005. D-Class Fitness Scandal (Cha Ye-rin)
005. D-Class Fitness Scandal (Cha Ye-rin)
Tick-
The second hand of the wall clock, which had been stopped, moved one notch. With that movement, the world that had been frozen began to turn again.
Air flowed, and the breeze from the air conditioner brushed against his skin. A gentle new age tune flowed softly from speakers somewhere in the room.
The view of the yoga center reflected in the wall mirror came into sharp focus in Song Jae-pil's eyes.
"Excuse me, Song Jae-pil-ssi?"
A sharp voice pierced his eardrum.
"Song Jae-pil-ssi. Can't you hear me?"
Her voice was dripping with utter contempt. A high-handed tone, as if she was reprimanding a beast that couldn't understand human speech.
"Ah, yes."
Only then did Song Jae-pil's blurred gaze regain focus as he stared directly at the woman before him.
It was Cha Ye-rin, the conquest target of this catalogue, exuding the sensual vitality he'd seen in the thumbnail, not just the catalogue's descriptive text data.
'Aha, so this is the level of a D-Class Catalogue, huh?'
Even her posture sitting at the desk was flawless, without a hint of sloppiness. Her stiffly held head and slightly upturned chin spoke volumes about her arrogant disposition.
'I am of a different class than you.'
Cha Ye-rin's gaze blatantly swept over Song Jae-pil's body from top to bottom. From his face to his shoulders, his chest to his waist, past his crotch, and down to his legs.
It was a look more akin to grading merchandise at a livestock auction than showing interest in a person of the opposite sex.
'Not bad.'
A purely clinical appraisal, without a shred of emotion. Cha Ye-rin mentally tapped away at her calculator.
Not too handsome. He wouldn't make the madams unnecessarily wary, so that's a pass.
His build is quite large and sturdy. Falls within the category madams prefer.
Sexual skills? Have to trust the referral agency on that one.
She had not the slightest desire to verify it personally. The mere fact of breathing the same air as a man like this was disgusting to her.
'They're just whores offering their dicks to the madams for money anyway.'
Cha Ye-rin pushed the contract on the desk towards Song Jae-pil with a thump.
"You should have already received the contract details. Let's make one thing very clear, Song Jae-pil-ssi."
Cha Ye-rin made eye contact. Her originally cold eyes had grown several times more frigid.
"My predecessor got unnecessary ideas and disappeared without a trace. That's how this business is."
It was a tone indistinguishable between a threat and a statement of fact. It was probably both.
"Just don't get any ambitions beyond your station, and do the job you're given. Understood?"
Song Jae-pil silently nodded. A very obedient, exactly-the-reaction-she-expected kind of nod.
Cha Ye-rin's lips drew a bitter arc. Yes, this was more like it. Guys whose only asset is their bodies can't help but end up like this.
So she added one more line.
"For someone whose livelihood depends solely on their body, I hope you know your place. Don't act like a beast."
She fired it off, remembering how he had looked her over earlier without knowing his place.
An ordinary man would have flushed with shame at this moment, or clenched his fists tight. Or perhaps chosen to submit by lowering his gaze meekly.
They were the two predictable patterns Cha Ye-rin had seen countless times.
But.
Pfft-
Song Jae-pil smiled. It was soundless, only lifting one corner of his mouth, with no hint of a smile in his eyes at all. And the pupils on that face turned toward Cha Ye-rin.
From top to bottom. Very slowly.
Her neatly tied-up hair, the nape of her neck exposed in a way that made you want to bury your face in it.
The bra top that unfilteredly revealed her chest's curves, the sharply defined 11-line abs beneath it.
Down to the curve of her thighs, bulging as if about to burst, outlined through the thin, tight-fitting leggings.
'Compared to Erin, it's a bit disappointing, but the elasticity unique to a well-maintained physique isn't bad.'
Her bust size was such that it could be cupped in one hand. About a C cup, perhaps?
In exactly the same manner Cha Ye-rin had just used on him, Song Jae-pil's gaze swept over her body.
It wasn't a lustful, glinting eye. Just an eye that seemed to be evaluating Cha Ye-rin, nothing more.
'...?!'
A crack appeared on Cha Ye-rin's expression for the first time. It was a fleeting moment, but unmistakably, a flash of bewilderment and shame crossed her face.
The unfamiliar sensation of being appraised. The reversal of the gaze, something Cha Ye-rin—who had spent her entire life looking down on men from under her feet—was feeling for the first time.
Moreover, she grew even more enraged by the fact that despite his thorough visual assessment, not a trace of excitement showed on his face.
Song Jae-pil said nothing. He withdrew his gaze, indifferently picked up the pen, and scrawled his name in the signature field.
Tap—
With the sound of the pen being placed on the desk, the strangely maintained silence was broken.
Cha Ye-rin picked up the contract bearing Song Jae-pil's signature. Even as her eyes verified the signature, she felt a shuddering disgust at the unpleasant sensation she had just experienced.
Song Jae-pil rose from the chair and looked at Cha Ye-rin.
"Who should I get the tour from?"
His voice and expression were perfectly polite. To an unbelievable degree, considering his actions moments ago.
But for some reason, Cha Ye-rin couldn't shake off the creepy feeling hidden behind that politeness.
Cha Ye-rin, as if there was no need to see the main center, skipped past the areas filled with equipment, opened a door marked STAFF ONLY, and entered deeper into the center.
Even the corridor lighting was different. The warm tones of the yoga space decorated with wood and indirect lighting disappeared, replaced by lighting one level dimmer in the hallway.
The wall material was different too. A quick touch with her fingertips revealed soft, high-density soundproof panels.
"From this door onward is an area where regular members cannot enter."
Cha Ye-rin spoke without stopping her steps.
"For future commutes, there's another door inside the staff lounge, so please use that one. And since VVIPs come and go through this door, make absolutely sure you don't catch their eye."
She pointed to a door off to the side of the corridor as she spoke.
'Fantastic. Definitely a body toned by exercise.'
With each step, the elastic bounce of her hip line forcibly grabbed his gaze. Above that, even the straight erector spinae muscles.
And at the far end of the corridor, a door with no markings whatsoever. When she tapped her card key against it, the space that opened was far from ordinary.
A total of four private rooms.
Each room was equipped with a shower booth and a massage bed, but their quality was on a different level from those in a typical massage room.
The lighting was dim enough to be comfortable on the eyes, and the material of the bed retained its authentic texture.
Song Jae-pil's gaze swept over the ceiling, walls, and door thickness in turn. The finishing of the walls, door, and ceiling was clearly designed at a glance to swallow any sound that might escape the room.
'But only one side has a full-length mirror?'
The unusual thing was that one of the external walls was made of mirror.
"There are two massage therapists, including you."
Cha Ye-rin explained in a businesslike manner.
"It's in preparation for when VVIPs arrive simultaneously, so usually only one is operational. Oils, towels, the call system. Operate everything strictly according to the manual. Once the door closes, no one outside knows what goes on inside, so absolutely... don't do anything foolish."
Her final warning was sharp again. Song Jae-pil nodded, scanning the waiting room where he would be on standby.
In the waiting room, a monitor was placed, showing split-screen feeds of parts of the center and the corridor outside the massage rooms.
'None in the massage rooms or waiting room... just the corridor and parts of the center... Purely for security, huh.'
Just as the briefing ended and Cha Ye-rin was about to leave the waiting room, the atmosphere in the center shifted.
When Cha Ye-rin looked at her phone, her expression hardened, and she quickly left the waiting room to begin tidying up the center.
"Hmm. What's this?"
Who could possibly fluster even the proud Cha Ye-rin? Song Jae-pil fixed his gaze on the CCTV monitor.
The center's door opened, and someone entered with a haughty stride. A woman in an elegant dress and low-heeled pumps walked in, and Cha Ye-rin quickly adjusted her expression and bowed her head.
Unfortunately, her face wasn't clearly visible.
"Ah, Madam Kim is here."
A fellow masseur handed Song Jae-pil a file.
"Here, this is Ether's absolute authority."
"Ah, thank you."
Song Jae-pil took the tablet.
'Name: Kim Hye-jin. Madam of the DD Group.'
First, the company name was unfamiliar. At least, there was no DD Group in Song Jae-pil's world. Reading the profile, it seemed to be a prominent, leading conglomerate in this world's setting.
"But 'absolute authority'?"
"Ah, you don't know? There's talk that Madam Kim invested when Director Cha was opening this place."
"Ah... the financier."
"That's right. And Madam Kim also refers a lot of clients."
In that case, it meant this private massage service also heavily reflected Kim Hye-jin's intentions.
Song Jae-pil stared intently at the woman on the monitor screen.
The typical image of a chaebol family's madam. The sharp, middle-aged face, heavy makeup associated with that title—none of it matched the woman on the screen.
Even being very generous, she looked early 30s at most. Distinct facial features, a clean, well-defined body line without any excess.
[Client Name: Kim Hye-jin (33)]
[Remarks: Spouse of DD Group Chairman Choi Hyun-kook. Married for 3 years. No children.]
'Married into a chaebol family at 33, three years in, and no children...'
[Notes: Private massage required. Ylang-Ylang base. Erogenous zones: mid-back and nape.]
[Special Notes: Significant mood swings. Service satisfaction varies greatly depending on her condition.]
The explicit note about 'erogenous zones' caught Song Jae-pil's eye.
'Is the huge variation in satisfaction really due to her condition... or her desires...'
While reading the tablet, Song Jae-pil recalled the conditions for the sub-objective he read in The Catalogue.
'Two or more married women, satisfaction rate 100%, and 0.5 Store Points per person.'
In other words, one of those offerings was currently earnestly performing yoga poses inside the monitor. Her movements were flexible, showing pride and confidence in her own body.
After nearly an hour-long session ended.
"You will handle Madam Kim's massage starting today."
Cha Ye-rin, who had entered the waiting room, pointed at Song Jae-pil. A cold smile hung at the corner of her mouth.
Song Jae-pil read Cha Ye-rin's intention. Entrusting a core VVIP to him on the first day was not a favor.
'She must be very hurt in her pride.'
If a rookie makes a mistake, complaints will come in, and complaints are grounds for immediate dismissal.
"Yes, of course."
Song Jae-pil rose from his chair and replied calmly. Hearing his voice devoid of the tension or anxiety she had expected, Cha Ye-rin's eyebrow twitched, but Song Jae-pil had already turned his back and was reading the manual once more.
"Mhm. Okay."
Song Jae-pil paused once in front of the massage room door. After a deep breath, he reviewed the rules.
Then, as he opened the door, the scent of Ylang-Ylang oil wafted to his nose. A scent that wasn't flashy but subtle, alluring, and with a hint of something spicy mixed in.
And as he had read, in aromatherapy, it's a scent known for alleviating anxiety, calming, and having an aphrodisiac effect.
"Hello."
Inside the massage room, a soft orange indirect light flowed along the walls. And on the bed, Kim Hye-jin lay face down.
Wearing only a silk robe that left her back completely exposed.