Husband's Workplace Boss (3)
Haah... What the hell am I even doing?
In the end, just as Managing Director Choi wanted, the drinking session for the four of us alone started up again. The one thing that defied every scrap of common sense was that the person sitting beside me was not my beloved wife, but another woman entirely.
"Here~ Try this too."
My wife was right now nestled beside Managing Director Choi, slipping side dishes into his mouth in that soft, coquettish voice of hers. Even with the sudden intrusion of workplace colleagues, she never once let her expression sour; she was giving it everything she had, and I found myself feeling oddly grateful for that.
I have to close something today no matter what...
With my wife working that hard, I couldn't just sit there doing nothing. I threw myself into agreeing with every word Managing Director Choi said, laughing on cue, doing everything in my power to keep the mood light and pleasant.
"He's loving every second of that."
Team Leader Park, seated next to me, watched Managing Director Choi beam as my wife fed him and made the remark. The one thing that kept nagging at me was that Park Young-ah's expression had been off for a while now.
Her face was flushed, her posture languid and almost lewd. Through the thin black stockings she wore, the pale flesh of her thighs was clearly visible to my eyes.
Who would ever guess she's a married woman with two kids?
For a second the memory of Managing Director Choi's hand sliding up under her office skirt flashed through my mind—the way he had casually stroked those thick, full thighs while Team Leader Park simply accepted it with a blank face. I wondered how long the two of them had been that kind of "close," then immediately shook my head. That wasn't what mattered right now.
"Ahem... ahem... Another glass?"
I cleared my throat for no real reason and poured liquor into Team Leader Park's glass. As she accepted it, the soft swell of her breasts peeked faintly through the open collar of her shirt.
"Come on, Seung-yeon, you take another one too."
Before I knew it the clock had slipped past midnight. The alcohol we'd prepared was starting to run dry, and everyone seated around the table had long since passed their limit; faces were flushed bright red. Everyone except Managing Director Choi, of course.
"Yeah. Assistant Manager Kim, you take one too. Cheers!"
The man was a genuine monster of a drinker. He handled liquor far better than I had ever imagined. Back when he was still a section chief there had been legends about him spending entire weeks away from home entertaining clients; a gathering of this size wouldn't even register with his liver.
My wife, however, was a different story.
"I think I've had a little too much..."
Her pale skin was already burning red. The neat, pretty bun she had tied her hair into was starting to come loose, and those large eyes of hers looked just a little unfocused.
Managing Director Choi was raking that disheveled version of my wife with his gaze, missing nothing. Every time she poured for him, his eyes drifted straight into the gap of her shirt. The soft, pale swell of her breasts rising above the fabric would be laid bare for him without a single scrap of mercy.
"Managing Director. I think my wife has had a bit too much. Would it be all right if I put her to bed for a moment and came right back?"
I finally couldn't stand it any longer and made the suggestion while topping off his glass.
"Is that so?"
At my question his expression hardened. The face that had been so cheerfully animated a second ago now carried a faint edge of irritation.
"Seung-yeon. Are you tired? Want to turn in?"
Managing Director Choi was asking my wife. The tone he used to check if she was all right was anything but kind.
"No, I'm fine~ Honey. I'm okay."
But the wife I loved refused my suggestion. Whether it was the alcohol or simply a desire not to kill the mood, she gave a bright little smile and looked back and forth between me and Managing Director Choi.
"Babe, you're drunk... You can barely hold your liquor. Let's just go in."
"Hey now. Assistant Manager Kim. She says she's fine—why do you keep trying to pack her off?"
In that instant Managing Director Choi's words forced my mouth shut. One more attempt to send my wife inside and I was certain I would cross a line with him.
"Honey. I'm really fine."
My wife must have read his expression as well; she simply smiled even more brightly and smoothed the atmosphere over. All I could feel was gratitude toward her.
"Well, looks like the booze is about gone. Someone should go buy more, yeah?"
Managing Director Choi rattled the empty bottles on either side of him and looked straight at me. His eyes carried the silent pressure of What are you still sitting there for? Go buy some already.
Fuck... Is this guy seriously a bottomless pit?
"Yes. I'll go get some."
I forced a smile onto my face and stood.
"You going to be all right alone?"
Managing Director Choi asked as I started to leave.
"Pardon?"
"Why don't you have Team Leader Park go help you out?"
"Me?"
He shot Team Leader Park a look that clearly said Hurry up and go. Someone as sharp as she was could never have missed it.
"Well... fine."
Team Leader Park rose from her seat with obvious reluctance and prepared to leave. As she stood, her office skirt rode up just a little above her knees.
"Should we just get the same soju and beer?"
"Hmm... That's getting a little boring. Didn't I hear there's some new drink the young people are crazy about these days?"
"Sorry?"
"You know, the one the kids are lining up for. Team Leader Park, you know what I'm talking about, right?"
"Ah... You mean that Warm Soju, or Element Soju, whatever it's called?"
"That's the one. Yeah, yeah. See if you can track some of that down."
"Managing Director, that stuff is really hard to find..."
"Just look around. If you can't find it, forget it."
Managing Director Choi was sending us on a completely random errand. A man who had been perfectly happy with soju and beer suddenly wanted the trendy new bottle of the moment. It was the kind of liquor that sold out the second a celebrity advertised it—nearly impossible to get your hands on.
What a pain in the ass...
Irritation started to prick at me. Empty beer and soju bottles already littered the floor, yet Managing Director Choi looked as fresh as if the night had only just begun.
Fine... Just hold on a little longer. Just a little.
"Honey. I'll be right back. Just keep drinking a bit more."
I whispered it to my wife as she stood to see me off. Her pale skin was flushed a deep red, giving her an almost provocatively sensual look. A faint scent of alcohol seemed to be drifting from between her full red lips.
"Okay. Honey, be careful. I'm really fine."
She looked up at me with a bright smile that said not to worry.
"Seung-yeon. Come on over here already. Let's drink together."
From behind her came Managing Director Choi's smooth, snake-like voice.
—Click.
I watched my wife's back as she hurried over to him. Beneath the skirt, her full, ripe hips swayed with every step. A nameless anxiety brushed through my mind.
"Ah... Fresh air feels better already. You holding up, Assistant Manager Kim?"
Team Leader Park Young-ah, walking beside me, stretched her arms over her head as she asked. When she raised them, the soft outline of her breasts pressed even more clearly against her shirt.
"Of course. I'm still fine."
"Being young really is the best, isn't it?"
With her pale skin flushed red from drink, Team Leader Park looked surprisingly sexy. Her style was pure cool career woman, yet her face had a cute, almost babyish quality that created an oddly unbalanced charm.
"You're going for the promotion this time, right?"
"Pardon?"
"The promotion. You don't want it?"
An unexpected topic suddenly spilled from Team Leader Park's mouth. Until now she had never once brought up promotions.
"Yes, I want it, of course... but it's not exactly something I can decide on my own."
"Watching you at the company dinner tonight, you looked pretty fired up. Hehe."
"Ah... that was..."
"You're doing fine. Managing Director Choi holds the personnel authority, so if you stay on his good side it can't hurt."
A light buzz seemed to have loosened Team Leader Park's tongue; she kept chattering without pause. She was normally a woman of few words, but with alcohol in her she showed a surprisingly cute side.
"Managing Director Choi isn't a bad guy either. He's just a bit of an old-fashioned hard-ass who likes women a little too much..."
"Sorry? Women?"
"Of course. Even at his age he's still pretty vigorous..."
Team Leader Park tossed out remarks whose meaning was hard to pin down.
He likes women a little too much...?
For a moment Managing Director Choi's gaze as he stole looks at my wife's breasts flashed through my mind. The way his eyes had raked up and down her voluptuous body had been anything but ordinary.
And then there was my wife herself—flushed bright red and already half-drunk.
"Team Leader. Let's hurry."
I quickened my pace toward the convenience store.
"That'll be thirty-eight thousand won."
"Ah. Just a second."
I had grabbed soju and beer and was about to pay when Team Leader Park spoke up as if something had just occurred to her.
"Do you have Element Soju?"
"No. We're completely sold out of Element Soju."
"Ah... That's a problem... We need to bring some back..."
"Team Leader, just leave it. How are we supposed to find any at this hour?"
Team Leader Park seemed to hesitate. A sudden thought had made me anxious; I started urging her along.
"No. If we just go back empty-handed Managing Director Choi is going to throw a real fit. Something like this happened once before."
"Really?"
"Yeah. We spent the whole day matching his mood perfectly, and then he threw a massive tantrum just because we didn't buy him ice cream once."
Ah... fuck... What a complete asshole.
I swallowed the curse that tried to burst out of me.
"Team Leader. Wait here. I'll make a quick sweep and be right back."
"What?"
The words were barely out of my mouth before I was already sprinting out of the convenience store. The moment the strange thought took root it began to race through my head, completely out of control.
My wife's flushed face. The buttons of her shirt slowly coming undone. Managing Director Choi laying her down and sliding his hand up under that ivory skirt.
The image of my wife pinned beneath him, moaning, made blood rush straight to my crotch.
Fuck... Not now.
I hit four convenience stores in the neighborhood. Not a single one had it. By then my whole body was soaked in sweat. I wiped the beads from my forehead and stepped into the last convenience store in the area.
—Bzzzt.
A familiar vibration. I pulled my phone from my pocket. A single message was waiting.
"Fuck...."