Drabble based on the winning prompt for the Sixth Drabble Giveaway I held on Twitter (link): A joyrene story inspired by the song Rude Love by f(x)

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“To freedom!”

Shot glasses clink together noisily, nearly spilling their contents in the process, and their owners hurry to down them before the precious liquid is lost.

“To Sooyoung’s lucky escape!” Yerim adds around a hiss at the alcoholic drink.

“You make it sound like I was in jail or something.”

“You hated that job and the only reason you didn’t quit earlier was because you needed the money. That’s kind of like a jail.”

“A jail of capitalism,” Seulgi points out wisely. Also drunkenly. The girl is a lightweight.

Yerim leans forward to order another round and Sooyoung settles her attention on Seungwan. She’s been quiet for too long, which is both rare and usually a bad sign.

“You know what you should do before you leave?”

The drinks are immediately forgotten as Yerim swivels back around, gripping Sooyoung’s arm in excitement. “Yes!”

Sooyoung attempts to free herself, but the grip is painfully tight. “No,” she deadpans, but the meaningful glint in Seungwan’s eye lets her know that her pretense is getting her nowhere. “Okay, seriously, no. That was a joke.”

“Was it?” Yerim says simply, brow rising as if daring her to deny it.

“‘Boss can step on me with her heels,’” Seungwan pipes up in a falsetto, far too loudly for Sooyoung’s comfort.

“‘Boss looked so hot with her shirt collar ed today. Like something wild had gotten in her,’” Yerim contributes with a slight shudder of disgust.

“‘I’d love to get in her,’” both women conclude simultaneously. Seulgi giggles.

“Sure, I made some unprofessional comments. Maybe I find Ms. Bae a little attractive, probably everybody does if they have eyes. But I don’t see how-”

“March 27th, 8:19 PM,” Seungwan interrupts as she reads something off her phone screen. Sooyoung reaches for it desperately, but she yanks it out of reach. “‘Guys, do not let me leave the company without trying my chances with boss .’” She pauses for dramatic effect, but picks it up as soon as Sooyoung attempts to intervene. “‘I’m not even joking right now. Seriously. Do not, under any circumstance, let me chicken out of this.’ There’s a lot more but you went into pretty graphic detail so I didn’t write it down.”

Sooyoung could keep protesting, but she knows very well that it would be a pointless waste of energy. Not to mention how maybe she isn’t entirely against the idea. If she really must, anyway. She settles back on her stool with some grumbling, pretending not to notice the smug smiles on her friends’ faces.

(...)

Here are the facts:

One: Ms. Bae always stays late.

Two: Nobody has ever seen her smile.

Three: Sooyoung swears she saw her checking out Chaeyoung from HR one time and she’ll take it as precedent of attraction to women.

Four: She isn’t in the same department as Sooyoung so it’s less likely that this backfiring will have long-lasting effects on her career prospects.

This is a terrible idea.

She’s going to do it anyway.

(…)

After handing in her two weeks’ notice, Sooyoung begins her plan of approach.

Well, it’s not exactly a plan. The art of seduction is surprisingly simple, really. She mostly just wears flattering outfits and tries to make eye contact with Ms. Bae. Maybe bump into her once or twice to make sure she makes an impression.

As the days pass, the tight deadline makes Sooyoung almost lose hope, but then things turn around. She starts catching Ms. Bae returning her glances, lingering a second before abruptly turning away, that stony mask cracking for a brief instant.

It’s enough to push her to that final step. It’s enough for her to stay late on her last day, a cold and gloomy Friday, until she’s sure they’re the last two on the floor. And then she gets up on only slightly shaky legs and makes her way to Ms. Bae’s office.

She took her time studying her outfit in the bathroom mirror. Work blouse ed just low enough to show cleavage without flashing bra, makeup touched up, bright lipstick carefully applied to draw the eye. A few deep breaths to push away the nerves and make way for the y, in control, not at all scared Sooyoung.

She takes one final soothing breath before knocking on the closed door, the answer following quickly.

Inside, Ms. Bae sits at her desk, annotating a pile of papers lighted by a nearby lamp. She glances up at the interruption and freezes for the briefest moment as she identifies the visitor.

“Ms. Park. May I help you?”

Her gaze returns to her papers in an attempt to avoid eye contact. Sooyoung takes advantage of the distraction to move closer, standing by the desk without sitting on the chair across from Ms. Bae.

“I came to say goodbye,” she says in a lower voice, and bites back a giggle at the way her sudden proximity startles the woman across from her. “I handed in my notice a couple of weeks ago. Today was my last day.”

This draws Ms. Bae’s eyes back to her. “Oh. Well, thank you for your work with the company. It was a pleasure to have you with us.” With a stiff motion, she stands up and reaches out a hand. Sooyoung takes it without hesitation and is treated to a polite handshake.

She lets the touch linger, fingers brushing gently as the hand in hers slowly pulls away. “Was it?” she asks, letting her voice edge towards suggestive. The question catches Ms. Bae off guard and she studies her with guarded eyes, appearing to hesitate. In the end, she settles back into her seat.

“Of course. All our employees-” she begins, but Sooyoung doesn’t give her the time to carry on.

“Joohyun.” She trails the edges of the embossed nameplate resting on the desk. “It’s a lovely name. It suits you,” she adds, eagerly registering the way Ms. Bae’s eyes follow the motion of her fingers.

“Ms. Park...” Ms.  Bae’s tone is conflicted as she tries to issue her warning, but her voice doesn’t seem willing to go any further than the two words.

“Sooyoung,” she is quick to offer as alternative.

“Sooyoung, then.” A restless hand runs through impeccably styled hair. “I understand what you’re trying to do, and while it’s true that you will no longer be an employee of this company as soon as you clock out...” She seems to lose track of her thoughts as she watches Sooyoung make her way around the desk and stop inches away. Her lips move, forming soundless words, and Sooyoung doesn’t shy away from studying them intently.

“Come on, Joohyun,” she calls out enticingly, leaning forward to rest a finger against her sternum. “Don’t you ever want to lose control?”

Her finger slides up, to the tightly buttoned collar of Ms. Bae’s shirt. With thumb and forefinger, Sooyoung flicks it open, then gazes up into her victim’s eyes. She only gazes back, resistance abandoned, or maybe forgotten entirely, and barely moves as Sooyoung closes the short distance between and presses their lips together.

For the briefest instance, there is only an immobile Ms. Bae, taking in a sharp breath at the contact. And then she springs into action, eagerly returning the kiss, hands reaching around Sooyoung’s neck and pulling her ever closer.

Sooyoung barely has the time to gloat at her success before Ms. Bae slips from under her and walks off towards the door. She turns with alarm only to find the woman turning the lock. With a sigh of anticipation, she slides down to occupy Ms. Bae’s comfortable desk chair, awaiting her return.

“Actually,” Ms. Bae begins, still standing by the door. Her eyes are lit up with a strangely wicked glint. “I don’t.”

It takes Sooyoung a while to remember what she’s talking about because in the meantime there was kissing and Ms. Bae tastes like raspberry lip balm and how is she supposed to manage thinking about anything else, but she finally snaps out of it as she sees the woman reach for the scarf on the clothes hanger by the corner.

“Don’t what?” she asks anyway, if only to buy her distracted mind a moment longer to process.

“Want to lose control,” Ms. Bae concludes, giving the scarf an experimental tug. Sooyoung feels an unexpected flash of warmth run through her body. “Would that be a problem?” the woman asks, almost shyly, head tilting to the side solicitously.

“No,” Sooyoung answers at once, surprising herself. The glee on Ms. Bae’s face is short-lived, replaced quickly by the usual stern mask of the boss . It looks hotter than ever.

“‘No’, what?”

Sooyoung can only swallow dryly as she gazes at the woman slowly approaching her.

“No, Ms. Bae.”

Oh, this is so much more than she bargained for.

She’s going to do it anyway.