Chapter 22

Danbi practically fled from his desk as though she had been kicked out.

The moment she sat back down with a heavy load of stress weighing on her, she noticed the team messenger window flashing nonstop.

It seemed as though the conversation had been broadcasting the storm that had just taken place in real time, because the chat was already in full swing.

Development Team 1

Thought we were filming a drama……

Ever since we got a team leader straight out of a drama,

the company has just

how should I put it

become unrealistically ideal.

Wasn’t the universal rule for every company, big or small,

to scramble to fix problems only after they happened?

What company actually

picks everything apart this meticulously

and fucking grills you

before a problem even happens,

while pinpointing the exact issue?

Usually, you figure out who fucked up what only after something goes wrong.

The previous team leader never even bothered to figure out who was at fault as long as the problem itself was fixed.

A problem occurs.

You fix it.

Everyone had followed that rule, and nobody had complained.

But Han Hae-il was different.

He wanted to prevent problems as much as possible before they happened.

It was an ideal approach, but in the process, the workload on the team members multiplied several times over.

Perhaps it was a crack caused by the difference between the mindset of salaried employees and that of an owner.

Development Team 1

Maybe that’s the level you need to reach

if you want to make a name for yourself in Silicon Valley.

Also, just having

a team leader in a suit

in a development team is already unrealistic.

A developer who wears a suit every day?

Never even heard of such a thing.

Hae-il had accomplished that very unrealistic combination.

There was a common prejudice that developers who dressed up like that didn’t have much skill, but Hae-il was blatantly shattering even that stereotype.

Development Team 1

Exactly. Developers are all basically born losers,

so we can’t talk that aggressively.

When we’re pissed off, we can’t even get angry.

We just grumble to ourselves.

That’s what makes you a developer.

I bet that guy has never had to hold back his anger even once in his life lol.

He’s not a developer. He’s an owner who inherited his development skills from his dad…… ^^

Danbi had to agree.

The company’s previously horizontal atmosphere had been shattered by the arrival of the CEO’s son.

Normally, enough time had already passed for everyone to become close with one another, but everyone felt uncomfortable around the CEO’s son and found him intimidating.

Here, he existed strictly as a superior, rather than a colleague.

Development Team 1

I feel like I’m just dreaming these days.

Even when I get yelled at now,

I feel like an extra on a drama set.

LOLㅋㅋㅋㅋ Same here.

Now if only a romance plot shows up,

it’ll be complete.

Ah.

Earlier, he was grilling someone about dating and personal life.

Who is Lee Danbi dating?

Apparently, everyone had been pretending to work while keeping their ears wide open.

In an instant, every arrow turned toward Danbi.

The cursor blinking on her monitor seemed to urge her to answer quickly.

Danbi typed a short response.

Development Team 1

Would I?

The sound of her finger slamming down on the Enter key rang unusually loudly.

✶ ✶ ✶

Haa…….

Someone’s sigh seemed to weigh heavily upon the entire office.

At the center of the low-pressure system called Han Hae-il, Danbi felt as though she were standing naked in the middle of a storm, taking every gust and downpour head-on.

“Danbi, come here for a moment.”

Being called over had practically become part of her daily routine.

Once the technical reprimands from his meticulous code reviews were finished, his twisted repertoire inevitably followed.

“I don’t care what you do in your personal life, Danbi, but shouldn’t you make sure it doesn’t interfere with your work?”

Personal life again.

Could it be because I ate late-night food yesterday and went straight to bed?

There was nothing particularly dramatic about Danbi’s life, which consisted almost entirely of home and work.

Nothing remotely as dramatic as the things he kept accusing her of.

“Were you tired from going on a date over the weekend and forget to include a test case?”

“Excuse me…… date…….”

“Are you trying to make excuses?”

His fierce gaze silenced her.

He wasn’t interested in the facts.

He simply needed an excuse to attack her.

“No. I’m sorry.”

All Danbi could do was pray that this hellish project—and the even more hellish hysteria of the man leading it—would end as soon as possible.

When did it start?

When did his gaze, his tone, everything he directed toward me become this sharp?

Staring at her blank monitor, Danbi slowly unraveled the tangled threads of her thoughts.

At the end of those chaotic thoughts, as always, came the scene from that noisy company dinner.

“Just as team leader and team member.”

The words she had uttered came back like a boomerang of regret.

If I’d known I’d be trampled this thoroughly as a subordinate, I should’ve at least tried appealing to his sense of human decency.

Maybe I should’ve just asked him to treat me as an old friend…….

She had only wanted to keep private feelings from disrupting their professional relationship.

But the result had been the worst possible one.

Under the whip wielded by Han Hae-il behind the mask of a superior, Danbi was helplessly being worn down.

She cautiously raised her head.

There was Hae-il’s profile, completely motionless, his face buried in his monitor.

His already sharp features looked even more precarious these days because of his bloodshot eyes and deeply sunken eye sockets.

He worked like a madman.

And because the team had a boss who was addicted to work, the team members were being ground down to the very depths of their souls as well.

When lunchtime arrived, the team members silently exchanged glances as though they had planned it beforehand.

They carefully rose from their seats, afraid of provoking their team leader’s temper.

Hae-il still didn’t move.

The answer was obvious, but senior employee Yunseok took one for the team and approached him.

“Team Leader, aren’t you coming to lunch with us?”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. Go eat. I still have some things to look over.”

His gaze remained fixed on the monitor, and his voice contained no emotion whatsoever.

Yunseok awkwardly backed away after receiving exactly the answer he had expected.

It was only after they had completely left the office that the team members finally released the breaths they had been holding.

“Why does he always skip lunch?”

“They say geniuses are naturally sensitive. Maybe he’s the type who can’t even eat.”

“Well, it’s more comfortable eating among ourselves anyway…… But isn’t he seriously going to collapse at this rate?”

“Exactly. That guy is the key player in this project. If he collapses right now, we’re all screwed.”

Their conversation struck directly at Danbi’s own anxiety.

Yes.

He was a boss she hated, but at the same time, he was an undeniable genius and the only way out of this hellish project.

The thought of him collapsing and leaving them to finish everything on their own was a nightmare scenario she didn’t even want to imagine.

This wasn’t some sort of human sympathy or pity.

It was purely a matter of her own liberation and survival.

His words were as sharp as blades, but they always pierced straight through to the heart of the problem.

Regardless of how much they disliked him, it was undeniable that Han Hae-il was the heart and engine of this project.

The team members seemed to acknowledge his ability as well.

Having a boss-type leader was difficult because it was their first experience with one, but they could literally see that troublesome B Project was finally taking shape properly.

If you compared it to soccer, he was like an ace striker whom you didn’t particularly like because of his personality, but whom you absolutely had to put on the field if you wanted to win.

They knew the team became stronger with him.

And because of that, despite their dislike, an unwilling affection had begun to grow.

At the very least, standing behind him allowed them to suppress their anxiety about failure.

Danbi considered using the little connection she had with Hae-il to persuade him to eat, but after being reprimanded again today, she didn’t have the courage.

In the end, she followed the team members onto the elevator.

Throughout the meal and even while drinking coffee, Danbi’s thoughts remained tangled around Hae-il, who had been left alone in the office.

Apparently, she wasn’t the only one worried about his health.

The team leader naturally became the topic of conversation around the table.

“But doesn’t Team Leader seem like he’s lost way too much weight?”

Gihyeon, who had been sipping his coffee beside her, brought it up.

Dongjun chimed in.

“After working with him, I think he’s just the kind of person who can’t possibly gain weight. Seeing how sensitive he gets when he grills Lee Danbi, I’ve never seen anyone so fucking sensitive.”

“Ah, seriously…… Poor Danbi sunbae…….”

“But why is he especially like that only with Lee Danbi? Did you do something to piss him off?”

Lately, Hae-il had been riding Danbi so relentlessly that even the entire team had noticed.

Until recently, she had wondered why he was acting like that.

Now, even thinking about the reason felt exhausting.

“I guess I’m just the one who sucks at my job the most.”

“Come on, don’t say it like that…….”

Her resigned answer left the others unable to press further, so they hurriedly changed the subject.

Danbi appreciated their consideration, but she still couldn’t escape the prison of her thoughts about Hae-il.

Does he really get this sensitive whenever he’s working?

Was he like this when he was in Silicon Valley too?

What if he actually collapses from working like this?

Just as worry filled her mind—

“Did everyone enjoy lunch?”

A familiar, gentle voice.

Suhyeon had approached them at some point and was looking down at them with his trademark friendly smile.

“Oh, Suhyeon. Hello.”

Danbi greeted him happily, and the other team members also gave him light nods.

“What did you have for lunch?”

“We just ate at the company cafeteria.”

“Our team went to a new sandwich shop right around the corner today. It was pretty good. You should try it sometime. They’re having an opening event, so apparently everything is ten percent off until the end of this week.”

Sandwich.

The moment she heard that word, an image formed in Danbi’s mind.

Hae-il’s thin face, probably sitting there hungry.

And a sandwich—the simplest, most tangible solution.

The very primitive worry that she needed to get him something to eat set her in motion.

Rather than sitting here worrying about him, she wanted to buy him something and put her mind at ease.

“Where is it?”

“It’s around the building…… Ah, it’s hard to explain.”

“Is it in this direction? Let’s go out and find it.”

Having made up her mind, Danbi stood.

“Um…… I’ll step out for a moment. I’m going to buy something Team Leader might be able to eat.”

The team members nodded brightly at Danbi, who had volunteered to take responsibility.

It was proof that they had all been secretly worried about Hae-il too.

Of course, it was the kind of worry one had for the captain of the ship one would have to sail tomorrow as well.

Just then, Suhyeon followed her with a gentle smile.

“Oh, you’re going to that sandwich shop? Shall I show you where it is? I was actually thinking of taking a short walk to help digest lunch and get some fresh air.”

Can someone really be this kind?

The more she saw him, the more Danbi thought he was a genuinely good person.

Before she could even answer, meaningless teasing suddenly poured out from behind them.

“Ooooh~! Looks like you two are getting somewhere!”