Several years later (Still before Lake's reincarnation)
~~
"I need the fucking plan! The deadline is in an hour, and you're still here running around like a fucking idiot! Give me the plan!"
"I-I'm sorry... my assistant hasn't given me the participant list. I just need maybe forty-five minutes..."
"Forty-five fucking minutes?! My fingers aren't made of rocket boosters, you fucking worthless piece of shit! I can't even type up the rest of the proposal in fifteen minutes, even if I was high on six kilograms of weed!"
"I-I'm really sorry, sir... there's nothing I can do. I-it's my assistant..."
"I don't give a shit whose fault it is. Get me the plan. If you don't give it to me within ten minutes, I'll cut your fucking head off! Lake is your assistant's name, right? I'll fire him as well."
"Y-yes, sir..."
Looking down at the ground, the director had a face which was completely pale. Scurrying away like a rat, he made his way toward his office. Ultimately, as much as he tried to blame this issue on his assistant, it was his fault. Making a sudden last-minute change to the entire plan due to his laziness, the assistant was forced to rewrite the entire participant list.
Holding his head in despair, he sat down on his desk chair.
After a few minutes of brooding in agony, the director finally decided to make his way over to the room where Lake Ryeokja was working.
"Come on, Lake! I really need the participant list. Can't you work any faster?!"
"I need to wait for their responses as well. It's not that simple."
"I hired you because they said you were a genius?! Come on! Just do something! Anything!"
Looking up at the director, Lake had a completely listless expression.
"Director, this was your fault."
"I know that this was my fault! But they'll fire you as well! Please, for the sake of both of us. Think of a way you can, can't you?!"
"Director, I'm not God. There's only so much I can do. Anyways, I'm not sure how I feel about covering for your mistakes."
"Just... Agh! I don't know either!"
Staring at his computer, all Lake could do was hope that the participants would respond soon. In the worst-case scenario, he'd have to cut out everyone who hasn't replied or just send it off based on assumptions.
The direction grabbed his shoulders.
"Can we use the subsidiary list to make it quicker?"
"That wouldn't work. That'd be just as good as lying about their availability."
"Ugh... this is going to be bad..."
Almost twenty minutes later, the main creative director barged into the room.
***
"God fucking damn it, Jeong-Ho. I told you to give me the fucking plan ten minutes ago. What the fuck are you doing?!"
"S-sir... the participants list..."
"Why did you guys leave it to the last fucking minute if it's going to take so long?! Sort it out. Right now."
The creative director ran to the desk and snatched the mouse right out of Lake's hand. Frantically clicking around, he read through some of the messages.
"You guys are fucking idiots! Why did you change the entire thing yesterday?! Are you guys retarded?! This is a multimillion-dollar opportunity, and you're just throwing it down the fucking drain!"
Fuming with anger, the creative director smashed the mouse into the table. He was so overwhelmed with emotions that tears were rolling out of his eyes.
Eventually, he looked up with an expression of pure animosity.
"You're both fired."
• ───────────────── •
Walking out of the building, Lake looked around. In the current climate, a job was incredibly hard to come by, especially with someone who lacked various kinds of identification. With only a few hundred dollars in his account, he wouldn't be able to last very long without a job. South Korea had just entered a recession, causing major financial backlash for everything.
Lake had just about lost hope at this point. Both his sister and his mother were dead. He had nothing to live for, no one to care for him.
---
He threw himself in front of a truck.