Chapter 27 Part 1

Chapter 26.

Chaeheon merely observed Lee Jun and the other two, sizing them up, which made Kim Gyeong-hun’s eyes nervously dart around. He wished someone would say something, but there was only silence.

“Oh, we don’t have a Group Leader yet. Chaeheon, please be our Group Leader and assign roles to the group members.”

Kim Gyeong-hun realized that the Group Leader was a more immediate concern than the topic. Chaeheon’s unenthusiastic reply followed.

“Being a Group Leader isn’t some position of power; we should discuss and divide the roles.”

“Then what do you want to do? Don’t you want to be the Group Leader?”

“You do it.”

Chaeheon shook his head and passed the responsibility to Kim Gyeong-hun. At the moment, he wasn’t particularly interested in anything other than the fact that he was in a group with Lee Jun.

“Gyeong-hun, it would be best if you did it.”

Chaeheon’s calm voice, repeating himself, left no one in doubt that he meant for Kim Gyeong-hun to be the Group Leader. Lee Jun had no strong feelings about it. Lee Jeong-yun watched the situation unfold and nudged Kim Gyeong-hun’s arm.

“Yes, I’ll do it.”

Kim Gyeong-hun straightened his back as if he had just been elected class president. While it’s true that assigning roles and coordinating is easier once a Group Leader is chosen, Lee Jeong-yun didn’t think Kim Gyeong-hun was chosen for that reason. He was probably just an easy target.

Anyway, once Kim Gyeong-hun became the Group Leader, Chaeheon acted as if he had said all he needed to say, and Lee Jun still remained silent. As if she knew how this group would operate, Lee Jeong-yun was already smiling, finding it amusing. Her eyes showed no intention of helping poor Kim Gyeong-hun.

Kim Gyeong-hun’s eyes swept over the three people in turn, then he bit his trembling lip, trying his best to maintain his composure.

“So, I’ll be the Group Leader, and…”

Jeong-yun, his peer who would never listen to him; Chaeheon, who only heard what he wanted to hear; … and Lee Jun, the Senior who was detached from the start.

“For the topic, something that reveals ethics between companies…”

“That’s too cliché.”

“It’s boring.”

At Chaeheon and Lee Jeong-yun’s scolding, Kim Gyeong-hun made a tearful face.

“Then what other topic would be good?”

“I don’t know either. The Group Leader should be more proactive.”

Lee Jeong-yun rebuked Kim Gyeong-hun as if to say he should figure that out himself.

“Uh…”

Having no immediate ideas, Kim Gyeong-hun racked his brain, sending pleading looks to the two of them for help, but received no response.

The person who came to Kim Gyeong-hun’s rescue was an unexpected individual.

“Do that one.”

It was Lee Jun, who had been silent until now.

“Really…?”

“If others have opinions, change the topic. But if not, let’s try a different approach. I think we can go in the direction of establishing concrete examples.”

At Lee Jun’s smooth way with words, Kim Gyeong-hun smiled brightly and opened his laptop.

“What if a better topic comes to mind later?”

When Chaeheon spoke as if to tackle him, Kim Gyeong-hun took his hands off the laptop. Given what Chaeheon had said, he couldn’t just ignore it and move on.

“Then should we each think of a topic and meet again?”

Kim Gyeong-hun quickly backed down and suggested an alternative, but this time, Lee Jun didn’t seem to like it.

“I don’t think it’s an issue that warrants taking up that much time. It’s better to gather more information in that time.”

“That’s right. Even if the topic is similar, depending on how it’s executed…”

As Kim Gyeong-hun nodded in agreement, Chaeheon interjected.

“If we start with a striking topic, the presentation will draw more attention. That would be quite rewarding, wouldn’t it?”

“That’s true. If everyone presents on similar topics…”

Kim Gyeong-hun was again agreeing, as if Chaeheon was right this time, when Lee Jun interjected.

“It’s better to use our time efficiently.”

“If you consider what kind of results we can produce, even if it takes a long time, it wouldn’t be wasted time.”

“There’s no reason for it to take a long time.”

“If a good topic comes to mind quickly, that time would even be reduced.”

“What if it doesn’t?”

“It would be a bit regrettable to play it safe beforehand just in case that doesn’t happen.”

Before long, Kim Gyeong-hun couldn’t get a word in. As Lee Jun and Chaeheon engaged in a tense back-and-forth, he just had a blank Korean word processor open on his laptop. Lee Jeong-yun leaned in and whispered to him.

“Those two were in the same group before, apparently.”

Lee Jeong-yun, who had apparently contacted someone else, held out her phone for him to see. In the group chat, someone was actively posting about how the two of them had been in a group together in the past.

“They said they worked really hard, back then.”

They still seemed to be doing so, even now. To clash so much over a single topic! Kim Gyeong-hun muttered even more gloomily than before.

“Who was the Group Leader back then?”

“The person posting in the chat right now. No wonder they remembered it so clearly.”

As Lee Jeong-yun continued to hold out her phone for him to see, Kim Gyeong-hun’s shoulders slumped even further. It seemed he would remember this group activity in detail this time. To try and mediate between the two who were still unable to narrow down their opinions on the topic, Kim Gyeong-hun changed the subject.

“Let’s put the topic aside for a moment… should we divide up who will find the research materials, who will make the PowerPoint Presentation Material, and who will present?”

He spoke, trying to divide the roles in the most neutral way, but there was no reply.

“Our roles… I’ll just do it myself… Can I do everything?”

Kim Gyeong-hun’s voice grew fainter and fainter, as he had no power to convince anyone here.

“I’ll create the presentation material.”

Lee Jun was the first to decide what he would do. Research was fine too, but having experience in web design, creating PowerPoint Presentation Material was easier for him. He was confident he could make it well.

“Then Lee Jeong-yun and I will handle the research. Chaeheon, please fill in any gaps you see in the overall work and also take on the presentation. To do that, you’ll need to review the presentation material, so it would be good if you worked with Lee Jun.”

Kim Gyeong-hun quickly divided the roles, pushing the presentation onto Chaeheon. He had divided the roles thinking it would be best if people who were close worked together. Kim Gyeong-hun was nervous that they might change it since he had decided on his own.

“Okay.”