The Barefoot Driver

Hoping to keep my identity a mystery, I'd lightly cooked up some excuse about having no idea where I'd left my car and fed it to the security guard — but my efforts came to nothing. It could have slipped right past him, yet the moment he asked who I was, Yeji pounced and introduced me as the fiancé. I could have strangled her.

He'd only asked whether I was Suho's older sister, and I'd been just about to confirm it when she drove the wedge in for good. I couldn't exactly not glare at her.

"Well, well! Is the boss already ready to tie the knot? Oh my, this calls for congratulations!! Ah, then I suppose that makes you the Madam!"

The good-natured guard had gone so far as to applaud, congratulating us on the marriage as though it were his own happy occasion. He looked so delighted on our behalf that I couldn't very well bring up the word contract. No — leaving that aside, Yeji's announcement had already torched any hope of playing ignorant and passing myself off as his sister, and since she and the guard were clearly acquainted, denial would have been pointless anyway.

"Yeji, shall we get going? Suho must be waiting for us... Ho ho. I'll see you next time, sir. Thank you."

Grabbing Yeji by the wrist in my urgency, I yanked her along, left the guard behind us, and turned toward the elevator. High heels were hardly made for speed, but that was the least of my concerns. With my head so full of the urge to give her a piece of my mind as quickly as possible, they felt barely any different from sneakers — apart from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the click-clack they made, anyway.

"There we go~ A match made in heaven, you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠two — you'll live very happily together, I can tell. Heh heh. Drive safe now~"

Dragging Yeji along — she was still busy waving at the guard — I stepped into the elevator. Perhaps because we'd only just ridden it up, the car was still parked on the first floor; I impatiently called it open and slipped inside.

Whether it was thanks to the close-door button I'd been hammering like a maniac, we managed to flee that mortifying scene in record time. Feeling the elevator begin its slow descent, I let myself relax at last — then summoned Yeji to demand answers.

"Yeji."

"Yes?"

That look she's giving me, like she has no idea what the problem could possibly be — isn't that playing innocent just a little too well?

"...Why on earth... would you say something like that..."

"Even if I hadn't, the boss would have gotten around to it eventually."

"Ugh..."

She had a point. The only difference was a matter of when; the substance wouldn't have changed much. Having delivered a self-evident truth I couldn't argue with, Yeji leaned back against the handrail inside the elevator and carried on.

"Just accept it already. It's not as if 'Madam' is a bad word, now is it?"

I opened my mouth to rebut this bizarre logic of hers, but the elevator cut me off, chiming our arrival instead.

Off the elevator... then to the... left... Oh!

Following the directions the guard had given me, it took no time at all to spot my car, parked neatly where I'd left it.

Beep.

I opened the door, settled into the driver's seat, and reached for the seatbelt.

I could have sworn pulling it out this far was enough, back in the day. Why is it squeezing my chest so tight today of all days...?

Out of long habit I flicked the belt out and moved to buckle it, but it bit in so uncomfortably that I had to tug it loose and readjust it by hand before I could finally click it into place.

So my body really has changed. Everything sits lower than I'm used to.

The seat needed adjusting too, I decided, and while I fitted my foot to the pedals — Yeji climbing in after me and fastening her own belt — I stepped on the brake to start the engine. The feel of it was wrong.

"Huh? What is this? Is the brake broken...? ...Oh."

No matter how far I bent my ankle, the pedal refused to sink in the way it should, and for a second I genuinely wondered if something was broken. It wasn't. My ankle — already bent at an angle thanks to the high heels — simply screamed in protest, and no warning light came on.

"Ah... I didn't think to leave a spare pair of shoes in here..."

"What's wrong, Unnie?"

Introducing me to the guard as the Madam one minute and switching my title the next — Yeji really was a shameless little turncoat... no, I supposed she just seemed very personable.

"It's the heels... um... Ugh. And my shoes aren't in here either. That damn Lee Suho..."

Still, drive in heels? Not a chance. Sighing, I undid the ankle straps.

Holding the back of each heel, I slipped my feet out one at a time until both shoes were off, then lifted them out of the driver's-side footwell and called over to Yeji.

"Yeji, could you set these over there for a second?"

"You're going to drive barefoot??"

"I don't exactly have a choice. Looks like I'll have to buy some shoes. Haha... Paid for with the money of one Lee Suho, who threw out my shoes. I fully intend to bleed him dry, all the way down to the bone."

And since I'd be shopping anyway, why stop there — slippers, indoor slippers, sneakers, a pair to keep in the car, the whole lot in one go. As I vented my fury to its fullest theatrical extent, Yeji stole a glance at me, then turned her eyes back to the front.

"Mm... Right... sure..."

The heels had been the problem all along, it turned out: barefoot, the brake felt almost exactly as it always had. My height had shrunk at least a little, though, because the seat didn't fit right either, and I had to slide it forward as well — but at last, preparations were complete.

The car gliding toward Mirae Building — toward one Lee Suho who had managed to displease me in every possible way — seemed to be carrying my fury inside it, pulling out a touch faster than usual.

Until we arrived, I fired questions at Yeji about this and that — everyday-life things. Even if the contract ended and I received the medicine from Suho, I still had to live as a woman until at least that day came, so more than half the conversation revolved around lifestyle habits and matters I'd never have thought to ask about on my own.

"Ah. When we stop by the mart later, I really should put together a list of household things to buy..."

Emptying the fridge had given me a rough read on Suho's tastes, so the groceries were settled — but in a house that owned exactly one toothbrush, I still had a great deal to sort out for the days ahead.

Paper notepads beat typing things into my phone, and computer notepads beat paper — that's always been me. Better not to sort it out right now; I'll be borrowing Suho's computer to write my author's notice anyway, and I can ask him what's what and make the list then.

No sense buying doubles of what's already in the house, after all...

While I was turning all this over, our brisk pace brought us to the entrance of Mirae Building, rising up ahead of us.

"Oh, Unnie, take this. Just hand it to the security guard."

Yeji fished her employee badge off from around her neck and pressed it into my hand, so I rolled down the window and passed it over to him.

The guard touched the badge to some kind of machine, and a very familiar ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠voice rang out. Listening to that canned announcement voice you could hear anywhere, I filed away my newest piece of intelligence.

So Yeji is a Chief Secretary. And apparently there are other employees in the Secretariat...? Or is she the only one?

While I was mulling that over, the guard — who had been peering in at us through the window — gave a small bow and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠handed back the badge. I took it and passed it along to Yeji, and when his eyes met hers in the passenger seat, he offered her a greeting.

"Good afternoon, Chief Secretary Yeji. I thought you'd gone out on an errand and were heading straight home for the day."

"Oh, hello. It was an errand, technically."

"We have no vehicle on file for you — shall I register it?"

"No need, it's not my car. Just link it to the CEO's information for now."

"I'm sorry — what?"

Here we go again? This exact pattern... I don't even need to hear the rest to know how it goes.

"She's the Madam. The fiancée of CEO Lee Suho."

"Ah-ha... Right, of course. I'll get her registered. One moment, please."

The guard turned to his computer with practiced ease — then froze mid-keystroke and looked back at us.

"Huh?"

Wearing an expression that plainly declared he must have misheard, he stared hard at us, so Yeji repeated herself, slow and deliberate this time.

"You heard me correctly the first time. This is Song Gaon. Please register her as a visitor, under 'the boss's fiancée.'"

Flustered, the guard kept glancing back and forth between me and the machine he'd been typing on.

Fair enough. I'd say your confusion is entirely justified.

A stranger showing up out of nowhere as the boss's fiancée was suspicious, sure — but then again, the person vouching for her was the boss's own closest secretary, so maybe it was true... and yet, to actually go ahead and register her as one...

To the guard whose mind seemed to be tying itself into precisely those knots, I offered a word.

"We haven't had the engagement ceremony yet, but Suho's coming out in a little while — you'll know when you see him."

"Ah... yes, yes. My apologies. I'll register you right away."

Still thoroughly bewildered, the guard worked the machine, and when he pressed the button, the barrier arm rose. It glided up so smoothly — the equipment couldn't have been installed all that long ago — that watching it, it truly sank in for me: this company really wasn't an old one.

The bewildered guard managed, barely, to bring his duties to a close and see us off.

"You're all registered. You can park in the ground-level visitor lot, or else in the spot next to the CEO's car."

"Thank you."

I gave him a smile and a wave and rolled in slowly — and there he was, apparently having beaten us to the lot already: that damn Lee Suho.

"Noona~! Hurry up and park, Noona."

"Sure. Go stand over there on the pavement. I'll be parked in a second."

That leisurely little wave of his was so unbearably smug that I shooed him off to a safe distance, then finished parking in a spot marked VISITOR.

"Noona. That was pretty fast of you, though? I thought it'd take longer."

"And just whose fault is it that I got here so quickly today, seeing red the entire way? I need the computer."

"Mm. It's all set up for you."

At some point — I hadn't even noticed her get out of the car — Yeji was standing beside Suho. She addressed him.

"Sir."

"Ah, good work out there. Noona didn't listen to a single word I said, did she?"

"She did not. So please make sure I'm properly compensated — the overtime pay and the early dismissal."

"Of course I will."

Um, hello? The one who suffered here was me...

Watching the devil and his fiendish minion exchange warm little pleasantries left me utterly speechless — and the moment I moved to climb out of the car, Suho came strolling around toward the driver's side.