An Offer She Couldn’t Refuse
The elevator heading for the president’s office.
Beyond the closed doors, a faint reflection shimmered in the mirror.
"...."
Park Soyoung silently looked at herself in the mirror.
After standing there motionless for a while, she slowly raised a hand and touched the arm of her glasses.
Swish.
The black-rimmed glasses that had been hiding her face slipped off.
She had only taken off a pair of glasses, and yet her impression changed so clearly.
The cool, plain air of an office worker vanished, revealing something soft and gentle beneath.
This time, she undid her hair tie.
Rustle.
Her long, tightly bound hair spilled down to her waist.
A slight draft from the elevator stirred the strands.
She took a moment to smooth her hair, then traced the collar of her shirt with her fingertips.
One button.
And then another.
As the shirt that had been buttoned all the way to her neck loosened, her pale, slender neck and the delicate line between her breasts were faintly exposed.
Then she lowered her gaze.
Her H-line skirt, worn about a hand’s breadth higher than usual.
The difference was slight, but the atmosphere was completely unlike before.
Finally, she rubbed the perfume she had sprayed on her wrist lightly against the nape of her neck.
A soft floral scent spread out.
"...."
In the mirror stood not the Personnel Team Assistant Manager Park Soyoung she always saw at work, but another woman entirely.
It was embarrassing to say out loud, but Park Soyoung was a beautiful woman.
In college, the number of confessions she received had been too many to count.
And not much had changed after she joined the company.
At dinners, on interdepartmental projects, even through the company messenger.
People kept trying to get close to her at every opportunity.
That was why she had deliberately avoided dressing up at work.
Her hair was always neatly tied back, her makeup kept to a minimum.
She wore loose shirts that didn’t reveal her figure, and even glasses to keep from standing out.
She didn’t want to invite unnecessary misunderstandings.
She didn’t want to be judged for her looks instead of her ability.
Ever since she joined the company, that was how she had lived.
And yet.
"...Ha."
A low sigh escaped her.
In the end, she was heading to the president’s office dressed in the most beautiful version of herself.
For the sake of the person she loved.
She was choosing the method she hated most of all.
...How is this any different from being a whore?
Her nose stung.
It felt like tears might spill before she even realized it.
She wanted to get off the elevator right this instant and run home.
But she couldn’t.
Lee Junho came to mind.
And so did the voice he’d had when he learned about his overseas posting, drowning in despair.
Soyoung... what am I supposed to do now?
That one line kept circling in her ears.
Park Soyoung bit down hard on her lip.
Her eyes grew red, but she forced the tears back.
Just this once.
Just this one time.
When this was over, she would never think of doing anything like this again.
Ping.
The elevator stopped.
The top floor, where the president’s office was located.
After taking one deep breath, Park Soyoung slowly stepped forward.
She had just reached the end of the hallway, where the grand doors to the president’s office came into view, when—
Bang!
The office door flew open violently, and three or four female employees were shoved out in a rush.
"P-President! Please, just this once!"
"I’m sorry! I’m really sorry!"
A female employee came stumbling out with one heel missing.
Another was hurriedly straightening her disheveled clothes.
All of them had gone deathly pale.
Then a thunderous shout rolled out from inside the office and shook the hallway.
"Get out of my company!"
Bang!
The door slammed shut again.
The female employees wandered helplessly in front of the president’s office, unable to do anything.
In the corridor with the door closed, only a cold silence drifted.
As she took in the scene, Park Soyoung froze with her eyes wide.
...Why?
If this was truly Kang Taeseong, the man she knew.
There was no way something like this would... ever happen.
*
I had forgotten that this world was inside a smut game.
Come to think of it, that made sense.
Ever since I’d possessed this body, I’d been living without a single chance to catch my breath.
At six in the morning, when my alarm went off, I got up at once and changed into workout clothes.
I ran on the treadmill with this body that had once been bulging with fat, and hit the weights until I was breathless.
It was the same after work.
By the time I came home after evening exercise, I was usually so exhausted I didn’t even have the strength to shower.
The moment I threw myself onto the bed, I’d close my eyes and open them again, and morning would already be here.
During the day, I was too busy with company work.
I reviewed the reports brought in by the secret audit team one by one and compared them against the materials coming up from the audit office.
Who had embezzled money, who had taken bribes from partner companies.
I was so busy classifying employees that I never even had time to step away during the day.
That was how I lived, shuttling back and forth between the gym and the company.
Before I knew it, I had naturally forgotten what kind of world this had been to begin with.
NTR smut game.
The moment I remembered the genre, a dry laugh almost escaped me.
A romance game with every kind of bad ending imaginable.
And at the center of it all was the villain, the original Kang Taeseong.
But at least I was different now.
I’d only been living by exercising and running a company.
I had never once experienced the kind of situation that only existed in a dirty game.
Maybe that was why.
The things that had happened over the past few hours were more than enough to completely overturn my common sense.
"President... if you could just show me a little mercy?"
The first employee.
A new hire, barely twenty-six.
"P-President, please cut me some slack. Okay?"
The moment she came into my office, she’d asked me to go easy on her in a sugary, spoiled voice, and then later on she started peeling off her clothes one by one.
"Would this... work?"
"W-what are you doing right now? Get out of here, immediately!"
I’d been so startled I sent her away on the spot.
Next was a married section manager in her mid-thirties.
She had come to see me for the same reason as the earlier new hire, asking for leniency.
"I’ll repay you with my body. Please... just spare my husband."
And with that, she immediately revealed her underwear.
Hah...
It was certainly bold of her, being a married woman and all.
I’d been building up a bit of desire for months without release, but even so... there were no exceptions.
This company was mine now, and my company could not tolerate corruption like this.
"Get out."
"President, why...?"
After that, it was all the same.
I’ll repay you with my body. I’ve always liked you, President. That bear-like look of yours is so cool—things like that.
There had been no shortage of female employees who came to the president’s office trying to cling to my line in the wake of this large-scale purge, even though they had nothing to do with the scandal.
At that point, I was honestly speechless.
"What the hell kind of world is this?"
What on earth had this world’s moral compass turned into?
Even in the world I’d lived in, there had always been people trying to curry favor with those in power.
You saw news stories about banquets and bribery schemes all the time.
Still, they didn’t make it this blatant.
These women looked like they genuinely believed body alone was enough to win the day, and that I would naturally accept the offer.
Watching their reactions, I almost felt like I was the strange one.
This game is way more committed to being horny than I expected.
Well, I supposed it had to be that way for the story to move forward.
If the original Kang Taeseong was going to steal other people’s lovers, there had to be some kind of setting like this in place.
If things had gone according to the original route, Kang Taeseong would have accepted them all.
Strictly speaking, the corruption still wouldn’t have been exposed, but if the situation had unfolded this way, he would have taken their bodies and turned a blind eye to their wrongdoing.
"This company is a mess."
Where was I supposed to start fixing this from?
As I clicked my tongue and sighed at the state of things—
Knock, knock.
I heard someone knock on the president’s office door.
Then the secretary’s voice followed immediately after.
"President, Assistant Manager Park Soyoung from the Personnel Team is here to see you."
Another one?
With a short sigh, I said, "Tell her to come in."
*
The president’s office door closed slowly.
Only two people remained in the spacious room.
Without lifting his gaze from the documents on his desk, Kang Taeseong spoke.
"What brings you here?"
"...."
Park Soyoung only moved her lips a little.
Now that she was actually inside, all the words she had prepared had vanished from her head.
The image of the female employees who had just fled the office in tears would not leave her mind.
What on earth were those people...?
"Assistant Manager Park?"
Kang Taeseong called her again.
"Ah... I, um...."
Finally regaining her senses, Park Soyoung bowed her waist.
"I’m sorry."
Kang Taeseong gave a short nod.
"I’m rather busy, so please keep it brief."
"...."
Park Soyoung clenched her hands tight.
Her fingertips went white.
"...Please cancel Assistant Manager Lee Junho’s overseas branch assignment."
For a moment, the corner of Kang Taeseong’s mouth lifted ever so slightly.
"!"
At that faintly mocking expression, Park Soyoung’s heart dropped.
Kang Taeseong leaned back in his chair and said calmly, "That’s impossible."
"...President."
"The disciplinary action was decided on the basis of sufficient evidence. Is there any reason to reverse it?"
"But Junho oppa..."
"He violated company regulations."
President Kang Taeseong was unyielding.
"Couldn’t you give him just one chance? I... I’ll do anything."
Kang Taeseong looked at her for a moment.
He watched her eyes, already on the verge of tears, then let out a long, weary sigh.
"...There is one way."
"!"
Park Soyoung’s head shot up.
There it is.
In the end, those words had come out after all.
Her heart began pounding wildly.
I knew it... people don’t change that easily.
Slowly, Park Soyoung closed her eyes.
Her trembling fingertips reached for the buttons on her shirt.
If I can save Junho oppa, then this body... is nothing.
Just as her finger touched the first button—
Kang Taeseong frowned.
"Assistant Manager Park."
"Yes."
"What are you doing right now?"
"...Pardon?"
At the icy voice, Park Soyoung froze on the spot.
Kang Taeseong let out an exasperated sigh.
"Button your shirt."
"...?"
"That’s not the method I meant."
"...What?"
"I acknowledge Assistant Manager Lee Junho’s work ability."
Kang Taeseong slid the personnel file on his desk toward her.
"That is why he was not fired. We’re giving him a chance to return if he produces results at the overseas branch."
He looked directly at Park Soyoung.
"However, someone has to make up for the gap that creates."
"..."
"Originally I planned to hire someone new... but how about this?"
Spinning a pen idly between his fingers, Kang Taeseong went on.
"Produce enough results to cover the losses and workload gap Lee Junho has caused the company."
With the corner of his mouth lifting, Kang Taeseong said, "If you do that, I’ll consider shortening his overseas assignment."
"!"
Park Soyoung stared at Kang Taeseong in a daze.
"That was the method I meant."
Park Soyoung felt her face flush hot.
It was an incredibly merciful, and completely unexpected, proposal.
What on earth had she been thinking just now?
Shame at having tried to use her body so carelessly and relief at his answer came rushing over her at once.
Meanwhile, Kang Taeseong, unaware of the storm in her heart, simply picked up his documents again.