* * *
He had worked like crazy, without even a moment to go to the restroom.
And yet…
“I’ll be leaving first!”
“See you tomorrow.”
“Great work, Assistant Manager Gil, Associate Choi.”
Around 8 PM, the other employees who had been working overtime began leaving one by one.
Wookyung, still glued to his desk, could only raise a hand in response.
Associate Choi, behind the partition, gave a small nod.
“Assistant Manager, I’ve organized the documents you asked for and sent them via email.”
About thirty minutes later, Associate Choi spoke again.
“Mm, thanks. You should clean up and head home.”
Wookyung responded without taking his eyes off the monitor.
But there was no reply.
Wondering why, he looked over and met eyes with Choi.
Had he been staring this whole time?
“What?”
“Aren’t you going home, Assistant Manager?”
“I’ll leave once I finish this.”
To be honest, he’d probably have to stay the night.
Even then, it was uncertain if he’d meet Director Choi’s deadline.
Instinctively, his gaze shifted to Director Choi’s desk.
‘He dumped all this work on his subordinate and disappeared before quitting time?’
Director Choi had left at 5:30 PM.
Considering there had been no updates since, he had most likely gone home.
Everything about him was infuriating.
“Earlier, my aunt called for him, but he still hasn’t shown up.”
“Hm?”
“I mean, Saheon-hyung— No, Director Choi.”
Wait, did he just hear an incredibly personal form of address?
“By ‘aunt,’ do you mean CEO Choi?”
“Yes. She contacted him earlier—didn’t you know?”
When did that happen?
And why would she call Director Choi instead of Director Min or Manager Shin?
“Oh…”
Right. Director Choi was from the same elite background as that other golden spoon.
Even knowing that, it was still baffling sometimes.
Well, now that he had an answer, he lost interest.
It wasn’t his business.
He was just pissed that he was buried under work while the one who assigned it had disappeared.
“So, Assistant Manager, we should call it a day too.”
“There’s still work left. You go ahead.”
Whether or not Director Choi came back had nothing to do with him.
Did this guy really not see why Wookyung was glaring at the screen with bloodshot eyes?
Black were the letters, white was the document file.
Staring at them for hours was starting to mess with his head.
“Aren’t you hungry? You should eat something.”
“Sigh…”
Now that he thought about it, maybe Director Choi and Associate Choi did share some blood.
‘Persistent, oblivious, and stubborn as hell.’
But there was a fundamental difference between them.
One was his superior, the other his junior.
He had no choice but to follow his boss, but this guy?
“Associate Choi, I’m really busy. Right now, I’d rather finish this and go home than take a meal break, so please leave first.”
He tried to be polite about it, but the underlying message was clear—stop interrupting and get lost.
Associate Choi’s eyes dimmed with disappointment.
“Sorry… You just looked really tired, so…”
“I’m fine. No need to worry. Now, go home. I’ll finish this up and leave soon too. Go, go.”
Rather than continue the conversation, Wookyung focused back on the screen.
A firm stance was best for both their sakes.
If he tried to be too considerate, he’d just waste more time.
“…Alright. I’ll head out first.”
With his voice drained of energy, Associate Choi pushed his chair back and stood up.
He bowed and said, “See you tomorrow,” which Wookyung couldn’t ignore, so he responded.
“Great work today.”
Choi hesitated for a moment, looking reluctant to leave, but when Wookyung gestured toward the elevator, he finally turned away.
Once alone, the silence was deafening.
Checking the time, he saw it was almost 9 PM.
“I can do this!”
Just as he was about to click the mouse, hoping to regain some energy with a self-motivational cheer—
“Hmm, I like that attitude.”
A familiar voice struck his ears.
When he quickly turned his head…
Wait, when did he get here?
Director Choi was grinning.
‘We just don’t mesh. We really don’t.’
How does he always manage to show up at the worst possible moments?
“Aren’t you off work?”
“Hmm? No. My stuff is still over there.”
Director Choi gestured toward his desk.
Wookyung followed his gaze, but there was nothing there that looked like it had been left behind.
‘Doesn’t seem like there’s anything he needs to pick up, though?’
Come to think of it, he hadn’t noticed him carrying anything when he arrived at work either.
‘Does he come to the office just for show?!’
Of course, whether he carried a bag or not didn’t really matter for work.
But as someone who found him annoying, spotting something to nitpick came naturally.
‘Now that I think about it, I haven’t run into him on the subway since then.’
He’d been too distracted to realize, but it was true.
Ever since that incident on the first day, he hadn’t run into Director Choi during his commute.
‘Guess that whole mess shook him up pretty badly, huh?’
Either that, or the company finally provided him with a commuting vehicle.
Or maybe he just bought one himself.
Whatever the case, it wasn’t his concern. He was busy—so go away, shoo.
Just grab your stuff and leave.
Some poor employee (namely, him) had been saddled with extra work and needed to focus.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
Why were so many people suddenly concerned about his eating habits today?
Well, “so many” was an exaggeration—it was just one person.
But of all people, did it have to be him?
“I’m fine.”
He couldn’t bring himself to outright deny it.
Honestly, he had been feeling a little peckish for a while now.
He was actually planning to grab a snack once he finished what he was working on.
“Want to have some tuna sushi first?”
That was an enticing offer. What?
“Hmm… I didn’t get to eat dinner either. My aunt just nagged at me the whole time. But on my way here, I saw a tuna specialty shop and ended up buying some. It’s a bit too much for me alone.”
Director Choi rubbed his perfectly flat stomach as he joked.
“But isn’t bringing outside food into the office against the rules?”
“Of course not. It’s totally fine.”
Before he realized it, Wookyung had already stood up and moved toward Director Choi.
In his hand was a shopping bag.
On it, a lively, almost leaping illustration of a tuna caught his eye, along with bold lettering boasting 50 years of tradition.
“Perfect. I was worried about leftovers.”
Like a cat being lured in with food, Wookyung unconsciously followed behind Director Choi as he swayed the shopping bag teasingly.
Their destination was the oval conference table.
Director Choi swiftly unpacked the bento box.
“Wow…”
A spontaneous exclamation escaped Wookyung’s lips.
The sushi looked incredibly fresh, featuring a variety of premium cuts.
As someone who had eaten tuna sashimi before, he could roughly estimate the price of that set.
It had to be well over twenty.
“Wookyung, sit here.”
He was so distracted by the sushi that he completely missed the fact that Director Choi had just addressed him rather familiarly.
He sat down without thinking twice.
Looking pleased, Director Choi even handed him a pair of chopsticks.
“Come on, dig in. You must be starving.”
His gentle, coaxing tone clearly demonstrated his skill in tempting people.
But Wookyung, utterly captivated by the sushi, remained oblivious.
“Not that one—this one. Start with the otoro.”
Without hesitation, Wookyung picked up the piece Director Choi pointed at.
Offering up the most expensive cut, the fatty tuna belly?
That shaved off precisely 0.001 grams of resentment for dragging him into overtime hell.
“Try this too. And this one. You like kama-toro better, huh? Me too. I like your taste—it’s nice.”
Like a conductor directing an orchestra, Director Choi pointed to different pieces with his chopsticks, making comments before finally dropping a rather strange remark.
“…Huh?”
“Oh, nothing. Just that I made a good choice.”
That didn’t sound like what he actually meant.
Wookyung shot him a suspicious look, but Director Choi deflected it with an unshakable smile.
Whatever.
The most expensive tuna sushi was right in front of him—nothing else mattered.
Besides, this was a golden opportunity to take advantage of his annoying boss’s wallet.
He wasn’t about to waste it.
‘Not that it’ll make much of a dent in his fortune.’
It wouldn’t even be noticeable—but still!
With small revenge in mind, Wookyung happily continued devouring the sushi.
* * *
