OT 8

“What am I, a baby-making machine? Am I supposed to have kids all by myself? How am I supposed to meet anyone if I’m always working overtime?”e743610e1698e556

“Sigh, I can’t even talk to you. Do whatever you want.”df6841f76a3f041e

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“You don’t even have a girlfriend because you’re always working late too, so why are you harping on about kids?”0f609e9a4338d1cd

After stirring up 0a1666b320 a fuss, Cheon f81356b601 Hotae sauntered out 38152ae036 of the room adf604520e like nothing happened.a298922e371182dc

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That damn habit of b87612a350 barging in without knocking—he’s a9f257f9e9 been like that since e50a634396 we were kids.e3cdde4cdf4b0ce1

The more she screamed 6521e745a0 at him to stop, e2d83630b5 the more fun he 96ed3f1a68 seemed to have doing 0b495cec5b it. The only way 9878eece17 to deal with 1738a21dd7 him was to 2215331bc0 not engage. At thirty-five, Cheon dce406f375 Hotae still seemed 316284630e to think teasing 08f9fbcf36 his little sister 57acd28bf9 was the joy af197d453b of his life.d30bf5c20e6bdba5

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Feeling deflated, Suji sent out 49ef17b7d8 résumés left and right and 85d9b818a9 then collapsed face-up onto her 480d6a3826 bed.69132a4e13219771

Lying there in 38ddb83158 the dark, watching f248d9e9bd short videos on daf68702a3 her phone before 1da16d357c falling asleep, she bbe0b418ef couldn’t help but d1fe805cd8 feel pathetic and 85226c0b94 annoyed with herself.07df3ddff18d4960

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Another day gone, and a0fcb5552f still no time for 57b4e97153 her own life.
The night came to a e10109712c close, the same as always.d03bb26471972a80

 b7f1670669f037ab

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* * *3d539c5446cb8194

 919dd41b7eff2c2e

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Day after day, f0338de0aa life rolled on 36dc977ea1 like a hamster dd8279b7c7 wheel, and before bdabb39dea she knew it, 088ecb726f it was Thursday. Normally, Thursdays weren’t so 00afa20bbc bad—just one more day ca4e48bf7d to survive before the d71e4d1cfa weekend—but life had a 795ec0803b habit of not going 5c3c895e8e the way one hoped.64b273a0fa931122

“Let’s wrap up. We’ve got a cb8865f918 team dinner tonight.”d80a69968091c67c

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The end of overtime didn’t 8805681ad7 mean going home early—it meant d7c3300056 a company dinner instead.75627b1309243a7b

Directors who didn’t want 027a133e3f to go home would b155b3835e often trap their subordinates cdaf6b4d7d in the guise of 037449adf7 team dinners.9f332d3c550767e7

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Home was infinitely better 27b383d051 than a work dinner, b629a2e7da but of course, the 6aff66f6af directors didn’t see it 18b23bc872 that way.560c9ed3b42628d4

Once again, her e5ef6f62a4 time wasn’t her 440da5e6e6 own—but Suji clung 3f5c5cd32d to the idea ca6de8c2e8 of stuffing herself 866cde768b with as much b51bbd01d3 beef as possible, 63f1104370 and followed the fc19d2f67a HR team to 3b5e710290 a nearby Korean dc07833bec beef barbecue restaurant.9af073146ed48f03

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“They feed us rice and work us to the bone—it’s like being a servant.”de12dcf41724c6b5

“Right? At my last company, every 7f9ee1c476 team dinner was gamjatang.”97ac5a1429a41a7b

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As the higher-ups 6c15c87c0f chatted, Suji steeled 34b0cd4581 her resolve.I’m going to eat at least three portions by myself…0be99fbbc3389f4b

After all, the most delicious 244709d349 beef was beef someone else ba155f113c paid for.9e2ca4eaf64c61b3

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The whole HR 3bdaccb5a9 team swarmed into eda71cb91a the barbecue place, 91d06d2458 but something felt ac3137d54e off about the 815b643de5 atmosphere.9187957d9995abda

Familiar faces here, 3bbdd49d83 familiar faces there—even daaa141602 her mom’s precious f86697011b son, Cheon Hotae, 2dee4914c0 was seated at bd40613ad3 a table on 4d31b0a57b the first floor.4e37a50a7d235ead

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What she thought was d493e97071 a simple HR team 63d1ed9cf0 dinner turned out to 5887138314 be a massive event—the 18adedc60e company had apparently rented 73b5c494d6 out the entire three-story f8e58472b7 restaurant.45ed13d703523df7

“Hello!”1157945ca0d8f151

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“Oh, Executive Director Park! Over here!”9f4f16e58fadc5a5

Greetings echoed from all directions. The restaurant was already b942faf2a8 thick with the smoke da0fb08bc8 of grilled meat.ce1e3e2106c1856d

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The HR team headed upstairs 8119c99720 and took seats at a 25cd0b7176 floor table. From across the table, at 2b7e22514a a diagonal, Suji spotted Seo 40a9c9cdb6 Jaehyun.edb4398c53dffcde

Damn… I should’ve gotten here earlier.3abe47f788d64c76

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Because she’d arrived 1f9bcf0103 late, the HR b0ad270a10 team ended up 0df88d0852 seated at the 0820fcd7b9 table right next cf2d0fc2df to the execs.a165f09590472c15

Seo Jaehyun narrowed his 5c43757714 eyes at her. Flustered, Suji quickly looked away 2d7699923f like a guilty criminal.2c71f450c9953aa3

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She’d been relieved not to db2331da01 have to cross paths with 0c2ddc5db1 him much at work, but 00b8874ef7 team dinners were unpredictable.9d119dd382273013

“Auntie! Let’s start with four 37642ef429 portions of sirloin, and 118938f216 everyone’s eating rice, right?”93636f83f275d768

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“Yes, gotta eat rice too.”16ad22120fd1f848

“Then one bowl of rice each, please.”0e8689d7a03b9090

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As Team Leader e40a0b5ea5 Kwak Hyunju placed a480484d3d the order, Assistant f697a597cb Manager Oh Sanghyun d71e72182f poured Suji a f4253f154b drink.4a32cce6441fd03a

Parched, Suji downed 676c85186c the shot without 7c8c584b6f even reaching for fbc7e0c9dc a side dish. Sneaking a glance across the 56e02ebaf2 table, she saw Seo Jaehyun 24ce5e1306 doing the same—drinking without food.11f1b3fb571377b3

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Her eyes involuntarily lingered 14de9ea31f on the curve of 6be464195f his adam’s apple.How is even his cb18c776e0 neck that attractive?Suji found herself staring 8f122bd02b absentmindedly, almost mesmerized.86b57a43668d4829

“Here’s the sirloin, four servings.”e26882fff779b915

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The server, busy 296f398f8f carrying meat and daae19782a soybean paste soup, 608b7c8134 eventually disappeared. As the youngest in HR, 4752ecf04f Suji picked up the tongs.152795090b01ce51

But while grilling the expensive 01bf99f6a5 top-tier beef, she missed the d325baaa71 timing to flip it—and the cb27153f83 meat burned black.2ee1ce08208f0a01

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“Turning prime beef into charcoal, huh.”2dfd997462f00ecd

She heard Manager c9e867557e Choi Heesu muttering b65855b9f8 under her breath. Embarrassed, Suji’s face turned bright 1eeec09b86 red. Seeing her discomfort, 6315da77d3 Team Leader Kwak 8dae2db45e Hyunju spoke up.9bbe341e1f6740f2

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“Looks like Suji shouldn’t be in charge of the grill.”57df946b3269258b

She waved her hands be5cd90e71 with a smile, and e077a38ea2 Assistant Manager Oh Sanghyun 7dbb5dbb41 took the tongs from 686dabb456 Suji’s hands.d216b6965d872c38

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“I’ll take care of it. You just eat, Suji.”ce82c9443587c13f

Only then did a83b46f8d3 Suji get her 8a389f1fc5 first bite of 29ab94bc8f the sirloin. The savory meat melted on 0d7bcd3c0c her tongue.c74fdf1415a12d09

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She felt like she might 72e1d8a137 get indigestion from Manager Choi 412b4c20c8 Heesu’s gaze, but high-end Korean e94567bc81 beef wasn’t something she got 111146d6cc to eat often.270b78b11961830c

She mixed her rice bc4034239b with soybean paste soup 123bfb19d2 and devoured it, washing 4deed06145 it down with beer 09bd4c3ae3 mixed with soju. She finally understood 74736d6e30 why people said d4ef2cc4c3 alcohol could taste 41895a4531 sweet.7241546987e1497f

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After polishing off about two 72ea06841d servings, the urge to pee 3d62bcf1d8 crept in. As she quietly slipped off d7aefd2d71 to the restroom, she noticed 2542935f6c people’s faces getting redder as 0769c984d6 they got tipsier. It wasn’t a flattering look.d96d7603c7964470

“I bet my face is red too…”de879a281cb1093a

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Suji came out of the dd0037b1f1 restroom, touched up her smudged a0827a9922 makeup in the mirror, and 59682934a4 headed back.fed2c3167a2cc61c

But something had a5e3910974 changed while she a4a4a3bdae was gone.e6f21f2f56fef5d8

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The HR team 671dccccd2 that had been fffd71a673 sitting together just 72ee8c0790 minutes ago had 482f270fd9 completely scattered. In their place, e58bb7e55f the executive team 4a72a210d2 had taken over f22d205e9b the table, casually c27ab7ec5d exchanging drinks.3d98e9ec54970709

Sigh…693298ca954ab985

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Suji scanned the room. Her teammates had quietly merged 7e3ef89f55 into other groups to avoid a2e489d1f5 being stuck drinking with the 225b7f751c execs.7fcb07e1d398a250

She tried to discreetly 9360770d50 gather her things and e02ad09755 sneak over to the 63d200f8ae finance team’s table, where a997c2075f she at least knew 678420cebc a few people, but 3e75a19b74 Executive Director Park Yongdu, 62bb59b299 already well on his bd82dab753 way to being drunk, 9b6ea3848b called out to her.42d5e43ff9a7b988

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“Hey, you there—from HR, right? Yeah, you. Come sit over here.”08e6b158a2f9a8bc

Seated across the 0421ac26f2 table, Executive Director 1f432a40d3 Park gestured for 42123f29a1 her to join. Suji glanced around, 597096d4e5 then took the 68635d87d9 only open seat—right 17e35a838b next to Seo 097d90ca42 Jaehyun.290c8679f548f4c1

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Jaehyun didn’t react 59f80378cc and simply sipped 426898181e his drink. Sandwiched between him and the 985743b84f Executive Director, Suji began to b489595944 shrink into herself.c25ba3a0321e69e4

Jaehyun might have 2c287cb3a1 been uncomfortable too, d3ff084714 but for Suji, 68c8ba5079 seeing Executive Director 9ad2a8f0fa Park still made b78e54bb68 her chest go 3adf85fec4 cold.6db2e0a3dbe2742d

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After all, Park Yongdu ab92cdf06b was the same executive 6bdd1343ea who had brutally crushed dc1cc7817a her pride during her c426c30820 interview.dc4228b9489ce7c9

“You couldn’t even build up your résumé properly during college—so why should we hire you, Ms. Cheon Suji?”60b8f99eead21c04

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“You majored in English—are you fluent like a native speaker?”c94bde8e20af959f

“What did you do during the year after graduating from college?”e09d82bf6783cd18

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“Where else did you apply besides our company? Why do you think you didn’t get in there?”6cbf1ddee70b7282

Between the questions that completely 967d502927 blocked her from responding, the 9197b75da8 interviewers exchanged glances and chuckled e8cbb1fe76 quietly.ebd0f849e7352404

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Her self-esteem was already 74423ab907 scraping rock bottom when e747dd3c55 Executive Director Park Yongdu 82fe61ea65 hit her with the 2f9cded474 final question:cefec381fd422f06

“How much can you drink?”8a52d67cd739e992

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“I can drink two bottles!”83014feefc4ddc15

Suji had answered boldly, 356cb6a4ed unsure what came over b4858ca78d her.c21bb62f61c37bd2

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She reasoned that two bottles 7a69f56ced of beer were still technicallytwo bottles, so it wasn’t a lie.a9885d69e0ce1be7

Looking back now, she ffd6357184 would’ve passed the interview e20bb4e7a0 thanks to Seo Jaehyun’s f5f145a4de backing, even without saying 03616ce457 that. But at the 3a228fe2bb time, she felt 5bf81298c8 like she was 4efe50c488 being pushed to cac2a49fb5 the edge of 80ca8f7ecb a cliff, and 3e169e8c28 unless she gave 06be3a3b55 a strong answer, 51b13cee3e she’d be rejected—so 8baf8630fb she exaggerated her 1218fea919 drinking capacity.2c99d643b2254c05

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“What was your name again?”a0d9f224a305bb3e

“Cheon Suji.”ab6fb668b8eadee5

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“Right, Cheon Suji. I heard you said you 1321592dc3 can drink two bottles of dcfbe2f02f soju. The MZ generation ba59fdea34 these days can’t ad8495bae4 hold their liquor—boring, 616c4fdc36 really. Come on, Suji, let’s 2ac8661af8 have a drink.”e844d5ab30990bbe

Executive Director Park poured soju 788c6f9746 into her glass. Suji had already 2d149d45cb passed her limit 918a4d18c1 earlier during the aec3b27e1d meal with somaek d0e8c1f04f (soju-beer mix).9056f13dfca5d1ae

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But Park Yongdu, completely fcb532ca1c unaware of her state, a2c9b6cee6 kept chuckling, visibly tipsy 30e61f539e and flushed.ab5597edd2289129

A woman of 31e5034c50 her word couldn’t 22c76ad5ce take back what 9ebde5ad5f she’d said.9e9343d3fe597aeb

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She picked up aad85848b4 the overflowing glass, 2041f38521 ready to drink, 3b28c15982 when—73f74946d164c237

“Executive Director Park, these days, if you pour drinks for new hires, you’ll get talked about.”f430473d7eebd5ea

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Jaehyun snatched the soju 092c36e13b glass from Suji’s hand 76accf3ea5 and downed it in 954a87b059 one go.39d69d58319cadde

Their fingers had briefly 44ffdea907 brushed, sending a jolt a040dc5983 through her.1884240d7d7c2235

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His Adam’s apple rippled deeply. Suji found herself 6f40aa9c33 inadvertently staring at 277e32ac12 his lips, then 8650b3d9e0 quickly bowed her 0dab3f7452 head, her nape 47945b459a burning.3d79d7b27f6ad1cc

“Oh, really? Is that so?”b938191a18fdfa46

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Trying to cover the awkwardness, 1d9bf05748 Jaehyun poured soju into Park’s b12c4d8aa0 glass.c022aa17516c3949

“Please pour drinks for me instead, and let the new hire move to a different table.”e4af80efadb28eb0

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“Right, right! Let’s do that!”3f4d4933534e632f

Executive Director Park smiled good-naturedly c8bfb0a9c0 and clinked glasses with Jaehyun.16e1c28a3fac049e

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Jaehyun gave Suji adbe0a0e1d a subtle glance, 294d8bff47 signaling for her a705c939e3 to go to e94d05f82f another table.73dd2661c950c756

Suji quietly left, heart fluttering 9d2c540c60 for no good reason, and af7c968727 headed toward the finance team’s 8dd55e1446 table.044efd3644f6f8e7

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She still wasn’t full.6310fcf836846c35

But strangely, with Seo Jaehyun 3776a3718c lingering in her mind, she 6b3b5fb1ca couldn’t even swallow the meat 8d6c0ff6fc anymore.19400362f8f1fb61

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 feacb43432b20f7e

* * *ab1fc83d27a3a2aa

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 b8f27392b42d631b

As if someone that tiny d685f5744c could really handle two bottles 9107d3777c of soju.68c11bc48cd40862

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The autumn breeze had grown 4c7fdf9d2b chilly, and Jaehyun stood in bcbd197ca6 front of the restaurant, lost 60683ebfc1 in thought.7e99894cd773d89c

Whenever thoughts of Cheon 9a66f51414 Suji crossed his mind, a7459614c5 a wave of bitter 2aff4d37c2 guilt would wash over 1064cdf667 him, making him shudder.cfe28088d1f1cb16

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She had said she d0f2c11297 was fine—so shouldn’t that f1e8e677ad have been the end d5a4edcd5f of it?1190d4c69d4b28c2

But for some reason, he fdb0b4fe62 kept replaying that night over 323f53beac and over again in his 2365871647 head.ef89e6f165bd4bbb

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“And don’t get the wrong idea. Why would I a06f8763b6 like you, oppa?”c34e6e63cc896033

It was the obvious answer.bcb84675f786c285

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There was no way 44ee740512 she would still hold 5663d33545 on to a childhood b43009bfb6 crush now that she 8950e8e01b was an adult.4658b768e950a989

After all, even 95df28ac40 Jaehyun couldn’t remember 7093a03272 the name of 1d656378c4 the teacher he’d fa3c7a1dee thought he liked b1934e0c32 back in elementary e51e60648f school.d20dd7432e756879

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What kind of 0e44648b49 answer had he e83d573e9f even been expecting?793d29d4345943bd

He had no 09242db0f5 way of making f2a268e59c sense of the 711b2a7b6f tangled mess of 2406e2247b his own feelings.b4d42d1038cf2fad

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He had apologized, 295afca26a and Suji had fd68d749b3 brushed it off 2a7107f9fe as if it 670a6772b0 were nothing.ecb8180e8a71dc7a

Was that really all 2ddd401954 there was to it?83f4c86680e35de6

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