Want to... Take a Walk for a Bit?

Back at the office, around three o'clock or so.

I grinned at the messages Park Eunseo had sent and decided to try a little gaslighting of my own.

That got a pretty satisfying reaction out of her.

"Sunbaenim, I'm going to stop by Legal for a bit."

"Ah, sure."

That was enough chatting with Park Eunseo for now.

The moment Isuyen, who'd been sitting right beside me, stepped away, I casually pulled up the Office Romance Management App.

"Master… not bad at all."

I'd been pretty rough with her earlier. Somehow she'd been far more obedient than I'd expected, barely putting up any resistance — and it seemed the "Relationship" setting I'd quietly swapped the other day was doing its job.

I'd dropped "Trust," which didn't seem all that useful, and put in "Master" instead.

Things with Chu Yeonju might… turn out a little differently. Park Eunseo had already slept with me enough times that the keyword "Master" had plenty of room to sink in. Chu Yeonju, on the other hand… we'd just met up privately once for a meal.

It'd probably take a little time.

That aside.

"A Special Management Target, huh…"

I was starting to get a rough sense of what that designation actually meant. Regular Management Targets, as the name suggested, only had their "office romances" restricted. But Special Management…

"…feels like the range gets a whole lot wider."

Not just people at the company — probably every single person outside it, too. Guy friends. Acquaintances. Situationships. It seemed to throw up an iron wall against every man in her orbit.

At the same time, I was starting to appreciate just how ruthlessly capitalist this Office Romance Management App really was. The whole reason it existed was because office romances tanked work efficiency, blah blah blah… right?

Take a similar example. Whether it's a man or a woman, when someone goes on parental leave, the workload piles onto everyone around them. Oh, don't get me wrong — if anyone in my department took parental leave, I'd be all for it. Absolutely. That's something worth celebrating, and it's hard as hell.

But looking at it from the company's perspective, this thing was probably built for exactly that reason.

"…Cold-blooded bastards."

Meaning they could just "manage" people so that kind of vacancy never happened in the first place.

Which got me a little curious.

"So then… is there anything for that?"

Pregnancy. If this program was born out of fear of the gaps parental leave creates, wouldn't there be a tool for managing pregnancy too?

I'd finished inside Park Eunseo earlier only because she was temporarily on the pill. But from my end, having her take the medication felt a little unfair — and at the same time, it wasn't a hundred percent reliable, so there was still risk.

If I could "manage" even that part… it would mean I could indulge in completely consequence-free pleasure to my heart's content.

Another question floated up alongside that thought.

"…So what happens if someone's already in a couple? What if she has a husband? What if she has a kid?"

Of course, the difficulty of dragging someone like that down into Special Management Target status would skyrocket. But setting that aside — I suddenly wondered what kind of phenomena would even occur if someone who already had a boyfriend, a husband, or even a child became a Special Management Target.

…I'd look into that later.

"Sunbaenim, would you like some coffee?"

"Hm? Ah… thanks."

"Here you go."

I must have been lost in thought for quite a while — Isuyen had come back from Legal and was holding out a canned coffee. I smiled appropriately, took it from her, and took a sip.

Ding—!

"Pffft—!"

A little past six, I glanced around, read the room, and quietly stood up from my desk.

"I'll be heading out first."

"Jichan, what about that Seonghyeon Industries matter from earlier?"

"I already dropped it in your email, Team Lead. You can just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠forward it for approval as-is."

"Ahh, right. Good work. Go on home."

Being the competent employee really does put ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you on top… was a thought I'd only started having recently. And by "recently," I of course meant after Manager Kim Yuhon's death. I'd become essentially the one irreplaceable person not just on our team, but in the entire department — and my standing had skyrocketed.

…Granted, the reason for that skyrocket was basically everyone thinking if that bastard quits, we're fucked. But whatever the reason.

I skipped the voluntary overtime I'd been putting in lately because of Chu Yeonju and clocked out right on time.

"Sunbaenim, shall we?"

"Ah, yes!"

And I still got to leave with Chu Yeonju, so.

Chu Yeonju asked, "How was work today?"

"Uh… it was fine. Not crazy busy for once, but not exactly free either."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"I actually had a pretty light day today, weirdly enough."

She said it with genuine pride — and pride was the right word. Being able to coast at work only happens in two kinds of cases. Either you're so incompetent that nobody trusts you with anything and you end up with nothing to do… or you're so good that you knock out every assignment the second it lands and still have time left over.

Chu Yeonju was a textbook example of the latter. Of course, there was the small catch that she'd been pulling overtime right up until recently…

"So you finished sorting out that inventory mismatch from before?"

"Yes. It went smoothly thanks to you, Jichan-ssi. Without you, it probably would've taken another week."

That catch, too, had been a sudden mess kicked up by Manager Kim Yuhon's death. I'd helped, sure — but cleaning up the aftermath this fast was clearly more a testament to Chu Yeonju's own ability.

And it was with that Chu Yeonju that I walked into the place.

"This is it."

"Whoa…"

"It's really good here."

"Safe to get my hopes up?"

"Of course."

We stepped into the fire chicken place we'd talked about that morning.

"Excuse me — one and a half orders of fire chicken, medium spice, please. Ah. Sunbaenim, anything to drink, or…?"

"I'll just have a simple beer, then."

"Two 500cc beers as well, please."

"Coming right up!"

Orders placed in short order. I was idly scanning the menu to see if there was anything else worth getting when I suddenly felt a gaze on me. I looked up to find Chu Yeonju staring right at me.

"…What is it?"

"Ah, nothing!"

…Was the "Relationship" setting starting to take hold?

Right now, Chu Yeonju saw me as a junior who was like a sunbae, a man she liked, and a dongsaeng she wanted to see. Of those three, the second was obviously the most important. But the third wasn't far behind. Plug that third "Relationship" into the present moment, and it was like she'd just run into the little brother she'd been missing all day at work.

And on top of that, the little brother she'd been missing was…

"Um, Jichan-ssi. We said we'd… meet on Saturday, right?"

"Yes."

"What time should we… meet?"

…also the man ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she liked.

Just a guess on my part.

"Hmm… what about you, Sunbaenim? You'll be working right up through the day before — won't seeing each other too early leave you exhausted?"

"I'm fine. I was more worried about you, Jichan-ssi…"

"I'm fine too. Or should we just meet early?"

Chu Yeonju's heart was probably hammering pretty hard right about now. The second I suggested meeting early, her whole face lit up.

"Early?"

"Around… ten, maybe."

"Yes! That works for me. Theeen… umm, ah, where should we meet?"

"Well…"

"You said you live in Anyang, right, Jichan-ssi?"

"Ah, yes."

"Then should I come to Anyang? Last week you came all the way up to Seoul, after all."

"You don't have to think of it like that…"

"No, that's what we'll do."

"……"

She was even willing to invest more of her own time.

"…Alright. Then how about you come to Anyang Station by around ten?"

"In exchange, you have to show me a really good time."

"Of course. Naturally."

"Write up an itinerary by tomorrow and email it to me."

And then she hit me with that kind of playful mischief on top of everything else — how was I supposed to not smile? And when I smiled, she seemed happy about it too. She laughed with this little hehehe you could practically hear as a sound effect, and with a face that pretty, calling her an angel didn't feel like the slightest exaggeration.

"Fire chicken's ready — enjoy!"

"Ah, thank you."

But that angelic face of hers…

"…Are you taking a picture?"

"Hm? Ah, yeah. Gonna brag to a friend."

"To Humin-ssi, by any chance…?"

"No, not Humin — Eunseo."

"Ah, Eunseo-ssi…"

The moment I casually dropped another woman's name, she stiffened just a little. Of course she did. From Chu Yeonju's perspective, Park Eunseo and I were entry-cohort colleagues who got along really well. Nothing wrong with cohort-mates being close… except that the cohort-mate of the man she liked happened to be a woman. And Park Eunseo, of all people…

"How does Eunseo seem to you, Sunbaenim? Has she settled in well?"

"Hm? Ah… yees… From what I've heard from the sunbaes over there, she does good work… and more than anything, she's so lively that just watching her puts you in a good mood."

"Mm… yeah, that's true."

She was a beauty who could hold her own even next to Chu Yeonju.

"…Do you see Eunseo-ssi often, Jichan-ssi?"

The anxiety was kicking in, no doubt.

"We've been meeting up now and then lately."

"Are you and Eunseo-ssi, by any chance…"

"Ahh, no. Nothing like that. We're just friends."

"Ahh…"

Even with me drawing a clean line and calling Park Eunseo a friend to her face, that lingering unease was probably inevitable. So of course her insides were burning up. She downed a long gulp of cold beer to soothe them — and when that still wasn't enough, she set the glass down harder than she meant to.

Thud—

"Sunbaenim, this is really good."

"Ah… okay."

"It's not insanely spicy, but it should be right around the level you like."

"…I'll dig in, then."

But watching me kindly offer her food like this — maybe what she felt now wasn't frustration so much as a wistful ache. That awkwardness she'd felt last time at the board game café. The fact that this whole culture of hanging out was brand new to her meant she'd never done it with her girl friends, let alone with a guy. This had to be a first.

If I was reading her right, Chu Yeonju was probably even more flustered by how flustered she was getting over a man.

"Ah… that was great, Sunbaenim."

"Was it?"

"Yes. Ah, how did you like it?"

"Thanks to you, Jichan-ssi, I've discovered another great restaurant. Now I've got a place I can recommend to my juniors later."

And that fluster would soon become—

"…So, Jichan-ssi, are you heading straight home?"

"I probably should…? Go home, shower, rest a bit, sleep… then go to work, augh…"

"……"

—the conviction that she had to do something. That it was already getting late. That she had no idea what that something should be. All those tangled thoughts stacked up until the usually composed, pure Chu Yeonju started blurting out whatever came to mind.

"…Jichan-ssi, want to… take a walk with me for a bit?"