Party (2)
Party (2)
"It's not like it was exactly fair and square anyway."
"Shh..! Eun-ji might hear you."
I alone knew the truth.
I knew exactly what Hwa-young had done to deceive Eun-ji.
If Eun-ji ever found out about it, wouldn't she throw a fit?
At the very least, Hwa-young would end up with Eun-ji having something to hold over her.
"If only you stay quiet, everyone's happy. You know utilitarianism, right?"
"I won't say anything."
Putting aside how pitiful Eun-ji was, if I exposed that affair,
I wouldn't be able to deal with the fallout.
"Hey. Stop bullying my husband."
Just then, A-ra wrapped me softly in her embrace
and shot Hwa-young another glare.
In A-ra's eyes, it must have looked like Hwa-young was tormenting me.
"What do you mean, I'm the one being tormented here?"
"As if. From the conversation we just saw, how could you possibly be the one being tormented?"
"Then I guess you must have done something wrong."
"Wow... How on earth did you manage to change A-ra this much?"
"With something you've never experienced, that's how."
And then, the word 'Mossol-ada' came out of A-ra's mouth,
and Hwa-young took massive damage.
From what I'd heard around the community, among women,
A-ra was an object of envy, having snagged a younger husband who was devoted to her.
Well... it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that A-ra, who had snatched me up and married me,
and Hwa-young, who had never even dated anyone, stood at opposite extremes.
"That's because I was busy..."
"As if someone else isn't busy."
"Ugh..."
Hwa-young closed her eyes at A-ra's verbal strike.
Originally, when the two of them were apart, they seemed like the most devoted, affectionate friends,
but when they were actually together, they always gave off the vibe of bickering rivals.
Well, I guess that meant they were close enough to be comfortable with each other.
Honestly, I was really envious of having a friend with that kind of relationship.
As some time passed like that,
Eun-ji, whose face had turned slightly red, perhaps from drinking a little, approached us.
Hwa-young seemed like she was about to say something about her slave wandering around without even showing her face,
but upon seeing Eun-ji's state, she went up to her side with a slightly worried expression.
"Eun-ji, have you been drinking?"
"Hehe.. Unnie.."
"You can't even hold your liquor, why would you drink that!"
A simple sparkling wine glass was in Eun-ji's hand.
It wasn't very high in alcohol content, but for Eun-ji, who had zero tolerance for alcohol,
it was something that could get her drunk in an instant.
"Unnieeeee...."
"Yes, yes, looks like Eun-ji had a bit too much to drink. Seong-hwan is right here too, what kind of state is this."
"Seong-hwan is... okay..."
"Seems like she's pretty drunk. I'm going to go lay her down in the nap room."
"Ueeee...."
Eun-ji whined, saying she didn't want to go, but in the end, she was dragged off by Hwa-young.
Slave or not, it was abundantly clear that Hwa-young cherished Eun-ji like a real younger sister.
"Put that down!"
"Unnie..."
I watched them exit the hall to the very end
and just smiled warmly.
Eun-ji might have just wanted to act spoiled with Hwa-young for the first time in a while.
***
"Seong-hwan-ssi, are you enjoying yourself?"
"Ah, Director."
As I was wandering around here and there, the Director approached me.
Despite it being a party, she was wearing a suit, but it didn't look unnatural at all;
somehow, it suited her very well.
"Where did A-ra go?"
"She's way over there, talking with Yeji Nuna and Hwa-young."
"Leaving her husband all alone, what is she doing..."
She then shook her head from side to side
and let out a sigh, remarking that she still didn't seem to realize she was married.
"No, I was with a friend too, so..."
"A friend? Ah, come to think of it, you said that new recruit Lee Min-ho-ssi is your friend, didn't you?"
"Yes, he's my college friend."
I looked over at Lee Min-ho, who was talking with other people off to the side.
Perhaps sensing my gaze, he looked this way and bowed his head in greeting to the Director.
"How has the party been for you today?"
"Except for when you called me, a new employee, up to the podium, it has been peaceful and nice."
"Even if it's you, Seong-hwan-ssi, we still have to do the initiation ceremony."
I smiled a little awkwardly.
Earlier, when I'd headed over after getting a sudden summons from the Director,
she'd had me give a greeting on the podium as the new employee initiation.
If it were online, maybe not, but with everyone's attention focused on me offline,
I was nervous to death, but Lee Min-ho drew every scrap of attention by my side,
so I was able to pass through quietly.
"Personally, I would have liked to see a personal talent of yours, Seong-hwan-ssi."
"Cooking is the only thing I really know how to do."
"You're far too modest."
At the Director's words, I gave a bitter smile and looked at the
gift box placed on the round table.
She had personally given it to me earlier, calling it a gift for the new employees,
and I had no idea what it might be.
"That? You're curious, right? But you absolutely must not open it here."
"Just what kind of weird thing is it..."
"It's not that, but the other people might get sulky if they find out we gave that only to the new recruits."
"It's to that extent?"
"Think of it as having spent 10% of this party's prize budget on it."
".....Wasn't there a car among the party prizes this time?"
So they had spent several hundred thousand won on a gift given out to just two people.
Just what on earth was inside this?
"Save that as a bit of fun until you get home...
Seong-hwan-ssi, would you like to try being the MC for the party prize draw?"
"Huh? Me?"
"Actually, the person who was supposed to act as MC today
had her program schedule suddenly change, so she couldn't attend the party."
She must be talking about that person, who was signed under our company.
If it was her, it wouldn't be strange even if work suddenly came up.
"How about asking Lee Min-ho to do it instead of me?"
"Lee Min-ho-ssi? Hmm......"
The Director tilted her head and began to think deeply.
In my opinion, Lee Min-ho would probably do a better job, though.
"Or, how about the two of you do it together?"
"I'm a bit shy..."
"Come on, it's only a few words, so don't worry about it."
"Erm... If that's the case..."
When I nodded my head, she made a satisfied expression
and then vanished from in front of me in an instant.
Had I agreed to it too easily?
But it was already too late to tell the Director, who had run off far away, that I wouldn't do it.
*
"Then moving on... let's begin the draw for the 2nd place prize."
"What was the 2nd place prize again?"
"A whopping, 9.99 million won department store gift certificate."
I was reading my lines flatly, just like reading from a textbook,
but Lee Min-ho was speaking really naturally.
Had he studied MC-ing somewhere or something?
Aside from being skillful, it must be really difficult to stand up here on the podium
without a shred of embarrassment.
For reference, my face was flushed bright red,
and as if he found that sight of me cute,
Lee Min-ho had been squealing and causing a ruckus since earlier.
"Wow, 9.99 million won is incredible."
"For your information, the Director said she's already taken care of all the tax processing, so you just need to receive it."
"Well then, shall we start the draw right away?"
There was more content in the script,
but because the lines were too embarrassing, I'd edited them out entirely.
Lee Min-ho elbowed me for a moment, asking what I was doing,
but I grabbed his shoulder, pinched it hard, and half-threatened him to just keep going.
"Haha, so who will be the owner of the 2nd place prize. Seong-hwan-ssi, please draw one."
"I don't know who it'll be, but I'm really envious."
Truthfully, I wasn't that envious.
It wasn't cash, and I wondered if New World Department Store gift certificates were even useful for anything besides buying clothes.
With that, I put my hand into the box sitting on the table in front of me
and drew one ticket.
For reference, the front of the box was made of a transparent acrylic panel so the inside could be seen, to prevent any cheating.
It clearly showed the MC drawing the ticket from inside the box,
and everyone accepted it, calling it a game of pure luck.
That's why fairness is the best.
On top of that, because they were filming close-up shots with a camera,
it was set up so that if anyone tried to do anything fishy, anyone could spot it.
The Director had earnestly asked me not to feel too hurt about it,
saying it wasn't that she didn't trust me, but to reassure everyone else.
Well, I wouldn't get sulky over something like that either.
"Now then, please call out the name of the 2nd place winner."
At Lee Min-ho's signal, I unfolded the ticket, folded twice,
and for a moment, I inconspicuously closed my eyes.
"The 2nd place winner is none other than!!"
And, just as I'd seen in the script,
the sound effect of a drum roll began to ring out from the speakers,
and when the party poppers burst and the fanfare began to sound,
I opened my eyes and read the written name aloud.
"Congratulations. The winner of the 2nd place 9.99 million won department store gift certificate is Yoo Seong-hwan..........Huh?"
There, in big letters, my own name was written.
The TV screen was also displaying my name in big letters,
and Lee Min-ho had his mouth wide open, looking dumbfounded.
"Is it me?"
I blanked out for a moment too, and a laugh burst out.
I actually won?
A ten million won gift certificate, at that?