A Gathering of His Women

"Ugh, I'm so bored."

Eunchae had spent the entire morning doing absolutely none of the work she was supposed to be doing, announcing her boredom to the room on a loop, and I could feel my own motivation dripping away right along with hers.

"Hey, quit draining everyone else's will to live and go chant some sutras outside."

Not that saying it out loud was going to change anything. There was no universe in which Eunchae actually got up and left.

"Dohyun, Dohyun. Are you seriously just gonna keep working?"

"I came to work, so I'm working. What else would I do?"

"It's just the two of us, though. We could do anything, couldn't we?"

She kept trying to lure me into something dirty, so I flicked her on the forehead.

"Aaah! That huuurts!"

"That's why I hit you."

"Tch, Choi Dohyun, you're so boring! Boring, boring!"

Yeah, go ahead. Call me boring all you want.

Honestly, if this had been before, I probably would have just gone along with her — fooling around, playing games, whatever she wanted. But things were different now. I needed to finish my work quickly and scrape together whatever scraps of planning ability I had left to come up with something decent.

"Are you just gonna sit there saying you're bored all day?"

"Mmm, if there's nothing else to do, probably...?"

"How about using that time to actually work?"

I was starting to feel like we'd been having this exact same conversation for hours.

We were right in the middle of going in circles when Eunchae's phone started buzzing against the desk.

"Who's calling ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at this hour..."

"A friend, or your parents."

"I don't have friends, and my parents couldn't care less about me."

Someone who came off like such a social butterfly had no friends, and parents who paid her no attention at all. Moments like this were a reminder of just how recently we'd actually met. Eunchae, Dayeon Nuna — when it came to their families, their friends, I didn't know a single thing.

"Ah, it's Unnie."

The call was from Dayeon Nuna, apparently.

"Yeah, Unnie."

Eunchae answered with a long, lazy yawn. I could hear a voice saying something on the other end, but it wasn't on speaker, so I couldn't make out a word of it.

"Ah? Really? That happened? Yeah, right now? Yeah, yeah. I've got time. Should I head over?"

Sounded like she was being asked to come somewhere. Was I finally free?

I'd actually been thinking of using the time after she hung up to ask her about all sorts of things. But that was going to have to wait.

"Okay, got it. Send me the address and I'll be right there. Today's work? Mmm... the progress is pretty disastrous, but it's fine. I don't think I'd get anything done even if I stayed. Today's just one of those days."

It was true that she only needed to wrap things up by the deadline, so she did have that freedom. Still, the sheer nerve of saying that so openly to her employer was genuinely impressive.

"Dohyun, I'm gonna go see Unnie for a bit!"

"Yeah, you should probably just clock out for the day."

If she couldn't focus anyway, sitting in front of a computer wouldn't do any good. Better to rest up and save her energy for tomorrow.

"Mmm, and considering the time... yeah, I should. See you tomorrow~ Tomorrow you have to do dirty stuff with me!"

"...I'll consider it."

It had been a while since Eunchae and I had actually had sex. Before, we'd been at it practically every other day. These days I was involved with Dayeon Nuna too, and I'd taken on Jiyun Nuna's work, so I genuinely had less time than before.

Maybe I should gather both of them soon and... give it a try.

I used to have zero interest in that kind of thing. It wasn't a hobby of mine. But Eunchae had been singing about threesomes so relentlessly that lately, I was starting to want to try it myself.

"See you tomorrow~"

She headed out to the living room, rustling around as she packed her things, then poked her head back in to say goodbye one more time before she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠left.

"Yeah, be careful."

I returned the farewell, and then—

"...It's quiet."

The silence was so complete it felt awkward. This was the first time I'd been alone here. I was realizing, all over again, just how lonely it was to sit by yourself in a space where someone else's presence had always been a given.

Well... lonely or not, at least I'd be able to focus.

Now that Jiyun had sorted through her feelings, she found herself wanting to meet Eunchae as well, and she'd asked Dayeon about it. Dayeon had called Eunchae over — and just like that, all of Dohyun's women were about to be in the same room. Of course, Jiyun was still more of a provisional member than a full one.

"Unnie, I'm here~ Ah, hello!"

They hadn't met at the office. Dayeon had cleared some time and they'd agreed to meet at a cafe nearby, and Eunchae spotted the two of them waiting inside and greeted them with all the brightness in the world.

"Hello, Eunchae-ssi. I'm Kim Jiyun. I work as a lawyer at the firm just up the street."

The greeting and self-introduction were so impeccably polished that Eunchae's face lit up with open admiration.

"I'd heard about you, but wow, you really are a lawyer, huh? Super professional! That's the vibe I'm getting!"

"Ah, is that so? I was trying to keep it as relaxed as possible, since this is a private setting..."

"Oh, right! You can speak casually with me!"

Eunchae already knew that Jiyun spoke casually with Dayeon and Dohyun, so she offered first.

"Ah, should I? Alright then. You speak casually too, Eunchae."

"Wait, I can?"

Bright, and with an adaptability that bordered on frightening, Eunchae dropped the formal speech on the spot and plopped herself down in the seat right next to Jiyun.

"Oh my, you're sitting next to me?"

"Yep! If you want to get close, sitting close is the way to go!"

Jiyun watched Eunchae grin and carry on like the most popular girl in school, and a thought drifted through her mind.

She's so small and cute. Just like a puppy.

"Anyway! I have been informed that you wish to join the ranks of Dohyun's women! Is this correct!"

She put on a suddenly serious face — and then what came out of her mouth was not serious in the slightest.

"Dohyun's women... that's quite the title."

Jiyun sounded genuinely impressed.

"Ugh, let's not use that embarrassing name out here."

Dayeon pressed a hand to her forehead. It was a phrase Eunchae had been using a lot lately, as if she were actively campaigning for it.

"I told you to only use it inside the office if you have to?"

"What's the big deal? It's not like anyone else is listening. It's just us."

Dayeon couldn't help worrying that one day Eunchae would introduce them to someone as one of Dohyun's women, and there would be no taking it back.

"Anyway, Jiyun Unnie said she likes Dohyun too. I was thinking we should give her a real push."

"Oooooh~ I love that. How should we push her? Like, make time for her and Dohyun to be alone together? We all plan a trip somewhere, then me and Dayeon Unnie duck out!"

Dayeon nodded at Eunchae's plan.

"Yeah, that could work. Though it depends on whether Jiyun Unnie has the time."

Both of them turned to look at her, and Jiyun smiled.

"Mmm, tomorrow should be fine."

If not tomorrow, she was fully booked through the weekend, and a faintly sheepish look crossed her face. Making plans for tomorrow on such short notice was going to be difficult, she figured.

"Tomorrow's good. I'll ask Dohyun."

Dayeon started pushing things forward immediately, as if the timing were completely irrelevant.

"You've got great initiative, Dayeon."

"Me too! I've got amazing initiative too!"

"Is that so?"

Finding the way Eunchae jumped ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in adorable, Jiyun reached out and stroked her hair.

"Mmm?"

Eunchae had no idea why she was being petted, but she loved having her hair stroked, so she simply surrendered her head to Jiyun's hand.

A puppy through and through...

And while Jiyun was still stroking Eunchae's hair, Dayeon started the call.

"Hey, Dohyun! Are you busy right now?"

"Ah! That's a relief! Do you have any plans tomorrow?"

Which meant that aside from going in, he had nothing else on the calendar.

"Then let's go out tomorrow!"

There was a flicker of surprise in his voice, but Dayeon pressed on, already thinking about how to put Jiyun and Dohyun in the same place.

"Yeah, I wanted a change of pace after the whole Park Woojin thing!"

It was a lie, of course. The Park Woojin situation no longer had the power to get under her skin — other things had long since taken priority.

The moment Park Woojin's name came up, worry crept into Dohyun's voice, and he offered to go out with her alone.

"Oh, yeah... wait, no...!"

For a split second she nearly took the bait and said yes, then snatched her self-control back just in time.

"Just the two of us would be better later — like if we went overseas or something. This time let's include Eunchae and Jiyun Unnie too."

If they went abroad, nobody would recognize her. They'd be able to go on a proper date, just the two of them. Dayeon filed that away for later and laid out the purpose of this trip instead.

Going out with Eunchae and Dayeon was one thing. But Jiyun's name coming up out of nowhere made Dohyun pause.

"Yeah, Unnie helped us out a lot this time. And you need to meet her anyway to sign the contract, right? I figured we could all go out together, get the contract signed, and have fun at the same time!"