Why Did You Suddenly Want to Come Here?

After filling our stomachs with a light round of chicken and beer at a fried chicken place, Park Eunseo and I headed into a nearby izakaya.

Eight o'clock. A little late for the after-work crowd, but the place was still packed with office workers who'd just gotten off.

"Table for two."

"Right this way—"

There was a seat. Judging by the fact that the staff led us to the farthest corner, though, it was probably the last one left.

"What do you want?"

"Hmmmm…"

I spun the menu around so she could read it properly and set it on the table. Park Eunseo leaned in slightly, and thanks to that, the modest but unmistakable volume of her chest peeked through the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠single undone button of her blouse.

I pretended not to notice.

"Let's get okonomiyaki."

"And drinks?"

"I'll keep it simple—a highball."

"Same for me, then. Excuse me!"

I dropped my gaze just as she lifted her head. We ordered, and the moment the server left—

"So you don't have to work overtime anymore?"

"Sometimes I still do. Once a junior comes in, I'll finally get some breathing room…"

"Hmm… they're not hiring anyone, though?"

"They say they are, but whether that's just talk, who knows. Gotta wait and see."

"…Sounds rough."

"……"

Park Eunseo had chosen concern for me as her opening gambit. The weight of it was a little much, so I straightened my back, putting a bit of distance between us, and gave her a bitter smile.

"Not much I can do about it. It's not like I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠can just quit."

"True…"

"Still, they pay the overtime properly. And honestly, putting in this kind of work does help with promotions."

"Ohooo… so pretty soon I'll have to start calling you Manager?"

"You wouldn't do that when it's just the two of us."

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

"Ah, busted."

She grinned with a sly little eye-smile, and the look was strangely alluring.

Meanwhile—

"Pardon me—"

The okonomiyaki and highballs arrived together. Just like the beer earlier, we clinked glasses with a light clink and took a sip.

Sure enough—blended with whiskey and whatever else they'd mixed in—the usual bitterness of alcohol barely registered. It was actually pretty sweet. Park Eunseo seemed to think the same; after one sip, her eyes went wide.

"This highball's really good."

"Yeah?"

"Mm. I should come here more often when I have time."

"……"

…Maybe I should ask.

"You like drinking, don't you?"

"Hey, don't turn a perfectly normal person into an alcoholic, please."

"You don't?"

"…I like it a little. A little."

"So who have you been drinking with lately?"

"People I know."

"Which people?"

"Hmm… sometimes coworkers, sometimes friends. I'm a social butterfly, so I've got plenty of people to drink with."

She said it with a bright little grin, and it probably wasn't a lie. Park Eunseo was a textbook extrovert.

Which meant…

"Why? You want me to only drink with you from now on?"

…she could toss out a question like that without batting an eye. The kind of line that was perfect for making a guy misunderstand—and even better for reeling him in.

But I couldn't really call that a flaw of hers. It was just her personality. And more than that…

"No, just wondering. Wanted to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠make sure you weren't out drinking with other guys."

"Ohooo… oh no, what now? There were other guys."

That was just how attractive she was. And right in the middle of it, one line that snagged my attention.

"There were other guys?"

"Yeah. Honestly, for someone like me, wouldn't it be weirder if there weren't?"

"Just the two of you?"

"Not a lot, but… yeah, there were a few."

…Why?

Ah—first things first.

"Any of them from the company?"

"Among the guys I drank with one-on-one?"

"Yeah."

"Ah… no. There weren't."

In that case…

"Just guys I know—oppas, friends. But don't get the wrong idea. I'm not the type who gets easy after a few drinks."

…she said that, but the disclaimer wasn't really my concern. What mattered was that none of the men she'd drunk with alone were from the company.

The guys who'd approached Park Eunseo at work so far had some pretty flashy résumés. The so-called silver-spoon types. Ridiculously good-looking bastards. Smooth talkers who never shut up. And she'd shot every last one of them down.

It wasn't like I could assume her male acquaintances were somehow vastly superior to those guys, either.

…Is this also because of the Office Romance Management App, or whatever it's called?

"You knew Manager Kim Yuhon's wife, right?"

"Out of nowhere? Hmm… yeah, she was a senior in our department."

"Do you know how the two of them met?"

There was one peculiar point. Manager Kim Yuhon had been a man with almost zero appeal to women—and yet he'd gotten married. To a very attractive woman who had also been an employee at our company.

"What did she say again… that they somehow got close, somehow fell in love, and somehow ended up married."

"Nothing more specific about the 'somehow'?"

"Nope. She said she literally blinked and they were married."

What if…

What if Manager Kim Yuhon's wife had once been on the Office Romance Management App roster?

She was married, so she was no longer a romantic target—and that would explain why she'd been removed from the list. The logic held.

The real problem was…

"…Why do you look so serious?"

"Huh? Ah, no. Just a little tired, I guess."

Every time I tried to think, Park Eunseo would start talking.

"Makes sense. You've been coming in early and staying late for overtime nonstop lately. Even on weekends."

"Yeah."

"…How long does it take you to get home?"

"Bus and subway—a little under an hour."

"Farther than I thought?"

"It takes a bit. But at the end of the day, it's a rent problem…"

"Hmm… yeah, fair. Oh right, you said you came up from the countryside and live alone?"

"Yeah. I've thought about buying a car, but driving actually makes the commute longer. So I haven't gotten one."

"Ahh…"

…Why is she fidgeting like that?

"…If you're done eating, let's go."

"Uh… yeah."

Park Eunseo squirmed a little on her own, her ponytail swaying, then stood up first. She'd covered the first round; I paid for this one.

"I'm gonna have a cigarette real quick—sorry."

"Ah… okay."

Five hundred cc of beer and one highball. Not a lot of alcohol, but like any smoker, I found myself craving a cigarette for no particular reason.

I stepped into the corner of the alley so the smoke wouldn't drift toward Park Eunseo—a non-smoker—and flicked on my turbo lighter with a click.

"…But why do you smoke, anyway?"

"Huh?"

Park Eunseo had followed me all the way into the alley just to ask the question non-smokers always ask.

"I just do."

"How'd you start?"

"Military."

"Most guys say that."

"That's how much the military sucks."

Maybe it was because she felt more like a friend than anything else—I could swear freely to her face and the atmosphere stayed comfortable.

Flick—

I finished the cigarette, flicked the butt into an empty paint can, and stepped out of the alley trailing smoke. It was about ten o'clock. If I headed home now, I'd get in a little past eleven…

"…Jichan."

"Yeah?"

"You still good on drinks?"

"……"

This is…

In the end, Park Eunseo and I bought some light beer and snacks from a convenience store and checked into a motel.

Given that she'd been the one to suggest it—

"You don't have to believe me. This is the first time I've ever been to a motel in my life."

"Ah… right."

She said something that was hard to take at face value. But whether it was her first time or not, I didn't particularly care. In a way, someone with a little experience was easier to handle than a complete first-timer.

"Wow… look at that face. You don't believe me."

"I believe you."

"Do you really?"

"How should I prove it? Want me to rip out my wildly trusting, pounding heart and show it to you?"

"Forget it—"

She snickered at my nonsense and pulled out the beer and dried squid we'd bought at the convenience store.

Hiss—

We sat across from each other at the little table beside the bed and cracked open the cans.

Clink—

Just like before, we tapped the cans lightly and each took a sip.

"You live with your parents, right?"

"Yeah. They'll already be asleep by now."

"…They don't give you a hard time about staying out?"

"I'm in my late twenties. Having a curfew at this age would be dangerous in a whole different way."

A sip for the joy of no curfew. A sip while cursing out the idiots at work. A sip for the thrill of an overnight stay. She kept drinking for every trivial reason imaginable, and before long her can was empty.

We'd only bought two cans—one each—so I took the hint, finished mine quickly, and rubbed my bloated stomach.

Then—

"…Mind if I shower first?"

"Ah… sure."

Park Eunseo stood up awkwardly, grabbed a towel and a bathrobe, and disappeared into the bathroom.

Shhhhhhhh—

The sound of her showering filled the room. In the meantime, I pulled out my phone and checked the Office Romance Management App once more.

That exclamation mark.

"……"

It seemed to be telling me to tap it, but I still wasn't sure enough to try. I just kept staring at the screen, turning it over in my mind.

Meanwhile—

Squeak!

The water cut off. She'd finished washing. A moment later the door opened.

"Hwaaah… drinking and then taking a hot shower really makes the alcohol hit you."

Wrapped in a bathrobe, her clothes bunched in one hand, Park Eunseo stepped out. True to her word, warm steam was still curling up from the bathroom.

"I'll go wash up too."

"Ah, okay!"

I grabbed a bathrobe and towel the same way she had and ducked inside, finishing my shower quickly.

…Naturally, I scrubbed the important parts especially thoroughly.

Once I was done, I dried off, put on the robe, and stepped out to find Park Eunseo sitting on the bed watching TV. The moment she saw me—

"Oh… you're out?"

She seemed to sense that the moment was approaching, and set the remote down beside her with a little creak of hesitation. The fact that she was getting nervous only now was somehow endearing.

I sat down next to her and—

Slide…

—pulled her by her slim waist. She came without resistance, settling into my arms and resting her head against my shoulder.

"Eunseo."

"…Yeah?"

"Why did you suddenly want to come here?"

"……"

…Is this really her first time?

The tension on Park Eunseo's face right now was completely unfiltered.

"I just… felt like it. Does that sound weird?"

"No, not weird."

"Then we're good, right?"

"Hmm… I just wondered if maybe you'd started liking me."

"Urgh…"

If this was the influence of the Office Romance Management App—if the administrator truly exerted a definite effect on the management targets…

"…Honestly, I do have some feelings for you. I told you—I'm not the kind of girl who just goes along with anyone. Would I bring you somewhere like this with zero interest?"

"Is this a confession?"

"It's not a confession. I'm not going to get clingy over what happens today, either."

"Then what?"

"Just… we talked a lot while drinking."

"We did."

"…And somewhere along the way, I started wanting this."

Maybe an answer like this was actually more natural. The same way Manager Kim Yuhon's wife had "somehow" ended up married to him.

"…You let your hair down."

"Ah… yeah. I always take it down when I sleep. Why? You don't like it?"

"No, it's fine."

Better to just be reckless about it—I pulled her waist in tighter—

"…mmph, chuu… haah, nnh… mm, chuu, chuuu…"

—and once I'd done whatever I could with Park Eunseo, maybe I'd figure something out.