Family Ties and Hidden Obsessions
“What kind of person are you, really? How long has it been since the funeral, and you’re already taking it easy? Taking it easy.” It was Choi Eun-jung, Min-a’s cousin and an assistant manager. She had helped me with work before and now stepped in to repay the favor. “Yes, thank you.”
“Don’t just nod and say you understand. This won’t do. Get up. I’ll buy you coffee.”
I only nodded and kept fiddling with the blueprints, so she physically dragged me to my feet. In the end, I had no choice but to follow her to the break room, pushed along by her insistence.
I’m not exactly the best person to be around.
It wasn’t as if she didn’t know Min-a’s personality. She had to know that Min-a would definitely come complaining, yet Assistant Manager Choi pulled two coffees from the vending machine with a bright smile.
“How have things been with Min-a lately? Have you already set the wedding date?”
“Well… it’s about the same as always. Why? Is something going on?”
Our relationship was no different from any other couple—neither particularly good nor particularly bad. If more time passed and we got married and had a child, things would probably change in their own way. Maybe for the better. Maybe for the worse.
“Just… Min-a’s been really prickly lately, that’s all.”
Was it because of the status difference between the chairman’s niece and the chairman’s daughter? Even though Assistant Manager Choi was older and had far more experience, Min-a treated her own cousin like a subordinate. Especially if she so much as talked to me.
“Try to be a little nicer to her. People are getting anxious.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Even though I had told her not to bring our personal issues into the company. She never listened, did she? Whether it was because of her nephew or because of me. Or maybe both. It seemed she had been running wild while I was gone.
“No, it’s not that serious… Honestly, I’m only saying this because it’s just the two of us. Once your uncle retires, you and Min-a will be running the company, right?”
“…That’s not certain. You never know how things will turn out with people.”
If I changed jobs right now. Or if I broke up with Min-a…
“Don’t dodge the question. Anyway, if that happens, Min-a can focus on the household while you take over the company. I don’t like talking about someone who isn’t here, but that girl is actually really good at her job. She’s smart and picks up on everything in an instant.”
Assistant Manager Choi let out a long sigh, as if she had been holding in a lot.
“But… the moment anything involves you, her eyes just go completely crazy. Like when she suddenly changed the cafeteria supplier. One of the ladies there said her nephew was a teacher and tried to introduce him.”
“No way.”
She changed it because of that? She had told me it was because of hygiene issues.
“No way is exactly how people get caught. If it wasn’t for her, there’s no way it would have changed so suddenly.”
My head was spinning. I had no idea what she had been doing behind my back. I was starting to get confused about where her love for me ended and where her obsession began.
“The employees… they’re all anxious too. No matter what, in the end it’ll be her child and son-in-law supporting the chairman. Everyone feels relieved about you, Assistant Manager Choi, but Min-a… Well, whatever. It doesn’t matter to me anymore.”
Assistant Manager Choi stretched grandly, looking refreshed.
“I’ve decided to change jobs. I’m going back to the place where you used to work. Our company isn’t bad, but there’s no reason to turn down a better opportunity.”
“That’s great news.”
“I’ve already told HR. I’ll let Uncle and Min-a know later.”
I genuinely congratulated her. There were probably quite a few reasons related to our relationship that had pushed her to make this decision.
“I really was clueless. After graduating from such a good university and leaving such a good company, I should have realized there had to be a reason. Even when I offered to buy you a meal—not drinks—you kept refusing. So that was why.”
When the three of us—me, Min-a, and Assistant Manager Choi—were together, Min-a would link her arm with mine and proudly show off her boyfriend. She would brag about which university I graduated from, how long I had liked her, and how I had given up everything to come here for her.
“I thought you were putting up walls because you didn’t like me. I see. If you’re Min-a’s boyfriend… I suppose that makes sense. Of course it does.”
Assistant Manager Choi wore an expression that could have been a smile or a sneer. At a loss for words, I could only nod and respond to her.
“Don’t worry about the handover. I plan to wrap up almost everything before I go. Including the blueprints I told you to take over. I have to repay my debt, after all. Probably within this week…”
Suddenly, Assistant Manager Choi shut her mouth.
Sure enough.
Even the tiger comes when you speak its name. Min-a approached us with a bright smile, as if she had somehow known.
“Is it something I’m not allowed to hear? The conversation stops the moment I show up.”
Min-a snatched the drink I was holding and casually took a sip. It was a conversation that felt a bit awkward to tell her directly, but there was no real problem in telling her. No—in fact, I should tell her the truth. Please stop doing whatever you want at the company. Please stop making me regret that I’m your boyfriend. Please.
“The conversation didn’t stop. You just showed up right as I was finishing my sentence. I was asking him if he had set the wedding date yet.”
Unlike me, who had frozen up from tension, Assistant Manager Choi smoothly played it off.
“Well… it’s difficult right now. Oppa’s heart must be hurting too.”
The woman who had been fuming about bringing home her widowed nephew was now pretending to be a caring girlfriend.
“Then you should make him some herbal medicine or something. Look at his face. His eyes are completely sunken.”
“It’s not like I made him look like that. Besides, oppa hasn’t even come to our house lately.”
Even before the funeral, work had kept him from visiting often. Whether it was guilt or conscience, something kept gnawing at him, so he had been stuck at the company without a moment to breathe. Because he had to do well. For Min-a’s sake, and for his own sake, he had to work harder than anyone else.
“That’s exactly why you should make him some.”
“Our oppa has always been so diligent. Even if there was something good, he’d need the time to do it. It’s always work, always work.”
“Uncle really chose a good son-in-law.”
“I don’t know, oppa. I don’t know if Dad chose a good son-in-law, but if things keep going like this, it’s going to be difficult for me, you know?”
Min-a kept stroking my cheek. She didn’t care who was watching.
“I’ll talk to Dad and get you some time off from work, so make some time. You two can even go see a movie.”
“Choi Min-a. We agreed not to bring our personal issues into the company.”
“Then you should make sure I don’t have to.”
She was still smiling, but her voice was cold. Assistant Manager Choi, caught between us, looked incredibly uncomfortable.
“Save the lover’s quarrel for when I’m not around. You’re making me feel sorry for existing.”
She cracked a joke to break the strange atmosphere. Fortunately, Min-a didn’t press the issue any further.
“Unnie should find a good person too. Ask oppa. See if there are any decent guys around.”
“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I’ll head down first. You two can keep doing your lovey-dovey thing. As for me, this lowly employee will go back to work.”
The moment Assistant Manager Choi’s back disappeared from view, Min-a turned to me.
“So, what were you two talking about?”
“You heard it all earlier. I already told you.”
“That’s hilarious. Wedding talk, my ass. She was obviously talking behind my back.”
Min-a looked toward the door where her cousin had vanished, as if the idea was ridiculous.
“Talking behind your back? It was nothing like that… She said she’s changing jobs.”
“Really? So suddenly?”
“People go to better places if they can.”
“Hmm… I see. So she made sure to call you over and tell you first.”
Min-a crossed her arms. Her face said she wanted me to explain it in a way she could understand. What more was there to explain? She already knew everything. That they had been talking about her. That Assistant Manager Choi had decided to leave because of it.
“I guess I’m the most comfortable person to talk to. What can I say?”
“You left out your cousin, right? You made sure to tell only oppa.”
“How would I know what’s in someone else’s heart? We’re busy, so let’s talk about this later. Looking at the schedule you sent, there’s a lot that needs to be handled right away.”
I tried to end the conversation by using the backlog of work as an excuse. There was no point in the two of them arguing any longer. Min-a would keep suspecting me, and I would have to keep finding the right answers. Until her suspicions were cleared. Until she confirmed my love for her. Over and over.
“Take your time. I already handed off the urgent stuff to unnie. By the way, how is our niece doing?”
“Yeah.”
Again. Again. She was going to keep bringing up our niece. If she dragged Yerin into this as a problem, I wouldn’t be able to hold back anymore.
“Um… how does she sleep?”
“I sleep in the living room. Why, did you think we were sleeping together?”
“What do you take me for? What exactly do you think I am? No matter what, I wouldn’t go that far, Assistant Manager.”
Min-a let out a small laugh. The fact that she had switched from calling me “oppa” to “Assistant Manager” showed that her mood had improved somewhat.
“It seemed like it would be uncomfortable if it kept going like this, so I thought about buying a bed as a gift… but putting another bed in your place would be difficult. Right. You can just come sleep at my house often.”
“Yeah. That would work.”
“Right? Your bed is… nice, but it’s narrow. It’s uncomfortable, so I bought a big one for my place on purpose.”
Min-a slipped her hand into my pocket. She slowly stroked my thigh.
“That’s where I learned so many things from you… I mean, from my teacher.”
Always on a whim. Always with that devilish smile she reserved only for me. As if confirming that the man in her grasp still belonged to her, she kept touching me.