Deputy Manager Choi Dajeong

Among the theories of mass communication, there is one called the spiral of silence.

The spiral of silence theory holds that when people confront a new idea, each of them makes a quick check—or quick assessment—of the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠situation. Guided by a quasi-statistical sense organ that everyone supposedly possesses, they speak more confidently if they judge their own opinion to be the one that enjoys support. If not, they fall silent. The mutual reinforcement of those two responses produces the spiral-of-silence effect.

Take a simple example.

A ————————-

B ——————————

C —————-

X ————————-

Four lines. Which one is the same length as line X? The answer is obviously A. Yet if you assemble an experimental group that has agreed beforehand to insist the answer is B, and then drop one unsuspecting subject into that group, the subject becomes deeply unsettled. Even while privately certain that A is correct, the moment everyone around him answers B he begins to worry: If I say A, will they think I’m strange? Will they get angry? Will they mock me?

That psychological process is not the peculiar trait of any particular nation; it is the anxiety most people feel when they face group pressure.

And right now, inside this conference room, Deputy Manager Choi Dajeong was living proof of the spiral of silence.

She wanted to help Seo Yuri, who was in trouble. At the company the two of them had been something like best friends. But every member of the team was ignoring Yuri. Even Team Leader Ayeong, who had always doted on her, was dumping menstrual stress onto her. If I stand up for Yuri here, Dajeong thought, won’t the rest of the team mark me next? What if I end up the one being ostracized?

She was afraid. If she stuck her neck out for Yuri and the backlash landed on her instead, she had no confidence she could handle it.

In a world where the sexes were reversed, the rules of the company favored men. Not just the company—the entire social system and the law itself stood on their side. If she helped Yuri and somehow got into a fight with Yu Sihyun of this gender-reversed world, her working life would become pure misery. He could pick any excuse at any time to harass her. He could do worse than that; he could drive her to ruin.

Deputy Manager Lee Sua of the audit team had argued with Employee Juhwan over annual leave and ended up fired—then dragged into court. You could be dismissed, and in the worst case you could go to prison.

This world’s Yu Sihyun. If she ever crossed that bastard, he was more than capable of destroying her. He would do it without a second thought.

The Yu Sihyun of her original world had been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a spineless, pathetic little shit. This world’s Yu Sihyun was charismatic and sharp. She did not want trouble with him.

Once the negative thoughts started, they chased one another in an endless chain.

“Deputy Manager Choi Dajeong? What are you thinking about so hard?”

“Y-yes? What?”

The morning meeting had already ended, yet Choi Dajeong was still sitting in her seat, lost in thought. So I decided to tease her a little. I had something to say to her anyway.

Startled out of her reverie, she looked up at my face and jumped like a rabbit.

“It’s nothing, Sihyun-ssi.”

“Ah, right. You looked so deep in thought I wondered if something was bothering you. By the way, Deputy Manager Dajeong—are you free this evening?”

“This evening?”

“Yeah. Why? Busy tonight?”

Trouble filled her face.

“Well, if you’re busy, can’t be helped. I just thought it’d be nice to have a quiet drink with you for once, just the two of us.”

“Ah, I, um…”

Fucking bitch. The way she was floundering just because I’d asked her to meet after work—I’d never seen her like this. She used to keep every male employee in the palm of her hand and play with them however she liked.

“Oh? Looks like you really don’t want to. Fine, forget it if you hate the idea.”

I stood up with a faintly sulky air. Choi Dajeong’s slender white hand shot out and caught my arm.

“I-I’ll meet you. After work.”

So the bitch had some sense after all. She could read the room.

I glanced around the conference room. Only the two of us left.

“All right. Then come straight to Daraejeong after work. They have private rooms there—makes drinking a lot more comfortable.”

“Private rooms?”

Her pupils trembled. I stroked her long black hair and whispered against her ear.

“Why? Don’t you want to be alone with me in a private space?”

Embarrassment flooded her sexy face. She looked like a deer being hunted by a predator. My hand slid lower, tracing the line of her collarbone with the soft, practiced touch of someone playing a piano.

Her breathing grew rough and fast.

“S-Sihyun-ssi.”

She grabbed my hand. I smiled like a devil and pushed her hand away, then continued the rhythmic path of my fingers toward the full, firm white swell of her breasts.

“W-we can’t do this… at the company…”

Shame burned across the face that was staring straight at me. Even so, she no longer resisted.

Fucking bitch. She was dripping for it. Saying no while her body said yes. Her breasts had tightened with arousal, standing firm. Her toned thighs were clenched so hard they trembled. Her secret place was probably clenched tight and soaked through.

I brushed the soft curve of her chest with my palm. Her breathing grew harsher still. When my breath was close enough to touch her neck, my hand—hovering just short of those full, firm breasts—slid gently over the fabric of her blouse. Then, almost as if by accident, I fastened the white button that had been hanging open so precariously that her cleavage was nearly visible, and whispered:

“Dajeong-ssi, you’ll catch a cold. Even in summer ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the air conditioning makes the office freezing, doesn’t it?”

“Y-yes…”

She still looked at me with eyes that hadn’t cooled from excitement. I gave her a small smile and walked toward the conference-room door.

“See you later at Daraejeong, then. Deputy Manager Choi Dajeong.”

She forgot even to answer, staring blankly after me as I disappeared.

“What were you two talking about in there for so long?”

Assistant Manager Seonghyeon asked, curiosity plain on his face as he watched me leave ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the conference room.

“Nothing much, Assistant Manager. I was just bored, so I teased Deputy Manager Choi a little.”

“Aigoo, take it easy. Hey—you know that crazy bitch is a man-eating fox, right?”

“Come on, Assistant Manager. That was the old world. Things are different now. What the fuck can that bitch even do in a gender-reversed world? Didn’t you see her just sitting there while I groped her ass in the office earlier?”

“I saw. Fuck, it turned me on too. That slutty bitch looked like she was getting off on Sihyun-ssi feeling her up.”

“Well, women have sex drives too, right? But that one’s such a complete whore she doesn’t even get wet in normal places—she only soaks her pussy when she’s being sexually harassed in public. Fucking pervert. By the way, Yuri-ssi still isn’t back? Meeting’s over.”

Seonghyeon seemed to realize only then that it had been a long time since Yuri left to buy drinks and still hadn’t returned.

“Probably because Assistant Manager Mihui ordered Starbucks. Takeout at Starbucks always takes a while.”

“Ah, true. Starbucks has been packed lately. Still, that crazy bitch Kim Mihui—ordering Starbucks from there of all places, and on Yuri-ssi’s money, then changing the order to the biggest size. Real team-kill energy. Does she even have a brain?”

“No kidding. I nearly had a heart attack. Kim Mihui must be the kind of girl God dumped every point into looks. How she even got hired here with that chicken brain is beyond me.”

“In the old world she probably greased some palms and parachuted in. Her head’s empty for real work, but when it comes to that kind of scheming, Assistant Manager Mihui’s mind works just fine.”

“It’s weird when you think about it. Studying brains, working brains, petty-scheme brains—they must all be separate modules.”

“Exactly. That fucking bitch Yuri got every point dumped into petty schemes.”

Just then Seo Yuri’s silhouette appeared through the glass door. She must have steeled herself; her greeting came out in a fairly sturdy voice.

“Sorry. Starbucks was crowded, so I’m a little late.”

Should I start chewing her out again?

“Ah, I thought Yuri-ssi was brewing the coffee herself. You said you were going to buy drinks and then slacked off so long the whole morning meeting finished without you.”

I expected her to start grumbling about how unfair it was. Instead, contrary to every prediction, Seo Yuri bowed her head a full ninety degrees toward me and apologized.

“I’m sorry, Sihyun-ssi. From now on I’ll come and go early. I’m truly sorry.”

A smile spread across my lips.

Even that fucking bitch Seo Yuri was starting to adapt to the gender-reversed world. Throwing tantrums and resisting alone only brought her more contempt and scolding. Fucking feminists couldn’t defy the environment and laws society had set. So either they lowered their eyes to men like every other woman and survived office life, or they got weeded out and fired.

And Seo Yuri, however much she hated it, had chosen to adapt to a company environment that favored men. The proof was right there: head bowed ninety degrees, crown of her head offered up in loyalty to me.

This company was no different from the prison in that movie The Experiment. Only the prison had been swapped for an office. I was their warden; those bitches were my inmates. My job was to train those crazy bitches so thoroughly they would never dare climb over me again. I would fulfill my duty as warden.

Ding!

A clear chime rang in my ear. A window only I could see floated into view.

First day of company life in a gender-reversed world. The start felt refreshing—like downing a glass of ice-cold cider in one long, clean gulp.