Miyoung Caught in the Spiderweb

Choi Dajeong's face flushed crimson with shame.

Her breathing grew ragged.

The eyes she fixed on me were full of hesitation and a trembling thrill.

She had just been openly sexually harassed by a subordinate at work, right out in the open. And yet her expression couldn't decide whether to be angry or pleased.

A public place. A subordinate. Sexual harassment. Every element of it was an absurd, twisted harmony.

Maybe it was the sheer perversity of it, but her thighs gave a light, involuntary quiver. I couldn't see it, but her pussy had to be soaked through by now.

"Be more careful from now on, Assistant Manager Seonghyeon."

She issued the warning to Seonghyeon, then tightly clasped my hand and whispered,

"Sihyun-ssi."

Deliberately, she pressed her body even closer against mine. A cool, mysterious perfume teased every one of my senses.

"Sihyun-ssi… you've gotten so manly."

We walked. The sharp click-clack of Choi Dajeong's high heels echoed with every step. She took her seat.

Training required both the carrot and the stick. Give only the carrot and you lose all allure—you stop being a trainer and become a sucker.

I spoke sharply.

"Manager!"

"Y-yes? Yes?"

Choi Dajeong answered in a flustered voice.

"Don't be late to work anymore. Even five minutes counts as late."

She looked at me with a strange, heated gaze.

"Yes. I'll be careful, Sihyun-ssi."

"Sihyun-ssi, quick smoke break?"

I closed the window only I could see. No need to speak—thought alone was enough.

"Ah, yes, Assistant Manager."

We headed up to the company rooftop. The place itself hadn't changed. In the original world it had been the men's hideout; now it belonged to the women.

We found a quiet, empty corner. I pulled out the e-cigarette I'd bought at the mall yesterday.

"Huh? Sihyun, you switched to an e-cig?"

"Yeah. Ever since I came to this world my tastes changed or something. Regular cigarettes taste foul. Tried this yesterday—sweet, hits just right."

"Really? Same here. I still smoke, but it doesn't taste like it used to. And hell, like you said, my palate's gone full girl. Dark chocolate ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠frappuccino actually tastes good now? Back in the old world I wouldn't have touched the stuff if you paid me."

"Hyung, don't even start. I've joined the mint-choco cult. Just looking at it used to make me want to puke."

"Mint-choco cult? Mint chocolate? Ugh… that's going too far. I'm not that far gone. Anyway—more important—what the hell were you whispering about with Choi Dajeong earlier? That crazy bitch suddenly turned all meek and obedient. I was dying of curiosity. That's why I called the smoke break."

"Ah, nothing much. Just gave her a little carrot, then cracked the whip."

"What? Carrot? Whip?"

"Yeah, something like that. From now on I'll be personally in charge of educating Choi Dajeong. Don't worry about a thing, Assistant Manager. I'm going to train that fucking bitch until she's licking my shoes with her tongue and pissing herself. Oh, and Assistant Manager—"

"Yeah?"

"I invited one more person to our smoke break. That okay?"

"Huh? Who? Dongcheol-hyung?"

"No. Our reliable new partner from here on out. Speak of the devil—here she comes."

Assistant Manager Seonghyeon turned his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠eyes in the direction I pointed. A figure approached, straight-cut bangs fluttering as if they'd been measured with a ruler.

"Sihyun-ssi? I'm here. Oh—Assistant Manager Seonghyeon's here too?"

"Ah, yes. Assistant Manager Miyoung?"

Seonghyeon leaned in and muttered low into my ear.

"Hey. Why the hell did you call Chucky up here? This is awkward as shit."

"Hyung. Calling Assistant Manager Miyoung 'Chucky'? She's going to help us a lot from now on. Just watch. Give her a cigarette."

"Huh? Oh."

I took the cigarette Seonghyeon handed me and offered it to Miyoung.

"Company life's pretty rough, isn't it?"

"Ah, no, not really. Is this… for me to smoke?"

"Yeah. Just me, Assistant Manager Seonghyeon, and you here, Assistant Manager Miyoung. No one else. Smoke freely."

"Ah, yes. Thank you, Sihyun-ssi."

Sure enough, Miyoung was a heavy smoker. She took the cigarette and expertly slipped it between her lips.

Click.

I lit it for her with the lighter.

Hooo—

Miyoung started smoking with obvious relish. First stage complete. Time to start dangling the bait.

"So, the thing is—you know Seonghyeon-hyung and I trust you, right, Miyoung-nuna?"

"What? Nuna?"

"Ah, yeah. In private settings like this we all just call each other hyung and nuna, right? Isn't that so, Seonghyeon-hyung?"

Seonghyeon gave an awkward smile.

"Uh. Y-yeah. That's right, Sihyun."

Miyoung smiled awkwardly too. She still hadn't adjusted to the atmosphere. She would soon enough.

"Actually… you still don't have a boyfriend, right, Miyoung-nuna?"

"A boyfriend?"

Miyoung's long, slanted eyes went wide. Even in the original world her face and body had been so disastrous she'd never had a boyfriend. In this world, with a ten-to-one gender ratio, there was zero chance she had one now.

"Come on, someone like me having a boyfriend? But why do you ask?"

That's right. Lee Miyoung, Assistant Manager. Her mouth had to be watering already.

Miyoung was already forty. In the original world, a woman working as an assistant manager at a mid-sized company at forty wasn't half bad. But in this world? Completely different story.

She's forty and still working? Impressive. That evaluation flipped into: She's forty and still only an assistant manager at a mid-sized company? And a contract worker at that? So how's marriage supposed to work?

"There's this hyung I know who's pretty decent. He's been saying he's lonely lately."

I casually glanced at the photo on my phone—the one of Dongcheol and me at the bar.

"This hyung right here."

I deliberately didn't show it to her straight on. I angled the screen toward myself, just barely in her blind spot so she could almost, but not quite, see it. Pretending not to care, Miyoung's eyes darted around. Her pupils looked ready to start an earthquake. She was straining every muscle just to catch a glimpse ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of Dongcheol-hyung in the photo.

"Interested?"

Miyoung scratched her head bashfully.

"Well… if you're really offering to introduce us, I wouldn't say no."

Where the hell does she get off calculating like that? Switching from top to bottom takes only a second.

"Nuna doesn't seem very motivated. Guess I shouldn't have brought it up."

Miyoung instantly changed her tune.

"N-no, no. I'd be grateful if you did, Sihyun-ssi. Thank you."

Good, good. Now she was starting to get a little more obedient.

Seonghyeon whispered into my ear.

"Hey! Don't you need to ask Dongcheol-hyung first before setting up a blind date?"

"Hyung, when did I ever say I was introducing Dongcheol-hyung to Assistant Manager Miyoung? I just said there's a lonely hyung. The rest is her phantom pregnancy."

"Dude… you just got fucking terrifying all of a sudden."

Miyoung tilted her head.

"What are you two whispering about again?"

"Ah~ nothing. More importantly, nuna—did you hear? They're saying the company's about to push through mass layoffs soon."

"Ah, yes. I heard that too."

Company situations were no different between the original world and this one. Back in the original world, our company had been scheduled for massive recommended resignations and layoffs next month. Of course, the targets then had been the male employees. So anyone at assistant manager level or above had been living in daily anxiety. But in this gender-reversed world, the layoff targets would naturally be the female employees.

"Nuna, company life's been pretty rough for you lately, huh?"

I offered her a little comfort first. I needed her to feel like we were on the same side.

"Ah, yes. A bit, yeah. I've been here a long time, and given my position…"

Lee Miyoung wasn't a full-time regular employee. She was a contract worker—exactly the kind of position that got cut first when the company swung the axe.

"Haa. Seriously. In this day and age, if someone your age—forty—gets laid off with no special skills, there's nowhere left to go, right? You don't have any particular expertise, Assistant Manager Miyoung."

There was a reason Miyoung kept running Starbucks errands for Seonghyeon and me. In her own way, she was doing everything she could to stay in our good graces. When performance evaluations were written, the ratings male employees gave female employees carried enormous weight in promotion decisions. The reverse was just as true for layoffs.

"Exactly. I really can't get fired, Sihyun-ssi."

I understood that desperate feeling perfectly. In the original world, getting laid off at forty with no special skills—how crushing would that emptiness be? Truthfully, I held no particular grudge against this world's Miyoung. The one I wanted revenge on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was the original world's Miyoung. Same person, different essence inside.

"That's actually why we called you up here specially, nuna."

"What?"

Miyoung's long, slanted eyes went perfectly round.

"You know next week is when they write the employee performance evaluations, right?"

"Yes. I know."

"Then you also know perfectly well how huge an impact those evaluations have on the next personnel reshuffle, don't you?"

Gulp.

Miyoung swallowed dryly. She had to be tense. It was a hard subject to bring up. She wasn't bold enough to just come out and say, "Please write me a good evaluation." Do that and you risk the opposite result—or worse, getting fired for trying to solicit favors.

"Yes… I know that well…"

Miyoung's voice shrank into itself.

"Come on, nuna. Drop the formal speech already. This is so awkward. How long are you going to keep calling me 'Sihyun-ssi' and using honorifics in a private setting like this? Right, Seonghyeon-hyung?"

I shot Seonghyeon a look.

"Ah, yeah. Miyoung-nuna. Drop the formalities. Seriously. We've already worked together three years. In private like this, it's about time we talked casually, right?"

Miyoung read the room and awkwardly switched to casual speech.

"S-should I…?"

"Exactly, Miyoung-nuna. No matter how well we write your evaluation, if those other bitches get even better scores, it's useless. Right?"

I'd tightened the noose. Time to get to the point.

"Right. If the other full-time employees get better evaluations…"

"Nuna. Nuna!"

"Yes? Ah—no. Uh?"

"Honestly, you don't catch on very fast. Nuna. I said this is a private setting. Stop using that fancy language."

Only then did Miyoung seem to get the hint. She quickly corrected herself.

"So if those bitches get better scores than me, I'm the only one who gets fired, right? Fuck. This is seriously fucking bullshit."

"That's it! Now we're speaking the same language. Nuna. That's exactly what I wanted to say."

At last, Miyoung had stepped into the spiderweb I'd spun. No matter how hard she struggled, she would never escape this sticky, inescapable web.