Yokai Come to the Countryside Café

Chapter 34: Rookie (4)

The next morning.

I left the café a bit earlier than my usual time for work.

It was because I wanted to avoid running into people as much as possible.

But as it is with busy companies, there are always those who start their day earlier than others.

“Hey! Assistant Manager Kim! Heard you're running a café?”

“Manager Kim got promoted last month. How long are you staying as an assistant manager?”

“Really? I just heard there was a raccoon showing up at the café.”

“Huh? I heard about it too. That you opened a Raccoon Café? Is it going well? My wife wants to open a café too—maybe I can ask for some advice later if you have time.”

I knew this would happen.

There are no secrets in the company, and a single day is more than enough time for rumors to spread.

Last night, when Sanyi climbed down through the window, more than five people could be glimpsed in the video conference cam—so it's no exaggeration to say the word had gotten out to most departments.

I hadn’t expected the café where the raccoon showed up to be called Raccoon Café, though.

When I arrived at my seat, bombarded with uncomfortable questions, I found it covered with colorful Post-its.

“Well, of course.”

『Send the smart factory-related business materials from Aju Corporation to Sales Team 1.』

『Request to modify the business management document format—call Manager Bae Seong-ho from the Media Division.』

『Manager Yoon Hee-sook from Content Development came by due to data corruption on the scanned security checklist.』

…

Company tasks are handled through email and groupware.

This is because records of exchanged materials and emails must be kept.

But the world doesn’t run strictly by principles.

Sometimes, due to various reasons, requests have to be conveyed verbally.

Since I work from home, Post-its take the place of those verbal instructions.

But something felt off.

Even though I hadn’t been in for a while, everything looked untouched except the Post-its on the monitor—yet there was a sense of strangeness.

“Huh?”

Next to my seat, there was another desk.

And it looked quite expensive.

“Good morning!”

“Good morning, sir. But what’s this desk about?”

“Huh? What desk?”

Even the manager who just arrived seemed unaware.

“Hey, look who it is. I almost forgot your face.”

“Hello, sir.”

“Sir, what’s with this desk?”

“A desk? Huh? Is someone joining?”

“If you don’t know, who would?”

An empty desk meant only one thing.

Someone was going to sit there.

“They ignored all our requests before, but maybe they’re finally sending us a newbie.”

The chronic manpower shortage was due to our team’s nature.

Despite its grand name—Strategic Planning Team—it was hard to show tangible results.

Even if we contributed to major projects, it was always considered support work.

Credit would go to the project lead and sales team.

Still, we stayed in this department without much complaint because our performance reviews for promotions were quite good.

You could say it was the privilege of a department with fingers in many pies.

But it wasn’t a place anyone actually wanted to come.

Our company wasn’t exactly flexible with departmental transfers either.

So for various reasons, our team hadn’t had a new recruit in quite a while.

“But if they’re sending someone this suddenly, it can’t be a regular hire, right?”

“Well, yeah, of course……”

“I hope it’s not another ticking time bomb from elsewhere.”

“Oh come on, Assistant Manager Lee. That’s not fair.”

“If even you don’t know, sir, what else could it be? This isn’t some corner store—we don’t get people overnight for nothing.”

The possibility was high.

No one sends a competent, smart subordinate to another team just because of a minor mistake.

The owner of that empty desk was probably someone the other department wanted gone—even if it meant being short-staffed.

So we started our day with half-expectation and half-worry, until finally, our manager couldn’t hold back his curiosity.

“I’ll call HR. Hopefully, there’s no mix-up in the hierarchy. Hello? Oh hey, Manager Ma. You at work? There’s a desk that arrived in our team—do you know whose it is? What? Who? Seriously?”

The manager’s expression hardened.

He was usually not one to change facial expressions unless something big happened.

“It’s a bomb, isn’t it? Damn, I knew it. Isn’t it that guy who got into a fight with the TF team?”

“No……”

“Then who is it? Man, you’re killing me with suspense!”

“Assistant Manager Joo Dohyuk.”

“Joo Dohyuk? What department? Never heard of……”

It wasn’t an unfamiliar name.

He wasn’t even someone from our affiliate company.

“Oh my! That’s the Chairman’s son?”

“Shhh! Quiet!”

“Come on, he’s arriving today—why stay quiet now?”

Just then, as the three of us were whispering in serious discussion, a loud voice rang out from beyond the partition.

“Hellooo! I’m Joo Dohyuk. Is this my spot? Ugh, I’m dying here.”

Speak of the devil—the flamboyant entrance was right on cue.

The hefty newbie in a leather jacket gave a half-hearted greeting and flopped down on the vacant seat.

Current time: 11:16 AM.

Company policy: start time is 9:00 AM.

Maybe it was the bias of him being a second-generation chaebol, but…

Being two hours late almost made him look responsible.

No matter how much of a second-generation chaebol and the chairman’s son he was, the title of assistant manager and the position of the youngest meant there was surprisingly little he could actually do.

The workplace doesn’t run like some chaebol drama.

“What do you think, Manager Kim?”

“Well, I hardly come to the office, so…”

“Still, coming in twice a week is almost half, right? You think you’ll be okay?”

“To be honest, I’m not sure. If it keeps going like this, it might be a bit disruptive, but I don’t think it’ll cause any major issues.”

“Then we’ve got our answer. Just pretend to hand things over properly, you get it?”

The decision on how to deal with the suddenly rolled-in stone was made.

The best answer for a working office.

Everyone had families and couldn't afford to lose this job—so it was an unavoidable choice.

But there was a fatal flaw in this plan.

All our team members were the type who couldn’t stay quiet if something seemed wrong right before their eyes.

Back at the office, our patience lasted only until the end of the workday.

“Assistant Manager Joo Dohyuk.”

Snore.

“Assistant Manager Joo Dohyuk!”

“Whoa! Wh-What?”

“You must’ve been tired? Sleeping like that right after joining without even a proper greeting.

We’re having a small welcome party just outside—pack up and let’s go.

You can say your hellos there.”

“Welcome party? I’m fine, you three go ahead.”

“Oh, you don’t drink?”

“You don’t know we’re not supposed to pressure junior staff into drinking anymore?

Since you don’t seem to drink, let’s just eat and maybe go to a café.

Sound good?”

“Manager Lee, we’ve got a ton of coffee in the break room. What café? Let’s just drink.”

“Things are different now. There are a lot of employees who don’t drink.”

A provocation wrapped in kind smiles and excessive concern.

Asking whether a man who wore a leather jacket to work could drink was closer to mockery—telling him to tuck his tail and run.

“Screw it, let’s go. Where to?”

“Now that’s the spirit! Let’s hit that pig skin joint just down the road.”

‘I see how it is.

These bastards want to challenge me?

Me? The great Joo Dohyuk? Ha! Fine—I’ll show you how a proper initiation is done.’

Trailing behind the three with a swagger, Joo Dohyuk let out scoffing chuckles.

He was the heir to the Daecheon Group, and these people were just low-level workers following orders, weren’t they?

In his previous department, no one dared speak lightly to him—they all sweated bullets around him.

But these guys? Acting all bold, using casual speech, and now forcing him into a drinking session?

‘Fine, this is actually better. If I crush their spirits now, they won’t even dare to challenge me about ranks or whatever later.’

The place they arrived at was a bar Joo Dohyuk had never seen in his life.

A filthy, rundown, old-style joint he didn’t want to be in for even a second.

The tables, the chairs—even the cracked floor.

It was hard to find a single thing intact in the place.

“Auntie, we’re here!”

With a cheerful greeting, the three walked confidently into the crumbling bar and immediately scattered.

The manager who went into the room set the table, the female manager brought out drinks, and the handsome male manager who looked about his age came back with a tray full of side dishes.

‘Are they staff or what?’

Seeing how natural it all was, his suspicion that they chose this place just to mess with him vanished.

Soon, the table was filled—rougher than usual but still properly set.

“Now that the food’s here, we need a drink, right? Manager Kim, show us how it’s done.

Assistant Manager Joo needs to learn.

‘Joo’ Dohyuk learning ‘Joo’—get it?”

“Sir, that’s not funny at all.”

‘Was that supposed to be a joke?’

He wasn’t even mad about them making a cheap pun with his name.

He’d been too stunned by the clear soju-bomb being poured—8:2 or maybe even 9:1 soju to beer in a tall beer glass.

Pouring sound

“Alright, first shot—bottoms up!”

“Bottoms up!”

Just as he hesitated to reach for the brimming glass…

“Oh, we don’t force drinks here, so just sip as you like, Assistant Manager Joo.”

‘Damn it!’

Maybe if it were premium whiskey, it’d be different.

But to a second-generation chaebol, this diluted chemical-tasting soju—even with beer—was unbearable.

‘Whatever, just the taste is bad. I’ll survive if I endure it!’

Clink.

“Urgh.”

“Wow, you drink well!

Okay, now it’s my turn to pour.”

‘No way we’re drinking again already?’

Office drinking parties run on the subway’s last train schedule.

You drink fast and cheap, so the pace was intense.

‘Fine.

Even if I can’t beat all of them, I’ll take at least one of them down tonight.’

Having mastered the art of facial reading through countless drinking rounds, Dohyuk had already figured out that Manager Cha Jaehoon and Manager Lee Seollan were not to be underestimated.

The only one he might have a chance against was Jinseong, who looked like a lightweight.

Unaware that Jinseong was actually the best drinker among the three, Joo Dohyuk unknowingly started a silent battle no one else recognized.