"…Assistant Hwang."
"Yes?"
When I straightened my posture and called her, Assistant Hwang Juyeon also faced me seriously.
However, just as a massive object distorts gravity, my gaze kept getting pulled downward by a different kind of mass.
Assistant Hwang was well known for her neat and proper demeanor. Especially because her ample chest was noticeable even through her clothes, she was usually extra cautious about exposure.
Seeing her with her blouse unbuttoned enough for her underwear to peek through was something I had never witnessed in the two years we worked together.
"Well, um… if I'm not mistaken, then maybe… that—"
I didn't know how to put it into words.
If I spoke exactly what came to mind, I felt like I'd become the very same kind of man as the sexual-harassing assistant manager I despised so much.
As if she already understood my hesitation, Hwang Juyeon smiled softly and said,
"I'm trying to seduce you right now, Manager."
"Ah… ah."
So it really was that.
At least it wasn't just my imagination.
…But why?
Assistant Hwang was practically the company idol, famous even in other departments. She wasn't just beautiful—she was competent, friendly, and only two years into her career at a major corporation, with a bright future ahead.
Why would someone like her make a move on a jobless man in his mid-thirties?
Even the woman I had promised marriage to had abandoned me.
It didn't feel real at all.
"I'm honestly a bit… confused. I don't even know how I'm supposed to take this."
I scratched the back of my head awkwardly.
She could easily choose a much better man. That pathetic thought wouldn't leave my mind.
Unlike me, lost in my own maze of thoughts, Assistant Hwang spoke with the same relaxed smile.
"Manager. Shall we go somewhere else for a second round?"
"Huh? A second round?"
"You're paying for the first round, right? I'll pay for the second."
"I mean, I don't mind paying, but do we really need to move? If it gets too late, you'll be tired for work tomorrow. If we're drinking more, we can just stay here."
"I'll call a taxi."
With that, as if the discussion was over, Hwang Juyeon stood up.
…Was she always this pushy?
I had no choice but to get up, almost dragged along by her.
The taxi took us to a nearby hotel.
I didn't realize our destination was a hotel until the taxi stopped in front of it. Assistant Hwang never mentioned it, and to me, a "second round" after drinks usually meant a karaoke bar or another pub—not a hotel.
"Um, Assistant Hwang."
A man and a woman going to a hotel together could only mean one thing.
There was no way we came here just to "rest for a bit," and even less chance we came for dessert.
After getting out of the taxi, I cautiously asked Hwang Juyeon, who was standing quietly beside me.
"Did I… say something that could've made you misunderstand me?"
I might seem old-fashioned, but I'm not the type to take these things lightly.
Even with my ex-girlfriend, we didn't sleep together until after a hundred days of dating. While we were together, I never did anything like this with another woman.
And the Assistant Hwang I knew wasn't the type to be casual with men either.
…At least, I thought she wasn't.
"I do think of you as a good colleague, and even personally, someone I get along with. But dating is still a bit… um, I mean, I just broke up with my ex. It's not that I dislike you—I'm just not emotionally ready to meet someone new yet…"
"Manager."
She cut me off.
"I know I don't look it, but I'm actually being incredibly brave right now."
I fell silent.
She was looking straight at me.
Despite the firmness in her eyes, her face was bright red, and her lips were trembling.
"I know this might be a burden to you. But for me, this is my last chance. You won't come out even if I ask you again, and you'll soon start dating another woman. Then the next time I see you will be at your wedding, right? And I'll just be one of the guests whose name you barely remember."
"T-That won't happen."
Her words were jumping too far ahead.
We met today just to bring things to a close, and I had no plans to meet her alone again. Even if she asked, I'd probably make excuses and avoid it.
Still, I couldn't imagine myself dating another woman and getting married anytime soon.
To be honest, I was even considering living alone for the rest of my life.
Did she really see me as a man who swapped women that easily?
"I won't say anything as presumptuous as 'let's date.' Just… lend yourself to me for tonight. If you do, I think I'll be able to sort out my feelings and continue working quietly at the company."
Lend myself?
What?
Me?
Young people's expressions were hard to understand these days.
Was this the generation gap?
Had I really gotten that old?
"If you don't, I might quit my job and keep following you around."
As if she wouldn't let go, Hwang Juyeon tightly wrapped her arms around mine.
A soft sensation pressed against my arm. A feminine fragrance drifted from her long hair.
Had I ever received such a passionate confession in my life?
I was happy that she liked me, yet at the same time, it didn't feel real.
Led by her clinging to my arm, I walked into the hotel.
At that moment, the words of the old woman at the lottery shop from earlier that day came back to me.
"Don't block the women who come your way! That's when your money luck will open up!"
At the time, I didn't understand what she meant.
A woman had to come first for me to block her, didn't she?
As if mocking that thought, Hwang Juyeon stepped closer to me without hesitation.
I'm not the type to believe in fortune-telling.
But for something like this to happen on the very day I heard those words…
Maybe this, too, was a kind of fate.
While Assistant Hwang checked in at the front desk, I waited behind her, feeling awkward.
For some reason, it felt like everyone around was judging me for coming to a hotel with a much younger woman.
…Was I being paranoid?
But even that couple getting off the elevator over there—doesn't it feel like that?
Especially the woman. It feels like she's glaring right at me…
"…!"
…Can women really change that much overnight?
And to come to a hotel with another man the very next day after breaking up with me.
Had she been seeing him even before we broke up?
The moment our eyes met, I felt as if I'd been struck by lightning.
"Sojeong, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing."
The couple cast a brief glance at me and passed by indifferently.
The woman among them was a face I knew all too well.
I couldn't mistake it.
She was the woman who had broken up with me just yesterday.
My ex-girlfriend—Park Sojeong.
For a moment, I thought I was hallucinating.
Maybe because she was dressed up more glamorously than usual, she looked like a completely different person.
But the glare she shot at me as she passed—
That was unmistakably Park Sojeong.
Even though we'd broken up, I didn't want to believe she was that kind of woman.
My head spun.
"Manager, let's go."
At that moment, Assistant Hwang returned after finishing the check-in.
"Manager?"
"…Huh? Ah—yeah."
I answered awkwardly, and she looked at me curiously.
Then she noticed a woman's back at the end of my gaze.
"…Someone you know?"
"No, no. Not at all. A total stranger. Someone I've never seen before."
"Really?"
Just then, Park Sojeong turned around.
It was the exact moment Hwang Juyeon wrapped her arm around mine affectionately.
"Oh."
Assistant Hwang recognized her face too.
She must've known immediately.
After all, until yesterday, that woman had been in my profile picture.
As if showing it off to someone, Hwang Juyeon tightened her grip on my arm.
"Let's go to the room, Manager."
She smiled brightly as she pulled me along.
Her slender arm held more strength than before.
Park Sojeong couldn't believe what she had just seen.
Her recently broken-up boyfriend, Kang Suhyeok, was at a hotel—with another woman.
She had told Kang Suhyeok they were breaking up last week.
As expected, he couldn't accept it and kept clinging to her.
It was only yesterday that he finally accepted the breakup after realizing her feelings wouldn't change.
And now, just one day later, he was at a hotel with someone else.
Park Sojeong clenched her teeth in irrational anger.
I can't believe this!
She herself was also at a hotel with another man.
But even so, Kang Suhyeok wasn't supposed to do that.
He should've suffered longer over their breakup, unable to forget her.
He should've run to her whenever she called, and if she ever changed her mind, he should've gladly accepted reconciliation.
Park Sojeong always had to be the one in control, and Kang Suhyeok had to be the one beneath her.
That was how it was supposed to be.
Yet there he was, at a hotel with another woman.
And a younger-looking one at that.
How could he do that just one day after breaking up?
Park Sojeong ground her teeth silently.
"What's wrong? You've been quiet for a while."
"…Nothing. I'm just a little tired."
"Heh. Was it that good?"
"Yes. A little…"
At her shy reply, the man holding the steering wheel broke into a wide grin.
It was a lie.
Right now, Park Sojeong's mind was filled not with the man she had just slept with for the first time today, but with the image of her ex-boyfriend she'd passed by earlier.
And the sex she'd had with this man today was the worst she'd ever experienced.
She had a bad feeling the moment they booked the room for only one hour.
She didn't expect it to end that quickly.
The shower took longer than the act itself.
She hadn't felt anything.
Seeing the man beside her smiling confidently, it didn't seem like today was an exception.
Did that mean this was his usual standard?
Having dated Kang Suhyeok for a long time, Park Sojeong actually didn't have much experience with other men.
With no point of comparison, she'd never realized how exceptional her longtime boyfriend's performance had been.
Marriage is reality.
A phrase that had haunted her for years.
Dating was one thing, but marriage required practical conditions.
Kang Suhyeok was a decent man, but he lacked something in every area.
He worked at a major corporation, but his salary didn't even reach one hundred million won.
He was busy and didn't have much time to meet.
His family wasn't particularly wealthy, and his looks weren't celebrity-level either.
Compared to the husbands of her friends who had already married, he was always just a bit lacking.
"You could meet a much better man!"
That temptation had always followed her.
And her parents actually introduced such men to her.
"Hello. I'm Koo Jiseong, deputy director at Gangnam 975 Plastic Surgery."
The man she met through her parents was perfect as a potential husband.
Aside from being slightly short, he couldn't be compared to Kang Suhyeok at all.
Handsome face, top-tier education, a family of doctors.
He himself was a successful plastic surgeon, and the salary he casually mentioned was nearly ten times Kang Suhyeok's.
The man liked Park Sojeong very much as well.
While Kang Suhyeok grew distant due to a major project at work, she secretly continued her relationship with this man.
Then, a decisive incident occurred.
Kang Suhyeok quit his job.
At that moment, the scales tipped completely.
Park Sojeong decided to put a period on her relationship with Kang Suhyeok.
Marriage was reality.
Even if Kang Suhyeok found another job, as long as he remained an ordinary office worker, there was no guarantee he wouldn't quit again someday.
In that sense, the realistic stability offered by a doctor husband was on a completely different level.
Marriage was reality.
Now in her thirties, Park Sojeong chose marriage over love.
And yet…
Who would've thought that this seemingly perfect man would have such a fatal flaw?
Facing an unexpected problem, Park Sojeong felt utterly confused.
She didn't think she had a strong libido.
At least, that's what she believed.
That was why bedroom compatibility had never been a factor when choosing a man.
She thought only overly promiscuous women cared about such things.
But now that she'd experienced it herself, she realized it wasn't something she could easily ignore.
Could she really spend decades sleeping with this man?
Her future suddenly felt pitch-dark.
She suddenly recalled the image of the young woman clinging to Kang Suhyeok's arm at the hotel.
An unknown fire flared deep within Park Sojeong's stomach.