I Raised A Black Dragon

09:05 A.M.

Noah heaved a sigh so deep as if the ground was about to collapse. “I’m going crazy, really.” I can’t get into the office like this. She pulled a tissue out of her bag, rolled it into a long ball, and thrust it into her bleeding nostril. She hurriedly grabbed the documents, along with her bag, and climbed the stairs again. 

She went straight to the bathroom, and as soon as her eyes landed on her reflection on the mirror, her face was a spectacle. Blood stained her lips and chin, and her makeup was smeared because of sweat.

I’m having a bad day… Noah wiped the dried blotches of blood with water from the faucet. Now that she saw it, the nosebleed hadn’t stopped yet completely. Drops of blood splashed on the washbasin. 

I often see blood these days. The day before yesterday, she lost consciousness for a split moment and accidentally cut her right index finger with the edge of a paper, but today, it is another cause: nosebleed. Besides, I don’t feel well. 

Noah raised her head and stopped the bleeding again while crafting a short summary of her week. Have I gotten sleep in the past twenty hours? I don’t think so. Exhausted, Noah pressed her sore eyes with the back of her hand. 

Today is Friday, and tomorrow will finally be the weekend. She had completed the most important negotiations and presentations at dawn yesterday, so if she endured today, she would be able to rest on the weekend. I just want to sleep for a dozen hours, she thought longingly. Soon, Noah left the bathroom, dragging her weak legs. She massaged her aching neck and back. As a consequence of being late, she would be burdened with the manager’s duties.

05:27 P.M.

Things escalated at work. The manager, who was at a meeting with an overseas client, rushed into the office with a flushed face. “Who made the North American buyer negotiation presentation, come out!” he bellowed.

Meanwhile, Noah’s head was glued to her laptop screen, frantic to finish the last chapter of the report for her departure. She was extremely focused and her ears seemed to block the raging noises around her. It was only when the assistant manager, Oh, jerked in his seat that she returned to her senses.

“Sir, what happened?”

“Assistant Manager Oh Hee-young. Yesterday you delivered the final order amount amendment at this time, you reflected it in PPT, didn’t you?”

““Amendment… Ugh.”

“Did you or did you not? Does it make sense that I pushed a deal that didn’t even fit a simple calculation at the buyer’s meeting? How the hell do you do things! Speak up! Where did you put the amendment?”

“Oh, well, it’s… I printed it out yesterday.”

Assistant Manager Oh rummaged through his desk, his fingers trembling. Noah looked up at him in bewilderment. Final amendment sent at this time yesterday? The last amendment Noah received from him was before lunch yesterday. Oh, he must be aware of it, too, seeing him panic. Oh… I’m screwed.

Noah sighed inwardly. He forgot. All his work was left to Noah, and he was making revisions to the excel presentation that Noah had been busy making all day, and he forgot to hand over the final revision to her before he left work. Suddenly, she was struck with an ill realization.

No way, no way. Mr. Oh, can’t you…

“Ms. Noah, step aside. Didn’t I ask Noah to revise the PPT and ask her to review it yesterday? Data matching the minimum order quantity and order amount!”

“Well, I’ve never had a…”

“Here it is!” A sense of relief spread to Oh’s face, who found the blue file among the pile of now disorganized documents staked in the corner of Noah’s desk. Her ominous premonition was becoming a reality.

“I was so sick yesterday, Sir. I left the last review to Park Noah here, but she didn’t make it.”

“Assistant Manager…” 

It was Noah who turned pale this time. The files piled up in the corner of her desk were all Oh’s documents. She didn’t even think about touching them since none of their documents should be mixed…

“I didn’t even see the cover of the amendment…” Noah tried to reason, but her eyes had already met with the manager before she could even protest against Oh. Then, she had a hunch. It would not be possible to leave work early today.

9:37 P.M.

Noah looked alternately at her phone and out of the window. She thought she did something similar this morning, but she couldn’t remember it well. The sound of rain beating against the window had faded away. The back of her neck was stiff and painful. She felt like she was sick all over her body.

“What’s wrong with the state of open loans these days? Do you think I hired you after two or three interviews while giving you extra pay for your job like this? What’s the point of working overtime like you’re eating? Have fewer mistakes! You need to increase efficiency. Am I wrong?”

Noah had to apologize to the manager for an hour, who blamed her for all the mistakes he had made so far. Even though dozens of failures which she couldn’t even remember were gushing out of the manager’s lips, all she could do was say ‘I’m sorry.’

Naturally, it was Noah’s job to clean up the mess. In a dark office where every employee had already left for home, she wrote an apology to the wronged client for three hours. The night was late and the rain poured outside. In the end, she seemed to have no choice but to take a cab. Noah was tapping her phone to book a cab when the screen suddenly changed. She remembered the letters she saw after a long time.

Mom.