This Bastard Knew Exactly What Turns Me On
In the days that followed, right up until the weekend.
"Hello, I'm here to sort out the unit price matching."
It was the kind of work that could have been handled just fine by fax or email, but I made a point of visiting the Finance Department in person and getting myself noticed by An Jihye.
As far as the Finance Manager was concerned—whether he still remembered the old days when he used to work in sync with former Manager Kim Yuhon, or whether he was simply pushing for better relations between me and An Jihye—
"Ah, just talk to Jihye about that."
"Yes, sir."
—whenever I showed up on business like this, he casually dumped the work on her without a second thought.
Well, from the Finance Manager's perspective, assigning some random employee who didn't know the ropes ran the risk of getting chewed out by my own department head. So he was probably just securing stability by dumping it on An Jihye, who actually knew this stuff cold.
And that happened to be exactly the shape of things I wanted.
"Jihye, could you handle the matching for Eunjeong Industries?"
"…Yes."
"Here."
"……."
The way An Jihye took the documents I held out was… full of thoroughly unnatural little motions. She accepted them with both hands, yet she never once looked at me. She practically snatched the papers out of my grip.
Watching that mix of respect and open distaste, I took a quiet step back and casually checked An Jihye's "relationship" status on my phone.
Annoying fucking bastard, a man I can't understand why women flock to, a superior I have to impress — 19
"Hmm…"
From Tuesday through today, Friday. There hadn't been any real trouble with An Jihye, not even anything that came close to trouble. Just pure business.
And yet her favorability toward me had dropped a little.
Thinking about why…
"Ah, Jihye."
"Yes?"
"About the Seungyeon Trading matching you handled last time. I think I accidentally left one out, but it looks like you caught it for me?"
"Ah… yes."
"Thank you. You really saved me there."
"……."
Because she had to look good in front of the fucking bastard who went crazy the second he saw a woman and therefore got on her nerves.
"Thanks. Keep up the good work."
"……."
I made sure to stamp the "relationship" into her awareness one more time, then left right away. The moment I got back—
"Well, well."
—An Jihye's favorability had already dropped another point, down to 18.
If I used the Office Romance Management App well enough… even if her favorability hit zero, as long as I designed things carefully I could still end up in a relationship with her, couldn't I?
I didn't particularly get off on being cursed out, but An Jihye had that unique atmosphere of hers, so…
"…Heh."
I found myself quietly looking forward to that side of her.
Park Eunseo, the female friend who poked me in the belly and horsed around like we were kids, and Chu Yeonju, the senior-junior pair who liked each other but absolutely could not date. Their favorability sat at 72 and 66 respectively right now. Both of them were on the high side; even if we just met up and hung out without anything physical, you could feel how much they liked me pouring off them.
But what if I actually had sex with An Jihye, whose favorability was pitifully low?
"…I'm curious how she'll curse me out."
While she's getting fucked, wanting to make a disgusted face but completely unable to. Her mouth spitting every filthy insult she can think of at me while she begs me to fuck her harder. Her pussy insisting she hates it even as it squeezes tight, desperate for me to cum.
That would be hot in its own way. A soft little laugh of anticipation slipped out of me before I even realized it.
That… An Jihye, glaring at me with those insolent cat eyes, cursing me out, yet having no choice but to offer up her body. Just imagining it was fucking hot.
I was lost in those filthy little fantasies by myself when—
"Hey."
"Hm?"
"Smoke?"
"Ah… yeah."
—Park Humin appeared out of nowhere and called me out for a cigarette.
Click—
The second the lighter caught—
"An Jihye's been pretty quiet lately, huh?"
"…Has she?"
Park Humin brought her up first.
"You know how she used to go off on you. And not just you—she was spraying that attitude in every direction."
"Ah… yeah, I know."
"That's died down some. Something going on with her lately?"
Well… if I had to connect it to myself, maybe she was just bracing for the day her own bullshit finally bounced back and hit me too?
"Guess she finally woke up. Keep acting like a nightmare and who knows what kind of mess you'll end up in."
"True enough."
An Jihye was extremely smart. Smart in the sense that she was good at her job, sure, but also smart in the sense that she was excellent at seeing herself objectively.
If she'd been stupid, she never would have thought to weaponize her looks in the first place, and even if she had, she never would have locked men down this thoroughly.
And yet the reason An Jihye still couldn't fully spread her wings was because she was registered in the Office Romance Management App. If her name hadn't been in there… she probably would have reeled in some young executive director and really started living large.
And using that as a shield, she might not have gone full villain, but she would have made the people around her properly furious instead of just irritated.
"If she's finally got her head on straight, that's good. Things have gotten a little easier for us too."
"What does HR even have to do with Finance that it makes your life easier?"
"Dude, Finance is tangled up with everyone. They handle all the expense claims."
"You run into An Jihye too?"
"Every now and then. Used to be the atmosphere was so murderous you couldn't even open your mouth, but lately you can at least talk about work stuff."
If even Park Humin—who was that good with women—felt that way, you could tell just how serious An Jihye's previous attitude problem had been.
And about that An Jihye—
"Fuck, doesn't it get you hard, honestly?"
"What does?"
"Thinking about a girl that vicious getting all shy when you praise her. Man."
Park Humin pulled out his fantasy about her, but—
"Nah."
"What?"
That wasn't it. This guy clearly didn't get it.
"With other girls, maybe. But a girl like her? What gets you hard is her cursing you out. Picture those eyes—hating every second of it, but having no choice but to take it."
"Oh, fuck… this bastard knew exactly what turns me on."
"You get it now?"
"Master… would you deign to teach this humble disciple another lesson today?"
"What lesson?"
"Please grant me some pocket money for the club…"
"Fuck off."
While I was bantering with Park Humin like that… speak of the devil, An Jihye stepped out onto the terrace for a moment.
Definitely.
"…Yeah, you're right."
"About what?"
"Watching her curse someone out with those eyes actually does get me hard."
Seeing Park Humin react like that, it seemed my take had scored higher after all.
That haughty gaze that looked like she was surveying prey. The superior way she walked, like a cat settling into place. The sex appeal that just dripped off her even when she was standing still.
Park Humin must have run into a similar type before, because he started grinning and talking shit again.
"But there's also this thing."
"What?"
"Once a girl like that falls for real? She clings like crazy."
"You've met one?"
"Hell yeah I have. It was fucking amazing."
He threw up a thumbs-up, and watching him made me pretty expectant myself.
For real. If I put An Jihye in "that" kind of situation and let time pass, let her ripen… I wondered how she would change.
"…I'll be heading out first today."
I decided to leave the "relationship" with An Jihye alone for now. Once the weekend passed, I was looking forward to seeing how that "relationship" would have shifted—and how much her favorability would have changed along with it.
If I just left her alone, it would change on its own, so I could relax.
"Senior."
"Ah, Jichan!"
I managed an early exit for once and ran into Chu Yeonju on the way out of the office.
A little unfortunately, Chu Yeonju and I hadn't managed a single private meeting since we'd slept together during lunch on Tuesday. We'd both just been too busy.
Well… I had Park Eunseo, so it didn't really matter to me, but—
"You've been busy lately, right?"
"You've been busier than me, Senior. Whenever I walk past Team 2 I see you still at your desk even during lunch."
"Ah… I didn't really have a choice. I don't know if you know, Jichan, but someone on our side quit recently, so…"
Chu Yeonju wasn't like that. She was the junior who got wet and wanted sex the moment you kissed her, but dating was off-limits.
After sleeping with that junior twice, Chu Yeonju seemed to have properly discovered what pleasure felt like. And that pleasure, if I had to guess, was probably very close in texture to the thrill of doing something forbidden.
Which was why—
"…So then, Jichan, tomorrow you don't really…"
"Ah, yeah. I don't have any plans or anything. I'll go along with whatever you want to do today, Senior, so let's have fun."
"Really…? You'll really go along with everything I want?"
"Of course."
"…I'm going to drag you all over the place tonight, so you have to follow me everywhere."
"Obviously."
Yesterday, considering her usual personality, Chu Yeonju had been pretty aggressive about locking down today's plans. And the result was tonight.
"Alright then… Jichan, shall we go eat first?"
"Sure. Is there anything in particular you want, Senior?"
"I was thinking something light, then maybe a light beer after. How does that sound?"
"Sounds good."
"Then for something simple… what is there… want to just grab a gourmet burger over that way?"
"Ah, perfect!"
Probably… eat, drink, and then end up at a motel. That plan, which Chu Yeonju had unconsciously loaded with huge expectations, was something I could only wholeheartedly approve of.
So—
"I walked past this place once before and it looked pretty good."
"Wow… what are you getting, Jichan?"
"I'll take the double-double. As a combo."
"Ah, excuse me!"
"Yes!"
"One double-double, and one bacon tomato, please."
"Coming right up."
We stepped into the gourmet burger place together and took care of a light meal first. The spot I'd picked more or less at random turned out to taste pretty good, and Chu Yeonju and I ate while smiling… though maybe it wasn't that the food was good so much as that Chu Yeonju was the one sitting across from me.
The way she took big, happy bites of her burger. The way she looked at me and smiled like a golden retriever going hee—. And above all, she was just ridiculously pretty.
Simply eating a meal with a woman like that was enough to make any man feel completely full.
In the middle of that fullness, once we finished eating—
"Senior, I'm just going to the restroom for a second…"
"Ah, okay."
—I stepped away for a moment. When I came back, two guys were standing in front of Chu Yeonju. Judging by the vibe… it felt like a pickup attempt.
"Excuse me."
"Ah, sure."
One of them must have taken "excuse me" as me asking him to move so I could pass. Instead of stepping into the aisle, he slid right into my seat.
I wasn't so much angry as I felt a little sorry for the guy. So I just stood there and stared straight at the man blocking my chair.
He must have felt something was off.
"Ah, uh… yeah."
He fidgeted by himself for a second, then hurriedly got up and fled with his buddy.
Chu Yeonju looked a little embarrassed, like she'd been worried something bad might happen.
"Um… good thing nothing came of it."
"Yeah, really."
When she said that with a slightly awkward expression, I grinned and dropped a little truth bomb on her.
"Senior, this won't do."
"Huh? Why me?"
"Because you're so pretty that guys keep swarming like this. I can't leave you alone."
"……."
It was classic half-joke, half-serious, but forgetting for a second how straightforward Chu Yeonju's personality was—that was my mistake, if anything.
She must have taken my words completely at face value.
"Auu, thaaaat…"
Chu Yeonju's face, flushed just a little pink, was so insanely pretty it was almost unfair.