I know you’re upset with us, Jina-ssi. But listen to our side of the story for a minute. To be honest, I really don’t think I need to justify myself at this point. We’re both a laughing stock now that the press has picked it up. But let’s be honest, the company looks so bad. We need to be able to plan ahead. Our employees should be able to trust us. To be confident we’ll deal with any issue, whatever it is. You think the company can trust you lot now? Dating—whatever you call it—why did you have to bring the company into it? Why post it online? You should have come to me. I had no idea. After all, Jina-ssi, you never looked like that kind of girl. You really should’ve come to me first. What were you thinking? Both your name and the company’s are out there now. Jinassi, image is everything for us. We’re a travel company. As the director, should I really have to be calling you in for this? Jina-ssi, do you know how irresponsible you’ve been? You’ve done colossal damage to our revenue.

You wrote it yourself. That you couldn’t trust the company would handle it properly, and that’s why you asked for help online. Do you know how much you’ve lowered employee morale? You realize the company could hold you legally liable. Why are you so shocked? You didn’t know? You’re saying you never thought you’d have to take responsibility for something like this? Did you ever once ask for our help? Did we refuse? That’s why you posted it online? That wasn’t it, was it? When you said you couldn’t trust we’d handle it properly, you were lying, weren’t you? It was a lie. You lied.

You know Manager Lee is like a son to me, right? It was me who asked him to take time off. What he did was wrong. Guess I’m a feminist too. I teach our youngest properly. My son’s nine, and I always tell him—girls need protecting. If another lad breaks your nose, you go and punch him right back—but girls are a different matter. Our son would never, ever hit a girl, even as a joke. And he doesn’t tease them then do a runner, or pull pranks to make them cry. He’s a decent kid. But sometimes girls hit him. Young girls are too cocky these days. Our boy is so restrained the girls think they’re winning by their own strength. They chase him and kick him, punch him in the stomach—it’s unbelievable. They seem to get some kind of joy out of beating up the boys. They’ve got no idea my lad is just letting them off the hook. If you ask me, their parents need to get their acts together. Boy, girl, what does it matter? Isn’t it the punching that’s the issue? If a girl takes a swing at a boy, she needs a bollocking.

We tell lads to control their anger—just in case they don’t know their own strength and end up causing proper harm. But letting girls run around punching and kicking whoever they like—does that make any sense to you? Those kinds of girls, they’re unattractive. I can’t speak when it comes to you, but those girls, they act up to get the lads’ attention. Either that, or they really just hate losing. I’ve worked a good number of years now, and girls like that grow up exactly the same. They don’t listen. They’re obstinate. They’re unattractive. I don’t want to generalize, but those kinds of girls, their faces are stuck like that forever. The lads are just the same. There are always the ones that don’t listen to a word you say. No manners. They think they’ve come this far because they’re God’s gift or something. They’re so arrogant. Men shouldn’t be able to get away with it. I’ve gotten off topic, but what I’m saying is—I’m on your side, Jina-ssi.

It really never crossed my mind that Miyoung-ssi would post screenshots of the employee chat room to go against what you said. The other staff didn’t see it coming either. I guess we all trusted her. The conversations we had weren’t criticizing you, Jina-ssi. We were just onlookers sharing how bad we felt about the whole situation.

Look, it was within that context that I said you’d ‘ruined a good man’s life’. Jina-ssi, every story has a context. You need to take that into consideration.

Manager Lee made a mistake. He was wrong. I’m not siding with him. Miyoung-ssi probably wasn’t either. I suppose she just felt bad for Manager Lee and wanted to tell the story from a different angle. She wanted people to know he was someone we trusted, and that’s why she wanted them to see our conversation. Of course, that was just how Miyoung-ssi saw it—I’m not saying that’s how it actually was.

And all hell broke loose when you posted it online, didn’t it? Everyone was tearing into Manager Lee and slagging off the company. Miyoung-ssi must’ve thought we needed some balance. I don’t know her exact reasoning. Maybe the rumours she had feelings for him were true, and maybe she’d just misunderstood you as a person. Anyway, I feel really bad seeing you hurt like this.

But Jina-ssi, it’s like I said. Listen to the context, Jina-ssi.

I heard you hardly ever picked up the tab at dinner? All right, I know. Just listen to what I have to say first. What I want to say is—it was about a year ago. Manager Lee looked like there was new life in him—I knew he must’ve started seeing someone. I can tell right away. Young lads give it away immediately. But it wasn’t long before his face changed. His mind seemed elsewhere. So I went for a drink with him.

Manager Lee doesn’t give things away easily. He never once mentioned your name.

My girlfriend doesn’t pay for anything. That’s what he said to me. I know, I know. It wasn’t like you spent nothing at all. After all, you’re earning, too. But apparently he almost always paid for dinner? And the drinks, too? Yeah, all right. You bought the coffee, Jina-ssi, and the cinema tickets. I know, I know. Presents? All right. I didn’t know about that. I can’t know each and every transaction between the two of you. I’m sure you took good care of him in your own way, Jina-ssi. But presents weren’t what was important to him.

You knew Manager Lee is all front, right, Jina-ssi? He looks like he’s from a rich family, when actually they’re drowning in debt. You were aware of this, right? Once he’s sent money home each month, made the loan payments, and taken out his living costs, the guy has nothing left. There were even rumours going around that he’s related to one of the directors, but none of it’s true. The lad’s proud and refuses to show any weakness—that’s all it is. His whole life he’s hardly ever been able to spend a thing on himself. On the surface he looks like someone with a decent job living off a good wage. Naturally it’s the man’s bravado that’s to blame. He wanted people to think he was well-off.

Honestly, I reckon you must’ve found that front attractive at the beginning, Jina-ssi. I’m right, aren’t I? Let’s be upfront. Manager Lee is out of your league, isn’t he? I’m not being sexist here. That’s just the reality. But in the end you found out everything about his situation. And you kept seeing him? Because you loved him? And about love. Love lets us put up with just about anything. But listen, Jina-ssi. I heard you like high-end restaurants? And on holiday you refused to stay in motels—insisted he book a hotel instead? And once when he came back from a business trip to China, you sulked that he hadn’t bought you a gift from the duty-free store?

All right, I know. Manager Lee probably said he was okay with it all. That’s what I’d expect. I’m sure you had your own reasons, too, Jina-ssi. But just listen to everything I have to say, Jina-ssi. When it comes to me—look, maybe it’s because I’m a bit older than your generation—you lot will probably find me conservative. I don’t think men spending money on women is such a big deal. My woman’s worth every penny. Of course I’d spend money on her. She’s my woman, after all. When I was first dating my wife, I spent money without even thinking. I wanted to do everything I could for her. That’s love. I know about love too, you know. But what I’m saying is this. It’s also because my wife gave her all to me too. She was the one who filled our fridge with banchan. She always knew what I needed right away. How could I not be thankful? And my wife had the sense to know when to say no. I was so grateful for that. Jina-ssi, do you think people always mean it when they offer to do something for you? You should’ve known to refuse. I had no idea you had so little sense, Jina-ssi.

I’m not taking sides here. I’m just saying I understand the context. Context, all right? Those things were always suffocating him, dragging him near to explosion. His family were asking him for money, the bank was chasing him too. He just wanted a bit of encouragement from his girlfriend, but then you’d just...