episode_0047

When lunchtime arrived, I headed to a secluded corner of a quiet cafe near the company, a place we had arranged beforehand.

I ordered a menu item and was fiddling with my phone when, shortly after, Park Mina entered the cafe.

Her shoulders were hunched tightly as she surveyed her surroundings before approaching and sitting across from me.

“…You called for me, Senior.”

Fear still lingered in her voice, but she no longer acted like the gentle junior she once was.

“Yes. What happened with what I instructed you to do?”

I took a sip of the americano on the table and asked indifferently.

“Sigh. It’s truly hopeless.”

Mina irritably swept her bangs back and let out a deep sigh.

“Son Junhyuk, that man, he’s completely self-indulgent. He completely ignored what Senior pointed out in the last meeting, did he?”

“Hmm.”

“He doesn’t seem to care what the buyer considers important, and he’s just packaging the materials for show. The meeting is soon, what’s he going to do if he messes up?”

Mina said that, twisting the corner of her mouth.

Now that I think about it, he was always only interested in superficial achievements.

If Son Junhyuk was digging his own grave, that was the best news for me.

If I use the app here to exploit his weaknesses a little more…

“Alright. Is there anything else?”

“Besides that, not really…”

“Anything is fine, just tell me.”

At my urging, Mina opened her mouth after a slight hesitation.

“There really isn’t. …At most, just constantly bothering me.”

“Bothering you?”

“Ha. Is he trying to show off because he’s the project manager?”

Mina suddenly frowned and raised her voice.

“Or maybe he was always that kind of guy, I don’t know. He subtly touches my shoulder, or orders me to get him coffee.”

It seemed she had been tormented quite a bit these past few days, as Mina poured out her complaints, seemingly forgetting that the person she was talking to was me, the one who had ruthlessly trampled her.

Perhaps she was half-resigned to her situation.

Like it or not, there would be no one left but me to listen to such complaints.

“As if it weren’t enough, my body keeps getting hot on its own lately, it’s driving me crazy…”

Mina, who had been excitedly pouring out her grievances, suddenly trailed off.

Her gaze flowed like water to my face.

“Senior.”

“Hm?”

“Haven’t you done enough already?”

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

At my playful tone, her face contorted.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know. I know you manipulated me again, Senior.”

This is why I dislike quick-witted people.

As Mina said, the reason for her body’s strange condition was me.

I hadn’t done anything grand.

Simply ‘made her easily sexually aroused.’

And simultaneously, I had given her a suggestion to absolutely prevent her from masturbating.

Though she herself would be tormented day by day.

“Please, quickly change me back to normal. I’m getting hot constantly, I’m seriously going crazy.”

“I decide that. You have no right to tell me what to do.”

“Is tormenting people really that enjoyable for you, huh?”

I watched her vehement reaction with interest, then replied nonchalantly, as if being generous.

“Just bear with it a little longer. Once this matter is successfully concluded, I’ll satisfy what your body desperately desires until it overflows.”

As if she had accurately discerned the sinister intention behind my words, Mina’s face became a complex mix of contempt and bewilderment.

“…Hmph! Who wants something like that? Don’t give me that, just end this dreadful situation quickly!”

Even as she snapped sharply, Mina unconsciously caressed her slightly flushed cheek.

Despite her snippy attitude, her body seemed to be reacting honestly.

“Sigh. So, what are you going to do now? I get that you want to screw over Son Junhyuk.”

Mina sighed briefly and changed the subject.

Then, she cautiously asked, observing my reaction.

Her expression was full of dissatisfaction, but a different kind of emotion flickered across it compared to earlier.

“Well.”

“Senior, you’re targeting Team Leader Kang too, aren’t you? With a similar method to what you used on me.”

In Mina’s eyes, there was fear and resignation beyond mere curiosity.

And perhaps a complex emotion, something akin to a touch of empathy.

“Hmm.”

Just because I’ve been a little gentle these past few days, you feel comfortable enough to ask something like this, huh?

Instead of answering her question, I set down my coffee cup and said coldly.

“You just properly do the work given to you. Don’t concern yourself with useless things.”

“…Tch.”

At my chilly attitude, Mina clicked her tongue softly but couldn’t press further.

I’ll need to properly discipline her later.

“Keep reporting, and especially don’t miss any parts where Son Junhyuk makes a mistake. Understand?”

“…Yes. Understood.”

Mina replied in a voice as small as a mosquito’s.

Now I had no more business with her.

I got up from my seat without lingering regrets and left the cafe.

On my way back to the company building, I reviewed my plan once again.

D-Day was the buyer’s meeting a few weeks later.

Guiding the situation wouldn’t be difficult, but what was needed at the decisive moment was, after all, my own capability.

Therefore, I needed to maximize all my abilities in preparation for that time.

Focus, eloquence, charisma.

It was realistically impossible to master such elements skillfully in a short period.

‘With this, it’s a different story.’

I felt the cool sensation of the smartphone in my pocket and recalled the existence of the hypnosis app.

Just imagining the upcoming meeting day brought a natural smile to my lips.

****

A terrible tension woke her even before her alarm.

It was the day of the meeting with the Japanese buyers, which would decide the success or failure of the project she had diligently prepared for weeks.

As she forced open her impossibly heavy eyelids, the familiar bedroom ceiling inevitably came into view.

She felt like she had dreamt a strange dream overnight.

The content was jumbled, but even after waking, a peculiar heat remained throughout her body, along with a vaguely aching sensation in her lower abdomen.

Now that seemed familiar, a mix of shame and numbness, entangling her.

‘Is it because I’m tired…’

It had been like this for the past few days.

She tried hard to reassure herself that it was just fatigue from having so much to worry about with the project.

But the fragments of memory that kept popping up in her mind weren’t simply due to work stress.

‘That time, in the meeting room… And then, the next day in the pantry, again…’

Jooyoung quickly erased the memories that inadvertently surfaced as she put on her makeup in front of the bathroom mirror.

Assistant Manager Lee Hyunsung’s demands, which were not just audacious but shameless.

And the moments when she had helplessly complied with those demands under the plausible pretense of boosting her subordinate’s morale.

‘No. Why am I taking it so seriously?’

Jooyoung suddenly shook her head.

It was just… right.

As Team Leader, it was an unavoidable measure to manage team members’ morale and ensure the project’s success.

Although it was a bit drastic and unconventional, hadn’t Assistant Manager Lee Hyunsung visibly become more motivated and seemed to improve his work performance afterward?

Then it was fine.

Her reason, deeply encroached upon by suggestion, desperately repeated self-justifications, ignoring the broken reality.

Only she herself failed to realize that her eyes in the mirror were wavering precariously.

Changing her clothes and coming into the living room, Jooyoung found her husband, Park Minchul, sitting at the dining table as usual.

Two cups of coffee, seemingly brewed by himself, were placed before him.

He was still in his pajamas with hollow eyes, but that sight cleared away a bit of the dust accumulated in Jooyoung’s heart.

“…”

As Jooyoung sat across from him, Minchul silently pushed a coffee cup towards her.

The warm steam rising from the cup transferred its heat to her fingertips.

“Thank you.”

Minchul still only looked down at his coffee instead of replying.

But that small action alone gave Jooyoung courage.

Perhaps today, a small change might occur in this tiresome relationship.

“Minchul. Do you have any plans today?”

Jooyoung’s voice was noticeably softer than last time.

“I don’t know.”

Minchul’s voice was equally lifeless, but it wasn’t as sharp as before.

“Any places you applied to last time, have they contacted you yet?”

“No.”

“Then, how about trying to apply to other places today? Or maybe look into that video editing course you were interested in before…”

Jooyoung cautiously suggested, trying her best not to upset him.

But what came back was a cold reply.

“Video editing? What’s the point of learning that now? It’s all pointless.”

Deep defeat lingered in his voice.

Jooyoung’s heart sank at his words, but for today, she didn’t want to be swayed by negative thoughts.

Today was an important day.

She wanted to cling to hope somehow.

“No. Why are you saying such things? You’re still young. And besides,”

Jooyoung continued, her voice trying to be bright yet excited.

Expectation and anxiety for today’s meeting flickered in her eyes.

“The project we’re working on right now, the higher-ups are really looking forward to it. If this succeeds, my position in the company will change. Then our circumstances will also improve significantly. So you too…”

But before Jooyoung could finish her sentence, Minchul sharply raised his head.

His eyes were bloodshot with despair and rage.

“You…”

“Yes?”

“How much more miserable do you have to make me before you feel satisfied?!”

*Slam!*

Minchul slammed the coffee cup he had been drinking onto the table.

The brown liquid spilled over the table, but he didn’t care.

“Do you think I, me, want to be like this right now? Waking up every morning is hell, and now you’re doing this to me too?!”

“M-Minchul, calm down. I was just thinking about you…”

“Thinking about me? Someone who’s thinking about me would talk so excitedly about their success story?!”

His voice uncontrollably rose.

His shouts, mixed with rage, self-loathing, and inferiority, echoed through the living room.

“Seeing you every day is agony for me. Do you know how pathetic I feel every time I see you succeeding?”

“I, I didn’t mean it that way…”

“But you, every single day… My situation is amusing, isn’t it? It must be so embarrassing that your husband is living off the money his wife earns, you can’t stand it, can you?”

“N-no…”

Jooyoung bit her lip, enduring the fierce emotions flung at her by her husband.

It was like this again.

The repetition of a tiresome pattern.

Even when she offered sincere words because she knew his pain better than anyone.

Those words always seemed to become the most painful dagger to him.

“I’m not doing this because I want to!”

Eventually, Jooyoung also burst out with the emotions she had suppressed.

“Can’t you see that I’m shouldering this house’s debt and living expenses all by myself and enduring it?!”

She knew it shouldn’t be like this, but it was too late to gather up the emotions that had poured out.

“I also live every day feeling like I’m fighting a war! But you just stay cooped up at home every day…! What, what more do you want me to do?!”

“Then what? What do you want me to do? Divorce you?! Is that what you want?!”

“Don’t speak so carelessly!”

Violent emotions exploded back and forth.

Words that hurt each other flew like blades and pierced their hearts.

After a long argument, all that remained was chilling silence and deeper despair.

Minchul, unable to contain his anger, eventually got up from his seat and went into the room without a word.

“Sigh.”

Jooyoung gripped the now cold coffee cup with trembling hands.

Someone she loved, yet simultaneously resented to death.

Where would this relationship end?

‘…Focus. I must succeed today.’

Jooyoung barely managed to collect her scattered heart, like broken glass fragments.

She gulped down the remaining coffee in the cup and left through the front door.

All the way to the company, Jooyoung’s mind was more complicated than ever.

The pressure to succeed in the project.

The extreme fatigue from the fight with her husband.

And, amidst all that confusion, the thoughts about Assistant Manager Lee Hyunsung that kept vividly surfacing.

Ahead of the important meeting, she found herself strongly wanting to rely on him, without even realizing it.

His sharpness and insight shown in the meeting a few days ago.

And his intense presence that had overwhelmed her.

That gave a strange sense of stability to her anxious heart.

‘Assistant Manager Son Junhyuk will probably handle it well on his own, but perhaps he might be needed.’

Her unconscious mind, encroached by suggestion, already recognized Hyunsung as an important variable.

As she stepped into the elevator, anxiety was accompanied by a sense of solemn determination that she herself couldn’t understand.

Today would be another, irreversible turning point in her life.