The documents piled high on Woo Sang-won’s desk, his eyes weary from staying up all night to review them.
Suddenly, a rumor he heard about a professor during his college days floated through his mind.
- “Sang-won, you know Professor Jung, right? They say he hates grading so much that he throws the exam papers at a fan and gives grades based on how far they fly.”
He didn’t believe it at the time, but now he felt like doing the same.
‘Too much! It’s too much!’
He could definitely empathize with the pain of women who had given birth, not just professors.
Maybe he would treat the new hires like a mother would.
“I have all sorts of thoughts. I’m going crazy, really.”
The biggest issue.
Woo Sang-won’s job wasn’t just to review documents for new hires.
In a bit, the day’s schedule would start with the morning meeting.
When would he finish reviewing the rest of the documents?
‘I took this too lightly. I shouldn’t have said I’d do it all alone.’
Originally, Lee Hyun-woo had offered to help.
But Woo Sang-won had immediately refused.
He said he would filter the documents and then asked to pick good candidates after face-to-face interviews.
‘I regret it, I really do.’
Recognizing that the environment at 【Jungle】 was different from before and that the HR department wasn’t properly established, they should’ve formed a dedicated team.
Unaware of Woo Sang-won’s struggles, the morning team leader meeting was full of people looking out for themselves.
“The workload is increasing, and team leaders are whining. They are even threatening that it will be hard to produce good results without more hires. They say each team needs at least two more people.”
“It’s better for us. We say each team needs three. But I understand. Before one project ends, another starts, and before that finishes, yet another begins. The work is piling up.”
“I agree. Our assigned targets are nearly 200% compared to the previous month. It might be 200% again next month. This isn’t just a multiplier effect; the work is doubling while people remain limited… Director, we really need your help this time.”
“Please review our situation as well. Even remote workers are fine. We’ll take anyone who can share the work, regardless of age or gender.”
“Aren’t the development teams better off? The sales team, which has to explore the market, is going crazy. Due to the nature of the work, they need to be out in the field, but they feel like they’re always the last to get more people.”
“Exactly. We feel somewhat neglected. Frankly, a developer who understands business is more capable than a businessman who understands development.”
“No way! You’re stating something absurd as if it’s a fact.”
“It is a fact. The CEO is proof of that.”
“Look at this!”
“Wait!”
Woo Sang-won raised his voice to stop the people.
The team leaders were on the brink of clashing, clearly stressed to the limit.
“I get it. We’ll distribute the workload as fairly as possible and hire more people. So please, no fighting.”
From his perspective, this was almost a waste of time.
There were other overlapping schedules after the meeting, and he had to shorten something to review the interview documents.
‘Sigh… This is hard…’
He originally planned to ask some team leaders for help, but after listening to them for a while, he realized they were also overwhelmed with work.
Excessive workloads had built up stress, making them sensitive and causing frequent clashes during meetings.
Is that why Lee Hyun-woo emphasized work-life balance so much?
‘I thought I always kept that in mind.’
No, he hadn’t. He realized this time that knowing something doesn’t necessarily translate into action.
‘I’m still far from it.’
Once again, he marveled at Lee Hyun-woo’s foresight.
He had ambitiously taken on the role of COO, only for it to backfire.
After ending the meeting, Woo Sang-won closed his eyes for a moment.
Soon, he fell asleep.
“Woo Director?”
“Huh?”
He didn’t know how long he had dozed off, but a voice calling him made him turn his gaze.
“You even drooled while sleeping.”
Jang Yoo-chul was smiling.
“Oh, Jang Director, you’re here.”
“Yes, I’m here.”
“What brings you here?”
“Since we’re hiring new employees, you asked for the number of people needed, right?”
“Ah, right.”
He had actually informed each department and director yesterday.
He asked them to let him know the required number of people.
As a result, there was a war during the morning meeting, and now it seemed he would have to deal with the directors one by one.
But then.
“Did you review all those documents by yourself?”
“Huh? Yes, I did. I stayed up all night.”
“I can see why. I read the article too. They said an enormous number of people applied.”
“It’s no joke. And I can’t just skim through them, so I’m checking each one thoroughly.”
“Your bloodshot eyes say it all. Well… should I help you?”
His bloodshot eyes widened.
“Really? Truly?”
“Of course. Just tell me the criteria. I’ll filter them accordingly.”
“Uh… sure.”
At Jang Yoo-chul’s question about the criteria, Woo Sang-won hesitated.
“The thing is, we don’t have specific criteria.”
“What? No criteria?”
“Uh… our company doesn’t select people based on education, gender, age, or experience.”
“That’s true… That’s why I’m working here.”
“Jang Director, you joined when the company structure wasn’t well established. No, back then, the CEO was lucky to pick the current executives well. Now, the company’s size is ambiguous, and we’re still organizing, so… just as you said, we should’ve set the criteria first, but it ended up like this.”
“Oh, you must have had a hard time. I can see the struggle in your words.”
“Yeah, I feel like I can understand mothers these days.”
“Haha…”
Jang Yoo-chul let out an awkward laugh.
Honestly, he felt sorry for Woo Sang-won.
‘We’re all working from home, but he’s holding down the fort alone. It must be lonely and tough… I feel bad and guilty.’
Originally, the team leaders of 【Jungle】 were mostly founding members.
Lee Jung-woo, Woo Sang-won, Jang Yoo-chul, Oh Min-woo, Han Se-jin, and Kang Dong-ho.
But Woo Sang-won was promoted to COO, while Lee Jung-woo, Jang Yoo-chul, and Oh Min-woo were given the title of CTO. Han Se-jin and Kang Dong-ho moved to the secretary’s office.
‘The current team leaders are mostly new faces, so they probably don’t understand Director Woo.’
In any company, the founding members’ dedication was special.
Jang Yoo-chul felt the same.
Moreover, he had become very close to Woo Sang-won while co-developing MP3 files.
So he couldn’t help but want to assist.
“Alright, let’s start reviewing now.”
“Thank you. You’re a lifesaver, haha.”
It seemed like today was his lucky day because Lee Jung-woo showed up and saw the two of them reviewing documents, opening his eyes wide.
“What is this?”
“What else? These are the application documents of people who want to join our company. Come, sit over there and help.”
“Huh? Oh… okay.”
Having already understood Woo Sang-won’s struggles, Jang Yoo-chul roped in Lee Jung-woo as well.
And then, in the evening, Oh Min-woo visited.
“Huh? What are you all doing?”
“Can’t you see?”
“We’re filtering interview candidates.”
“Sit over there and help.”
“Uh, sit over there and help.”
“…”
Oh Min-woo was speechless.
He originally came to convey the required manpower, but seeing the other two friends helping Woo Sang-won, he couldn’t refuse.
‘Darn it, I got caught!’
But he was also one of the founding members of 【Jungle】 and a key development director.
Reluctantly, he sat on the sofa and started reviewing documents like the other two.
“Uh, what’s the criterion?”
“Our company doesn’t have specific criteria yet. Just pick those who seem capable, regardless of gender or age.”
“Are we selecting experienced candidates separately?”
“Experienced ones in this industry would be even better. As you know, those who’ve eaten meat before know how to eat it well.”
“Okay, got it.”
He quickly set his own criteria and processed the work faster than anyone else.
Thanks to that, a smile appeared on Woo Sang-won’s face.
“Thank you.”
“Hey, no need to thank us. We’re sorry.”
“That’s right. You’re working so hard while we’re comfortably working from home.”
“I wasn’t working comfortably. I stayed up all night working too.”
“Enough, Oh Min-woo! Why are you nitpicking here?”
“Oh, this guy, no sense!”
“Geez…”
Watching the young directors bicker, Woo Sang-won laughed.
And he looked at them with anticipation.
‘If I had done this alone, it would’ve been tough.’
Honestly, without criteria, many parts of 【Jungle】 were still run haphazardly.
He couldn’t establish the system alone, so he often needed their help.
Now that they were helping, it felt so reassuring.
Maybe that’s why the speed increased nearly fourfold, and they were able to finish in two days.
Everyone’s eyes were darkened with fatigue, of course.
‘Since we worked so hard, we’ll surely pick good candidates.’
With the thought of organizing an HR development team next, Woo Sang-won concluded the document review.
Before long, the open recruitment day at 【Jungle】 arrived.
The first day of interviews was for hiring experienced candidates.
But looking at the first group of five, Woo Sang-won couldn’t help but frown.
He quickly reviewed the third interviewee’s documents.
Name: Hwang Do-hoon
Age: 57
Experience: Internet Director at 【Daehan Telecom】
No matter how you looked at it, hiring a 57-year-old former executive from a public enterprise was too much.
He had a good idea who picked this person.
‘Oh Min-woo…’
Suddenly, he recalled the question Oh Min-woo had asked.
“Are we selecting experienced candidates separately?”
“Experienced ones in this industry would be even better. As you know, those who’ve eaten meat before know how to eat it well.”
“Okay, got it.”
But unlike the troubled Woo Sang-won, Lee Hyun-woo asked Hwang Do-hoon many questions.
“Can you tell us why you applied to our company?”
“Actually, when I was at 【Daehan Telecom】, I was completely overwhelmed by the dynamic power of 【Jungle】, which led me to resign. At that time, I was pushing for ISDN, but later I found out that CEO Lee emphasized the importance of ADSL.”
It didn’t take a Nostradamus to know that Lee Hyun-woo’s interview about ADSL becoming the backbone of South Korea’s internet infrastructure was widely known.
And recently, Chairman Park Yong-jin of 【Samjin Computers】 was spreading stories to the media about how Lee Hyun-woo had actively promoted ADSL like a corporate saga.
Knowing this, Hwang Do-hoon brought up the past, making Lee Hyun-woo smile.
“So you sought revenge after your failure.”
“That’s a bit grandiose… but yes, I wanted to challenge myself again despite my age.”
“But what role do you think you can take on in our company?”
“I may not know much else, but I believe I can handle government or public relations tasks. That is, if you hire me.”
Hearing that, Lee Hyun-woo’s eyes lit up.
