A Dog's Victory
It was the weekend. Saturday morning, and the phone started ringing the moment he woke up. He tossed and turned in the master bed, feeling the vibration from the nightstand, and checked to see who was calling.
Was this an order, too? With his sharp memory, he recalled every detail of the contract. He knew she had no real intention of reporting him, so he thought he could get away with ignoring her, but—
If a report were actually filed, his reputation would be shattered to the point of near-death. So, he replied.
— Yeah, I’m up. Can’t you let me sleep a bit on the weekend?
But Eunbyul was capable of dropping a bombshell even on a sleeping man.
— "Dad, I’ve figured out how to blackmail him."
"....?"
"There’s a way. But if I do this, the person I like might end up hating me."
"That’s why you have to use a carrot and a stick."
He wasn't sure if this was right, but her father had once again given his daughter generous advice. "For example, your mother treated me like she was playing with me, but she always knew where to draw the line."
"What kind of..."
"Like, making the threats feel like a joke? Something like that. So they don't feel like you're doing it out of malice."
— "You’ve crossed the line, big time."
"No, I haven't."
The moment he opened the front door, he saw Eunbyul smiling brightly. Thinking he’d seen a ghost, he jumped in shock and slammed the door shut. A moment later, he opened it slowly and said, "Article 5, if the Master desires, the subordinate..."
"Stop! Stop saying it!"
"You're going to let me in, right?"
"...."
And so, this absurd situation unfolded where Eunbyul visited his house on a Saturday morning. After she stepped into the entryway and closed the door herself, he whispered into her ear, "Hey, Seo Jia might actually pickle you..."
"That’s exactly why I came here to be pickled."
"No..."
That’s not the right answer, you idiot... Eunbyul slowly walked over and sat on the sofa, clutching the document envelope she’d seen yesterday. A moment later, Seo Jia, woken by the commotion in the living room, opened the study door and saw him and Eunbyul. At first, she bowed her head to greet him, but when she saw Eunbyul sitting on the sofa as if she were the owner of the house, staring at the balcony without even glancing at her, her expression hardened.
"....Why is that crazy bitch here,"
"No. Hey. Don't start the morning with swearing..."
"That's right."
Feeling even worse because she felt like the criminal, Seo Jia slowly approached him and said, as if for everyone to hear, "Master."
"....."
"Please explain what this is all about."
"....So, this is work-related, and she had to come on the weekend..."
"I came to have sex? With the person you call Master?"
After Eunbyul dropped another bomb following the thunderbolt, he clutched his forehead in exhaustion, and Seo Jia looked as if she couldn't believe what she’d just heard. "Who... who the hell are you?"
"What do you mean? I’m the Director’s faithful secretary."
"If you’re causing your boss this much trouble, you don't seem very faithful."
Seo Jia was speaking better than when she’d been struck with horror last time. It might seem unexpected, but she was a brilliant woman capable of speaking multiple languages. It was just that her head was spinning because things that she thought would never happen in her life were occurring in rapid succession.
"Why? Am I not allowed to have sex?"
"Of course...! What kind of relationship do you have with Master, no, my husband, no... Suhyun?"
"Hmm, a variety of relationships?"
Eunbyul, still smiling brightly as if she didn't know what she was banking on, added, "The kind where he sucked on my breasts after work yesterday?"
"....?"
Seo Jia immediately turned to look at him, and he was busy contemplating when his ex-wife might grab a kitchen knife and chase him, and how he should block her if she did. "I wanted it so much, so I asked him to do it. I asked him to caress my breasts."
"...Master?"
"W-well, that is..."
"And honestly... does the relationship even matter?" Eunbyul’s tone was casual as she lowered her voice slightly. "Isn't this better than a relationship where a woman who asked for a divorce first crawls into her ex-husband's house because she wants sex?"
Naturally, Seo Jia was struck dumb. "Do you think if you stay here, our Director will like you again? You’re not here with such foolish expectations, are you?"
"...."
"Think about it. Your ex-husband always broke things in the house, swore, got angry, bullied you, and was annoyed. He refused to have marital relations. He always made you feel small. He complained that a woman who only does housework shouldn't whine about being tired. Then, when you asked for a divorce, he gave it to you just as you wanted. If he said, 'I'm sorry, I miss you,' would you take him back?"
Eunbyul had taken the stories of Seo Jia’s misdeeds he’d told her at the cafe yesterday, added a bit of exaggeration, and then swapped the genders to make it a lesson in empathy. Seo Jia’s knuckles turned white as she trembled, unable to say a word.
"I demand an explanation from Master about what this situation is..."
"..."
"Is that a question fitting for someone who calls him Master? No, if you really thought of him as Master, shouldn't you not even be asking the question in the first place?"
Eunbyul, picking apart the flaws in the conversation, was becoming more rational the more she spoke, unlike Seo Jia, who was sending glares filled with panic and rage. "If I thought of the Senior as Master, I wouldn't even be standing here."
"...."
Seo Jia was staring at him with intense anger, but he was still looking at the floor, lost in thought. Feeling as if he were answering that she really should do as told, Seo Jia slowly knelt down. "....I’m sorry, Master."
"You called a guest invited by your Master a crazy bitch the moment you saw her?"
"...."
She couldn't bring herself to apologize to Eunbyul even if she died. So Seo Jia just stared at her own thighs while kneeling. She didn't say anything else, but Eunbyul, watching the scene, tilted her head slightly to look at him and said in a low voice, "You can control all of the subordinate's actions, right?"
"..."
"Order that uncivilized bitch to apologize to me."
He looked at Eunbyul for a moment, then turned his head, let out a deep sigh, and said, "Seo Jia, Eunbyul..."
"Byeol."
"...Sigh, right. Apologize to Byeol quickly. You were in the wrong."
Only then did Seo Jia look up at him. She stared at him desperately—trying to tell him this wasn't right, why should she apologize, she was the one who was wrong, don't be fooled by that fox-like bitch. But as the 'order' Eunbyul had spoken of swirled in his mind, and seeing Seo Jia trying to defy his words, he spoke once more.
"...Apologize quickly. Properly. If you don't, I'll kick you out of the house."
"......"
If you were going to kick me out, why wait until now? Did he really not know? Of course... of course, being interrogated by her father about why they divorced, letting her parents-in-law know about the divorce, and enduring the sound of that crazy bitch stabbing the front door with a kitchen knife was... a billion times better than having his image destroyed by sexual harassment charges and ending up in prison!!
"...I was, wrong."
"To whom?"
"To... Eunbyul-ssi... I was wrong."
"What were you wrong about?"
"....Calling you a crazy bitch...."
"To whom?"
"To Eunbyul-ssi...."
"Say it together."
"....."
It was a military-style hazing. He was surprised himself, wondering if she had this kind of personality, but Eunbyul, now cold, leaned back on the sofa and looked down, as if looking at an animal, not a person.
"...I was wrong to call Eunbyul-ssi a crazy bitch."
"I heard you called me a whore."
"...."
At that point, Seo Jia looked at him again, but this time, to the surprise of both of them, Eunbyul snapped, "Hey!! Where are you looking right now? Aren't you talking to me? Where are you staring?!"
"...Ah, ..."
Seo Jia, too shocked to even speak, slowly lowered her head again. "Did you call a stranger a whore? You must have had a wonderful upbringing...?"
"..."
"And that you’d stab me to death with a knife and pickle me..."
"I won't say such things in the future. It was rude. I’m sorry."
But Eunbyul didn't end it there. She planned to break her spirit completely. If she were just going to end it like this, she wouldn't have started in the first place. Why? Because she thought a war would break out if the two men she loved clashed. In cases like this, one side had to have an overwhelming advantage. So much so that the other side couldn't even fight back. So Eunbyul showed her hidden personality without reservation.
"Then tell me everything you’ve done wrong so far."
"...To Eunbyul-ssi,"
"Eunbyul-nim."
"........"
The sound of grinding teeth could be heard, but Eunbyul said, "If you don't relax your jaw, you’ll get slapped. You don't think I can hit you?"
"Look, Byeol, that..."
"Senior, stay quiet."
Right. If she says stay quiet, he has to stay quiet. He didn't want to be an ex-convict.
"Asking Master a question, calling Eunbyul-nim a crazy bitch, and saying I’d pickle you... calling you a whore..."
"Yes."
"I was... wrong."
"See, you were wrong, right? Grinding your teeth so rudely. Where do you think you are? You shouldn't do that. From now on. Got it?"
"...."
Then Eunbyul, as if it were her own house, looked at him, tapped the sofa, and told her to sit. "You know, Jia-ssi."
"..."
"That’s what I think."
Seo Jia looked at Eunbyul for a moment, and Eunbyul continued, "You know what an onahole is, right?"
"...."
"Answer."
"Yes..."
"I think Seo Jia-ssi is like that, an onahole. So you shouldn't talk. Hmm... you shouldn't ask the Master anything, and you shouldn't swear at others either!"
Because her tone was becoming increasingly cheerful, Seo Jia and Han Suhyun stared blankly at Eunbyul, but Eunbyul, not caring, continued without even looking at her. "Since I think Seo Jia-ssi is a living onahole... Suhyun-senior probably thinks so too, so I think it would be unpleasant!"
"...."
"If an onahole talks, talks back, opens its eyes wide, and tries to get angry... and if it bothers the owner by asking to be used when the owner doesn't want to use it,"
"Wouldn't it just go into the trash bag?"
"It’s cumbersome... and, well, I think it’s just easier to dispose of it. I do. Yes. That’s what I think..."
At this point, Eunbyul crossed her legs comfortably, and only then, looking at the kneeling Seo Jia, she said with a bitter sneer, "I’m sure you understand what I mean... right, living onahole Seo Jia-ssi?"