episode_0045

The next day, I woke up late and sat at the dining table, eating the breakfast Ms. Lizetta had prepared.

Moving my hands slowly, I recounted the commotion from last night and the events at the company.

[Tsk tsk. I knew it from the moment you were smiling at that innocent-looking junior of yours.]

Child’s voice, echoing in my head, was still irritating.

“If you knew that would happen, why didn’t you tell me beforehand?”

[It wouldn’t be fun if I told you. Besides, if you can’t even overcome a crisis of that level, you should stop being a possessed one.]

Easy for you to say.

As such, Child was busy teasing me as usual, and Ms. Lizetta, meanwhile…

“It appears there are types of humans in this world who harm others to gain their own advantages. How interesting.”

For some reason, dressed in an unfamiliar outfit, she spoke in an emotionless voice while spinning a paring knife on the table.

What’s with that dangerous behavior now?

“Ms. Lizetta, why are you spinning that knife like that? It’s dangerous.”

“Ah, my apologies. It’s a new skill I’ve been learning since yesterday, and I was trying to get accustomed to it.”

“So, why of all things are you practicing wielding a knife…?”

“As a result of my internet research, it seems combat skills are also an important aptitude a maid should possess.”

So that’s what she was researching on the computer.

I don’t know why every piece of information she acquires leans towards subculture.

At this rate, she might even try to learn a time-stopping technique later on.

“And through this incident, I felt the need to train my combat abilities to protect Hyeonseong-nim.”

Combat abilities, huh?

The words themselves sounded quite reliable, but I wondered if a day would ever come for them to shine.

What I want is a rich and sweet sex life, not a bloody knife fight.

Well, let’s move past the knife for now.

“Then, what about that outfit?”

I pointed to Ms. Lizetta’s attire with my finger.

It was a completely different style from her usual functional maid uniform, which was quite revealing and showed off her figure.

A white blouse with delicate lace decorations around the neck, and a calm navy long skirt that reached her ankles.

Over it, she wore a simple and neat apron that emphasized her waistline.

“Ah, this?”

Ms. Lizetta looked down at her clothes and hesitated for a moment.

“As Hyeonseong-nim commanded me before, I chose one of the clothes you bought for me last time and wore it.”

Ah, now that you mention it, did I give such a command?

When buying clothes, I usually just picked what the salesperson recommended, so I didn’t recognize it at a glance.

“How is it? Is it perhaps awkward?”

She nervously adjusted her outfit as she asked, seemingly a little anxious.

“No. It suits you incredibly well. Really.”

It wasn’t an empty compliment.

Why else would I have offered to buy her clothes?

Just as I expected, she perfectly pulled off styles other than maid uniforms, like a model.

It was almost regrettable that my meager vocabulary couldn’t fully express such beauty.

“I’m glad Hyeonseong-nim likes it.”

“How about you, Ms. Lizetta? Are you uncomfortable wearing it?”

“It’s fine. It’s just that I feel a little unsettled, perhaps?”

Perhaps unfamiliar with casual clothes other than her maid uniform, she awkwardly fiddled with the cuffs of her sleeves.

Even that sight had a strange charm.

[So?]

I was momentarily lost, captivated by Ms. Lizetta’s new appearance, when Child spoke to me again.

[So, what’s your plan now? A satisfying revenge?]

A plan, huh?

I glanced at the phone screen placed on one side of the dining table and poked at my salad with a fork.

The screen was filled with data related to the Japanese market of the stolen project and competitor analysis materials.

“First, I need to reclaim my position as the project manager for the stolen project. It was originally mine, after all.”

Given my current position, getting involved in the project won’t be easy, but it shouldn’t be difficult if I use Park Mina.

“So, unfortunately for you, the next possession probably won’t happen until all that is sorted out.”

The hypnosis app alone is quite powerful, but I do want to experience other worlds.

It won’t take long.

A rough picture of how to set up the scheme was forming in my mind.

[Hoo. You’re being more proactive now? I like it.]

Indeed, lately, I feel like I’ve gained motivation in life, perhaps? My thoughts themselves feel unhindered.

“If I gained such abilities and just let myself be pushed around, I’d truly be the biggest pushover among pushovers, wouldn’t I?”

[Exactly. You have to act like that for my choice of you as the possessed one to be worthwhile.]

Child’s voice sounded somehow satisfied.

[Furthermore, it would be even better if you used that power to your heart’s content.]

For a moment, I felt something chilling in Child’s last words.

At that moment, I thought I saw Ms. Lizetta’s shoulder, sitting opposite me, twitch slightly.

She still maintained a blank expression, but it looked as if her grip on the knife had tightened.

…Was it just my imagination?

[Anyway, as I said before, I’m satisfied as long as I can relieve my boredom. Just keep that in mind and act accordingly.]

Child slyly changed the subject.

I decided to set aside the strange feeling I got from Ms. Lizetta for a moment and asked what I was curious about.

“By the way, the hypnosis app’s function suddenly got stronger. Does this usually happen? It seems like it doesn’t cost any points to cast suggestions now.”

[Of course. It’s easier to think of it as the in-game system being optimized for reality. It wouldn’t be fun if you were struggling due to point restrictions even in reality, would it?]

“Then are points useless now? They’re still being given out, though.”

[Of course they’re not useless. Keep accumulating points as they are. There will be a very useful place for them later. It’s just not the right time yet.]

Child didn’t give any more detailed explanations. Someday, the use for points would probably be unlocked.

Anyway, that’s a problem for later. What’s important now is the reality in front of me.

Today, it was time to test one by one whether the suggestions I planted in Team Leader Kang Jooyoung yesterday were working properly.

****

Just before the alarm rang, a dreadful pressure woke me up first.

As I forced open my incredibly heavy eyelids, the familiar yet unfamiliar bedroom ceiling came into view.

This officetel, located on the outskirts of the city and once seemed like a symbol of success, now felt like a suffocating burden.

“Haa…”

With a shallow sigh, she sat up. The spot beside her was still empty.

Her husband, Park Minchul, had started sleeping on the living room sofa until the sun was high in the sky more often than not.

After his business failure, his time seemed to have stopped in reality.

Standing before the bathroom mirror, Kang Jooyoung faced her own face, roughened by fatigue and stress accumulated overnight.

Dark circles and faint wrinkles between her brows.

Thirty-five.

She prided herself on still being young and full of potential, but the weight she felt throughout her body wasn’t just due to her age.

She then began to apply her makeup with skilled yet mechanical movements.

Covering skin imperfections with foundation, accentuating her sharp eyes with eyeliner.

And coloring her lips with red lipstick.

As if putting on a mask, she meticulously completed the face of Team Leader Kang Jooyoung, cold and flawless.

There was no hesitation in her hands as she neatly brushed back her black hair that flowed past her shoulders.

Having finished her makeup, Jooyoung returned to her room and opened the closet door.

A perfectly tailored office suit and H-line skirt, which simultaneously showed off her figure and established authority.

And, as a habit, she picked up pantyhose.

The moment she put on these clothes, she had to momentarily forget the weight of her household and become entirely Kang Jooyoung, Team Leader of Travel Wiz MD Team.

It was truly her armor.

“…Are you awake?”

As she stepped into the living room, her husband, buried in the sofa, asked in a faint voice.

His hollow eyes seemed to lack even focus.

He was once a person who shone brighter than anyone.

She had fallen for his confident demeanor, his pursuit of dreams.

But now, his shoulders were slumped like the ruins of a collapsed business.

“…Breakfast?”

Jooyoung asked coldly.

“No, I don’t really feel like it.”

“…”

Again. That helpless answer.

Annoyance welled up inside her, but she bit her lip and endured it.

Getting angry here wouldn’t change anything.

It would only deepen their mutual wounds.

‘How long is he going to be like that?’

Even when she tried hard to ignore it, his appearance kept catching her eye.

The enormous debt she had to bear due to the business failure.

She was going through personal bankruptcy proceedings, but reality showed no signs of improvement.

Under the suffocating pressure of loan repayments, she had no choice but to desperately cling to her work.

‘Still, I love him.’

Even amidst the disappointment and resentment she felt every time she saw her broken husband, her affection stubbornly remained.

Someday, when they repaid the debt, everything would return to how it was.

She could endure only because of that single hope.

But as time went on, that hope slowly faded.

Their relationship had become estranged long ago, and not seeking each other out at night was routine.

Accumulating dissatisfaction further sharpened the hysteria within her.

She herself wasn’t sure how long she could keep running while clinging to that thin lifeline.

‘Pull yourself together, Kang Jooyoung.’

She repeated to herself and picked up her handbag.

“I’m going.”

Just before opening the front door and leaving, she couldn’t bring herself to look back.

****

As she entered the company lobby, she felt the familiar bustle of the morning.

Commuting employees, the scent of coffee, the expressionless faces of people waiting for the elevator.

Jooyoung headed towards the elevator hall, habitually composing her expression.

That’s when it happened.

“Team Leader-nim, good morning.”

A voice that had been particularly irritating to her lately.

She turned her head, and sure enough, Assistant Manager Lee Hyunsung was bowing towards her from a little distance away.

To be honest, she was in the process of re-evaluating him when the proposal he submitted received good feedback from upper management.

However, not long after that, her evaluation of him plummeted again due to an unsavory scandal.

Although the matter was concluded as a misunderstanding by employee Park Mina.

Naturally, her feelings towards him, who had provided such a pretext and caused confusion in the team, couldn’t be good.

“…Yes. Good morning…”

In the past, she would have simply replied and moved on.

But it was strange.

The moment she received his greeting, an inexplicable unpleasantness combined with a strong sense of discomfort welled up inside her.

As if something that should naturally be there was missing.

Is merely a dry nod of the head all there is to it?

Suddenly, the image of her listless husband lying on the sofa overlapped with his face.

A lifeless attitude, as if simply uttered out of obligation, without passion or emotion.

Even normally, that attitude bothered her.

Jooyoung unknowingly furrowed her brow.

‘Even after becoming an assistant manager, he can’t even observe basic etiquette?’

She couldn’t let this slide.

An issue with a subordinate’s attitude directly affects my own evaluation as a superior.

Jooyoung was about to open her mouth but checked her surroundings.

She couldn’t have this conversation in the lobby or elevator where many people were coming and going.

“Assistant Manager Lee.”

Jooyoung called out to Hyunsung, who was about to press the elevator button, in a low voice.

“Yes?”

“Follow me over there for a moment. I have something to say.”

When she gestured towards the emergency stairs with her chin, a look of bewilderment crossed Hyunsung’s face.

“Understood.”

But that was only for a moment; he soon obediently nodded.

With a stiff expression, Jooyoung led the way, pushing open the iron emergency stair door and stepping inside.

With a creaking friction sound, the door closed, blocking out the outside noise and revealing a cool, quiet space surrounded by concrete walls.

The empty stairwell where footsteps echoed unusually loudly.

Jooyoung stopped halfway down the stairs leading one floor below and turned to look at Hyunsung.

“About your greeting earlier.”

With her arms crossed, she glared at his face with sharp eyes.

Under the dim lighting, his face looked a little different.

Now that she thought about it, she seemed to have talked about something with this man in the meeting room yesterday…

For some reason, her memory was hazy.

“What kind of greeting was that? How can you greet your superior with such a lack of spirit?”

“Huh? I just did as usual…”

“If that’s how it usually is, then it’s an even bigger problem. A greeting is basic etiquette; you should show sincerity, shouldn’t you?”

She herself couldn’t understand why she was being so sensitive about such a trivial matter.

But once the reprimand burst out, it didn’t stop.

‘Do I have to teach him every single thing like this?’

An inexplicable impulse kept boiling within her, egging on her actions.

“Look carefully. Respect and sincerity towards your superior is…”

Jooyoung unknowingly took a step closer to him.

Then she roughly grabbed his collar.

Hyunsung’s eyes widened at her sudden action.

“It’s conveyed like this, by looking into their eyes directly.”

The next moment, as if possessed, Jooyoung pressed her lips directly onto his.