Minutes of Yukino Sanada, Personnel Department <1-2 Do Not Bring Personal Matters into Work>

Chapter 1: White Headquarters, Black Sales Offices

Episode 2: Do Not Bring Personal Matters into Work

The silence, which felt like an eternity to Yukino, was in reality only a fleeting moment.
Loud laughter from the other participants soon filled the meeting room.

This time, it was Yukino who was taken aback.

(Is this... okay...? Or bad...?)

"Hahaha, young people are great, they really lighten the mood."
"Right? So cute."
Area Manager Natsume was wiping the corners of her eyes while exchanging words with Department Manager Maeda. Despite how sharply they had been debating, it didn't seem like they had a bad relationship.

After the loud laughter subsided, I could hear Department Manager Kawabata's lingering chuckles.
"Ms. Sanada, you must want to spend Christmas with your boyfriend at the sales office!"

My earlobes grew hot at the unexpected words.

"No! Th... that's not it!..." as Yukino started to say,
"That's enough, Department Manager Kawabata, that's sexual harassment," Department Manager Maeda admonished.

At that moment, I heard President Shiroyama clear his throat, "Ahem."
"For something said on the spur of the moment... it's not bad, is it?"
The participants' gazes gathered on President Shiroyama.

"We have the sales office staff working weekends as a matter of course. It is the real estate business, after all. But even so, it's a pity they can't spend Christmas with their families. It might be worth considering. Ms. Natsume, what do you think?"
Area Manager Natsume tucked her hair behind her ear again.
"I don't think it's that much of a problem. The beginning of the year is the busy season, but the end of the year is relatively calm, right? Department Manager Kawabata?"
"We could just outsource building trouble calls to the 24-hour customer center."
It was refreshing to see Department Manager Kawabata talking about actual work.

President Shiroyama clapped his hands.
"Then, it's decided. A Christmas present from headquarters. Since we're at it, why don't you, Ms. Sanada, notify everyone via company email? If you haven't coordinated something like this before... consult with Mr. Uesugi."
"Y... yes! Understood!"
Yukino answered with her head bowed slightly.

And she typed this "decided matter" into the keyboard.

Christmas Holiday - Sanada - Consult with Department Manager Uesugi

"Hahaha, I'll leave it to you, Santa Girl."
Once she finished writing the minutes, President Shiroyama laughed heartily and patted Yukino on the back.

*

"Did you hear? They say the sales offices will be closed on Christmas Eve this year!"
"Lovely. Apparently, a girl named Sanada from the Personnel Department pleaded directly to the president."
"She's something else... she looks quiet, but she's quite the speaker."
"Could it be that she has a boyfriend at a sales office?"
"It's possible...!"

(I can hear you...)

Yukino sighed at the fact that the break room was buzzing again.

The gossip among the women easily crossed the line into what Department Manager Kawabata would call "sexual harassment." Even though it was "backbiting," they didn't perceive it as "malice." When they spotted Yukino, they beckoned her over, saying, "Sanada-san... hey, over here, over here!"

“Oh, yes... did something happen?”

Yukino had been in the middle of administrative work at her desk. Thinking there might be a shortage of supplies, she took her notepad and entered the break room, where three women from the administrative department pulled her in with a smiling pressure.

“What’s the matter...? Is something missing...?”
She asked, maintaining the pretense of a supply shortage.

“No, no, you... which sales office are you in?”
“Huh?”
“I mean! Your boyfriend! Your boyfriend! You have one, right! For Christmas!”
Perhaps aware that they were on the clock, one of the women lowered her voice a notch when she said "boyfriend."

Yukino felt irritated by their tone, which implied they already knew the answer, and she ended up speaking over them.
“No! For starters, I don't have one, and even if I did... I wouldn't bring personal matters into my work!”

The woman, momentarily taken aback by Yukino turning her back, threw words at her.
“Don't be so uptight! If you had a boyfriend, we wanted to support you! Well, as long as it wasn't my husband.”
The other two laughed, saying, "Haha, that wouldn't happen."

Yukino returned to her desk and sighed deeply again.
A feeling of helplessness outweighed her anger. More than the existence of a boyfriend, the fact that something she had squeezed out with such effort was seen as a selfish proposal... she felt a sense of powerlessness.

Even when she tried to return to the work she had been doing before the interruption, the voices from earlier wouldn't leave her head.

At times like this... she had no choice but to rely on sugar.

Yukino took a Tirol chocolate from her bag, opened the wrapper, and popped it into her mouth. The faint bitterness of matcha and the sweetness of the chocolate spread through her mouth.

“Hey, good work! Santa Girl!”
Department Manager Uesugi, who had been away from his desk, returned with his hand raised. At the address of "Santa Girl," she remembered the incident in the break room, and the bitterness of the matcha intensified.

“Manager... um... I don't bring personal matters into my work!”
“Eh...? Oh, I see... that thing.”
Department Manager Uesugi looked puzzled for a moment, but he immediately understood.

“Don't worry about rumors. Be confident. I know that's not the case.”
Yukino stayed silent, afraid that if she tried to say anything, she would tear up.

“...I think it was a very good proposal for the company.”
“For the company... you think?”

“Yes. The sales offices have their peak season on weekends, so we can't just close them. It's also hard to take paid leave unless there's a specific reason. In that context, making Christmas a holiday is one way to externally appeal that we are a company that cares about its employees. It's a small thing, but I'm glad you noticed it. Thank you very much.”

It really was good to be working under Department Manager Uesugi.
How many times had she thought that now?

＊

When she was told she was being assigned to the "Personnel Department," Yukino had been bewildered.

Excluding Yukino herself, there are twelve people in her cohort, which is to say, this year's new employees. Until they finish their one-month training, everyone is 'attached to the Human Resources Department,' after which their assignments to various departments are decided. While her peers were assigned one after another to sales offices nationwide, the headquarters building management department, and the systems department, Yukino alone remained 'attached to the Human Resources Department' as before.

“Human Resources... no, attached to the Human Resources Department... is that right?”
“That’s right. Well, you can think of it as being much the same thing.”
Department Manager Uesugi’s reply was unusually vague, and Yukino felt an anxiety as if she had been left behind by her peers.

Yukino was completely unsuited for job hunting. She was bad at self-promotion and had never been able to speak well in interviews. Every time she was rejected by dozens of companies, her self-esteem was chipped away. Panicked by the endless job hunt, she was in no position to choose industries or business types.

However, the interview at Shiroyama Corporation was completely different from the others. It was a one-on-one interview from the start. She was not asked at all about the motivation for applying she had prepared, or what she had focused on during her student days, commonly known as 'gakuchika'.

She was asked in detail about how she had made choices and acted on her own since she was born, and why she had reached those decisions. Yukino felt the comfort of not being judged and answered everything she was asked. It was the first time she had talked so much about herself, not just in an interview, but in her entire life.

After this interview, Yukino, who had become able to speak honestly about herself, would go on to receive job offers from several companies, including large corporations, in addition to Shiroyama Corporation.

Even so, Yukino decided to join Shiroyama Corporation.
This was the only company that had listened to her so much during the interview.

That the interviewer at the time, Department Manager Uesugi, would later become Yukino’s direct supervisor.
This was something she had not even imagined when she joined the company.

She felt two emotions regarding the decision to be 'attached to the Human Resources Department.'
The joy of being able to work under Department Manager Uesugi.
And the anxiety of being left behind by her peers.

However, that anxiety was quickly replaced by busyness.

Yukino, who was attached to the Human Resources Department rather than being in it, became a 'jack-of-all-trades' for administrative work. Through the Human Resources Manager and other upper management in various departments, she received all kinds of work requests. Taking minutes for upper management meetings was also one of her tasks.

Department Manager Uesugi was gentle, but he was by no means soft.
In particular, the minutes were sent back for revisions many times.

“Looking at these minutes, can you tell who needs to do what?”
“I don’t think this is the right summary of the Area Manager’s remarks... Listen to the recording again and rewrite it.”
“This way of writing will lead to misunderstandings... Sorry, this is the second time, but please rewrite it again.”

When he said 'sorry,' she conversely felt sorry for her own inadequacy.
If she kept rewriting like this, sending them to the participants would be delayed. Since Department Manager Uesugi spoke as if he knew the correct answer, she voiced a question that had suddenly occurred to her.

“Is there... any meaning in me rewriting these...?”
Then, Department Manager Uesugi laughed, 'Haha.'
“What are you saying? It has meaning because you, Ms. Sanada, are doing it, right? Besides, the ability to take minutes will be useful wherever you go in the future, so it’s good to learn how to write them... Also, there is a trick to getting better at taking minutes.”
“A trick, you say?”
Yukino leaned forward.
“Usually, for example, when you are talking like this, it is good to summarize the main points like minutes and write them in a notebook. Buy the notebook you like best at a stationery store. That notebook will surely help you.”

After leaving work that day, Yukino stopped by the nearest stationery store and looked at the notebook section. Among the various sizes, textures, colors, and patterns, one notebook caught her eye.

It had a solid hardcover, and when she held it, the texture of the cover felt familiar to her fingers. It was expensive for a notebook, but she told herself that she was a working adult now, and bought it.

Thus, the white-covered Moleskine notebook became Yukino’s daily 'minutes.' She wrote everything down in this Moleskine notebook, mainly things she heard from Department Manager Uesugi, daily realizations, and work memos. Even if she couldn't write on the spot, it became Yukino’s habit to write them down while recalling them during breaks or after returning home.

＊

“Department Manager Uesugi Christmas vacation: Possibility of external appeal, ◎ for the company”

During her lunch break, Yukino wrote this in the "minutes".

(Manager... I'm sorry.)

Looking at the "external appeal" section, she thought to herself.

(I didn't... propose it for such a noble reason...)

Yukino's feelings were so skewed toward "personal feelings" that she felt embarrassed now for having denied them so strongly.

The proposal for Christmas leave; those thoughts were directed at one person.
Yukino's colleague, Mariya Maruta.

She wanted her to have a good, long rest.

(Continued in Episode 3)

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