Audrey's Fury and the Gate We Face Once More

I stared at Calathea, my voice low and tight. "Calathea. Care to explain this… situation?"

Audrey had frozen the moment she spotted the condom balloon Calathea had casually dropped. Her eyes locked onto the other woman with a gaze cold enough to freeze blood. But Calathea simply shrugged, as if it were nothing, and slipped the thing back into her pocket with complete nonchalance.

"Why the scary face? I just dropped it by accident."

"…And the contents inside it were also made by 'just' an 'accident'?"

"Hmm, who knows?"

It wasn't my imagination. A chilling aura was slowly creeping through the air around Audrey. Calathea, standing right in front of that icy presence, simply offered a coy little smile.

"Today's date was just so much fun. Before we got home, the manager and I went into an alley and… Ah, should I really be telling you all this?"

"……Please continue."

"Aww, but it'd be so embarrassing to say it all out loud myself♡ Let's just say… my legs are still burning hot between them and throbbing like crazy?"

"………!"

I knew Calathea was deliberately provoking misunderstandings. I also knew I should step ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in and stop this right now. But the overwhelming pressure radiating from Audrey left me frozen in place, like a mouse staring down a feral cat. If anything, Calathea's casual attitude in the middle of all this was the truly abnormal part.

"Mmm, anyway, I'm going to go rest now. My back hurts a little, and honestly, it's hard just standing up."

Calathea winked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠playfully at the rigidly stiff Audrey, then sauntered into her room with a satisfied sway of her hips. That left only two people in the hallway.

Audrey and me.

"……Manager."

"Y-yeah?"

Audrey slowly stepped right up to me.

"Don't you have anything to say to me?"

"…Look, it's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a misunderstanding, okay? You know what kind of person Calathea is. She's exaggerating with lies…"

"Then I suppose the condom we just saw was a lie too."

"………."

"Manager, no matter the reason, deception is never beautiful."

Her fingers, cold as ice, traced slowly down the line of buttons on my shirt. The fabric parted with a soft rip, as if sliced by a razor. Then Audrey slipped her arms inside the open collar, pressing her body against my bare chest. She leaned in close to my neck and began sniffing—sniff, sniff.

"……Calathea's scent."

She rested her face naturally against my chest and looked up at me in silence. This was her checking my heartbeat to detect any lies. I swallowed hard and met her freezing gaze.

"Tell me in detail, Manager. What exactly did you do with Calathea?"

"Ah, no… Well, first, Calathea said she wanted a date with a lover concept, so we went to Hongdae and hung out. We did some shopping…"

"And then?"

"Then it got late and we were heading home, but she said that if we were lovers, there was something we had to do… So, um, in the alley a little bit."

"A little bit?"

"We kissed, and, uh, on her thighs…. Ah, I absolutely did not penetrate her. Calathea asked for that too. It was really just on her thighs—"

"……Manager."

Her voice had grown even colder as she called my name.

"Did Calathea use a Wish Coupon?"

"…No."

"Yet you still allowed such acts."

"I-it just kind of happened…"

Audrey bit down on my collarbone as if trying to suppress her rage, then lifted her eyes again—eyes filled with quiet fury.

"You've always been especially soft on Calathea. You strictly block even a single kiss from me, but you let her touch your chest freely. You gave her hugs without hesitation. And now… you've gone as far as simulated sex with her."

"………."

"How was it? How did Calathea's thighs feel? Did it feel good, Manager? Oh, I don't even need to hear your answer. That condom was swollen so huge and full. You must have felt incredibly good. …With that lewd body of hers."

"Wait, that's…"

"So what's next? Sex, of course. You'll quietly let her ravish you somewhere I don't know about, without even needing a Wish Coupon. And I'll find out about it later, just like now."

Her words came out in a rapid, icy barrage as she pushed me back against the wall. Looking up at me with eyes far colder than the day we first met, her pale face framed by those strikingly red lips, she spoke.

"Calathea may be that kind of woman by nature, but you shouldn't be like this, Manager. Betraying trust… A manager who deceives me is not beautiful in the slightest."

I had no words to refute her. It was true that I'd let Calathea drag me along and half-heartedly gone along with her advances. It made perfect sense that Audrey would feel hurt by it. I'd always told myself it was fortunate that Audrey listened to me so well, yet treating her this carelessly was an inexcusable mistake.

"…The date you promised me, I'll postpone it for later. I don't think I could have a beautiful date with you right now. Is that alright?"

"Uh, yeah… That's fine."

Audrey stared into my eyes for a moment, then slowly brought her face to my neck…

"……Ugh!"

She sank her teeth in hard enough to sting, leaving clear bite marks, then gently licked the skin with her tongue. She moved to a new spot right beside it and bit down again—hard. Her hand slipped inside my shirt, leaving light scratch marks down my back as she silently focused on marking my neck with her traces.

And her intense, jealous tantrum… I didn't dare try to stop it.

"…Don't worry. I won't refuse to cooperate with the Gate subjugation or anything like that."

"Y-yeah."

Finally, she pulled me into a tight hug, buried her nose against the bright red bite marks on my neck, and sniffed deeply. Only when she seemed satisfied with the strong layer of her own scent covering me did she slowly pull away.

"I'll head in now too. …Have a good night."

As soon as Audrey disappeared into her room, the cold air that had filled the entrance began to thaw. Was that the end of it?

"Ugh, haa…"

Only then did I let out the breath I'd been holding. I staggered into the living room and stood in front of the mirror. Carefully lifting my collar, I saw perfectly round bite marks—ones that would probably last for days—etched vividly into my skin. Like a brand declaring that my body belonged to Audrey. Like a warning that this was far from over.

I stared at them in a daze before letting out a deep sigh and collapsing onto the sofa.

"…This is hard. Really hard."

It was nothing compared to the early days of managing the prisoner corps, when I'd worried about how to control them or handle public opinion. It felt more like running a daycare for extremely dangerous biological weapons.

Feeling the throbbing pain in my neck, I stared blankly at the ceiling… then picked up my phone, thinking I'd heal a bit by hearing my cute secretary's voice. She must have had her phone in hand, because the call connected before it could even ring twice.

"Soyun, it's me. Um, did you secure cooperation for the A-Class Gate bidding from the Association?"

"What's with your voice? Are you sick?"

Her voice sounded depressed. Or maybe gloomy. Unlike her usual self, Baek Soyun answered in an extremely subdued tone. Even her characteristic drawn-out way of speaking had become unusually short. …Was this one of those magical days? If so, I shouldn't bother her and just let her rest.

"Ahem, got it. Then let Ewon noona know we'll start the subjugation soon—"

"……Huh? W-where did that come from?"

Her tone sounded strangely similar to Audrey's earlier—cold. But my secretary had no reason to be angry with me, so it must just be because she wasn't feeling well.

"I was the same as usual. What about you, Soyun?"

"Oh, um. That's… good to hear."

Our conversation continued with an oddly awkward tension before abruptly cutting off. Then, a moment later—

"Huh? O-of course. I only have you, Soyun."

It was the voice of a secretary seeking confirmation for something she already suspected, filled with melancholy. Lately, because I'd been running around managing the prisoner corps myself, her workload had naturally decreased. She probably felt useless now that she had less work. …How cute.

"Of course. You know that I wouldn't have made it this far without you."

"I only have you, Soyun."

As I humored Baek Soyun's whining, I could faintly hear what sounded like wet, repetitive squelching noises coming through the receiver. Like something moist being rubbed together. And her voice was starting to mix with strange, breathless sounds…

'Well, she must have been getting a massage or something when she picked up.'

I'd called to be comforted, but somehow I ended up soothing her instead, repeating the words she wanted to hear several times. Only then did she finally say—

"Yeah, I'll do my best."

I barely managed to end the call with Baek Soyun. I didn't feel particularly bad about it. We'd been together for quite a long time, and she worked hard despite her low pay, so I could put up with this much whining.

"…So now we have to clear twenty A-Class Gates in the next month."

I leaned back against the sofa and stared blankly at the ceiling. A much harsher schedule than before was about to begin, but with those S-Class women by my side, I was sure we'd manage somehow. Comforting the worries that had risen in my heart, I slowly closed my eyes and fell asleep.

A few days later, at the A-Class Gate that had appeared in Dohwa-dong, Seoul.

I stood in front of the ominously rippling purple Gate with Audrey.

"Ready?"

"…Yes, Manager."

After taking a short deep breath, I stepped into the first Gate of our 'subjugation run' alongside Audrey, who still maintained her chilly attitude. As long as it wasn't a mental-type Gate, her overwhelming physical power should let us break through and clear it quickly.

Yes, it should have been that simple.

"……What the hell is this?"

The moment we entered the Gate with that slight floating sensation, what greeted us wasn't vicious monsters. Instead, we found ourselves in a pure white maze completely filled with large rectangular mirrors. It looked almost like a modern art installation—elegant and beautiful.

"Audrey, stay alert and prepare for combat."

I had her stand by while I cautiously approached the nearest mirror to investigate. What it reflected was—