The Sniper
A calm jazz melody wrapped gently around my ears.
Beneath the dim lighting, golden indirect lamps stretched long across the bar tables.
Liquor bottles lining the walls reflected a soft glow, like a jewelry display case.
Amber and ruby liquids filled each bottle. The space glittering beyond the glass only deepened the atmosphere.
"Hehe, Jinwoo. No need to be so tense. You can relax."
"Ah, yes! Thank you."
"Is this your first time at a bar?"
"Yes, embarrassingly enough, it is."
It wasn't the kind of company that held drinking sessions like this even for business entertaining. Honestly, I rarely had reason to come to a bar.
Aside from that, with friends? Would we ever come somewhere like this?
Even if I'd had a girlfriend before, places like this almost never came up. At most it was a beer hall or an ordinary pub.
A bar was, for me, something like the extraordinary hidden inside the everyday.
"Then do you know any cocktails?"
"Unfortunately, not really."
"Tell me your preferences first. Whether you like sweet things, or something lower in alcohol."
Cocktails, huh.
A sudden curiosity made me speak without thinking.
"I'd like to try something strong."
"Oh? Going for the strong stuff right from the start? Impressive."
"Just curious."
Honestly, even whiskey was too expensive for me to buy casually. Taste was one thing, but the value for money was so poor that I rarely reached for it. And it wasn't as if I drank it often anyway.
Compared to that, what would a strong cocktail even be like? Purely as alcohol, I was curious.
"Something strong, then. Maybe I'll order the same?"
With that, the Department Head quietly raised her hand.
The bartender, who had been polishing a clear glass, approached with practiced awareness and took the order.
"Two Snipers, please."
At that, the bartender carefully asked,
"Are you sure you'll be all right?"
Something felt off. Was that the standard question when ordering a drink? I'd never been to a bar before, so I didn't know.
What exactly was a Sniper, anyway?
The Department Head answered with a bright smile.
"Yes, it's fine."
Hearing that, the bartender calmly nodded and began mixing the cocktails with skilled hands.
"Two Snipers for you."
Then the glasses filled with cocktail were set in front of us.
"Department Head, what is this that he asked if we were okay?"
"Ah, that. It's because it's the strong one you wanted, so he checked just in case."
"How strong is it, exactly?"
"Eighty-five percent."
"What?!"
I was genuinely startled. Even the whiskies famous for high proof sold at around forty-five percent on average. Nearly double that? Did that even make sense?
"Eighty-five percent—isn't that basically pure alcohol?"
"Hehehe, your reaction is so cute, Jinwoo.
Normally a Sniper is about twenty-five percent with the standard recipe. But the master's Sniper here is specially famous for being extremely strong."
I'd heard of that. Bartenders each had their own unique recipes, and even the same drink could taste different with slight arrangements.
"For reference, if you sip this, it'll hit you hard. Better to drink it in one go."
"Y-you're saying drink this in one go? An eighty-five percent drink?"
"Yes, like this."
She lifted her glass and downed the fierce liquor in a single swallow.
"Haa~ As expected, this is the taste. The flavor that snipes your heart fiercely."
"..."
With the Department Head drinking it right in front of me, I couldn't just sit still.
After a brief deep breath, I brought the glass to my lips and shot it down hotly.
Gulp…
"Mm?!"
In that instant, the sensation of a fireball passing down my throat burned itself into my mind.
It was so vivid I could tell exactly where my esophagus was and where the cocktail had gone.
"Hooo, wow, this is seriously strong. I could see my esophagus like an X-ray."
"Hehe, right? The master's Sniper here is delicious for that one shot. How is it? The strong hit you wanted."
"It's good. The alcohol's already kicking in."
"Oh no, you can't start like that already."
She spun her empty glass lightly with a fingertip and continued,
"The night still has time left, after all."
"..."
In that moment, the Department Head's blonde hair, lit by the golden lights, shone even more brilliantly than usual.
Her blue eyes looking this way were far more unguarded than when she worked, carrying a strange allure.
In those moist pupils, my own dumbfounded face was reflected clearly.
"It's been a while, so I'm craving it. Master, one more Sniper, please."
At that, a stubborn thought that I couldn't lose to a woman in drinking made me ask for the same again.
Watching me, the Department Head laughed leisurely.
"My, unexpectedly competitive?"
"Haha, it's not really like that."
"Doesn't seem that way."
Her gaze fixed straight on me.
Those jewel-like blue eyes still shone clear, as if they might suck me in.
"But why did you invite me for drinks today? Is there something work-related you need to point out?"
My blunt question could have soured her mood, yet she looked briefly surprised, then soon wore a relaxed smile and parted her cherry-like lips.
"Jinwoo… have you heard that rumor?"
"Rumor?"
"Yes, you've probably already heard it."
"..."
That rumor was obvious. The one that the Department Head was a promiscuous woman who went around with various men.
It circulated in the department; there was no way it hadn't reached her ears.
"Yes, I've heard it."
She took the new glass in front of her, swirled it lightly, and asked,
"What do you think, Jinwoo?"
"I don't believe it."
An answer without hesitation.
At my sharp reply, the Department Head's eyes, which had seemed resigned, widened.
"You don't believe it? Why?"
She looked at me as if she couldn't believe it and asked again.
I conveyed my honest thoughts.
"Because that's how I feel."
"Pfft! Puhuhuhu! Haha, sorry, that was a completely unexpected answer."
"Is that why you called me here? To see whether I believed the rumor or not?"
"This is just my personal curiosity about you, Jinwoo."
"So there is another reason, then?"
She didn't answer and instead asked something else.
"Do you really think I'm not the promiscuous woman the rumors say?"
"I already said so earlier."
"Why?"
"Because I don't think you're that kind of person. You're outstanding in looks and have a good personality, but I never thought you were someone who wouldn't value yourself."
"..."
"Rumors often come from jealousy, and plenty start with bad intentions. I only believe what I see with my own eyes."
"Jinwoo… you really trust me, don't you?"
"I've respected you since the day I first joined this company. That feeling was the same then, is the same now, and won't change in the future."
"Jinwoo…"
At that, the look in the Department Head's eyes as she watched me shifted a little.
If before it had carried a careful caution, now it felt as if she'd gained confidence—something a bit stickier…
"..."
My heart raced at that lingering gaze, and I downed the eighty-five percent Sniper in one go.
"Ohh! As expected of you, Jinwoo. Manly and cool."
"This is good once you get used to it. Can I have one more?"
"Hehe, of course. Then me too."
Gulp! The Department Head ordered another of the same.
That was my last memory at this bar.
And here, my film cut off.
—Shaaaaaa…
The sound of water reached my ears.
I cracked open my closed eyes.
My vision slowly brightened.
Through heavy eyelids, the silhouette of a lovely woman's curves came into view.
The way she moved her body beautifully while washing was like looking at a work of art.
"Haaahm…"
A dream?
Still not fully conscious, I closed my eyes again.
Thump…
The bed shifted.
I could feel someone approaching slowly, yet I didn't register it.
Slowly, my clothes were removed.
My mind was gone; I only exhaled alcohol-laden breaths and moaned.
"Jinwoo, you agreed to this too."
"Aaah…"
"But this is your responsibility as well."
"Mmmn~"
"The one who made my heart race like this… is none other than you."
"De…partment Head."
"I know we shouldn't do this. But from the moment I first saw you… I've dreamed of this moment all along."
Only then did I force myself to come to my senses and open my eyes.
There was the Department Head, wearing only a white bathrobe, straddling my bare body.
"If you don't like an ajumma like me… say so even now. I won't do it."
At those words I finally fully woke.
The situation I was in was no dream.
Right now, the Department Head and I had entered some motel alone together.
From here, what she intended to do was something any adult would understand without words.
"As expected, you don't want it, right?"
Thump…
My heart pounded.
Thump!
The Department Head who was always so confident and full of charisma now narrowed her eyes weakly as if she might collapse at any moment, wearing a bitter smile.
If I refused here, she would surely shed clear tears from those blue eyes.
And the biggest problem was this:
That she looked… so beautiful and lovely.
Slowly, strength gathered in my lower body.
It quickly grew hard, and when it touched her lower half, she widened her eyes in surprise, looked down, then back at me.
I answered her calmly.
"I think this is answer enough."
I didn't know.
We'd already come this far.
Being drunk had clouded my judgment too.
More than anything, it would be a lie to say I'd never harbored lewd feelings toward the Department Head.
If only I weren't married—I'd thought that more than a few times.
But now the woman I'd only imagined that way was right in front of me, wanting me.
"Oh my♡"
At my answer she even smiled with her eyes, a beautiful smile.
"Then, Jinwoo, just lie still."
Rustle… Her hair brushed my collarbone.
The gaze fixed on me was wetter than ever.
"Unnie will make you feel good."
And then…
Her lips touched my neck.
"Hnn…!"
At the warm, moist sensation my body flinched involuntarily.
I thought,
Just once.
Wouldn't a little fire-play be okay?
And I harbored that bad thought.
"Haa, Department Head…"
Yeah.
I'm a bastard.
"Jinwoo…"
After that the Department Head threw off the bathrobe.
"I can't hold back."
Then her warm place touched my stiffly swollen length.
"I'm putting it in…"
Squish~♡
With a sticky sound.
"Aaah, it's thick♡"
We became one.