Rookie Manager (8)
"Sheesh. That temper of hers never changes. All the people they call masters are a bit like that."
As we stepped out of the conference room, Chun Yeonho whispered.
"She's number one on the managers' assassination ranking. It's not just you, so don't worry too much."
Seeing my expression, Chun Yeonho nodded.
"Well, you probably don't have a single worry. I'm curious myself."
"..."
"About what kind of reaction she'll show when she drinks the coffee you made."
He had a point.
If it tasted good, maybe her attitude toward me would change from now on. It wouldn't be on the level of Han Ahyoung, but there would be some shift at least. I might even end up as her dedicated coffee shuttle, but that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. If she got addicted because it was delicious, the initiative would ultimately come to me. This wasn't a situation where I was desperate to offer myself up the way I was with Han Ahyoung. I would probably get full use out of the Red Salt's effects.
So far I had figured out two effects of the Red Salt. Everything that came out of the Chef's Warehouse started from a baseline of being delicious. On top of that, the Red Salt sharpened the appetite even further. It went beyond mere tastiness and maximized the umami until whatever you were eating felt incomplete—until you wanted more. The other effect was that no matter how much you ate, you never felt full. That was how Park Seoh-ah had been able to keep packing food into her stomach endlessly at the rest stop. She had always been a big eater, but last time she had said she was full and still eating. So when she claimed she didn't feel full at all, that had been the Red Salt's doing. I had even tested it myself later on.
The only catch was that because you never got full, you kept eating forever, and in the end you just gained weight. The exact change in body weight would need a proper check, of course. Either way, it was far from what Park Seoh-ah needed right now. Delicious food was one thing; something that also managed your figure was another. Even if it somehow helped with body management, the complete lack of satiety made it pointless. But in a situation like this, the Red Salt would be especially useful. You ate and never filled up—you only craved more. It was like drinking seawater when you were thirsty. You drank water and the thirst only grew worse. The more Director Geon felt his coffee was lacking, the better.
I trailed after Chun Yeonho wherever he was headed and asked the question that had been bugging me.
"Are we not allowed to watch the script reading?"
"Some places let you, some don't. But if people keep coming in and out it breaks concentration, so they kick everyone out from the start."
Fair enough. Having managers sit quietly in place the whole time would be its own kind of torture.
We walked a short distance and went up a floor. Chun Yeonho opened a door with familiar ease and stepped into the space beyond. Three- and four-person sofas faced each other. On the table between them sat an assortment of snacks and refreshments. Off to the side stood a water cooler and a coffee machine. It was a waiting room.
"When filming starts, the actors will rest here. Right now the managers are using it."
Even here, plenty of managers greeted Chun Yeonho. I was able to exchange greetings naturally along with him. I had no business cards to hand out, so I only received them. Once the flurry died down we claimed seats and sat. For now there was nothing special to do, so resting was fine, he said. Once filming began, though, there would be no rest even during shoots.
Honestly, I had thought a manager—especially a road manager—just had to drive. Of course it was never going to be that simple. Just today I had already lost count of how many times I had bowed and said hello. People like Director Geon only added extra fatigue. They always said dealing with people was the hardest work of all.
"What the hell am I supposed to buy for coffee? His memory is insane."
"Right? How does he pick out exactly what he doesn't like? He remembers every face."
Sitting there, I could hear the managers talking among themselves.
"If he'd put that effort into his work, he would've taken home an Oscar last year."
Oscar?
If they meant the Oscars, that was the American Academy Awards. Had that coffee-maniac director been invited before? Chun Yeonho had called him a master earlier. Looking at the fact that he was directing Ghost Story Company in the first place, he couldn't be talentless. A quick search turned up quite a few famous films I had at least heard of. Even to a complete layman like me, he was a director worthy of the title. He clearly had the kind of power that let him treat coffee errands from managers as a given.
Just sitting still and listening to the managers talk was enough to pick up all sorts of information. Scripts that had just been released, auditions opening for certain dramas, scandals about certain actors currently under embargo. Then, out of nowhere, I got invited to a group chat.
"It's a chat just for the managers," Chun Yeonho said. "The ones working this shoot swap info and stuff in here."
All kinds of messages were already flying around the chat. Shooting schedules had been posted too. Filming started the day after tomorrow. Of course Park Seoh-ah's scenes weren't right at the beginning, so hers would start a little later.
Chun Yeonho suddenly frowned.
"Got any gum left?"
"Yeah. A few. Want some?"
When I handed him a Memory Gum, his face brightened. He was chewing it, but his mind was clearly somewhere else. He wanted a cigarette. Odds were good one would drop from the Pocket today. Yesterday that weird thing called a Sparkling Cock had come out, so today felt right.
Chun Yeonho suddenly muttered to himself.
"Got to shoot a cosmetics commercial today or tomorrow. Magazine pictorial for a daily paper. Radio recording too."
Han Ahyoung's schedule was packed solid. Doing drama filming on top of all that would make being stuck in Busan a real burden. She would have to keep shuttling between Seoul and Busan. Travel alone could eat up eight hours in a single day.
"If we just had cigarettes, everyone would be happy."
Chun Yeonho shot me a sidelong glance. Back to that conclusion again. I nodded. At this rate one was bound to appear. I could feel how desperately he wanted it in my bones. Chun Yeonho was seriously addicted.
Noticing my gaze, he said, "I'm pretty badly addicted myself. But Ahyoung's worse than me."
Han Ahyoung?
"Mm… she seemed fine. Maybe that's just you, hyung."
"She's holding it in. She doesn't want to look desperate. You know what she's like."
Yeah, she would hate showing any sign of craving.
"You'd better give them to her soon for your own good. I can't even predict what she might do. You…"
Chun Yeonho's voice, already quiet, dropped even lower. He was whispering right against my ear, so soft I could barely catch it myself.
"She might give you erectile dysfunction."
"…What? Suddenly, why?"
I nearly choked. Erectile dysfunction, out of nowhere?
"Because Ahyoung will ruin you. Turn you into a mutt that can't even get hard for anyone but her."
"..."
"Honestly she should've broken you ages ago, but she's holding back because you're Seoh-ah and Chaeeun's slave."
A body that only worked for Han Ahyoung. Getting insulted and scorned by her while she grabbed my Sochu—
Thump-thump♥
Ah, just imagining it made my heart race. I already had Masters… this wasn't right. My body was made to lose to women, but my owners were Park Seoh-ah and my little sister. A guilt like I was about to commit a crime pressed down on my whole body.
While I carefully steadied my thoughts, someone approached.
"You wouldn't happen to have a small screwdriver, would you?"
It was a neatly dressed man in horn-rimmed glasses. Chun Yeonho answered with a look that said of course not.
"A screwdriver… no."
"Ah, figured. A screw on my glasses just came loose all of a sudden."
I quietly rummaged through the Pocket and managed to pull out a small screwdriver. I called after the man who had already turned away.
"I've got one. Here."
"Ah! Thank you. My eyesight's terrible—without my glasses I can't see a thing."
"What, you carry a mini screwdriver around?"
"Just in case."
After that, by pure coincidence, I was able to lend things to one manager after another.
"Anyone got a box cutter…?"
"Ah, I want to brush my teeth but I didn't bring toothpaste."
"No tape? Nothing in the waiting room?"
"I need to borrow some sticky notes from the office. Oh—thank you."
Just lending out these trivial items made the way people looked at me noticeably friendlier.
"Seriously, what the hell do you keep in that crossbody bag?"
Chun Yeonho peered into my bag. I had put the items I pulled out into the bag instead of sending them back to the Pocket.
"That's everything. Just happened to match what people needed."
Chun Yeonho tilted his head and stared at me like he was looking at something uncanny.
"I've felt this since last time. You just look like the kind of guy who'd hand over whatever anyone needed, no matter what it was."
What kind of look was that supposed to be?
I could feel myself getting more skilled every time I pulled something out of storage. Even now, the most I had fumbled was about three tries. A little later I said I was going to the bathroom and stepped out. For some reason the vibe felt good right now. Like a cigarette was about to land in my hand.
I went into a stall, put my hand into the Pocket, and grabbed.
A rectangular something filled my empty hand. No instruction sheet, and the texture was familiar. A pack of 27th-century cigarettes had come out.
Yes. Finally.
For the alibi of getting them from an acquaintance… I couldn't hand them over right this second. I would probably be able to give them when filming started the day after tomorrow. He had said he was heading to Seoul to handle other schedules. Once I offered the cigarettes, Han Ahyoung would grab me and start begging for more—
I cut the thought off and shook my head. I needed to think of my Masters—my little sister and Park Seoh-ah. Park Seoh-ah had said it was only natural for a masochist like me to submit to women. Still, I wanted to show some praiseworthy loyalty. I wouldn't be able to resist a superior woman like Han Ahyoung even a little, but I would try to keep Park Seoh-ah and my sister as the absolute priority.
The smell of Park Seoh-ah's feet that I had breathed in so thoroughly this morning—
Twitch.
My hips jerked. The sudden physiological reaction left me stunned. Had I just… come? A no-erection orgasm just from imagining Park Seoh-ah's foot smell…?
I stared into my underwear with startled eyes. Thankfully I hadn't actually ejaculated. But as my heart began to settle, my cock swelled in an instant to full hardness. My body really had gotten strange. Park Seoh-ah had trained me thoroughly. I had thoroughly fallen and been ruined.
Thump-thump♥
If I could just bury my face in Park Seoh-ah's foot smell right now and turn into a complete idiot—
Twitch.
I wouldn't ask for anything else.
Twitch. Twitch.
The urge to come kept surging helplessly. But no semen actually came out. Before I knew it, precum had beaded at the tip of my fully hard cock. In the end I couldn't hold back. I imagined Park Seoh-ah stepping on my face while my little sister insulted me, and I shot once.
Afterward I returned to the waiting room and told Chun Yeonho I thought I could get the cigarettes tomorrow. I would bring one pack first, so he should smoke them sparingly. Color flooded back into Chun Yeonho's face.
"I'll ration them, sure. But you can get more, right?"
"Yeah. I'll be able to get more."
"Ha, should we go eat hanwoo tonight? Ahyoung's treating. Eat as much as you want."
Why was Han Ahyoung paying? Chun Yeonho and Han Ahyoung were engaged, and they really did seem close. When I had seen them at the club, the master-servant dynamic, the hierarchy, had looked perfect—almost excessive. The intensity of the verbal abuse had been higher than I expected too. But that was all it was. Tori—Kang Min-jun—had said it before. He had been a Sochu and ended up happier because of it. Sexual desire and taste differed from person to person. And I… even as this kind of masochist mutt, there was nothing I could do about it. I was originally this pathetic siscon masochist.
Time passed and the script reading finally ended. Following the news that popped up in the chat, I went downstairs with Chun Yeonho to the conference room where the reading had taken place. Honestly I had expected Director Geon to call for me midway—something like demanding more coffee. There had been no such word, so I was curious about his current state. And even though it was only a reading, I was curious about the reactions of the director and the surrounding actors who had watched Park Seoh-ah's performance.
I spotted Park Seoh-ah just coming out of the conference room. The same angelic face with its usual bright smile. And yet… for some reason her expression didn't look good.