I Manager! No Slacking Off
Tae-yeon forced herself to stay calm. After all, workplaces without any regard for human rights were hardly rare.
At least she no longer had to worry about her mother’s hospital bills. Even if her insides were rotting away, on the outside everything still looked perfectly fine. That was something, at least. She was a professional. This was just a job.
She made up her mind and turned her head, only to find Choi Hyun-seo staring at her so intently it felt like he might bore a hole right through her. Perhaps it was the chandelier light, but his gaze seemed to hold a warm glow.
People were self-centered in moments like these. Even though she knew Choi Hyun-seo would never look at her that way, her mind kept spinning it into something romantic. Still, when he stared at her like that, it usually meant he had an order to give.
Snap out of it. If you’re not careful, you’ll fall for that handsome face and end up completely stripped of your soul.
Tae-yeon stepped closer to him and asked in a low voice.
“Director, is something wrong? Did you have something to say to me?”
She asked, but Hyun-seo continued to pin her with an intense gaze that was almost too much to bear. It was almost as if he were enchanted by her. Then he spoke, blunt and sudden.
“Because you’re pretty.”
“Pardon?”
“I said you’re pretty. I told you earlier too. That you’re pretty.”
Was he really saying that to her, and not to Yun-woo?
Her heart pounded so violently she couldn’t find her center. The echo of it made her face flush for no reason she could name.
What was so special about being called pretty? She had received plenty of compliments today. Yet one word from Choi Hyun-seo shook her heart like this. She should have responded with something businesslike, but she couldn’t manage it.
Just then, Icheon-daek entered the party hall carrying Yun-woo in her arms. The child was crying.
“He seems unfamiliar with the venue and keeps looking for his mom.”
Yun-woo, lips pouting as he cried, burrowed into Tae-yeon’s chest the moment she took him. Hyun-seo watched the scene intently. To Yun-woo, Tae-yeon’s chest must have looked like the safest place in the world.
Tae-yeon carried Yun-woo over to Chairman Choi and Oh Jin-hee to say goodbye.
“Yun-woo keeps fussing and won’t leave my side. I’ll take him home first.”
“Go on, go ahead. We can’t make our Yun-woo uncomfortable at his own hundred-day banquet.”
Tae-yeon had already been exhausted, so she thought this was perfect timing. She left the party early with Yun-woo before it ended.
As she slipped out with Icheon-daek and Yun-woo, Choi Hyun-seo somehow followed right behind them.
“I thought you’d stay longer. Is it all right for you to leave first?”
“Why would I stay there alone? Most of the people there are family rather than important business contacts. My mother and father can handle them.”
As expected, Choi Hyun-seo was putting on a flawless performance. Leaving the party early like this to be with his wife and son only reinforced the image. Yun-woo, who had been so fussy, buried his face in Tae-yeon’s arms and fell asleep in the car before they even reached home.
Once upstairs, Tae-yeon let out a long breath and stepped into the dressing room. Hyun-seo approached her and slowly pulled down her zipper.
“Shall I help you?”
Before she could even refuse, the zipper slid all the way down. The long zipper ran to her hips, revealing nothing underneath but a single pair of panties. Since the dress had built-in cups, when it slipped to the floor with a soft rustle, her pale, beautiful breasts were completely exposed.
Tae-yeon drew in a sharp breath and turned to look at him. Her eyes, staring at him while wearing only panties, were an irresistibly provocative temptation to Hyun-seo. Her mysterious gaze seemed to draw people in like a cat’s eyes.
Hyun-seo had sometimes thought her eyes looked like those of a droopy puppy, but this was the first time they felt like the eyes of a provocative cat.
“Is this why you invited Shin Noel? To provoke me and stir me up?”
As Hyun-seo took a step closer, Tae-yeon stepped back. Whether from tension or not, the way her body tightened was plain to see in his eyes.
Even while reacting so obviously, the woman was trying to pretend nothing was wrong. Seeing every layer of that duality made his body burn and his breathing grow rough.
“Director, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You called me here to provoke me. To make me lose control. Isn’t that it?”
Hyun-seo drew her gaze downward, forcing her to look at his clearly aroused body. The prominent shape was unmistakable even through his pants.
“If you’re going to pretend otherwise, you shouldn’t look so pretty.”
“Is that supposed to be a compliment right now?”
“Take it however you want. Words belong to the speaker, but interpretation belongs to the listener.”
It was unmistakably sexual temptation. When Hyun-seo lifted his hand and slowly brushed her hair aside, Tae-yeon stepped forward and began unbuttoning his shirt. Pop. Pop. She undid them one by one, teasingly slow, until Hyun-seo grabbed the fabric and yanked it open with a sharp rip. The remaining buttons flew off, revealing his solid upper body.
So close. At a distance where all he had to do was reach out and their bodies would touch. They had been sharing a bed almost every night, yet she still couldn’t read this man’s heart.
Who is Yoon Ji-won? Did you love her? She’s Yun-woo’s mother, isn’t she?
The words she couldn’t bring herself to say swirled in her head, making it impossible to think straight. In that case, she shouldn’t let herself be shaken by things she could never know anyway, things that wouldn’t change even if she did…
Tae-yeon ran a single finger slowly down Hyun-seo’s body. His solid male frame tensed at the stimulation, his chest hardening, the muscles in his arms twitching.
Tae-yeon lifted her chin arrogantly and asked.
“What is this? Are you buying today? I don’t think I have any money left to pay you back.”
“That’s right. Manager Min, I’m buying you today!”
Should she buy or not?
Unable to make up her mind, Tae-yeon stared at him for a moment before reaching out to touch his lips with her fingertips. The slight tremor in her fingers met his soft, plush, fever-hot lips and breath.
“Then today I’ll be the one calling you Director. Since I’m the one buying.”
“Your wording is remarkably explicit. So that’s what you wanted to call me?”
Hyun-seo’s hand slid past her nape, tracing her collarbone and caressing her shoulder. His touch was unhurried. Tae-yeon swallowed dryly. Her neck and collarbone twitched, offering him a visual feast.
“It seems that way. Call me Director. Since the buyer gets to decide.”
“Fine. But make sure you charge me properly. For everything up until now.”
“You do realize this is forced sales, right? It’s been forced sales all along. If the seller seems too desperate, the price drops. You know that, don’t you?”
“I don’t care.”
Tae-yeon looked at him and pressed her lips to his. Hyun-seo wrapped a strong arm around her waist and pulled her flush against him. Their chests met. The sensation of bare skin touching sent a rush of heat surging through them.
A man both hot and cold.
Drawn to his heat, yet pierced by the coldness of his words.
How could two such opposites coexist in one person?
Looking at Choi Hyun-seo, she truly couldn’t understand him. And yet it was Hyun-seo himself who said it.
“Your body is so hot, but the words that come out of your mouth are incredibly cold.”
“Who was it that wanted to say…”
Tae-yeon twisted his chest hard with her hand. Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Hyun-seo frowned.
“That hurts.”
“It’s allowed to hurt.”
“Just how generously are you planning to price me to act like this?”
“Do you know the woman Madam Oh was talking about with you today? Who is she?”
Hyun-seo pressed a finger to her lips.
“Contract terms. I hope you remember. Unnecessary questions are prohibited.”
At that, Tae-yeon nodded. Even if she knew, what would change? The only woman he had ever loved was Yoon Ji-won. That she was dead. That she was Yun-woo’s mother. As long as she was raising Yun-woo, Yoon Ji-won would never disappear from his mind.
What else could she possibly want to know?
Tae-yeon unbuckled his belt. His pants and drawers slid down together, revealing the thick, veined part of him, flushed dark red. The moment she wrapped her hand around it, he let out a groan while still standing. Tae-yeon sank to her knees. As her head moved between his legs, a moan tore from Hyun-seo’s throat.
“Don’t you usually withhold this kind of service from the man who’s buying?”
“Then who do you give it to?”
“Who knows. But one thing is certain. You buy it to receive the service. So just accept what I give you.”
In the next instant, Tae-yeon was thrown onto the bed. The moment the mattress bounced and she turned her head, her panties were yanked down and his lips were on her. A moan burst from Tae-yeon’s mouth. Hyun-seo circled his fingers against her while his eyes stayed fixed only on her.
“You know I return everything several times over, right? I have to pay you back for provoking me earlier. Besides, this kind of service is what the one getting paid usually does, isn’t it?”
Every time his tongue touched her flesh, the pounding of her heart that felt ready to explode grew stronger. The way he licked her so relentlessly made her realize just how desperately her body had been aching for him while he had been away. Tae-yeon turned and climbed on top of him. Looking down into her eyes, Hyun-seo spoke.
“Since you’re selling your body anyway, I’m going to work you until your bones break.”
“What did you just say?”
The words burst out because they were so absurd. She had a rough idea of what he was like when he set his mind to something. But if he was saying he would work her until her bones broke, just how intense would it be?
Yet that outrageous image somehow made her body burn even hotter. In that moment, he spun her around again. Because of the force with which he drove into her fragile body, Tae-yeon shook and shook, losing all sense of herself.
“Hah… Director…”
At the word “Director” that slipped from her like a moan, Hyun-seo cut her off and asked.
“No, that’s not right. Today you’re Director Min. Director Min Tae-yeon. How about it? Do you like it?”