He Seems Like He'd Be Incredible at Night, Too

Choi Yu-ri flapped her arms awkwardly.

She wasn't quite being hugged, but she wasn't exactly falling, either. It was an awkward in-between position.

Kang Tae-seong watched her for a moment, then said,

"...Why don't you?"

"Yes?"

"If we're doing this, you should hold on properly."

"...!"

Choi Yu-ri's shoulders twitched.

"That way, your balance won't shift."

"...Oh."

He was right.

It was just a game, anyway.

If she only clung to him awkwardly, they'd both just tire themselves out.

'I-I can do this.'

Choi Yu-ri carefully drew in a breath.

Then she slowly raised both arms.

With a soft rustle,

she wrapped them around Kang Tae-seong's neck like a baby koala.

"..."

When her eyes met Kang Tae-seong's in that position, her mind went completely blank.

'S-So close.'

He was much closer than she'd expected.

If she lowered her eyes just a little, she could see his face right in front of her.

Only then did she start to feel self-conscious about the shorts she'd been wearing all this time.

Kang Tae-seong's hands were hotter than she'd expected. The feeling of his hands against her skin was strangely distracting.

That wasn't all.

'Ah... Wait.'

Choi Yu-ri had been running around ever since they arrived at the resort.

She'd been hopping around and moving constantly throughout the recreational activities.

Maybe that was why her thoughts naturally went there.

'What if I smell sweaty?'

Normally, that was the sort of thing she wouldn't have given a second thought.

But they were so close now.

The perfume she'd put on must have worn off ages ago.

Her hair was probably a little messy, too.

Her face felt hot for no reason.

'Oh, what do I do?'

At the thought, her body instinctively tensed up.

She tried to adjust her posture as best she could.

She twitched her shoulders and tried tensing her legs, too.

She squirmed around.

"..."

'Ah.'

Then she suddenly realized.

'With my arms around him like this...'

There was no way to hide her face!

Choi Yu-ri was practically on the verge of tears.

Normally, she would at least have covered her face with both hands.

But now both of her arms were wrapped around Kang Tae-seong's neck.

There was nowhere to run.

'Can he see my whole expression...?'

Heat rushed to her ears.

With her heart pounding, Choi Yu-ri squeezed her eyes shut.

It was better not to look.

Just then,

"Please stay still."

A low, composed voice rang in her ear.

"Y-Yes!"

Startled, Choi Yu-ri instinctively stopped moving.

Only then did Kang Tae-seong adjust his posture again.

'...That's much better.'

In truth, he was just as troubled.

'That was close.'

As she kept squirming, Choi Yu-ri's body had been rubbing against him again and again without meaning to.

Kang Tae-seong was in a dangerous position in more ways than one.

He'd been too busy with work to take care of his urges.

He'd almost had a disaster on his hands, with his manhood springing to attention.

If something that serious happened, forget squats—he'd have to get out of there as fast as possible.

Fortunately, her posture was stable now.

Just then,

"Um..."

A hesitant voice reached him.

Kang Tae-seong looked down.

Choi Yu-ri asked him cautiously,

"Am I... heavy?"

Kang Tae-seong looked at her for a moment, then shook his head.

"No."

"..."

"Not at all."

Her weight wasn't the problem.

The problem was that she'd been moving around nonstop just before.

Choi Yu-ri wasn't heavy at all.

To exaggerate a little, she was about as heavy as a shopping basket full of odds and ends.

In fact, now that he'd gotten past that brief moment of crisis, she didn't feel heavy at all.

"I could stay like this for another twenty minutes."

“T-Twenty minutes?"

"All right!"

As he was talking with Choi Yu-ri, the host's booming voice rang through the hall.

"You've only done five so far! Come on, everyone! Keep going! You can do it!"

'...Annoying.'

Just a moment ago, he'd thought the host was doing a pretty good job.

But now that he was a contestant, those words of encouragement somehow sounded like they were taunting him.

'Still...'

Kang Tae-seong glanced around to assess the situation.

'Looks like we might win.'

They'd been pretty lucky.

In physical events, men who knew how to use their strength generally had the advantage.

And the lighter the person being carried, the better.

So a team made up of a strong man and a light woman had the edge.

Muscle Monster had both of those things going for it.

The other teams, on the other hand, were in a different situation.

"Aaaagh!"

"Hey, why are you so heavy?!"

"Hyung! I can't hold you!"

All the male employees who worked out had ended up on teams together.

As a result, disastrous scenes were unfolding all over the place, with people doing squats while carrying men who weighed eighty kilos—or, in some cases, close to ninety.

Watching them, Kang Tae-seong became certain.

'...We've got first place in the bag.'

*

Just as I'd expected, Team Muscle Monster took first place by a landslide in the squat game.

"Muscle Monster! First place!"

Clap, clap, clap, clap!

The employees broke into applause.

"Just as expected, Mr. CEO!"

"You're amazing, Mr. CEO! You should lift with us sometime!"

Choi Yu-ri and Lee Ju-hee high-fived.

Still, we couldn't celebrate without a care in the world.

We'd come in last in the balloon relay earlier.

Our back muscles had made the balloons pop one after another, leaving us with a dismal score.

So even though we'd made up for it in the squat game, we'd only managed to get back to even.

"Let's move on to the next event!"

The recreational activities continued.

An OX quiz.

A team relay.

Physical games and brainteasers took turns, and the laughter never stopped.

By the time all the events were over,

"I'll announce the final results!"

The host opened an envelope.

"Third place! Muscle Monster!"

"Yaaay! Third place!"

Choi Yu-ri and Lee Ju-hee cheered at the same time.

The prize was a department store gift card worth around two hundred thousand won.

While the applause continued, I alone took a moment to catch my breath.

'...Is this really a workshop?'

What kind of company came to a workshop and played games like this?

The schedule was almost no different from a college retreat.

My body was completely worn out by now.

'I'm drained.'

It was a different kind of exhaustion from my usual workouts.

Even so, looking around, I could see that all this had been worth it.

"Wahaha!"

"We came in first!"

The employees looked so happy.

People from different departments were laughing and chatting together.

Even those who'd felt awkward around one another were talking naturally now.

'...It really did work, at least.'

At the very least, the atmosphere was a success.

"Mr. CEO!"

Choi Yu-ri beamed as she waved the gift card.

"Thank you!"

"We won thanks to you!"

Lee Ju-hee looked excited, too.

"Let's go shopping with this!"

I wondered if she meant for me to come along, and when I met her eyes, Lee Ju-hee nodded.

I slowly shook my head.

"You two go without me."

"...Pardon?"

"I gave that gift card as a prize. It'd be a little strange for me to come along and use it, wouldn't it?"

If you thought about it, I'd be buying my own stuff with my own money.

That was why I'd turned her down, but Lee Ju-hee said firmly,

"No."

"...?"

"You have to come with us, too."

"No, I..."

"No, no! If you don't come, neither will we! We'll give the prize back! Right, Yu-ri?"

"R-Right! You have to come shopping with us, too, Mr. CEO!"

Choi Yu-ri cautiously chimed in beside her.

I looked back and forth between them, then finally gave in.

"All right. We'll go sometime when our schedules line up."

"Really?"

"Promise!"

I only managed to get away after we hooked pinkies.

*

"All right, everyone! Let's go have dinner!"

Once the recreational activities were over, the employees began heading to the barbecue area.

A spacious outdoor barbecue area had been set up at the foot of the mountain.

There were charcoal, grills, folding tables, and even coolers.

There was quite a bit of equipment to move.

"Could someone bring this over here, please?"

"You can put the charcoal over here!"

While the employees bustled about,

Kang Tae-seong was the first to get moving.

"Where should I put this?"

"Oh, Mr. CEO! We'll take care of it!"

"It's fine."

As if it were nothing, Kang Tae-seong lifted a cooler high off the ground.

It was a load that two adult men had been struggling to carry together.

And yet he didn't even look like he was exerting himself.

"Wow..."

"The CEO's really strong."

That wasn't the end of it.

He set up tables, carried bags of charcoal,

and even moved the camping chairs one by one, placing them around the tables.

No one had asked him to.

He just got things done without hesitation.

He simply lent a hand whenever there was something nearby that needed doing.

The female employees watching him whispered among themselves.

"The CEO's so hardworking."

"Right? He could just stand back and watch, but he doesn't."

"He's really handsome, you know?"

One after another, the female employees' voices reached them.

Park So-young, who was carrying plates a little farther away, heard them, too.

"..."

A corner of her heart felt strangely ticklish.

'...Why?'

An inexplicable feeling of frustration.

The more people spoke well of Kang Tae-seong, the more uneasy she felt for some reason.

'...It's bothering me.'

Why?

It was obviously a good thing.

It was good for the company when employees had a better opinion of their CEO.

And yet, for some reason, Kang Tae-seong's improving reputation made her feel uneasy.

Standing among the female employees, she found herself opening her mouth without thinking.

"T-The CEO's going bald, though."

"...?"

The female employees' eyes turned to Park So-young.

“He doesn't have much hair, and he's gained weight... Haha... He isn't exactly handsome...."

Only after she'd blurted out something close to outright criticism did Park So-young herself flinch.

'...Huh?'

Why had she said that?

There was no reason for her to butt in.

Kang Tae-seong wasn't being insulted. People were praising him.

Why would she go out of her way to spoil the mood?

Even if she said something like that, it wouldn't do Kang Tae-seong—or Park So-young herself—any good.

'...Why did I?'

She was confused by her own behavior, which she couldn't understand herself, when one of the female employees chuckled and spoke up.

"So-young, you're still young. You don't know any better."

"Pardon?"

"Men like him are the real deal."

Another employee standing nearby smiled and agreed.

"Exactly. He might look taciturn, but he's secretly so sweet."

“He's not even that fat. It's all muscle."

A team leader in her late thirties smiled meaningfully.

"You saw him doing squats earlier, right?"

"...?"

"With stamina like that..."

She paused, then slowly ran the tip of her tongue over her lips.

"I bet he's incredible at night, too."

"...!"

Park So-young's face turned bright red in an instant.

"W-What are you talking about?!"

She was so flustered that her voice cracked.

"Hohoho."

"Oh my, look at So-young's face."

"She's so innocent."

The female employees burst into playful laughter.

"I-I'll go help over there..."

Park So-young hurriedly turned away, as if to hide her face.

Even as she quickly left, her heart was beating strangely fast.

'What are you even saying...? Honestly.'

Even the tips of her ears felt hot.

Strangely, though, the team leader's words from just a moment ago kept circling around in her mind.

'...I'm losing it.'

Park So-young forced herself to shake her head hard.

Her face felt unbearably hot.

Her face felt unbearably hot.