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Episode 47: On the Eve of D-Day
When lunchtime came, I headed to a quiet corner table at a café near the office, as previously arranged.
After ordering from the menu and fiddling with my phone for a bit, Park Mina entered the café.
Looking around, she approached and sat across from me, her shoulders hunched.
"…You called for me, sunbae."
Her voice still carried fear, but she no longer pretended to be the friendly junior she once was.
"Yeah. How did what I asked go?"
I took a sip of my Americano on the table and asked nonchalantly.
"Sigh. Honestly, there's no answer for this."
Mina brushed her bangs aside irritably and let out a deep sigh.
"That Son Junhyuk guy, he's totally doing whatever he wants. He didn't even listen to what you pointed out at the last meeting."
"Hm."
"He doesn't seem to care what the buyers actually want, just dresses up the materials to look good. The meeting's coming up soon, and I don't know what he's going to do if he screws up."
As she spoke, Mina pouted.
Now that I think about it, he's always been the type only interested in superficial results.
If Son Junhyuk is digging his own grave, that's good news for me.
If I use the app to dig a little deeper into his weaknesses here…
"Yeah. Anything else?"
"Other than that, not really…"
"Just tell me anything, whatever it is."
At my urging, Mina hesitated a moment, then spoke.
"Really nothing… at most, he's just being annoying."
"Annoying?"
"Yeah. Acting all high and mighty because he's the project manager."
Mina suddenly frowned and raised her voice.
"Maybe he's always been like this, but he keeps touching my shoulder, or telling me to go make him coffee."
She must have been pretty harassed these past few days, since she was venting her complaints to me, forgetting I was the one who'd ruthlessly trampled her before.
Maybe she's half resigned to her situation.
Like it or not, I'm probably the only one left she can vent to.
"And lately, I keep getting aroused for no reason and it's driving me crazy…"
Mina, who had been venting excitedly, suddenly trailed off.
Her gaze drifted to my face.
"Sunbae."
"Yeah?"
"You've done enough, haven't you?"
"I don't know what you mean."
My sly tone made her face twist.
"Don't play dumb. I know you're the one controlling me again."
This is why I don't like sharp people.
As Mina said, the reason her body's been acting up is because of me.
I didn't do anything complicated.
I simply made her "easily aroused"-and at the same time, suggested she absolutely couldn't masturbate.
It must be agony for her day after day.
"Hurry up and put me back to normal. I'm seriously going crazy, getting turned on all the time for no reason."
"That's for me to decide. You don't have the right to order me around."
"Do you really enjoy tormenting people this much?"
I watched her intense reaction with interest and replied nonchalantly, as if doing her a favor.
"Just bear with it a little longer. Once this is all over, I'll make sure your body gets more than it ever wanted."
Realizing exactly what I meant, Mina's face twisted with a mix of contempt and embarrassment.
"Hmph! Who wants that? I just want this hellish situation to end already."
Even as she snapped, she unconsciously touched her flushed cheek.
Even while grumbling, her body was reacting honestly.
"Sigh. So what are you planning to do now? I get that you want to screw over Son Junhyuk."
Mina sighed and changed the subject, glancing at me cautiously.
Her expression was full of dissatisfaction, but there was a different emotion mixed in this time.
"We'll see." … "You're after Team Leader Kang too, aren't you? Using the same tricks you used on me."
In Mina's eyes, there was more than just curiosity-there was fear, resignation, and maybe even a hint of kinship.
"Hm."
I guess being a little nicer to her lately gave her the nerve to ask this much.
Instead of answering, I set down my coffee cup and spoke coldly.
"Just do what you're told. Don't worry about anything else."
"…Tch."
At my cold attitude, Mina clicked her tongue but didn't press further.
Looks like I'll need to teach her a lesson later.
"Keep reporting, and especially don't miss any of Son Junhyuk's mistakes. Got it?"
"…Yes. Understood."
Mina replied in a barely audible voice.
I had no more business with her.
Without hesitation, I got up and left the café.
On the way back to the office, I reviewed my plan again.
D-Day was the upcoming buyer meeting in a few weeks.
Guiding the situation wouldn't be hard, but at the decisive moment, it would all come down to my own ability.
So I needed to hone all my skills for that day.
Focus, eloquence, charisma.
Realistically, it's impossible to master all those in a short time.
'But with this, it's different.'
Feeling the cool weight of my smartphone in my pocket, I reminded myself of the hypnosis app.
Just imagining the upcoming meeting brought a natural smile to my lips.
A sense of intense tension woke her before the alarm.
Today was the day of the meeting with the Japanese buyers, the day that would decide the fate of the project she'd spent weeks preparing for.
Forcing her heavy eyelids open, the familiar bedroom ceiling came into view.
It felt like she'd had strange dreams all night.
The contents were all jumbled, but even after waking, a curious heat lingered in her body, and her lower belly throbbed for some reason.
By now, she was used to the mix of shame and obligation that bound her.
'Maybe I'm just tired…'
It had been like this for days.
She tried to convince herself it was just fatigue from all the project stress.
But the fragments of memory that kept popping up weren't just from work stress.
'That time, in the meeting room… And then, again in the break room the next day…'
As she did her makeup in front of the bathroom mirror, Jooyoung hurriedly erased the memories that surfaced.
Lee Hyunseong's bold-no, shameless-requests.
And the moments she'd helplessly complied under the pretext of boosting a subordinate's morale.
'No, don't take it so seriously.'
Jooyoung shook her head.
It was just… yeah.
As team leader, she'd had no choice but to manage morale and ensure the project's success.
It was a bit extreme and unconventional, but hadn't Lee Hyunseong become noticeably more motivated and capable at work since then?
If so, that was enough.
Her reason, deeply clouded by suggestion, desperately rationalized and ignored her broken reality.
She alone didn't realize how precariously her gaze wavered in the mirror.
After getting dressed, Jooyoung found her husband, Park Mincheol, sitting at the table as usual.
There were two cups of coffee in front of him, as if he'd made them himself.
His eyes were still sunken and tired, but seeing him there cleared a bit of the dust from Jooyoung's heart.
"…."
When she sat across from him, Mincheol silently pushed a cup toward her.
The warmth of the steaming coffee spread to her fingertips.
"Thank you."
Mincheol still only stared at his coffee in silence.
But that small gesture gave Jooyoung courage.
Maybe today, even in this miserable relationship, there would be a small change.
"Mincheol, do you have any plans today?"
Her voice was softer than last time.
"Not sure."
His voice was still weak, but not as sharp as before.
"Any word from the resumes you sent out?"
"No."
"Then maybe try sending out a few more today? Or look into that video editing course you were interested in…"
Jooyoung cautiously suggested, trying not to upset him.
But his reply was cold.
"Video editing? What's the point of learning that now. It's all pointless."
His voice was filled with deep defeat.
Jooyoung's heart sank at his words, but today she didn't want to be dragged down by negativity.
Today was important.
She wanted to hold on to hope, no matter what.
"No, don't say that. You're still young. And you know…"
She tried to sound cheerful and upbeat, though her eyes betrayed her anxiety and anticipation for today's meeting.
"This project I'm working on, upper management has high hopes for it. If it succeeds, my position at the company will change. Our situation will get much better. So you too…"
But before she could finish, Mincheol abruptly looked up.
His eyes were bloodshot with despair and anger.
"You…"
"Yes?"
"How much more miserable do you have to make me before you're satisfied?!"
Bang!
He slammed his coffee cup down on the table.
Brown liquid spilled across the table, but he didn't care.
"Do you think I want to be like this? Every morning is hell, and now you're on my case too?!"
"M-Mincheol, calm down. I was just thinking of you…"
"Thinking of me? If you really cared, would you be so happy bragging about your own success?"
His voice grew louder and louder, echoing through the living room, a mix of anger, self-loathing, and inferiority.
"Watching you every day is torture for me. Do you know how pathetic I feel every time I see you succeed?"
"I-I didn't mean it like that…"
"And yet, every day, you… You must think I'm pathetic, living off the money my wife brings home. You must be ashamed of me, right?"
"No…"
As she endured her husband's harsh words, Jooyoung bit her lip.
Here it was again.
The same old pattern.
She knew his pain better than anyone, and tried to speak sincerely.
But her words always ended up as the sharpest blade for him.
"You think I like living like this?!"
Finally, Jooyoung snapped.
"Don't you see I'm carrying all the debt and living expenses by myself?!"
She knew she shouldn't, but it was too late to take back her outburst.
"I feel like I'm fighting a war every day! And you just hole up at home… What more do you want from me?!"
"So what, you want a divorce? Is that what you want?"
"Don't say things like that!"
Their emotions exploded, words flying like knives and piercing their hearts.
After a long fight, only cold silence and deeper despair remained.
In the end, Mincheol couldn't contain his anger and left the room without a word.
"Haa."
Jooyoung gripped her now-cold coffee cup with trembling hands.
A person she loved, but also resented to the point of exhaustion.
Where would this relationship end?
'…Focus. I have to succeed today.'
Jooyoung barely managed to gather her shattered emotions.
She downed the rest of her coffee in one go and left the house.
On her way to work, her mind was more tangled than ever.
The pressure to succeed with the project.
The extreme fatigue from fighting with her husband.
And, amid all the chaos, the persistent thoughts of Assistant Manager Lee Hyunseong.
With the important meeting ahead, she found herself wanting to rely on him.
His sharpness and insight at the last meeting.
The overwhelming presence he'd shown.
That gave her anxious heart a strange sense of reassurance.
'Deputy Son Junhyuk will probably do fine, but maybe I'll need him.'
Her mind, overtaken by suggestion, already saw Hyunseong as an important factor.
As she stepped into the elevator, her stride was tense with anxiety and a sense of resolve she couldn't explain.
Today would be another, irreversible turning point in her life.
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