* * *
“Hello, boss.”
“Yeah. Good morning.”
The weekend part-timer greeted Eunha as he arrived for work. 8:40 AM. It was still before opening. Eunha, who had set down his belongings in the staff room, immediately headed to the second floor. It was because it had been raining since morning.
On rainy days, there was more to do than usual. It was because each plant had such vastly different personalities. Even when everything was perfect, they were kids who would stubbornly die off as if to spite people, so on stuffy days like this, he had to take care of them much more carefully.
Having been absorbed in work that normally took about 40 minutes for well over an hour like that, Eunha pressed his lips together in a long line as soon as he finished the maintenance and came down to the first floor.
Yeonjun, who had shown up without fail today as well, was sitting in what was practically his designated seat.
Sensing his presence, he slightly lifted his head. Eunha looked at him impassively. His mind was thoughtlessly empty. It was a situation that had become tiresome beyond familiar due to repeating it for over a month, and because he could clearly predict the man’s reaction.
He’ll turn his eyes away somewhere. While pretending not to see… an obvious pattern.
And what came back to Eunha was an unexpected sight.
Without avoiding it, Yeonjun, who had maintained eye contact for some time, had brought up a gentle smile in his pupils.
……What?
Eunha was frozen for a moment. At that behavior that seemed to be familiarly acknowledging him with his gaze.
After being stiff for a moment, he put strength in his eyes. Because otherwise his expression seemed like it would crumple.
Having become that absurd feeling again, he quickly left his spot.
“Boss. I found a substitute for next Sunday.”
“Yeah. Who’s switching with you?”
“The weekend afternoon person. The male part-timer for the next shift said he’d come in early.”
“Okay. I’ll note it down.”
He acted as usual. Watching the counter, chatting trivially with the part-timer, blankly looking out at the rainy window……
The whole time, his thoughts were in another country. For instance, what he had experienced just yesterday, in front of the art museum.
‘I want to have a meal with hyung.’
Eunha chewed on pessimism while ruminating on the request Yeonjun had made to him using a very minor favor as an excuse.
See? I told you he’s a slut pretending to be innocent. I told you he’s making a move……
Learning such cunning tricks already at that young age. Trying to deceive people.
‘Alright.’
That answer had been pure mischief. Let’s see just how far he’ll go.
‘Yes?’
‘Yes? Why?’
‘Really?’
‘Yes. When would be good for you?’
‘Ah. I’m fine anytime….’
A somewhat flustered, hasty answer.
‘When is convenient for hyung?’
At the answer that he’d need to check his schedule, the face that nodded again as if it really didn’t matter either way.
Eunha let out a shallow snort and looked at Yeonjun. He was sitting with his legs crossed, placing a stiff notebook on those thighs and scribbling with a pencil. It was an action he often did at the cafe. Guessing, it seemed like he was drawing something. It might be school assignments.
Seeing that posture every time, it seemed to be a habit.
To his side, large windows that wrapped around half the building extended lengthily. Outside the window was gloomy, the sound of drizzling rain could be heard, and water droplets were dripping from the eaves.
It was a thought he often had. That pictures are really nice. Whether the background is clear or cloudy. How should I say…… Yeonjun often played the same role as the plants Eunha raised in the cafe. Plants that were cool and beautiful to look at. Prettily bloomed flowers.
After watching as if appreciating for a moment, he rose from the stool he’d been perched on. Being immersed in the sound of rain made him crave a cigarette.
When he gathered his belongings and left the shop, humid air quickly enveloped his body. Following the space under the awning, Eunha, who had familiarly entered the smoking area in the corner beside the building, held the cigarette between his teeth. He lit it, deeply inhaled the filter once, then exhaled the smoke. Sinking into a refreshing feeling as if something was being charged, he plopped down into a squat.
Leaning against the building’s outer wall smoking, he looked up at the cloudy sky with his head emptied.
While ignoring sounds like the automatic door opening and closing, approaching footsteps and such.
Smoking without paying attention, only when a presence approached very close by did he glance to the side.
Yeonjun, who had just squatted down next to him, hesitated and met his eyes slightly. Then, as if the gaze reaching him was awkward, he looked straight ahead. He covered his mouth area as if rubbing it slightly with his large hand. Eunha quietly took in the prominent veins crossing the back of his hand.
“……I smoke too.”
“Who said anything?”
Of course you would. After answering in an unconcerned tone, he raised his gaze back to that distant sky. As he was smoking like that, their gazes met again. Ignoring it, Eunha finished burning his cigarette, threw it away, and looked to the side. With the arm on the side touching Eunha wrapped around his knee and his opposite hand supporting his head, he was tilted diagonally observing Eunha. With one eye buried in the inside of his wrist. Without even taking out the cigarette he said he came to smoke.
When he picked up a new cigarette, he asked.
“Are you smoking another one?”
“Yes.”
“It’s bad for your health……”
“I don’t think you’re one to talk.”
“You……”
The muttering tone was strangely slow and hazy. As if ruminating on a fact that bothered him.
Eunha sank into deep contemplation. He had been someone whose behavioral patterns had been consistent over the past month without the slightest error.
Now and yesterday too…… it felt like he was suddenly approaching much closer.
Because they happened to meet at the art museum? Well.
Eunha, who had been focusing on the sound of rain, blurted out.
“From where did you hear? Yesterday.”
It was a question asked while roughly guessing. He was also curious about the exact timing, and well……
Yeonjun was silent. It didn’t seem like he didn’t understand the subject. Rather it seemed the opposite. A face that became very slightly unwilling because he understood too well right away.
“…From the part where you said you have someone you’re seeing.”
Right from the start of the main point. Eunha nodded inwardly. When he didn’t continue speaking, silence came as it was. It was an awkward, conscious silence. The increasingly violent sound of rain filled it.
The sound of rain.
The sound beating against his eardrums to the point of being suffocating.
Was that why? That lush white noise suddenly felt like a curtain surrounding them. Inside, enclosed like that, was packed full with heavy air, cut off from the outside, and the view gradually blurred hazily with water vapor. Such strange imagination filled his head.
Eunha lowered his gaze with a feeling that had become subtle in an instant. He brought together his drying lips. He deeply inhaled the filter. In the continuing silence, he felt a distinct gaze. He looked to the side. Yeonjun didn’t make eye contact. It was the first time. Him not responding to a gaze that was clearly felt.
Having been looking only at somewhere around this side’s lower face like that, at some point he snapped out of it belatedly and sharply pulled his gaze upward. The focus crossed for an instant as if retracing the situation, then found its place again.
“Um. Don’t worry about it. I don’t care about things like that.”
“……”
“…I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to listen.”
“……”
“But I really don’t think it’s strange……”
Really. Of course you would……
