Take off my mask…? The executive director’s secretary definitely told me to absolutely not remove my mask…. At the unexpected request, I glanced toward the door for no reason. Of course, the secretary was already gone. So what should I do?
If I took it off just because he told me to and the executive director got nauseous from seeing my face, that would be really awkward.
As I hesitated and clutched at my mask in distress, the executive director kept making gestures with his expressionless face, telling me to take off the mask. At his incomprehensible demand, I made no effort to hide my troubled expression as I slowly removed the mask.
“…But, Executive Director. Before I came in here, the secretary told me to absolutely not lower my mask.”
“I know. That’s the rule here, and I’m the one who made that rule. The secretary was just relaying my words. It’s fine since I’m the one telling you to take it off.”
But why suddenly change what you said to make things awkward… He continued speaking while keenly observing me, and under that persistent gaze, I couldn’t find anywhere to rest my eyes.
“You can comfortably remove those gloves too.”
“The gloves too? But…”
“It’s fine. Put the gloves down here too.”
He tapped the table with his hand. It looked almost like he was urging me. For a moment, I seriously wondered if this might be some kind of test. Take them off and the contract is broken, don’t take them off and the contract remains. I suspected it might be that sort of trial. Anyway, my face must have turned red from wearing the mask this whole time. Sweaty and flushed—exactly the state the executive director would hate.
I had no choice but to be nervous since I didn’t know why he was acting this way or what his intention was. With the waiting continuing, I had no choice but to remove my gloves and place them on the table, then slowly took off my mask. Even while doing so, I never stopped watching the executive director’s reactions.
But his reaction was different from what I expected. Unlike the rumors that he would get nauseous just from seeing someone’s face up close, he was very calm. His expressionless face remained consistent, and he didn’t look uncomfortable at all. After watching me like that for a while, the executive director’s expression twisted subtly, and his eyes clearly showed something like bewilderment. However, he soon hid his expression and opened his mouth.
“Then, Mr. Baek Eunwoo. Please tell me clearly when you’ll work until. I need to know the timeframe to feel somewhat at ease. Since I’ve compromised, you should understand this much too.”
“Ah, I’ll try to wrap things up faster than what I told the cafe owner, but…”
“You’ll try, but?”
At my vague answer, his face scrunched up severely. He was frowning at me, but still, it was the first time I’d seen anything like emotion on his face since we’d faced each other. Since nothing good would come from making the executive director feel bad, I quickly moved to smooth things over.
“There’s a reason I have no choice, and what that is—the employees at this company like the desserts I make. For a newly hired employee to reproduce that exact taste, I need to be there with them for at least a month. Since they’re employees of your company, Executive Director, please understand from a welfare perspective.”
Welfare. Actually, since they buy it with their own money, it can’t really be called welfare. But if something they’ve been eating well changes in taste or disappears, they’d definitely be upset.
With some unknown courage, I worked hard to persuade him without stopping. The executive director just quietly watched me again as I moved my hands while explaining the situation. When I stopped talking, a brief but uncomfortable silence fell between him and me.
“…Two months.”
“Pardon?”
“I said two months. You have a habit of constantly asking things back. Don’t repeatedly ask back—understand and answer in one go. Wrap everything up within exactly two months. The tastes of company employees matter less to me than my child.”
“Yes, yes. I understand.”
At his overbearing tone, I found myself answering that I would do so without realizing it. As he watched me flinch, he let out a short sigh.
“Mr. Baek Eunwoo. I’m someone who considers rules and plans very important. Please follow the planned rules well.”
That expression was so cold that I felt controlled and ended up shrinking my shoulders slightly. Whether it was because I was nervous, heat rose to my cheeks again. The executive director, who had been staring holes through my reddened face, checked the time.
“That’s enough for now. Are you going home? I’ll call a driver.”
“Huh? No! It’s okay.”
Seeing the executive director pick up the phone on the table, I urgently showed my refusal. I-it would be too uncomfortable. To ride in a car driven by the executive director’s driver—I hated that idea worse than death. Even this office where everything was orderly and neat made me suffocate, but to ride in his car? How stifling would that be?
Just imagining it made my chest feel tight. But perhaps my feelings were too urgent—without realizing it, I grabbed his hand. In my haste to stop him, I ended up touching his body. The executive director’s eyes narrowed as he looked at my hand placed over his, and wrinkles formed between his brows.
“Ah! I’m sorry, Executive Director!”
Ah, why am I being so stupid today? To touch the executive director’s body… This was a mistake on a different dimension from showing my face after removing the mask at his invitation.
After quickly pulling my hand away from his body, I hurriedly apologized. Was it thanks to the quick apology? The face that had been frowning with wrinkles between the brows gradually smoothed out, soon regaining composure, and he continued speaking.
“…Since you’re going back late because of coming here, don’t refuse and just take the ride. The car will be at the main entrance on the first floor.”
The executive director said that and glanced at his own wrist before getting up from his seat. It seemed he was just letting it go. I quickly said my goodbye and left that place before his mind could change.
I don’t understand what any of this is about. His behavior was so different from what I’d heard from the Chairman and the secretary that I was even confused. Seeing what the secretarial staff wear and do, the germaphobia doesn’t seem to be a lie. But the executive director’s attitude toward me was very different from what I’d heard.
“But that’s not the problem right now. Since he nailed down two months, finishing the work within the deadline has become urgent.”
Actually, in principle, this is correct…. Also, I could tell from our brief conversation today. That he’s being quite lenient with me. Though I don’t know how long that will last.
***
After Eunwoo left, Juheon turned on one more individual air purifier in addition to the system that was already running. Strangely, there was no harsh smell coming from Eunwoo’s body, but he operated the purifier out of habit anyway.
He carefully wiped the seat where Eunwoo had sat with disinfectant tissues and additionally sprayed disinfectant alcohol around the area. Even while mechanically moving his hands, Juheon’s mind was full of questions.
“This is really strange. Why is it like this?”
There was absolutely no human-specific smell or omega’s thick and harsh pheromone scent coming from Baek Eunwoo’s body. Rather, only his own pheromone scent subtly emanated from Baek Eunwoo’s body. The lack of omega scent could be because he was dominant. But how does he not even smell of sweat?
Also, he could face his bare face this time too without difficulty. The face flushed red from sweating wasn’t nauseating at all. Neither his skin nor his breath was dirty. His mouth was small, so when he spoke, his teeth or the inside of his mouth weren’t visible, so it wasn’t filthy either.
“Maybe it’s because he’s young so his skin is good. No, wait. It was torturous regardless of age, wasn’t it? I don’t understand why this is happening.”
A face so taut without a single pore—is it because he’s young? Is that why it feels relatively less unpleasant? Juheon, not understanding the reason, tried hard to find a reasonable explanation. Baek Eunwoo was a completely different category from the people he had met until now.
The fact that there was no discomfort even when their skin touched was actually more disturbing. Having lived his whole life like this, it was natural to become suspicious when suddenly meeting someone who didn’t bother him at all. It was such a big event for Juheon that he wondered if he should get examined at the hospital.
“If it’s not because he’s young, is it because he washes well?”
As a result of circling around Baek Eunwoo and observing him for the past few days, Baek Eunwoo maintained cleanliness very thoroughly in everything. He washed his hands cleanly every time he came out of and entered the kitchen, and he changed his apron frequently. He often swept and wiped inside and outside the cafe, checking every hour whether there was dust or not. That behavior didn’t seem like germaphobia like his own.
He guessed it was probably one of his occupational habits. Since it was a place where people ate food, he seemed to always maintain cleanliness, and perhaps because he worked making food, the habit of washing his hands seemed ingrained in his body. Well, he quite liked that. Much better than dirty and unpleasant things. The fact that there was no smell from his body might also be thanks to such clean habits.
“I even felt a sense of camaraderie…”
Juheon got up from his seat and looked around his office carefully. This place was clean and smooth without a single speck of dust as always. Not a single small object had left its place, each positioned in its spot. His belongings never moved from their usual places, to the point where he could find them with his eyes closed. Not only cleanliness, but having things always stay in the same place was what put Juheon’s mind at ease.
He usually didn’t like his own routine being broken. After encountering Baek Eunwoo, it felt like his always consistent behavior patterns and routine were strangely getting out of alignment.
He couldn’t be different from others. That would create discomfort and a period of adjustment to it. He absolutely hated that. Juheon pressed his brow with his hand as if tired and called his secretary. He needed to observe Baek Eunwoo’s behavior a bit more keenly.
***
Maybe because I didn’t sleep properly after yesterday’s meeting with the executive director, my stomach isn’t feeling great today. I keep feeling nauseous, and when I smell butter and eggs, they strangely smell fishy. Unable to bear the smell, I came outside for a moment and sat down on the flower bed.
“Ugh, what’s this? Why is my stomach suddenly like this?”
I hadn’t eaten anything, but my stomach felt uncomfortable so I brought out some carbonated water. When I drank the carbonated water full of ice, my stomach felt refreshed and the nausea settled down a bit. As I was calming my stomach like that and taking deep breaths, I saw Jay hyung, the owner, urgently looking for me. It’s break time, so why is he in such a hurry?
“Hyung!”
I raised my voice and waved my hand to let him know I was here. Hyung, who spotted me, rushed over to me.
“Eunwoo. The executive director’s secretarial office just contacted us.”
“The executive director’s secretarial office?”
Maybe because of yesterday’s events, the word “executive director” struck me sensitively. Hyung, not noticing my reaction, continued speaking.
“So, there’s a meeting at the executive director’s office at five o’clock this afternoon. Executive-level officers from another company are having a conference in the executive director’s office, and we got an order.”
“Ah, that kind of thing happens often, right? Are there a lot of people?”
Since group orders came in by department quite often, I didn’t think much of it. It was still morning, so there was plenty of time too.
“There aren’t many people, but they ordered several types including things that can simply substitute for a meal. They said it’s at the outdoor terrace on the executive director’s floor.”
If they’re meeting outdoors, I can’t put cream decorations on top. Since he said there aren’t many people, it shouldn’t be a big problem. But today’s problem was me. Me, whose stomach has been strangely unwell since this morning. I could only hope I wouldn’t get nauseous from smelling the ingredients.
