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Korean office lunch debate goes from doenjang jjigae to "let's take this outside" in 12 lines 🥲

7HaneulAm2026.10.05 17:31👁 2023💬 78♥ 33

Posted on a Korean board as "a fight that broke out at lunch at a small company." The manager (과장) told the assistant manager (대리) to pick lunch. Translation under the capture 👇

A: How about doenjang jjigae today? B: Doenjang is salty, no. A: Kimchi jjigae? B: Also salty. A: Then baekban (the set meal), something light? B: Doesn't baekban come with jjigae? I said no salty stuff. A: Then ssalguksu or naengmyeon? B: I don't want noodles. A: Just get donkatsu or a burger then. B: Ya, you have zero sense. Can't you pick something that just pulls you in?? A: What's this sense-having menu that pulls you in, then? B: You talking back? A: So what if I am (slaps the desk) …and from there it's "come outside" "no YOU come outside" and the poster says both of them are out there screaming right now 😭 Best Korean comments: "this is literally the 무한상사 sketch" (the fake-office skit from Infinite Challenge), "post the ending, I need to know who won," and one guy confidently decoding it: "he hates salty soup so he obviously means sundae gukbap" 🤣 "Something that pulls you in" is not a food, sir. That's a vibe 🙃✨ What would you have answered?

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Comments 78

6kkt.882026.10.06

Very common. Picking lunch is basically the junior's daily quest. Wrong answer costs you the whole afternoon

5sleepy_jpg2026.10.06

"You talking back?" "So what if I am" is going straight into my reaction folder

5dadjoke_dk2026.10.06

I asked my wife what pulls her in and she said "a nap". Not on the menu either

5dongdong_2026.10.05

The sundae gukbap guy decoding it is the real hero. Not salty in his head, maybe. Salty in reality, very

5Gyuwon2026.10.07

The ending is both of them eating convenience store kimbap in silence. That's my headcanon

'Something that pulls you in' is how I describe what I want to eat at 2am. The answer is always tteokbokki and it's always salty. Good luck to the 대리

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7HaneulOP2026.10.06

tteokbokki at 2am being salty and still being the answer is so real 🥲

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5kimbap_kid2026.10.06

"pulls you in" = whatever's closest and has a line out the door

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2am cravings don't have menus, they have feelings

5dongdong_2026.10.05

The sundae gukbap guy decoding it is the real hero. Not salty in his head, maybe. Salty in reality, very

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7Siwoo2026.10.06

Sundae gukbap guy is the only adult in this whole story

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5dongdong_2026.10.06

fair, the salt is a personal choice. The fight was not

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6hanbyeol2026.10.06

He's not wrong though. Gukbap is the "I don't know what I want" food here, and you salt it yourself at the table

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Sundae gukbap isn't salty until YOU make it salty. Defending it with my life

6kkt.882026.10.05

Every Korean office has this conversation at 11:50. It usually ends with 'just whatever you want' and then the boss complains about the place. This one just skipped to the end

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7Sebin2026.10.06

Both are tired and hungry at 11:50, that's how this happens. Nobody's the villain, the clock is

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5nunchi_zero2026.10.06

I'd panic and say convenience store and get transferred to another branch

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6Hajun2026.10.06

"Just whatever you want" followed by complaining about the place is a global office sport

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6kkt.882026.10.06

Very common. Picking lunch is basically the junior's daily quest. Wrong answer costs you the whole afternoon

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6devils_avocado2026.10.06

The manager isn't totally wrong to want something that pulls you in. Everyone has those days. He just could've said it nicer

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6Lukas932026.10.06

Is this actually common? Managers really make juniors pick lunch every day?

6Priya.s2026.10.06

The 무한상사 comment is perfect, this reads exactly like an Infinite Challenge script

8Dabin2026.10.06

the slap on the desk i'm screaming. over LUNCH

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5Lucia2026.10.07

over LUNCH 😭 two grown men screaming outside over jjigae, I'm crying

5gochujang_gang2026.10.06

Correct answer is jjimdak. Sweet, savory, pulls you in. I rest my case

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5Camila2026.10.06

Jjimdak is the jjim-portant answer. Sweet enough to end any war

7Geonwoo2026.10.06

This is how every PC bang group decides dinner too, minus the desk slap. Usually

6ppalli_ppalli2026.10.06

vocab: 과장 (gwajang) = manager, 대리 (daeri) = assistant manager. Now I know who to blame

5curiosa_br2026.10.06

did anyone post the ending? who won??

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5Gyuwon2026.10.07

The ending is both of them eating convenience store kimbap in silence. That's my headcanon

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7HaneulOP2026.10.07

no ending posted as far as I saw 😭 I keep refreshing

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3lowkeylurker2026.10.07

lol same, I need part two

6Jaehee2026.10.06

My answer: "whatever you want, sir" and then I cry quietly in the bathroom

6Omar2026.10.06

The assistant manager should've just answered "the exit". That's a menu item that pulls you in

6Seoa2026.10.06

Japanese offices just bring bento so nobody has to decide. Maybe that's the secret

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5Ayşe2026.10.07

Bento solves the fight but kills the fun. Half the office drama in Korea is about lunch

5Kasia2026.10.06

I would've said bibimbap and we'd be fighting about the gochujang instead

5Layla2026.10.06

rejecting six options and then saying "you have no sense" is my mom choosing a restaurant

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6Zeynep2026.10.07

My dad does this too. Says no to everything then picks the first place we suggested

5sleepy_jpg2026.10.06

"You talking back?" "So what if I am" is going straight into my reaction folder

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5lyric.thief2026.10.07

"Should I stay or should I go (outside)"

7Soomin2026.10.06

As someone who posts recipes: "something that pulls you in" is the hardest request I've ever heard. I'd also slap the desk

5dadjoke_dk2026.10.06

I asked my wife what pulls her in and she said "a nap". Not on the menu either

6kkt.882026.10.06

In my office whoever makes you pick usually pays. After a desk slap I'm not sure anyone's paying

4Kyungmin2026.10.06

who has to pay in this situation though? the one who picked?

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6hanbyeol2026.10.07

Usually the senior person, so the manager. Which makes 'you have zero sense' a very expensive sentence

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6kkt.882026.10.08

Also depends on the company. Some do card per team, some split. After a desk slap, I'd say nobody eats

5jjk_enjoyer2026.10.06

Two adults ready to throw hands over doenjang jjigae. Shonen arc unlocked

7Dahye2026.10.06

This reads like a 무한상사 episode for real. All it needs is a dramatic zoom on the desk slap

7Nari2026.10.06

Honestly the correct answer is "pork gukbap, I'm from Busan" and walk away before anyone argues

6pixel_gremlin2026.10.07

Lunch selection is the hardest boss in Korean office life. No save points

5Matías2026.10.07

This is a derby match. Doenjang FC vs Kimchi United, and the ref sends both off

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6meh_espresso2026.10.07

Doenjang FC vs Kimchi United, both relegated to convenience store kimbap

6Lukas932026.10.07

Is this a real office story or one of those posts that's 80% made up for laughs? Either way funny

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7Sebin2026.10.07

Probably dressed up a bit, like most of these. But the 'you pick' part is real enough that it doesn't matter

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7HaneulOP2026.10.08

no idea if it's 100% real but the 'you pick' part is SO real, i've seen it in so many korean posts 😭

5jaywalker2026.10.07

Rejected doenjang, kimchi jjigae, baekban, noodles, donkatsu and burgers. At some point the problem isn't the menu

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6Hajun2026.10.07

Exactly. When someone rejects six options, option seven is a new coworker

5Noor2026.10.07

I'd have said "whatever pulls YOU in" and gotten fired. Worth it

5Oksana2026.10.07

"You talking back?" is going to be my new reply to every group chat dinner poll

5lol_true2026.10.07

lol true, 11:50 is the most dangerous time in any office

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4Hyunseo2026.10.07

lol true, 11:50 and 5:55, the two danger zones

6Olu2026.10.07

In Lagos the answer is jollof and nobody argues. Well, they argue about whose jollof

5tteok_and_roll2026.10.07

They didn't fight over lunch. It was a souped-up disagreement

6Yoonseo2026.10.07

Vocab: 센스 (senseu) from English "sense" means good taste or knowing what people want. "You have zero sense" is a classic office insult

8Taeho2026.10.07

This is basically a two-act play. Act one is polite menu suggestions, act two is "come outside." Infinite Challenge did build its whole fake office around exactly this

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6Lukas932026.10.07

Is the 무한상사 comparison about a specific sketch or just the vibe? Asking as someone who never watched it

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6hanbyeol2026.10.07

무한상사 was the Infinite Challenge office sitcom. Petty boss fights over tiny things were basically its whole genre, so the vibe fits

5Kasia2026.10.07

I'd answer "something that pulls you in" with tteokbokki and get yelled at for salt. There's no winning

4Doha2026.10.07

The assistant manager tried so hard though! Six options, all reasonable. Justice for him

7Siwoo2026.10.07

Grabs popcorn. Twelve lines and somehow it escalated faster than any K-drama I've watched this year

5Chaeyun2026.10.07

"You talking back?" "So what if I am" sounds like the hook of a song I'd stream

6Dain2026.10.07

Correct answer for "pulls you in": the place with the long line at 11:30. You don't argue with a queue

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The 11:30 line rule is undefeated. If people are waiting, it pulls you in, case closed

5Valen2026.10.07

I'm crying at the desk slap. Over doenjang jjigae of all things

6Jiyul2026.10.07

Reading this I can hear the Infinite Challenge office background music. Every line is ready for a caption

5Bea2026.10.07

Me answering 'whatever you like' and then secretly googling 'menus that pull you in'

6Tomas2026.10.07

Lunch debate: a stew-dy in workplace conflict

6Mateo2026.10.07

Random fact: 무한상사 was the recurring office sitcom sketch on Infinite Challenge, so Korean readers picture the cast doing this exact fight

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Korean office lunch debate goes from doenjang jjigae to "let's take this outside" in 12 lines 🥲 · KOMMU.LIVE