EPISODE 3.10
I led the two of them as we walked towards the Marketing room. The hesitant steps of Han Seo-ri and Cha Yebin, who were following behind me, must have sensed what was about to happen.
“Ah, Ms Cha, you’re here!”
As expected, Mr. Choi approaches with a twinkle in his eye, but
his expression stiffens when he sees Cha Yebin and Han Seo-ri standing behind her. The team members, who had been startled by Cha’s sudden appearance, were also unable to manage their expressions at the combination of Cha and Han Seo-ri, and the deputy Kim Hyun-Jae and the manager Park Young-ji, who was walking with coffee from a distance, also froze when they made eye contact with Han Seo-ri.
I glanced over and saw the expressions on Han Seo-ri and Cha Yebin’s faces. Cha Yebin looked like he didn’t know what he was thinking, and Han Seo-ri looked at herself with Cha Yebin on her back, and the faces of her teammates, who looked scared, were slightly cheerful.
What, do you think Cha Yebin is going to scold them instead? I don’t want to pour cold water on their delusions, but unfortunately, I’m about to pour ice water on them.
“Mr. Choi?”
“Yes, Maam!”
“It looks like Ms Han seo here has been wronged in a very unjust way.”
“No, it’s…….”
Mr. Choi wiped his sweaty face with a damp handkerchief and glared at Han Seo-ri. Under Choi’s stare, Han Seo-ri flinched and ducked behind Cha Yebin, and at the same time, she could feel the air between the team members turn toxic. The team members probably must be thinking that they just said a few words as they handed back her work to her, but then all she did was to run to the owner and brought two people from the Jecheon Group’s patriarch’s family. How shallow of her. Han Seo-ri.
“Okay. Ms Han, tell me. There was something ‘unfortunate’ that happened. Why did you bring me and Vice President Cha Yebin here?”
“……It’s because of you, Cha Ye-Ryun, you spoke badly about me to my teammates!”
Han Seo-ri shouted in frustration at me for asking her questions with a blank face. Her voice echoed through the silent office. In the office, where the silence had been broken by the appearance of Cha Yebin, and even the sound of swallowing was loud, her shout sounded as loud as if she had turned on a loudspeaker. She lost control of her temper and cried out so loudly that she panicked and covered her mouth with her hands.
I was staring at her, laughing at her, when the silence was broken by a very embarrassed Mr. Choi, who started apologizing on her
behalf.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!!! I don’t know how Han could be so rude to the CEO……. Let me apologize on her behalf!”
Mr. Choi turned pale and bent his waist at 90 degrees.
“It’s because of my poor training, I apologize, Chief!”
Lee, who had been Han Seo-ri’s gunner when she was a rookie, also bent down and apologized.
“Deputy Han apologize quickly!” Kim Hyun-Jae, who had been stiff, also bent down to apologize and jabbed Han Seo-ri.
At first, Han Seo-ri also bent down and apologized to me like the rest of the team.
“I’m sorry. Ms. Cha. I got a little…… excited!”
“Oh, it’s okay, it’s not the first time that Ms Han Seo-ri hasn’t been able to distinguish between right and wrong.”
At my words, I heard a few pops of laughter from the team. Han Seo-ri’s face turned bright red.
“If you’re so unreasonable, let me ask you, what did I say badly
about Ms. Han?”
“Ms. Cha didn’t say anything like that, just…….”
Kim Hyun-Jae trailed off in mid-sentence, looking at Han Seo-ri and Cha Yebin alternately. He was looking at Cha Yebin. I took a step to the side and stood in front of Cha. I blocked Cha from Kim Hyun-jae’s gaze. I’m stronger than Cha Yebin. I’ll protect you, so you can talk to me. I wonder if he knew what I wanted to say.
After staring at me for a moment with trusting eyes, Kim Hyun-jae seemed to regain his courage and continued.
“Han Seo-ri was always busy with something. We felt sorry for her because she seemed to be running off to do her personal things, so we started to take over her work and handled it for her.”
One by one, the team members began to speak up as Hyunjae began to share their stories.
“But it became natural at some point, and even when she came back to work later, she didn’t even bother to come back for the work we gave her!”
“If Ms Cha hadn’t asked us how long we’d be willing to cover for her, we wouldn’t have realized it was unfair and would have
continued to cover for her forever!”
“Ms. Han is free to go out without even taking permission, while I can’t even go to the bank for a single banking business! Why is it that only Han who can be so free in the company?”
The team members began to vent their emotions like a burst dike.
The extras realized the injustice of their situation. They may not be on the show, but they are part of this world. Equally struggling, hurting. I decided to embrace those extras who are pitifully victimized in a world that is special only to Han Seo-ri. I decided to embrace them so that they could go on with their normal lives in a world that is only for Hansori. And so that they can make her life a living hell even when it’s not reflected in the drama.
For Cha ye-ryun, the villainess of Flower of Trials, it was better to stay in the background like a black screen. Luckily, there’s no need to bully the dumb heroine upfront when she can be dumb on her own.
“What the hell is Han Seo-ri doing in the company, and what the hell did Chief Cha do wrong?”
