I Don't Do This with Just Anyone
Monday arrived, ushering in a brand-new week.
I left for work wearing the new clothes and sneakers Leehyun-noona had bought me. They were just clean, sensible sneakers, but Noona had picked up a matching pair in her own size, playfully insisting that seeing them on my feet made them look pretty enough for her to wear, too. Her underlying intention was painfully transparent, but I let it slide without a word.
"Good morning."
"Oh, you're here?"
I arrived at the cafe well ahead of time, just like always. The place was quiet for now, but soon enough, the morning commute would funnel an endless stream of bleary-eyed office workers through the front door.
"Right, I almost forgot. I picked up some new aprons over the weekend."
"Aprons?"
"Yeah. They're back in the office, so go ahead and try one on. You can leave your bag in there from now on, too."
"Understood. I'll be right out."
Up until now, I had treated the back office strictly as Boss's personal domain. Apparently, she wanted us to share it moving forward. Perhaps watching me use the cramped storage room had pricked her conscience. The storage space was clean enough that I hadn't minded in the slightest, but I acknowledged her offer with a polite nod and stepped into the office. All I really needed was a hook for my coat and a spot for my bag, anyway.
Is this the one?
Setting my heavy bag down on an empty chair, I lifted an apron from the clothes rack. It featured slender shoulder straps and pockets sewn across one side of the chest and down the front of the abdomen. The design required running the straps across the back, threading them through eyelets near the waist, and tying them off. I debated putting it on by myself, but after glancing through the doorway to confirm the dining floor was still deserted, I simply carried it outside.
"What do you think? Pretty, right? Doesn't it match the cafe's vibe perfectly?"
"Yes. It looks great."
The moment I emerged, Boss spun in a light circle on the spot, proudly modeling the fabric. The one-piece dress she wore today was remarkably short. Viewed from the front, the lower hem was swallowed completely by the apron, giving the distinct impression that she had nothing on underneath at all.
"I even ran them through the wash already!"
"Thank you. Would you mind helping me tie the straps?"
"Of course. Turn around, I've got it."
I stepped closer and offered her my back. Boss sank into a crouch, gathering the long cords behind me.
"There's quite a bit of slack left over. How's that? Snug enough?"
Feeling her hands pull away, I adjusted my clothes. Feigning mild discomfort with the fit, I deliberately hitched up my shirt before tugging it back down, letting the pale skin of my bare waist peek out right in front of her eyes.
"Should I retie yours as well, Boss?"
Turning around, I found her staring with an utterly vacant, wide-eyed expression.
"Boss?"
"Huh? What did you say?"
"Your straps in the back. Let me tie them again for you."
"Oh? O-Oh, sure... thanks."
Once we finished adjusting each other's aprons, the morning crowd began trickling through the glass doors. Throughout the entire morning rush, Boss ended up making an unusually high number of clumsy mistakes.
Today's clientele seemed populated almost entirely by walking zombies. Sullen, exhausted salarywomen dragging leaden feet swept through the cafe in relentless waves before finally subsiding.
"Is there a school nearby?"
"Yeah. Take a short walk down that street and you'll run into a girls' high school."
I chatted idly with Boss while wiping down the counters. Unlike our usual weekday mornings, a few students dressed in neat uniforms had stopped by today.
"Schoolgirls rarely drop in here, though. How strange."
"Isn't it just because the new semester started?"
"Maybe? But last year, we barely saw any students even during the term."
With the floor thoroughly wiped down, our brief morning lull arrived. Boss promptly slumped forward over one of the customer tables, burying her face in her arms. A second later, looking vaguely uncomfortable, she pushed herself upright, pressing a hand against her chest with a pitiful grimace.
"Is Dajeong at home, by any chance?"
"No. I'm pretty sure she left earlier this morning. Why?"
"I packed a lunchbox for her."
I couldn't bring myself to brush off the study guides she had shared with a mere word of thanks, and payday was still a ways off.
"Really? Aww, that must have been so much work."
"It wasn't hard at all. I was already prepping food for my sister, so I just made a little extra."
"For your sister? You cook breakfast for her before leaving the house every morning?"
"Yes. She doesn't eat unless someone makes it for her. Well, I'm not sure if she's unable to feed herself or simply too lazy to bother, but either way."
"Good heavens... every single day?"
I nodded gently.
"To think there's a little brother like this in the world. You're incredible."
"So I was hoping to hand the food over to Dajeong."
"She'll be swinging back home around lunchtime. Want me to tell her to stop by the cafe?"
"Ah, I have her number. I'll just reach out to her myself."
Just as I reached into my pocket for my phone, Boss raised a hand.
"Wait, no. Our lunch rush gets pretty crazy, doesn't it?"
"It does."
"I'll just run upstairs and leave it in the apartment. Where is it?"
"Inside my bag. I'll grab it for you."
Stepping back into the office, I pulled four distinct lunch containers from my bag. Boss, hovering behind my shoulder, let out a startled gasp.
"This much? She doesn't have that big of an appetite."
"Half of it is for you, Boss."
"Huh? Me? You packed one for me too?"
"Of course. How could I only pack one for Dajeong?"
I had prepared generous portions. In fact, my own lunch was still resting comfortably at the bottom of the bag.
"Hold on... this is way too touching."
"It's really nothing."
Boss swallowed hard as her eyes locked onto the containers. It was right around the hour when an empty stomach began to protest. I usually ate an early breakfast at dawn, while Boss almost always skipped hers entirely before coming into work. Because of that, we frequently raided the cafe's display case during the mid-morning lull for pastries or light snacks. Having grown thoroughly sick of sweets, I had taken the opportunity to pack portions for both Boss and myself while preparing Dajeong's meal.
"This won't do. Let's not mess around like this anymore—we need to establish an official break time."
Perhaps it was the persuasive power of a warm home-cooked meal, but Boss was suddenly proposing a formal recess and lunch hour.
"How about an hour, from ten-thirty to eleven-thirty?"
"I'm fine with that, but won't customers drop by during that window?"
"I just want to eat a proper meal in peace. Foot traffic isn't that heavy around then anyway, so it'll be fine."
To be fair, she had a point. I wasn't entirely sure about the evening shift, but during my hours, business was concentrated almost entirely in the early morning and the post-noon rush. My only slight reservation was that my shift might get extended by an hour to compensate.
"Oh, you'll still clock out at the exact same time," she added quickly, as if reading my thoughts. "I know very well you have studying to do."
"Yes."
"And I'll make sure you're paid your hourly wage for the break, too. So don't you worry."
"No, you shouldn't do that. Why would you pay me for resting?"
"Seeing how hard you work around here, you more than deserve it, Jeongseo."
Boss brushed aside my protests with a dismissive wave and began scribbling bold letters across a blank sheet of A4 paper. Once she finished noting that our break extended until eleven-thirty, she grabbed a roll of tape, slapped the notice onto the glass door, and turned around.
"Come on, let's head up to my place."
"It's not quite ten-thirty yet."
"We're starting a little early today~ I'm starving."
I wondered if it was really wise to make business decisions so whimsically, but given that she was talking much faster than usual, she truly seemed famished. Slung my bag over my shoulder, I followed her out the front.
"Hand it over."
"I'm fine. I can carry it myself."
"The elevator is down for routine maintenance right now. Give it here."
Having locked up the cafe, Boss playfully snatched the heavy bag holding the lunches right out of my grip. I trailed close behind her as we entered the residential wing of the building.
Polka dots today, huh.
Boss took the stairs two steps at a time. Following from below, the hem of her short dress rode up with every long stride, offering clear glimpses of the panties beneath. The bulky bag she carried seemed to be hiking the fabric up even higher. If she were an ordinary woman from my previous life, she would have smoothed down her skirt with a bashful tug. But Boss paid it no mind whatsoever.
She climbed briskly, her long, toned legs chewing through the flights. I kept a steady, measured pace, taking each step one by one. Naturally, the distance between us stretched out until she had opened up half a flight's lead.
"Tired already?"
"No. I'm doing fine."
"Of all days for them to inspect the elevator."
Boss halted on the landing half a flight above me. As I lagged behind, she rested her elbows on the handrail, leaning forward to gaze down. Her legs remained spread wide in the exact stance she had used to mount the stairs, putting her underwear on practically full display. Even when I tilted my head up and met her gaze directly, she made no effort to cover herself. The notion that I might actually be looking at her panties simply didn't cross her mind.
Is her period over?
There were no sanitary pad wings peeking past the edges of the fabric. The bright pink polka-dot pattern felt strangely discordant with the rest of her image; her face, figure, and outer fashion were all distinctly sultry and mature, yet her choice of lingerie leaned surprisingly cute. Entertaining those idle thoughts, I reached her fifth-floor apartment door just a step behind her.
"Wow. That was genuinely delicious. Thank you for the meal."
"I'm glad you enjoyed it."
The spread I had put together wasn't lavish by any stretch. Seasoned tofu pockets stuffed with rice, savory little sausages, a thermos of warm soybean paste soup, and a small side of fresh salad and sliced fruit. Standard, everyday lunchbox fare. Yet Boss had repeated how delicious it was well over a dozen times throughout the meal.
"You can head back down to rest first if you want. Or you're welcome to relax here until break is over... though I suppose that might be uncomfortable for you?"
"It's fine. Let me just clear this up first."
"No, leave it! I'll wash the dishes and return the containers to you tomorrow."
When I reached to gather the empty bowls and containers, Boss waved her hands in frantic protest.
"Normally I ought to pack something back in them before returning them, but... my fridge is practically empty."
"Knowing you ate well is more than enough for me."
"Really? Ah..."
She looked overwhelmingly touched, though her lips pressed together as if swallowing words she desperately wanted to say.
"Hold on... at least let me send you a mobile coupon. Do you like fried chicken?"
"Yes. I love it."
"Which brand do you like best?"
Boss grabbed her phone, her fingers rapidly dancing across the screen. Leaning forward against the dining table, her full chest squished naturally against the flat surface as she tapped away. After naming a popular chicken brand I had seen in a recent commercial, I rose to my feet.
"I'll get a head start on the dishes while you do that."
"You really are something... giggle. Wait a second, I'm almost done. We can do it together."
Standing beside the table, I began stacking the empty containers, setting aside the ones free of grease first.
"Boss."
"Hmm?"
"You have something on your clothes."
"Huh? Where?"
My eyes had caught a faint stain blossoming on the front neckline of her one-piece dress. Boss lowered her chin, pinching the fabric of her collar and pulling it forward to inspect it.
"Right here."
"Ah... you're right. Is that soybean paste broth?"
As she tugged the collar outward, the pale curve of her deep cleavage was exposed to the open air. Because she remained seated while I stood right beside her, the view of her soft, alabaster skin was startlingly intimate—vivid enough for me to discern that her brassiere perfectly matched the pink polka-dot panties she had flashed on the stairs.
"You should probably wash that out right away."
"I guess that would be for the best, wouldn't it?"
"Do you want to take it off?"
"Huh? Right now?"
"Yes. Go ahead and take your dress off."
Boss looked up at me with an utterly bewildered expression, a sudden wave of crimson rushing across her cheeks. On the stairwell earlier, and even just now when tugging at her collar, she clearly hadn't cared in the slightest about exposing her body or underwear to the air. But undressing in front of another person was clearly an entirely different matter. Which, by all normal standards, made complete sense.
Skrrrrt.
"N-No, it's fine! I'll do it myself. I can handle it."
"It's really no trouble."
Boss scrambled up from her chair, stumbling backward in a fluster.
"I can wash it for you."
Closing the distance with deliberate, measured steps, I kept my gaze firmly fixed on the swell of her chest.
"Why do you keep making things so confusing for people?"
"Excuse me? What's confusing?"
"A boy throwing around words like that so fearlessly... I mean, seriously!"
"What did I say?"
Backing her smoothly toward the nearest wall, I slowly reached out. Finding her retreat cut off, Boss pressed her back flat against the wallpaper. She looked for all the world like an imposing, oversized guard dog trembling before a tiny kitten.
"Let me take a quick look."
"Wait, no, just hold on a second—"
I maintained the innocent pretense that I was merely trying to inspect the stain on her collar. Stepping into her immediate personal space, I rose lightly onto the balls of my feet. My outstretched hand drifted straight toward the upper curve of her chest. Boss froze solid as a statue, so completely paralyzed that she seemed to forget how to breathe.
Rustle.
I took hold of the dress's scoop neckline, resting my thumb on the outer fabric while slipping the rest of my fingers inside. The tips of my fingers lightly grazed the warm, bare skin of her collarbone.
Snap.
Right as I leaned in close to examine the fabric, Boss's hand shot out and clamped firmly around my wrist.
"Jeongseo. You can't be doing this."
What couldn't I do? Was it because my hand was brushing against her chest? Or had she finally caught on to the impure intentions humming beneath my innocent facade?
"You're way too close right now. Women will get the wrong idea."
"The wrong idea?"
"You act entirely too comfortable around people. Like... you don't even care when your body touches someone else's."
Boss blurted out the words in a single, breathless tumble, as though expelling air she had been desperately holding in. Her face remained tilted slightly to the side, murmuring like someone who had lost all trace of her usual confidence. She hadn't said a single word about her chest. Probably because, at this very moment, the heel of my palm was pressing into the soft swell of her breast even more firmly than before.
"Boss."
"So, what I'm saying is, if you act this heedlessly around just anyone, a woman is bound to misinterpret it. Do you understand what I'm trying to—"
"Boss!"
"Huh?"
Her cheeks burned bright scarlet as she rambled on, utterly consumed by her own nervous lecture. Only when I raised my voice a fraction did she finally pull her gaze back to meet mine.
I arranged my features into the sweetest, most innocent expression I could muster, taking care to curve my lips into a gentle smile. Tilting my chin up slightly, I locked my eyes straight into hers.
"I don't do this with just anyone. I'm only doing it because it's you, Boss."
Boss's pupils began to tremble as if struck by a violent earthquake.