Fiction Commendation Prize: Still Days

Written by Kim Sehee and translated by Jasmine Jeemin Lee. Below is an excerpt of the winning translation. ― ED

“Still Days” is one of a collection of short stories by Kim Sehee in her book published in 2019. Courtesy of Minumsa

The Sunday before my first day of work, I ran into Jaehwa at Daehangno Street. It was a cloudy afternoon, chilly and windy. I was twenty-six, and I had moped about in my studio flat until my head started to fill with so many useless thoughts about the next day that I had to go out for some air. I thought I might walk to Marronnier Park and do some window shopping. I'll talk to Mom on the phone at night and go to bed early.

On the stairs leading to the subway station exit was a packed stream of people making their way up to the ground floor. As I floated past the crowd at the exit, I saw Jaehwa on the other side, waiting for someone.

I knew Jaehwa from an English cram school―we used to be close, although she was older and already an office worker back then. There, in the middle of the pavement, we asked each other how we'd been, and I told her that I'd be working for a marketing agency starting tomorrow. She congratulated me with a big smile.

After noticing how nervous I was, she broke into a laugh and teased me.

“Oh, right! It's your very first day of work, huh? You must be pretty nervous!”

With a sudden urge to cling to her, I clung to her arm and asked if she had any career advice as someone with more experience. She stopped making fun of me and thought for a moment.

“Well… how's this? Think of yourself as a professional. I heard this from someone, and it worked for me. Instead of thinking, 'I don't know anything, I'm just a novice,' even if you're new, tell yourself something like, 'I'm a professional now and I'll handle this like a professional.'”

She then said, “You know what, I'm a bit picky at work. Sort of a perfectionist. I might not look one, but I am, sort of. I try to keep my career and personal life separate. But aside from work, when I go to a team dinner or something, I let myself go. I even say stupid things. And people actually like that.”

Whatever she would have said in that moment, I would've handled it like gold, as a piece of invaluable advice from a mentor. The next morning, on a fully packed commuter train and just before opening the door to my new workplace, I murmured to myself, “I'm a professional, I'm a professional,” like reciting a spell.

There were three new hires including me. In the midst of the bustle of our new co-workers preparing for a meeting, the three of us exchanged awkward nods and remained seated before moving to the meeting room across the hall promptly at nine o'clock.

A rather young-looking employee scurried over and went around the table, handing out materials. I picked up the papers still warm from the printer, feeling a corner of my lips twitch, somewhat embarrassed. So I was really an office worker now―it felt real. Keeping my lips from trembling, I put on the brave face of someone who had attended dozens of such meetings and flipped through the pages.

The handouts had been divided into two parts ― one for sales team, and another for publicity team ― with charts summarizing important objectives for the past and coming weeks. The company I now worked for was an advertising agency whose core business strategy was blog review marketing, and for a new player in the market, its business wasn't so small.

The sales manager pulled up his chair, sat up straight, and started to brief us on work progress. Jin Korea was a client our company had successfully won a bid for last week.

After many days of hard work and dedication, we could now advertise for Jin Korea's new indoor pocha, or a Korean style local pub. However, by contract, this meant that only positive restaurant reviews for the brand could appear within the first page of blog search results when searched with the keyword “INDOOR POCHA.”

The sales manager gave a little shrug as if passing on the responsibility to the PR manager.

“Now that we've hired three new employees, nothing to worry about, right?”

The PR manager ― a man in his early forties ― forced an awkward smile and replied, “No worries.”

That man was my boss. All the new hires were in the PR team, which handled everything from operating blogs to writing reviews requested by clients. I wasn't sure about the other two new hires, but for me, starting off my career in marketing was extremely meaningful.

Although I was a Korean major, I decided early on―when I was only a junior in university ― to seek a different career path and work in corporate. I had heard a thousand times that it was better to land a job in the right place, even if it took some time, and I agreed.

Unexpectedly, my major had given me an advantage when I applied for this company. The recruitment ad emphasized that liberal arts majors, or applicants with good writing skills, were preferred. While it took some time to get here, I could for the first time in a long while enjoy the sweet taste of having landed a job I had wanted.