An Jihye

Just as planned.

Yesterday I'd gone to the club with Park Humin and mid-evening peeled him off with a pretty decent girl.

And when I woke up this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠morning to those texts…

"…Looks like he's fine."

Just in case, though.

I checked Park Humin's pregnancy-capable status. Still showing off.

Which meant…

So regardless of pregnancy status, sex itself was still possible.

If I applied this to the other women…

"…So that's how it works, huh?"

No matter how much I came inside them, they'd never get pregnant.

"Nice."

"Um… Assistant Manager?"

"Yeah?"

"Finance Department wants you on the line."

"Ah…"

Just when I was in a great mood, the junior next to me offered to transfer the internal call.

"…Put them through."

I picked up the receiver and waited…

…Just hearing that voice put my nerves on edge.

"Ah, yes."

An Jihye.

A target of the Office Romance Management App, and someone I personally rather disliked… no, someone I just plain didn't want to deal with. That bitch.

"Didn't I attach a separate supplementary document for that?"

"Did ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you actually look at what was in the supplementary document?"

"Then you already know. The vendor only gave us a provisional estimate, and the official paperwork takes time."

…God, the stress.

"A-Assistant Manager…"

"……"

One look at the stress plastered all over my face and the junior beside me started trembling, shrinking into himself.

"Hoo…"

This bitch was always like this.

I knew perfectly well that a company — an organization — needed rules to run without grinding its gears. But you couldn't lean on norms, regulations, and rules every single second. The word "exception" existed for a reason.

"Look. Hoin Industries has been doing business with us this exact way for over ten years. We're the subordinate party on this deal, so we have no choice but to follow their lead — I already told you that. If this deal falls apart, are you going to take responsibility? Should I just pass this straight up to the Chief as-is?"

But that wasn't the only reason I couldn't stand An Jihye.

Hate the work, not the person.

…I knew that wasn't how the saying actually went, but I was a company man, so I'd remix it to a company man's taste.

Anyway.

"Or I'll go talk to the Finance Chief myself. That work for you?"

Click.

"…That fucking bitch."

An Jihye was just unfinished as a human being.

From a man's point of view, she was extremely attractive… no, straight-up hot — I'd give her that. Whether she worked out or not, that tight body in a form-fitting suit was insanely sexy. That short wavy bob that barely cleared her neck was ridiculously hot too. And those languid, half-lidded eyes that looked like they were mocking every man they landed on — fuck, those were hot as hell.

Yeah, fine. I admit it. I admit it.

But the problem was she knew it too, and she used it to try to stand over men — which was exactly how this kind of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠trouble started.

Right. A woman that hot — how many guys must have been carrying her around on a pedestal all this time? Office life must have been a cakewalk for her.

Even across departments, there was still such a thing as seniority. For a regular staffer to fire back at an Assistant Manager like that, point by point…

"Haaaaah…"

Go talk to the Finance Chief myself? Oh, okay. I'll do that.

Grrr—!

"A-Assistant Manager…?"

"…I'm heading over to Finance for a bit. Time to shove some damn sense into somebody while I'm at it."

But first.

Knock knock—

"Chief."

"Hm?"

I stepped out of Planning Team 1 and stopped by where the Chief was sitting. Unlike our somewhat irresponsible Team Leader, this man was the real deal — capable, decent, a walking all-rounder.

Chief Choi Seokpil looked at me and smiled kindly. That smile was loaded with the trust you feel looking at a subordinate who actually gets the job done. Knowing that, I said:

"I'm going to stop by Finance for a moment."

"Finance? All of a sudden?"

I gave him a very abbreviated rundown of what had just happened, hitting only the key points. And as I did…

"……"

"I figured I'd just go talk to the Finance Chief while I'm at it. Honestly, I'm a little pi— I mean, annoyed."

"…No. Just stay on your work. I'll go talk to him."

…No, if the Chief went himself, this would blow up bigger than it needed to.

"No, sir, I'll go handle it. I think it's better if the person actually doing the work goes and talks it through."

"…Hold on."

The Chief put my movement on pause and pulled out his phone. Then he dialed someone…

"…Hey, Chief Park. Yeah, yeah, it's me. Didn't I already talk to you about the Hoin Industries thing?"

He was calling the Finance Chief directly and laying into him.

Companies were funny that way. The so-called "hierarchy" based on rank or years of service didn't always hold. Depending on what your department or team actually did, that hierarchy could flip completely. Same logic as a two-star division commander in the military sweating bullets in front of a Defense Security Command colonel.

In that sense, Finance literally managed the company's money, so of course their power ran deep. But so what? Planning packed just as much punch as Finance — and our Planning Chief had a lot more "mileage" than the Finance Chief.

"So why is this coming back like this? You know if Hoin Industries processing runs even a little late, we're screwed. What the hell is this right now?"

Which was exactly why a situation like this was possible.

"I'm sending the guy who handles it over there now, so you'd better give him a proper explanation for why things are running this way. If Assistant Manager Choi comes back and gives me some weird story, you'd better be ready — got it?!"

The Chief hung up with an irritated flick of his wrist and let out a long sigh.

"…None of this happened when Manager Kim was around. Why the hell is everything suddenly running like this?"

But what he said next was a little…

"It never happened under Manager Kim?"

"Haa… You know how it was. Manager Kim was a good guy, so he clicked well with their staff on the work itself. Ah, I'm not blaming you, though."

"Ah, yes. I know."

"Right… I feel bad saying this about Manager Kim, but honestly, you're doing a much better job right now than he ever did."

No, that wasn't the important part.

"So things went smoothly under Manager Kim?"

"They did. Hoin Industries was Manager Kim's dedicated account. Looking at the way these bastards are acting now, I wouldn't be surprised if they're trying to break in the new guy."

…Was it because of what I was thinking?

"Assistant Manager Choi."

"Ah, yes."

"Hoo. Go over to Finance and hear them out. Chief Park will probably come out and explain himself — then you come back and explain to me what he said."

"Ah, yes."

"Go on."

…I'd have to confirm this with the person involved herself.

Riding the Chief's push, I left the Planning offices and headed toward Finance. A push in the truest sense. This was the workplace equivalent of a top-seniority company commander in the military throwing his full weight behind a squad leader candidate he liked because the kid got results.

Odds were… even if I went over to Finance and raised hell, they wouldn't be able to move a muscle.

"…Office politics are such bullshit."

Being a beneficiary of that politics — and being on track to become the biggest beneficiary — felt good, sure. But having to care about political games even inside the company was a whole other kind of stress.

Fuck.

Every minute eaten up like this was a minute my own work piled up.

"Hoooo…"

We were still people at the same company. I'd tried to keep things friendly, smiling, avoiding trouble wherever possible — but managing my expression was getting hard.

Carrying that feeling…

"…Is the Chief in right now?"

"Ah, yes…"

How grotesque must the twisted, hellish smile on my face have looked as I confirmed the Finance Chief was in? I smoothed my expression as best I could and knocked on his office door.

Knock knock—

"Assistant Manager Choi Jichan."

"Yeah, yeah, come in…"

The Finance Chief's voice sounded drained, probably from the call just now. I carefully opened the door.

"Good morning, sir."

The moment I stepped inside, I gave a light bow. The man in front of me wasn't some regular staffer — he was Chief-level. I greeted him properly, then raised my head…

"…I've come after speaking with Chief Choi Seokpil."

"Yeah. I heard the story… You've had a rough time. This is, uh… looks like the handoff didn't go well after Manager Kim Yuhon… well. Mmm, uh… could you, uh, put in a good word with Chief Choi for me? I've already had a proper talk with Jihye."

An Jihye was standing there with her head slightly bowed.

…I had a feeling she'd just gotten a serious dressing-down.

But this fucking bitch…

"Chief, so that means Jihye is also aware of the Hoin Industries situation?"

"That's right. You know how it was, Assistant Manager Choi — originally Manager Kim and Jihye had their rhythm down. Looks like there was a little confusion when it transferred from Manager Kim over to you."

"…Does Jihye have anything she'd like to say?"

Out of the Finance Chief's sight, she glared at me like she wanted to murder me.

"…I'm sorry."

Through gritted teeth, grinding hard.

"Chief. If it's all right, could I speak with Jihye for a moment?"

"With Jihye?"

"Yes. As you said, she and I are going to be in contact frequently going forward. I think it would be good to get our rhythm locked in properly while we have the chance."

"Hmm… All right. Jihye, go have a quick word with Assistant Manager Choi and come back."

"…Understood."

I left the Chief's office with An Jihye.

But then.

"Where are you going?"

"Didn't we already settle this? You said you'd play nice from now on."

"…Excuse me. Do you think office life is a game?"

An Jihye tried to break the promise to talk with me on the spot. She scoffed at the "office life is a game" line and started to walk off…

"Did you like Manager Kim, by any chance?"

"What…"

"You said you and Manager Kim had perfect chemistry when you worked together. The work I'm doing now is exactly the same work Manager Kim used to do — and just because the person changed, everything falls apart like this?"

Right. If you were going to come at me this petty, I could go petty right back.

"So it's one of two things. Either you don't like me, or you're just disappointed I'm not Manager Kim."

"Ha. What do you take me for…"

"What do I take you for? A woman who had a thing for Manager Kim."

"…What?"

Manager Kim Yuhon was… yeah. Exactly the kind of man An Jihye would hate. Ugly. Stuck at Manager and nothing more. Not much money to his name either.

…Making dead-guy jokes did prick the conscience a little, though.

"I won't spread any rumors, so don't worry about that. You said you'd play nice going forward, so I'll be counting on you."

I left it right there, waved her off casually, and dismissed her.

At which point—

"Hey."

"Nothing more to say. I don't want to get tangled up with you either, so let's just each go our own way."

"No, wait a second."

This time An Jihye came to me first. But her face was packed full of discomfort.

"If you've got something to say, say it here. Don't drag me off somewhere weird and make it a hassle."

…After pushing her this far, maybe I should leave her at least one opening.

If I kept batting her away any further, with An Jihye's personality, she'd never so much as glance my way again. And that… would be a bit of a waste, wouldn't it?

"Do I look like someone with free time? I'm doing two-and-a-half people's worth of work right now. I don't have time to stand around here chatting with you."

"Chat…"

"I'm busy. Hard to make time during work hours, so either we grab a simple dinner tonight and talk, or we talk over lunch tomorrow."

"……"

An Jihye stared me down in silence…

"Fine. We'll talk over lunch tomorrow."

And just like that, she committed tomorrow's lunch to me.