The Husband's Workplace Boss (2)
“Alright! Cheers!”
“Cheers!”
Gulp... gulp...
The moment the food and side dishes we'd prepared were set out, the glasses began circulating at a rapid clip. Managing Director Choi looked as if he had been waiting for this day alone; he was clearly thrilled to finally have a company dinner after so long.
“Alright. This time, Team Leader Park, give us a toast.”
“Managing Director~ You've worked so hard. Last year, thanks to your excellent leadership, our Sales Team 2 was able to put up some truly remarkable results. Everyone knows that, right?”
Team Leader Park sat glued to Managing Director Choi's side, flattering him with coquettish eye-smiles. There was nothing excessive or lacking in the way she attended to his drinking.
“Heh heh. Our Team Leader Park is good at her work, and she's so attentive. Isn't she?”
Even Managing Director Choi didn't seem to mind her flattery. He always kept Team Leader Park close and treated her with special favor.
Team Leader Park was quite popular within the company as well. She had two children, yet through consistent care she maintained a body with just the right amount of volume. On top of that, her style was excellent. Despite being a married woman, she always ranked near the top in the company's unofficial popularity polls.
Today, too, in a white blouse, a black office skirt, and sheer black stockings, she looked every bit the sexy young wife.
I could feel Managing Director Choi's mood heating up under Team Leader Park's coquettish attentions.
So that's how you do flattery.
I watched her and waited for my own turn to come.
“Hey. Lighten up a little. Why the long face?”
“Same old line every day. Don't you get tired of it?”
I whispered quietly to Tae-ha, who was sitting beside me. His expression had been sour for a while now. As someone who normally guarded his work-life balance like a hawk, he clearly found this kind of dinner itself distasteful.
“Right. You two are the same year, aren't you?”
“Pardon? Yes, that's right.”
Managing Director Choi suddenly turned his gaze on us and asked. His eyes felt rather sharp. The cold, calculating look in them was completely different from the one he had been directing at Team Leader Park just moments before.
“I see. Neither of you drinks much, then?”
“Ah... No, sir! We just never have enough to drink.”
“Heh heh. Is that so? As expected, Manager Seo is straightforward. Then have a glass.”
As if he had never been grumbling at all, Tae-ha accepted Managing Director Choi's pour with an easygoing smile.
With even Tae-ha working to put Managing Director Choi in a good mood, my own sense of urgency sharpened. Tonight I absolutely had to leave him with a favorable impression.
“Um... Managing Director. Allow me to pour one for you as well.”
“Ah, yes. Of course. I should take a glass from our Assistant Manager Kim too.”
My hand trembled as I poured into Managing Director Choi's glass.
“So, Assistant Manager Kim, how long have you been with the company?”
“Yes, sir. It's been five years now.”
“But Assistant Manager Kim still hasn't been promoted?”
At Managing Director Choi's words, the people sharing drinks around the table momentarily froze. This topic was an unspoken taboo within our team. We had joined in the same year, yet one of us had rocketed up the ranks while the other remained a perpetual assistant manager; it was an awkward, embarrassing subject to bring up.
“Haha... Yes. That's because of my own shortcomings. I'm working even harder to improve.”
Sensing the sudden chill in the atmosphere, I forced my face into the fullest smile I could manage.
Just then my beloved wife was setting more food on the table. When our eyes met for a brief moment and I saw her watching my reaction, the embarrassment only deepened.
Fuck...
“Right. The promotion review is coming up soon, isn't it?”
Managing Director Choi asked even though he already knew. Together with the company president, he held final approval over personnel decisions. In truth, it was no exaggeration to say he himself had blocked my promotion time and again.
“Yes. I understand it's coming up soon.”
“I see...”
He wore the expression of a cunning old snake as he poured into my glass. Tension made me swallow hard, wondering what would come out of his mouth next.
“Assistant Manager Kim just needs to work a little harder... You're short by two percent. Two percent.”
Managing Director Choi poured for me while spouting those cryptic words. Something like regret seemed to linger on his face.
What exactly is that two percent he has in mind...?
I don't know how much time passed. Empty soju and beer bottles already littered the floor. Across from me, Team Leader Park's face had flushed a deep red. Yet she never once lost her composure; every time Managing Director Choi's glass emptied she refilled it, and sometimes she even fed him side dishes by hand.
“Just a second. I'm going to the bathroom.”
I told Tae-ha beside me and headed for the restroom. After downing several glasses in quick succession, my face was burning hot.
I absolutely cannot get drunk tonight...! I have to last until the end!
I slapped both cheeks twice, then left the bathroom and started back toward my seat.
That was when it happened.
“Huk...”
Something strange suddenly entered my field of vision. One of Managing Director Choi's hands—hidden from my earlier vantage point—had climbed onto the thigh of Team Leader Park sitting beside him.
His hand had slipped inside her black office skirt and was gently stroking the black stockings stretched tight over her plump thighs.
Fuck... What the hell is going on between those two?
A curse burst from my lips. In that instant I realized that her ability to snag a team leader position at such a young age might not have been due to work alone.
Whether from the alcohol or from Managing Director Choi's touch, Team Leader Park's face was even more flushed than before.
Incredible, truly...
I sincerely wanted to applaud her efforts. Thanks to her, the drinking party was growing warmer and more lively by the minute.
Thud... Crash!
“Oh my!”
Managing Director Choi had been in the middle of a long speech, waving his hands about as he boasted of the company's major projects for the year. In the end, a glass sitting in front of him was knocked over by his gesturing hand and shattered.
“Aigoo...”
Managing Director Choi, who had been talking so enthusiastically, looked irritated. Beer had poured all over the crotch of his pants where he sat cross-legged, soaking them thoroughly.
“Oh no. What should we do? Are you all right?”
Team Leader Park snatched up a dishcloth from the table and began wiping at his crotch with brisk strokes. The sight of her white hand moving over Managing Director Choi's most private area only made the whole scene feel more lewd.
“Ahem... ahem! It's nothing, really.”
Receiving her attentions, Managing Director Choi snorted and put on a show of bravado.
“Managing Director, are you all right?”
Just then my wife appeared with a dishcloth of her own. After spending so long cooking and preparing everything, she had been sitting in the kitchen, listening to our conversation and bringing out whatever was needed.
I felt grateful for that thoughtfulness of hers.
“Managing Director. I'll clean the floor.”
“Aigoo. Our dear sister-in-law. I'm sorry for the trouble~.”
Apparently in a good mood from Team Leader Park's touch, Managing Director Choi beamed at my wife. She slowly knelt and began wiping up the spilled beer with the cloth.
The way my wife looked kneeling there was truly beautiful. The curve of her raised hips inside the ivory skirt showed in a strangely alluring way. No matter how loose the clothes she wore to hide it, her buttocks still boasted a striking, eye-catching contour.
In that moment I felt Managing Director Choi's eyes lock onto the valley of her breasts. He was staring openly at the soft swell of my wife's cleavage visible between the two unbuttoned buttons of her shirt. I could see his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed.
“Well now... that really is something... Ah, this won't do—our sister-in-law should have a drink too, shouldn't she?”
“Pardon? Me?”
“Of course. We should all drink together. You don't mind, do you, Assistant Manager Kim?”
Watching my wife wipe the floor, Managing Director Choi suddenly sought my agreement.
“O-of course not. It would be an honor for us.”
I answered with words I didn't mean at all. The way his eyes had just raked over my wife's cleavage bothered me, but I couldn't refuse him.
Managing Director Choi seated my beloved wife on his left. Now he had my wife on one side and the thoroughly flushed Team Leader Park on the other.
“Here. Have a glass.”
“Yes. Thank you, Managing Director.”
“So, our beautiful sister-in-law—what's your name?”
“It's Oh Seung-yeon.”
“Oh Seung-yeon. Even the name is pretty. Then I'll call you Seung-yeon.”
“Of course. Please feel free to speak casually as well.”
“Heh heh. Very open-minded of you. Then I will.”
Fortunately, my wife was blending into the gathering well. The smile she wore while attending to Managing Director Choi's drinks was truly lovely. He kept refilling her glass, and her fair skin flushed more and more quickly to match.
“Our Seung-yeon drinks so well, doesn't she? Heh heh.”
Managing Director Choi seemed pleased by how readily she accepted every pour; his expression had loosened considerably. From time to time his gaze seemed to roam inside her shirt, then trail down over her slightly raised thighs.
I found myself growing more and more conscious of his behavior.
“Alright. Shall we wrap up the first round?”
Suddenly a bombshell dropped from Managing Director Choi's mouth.
“Pardon? You're ending it already?”
Team Leader Park looked at him and asked.
“Of course. In this day and age you can't keep people trapped at a company dinner like this. The young ones will curse you for it~.”
“As expected, our Managing Director is so progressive.”
In an instant the faces of the employees around the table brightened. Tae-ha's was no exception.
“Heh heh. Then shall just the willing ones keep drinking? Anyone who wants to leave can go ahead.”
Fuck...
Managing Director Choi himself had no intention of leaving. Annoyed by the employees sitting there without drinking much, he was using a little trick.
“Um... then I'll take my leave first.”
The first to rise was Tae-ha. He shot me a look that said do well, then gathered his bag. His eyes carried the clear message that I had to make an impression at this gathering no matter what.
Once Tae-ha left, the younger employees took the hint and stood as well. Before long only Managing Director Choi, myself, Team Leader Park, and my wife remained.
“Alright. Now that the small fry are gone, shall we get started in earnest?”
Managing Director Choi's deep voice rolled through the living room. He still looked perfectly fine.
“Sounds good, Managing Director. Shall we begin?”
Team Leader Park spoke boldly, though her face was already burning red.
“Then shall we rearrange the seating first?”
“Then should I move over next to Jin-woo?”
My beloved wife started to rise, reading the room, but Managing Director Choi stopped her.
“No. Seung-yeon is the most sober, so stay with me. Sister-in-law and I will sit together. Team Leader Park, why don't you move over next to Assistant Manager Kim?”
“Pardon?”
Managing Director Choi wore a sly expression as he poured into my wife's glass. Her hand trembled as she received it.