Chapter 67: Monday, First Day at Work [R-18]

By the time sunlight began to slowly spill through the window, the room was still thick with the lingering scent of the previous night.

Seojin briefly opened her eyes on the sofa, then closed them again. Their lovemaking hadn’t been confined to the bed. A foreign sensation still lingered on her inner thighs, and a ticklish ache pulsed deep in her abdomen.

Rio was already up. He glanced at her, naked and sprawled face down on the sofa, then silently drank a glass of water and went into the bathroom.

“……?”

It was then that Seojin felt it.

Today was not yesterday.

The sound of the shower stopped, and Rio walked out, his hair half-damp.

A gray shirt. Perfectly pressed slacks. A black jacket draped casually over his arm. The lines of his shoulders and neck looked unnaturally immaculate.

“…Where are you going?”

Seojin lifted her head slightly.

“To the office. It’s my first day with this little gift from my father.”

Rio said, grabbing a hairdryer and casually tousling his hair. His tone was indifferent, but his face was already neatly composed.

Seojin blinked.

“So starting today… you’re going to work… like other people?”

“I’m going to pretend to.”

Rio’s words ended with a sarcastic lilt as he stood before the mirror and fastened his watch.

“Junior Brand Director. A director in name, but in reality, I’m just a little PR monkey they trot out for unofficial events.”

At that, Seojin burst out laughing.

“A monkey? You’re good at talking, though.”

Rio turned his head to look at her. Seojin, buried in the blankets, the clear imprint of his hand still on her breast.

He was silent for a moment before speaking.

“Why aren’t you getting ready to leave?”

“…What?”

Seojin was at a loss for words. Unsure how to answer, she finally sat up.

*

9:40 AM. I.A Group Headquarters, 39th Floor.

The floor, named the ‘New Business Brand Directing Team,’ looked at first glance like a young, creative startup incubator, but the suits worn by every employee were rather stiff.

In their midst, Rio was sprawled on a sofa, his face devastatingly handsome.

His sleeves were slightly rolled up, revealing a refined, non-flashy watch. Across from him, two ‘representatives’ were preparing for a presentation.

Seojin sat beside him, holding a laptop. She was supposedly his personal assistant, but really… she was just by his side.

This wasn’t a university lecture. Seojin, barely twenty, had no idea what she was even doing in a real, functioning company.

“The brand we will be presenting today is—”

“I don’t like the name, for starters.”

The representative who had just begun the briefing looked up, flustered.

“Sir, we haven’t even started yet…”

“That’s the problem. We haven’t started, but it already feels like it’s over.”

Rio said, crossing his legs and arching an eyebrow. Beside him, Seojin quietly pinched his thigh.

“…Yes. That was just my impression. Please, continue with the presentation.”

The representative carried on, breaking out in a cold sweat.

Twenty minutes later.

“Our marketing concept is gender-free and sustainable—”

“If it’s gender-free, why are all the models women?”

A silence fell at Rio’s question.

They had selected the models that way because of this man’s notorious reputation for chasing women, but unfortunately for them, he looked genuinely curious.

“Well… that’s because our brand is primarily focused on female consumers—”

“Then it’s not gender-free, is it? Isn’t it just male-exclusionary?”

“…….”

The representative was speechless. Seojin quietly stepped on Rio’s foot. He smirked, then opened his tablet and spoke.

“I’ll invest. But our team will handle the rebranding.”

After the meeting, Seojin spoke quietly.

“Why do you do that? You don’t have to talk like that.”

Rio propped his chin on his hand and gazed out the window.

“They told me to act the part, not to be a nice guy.”

“But he’s a company representative—”

“I invested, didn’t I? That’s enough.”

Then he glanced at her and smiled.

“Anyone watching would think you can make me go easy on them with a pinch, or make me cough up money by stepping on my foot.”

Seojin stared at Rio for a moment before pressing her lips together.

Who in their right mind spends hundreds of thousands… just because someone stepped on their foot?

She swallowed the words swirling in her mouth and lowered her head. Just then, her eyes caught a file that flashed across Rio’s tablet screen.

“…Isn’t this different from the logo we saw earlier?”

“Hm?”

Rio turned the screen toward him and rested his chin on his hand.

“Ah. This is the pre-renewal version of the brand we just saw.”

“…You knew about it before you invested?”

He shrugged.

“Do you think I’d spend money without knowing what I’m doing? I just play along if it seems fun enough.”

The word vicious instantly came to Seojin’s mind. A man who knew how to tighten and loosen his grip on people’s hearts. And he did it with absolute precision. Yet, at certain moments, Rio also seemed genuinely happy.

When he looked out the window, or when he lifted his coffee cup and tilted his head slightly, he looked… well, it was strange for a social novice who hadn’t even gone to college to say it, but… he had the face of an office worker, quietly immersed in his job.

“…You’re a strange person.”

“Am I?”

Seojin had spoken softly, but Rio seemed to have heard everything and questioned her back.

“Yes. You’re strange.”

At her words, Rio looked at her for a moment, then his lips twisted into a smirk.

“Then you must be strange, too. Seeing as you’re wagging your tail and following a strange guy like me around.”

“Wagged my tail?! When!”

As Seojin’s ears turned bright red, Rio put down his coffee cup and stood up.

“Don’t be angry. Come on, lunch.”

“…Ugh, are we leaving now?”

“Yep. I’ve handed over all the contract documents, and the next team is coming in late. Besides, I said I’d be taking you with me, so we have to eat lunch together.”

“When did you say that…”

“The moment you were hugging the blanket and asking, ‘Do you really have to go?’”

“When did I say that!”

“You were worried I’d wander off somewhere else, weren’t you? Didn’t you come here prepared for that?”

“Please try being an adult who can eat by himself.”

In the end, Seojin had no choice but to follow. The two of them got into a car Rio was driving himself in front of the building.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Seojin looked at the new ID card hanging around her neck and muttered. She never thought she’d be given something like this in her entire life.

“You said I was your personal assistant, but they gave me one of these? I heard it includes a meal allowance, too.”

“That’s not a meal allowance. It’s a dating subsidy.”

“What kind of—”

“Just enjoy the feeling of having a rich boyfriend. It’s just under the pretext of being for work.”

“Hmph. I’m not exactly thrilled.”

Rio’s tone was the same as ever, but for some reason, a sharp pang went through her chest. She turned her gaze out the window, pretending not to have seen the man who was merely pretending to be a person, smiling with the most human eyes in the world.

*

By the time the sixth piece of sushi in their omakase lunch course arrived, Seojin paused, her chopsticks in hand, and cautiously glanced at Rio. Unlike Seojin, who sat stiffly with her back straight, Rio chewed with practiced ease.

He was so comfortable and natural, it was as if the Japanese master chef at this high-end sushi restaurant was his own personal cook.

“How’s an office worker’s lunch? Is this your first time?” Rio asked.

Seojin looked down at the sea urchin on her sushi before turning her head.

“What kind of office worker eats like this?”

“Why? You… well, you work, don’t you? Following me around is your job.”

Though with her ambiguous military status, her name couldn’t officially be put on the company payroll.

“No, I mean, don’t normal office workers eat packed lunches, or go to a convenience store… or eat a set menu and leave quickly?”

“That’s so tragic.”

Rio said, sounding genuinely disappointed.

“Really. People go to work even after eating lunch like that? How pitiful.”

“……”

Seojin was speechless. It was another moment that confirmed this man, who was supposedly pretending to have a social life, lacked even the most basic concepts.

And look at him, saying it out loud just to get under her skin. When Rio tried to order alcohol, Seojin jabbed him firmly in the thigh.

“Excuse me. I’m sorry, could you please cancel that?”

“They say you shouldn’t even bother a dog while it’s eating.”

“What kind of dog gets wasted on alcohol at lunch on its first day of work? And you drove here.”

As she glared at him, looking fed up, Rio smiled.

“I’ve just found another reason to hate working at a company.”

“You’ve never even worked at any company besides this one.”

“That’s why I hate it. Who would jump into a pit of hell just because they see the gates opening right in front of them?”

“So, this right now is…”

Seojin narrowed her eyes.

“…a stroll through hell?”

“Well put. I’m just looking for an escape route while making some money on the side.”

Rio picked up a piece of sushi. It would be so much easier if he could just live off raw things like this.

“But.”

“Yes.”

“You’re eating well. Are you pleased with my lunch selection?”

Seojin had just picked up the sea urchin sushi and put it in her mouth. As the scent of the ocean filled her senses, she found herself nodding. It was all too clear that she agreed with him.

“…Well, yes.”

“You wish time could always be like this, don’t you?”

“……”

For some reason, hearing it from his lips made it feel like a forbidden act, as if she had become an accomplice to a bourgeois spendthrift, embezzling company funds for a meal.

The aftertaste was slightly unsettling, but after finishing their lavish lunch, Seojin dozed off in the passenger seat on the way back.

The sunlight was warm, and Rio was still driving with one hand, scrolling through text messages on his phone with the other.

Waking up briefly now and then, Seojin would sometimes steal a glance at the back of his hand and blink slowly. She had thought the sight of him working would be the most unfitting thing in the world.

A drug addict, a drunkard, a lecher. A man like that…

“He’s really working…”

Seojin muttered to herself before drifting back into a deep sleep.

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Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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