Lunch with Chu Yeonju
Just yesterday I was despising that yellow sponge kid who claimed Mondays were great.
I figured things would improve once Monday was over, yet here I am—a company drone who now hates the entire world instead.
Still, the thought that everyone else commuting alongside me is probably thinking the exact same thing draws a pointless little laugh out of me.
How pointless? Enough that…
“Hello, Jichan-ssi.”
“Ah… hello.”
“Something good happen?”
“…As if.”
…Chu Yeonju would say something like that.
The Chu Yeonju I ran into on the way to work was, as always, simply too beautiful.
That angelic impression wasn’t for nothing.
The sacred air around her washed every impure thought lodged in my head clean away.
Today was no different.
Thanks to the wood-based scent I’d caught up close yesterday, Chu Yeonju—who already looked mature—seemed even more grown-up.
I followed her into the elevator, then followed her out again.
“Are you working late again today, Jichan-ssi?”
“Hard to say… As long as nothing unexpected blows up, I might get out relatively early even if it’s not exactly on time.”
“I really hope so.”
“You work hard too, sunbaenim.”
Something about standing in front of Chu Yeonju always made me feel like a much younger little brother.
Even though we were only a year apart.
…Am I that twisted?
Looking at her, a warped desire suddenly shoved its face into mine—the urge to take this “adult” overflowing with composure in every way and turn her into a “child” who clung to me, begging and pleading.
I know. It’s twisted.
But for the sake of some quick self-justification I hurried to my seat, powered on the computer, and…
Administrator: Choi Jichan
Management Targets: Seon Yeonwoo, Chu Yeonju, An Jihye
Special Management Target: Park Eunseo!
Just like always, I checked the Office Romance Management App.
First up was Park Eunseo’s section.
Park Eunseo — Relationship
Cohort colleague, male friend, sex partner — 63
Right after we first slept together it had been 61. A few days later it rose by one. And today, the day after that, it climbed another point to 63.
“Hmm…”
I still didn’t know exactly what the number meant, but I could guess at several possibilities.
Affection, familiarity, closeness, romantic interest—whatever the label, the substance was basically the same.
If I kept things good with Park Eunseo, that number would eventually hit 100. And when it did…
…What happens then?
I had no idea what would actually happen.
Still, it clearly wouldn’t be anything bad.
I could just keep the same casual relationship with her without any real pressure.
I left the thought there and decided to focus on today’s work.
“Suyeon-ssi, here’s what I finished organizing yesterday. Just hand this over to the Finance Department as is.”
“Ah, yes!”
…I really don’t want to work overtime.
A message popped up out of nowhere.
I checked the clock after reading Park Humin’s text—11:30.
About time for food, so…
…I asked Park Eunseo first.
I replied to Park Humin.
While I waited around until noon…
“…….”
A dizzy rush hit me and I slammed the chat window shut.
…At this point she’s not normal either.
“…….”
…Sorry, Humin.
It’s fine.
Even if that bastard somehow still showed up at the seafood soft tofu place and saw Chu Yeonju next to me, he’d just shrug it off.
That’s how male friendship inside the same company works.
But the reverse would never fly, so my guilt toward Park Humin evaporated in a single second.
What filled the space next was restlessness.
…Time is crawling like hell.
Chu Yeonju.
I didn’t like her or feel attraction yet… but the chance to eat with the sunbaenim I admired still wouldn’t arrive.
Time, though, always does what it does—it only feels slow; it still moves.
The moment the clock hit twelve I shot up from my seat and bolted down to the first-floor lobby.
“Ah, Jichan-ssi.”
“Did I keep you waiting long?”
“No, I just came down myself. Shall we go?”
Just like yesterday.
Passing employees shot us strange looks when they saw another man walking beside Chu Yeonju… or was that pure self-consciousness talking?
Honestly, I already knew the truth.
Same as with Park Eunseo yesterday—she simply drew eyes without even trying.
But the fact that someone like that had asked me to lunch first still felt damn good.
Of course it did.
I wasn’t stupid enough to think Chu Yeonju had suddenly developed feelings and was flirting with me.
I also knew this situation hadn’t been manufactured by the Office Romance Management App.
“A thank-you for helping me yesterday… would that be all right to call it?”
“If we’re tallying favors… I should be buying you lunch for a whole year.”
“That doesn’t sound bad.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Thinking back to Park Eunseo.
A full week after my name went up as administrator, she still hadn’t approached me first.
I had been the one to make the move.
“Our team came here not long ago and it was really delicious. The side dishes are excellent too.”
“Well… every place sunbaenim recommends has been good so far. This one will be too.”
“I’m so glad you think that. I really hope I don’t disappoint your palate this time either…”
“You won’t.”
I had to remember that the smile Chu Yeonju was giving me right now wasn’t because she liked me.
Chu Yeonju was simply the kind of person who smiled so freely it almost felt excessive.
The Office Romance Management App, just like the short description written on it, only “restricted” the management targets so they couldn’t date inside the company.
And judging from Park Eunseo’s case… there seemed to be a slight correction toward the administrator, and I could use that correction to rewrite relationships however I wanted.
That alone was already incredible.
But fundamentally, locking down these women’s office romances was a quietly massive advantage.
“…Is something wrong?”
“Ah, no. Just wondering when the food will come out.”
“Ah…”
As a man.
Before even wanting to try anything, these were women I at least wanted to talk to once.
But I wasn’t the only one thinking that…
Look over there.
That table across the way—probably from another company—some guy was so fixated on Chu Yeonju he wasn’t even eating.
And there would be plenty of men like him.
Which meant plenty who would actually try talking to her.
No guarantee none of them would turn into something real.
But the Office Romance Management App at least erased the possibility inside our company—this one collective.
A company full of silver-spoon kids, ridiculously handsome bastards, and smooth talkers.
“I was… really surprised looking at you yesterday, Jichan-ssi.”
“Yesterday?”
“Yes. How many years has it been since you joined?”
“Me… about three years now.”
“Right? Three years isn’t that long, yet you already feel completely like an adult.”
…But not me.
I couldn’t block the management targets’ acquaintances outside, but inside the company I was the only man who could approach these women.
And a company…
Except for weekends, you sink more than a third of every day into it, so as long as you create a reason you can get tangled up however you like.
Which meant I had to start using this as soon as possible.
If I dithered around and some guy from outside snagged them first, it would become a real headache.
“I was already an adult.”
“You’re an adult in age, yes. But from a sunbae’s perspective… that feeling is inevitably weaker. Don’t you feel the same looking at your own juniors, Jichan-ssi?”
“…Sounds like that thing about how a son always looks like a baby to his mother no matter how old he gets.”
“Mmm, that’s not wrong.”
“Mom.”
“Ahk!”
…She cracks up that easily? How low is her laughter threshold…
Well, no wonder men constantly misunderstood her.
“Haaa…”
It must have really gotten her, because Chu Yeonju even dabbed at the tears that had spilled while trying to compose herself again.
A moment later the seafood soft tofu stew we ordered arrived.
True to a restaurant Chu Yeonju recommended, it was genuinely delicious.
As for the bill…
“…Thank you for the meal, sunbaenim.”
“I’m glad.”
…I had said I would pay, but Chu Yeonju kept bringing up how I’d helped her yesterday and insisted on treating me.
“If sunbaenim drinks coffee, then at least let me buy the coffee.”
“Then… may I take you up on that?”
“Yes.”
So I figured I should at least cover coffee.
We ducked into whatever café was nearby and ordered two cups.
I got my usual latte; Chu Yeonju, perfectly matching her image, ordered an Americano.
Walking around outside the company after a meal with Chu Yeonju, each of us holding a coffee, felt undeniably good.
Beautiful.
Kind.
Mature.
Just having a woman like that at my side was enough.
“Earlier this morning… you said you weren’t sure whether you’d be working late today, right, Jichan-ssi?”
“Yes.”
“How does it look after seeing the morning’s situation?”
“Still… kind of up in the air. What about you, sunbaenim?”
“Unfortunately it looks confirmed for me today.”
“Why?”
Chu Yeonju was good at her job.
…I had no choice but to say again that Manager Kim Yuhon had been a good mentor, because Chu Yeonju had learned under him too.
But paradoxically, both she and I kept working late because of that same man.
The reason she was staying late today didn’t seem all that different from yesterday…
“…Sunbaenim.”
“Yes?”
“What I told you yesterday is always valid for as long as I’m at this company. If you need help, just say the word anytime. I’ll drop everything else and come help you.”
…I tossed out a little bait, wondering if I could use even this.
“…Thank you, Jichan-ssi.”
Whether she knew what I was thinking or not, Chu Yeonju thanked me with the purest, most innocent smile.
Making me really want to have her.