Episode 15 – Workplace Manager Authority

The next day, lunch. Lee Hyun-woo and Eun-seol met at a pasta place near the company.

“Hello.”

“Yes, hello.”

After exchanging simple greetings, the two ordered their meals. Eun-seol ordered Aglio e Olio. Hyun-woo ordered tomato meat spaghetti. Once the food arrived, they ate in silence.

Hyun-woo suddenly recalled meals he had with girls he was seeing or girlfriends in the past. If Hyun-woo had been super handsome, the women would have burst into giggles and clutched their stomachs at just a word or two, or they would have led the conversation, but alas, he was just an average Joe.

‘I had to chatter a lot to keep the atmosphere from getting awkward.’

Hyun-woo smiled wryly as he reminisced about the past. In fact, he wasn’t the type to enjoy conversation while eating. But today, he didn’t have to worry about the conversation dying down, and he felt comfortable. Even though he was having a meal alone with an attractive woman like Eun-seol, he didn’t feel any regret. Eun-seol was the one who felt regret.

– Dalgeurak dalgeurak

Only the sound of forks and spoons moving echoed between them. And as if unable to bear the silence any longer, Eun-seol spoke first.

“Lee Daeri-nim, is your meal okay?”

“Yes, it’s delicious.”

“I was grateful for your help with work back then. I’m always indebted to the Management Support Team.”

“Ah, yes.”

Silence again.

‘What the hell? I tried so hard to make conversation.’

Eun-seol was experiencing an awkward atmosphere for the first time. When she went on dates, it was always the men who led the atmosphere. Lee Hyun-woo, who didn’t even seem interested in her while they were eating alone.

‘Doesn’t even know his place…’

Lee Hyun-woo was far from her ideal type. His table manners were terrible, and it was the worst meal ever. She wanted to get up and leave right away, but a strange feeling that she wanted to be with Lee Hyun-woo enveloped Eun-seol.

‘But why is this happening, seriously?’

“…”

“…”

“Um… Lee Daeri-nim, do you happen to be seeing anyone?”

“Excuse me? Eun Daeri-nim, isn’t that a bit of a personal question?”

Eun-seol was taken aback by Lee Hyun-woo’s prickly response. Since she had no experience leading conversations, she ended up overdoing it after a bad start. Her face flushed red with embarrassment.

“Ah. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“No, I’m not seeing anyone right now. What about you, Eun Daeri-nim?”

“Ah, I’m not either right now. Um, by any chance… and I really don’t mean anything by this, but what’s your type, Lee Daeri-nim?”

Eun-seol continued the conversation as if clinging to Hyun-woo’s curt response. She never thought she would be asking the questions that she was always annoyed to hear from men.

“My type? Hmm… These days, Seo Jin-ah Sawon-ssi? I find her quite attractive.”

“That Seo Jin-ah-ssi from the accounting team who’s married to Lee Byeong-joo Daeri-nim, the in-house couple?”

“Yes.”

Even Eun-seol, who hadn’t had much personal conversation with other employees recently, knew that the story of Seo Jin-ah was a hot topic at the company these days. She had suddenly started coming to work in outrageous outfits a few months after getting married. The level of exposure was beyond imagination.

“Um… it seems like she’s been showing too much skin lately.”

“Oh, really? I think her confident attitude is great. And she has a great body.”

‘Tacky… He likes that kind of thing, like a whore?’

She often wore high-waisted skirts that showed off her figure, but Seo Jin-ah’s recent clubwear style was so cheap compared to her own. Like a whore. She thought it was more than disappointing, it was vulgar, that Hyun-woo liked Seo Jin-ah’s style.

‘Hehe, should I just go all out for once?’

“Compared to Jin-ah-ssi, Eun Daeri-nim, um… seems to lack volume.”

“W-what did you say!”

Eun-seol screamed at Hyun-woo’s words, who was openly comparing her while scanning her up and down. She was about to report him for sexual harassment, but suddenly, she felt her pride wounded by Hyun-woo’s comment that she was lacking compared to Seo Jin-ah’s figure.

“Lee Daeri-nim, that’s all padding, you know? Hmph! Men really don’t know anything about that.”

‘Huh? Seo Jin-ah’s body is real, though…’

“Oh, really? Still, um… she does have a better body than Eun Daeri-nim…”

Hyun-woo kept scanning her body and making fun of her,

“Geez. This is ridiculous, really. Then… then let’s meet up on the weekend. I’ll wear casual clothes. Then I’ll be incomparable to Seo Jin-ah-ssi.”

“Huh? Is that a date proposal right now?”

“What? No, no. I’m just correcting Lee Daeri-nim’s misunderstanding, okay? A date, my ass.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I understand. Lunch break is almost over, so let’s get going.”

“Haa…”

Eun-seol was suddenly filled with regret about what she had said at Hyun-woo’s insincere response. She wasn’t the type to take back her words, and besides, she was too proud to admit that she had essentially asked him out on a date, just like Hyun-woo said.

‘Hehehe, jackpot!’

Eun-seol had been completely caught in Hyun-woo’s game.

* * *

Saturday afternoon. Eun-seol was drinking coffee at a cafe in the city near the company, waiting for Lee Hyun-woo.

‘What? Is he seriously late for our appointment?’

Hyun-woo, who was supposed to meet her at the cafe at 2 PM, was nowhere to be seen even after 2:20 PM. Had she ever stood someone up, let alone waited for someone for more than 20 minutes? Eun-seol was angry at herself for being led around by Lee Hyun-woo, who had been consistently uninterested.

Nevertheless, her desire to see Hyun-woo, who was even late for their appointment, only grew stronger. That feeling suppressed her pride and annoyance, preventing Eun-seol from getting up from her cafe chair.

– Jalgeunjalgeun

Thanks to that, Eun-seol was just chewing on the innocent straw.

– Ddalang

2:30 PM. Exactly 30 minutes after the agreed-upon time, Lee Hyun-woo finally appeared at the cafe.

‘Hehe, I wonder if she’s a little pissed?’

Perhaps it was due to his confidence that he could see her psychological state in detail through the work system? Hyun-woo stood in front of Eun-seol, wearing comfortable training clothes and dragging his slippers.

“Hello?”

“H-hello? Lee Daeri-nim, you came in comfortable attire?”

Training clothes, slippers, and a hat pulled down low, Hyun-woo’s appearance was shocking to Eun-seol, something she had never seen on a date before.

‘I hope he… washed his hair?’

Eun-seol, who had been doing her makeup and hair since 8 AM, clenched her fists tightly under the cafe table and trembled at Hyun-woo’s appearance, as if he had just rolled out of bed.

‘Oho.’

It seemed that her efforts since 8 AM had paid off, as she had a different charm than when she was at the company. Her long eyelashes were fully curled, and her eye makeup seemed a bit darker, giving her cat-like, clear eyes. Her brown bob was carefully styled with a curling iron, and the naturally falling waves suited Eun-seol’s sophisticated face well.

Perhaps because Hyun-woo had compared her to Seo Jin-ah, she was wearing quite revealing clothes.

The high wedge heels further accentuated her long, slender legs, and the sky-blue tennis skirt, which exposed more than half of her thighs, seemed to reveal her underwear. She wore a tight white crop top, revealing her slender waist, firm abs, and a shyly visible oval navel.

‘Her legs and waist-hip line are definitely better than Seo Jin-ah’s.’

The tennis skirt, which was tight around the waist and widened from the hips, made her slender waist and full hips stand out even more. Her long legs from her tall height of 168 cm and her firm thighs and slender ankles, honed by Pilates.

‘Her chest is smaller than Seo Jin-ah’s, but is there a slimmer body like this in the company?’

“Hmm… ahem.”

Perhaps it was because he had openly scanned Eun-seol’s body as soon as he sat down? Her face flushed slightly, and she cleared her throat.

“I… I think you can see that I’m not comparable to Seo Jin-ah-ssi, right?”

Eun-seol stuttered, embarrassed even by her own words.

“Um… well, yeah… your body is definitely… not bad.”

Eun-seol was angry at Lee Hyun-woo’s words, which sounded like he was appraising her, but separately, she felt slightly good about the compliment on her body.

“But still…”

“Yes? What is it now?”

“Eun Daeri-nim, you said it yourself. You can’t tell if I’m wearing shapewear or not, can you?”

“I don’t wear that stuff!!”

Eun-seol screamed at Hyun-woo’s words, who was bringing up padding that women with no self-esteem wear. She had some natural curves, but she had also worked hard to manage her diet and exercise consistently, so she was offended that he was dismissing her body as padding. Eun-seol was hurt that Lee Hyun-woo thought that way.

“G-good… good. Then we can check, right?”

“Pfft.”

Hyun-woo burst out laughing because of Eun-seol, who was biting her lip tightly to hide her shame and glaring at him. This ridiculous situation was created thanks to the strengthening of her [desire] to look good to him through the work system.

Hyun-woo also didn’t know that he would be able to provoke Eun-seol to say such things by using Seo Jin-ah’s body as an excuse.

‘It’s probably because of her high pride.’

He emphasized that his ideal type was someone like Seo Jin-ah and gently scratched Eun-seol’s pride with his appearance evaluation. She usually took good care of herself and had pride in her appearance, so the [desire] amplification of the work system probably made her want to be seen by Hyun-woo as the best woman, incomparable to someone like Seo Jin-ah.

‘I need to use that pride well to capture Eun-seol.’

“It’s a bit much here… um, how about over there?”

Hyun-woo pointed to the old motel where he had enjoyed a steamy affair with Seo Jin-ah all night last time.

“Lee Daeri-nim, are you… are you talking about that place?”

It wasn’t that she had never been to a motel while dating men several times, but Eun-seol didn’t prefer motels. It wasn’t just because they weren’t hygienic, but also because of the negative image associated with motels. And she didn’t meet men who couldn’t afford to stay in 4- or 5-star hotels in the first place, so there was no need to go to a motel.

“Why? You were so confident, but now that you’re about to check? Are you scared? I thought you didn’t lie, Eun Daeri-nim.”

Hyun-woo gently poked at Eun-seol’s pride.

“When did I say I wouldn’t go? Lead the way.”

‘Hehe.’

Eun-seol, who was flustered, and Hyun-woo headed to the old motel.

“Welcome…”

The owner sitting at the motel counter stopped greeting and scanned Eun-seol up and down. She was wearing a short tennis skirt and a tight crop top that showed her navel today, so she had been receiving particularly sticky gazes from men. But this motel owner was openly staring at Eun-seol. Eun-seol didn’t give in to such brazen gazes and stared intently at the middle-aged owner.

“Ah, how much is it for a short stay?”

“25,000 won. Ahem.”

She was pretending to be strong, but Eun-seol grabbed the hem of her skirt tightly with both hands and pulled it down because of the sticky gaze. But ironically, although she covered her thighs by pulling down her skirt, her smooth abdomen was even more exposed because she was wearing a crop top.

‘Should I mess with her a bit?’

“Ah, just a moment.”

Hyun-woo pretended to look for cash in his pockets on purpose. As time passed, Eun-seol’s face turned red and her body trembled at the motel owner’s perverted gaze, which Hyun-woo saw clearly.

“Eun Daeri-nim, I don’t have any cash, so can you lend me some?”

“Huh?”

“I really don’t have any. Hurry up, they’re waiting.”

“Haa… really, here…”

Eun-seol hesitated and approached the counter, handing over cash at Hyun-woo’s sly request without even taking out his wallet. Even in the midst of all this, she felt a disgusting feeling like bugs crawling on her from the gaze of this perverted owner, who didn’t take his eyes off her chest, thighs, and abdomen.

“Here… Eek!”

“Hehe, why are you so surprised?”

Eun-seol was startled because the motel owner grabbed her hand as she handed over the money.

‘What’s with this guy… seriously, I think something’s on my hand.’

Eun-seol wiped the foreign substance on her hand with a handkerchief. She glared at the motel owner without hiding her displeasure, but she felt a slight fear, unlike before. The two soon entered the motel room.

“Heo… that bitch is hot too, huh huh huh.”

Only the rough breathing of the middle-aged man and the sound of rubbing something were heard at the counter.