These past few days, I’d come to a realization. The boss had a strong hand, so it was efficient for shaving down Karma. Pain I had to go through eventually anyway—if I just took a few hits from the boss, it was a net gain.
“I gave the order to kill, didn’t I…?”
So.
Phew.
I was mentally prepared.
I opened my mouth lightly.
“That was—”
“I stopped him.”
“!”
I turned my head, startled. Jang Ijung was looking at the boss. The fingers tapping on the desk stopped dead.
“…What did you say?”
“It’s not like one more person dying would change the mood around here anyway.”
Jang Ijung continued, expressionless.
“Killing him would’ve just made things annoying, so I stopped it.”
It was a lie. Jang Ijung hadn’t done anything at all. If anything, he’d acted like he didn’t care whether Yeom Hajae died or not.
A brief silence fell. In the precarious atmosphere, a low, muffled voice cut through.
“That’s not something for you to decide.”
The hand on the desk clenched into a fist.
“Is that so? Ah… did I make a mistake, then.”
Jang Ijung raised a hand to the back of his neck. Even facing the boss’s hostility head-on, his expression was as calm as if he’d made some trivial slip-up.
“…….”
For now, I stayed still. I had no idea what Jang Ijung’s angle was with that lie. Unless he wanted to get beaten, there was no reason for him to step in.
“A mistake…”
The boss bit out the word menacingly. His face was hidden by the mask, but I knew instantly.
That was the expression of someone who wanted to hit somebody.
His clenched fist trembled. I got that chilling feeling, like thirty seconds before he started throwing things. The moment he finally picked up the teacup—
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Thud!
Lukewarm liquid soaked my head. The flying teacup hit my head and fell. I’d reflexively closed my eyes, but I was bewildered.
Why me, and not Jang Ijung…?
My wet bangs hung down, blocking my view.
“Cough. Explain… yourself.”
The boss had set the stage for me. I decided to think positively. Since I’d already been hit, instead of pettily complaining about the unfairness, I might as well use it to look good.
“What fault would Ijung have? It was my poor judgment.”
I couldn’t kill Yeom Hajae, but turning the monster’s intrusion into a staged terrorist attack was entirely my own doing. Jang Ijung didn’t do a single thing, Boss. That bastard just sat there stuffing his face with desserts the whole time. Trying to kill me was just the icing on top. So the one who should be getting hit isn’t me—it’s Jang Ijung. Please beat that worthless piece of trash until he comes to his senses.
That’s what I wanted to say… but this was all for the bigger picture. I squeezed my eyes shut. In my mind, I tried writing out the character for patience.
Patience, patience, patience.
Steeling my resolve, I opened my eyes.
“It’s all my fault, Boss.”
I brushed my hair back and smiled brightly.
“So if you’re going to punish someone, it should be me.”
[Quest: Settle Your Karma.
!If a certain amount of time passes without completing the quest, a penalty will be applied.]
[Karma: 59,395]
Otherwise, where else was I supposed to go shave down this Karma?
“That doesn’t explain anything…”
The boss opened a pack of cigarettes. I stepped forward and lit it with a familiar motion.
The boss tapped his index finger toward the floor. As instructed, I knelt beside him.
Given the boss’s temper, I’d expected to get hit right away, but nothing happened.
Following the boss’s gaze, I looked to the side and saw Jang Ijung staring blankly at us. The boss gave an order.
“Get out.”
“…Yes.”
Only then did Jang Ijung head for the door. Through the gap of the closing door, Jang Ijung looked back at me. I met his red eyes, which seemed to hold something complicated.
I thought to myself.
Made myself a debt.
That is, assuming that guy even understood the concept of owing someone…
Soon after, the door closed completely. Now it was just the boss and me alone in the room. I swallowed.
The boss nudged my forehead with the toe of his shoe. At this rate, he’d probably kick me outright. I braced for a concussion and closed my eyes.
“…Heh.”
When I peeked my eyes open, I saw a deadpan expression on his lower face. I was sure I’d heard a laugh just now…
Surprisingly, the boss didn’t hit me. He took his foot off my head and spun his chair around once.
I didn’t know why, but it seemed his mood had improved. Or maybe he’d just been in an unusually good mood today. Either way, predicting the boss’s fickle moods was a difficult task.
The boss took a deep drag of his cigarette. He asked, his words slightly slurred from chewing on the filter.
“That guy… you getting attached to him or something?”
“Huh? Attached?”
Was he bothered that I’d covered for Jang Ijung? I’d just done it for future profit, that’s all.
“He’s just cute, that’s all.”
With nothing better to say, I answered with my brain switched off.
“…….”
The boss was quiet for a moment, then tapped the ash off his cigarette.
“Cute, huh…”
…Something was wrong. I hurriedly grabbed the boss’s calf and lifted it slightly.
“Ha-ha, more importantly… want me to suck you off?”
The boss looked down at me. The toe of his shoe pressed against my lips.
“Suck.”
***
“Suck.”
The sound leaked out from the office.
Jang Ijung, who’d been walking down the hallway, stopped dead in his tracks. He spun around and approached the office door again.
Jang Ijung stood facing the door. No more voices came from inside. Instead, he heard the rustling of clothes.
Just as he leaned in to press his ear to the door—
Far off, the sound of the stairwell door closing came. Soon after, chattering voices approached from down the hall.
“This feed wasn’t tasty-meow. Next time, pick one with chicken in it-meow.”
“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Jang Ijung quickly stepped back several paces from the door. At the same moment, a black cat with its tail up appeared around the corner. Go Sangwon was with it.
“Meow?”
The cat, spotting Jang Ijung, ran over.
“What are you doing here-meow?”
It kept its voice down, apparently conscious of being in front of the office. Just as Jang Ijung was about to answer—
“Mmph… mm, stop…”
A muffled groan leaked out from inside the office.
The cat’s ears perked up. Jang Ijung shut his mouth and listened closely.
A gagging sound… the sound of something being forcefully sucked.
He’d said “suck.” …What, exactly?
He pondered the source of the sound. Then the cat spoke up, as if it understood.
“Hmph. He’s doing ‘that’ again-meow.”
Jang Ijung’s eyebrows twitched.
“That?”
“‘That’ is Seo Sinwoo’s specialty-meow.”
A suggestively worded choice.
“He’s definitely caused some kind of trouble again-meow.”
Go Sangwon, approaching, nodded in agreement.
“Is that what it is. It’s certainly effective for calming the boss’s anger.”
“Stress relief-meow. I can’t understand the boss’s tastes-meow.”
“Stress… relief? Tastes?”
Jang Ijung’s mouth fell open slightly. His usual sleepy eyes didn’t change, but his mind spiraled into confusion.
Unaware of this, Go Sangwon calmly checked his wristwatch.
“It’s about time for our appointment… It would be better to wait a bit before going in.”
“That’s for the best-meow. If you don’t wait for the cleanup, you’ll see something disgusting-meow.”
“Cleanup…”
Jang Ijung’s brow furrowed slightly.
“So why are you here-meow?”
“…I just got chewed out and came out. What’s ‘that’?”
“You don’t know-meow? ‘That’ is…”
“Mr. Cat.”
Go Sangwon cut the cat off. Meeting Go Sangwon’s eyes, the cat clamped its mouth shut. After mumbling for a moment, it spat out one line.
“…Better not to know-meow.”
If the new guy found out that throwing up was Seo Sinwoo’s “specialty,” Seo Sinwoo might raise hell about it. Remembering that Seo Sinwoo held grudges for a long time, the cat shut its itchy mouth.
Cough, cough!
A harsh coughing sound came from inside. Not the boss’s—Seo Sinwoo’s.
Jang Ijung’s questions kept deepening. What reason would someone who didn’t have a cold have for coughing like that…?
Just as he was entertaining a possibility he wanted to deny—
The cat, stretching out languidly, spoke.
“Seems about done-meow.”
Bang!
No sooner had it finished speaking than Seo Sinwoo burst out of the office. His hand was covering his mouth. Seeing the group gathered there, he asked, puzzled.
“Huh? What’s everyone doing gathered here?”
“Waiting for you to finish-meow.”
“Ahh…”
Glancing at Jang Ijung, Seo Sinwoo walked through the middle of the three of them.
“I need to use the restroom…”
Then, with hurried steps, he turned the corner and disappeared down the hallway.
“We can go in now. Mr. Cat, please wait here.”
“Meow.”
Go Sangwon went into the office. The cat sat down in front of the door.
“You, stop loitering around for no reason and get lost already-meow.”
Ignoring the advice, Jang Ijung stared blankly down the hallway where Seo Sinwoo had disappeared.
“His face was all red.”
“?”
Holding onto a misunderstanding that would horrify Seo Sinwoo if he ever heard it.
Seo sinwoo will never live this down