Annoying Bastard, Why Do Women Flock to Him, A Superior I Need to Impress

In our department, there was no one who could mess with me—and no one who actually did.

The thought I'd had right after finishing my second round with Chu Yeonju, just before moving on to the third, had been an absolute fact.

After my third session with Chu Yeonju, I returned to my desk a little past one, around 1:20. No one asked why I was late.

Still, just... feeling guilty for no reason, I casually muttered something about having been in the bathroom a while longer than usual, and people actually started worrying about me.

And that pissed me off.

"Haaa...."

If I was out of commission, they were the ones who'd end ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up leaving late. Their intention of fretting over me purely because they hated that possibility was so blatantly obvious that I instead beamed even brighter and thanked them for the concern.

Of course I wasn't actually grateful. It was more accurate to say I simply didn't feel they were worth dealing with, so I drew a line with a suitably pleasant smile.

At least... the one person on our team I could evaluate as somewhat human was...

"Isuyen, pull up the unit price list for Jeongyeon Industries, please."

"Ah, yes!"

Isuyen. At my instruction she nodded so hard her round glasses bobbed, then started clacking away at the keyboard.

In the meantime I was about to call the Finance Department...

"...Ah, fuck."

...when a slight worry crept in that An Jihye might pick up if I dialed. Just in case. Really, just in case.

...I checked the Office Romance Management App, but I still couldn't modify my "relationship" with An Jihye.

"Never mind."

And even if I could modify it right this second... judging from my experiences with Park Eunseo and Chu Yeonju, changing a "relationship" didn't seem to take effect instantly. After editing the relationship, I apparently had to meet the person face-to-face and show them a side of myself that matched the new setting before it would actually register with them.

"Tsk...."

"Assistant Manager, should I email you the unit price list?"

"Ah...."

I hesitated for a moment.

"...No. Print it out and file it. I'm heading over to Finance."

"Yes."

Since things had already come to this, it would be better to set my "relationship" with An Jihye as soon as possible—whether I hated looking at her, hated dealing with her, or found her irritating as hell. Just the relationship. That alone.

"Assistant Manager, here you go."

"Thanks."

I left a brief word of thanks with Isuyen, informed the Planning Team 1 leader of my destination, and casually told our department chief I was heading over to Finance as well.

"What for?"

"Unit price matching for Jeongyeon Industries."

"Yeah, yeah. Go ahead."

Once I stated the reason for the outing, the chief approved the visit to another department without any real hesitation. On top of that:

"If they start throwing a fit like last time, don't even look back—come straight to me. If they pull that shit again I'm really going to flip the whole place upside down this time."

With our chief's solid backing secured, my steps out of Planning and toward Finance felt pretty light.

"Ah, good afternoon."

"Oh, uh...."

I arrived at the Finance Department with a spring in my step and ran straight into the Finance chief, who looked a little awkward.

"I already heard from your senior."

"May I ask what you heard, exactly...?"

"You're here about Jeongyeon Industries, right?"

"Ah, yes, that's correct."

...Wow. When our chief decided to push for someone, he really pushed. His favoritism toward me was downright vicious. For all I knew, the Finance chief was standing here waiting for me because he'd gotten a call from our chief announcing I was on the way.

"I'm only here for the unit price matching."

"Yeah, uh... just check with Jihye on that."

"Ah... yes."

...Though dumping it on An Jihye like that was pretty funny in its own right. Following the Finance chief's gaze, I locked eyes with An Jihye, who had been watching the whole exchange. Well... after eating together earlier, the surface-level grudge had supposedly been cleared.

"Jihye, run the unit price matching for Jeongyeon Industries, please."

"Ah... yes."

I held out the file with what I thought was a friendly smile, but her reaction was a little...

"...Hm?"

...Why was she reading my face?

Before Jichan arrived at Finance.

"Yes, yes, senior. Yes, yes, yes."

Finance Department Chief Park Sanghyun, fresh from the restroom, answered Planning Department Chief Choi Seokpil's call with perfect deference. As Finance chief he could normally square his shoulders and glare at just about anyone without a single person daring to push back.

"Ah... Assistant Manager Choi? Yes, yes. Yes. Ah... understood. Yes. I'll speak to the person in charge. Yes, yes. Yes, understood. Yes...."

But that kind of "power" was always relative. Planning might not match Finance, but it still carried weight of its own. Choi Seokpil's seniority was practically king-tier among anyone short of the executives, and rumors already had him all but locked in for a managing director post after retirement. Given who was on the other end of the line...

"Hey, Jihye."

"Yes, Chief...."

"Assistant Manager Choi from Planning will be over in a bit."

"...Yes."

"Nothing major. He's just coming to check the unit price matching for Jeongyeon Industries, so when he gets here, take good care of him. Think of Assistant Manager Choi as... basically Chief Choi's avatar, you know?"

"......"

Park Sanghyun had reached the point of practically pleading with An Jihye. Watching him, An Jihye found herself not entirely understanding either.

Choi Jichan.

"I'm only here for the unit price matching."

"Yeah, uh... just check with Jihye on that."

"Ah... yes."

What was so special about some assistant manager who'd simply made the rank faster than his peers and gotten thoroughly ground down by the work that the powerful Finance chief would squirm like this?

"Jihye, run the unit price matching for Jeongyeon Industries, please."

"Ah... yes."

Come to think of it, earlier...

At the pizza place, among the things Jichan had said to her, there had been this: Think carefully about who you actually need to get on good terms with and do your job properly.

...Had he been talking about himself?

Looking at how things were playing out, it didn't seem like a wrong statement. The Planning chief's favoritism. The Finance chief's deference. The careful glances from the other staff. On top of that, she'd heard rumors that even HR was watching Jichan with a distinctly positive eye. Of course it would take time, but if he kept performing the way he was now... later, much later, he might even climb into a department chief seat at a major conglomerate, might he not?

...Fuck.

An Jihye found that revolting. The idea that this irritating bastard was one of the people she would have to get on good terms with going forward was endlessly annoying. And for another reason entirely, she was annoyed as well.

What the hell does anyone even see in a guy like this...

Park Eunseo, and now Chu Yeonju on top of that. An Jihye belonged to the type who had clawed her way into a major corporation specifically to land a proper man. To that end she had polished herself relentlessly and poured serious investment into her appearance. The results, even by her own standards, were flawless: a short wavy bob that showed her forehead, a firm yet perfect body sculpted by yoga and Pilates, skin carefully maintained to a high standard, and—decisively—a face she herself considered dripping with sex appeal.

And of all the women Gaon Corporation recognized, An Jihye ranked Park Eunseo, Chu Yeonju, and Seon Yeonwoo as the top three. Yet Choi Jichan...

"...Here."

"Ah, thanks. Good work."

"......"

...appeared to be on extremely close terms with two of those three. When she'd glanced at the phone Jichan had handed her earlier, it had looked like he was extremely, extremely close with Park Eunseo. And Chu Yeonju's eyes when she looked at Choi Jichan had been overflowing with fondness and affection.

"...What the hell does anyone see in a guy like that."

An Jihye muttered her frustration under her breath as she watched Jichan's retreating back. Of course—

"Is something wrong?"

"No. Nothing."

—the male coworker at the next desk edged closer after catching the mutter, but An Jihye drew a firm line without hesitation and refocused on her monitor.

"What's gotten into her."

I'd expected a certain amount of sniping. Even if we'd gone through a reconciliation of sorts earlier, feelings that had piled up steadily didn't just melt away after one shared meal. I was the same, after all. The moment I'd realized I needed to talk to An Jihye I'd started with a curse, then marched myself over to Finance with the attitude of "might as well deal with that bitch sooner rather than later."

...But that same goddamn An Jihye had just folded like this?

"Bullshit."

No way. The clearest hint was that she'd watched me talking with the Finance chief. Someone who didn't know corporate life might have seen a department chief squirming in front of a mere assistant manager. But anyone who actually worked in a company—or had ever worked in one—would have felt a chill watching that scene.

"...That's it."

I'd pulled that kind of stunt on someone like him? It must have been dizzying. That was probably what had shifted her attitude...

"Assistant Manager Choi, the chief is calling for you."

"Ah... yes."

The moment I returned to Planning I ran into the Team 1 leader coming out. Hearing the summons, I went straight into the chief's office and delivered a very light after-action report. He ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seemed thoroughly pleased with Finance's follow-up handling.

"They only get it when you spell it out for them. Good work. And don't go thinking this is going to last forever—you know that."

"Ah, yes."

"Probably... two months at the longest before things start getting weird again. When that happens, don't hesitate—come talk to me. Your feelings matter, sure, but you know work comes first."

"Of course. If anything comes up I'll report to you first, Chief."

"Okay. Good work. Go on."

The chief sent me back to my seat with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a thoroughly satisfied expression. And once I sat down...

"...As expected."

I could confirm that something in An Jihye's feelings had shifted. So how was she thinking of me right now? Let's take a look.

"What the hell is this...."

A string of "relationships" that made sense and, at the same time, didn't. The fact that there were three of them only reinforced my earlier guess, I noted afresh...

"......"

Let's see why An Jihye thought of me this way. The first one was immediately clear. I must have been plenty irritating and plenty of a fucking bastard—she'd gotten shouted at by her chief because of me, after all. The second... I'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠skip for now. The third also made sense. After what had just happened, she must have decided I possessed some kind of ability she didn't know about.

So the problem was the second one.

"...What women?"

That one was puzzling on two fronts. I was currently single, and why would a woman like An Jihye care whether women flocked to me or not...

"...Oh. She would, wouldn't she."

The text exchange with Park Eunseo, and the conversation with Chu Yeonju after lunch.

"Ahh...."

Once I understood how An Jihye saw me, that affection score of a mere 21 no longer looked quite so low.