression.
On the trays, it was full of nus that made my mouth water just by looking at them.
Next to the well-fried cheese pork cutlet, sweet and spicy fried chicken and spicy tteokbokki were served as sides.
I quietly stuffed the cheese pork cutlet into my mouth in one bite.
Jang Wooseok, who was sitting across from , held his chopsticks and looked at his phone screen before widening his eyes.
“Wow, crazy! This is insane.”
I raised my head while putting a piece of pork cutlet dipped in tteokbokki into my mouth.
“Why? Are they giving more sweet and spicy fried chicken?”
“It’s sothing cooler than that. Wow…. He’s really coming!”
Wooseok let out a series of exclamations like a person who saw sothing unbelievable and put down his phone.
I glanced slightly at his screen.
It was a ssage from a school senior who was close with Wooseok.
“What are you so happy about?”
“Senior Kim Jongseok is coming to our school this Friday for a special lecture!”
Wooseok eventually even covered his face with both hands.
“Isn’t this really insane? I’m definitely going to listen to that senior’s lecture. You’re going to listen too, right?”
“Uh? Sure.”
I lost my words for a mont while holding my spoon.
‘Senior Kim Jongseok….’
Wooseok chattered excitedly like a person who had seen a celebrity.
“Do you rember the senior I talked about at the tteokbokki place before? He’s working at Daehan Shipbuilding &
Marine Engineering now. I heard he ca and gave counseling before too, and to finally et him. Isn’t it really crazy?”
“Ye, yeah….”
I answered like a person who had no interest and fell into thought.
Kim Jongseok.
Normally, today would be the day he shocks society by whistleblowing the internal corruption of Daehan Shipbuilding &
Marine Engineering.
But now, he’s coming to the school just to give a career special lecture.
I stood up from my seat.
Today, as always, the tray I had eaten cleanly from was tidy.
Throughout the walk back to the classroom, Wooseok chattered about Kim Jongseok the whole ti.
‘…I’ll know once I et him.’
***
The school’s grand auditorium.
Looking at the watch, it was just past 2:00 PM.
Students began to fill the seats one by one.
The seats in front of the stage were already full of buzzing.
Jang Wooseok dragged early and reserved seats in the middle of the front row.
It was a result obtained by even mobilizing classmates.
He was so passionate that he even rolled up his sleeves and acted actively.
“I’m definitely seeing him up close today.”
Thanks to Wooseok, I was able to see him up close.
I looked toward the stage without a word.
After a while, the lights gradually dimd.
Flash!
One light turned on.
The voice of the teacher in charge of the event echoed throughout the auditorium.
“Students, please be quiet. We will now begin the career special lecture. Today’s speaker is Senior Kim Jongseok, a proud graduate of our school. Please respond with a warm round of applause.”
Thunderous applause rang out incessantly.
Soon, a man appeared from between the curtains next to the stage.
He had a neat impression, wearing a calm gray suit and black horn-rimd glasses.
It was exactly the image I rembered.
His face appeared before my eyes as if the hearing scene from my past life was overlapping.
I felt as if I had teleported from the past to the present.
To that extent, my head went blank and the sensations of my whole body montarily froze.
Kim Jongseok stood on the podium and slowly lowered his gaze.
Then he held the microphone and spoke his first words.
“Hello, I am Kim Jongseok. I am currently working in the Technology Developnt Team of a company called Daehan Shipbuilding &
Marine Engineering.”
He began to unravel his story slowly.
“What kind of place is a company?”
The lecture hall beca quiet in an instant.
“Many of you probably think a company is just a place where you receive a salary. Perhaps there are so who say this. A place you go while being wary of your boss.”
The lecture, which was led pleasantly, was to the extent that laughter could be heard in various places.
“That’s right. It is also a place you go while being wary of your boss. But you see. What I felt while attending the company is that it is ultimately a small society created by many people gathering together.”
Kim Jongseok’s voice was neither high nor low.
However, each word was clearly engraved in the mind.
“In there, so people compromise, and so people remain silent. So people resist, and so people… take responsibility.”
Every word Kim Jongseok spoke was embedded deep in my heart.
Like arrows flying toward , those words pierced with heavy truth.
However, the date of whistleblowing in my mory had already passed.
If so, this person might be trying to make a different choice now.
By the ti my head was becoming complicated, the lecture that had been in progress concluded with career paths, company life, and advice to juniors.
The students sent applause again.
Kim Jongseok finished his greeting and slowly ca down from the podium.
Wooseok, who was next to , seed moved as he spoke with sparkling eyes.
“Wow, really…. Isn’t he really cool? I definitely have to et the senior today. Co on, let’s go together.”
“Okay. Let’s go.”
The two of us quickly moved our steps toward Kim Jongseok, who was exiting through the left entrance of the grand auditorium.
One or two students offered greetings, but he only nodded quietly.
It seed like he was trying to leave quickly.
At that mont, Wooseok raised his voice.
“Senior! Senior Kim Jongseok!”
Kim Jongseok stopped walking.
His gaze as he turned around quietly t mine.
A sense of heterogeneity, as if ti had stopped, covered my head.
With a familiar dizziness, the front of my eyes blurred.
And in the next mont, an intense scene flowed into my head.
Inside a dark office.
In there, Kim Jongseok was standing in a sowhat shrunken posture.
The person facing him was soone I also knew well.
Nam Jae-heon, the President of Daehan Shipbuilding &
Marine Engineering.
He was the eldest son of Daehan Group and a person I had encountered countless tis through articles in my past life.
Nam Jae-heon glared at Kim Jongseok with a fierce look in his eyes.
“Team Leader Kim Jongseok!”
“…….”
“Do you think anyone will care if you do this?”
Kim Jongseok remained silent at the sharp question.
Nam Jae-heon slowly walked toward him and spoke.
“You didn’t think I wouldn’t know what was happening in my company. But you’re going to hand that over to the dia?”
“That… is clearly sothing the company is doing wrong.”
As Kim Jongseok opened his mouth with difficulty, Nam Jae-heon burst into a thin laugh.
“Acting as if you’re righteous. You must have a family too. Have you thought about what kind of results what you’re trying to do now will bring?”
In an instant, Kim Jongseok’s expression froze solidly.
Deep within his pupils, a trembling fear was revealed under the light.
“I’m giving you an opportunity. An opportunity to protect your family. This kind of warning is only once. I’m very much looking forward to what happens next.”
After saying that, Nam Jae-heon put a docunt down on the desk.
Inside it was sensitive information related to Kim Jongseok’s family.
Ending with that scene, it disappeared as if being sucked into the silence along with the cold, frozen air.
I swallowed my breath while trying to suppress my heart, which was racing wildly.
It was a fragnt of mory so strong that my head felt stinging.
When I opened my eyes again, Kim Jongseok was talking with Wooseok as if nothing had happened.
“Senior, I am Jang Wooseok. I’ve heard a lot about you before.”
Wooseok reached out his hand with an excited expression.
Kim Jongseok smiled brightly and accepted the handshake.
However, in my eyes, his hidden pain seed visible.
‘He was definitely being threatened. And by Nam Jae-heon….’
I slowly chewed over the na inside.
Like fitting pieces of a puzzle one by one, all the pieces found their place.
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