Gotta Scold What's Worth Scolding
A woman with a car was cool.
A Genesis, no less.
It might not have matched the age or fashion sense of someone in her twenties, but it was still a Genesis—so it was cool.
Judging by how she swung the wheel earlier, pulling from the shoulder straight into the eight-lane road, she seemed pretty used to driving, too.
A woman who owned a car and drove well was cool.
But when you got stuck in rush hour for twenty minutes without covering even five hundred meters, the car and the driving skill both stopped meaning a damn thing.
"Is it because it's Friday? The traffic's insane."
The congestion must have been getting on her nerves; Riyeon was chewing her nails with a murderous glare.
What was she even in a hurry for? Besides, she'd gone to the district office for company business during lunch and just headed home from there, so she had time to spare.
As the HR guy, I was the one who should have been pissed at an employee blatantly leaving early without a reason. Instead I was the one walking on eggshells.
"Hey, is this a company car?"
"Don't call me 'hey.'"
Why so sharp? Hard to play along.
I'd had a rough day myself, so I just shut my mouth.
Should've just taken the subway. I'd gotten in because I was curious about Riyeon driving, and now my commute home was going to be delayed.
As someone with his own routines, this was pure torture.
Getting home, checking if I was hungry, eating a salad or yogurt, doing home workouts, showering, browsing communities a bit, then drifting off to sleep feeling fresh—that joy. The satisfaction of completing my personal routine exactly as planned, without variables, was slipping further and further away.
On top of that, I'd developed a dislike for riding in cars later in life.
I thought women with cars and good driving skills were cool, but I'd never once said I liked hitching rides in them.
Hmm. Riyeon seemed to have some shady past of her own, but maybe I wasn't much better.
"Oppa."
"Yeah?"
"Are you mad...?"
"No, no."
I saw Riyeon glancing at me from the corner of her eye. The tension around her eyes had completely melted away.
Seeing that pulled me out of my daze.
"I just... wanted you to call me by my name..."
"Huh? What?"
"Earlier, when I said not to call me 'hey.'"
"Oh, that? Don't worry about it. It's fine."
"Thank goodness."
"......"
"Call me by my name."
"Okay, okay. Got it."
When I looked straight ahead, I saw the red lights of the cars in front. The traffic light was red too, so the whole world was painted in red signals.
"Can you call me once right now?"
Hmm? Riyeon seemed nervous, gauging my mood.
Feeling a little mischievous, I deliberately put on a serious tone and called her.
"Riyeon."
"Y-yeah."
"Riyeon, you have to answer me honestly."
"Okay. I got it."
I looked at her with a stern face.
"Is this a company car?"
"...?"
Riyeon's expression slowly crumpled.
Whatever she'd been expecting, from her Oppa's perspective there was no greater pleasure.
"No! It's mine!"
"So you bought it used? How many months of installments?"
"I bought it brand new last year, cash! I've only put eight thousand on it!"
She bought a Genesis brand new, and paid cash?
This reeked of embezzlement.
"Riyeon, you joined the company at the end of last year, right?"
"Yeah."
"When last year did you buy the car?"
"In the summer."
The timing didn't match. So at least she hadn't embezzled from the current company.
Then it didn't matter. If it wasn't something that happened at the company I worked for, it was none of my business.
"Oppa, instead of that, let's talk about anime or something that suits us..."
"Riyeon."
"Yeah, what?"
"So you took this car to the district office and then just went home?"
Only then did Riyeon seem to realize something was wrong.
"W-well...?"
"You little...!"
But today's unauthorized early leave was something that had happened at the company I worked at, so I had no intention of letting it slide easily.
I was about to pinch her cheek hard, but remembering she was driving, I switched my outstretched hand to a pointing finger.
"You—you. I'm reflecting this in the year-end performance review. Your salary's frozen."
"There's no such thing!"
"There is, you idiot! I'm the only HR person in the company!"
"The team leader decides the salary!"
"I'll tell the team leader! And I decide the team leader's treatment with the management!"
Since I handled HR alone, this part was possible because I was directly connected to the CEO.
Compared to other companies, it was a deformed structure, to be honest.
"I don't want that bastard getting dirt on me!"
"Then who told you to slack off?!"
"Last time when I went out with the team leader, he suggested leaving at three, so we did! Why is this different?!"
"What?"
This wasn't something to let slide.
Unlike when I'd deliberately lowered my voice earlier, my intensity shifted into something more serious, and Riyeon flinched, pursing her lips.
"Say that again."
"Th-that's..."
"Say it. I'm asking."
"......"
"You went on an external trip with the team leader and left early together?"
"He said that was a perk of external work..."
"You just said you hate that team leader bastard, and now you're making excuses that he suggested the convenient thing? If it benefits you, you'll share a boat with someone you hate?"
Riyeon looked at me with a shocked face.
She seemed about to retort, but when I kept glaring fiercely, she lowered her head again and looked forward.
"Yu Riyeon."
"Yeah..."
"The team leader always goes around complaining about how much work he has, but actually leaving early on external trips—do you think that makes sense?"
"No..."
"You said you don't want him getting dirt on you, right? Doing that together is already dirt. You both have dirt on each other. If someone else catches the team leader and snitches to management, he'll definitely say he did it with you too, and you'll get disciplined together. You know that?"
"......"
"I don't care about other things, but you really need to keep the minimum lines. I don't say anything when you keep texting me while I'm working. I enjoy it too. It's fun. It really feels like Oppa and little sister. It's the only bright spot at the company. But that doesn't mean I drop my work entirely, right? Am I wrong?"
"...You're right."
"You also take care of general affairs stuff that needs taking care of even while texting me a lot, so we both do what we need to, and that's why I leave it alone. And when I'm really busy, I say sorry and ask you to wait, right? All that is fine. But."
Ha, damn it. As I spoke, heat was slowly rising to my head.
I knew she lacked social skills, but I didn't expect her basic mindset and attitude to be this selective.
Since she always said she hated getting caught, I hadn't worried about this part.
"But if you go along with that kind of thing and show openings in front of someone you hate, then what's the difference?"
"......"
"Yu Riyeon."
"Yeah."
"The part I'm angry about isn't that you left early following the team leader that day."
"...Then?"
"Yeah, if your superior says let's leave early, it's hard to flat-out say you'll return. I'll give you that day. But today's external work was you going alone. And yet you did the same thing as the team leader. I'm angry that you repeated that wrong behavior by yourself."
"......"
"Got it?"
Riyeon was silent.
The light turned green, but we only moved a little before stopping again.
The world was painted red once more.
Our faces beyond the car glass also turned bright red.
Riyeon still had her head down.
At this rate, once we got out of the congestion, there'd be an accident.
Thinking I might have been too scary, I quickly started soothing her.
"Riyeon."
"...Yeah."
Thankfully, she answered properly each time.
"What were you doing after leaving early? I figured you were busy since there were no texts."
"...I was just in the car."
"Then you should've texted. I was waiting."
"Waiting...?"
"Yeah."
"For my texts?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
I was suddenly at a loss for words.
Like the car lights, heat seemed to rise to the back of my neck.
Yeah. This was just to soothe Riyeon.
"I said earlier it was fun. Texting with you. So I waited."
"Because you wanted to talk with me?"
"Y-yeah."
"After scolding me for leaving early..."
"If you'd texted when you finished, I could've told you to come back to the office and this wouldn't have... Hey, are you crying?!"
Seeing something drop through her hair, I hurriedly shook Riyeon's shoulder.
When she lifted her head, tears were streaming from both of her eyes.
Caught crying by me, she gritted her teeth somehow and held back the sobs.
"No, why are you crying... Hey hey, tears, tears. Your makeup's running."
"...I don't need it."
Even though she said that, when I hurriedly pulled out a tissue and gently wiped her eye area, she stayed still.
A prepared HR person needs the sense to always carry soft tissues and wet wipes so they can be ready anytime, anywhere.
But no matter how much I wiped, more tears soaked the tissue and flowed down her cheeks.
Sobs came intermittently, but the most important thing right now was that the light would change soon.
"Oppa...!"
"Yeah yeah! Hold on, look up a little. I'll wipe the tears."
"Oppa!"
"Hey, sorry. I got too heated... From now on I'll scold you gently in a soft voice..."
"Oppa, do you enjoy texting with me?"
My hand holding the tissue stopped.
"Huh?"
"Answer me. I'm serious."
It was hard to look her straight in the eyes.
So I answered while looking at Riyeon's secret two-tone—the blue on the inside of her hair.
"I do enjoy it. At first it was distracting when you kept coming while I was working, but it gradually seeped in."
"Really?"
"It's fun. Talking with you. I don't even think about the Mizuki incident much. It's nice."
Riyeon bit her lower lip hard.
At the same time, tears burst out.
Why?!
"Heehee! Heeheeheeheeheehee!"
"Why are you laughing so scarily?!"
This girl was laughing while crying!!
"You're the first person who's said talking with me is enjoyable, Oppa."
"So that's why you're crying?"
"It's super moving, you know? My chest feels tight but I feel good!"
The light turned green.
Our car at the very front started moving.
Finally the road opened up.
Tears streaming down, Riyeon shouted at me.
"Oppa! What do you want for dinner? My treat!"
"Wipe your tears first!"
"Oppa! Can I keep texting you?"
"Ha... Do you find talking with me fun?"
"Yeah."
Riyeon beamed.
"I like talking with Oppa."
Beside Riyeon's pure smile, a tear was falling.
It was a first for me too.
Riyeon was the first woman who'd said she liked talking with me.
This part... was different from that guy.