Yu Sihyun the Devil
To get what I wanted, I had to keep tightening and loosening my grip on Deputy Miyoung's throat.
"So here's the thing, noona. How about you and us team up and screw those bitches over? Honestly, Seonghyeon hyung and I have always hated their guts too."
"S-screw them over? How?"
She hesitated, but she was interested. Of course she was. That was just how society worked. A world of the strong devouring the weak. You crushed other people so you could survive.
"For that to happen, though, noona's going to have to help us out a little…"
"Help you? How am I supposed to help? If it's anything too awkward, I'd rather not."
Deputy Miyoung tried to take a step back. Naturally. Being asked for "help" usually meant being asked to do something difficult. Instinctive resistance came first.
"Ah, it's not nearly as hard as you're imagining, noona. It's really simple. You won't take any damage from it either. This is all stuff we're doing to help you, seriously. Just hear me out first. If it sounds too much after you've listened, you don't have to do it."
I gave Deputy Miyoung a choice. There was a huge difference in tone between "You have to help us!" and "Just listen to what I have to say." She could hear the interesting information and still walk away. There was nothing for her to lose.
"Fine. Just say it, then. Listening never hurt anybody."
"So noona's pretty close with those dog bitches too, right?"
"Huh? No way. Close with them? When have those fucking bitches ever treated me like a person? Just because they're younger and full-time, they freeze me out constantly. They only laugh and play nice to my face."
Deputy Miyoung started tearing into the other female employees, trying to prove she was on our side.
"Oh, for real? After everything noona does for those bitches, they freeze you out? What fucking bitches."
"I know, right. Fucking bitches. Especially that whore Seo Yuri. She's younger than me and still does every fox-faced trick in the book to suck up to Team Leader Ayeong, while completely ignoring me."
When someone opened up and started pouring out everything they'd been holding in, the reaction was what mattered.
"Honestly, I've always hated that fox-faced bitch too. Fuck. If noona had gotten married a little earlier, you'd have a daughter that age. And she has the nerve to look down on you? Damn, what kind of home did that bitch grow up in. Crazy bitch. Seriously."
"And Deputy Choi Dajeong. That slut's even worse. Is the company a hostess bar? She walks around in nothing but skimpy clothes, wagging her tail at every male employee. She might as well just strip naked. Fucking bitch."
Once the dam broke, her grievances against the full-time female staff came flooding out without restraint.
Bingo. I'd picked the right one.
"Noona. So about that. You're in that secret group chat those fucking bitches made, right?"
"Huh? W-what are you talking about?"
Deputy Miyoung flustered. The secret group chat — members only, female employees from our team. A men-excluded room built so they could trash the male staff and share information among themselves. In society, information was power. It had existed in the original world, so of course it existed in this one too.
"Ah, I already know everything. Man, that stings. I thought noona was on our side. Are you really going to pretend you don't know?"
For a brief moment, Deputy Miyoung studied me carefully. Trying to figure out whether I was just fishing, or whether I genuinely knew about the women's group chat.
"Seonghyeon hyung knows too. What employee doesn't know about it? Right, hyung?"
"Yeah, uh, I know."
Seonghyeon hyung played along smoothly.
"Ah, sorry. Sorry. It wasn't that I was pretending not to know about the group chat. It was kind of a secret among us, you know. But looking at it now, it seems like the other employees all know anyway. Ah, seriously. I'm sorry, Sihyun."
"Ah, I get where you're coming from, noona. But noona. If you lie to us again, Seonghyeon hyung and I might lose the will to help you. And hyung and I really want to keep working at this company with you for a long, long time."
Now was the time to tighten the noose around Deputy Miyoung's neck. To put her thoroughly in the weaker position. Sweat beaded on her forehead. If she lost Seonghyeon and me as allies, she was guaranteed to get fired at the next performance review. She was anxious. She felt the crisis.
"Noona. The truth is, those bitches share information in that group chat while leaving me and Seonghyeon hyung out, right? Ah, how hurt do you think hyung and I feel every time that happens? Don't you think so, noona?"
"Y-yeah. Those fucking bitches, seriously. How can they share information while leaving our Sihyun and Deputy Seonghyeon out? I was totally against it. I said Sihyun and Seonghyeon should know everything too. You know how I feel, right?"
Caught. Perfectly tangled in my web.
"Exactly! So we want noona to share that information with us too. Honestly, noona wants to share everything with us anyway, right?"
"Ah…… You want me to share the information?"
Of course it was awkward for her. If she got caught leaking information, she'd be branded a traitor. She'd claimed she was already being frozen out — but that was just talk to get on our good side. If she got caught siphoning information? Then she'd genuinely become an outcast among the female employees. This was where I needed the decisive blow.
"Noona. Think carefully. If you get fired from the company, what good does getting along with the female employees do you? You're about to get fired and die, and you think those fucking bitches will give a damn about you? Those selfish dog bitches who only care about themselves? And as you already know, noona, you're the strongest candidate to get cut from our team next quarter."
I squeezed her throat until she could barely breathe. Until she was on the verge of choking to death.
"Yeah. Those fucking bitches will keep their nice jobs and just trash me behind my back……"
She was wavering. So now I loosened the leash I'd been choking her with.
"But! If Seonghyeon hyung and I help you, the one who gets fired will be one of those dog bitches — not you. Right? How about it? You'll help us too, won't you, noona?"
Deputy Miyoung's eyes flicked up and to the right. She was building her own hypotheses, turning over what the right choice was for an uncertain future. But the correct answer was already decided. In this situation, it was.
"F-fine. Sihyun. Ah, whatever. I'll do it. I'll share the secret group chat info with Sihyun and Deputy Seonghyeon. You know how I feel, right? I've hated those fucking bitches sharing info while leaving our Sihyun and Deputy Seonghyeon out for a long time."
"I know, noona. Thank you. Really. You made the right call. Riding those fucking bitches' coattails does absolutely nothing for you, you know that? From now on, noona's on our team. Got it?"
"Yeah. I got it. Sihyun, thank you so much. Deputy Seonghyeon, please take good care of me. If you need anything, just say the word. I'll do it all. At the company I've been working longer than you two, but in our private little group right now, I'm the youngest. I'll work my hardest at everything. Really."
Even more easily than I'd expected, Deputy Miyoung had become a spy working for us — and a loyal dog.
"Noona, we are on the same team, but you still have to get along with the women too. That's how you'll pull out the information that benefits us, right? So inside the company, keep calling us Sihyun-ssi and Deputy like usual. In private gatherings like this, it's noona and little brother. Got it?"
"Yeah, I know. Don't worry. I'll slip right in among those fucking bitches and pull out every scrap of info to share with our Sihyun and Deputy Seonghyeon."
"Good, good. Got it, noona. You really are reliable. Let's have a private get-together this Wednesday after work. A little welcome party for our Miyoung noona. Drinks, karaoke — sound good, noona? Seonghyeon hyung's free too, right?"
Deputy Seonghyeon answered with a face like he'd just bitten into shit.
"Yeah. L-let's go."
Deputy Miyoung was excited. She looked genuinely happy to have become a member of this new private circle. On top of that, her biggest worry — the next-quarter layoff — must have looked solved for now.
"Ah, thank you so much. Sihyun. Deputy Seonghyeon. You really didn't have to go this far. From now on, just trust me!"
"Got it, noona. Ah. And noona should head back down now. The other teammates will get suspicious."
"Ah, look at the time already. Please take good care of me going forward."
Deputy Miyoung checked her watch and headed for the rooftop stairs. But this alone wasn't enough to say she was perfectly caught in the web. Right now she'd gotten swept up in the mood and agreed — but once she was back among the women, her mind could change.
"Noona!"
I called out to Deputy Miyoung in a loud voice.
"Yeah! Sihyun. What is it?"
I held up my phone and gave it a little shake.
"Noona, I recorded everything we just talked about. That's fine, right? Your mind isn't going to change anyway."
Deputy Miyoung's face went completely stiff. She clearly hadn't imagined I'd go as far as recording. But she'd already stepped into the spiderweb. There was no turning back.
"Y-yeah. Of course it's fine. I'll head down now."
The steps of Deputy Miyoung heading for the stairs looked drained of strength. The shackles had been locked on perfectly. Of course they felt heavy.
Deputy Seonghyeon looked at me and clicked his tongue.
"Hey, Sihyun."
"Yes, Deputy."
"Your nickname in the military wasn't 'Slippery Bastard,' was it?"
"Sorry? Where is that coming from all of a sudden, Deputy?"
"Kid, watching you handle people just now — you're a complete devil. A devil. You turn people into slaves without leaving a single gap. From now on, your nickname at the company is Yu Sihyun the Devil. Let's go with that. How about it?"
"Ah, Deputy! Come on. I only used my head so we wouldn't keep getting screwed. Think about it. Besides Deputy Miyoung, the rest of those fucking bitches seem like people who possessed into this world from the original one, just like hyung and me. You think those fox-faced whores are just going to sit there and take it? They're going to try every way they can to twist the company back to their advantage."
Deputy Seonghyeon nodded.
"Well, you've got a point there, Sihyun. Lord Sihyun the Devil."
"Ah, Deputy. Please stop teasing me already. Come on."
I said I hated it, but honestly, it wasn't that bad a nickname. A devil, huh. Society was nothing but a relentless fight for survival anyway. Better to become a perfect devil than some half-assed nice guy. So that no one would ever dare look down on me. If I never wanted to live like a fool the way I had in the original world, I needed at least that much resolve. No matter how much the law favored men, if you weren't prepared, you still got screwed. I couldn't give those fucking bitches even an inch of room to stick their noses in. I had to supervise them thoroughly and break them in. Until their sharp teeth and claws went dull and blunt. Until they were perfectly tamed.