The Default Setting of a Hobby.
I clicked on the certificate file just like the text that popped up on the window.
[Hobby][.]
[Special Skill][.]
[Personality][.]
[Certificate][.]
Since nothing was set, they were all blank. I slightly raised my head and looked around. It wasn't like I was committing a crime, but I felt self-conscious.
I glanced around and shifted my gaze back to the monitor, looking at the hobby section.
Click.
I clicked on the hobby with the mouse, and a new window popped up.
[:]
The cursor was blinking in the window. I wrote down a very common hobby that I could think of.
[Reading]
As soon as I wrote the name, another input box appeared below.
[Likes books]
I also wrote down something common.
[Do you want to save the default setting for the hobby?] [Yes/No]
I clicked yes, and a message appeared saying [Saved].
[Hobby]
[1. Reading]
[: Likes books]
[.]
Another input box appeared, and clicking on it allowed me to add another hobby, just like before. It seemed to be the same for special skills, personality, and certificates.
After adding another typical hobby, exercise, I opened my resume again.
[Hobby] [1. Reading] [: Likes books] [2. Exercise] [: Good at exercising]
Personally, I didn't like reading, so I clicked on the reading hobby.
[You can only set up to 2 personal hobbies and can modify them anytime.]
[Do you want to set it to exercise?]
[Yes/No]
Of course, I clicked yes.
However, nothing special like a novel or manga happened. It was just me, and there was no dramatic change in my body.
"Well…." As I thought, it was something beyond common sense. I chuckled and clicked on the cover letter, which I hadn't clicked on yet.
[Oh Hajun] [Seo Hyejeong]
Two resumes I registered appeared. When I clicked on Seo Hyejeong's, another blank space appeared.
[Growth Process][.]
[Strengths and Weaknesses][.]
[Major and Career][.]
[Motivation for Application and Future Aspirations][.]
[Special Notes][.]
There was more than I thought. I couldn't understand why uploading a photo would automatically fill it in, but that was all.
I quickly lost interest as I wrote something in her cover letter and then deleted it.
[Special Notes] [Owe Oh Hajun 1 billion and need to pay it back immediately]
The last special note was so absurd that I chuckled.
[Do you want to save it?] [Yes/No]
As I was about to click no, someone knocked on the storage room door.
Thud thud.
Startled by the sound of [Saved], I accidentally clicked yes and muttered 'Ah, sh*t.'
I quickly turned off the monitor and opened the door.
"Yes~."
When I opened the door, Ms. An was standing outside.
"Mr. Oh."
"Ah, yes. What brings you here?"
"Let's have a cigarette."
"Sure."
I checked my pocket for cigarettes and went outside, but Ms. An's expression hardened when she saw inside the storage.
"Are you assigned here?"
"Looks like it."
"Ah…. Even though the others have old places, it's not this bad…."
It was insane to think that I alone was responsible for the maintenance of such a large school property.
Chik.
We lit our cigarettes and put our lighters in our pockets.
He said, "There seem to be a lot of complaints from the male teachers."
"Naturally."
"We do all the student guidance, and only we go to the workshops in the provinces…. The female teachers always go to workshops in Seoul."
I was called a teacher for convenience, but I was just a regular employee and didn't have to go to such workshops.
I wasn't close to the students, so the male teachers always vented their frustrations to me.
"Haha…."
"And the computers too. But if you say that, the atmosphere just gets worse, so no one talks about it."
That damn atmosphere was the problem. Even the strongest men would find it difficult to bear if just one thing went wrong, they would glare as if to kill and whisper.
Knowing the teachers' internal struggles, I just smiled awkwardly.
"Hoo."
The white cigarette smoke drifted away in the February wind.
"Moreover, most of the teachers are new, and there are only two male teachers.
" "…."
I smiled bitterly. It wasn't that they didn't hire men. It was just that they were hired for tough jobs or to handle disobedient students.
"The retiring teachers say, 'Give in, you're a man.' It's a headache."
I could only agree with him. After all, I wasn't a teacher but a regular employee.
The moment I started advising students, complaints poured in like the rainy season, so I didn't get close to them.
Thump.
He stamped out his cigarette butt and finally looked around. "This place is too secluded even for the school."
"I know. The sun doesn't even come in."
We shared our grievances, and he hurried back at the sound of the bell. I took out another cigarette. I liked that I could smoke without being watched, as it was on the outskirts. Of course, it was difficult as soon as the students arrived.
Thus, my day ended, and I slung my bag over my shoulder and headed to the bicycle parking lot.
Vroom. Vrooom.
The teachers' cars started to leave one by one, timed with the end of work.
The school was only a 10-minute bike ride away, so I preferred cycling over driving. I had saved money working here for over 10 years and bought a rental house in the middle of a field on loan. This was my sanctuary.
I parked my bike next to the Pride in the front yard and entered the house. Even after arriving home, I wrote and sent a report I hadn't been able to do earlier and looked for a laptop on a second-hand website.
"This is going to cost a fortune."
§ As March came and the students began attending school, my days were unremarkably the same. Today was going to be an ordinary day of replacing light bulbs checking non-functioning radiator pipes, and writing daily reports on my laptop.
Knock knock. It was a very cautious knock.
"….?"
The teachers hardly came after the students started attending. Only the administrative staff came to bring me work.
"Yes~."
When I opened the door, Seo Hyejeong was standing there. But she looked uncomfortable.
"Is this the smell of the storage room?"
"Probably, why?"
Seo Hyejeong glanced inside the storage room.
Even when I was in the administration office, I rarely encountered her, so I wondered why she suddenly came.
"That…."
"Is there something to fix?"
"No, not that."
"….?"
I was already scared of what this blunt woman was going to say.
"Please postpone it a little."
"….What?"
I genuinely didn't know what she was talking about. I had no idea what she wanted me to postpone.
"The money I borrowed."
"Huh? What money?"
Then Seo Hyejeong glared at me fiercely. "The money I borrowed from you, I can't gather 1 billion right away, so please postpone it a little. Why are you pretending not to know, really, it's annoying."
"….!"
Seo Hyejeong's words struck me like lightning, and my head went white.