Work Text:
Thank God she’s only working four days out of the week.
Because she wanted a change of scenery, she found a new job as a part-time assistant for Son Hyunwoo, a young chief executive who inherited the company not too long ago and clearly looks like he lives off of daddy’s money. His other part-time assistant, Bae Jiyoung, works on the days that she has off, but Hyunwoo barely acknowledges either of them. She’s never heard him address her by her name, nor does he ever spare her a glance, even when she’s handing things off to him. For him to crack a smile–or any expression–takes too much effort to be worth it. Son Hyunwoo is a stone-cold boss.
At the same time, he’s not necessarily a terrible boss. She’s already been ogled at by other male employees but Hyunwoo, despite being a man of little words, treats her like a human. He’s the only man who has yet to objectify her, at least blatantly, so being at work isn’t a complete nightmare. She spends more time with him than any of the men in the building. Even if she would like for him to address her properly, she’ll take the silence over unsolicited touching and catcalling any day.
Every once in a while, she’ll peer over at her boss in his chair. There’s no denying he’s incredibly attractive, but looks and money seem to be the only things running for him.
Whenever there’s a meeting, she usually stays in his office to tidy up his space. But this time around, he had asked her to be in the room with him and the other executives. She thought the hiring process and three-step interviews were bad but being in a conference room full of powerful figures and unfamiliar faces–all older men–was the worst. She really felt like her guts were ready to give up on her. Her heart was racing as she was following Hyunwoo’s commands and periodically offering them water. It’s one thing for men her age to ogle at her because it’s unknown when they start to mature, but to have middle-aged men eyeing her and whispering amongst each other?
Sickening.
When the meeting concludes and they all shuffle out of the room, she stands behind Hyunwoo’s chair, frozen in fear but with her chin up. They continue to peer at her like some sort of zoo animal. It seems most men never mature. At least one of them has to be married with three children, if not all of them. Do they really have no morals for their wife– their whole family –at home?
“Ah, son,” the last executive still in the room laughs. He’s tall, sporting a similar stature to Hyunwoo, with his salt and pepper hair slicked back. “I don’t know how you get any work done with that thing around.”
She narrows her eyes. The audacity. She’s clearly in earshot yet this man is smirking at her. Shameless.
“What do you mean?,” Hyunwoo asks. She detects a slight shift in his typically indifferent tone.
“I mean that .” The man raises a brow at her. He’s not afraid of establishing eye contact. The derogatory way of addressing her, in addition to his eyes scanning her from head to toe, causes her stomach to churn. If she didn’t already feel unsettled, she truly feels nauseous now.
“Father-”
“If I had one of those, I wouldn’t spend a minute working.” He continues, even cracking a loud laugh.
Those. That . What about ‘her’? ‘She’?
Hyunwoo’s grip on his pen tightens. “Father-”
“Why don’t you let me borrow one of those for my office? I could sure use some assistance.”
She nearly jumps out of her skin when Hyunwoo’s hands slam down on the table. His chair scrapes back as he shoots up and he glowers at the older man. The silence is uncomfortable and his father looks equally startled. She clutches her clipboard even closer to her chest to ease her nerves.
“See you at dinner, father.”
The man chuckles. “Hey now, don’t scare me like that, kid.”
Hyunwoo doesn’t react to him patting his shoulder. When he finally leaves, Hyunwoo silently gathers up his stuff. She’s never seen him so worked up. The slight aggression in the way he shoves the papers back into his folder is so apparent that she might as well see steam coming from his head. It’s not the first time she’s had to tolerate workplace sexism and predatory behavior but when Hyunwoo turns around and looks at her, his eyes bore unfamiliar warmth–a polar contrast to his typically icy glare. “Are you okay?”
She purses her lips and looks down. When she vents to her friends about workplace woes, it’s to release some steam. Her skin grew thicker the more she stood her ground at work so while it takes very little for her rage to run ablaze, it takes so much more for her to shed a tear. Men never stood up for her or intervened when other fellow men displayed their true colors so for her boss, a man who probably doesn’t even know her name and never acknowledged her beyond giving her tasks, to ask her if she’s okay? Clearly, one can never be okay after being called ‘that’ and getting preyed upon by older men, but her boss showing genuine concern triggers something in her.
Her eyes begin watering and she turns away. “I’m fine,” she hiccups as she dabs her tears away with the collar of her blouse.
“Why don’t you take the rest of the day off?”
She doesn’t let him say another word when she rushes out of the room in shambles. Whether or not he truly doesn’t have anything else for her to do, none of it matters when he dismisses her himself. It’s almost shameful for her to cry over men when she’s dealt with this for years and never bats an eye. Suddenly, an attractive young boss acknowledges it and she loses it.
What a world to live in.
“Good morning.”
She smiles as she shuts the door behind her. “Good morning, sir.”
Ever since that particular meeting, her boss has been acknowledging her: greeting her, addressing her by her name, and asking if she needs anything. He also doesn’t take her with him to meetings anymore, citing that bigger responsibilities should solely be for him to bear with. Although, she’d like to think that he is an exception to fellow executives who treat their employees–especially women–like objects rather than people, and that he is actually concerned for her. A girl could dream, no?
“Will you be attending the party tonight?”, he asks, peering up from his computer monitor.
Ah, the party. They had just closed out a multi-million dollar deal with an established company overseas, which warrants a celebration. The party is hosted by Hyunwoo’s father. He may be filthy rich but he cheaped out on renting a venue and is holding the party in this building instead. It doesn’t seem to bother Hyunwoo much, but he definitely deserves better.
“I suppose.”
He chuckles. “You’re not obligated to.”
“I know.” She retrieves a folder from her bag and sets it down on his desk. “But this is a big deal for you.”
“For my father, not me.”
“But you closed the deal yourself, sir.”
If Hyunwoo didn’t always look like he wanted to go home and get away from people, would his rare smile have the same impact on her as it does now? After cracking one, he resumes typing, not knowing how hot the room suddenly becomes for her. She tugs at her collar, feeling the heat rush up her neck and to her face.
“Which is why I’ll be there.”
Ah, yes. Her voice just had to crack as well. Fortunately, he doesn’t notice.
She may only work part-time but she sees way too many people during her shift. Even if it’s just a mere wave or ‘hi’, her low social battery is already in the negatives by the time she clocks out. She’d rather go home and sleep the night away instead of attending this raucous party where booze makes people even bolder. Getting ogled by sober, middle-aged men was already bad enough. Alcohol just makes them unhinged.
She’s cowered away in a corner, separating herself from everyone, with a half-empty glass of champagne. She was usually indifferent to the subtle burn of booze, but the noise and lack of space made the burn more noticeable–and unpleasant. More alcohol would either ease the tension or shoot her fight or flight senses through the roof, and she wasn’t willing to take the risk to find out. Hyunwoo also doesn’t seem to be part of the crowd. She spots his father, who has now shed off his blazer and popped a few buttons of his dress shirt open. His typically slicked-back hair is now drooping over his forehead, making him look more disheveled. He doesn’t look like an utter mess yet but it’s a stark difference to what she’s used to seeing.
She downs the last swig of champagne before setting the glass down on a table. She slinks around her tipsy and trashed coworkers and escapes the room. Finally, out of the hot and humid gathering, she inhales deeply, then sets off for Hyunwoo’s office.
The door is cracked open but the lights are out. Most of them. There’s a hint of warm yellow slipping out the crack of the door and she slowly pushes it open. Just as she’d assumed, her boss is still sitting at his desk, staring at his computer monitor. She can see the disinterest glossed over his face under the warm light of his desk lamp. His blazer is draped over the back of his chair. His forearms are bared by his sleeves that are rolled up to his elbows and, despite having a few buttons undone at the top, he still looks clean cut somehow. It may be the minor rush of alcohol speaking but…
Son Hyunwoo looks incredibly delectable.
He looks up from the monitor and sits straight. “What are you doing here?”
“I was just looking for you.” She steps in. “Why are you not down there with everyone?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t like being around people after hours.”
“Oh.” She bites her lip and slowly steps back. “Sorry.”
“No, no.” He stands up. “Come here.”
She swallows. The way those two words came out his mouth sends a current through her limbs, but he probably didn’t intend for it to sound like that. She approaches him, but he gestures for her to walk around his desk. “Yes, sir?”
“Are you drunk?”
She shakes her head. “I drank a little bit of champagne, but I’m okay.”
Hyunwoo doesn’t stop staring. She suddenly feels small under his intense gaze, but he doesn’t look directly into her eyes. He searches her face, for whatever reason, but she can sense he had some booze as well. Not a lot, since he can stand on his own two feet, but enough for the shift in his demeanor to be noticed.
“Why..?,” she asks quietly, closing her eyes when his hand hovers close to her face. He doesn’t touch her. She opens her eyes to find his hand still next to her head, as if silently seeking consent to touch her. He never has much to say, but he certainly never got this close to her. Whatever his intentions may be, it’s not malicious or predatory like his significantly older employees, so she nudges her head against his palm. “Did you need something?”
He chuckles. “If I have your permission.”
“For?”
He hesitates. “A kiss?”
“A..,” she exhales, “.. kiss?”
Even prior to this, she always harbored a crush on him. Small, as she claims it to be, but still a crush. She never got a view of him up close. Now that she does, said crush may not be as small as she hoped for it to be. When a man looks at her, it doesn’t send her heart into a frenzy. When a man brushes up against her, heat never rushes up to her face and turns the room into a sauna. If a man asks her for a kiss, she would never consider it. But for her sinfully attractive boss to caress her cheek, ask for a kiss, and look into her eyes the way he is now?
She reaches for his hand and squeezes it, whispering a quiet but desperate ‘ please ’.
He immediately takes charge, dipping down to seal a deep kiss. He wraps an arm around her, hauling her up against his chest. A free hand slides up her nape and rakes through her tresses to deepen the kiss. The sheer need renders her breathless, a wave of heat rushing to her core and further igniting the heat between her thighs. She moans against his mouth when she feels how hard he is. His arousal presses against her, and it takes so much in her to stay quiet as she realizes his door is still open. She can’t risk being caught in a compromising position with the head executive but after Hyunwoo’s tongue slid past her lips, her eyelids flutter and she surrenders. She grabs a fistful of his shirt and ruts back against him. She craves some friction to alleviate her neediness as it’s further fueled by the clash of tongues and her pleaful whimpers. She has to push him back by his chest to catch her breath.
Her name rolls off his tongue in a breathy pant. How can she stay sane any longer?
“Can I have a taste of you?”
She screams internally. The bar may be low but at this moment, to hell with it. She’s incredibly needy for her boss and the barest of all minimums can make her cream herself. “Yes. Please. ”
He fumbles with her pencil skirt. It doesn’t budge when he attempts to tug it down, so she pulls down the zipper at the side. Only then does one pull send the garment down her legs. He lifts her out of it and sets her down on his desk. But before he can claim his dibs on her, she pushes his chest away, frowning. “Close the door first.”
He casts a glance over her shoulder. Heaving a sigh, he rushes to shut it. In addition, he locks it and shudders all the blinds on his windows.
“Now, where were we?”
He takes a seat and drapes her legs over his shoulders. Scooting her towards the edge of the desk forces her onto her back, and he doesn’t start off gentle. Not that she minds. With her soiled panties drawn to the side, his tongue flattens between her folds, and flicks up to her clit. As soon as his mouth latches onto it, her hand shoots up to cover her mouth and muffle her moans.
Hyunwoo’s grip on her thighs is firm. The man knows how to use his mouth to inflict the filthiest pleasure. Her boss’s desk is not ideal comfort but she has never felt so good. It doesn’t matter that they’re still at their workplace where hundreds of employees are several floors below them. It doesn’t matter that at any moment, someone can knock on his door. The pleasure is crashing over her in waves, and she can do no more than let loose and cry out his name.
With her fingers raking through his hair, she pushes his head deeper between her thighs. She does it instinctively and men usually draw back, but Hyunwoo takes it. He takes all that she’s giving him–and more. His tongue on her clit already sets off fireworks but the addition of his fingers inside her has her ascending. She tightens her grip on his tresses, gasping as two fingers are curled and pumping inside her. His tongue darts out to stroke her swollen clit, and she drips onto his fingers even more. Her moans are ragged and breathy, her nipples hardening and aching beneath her bra. It may be so wrong, but it feels so right.
She was already on the edge with just his mouth, but his fingers sought to claim her. She can’t ward it off any longer. The strength to hold on dwindles to nearly nothing, and she digs the heels of her feet into his back. “Hyunwoo,” she breathes, gasping as her back arches off the table. He continues fucking her. He doesn’t slack as euphoria crashes over her in waves, the knot in the pit of her stomach swiftly unraveling as chills rush through her body. He prolongs her high, not caring that she’s dripping onto his desk. When he finally spares her mercy, she sags with a sigh.
She stays put, and so does he. Her legs remain over his shoulders for him to plant a trail of kisses along her inner thighs. She barely had energy when she walked in here and now, she doesn’t have any at all. Nonetheless, she’s elated–light as a cloud.
“You did so well.”
As if she’s not already hot and bothered, his words really set her ablaze.
He stands up. “Come here.”
She sits up. Now emerging from her sex-induced trance, she thinks this will be the last of their entanglement, especially when he helps her onto her feet. But then he turns her around and bends her over, throwing her off-guard. Her eyes widen as she realizes that she’s really about to let her boss fuck her right on his desk. The power imbalance should’ve stopped her until he hovers over her, pulls her collar back, and kisses her shoulder.
“May I?”
She swallows and turns her head. He kisses her once, and she mutters a needy ‘ please ’.
He opens a drawer. There’s rustling and crinkling before a condom is retrieved and the drawer is shut. Her clasped hands tense as she awaits his next move. It truly doesn’t feel real until the clink of his belt unbuckling rings through her ears, followed by the crinkling of foil.
Why did he have a stash of condoms in his office? How regularly does he fuck his employees? Was she another notch for him to claim? Her curiosity is swept away once he’s sheathed inside her, filling her to the hilt. She clenches her fists and whimpers as she wasn’t prepared for that, but he doesn’t budge. He soothes her with tender kisses on her neck and soft praises uttered against her skin. She accommodates his size, but he treats her so sweetly. He has her in the palm of his hands, almost unraveled and aching for him once more. She clenches around him and he draws his cock nearly all the way out, then sinks back inside her.
“ Fuck ,” he groans against her shoulder, sending a chill down her spine. “You feel so good.”
He bears a grip on her hips, anchoring her down as he fucks her hard and deep. His shallow thrusts and filthy words make her head spin. There’s nothing for her to grab at, so she claws at the desk, her chest heaving from his equal treatment of rough and soft. Rough thrusts and soft kisses. He grunts as she tightens around him, warranting him to pummel harder. Morals are out the window. All she can think about is his cock being given to her the way she likes it: relentless and unforgiving.
“Oh, god..” She shudders when he thumbs her clit. “Fuck!”
Her knees already begin buckling. She drops her head onto her forearms and attempts to jut away from him. The knot in the pit of her stomach is taut, and his fingers are unrelenting. Her swollen clit throbs under his touch, his cock pounding her to the hilt, and her whole body stiffens as she’s barely hanging on by a thread.
“Hyunwoo,” she gasps.
“Close, aren’t you?”
She nods. He suddenly stops moving, but his fingers work over her clit in swift circles. While she protests his actions, her pleas are incoherent. She deliberately squeezes her walls around him and attempts to rock back against his hips, but he knows just how to work his touch on her overly sensitive clit. She cries out, trembling and seeing stars, and only then does he resume fucking her, pounding her against his desk. Her eyes roll back and she spills around him, drenching his cock and spurring a mess between her thighs.
Her climax is prolonged. Her body can only handle so much, however, that she has to reach for his wrist and pull his hand away. He obliges, much to her relief, and soon succumbs to his own high, spilling his load into the condom. She whines when he latches his arm around her waist and buries himself deep inside her. She slumps against the desk, feeling the ache in her thighs. Her legs are reduced to jelly as she tries so hard to stand on her own two feet but Hyunwoo really knows how to sweep her off them.
“That’s my girl.”
Even if Hyunwoo does fuck his employees behind closed doors, knowing that he treats his hookups so sweetly is almost forgiving. Almost. Ethically, the power imbalance would put him in a bad light and frame him as predatory, just like his superiors. But he never ogled her, pressured her, or laid a finger on her without consent. For that, she doesn’t hold this night against him. She also can’t look him in the eyes again after this.
“Let’s get you cleaned up.”
Three months.
Three months since she last came into Hyunwoo’s office.
Three months since he bent her over his desk, fucked her, and pocketed her panties. Fortunately, he did because a few days later, she was assigned to a different department and he never heard a word from her again. Her panties are the only trace of her that he has left. He would occasionally pass by her, but she would look the other way. It’s obvious she’s avoiding him and he hates admitting how much it hurts. They never spent time together that’s not related to work, but she has a vice grip on him and he didn’t realize it until that night. He’s grateful for a chance to make her feel good, but he proves to be a fool to hold out hope for more. When she was no longer his assistant, there was a small chance that establishing something more wouldn’t be so wrong.
For better or for worse, he discovers that she had quit earlier this week. He’s not even ashamed of asking Jiyoung for her whereabouts, knowing how close the two are. Being in another department moved her out of his reach, teasing him so painfully by a thread whenever they crossed paths but he couldn’t say anything to her or hold her hand. Who knew the night they had sex, held hands, embraced, and shared a heart-to-heart over wine, would be the last night she would ever speak to or even look at him?
He sighs and steps out of his car. It feels lonely in his office without her, and having her constantly running through his mind is costing him his concentration. Sitting in a coffee shop usually helps him focus, so he decides to visit an unfamiliar local café. He expects a massive storefront like Starbucks, or an average-sized shop with the name in an eye-catching bubble font, which is why he ends up pacing up and down the street searching for it through his map. It’s not until he sees a modest sign attached to a big bookstore does he realize that he needs to pay better attention to shops, and stop expecting things to be grand.
According to his bookish friends, this bookstore had just popped up last week, and they rave about the coffee they serve in their little café. Hyunwoo is no coffee connoisseur (and definitely not a bookworm), but he enjoys a cup every now and then.
He passes through the bookstore and heads towards the café with the intention of ordering a drink. He already sees an empty table to claim, then spots a familiar face in the far corner of the shop where the outlets are. She’s occupied by her laptop and has her headphones on. That’s universal language to never bother the person and Hyunwoo is sometimes not fluent in it. He can’t help himself; he hasn’t seen her in so long.
He approaches her table and takes a seat across from her. When she finally notices him, she widens her eyes and slowly slides her headphones down to her neck. “Boss?”
He laughs. “Obviously, you don’t work for me anymore. You don’t need to call me that.”
Hyunwoo is relieved to see her, to see that she’s doing okay. She doesn’t seem to share the sentiment because she shuffles in her seat and looks back down at her laptop, her smile clearly forced. He thought her absence would be the worst pain, but being in front of her and seeing that she’s uncomfortable with him tops that. “Did I do something wrong?”
She perks up and shakes her head. “No, you didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Then why did you avoid me during work?”
She doesn’t answer; she simply stares.
“Couldn’t even spare a hi to your superior?”
The second she frowns, he immediately takes it back with a string of apologies. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that.”
“For the record, you didn’t even talk to me the first few weeks I started working for you.”
“I’m sorry,” he repeats while twiddling with his thumbs under the table. “I just want to know why you were avoiding me.”
“I wasn’t avoiding you.”
Hyunwoo’s eyes never leave her. Every time he stares for too long, she would grimace and he would feel bad for causing discomfort. He still feels bad doing it, but hearing her lie and seeing her unable to stand by her lie is frustrating. “Please be truthful.”
“I like you.”
Well… that came out quicker than he thought, though it was not what he expected.
“... I like you,” she repeats with a shrug before slipping her headphones back on. As quickly as she confessed, she quickly sweeps that under the rug, but the heat that rushes up to her face is indisputable. He is far too pleased with her confession, and he is not going to let her slip from his grasp again. He shuts her laptop in front of her, prompting her to remove her headphones again and huff at him.
“Hyunwoo, please-”
“Would you let me take you out on a date?”
She frowns. “Pardon?”
“Would you let me take you out on a date?”
She’s perplexed, to say the least, and understandably hesitant. “Why me?”
Hyunwoo slides her laptop towards him and rests his forearms on it. “Because I like you too.”
Her eyes flicker towards him, searching his face. “Really?”
“Really.”
She looks down, oddly not pursuing her laptop back. “You’re not fooling around with your other employees?”
With furrowed brows, he shakes his head. “I don’t take advantage of my employees like that.”
“Did you ever feel like you took advantage of me?”
“I hope I didn’t. I would hate for you to feel like I did. I don’t know if I would ever forgive myself.”
It falls silent between them once more. She purses her lips as she stares at her half-empty cup of tea, once again refusing to look him in the eye. Not that he holds it against her because he’s been taught to maintain eye contact. It dawns on him that he may just truly be a disturbance to her peace, and he’s set to leave and never bother her again. That is, until she reaches out for his hand and clutches it.
“You can take me out on a date.”
His heart lurches out of his throat–but for the best reason possible.
“But please keep your dad away from me.” She squeezes his hand. “He still scares me.”
His expression falls. How could he have forgotten how slimy his own father acted around her? He brings her hand up to his lips and kisses her knuckle. “I’ll make sure he’s not within a hundred feet of you.”
She stands up, grinning. “I don’t know how that will be possible, but I appreciate it." She gathers up her belongings and packs them back into her bag. "I have to get back to work now.”
“You found another job?”
She nods. “I shuffle between being a bookkeeper and a barista. Would you like anything to drink?”
He casts a glance over the menu, then smiles as he lets go of her hand. “Surprise me.”