I’m jealous, really. What a truly reasonable boss. The complete opposite of the Director who can’t stand seeing his subordinates leave work first.
Of course, Seungju’s head and body were also complete opposites of each other. When the Director stood up, Seungju automatically turned his body and greeted him.
“Director, have a safe trip home.”
“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”
Only after the Director disappeared outside the office door could sounds of people packing their bags be heard here and there.
“Why the hell did he sit there wasting 20 minutes, ugh really.”
Yoon Minyeong, the Planning Team 5 Team Leader sitting closest to Seungju’s seat, muttered while turning off her computer. Seungju chimed in.
“She’s the type who thinks she’s at a loss if only her mood is bad.”
“Yeah, she looked like she was in a shitty mood from the morning.”
Team Leader Yoon was already completely ready to go home. She stood up from her seat while greeting her team members.
“You guys hurry home. Seungju, have a good evening too.”
The team members answered in unison. Yes. Seungju also answered. Yes…
He had no choice but to swallow the next words down his throat. If it weren’t for the work that fucking Director ordered, I would’ve already gotten on the bus home.
Instead, Seungju rubbed the corners of his eyes with his fingers. If he focused, it seemed like it would take about an hour and a half to finish. Rather than eating and coming back to do it, it would be better to finish work quickly and eat dinner on the way home. He slumped his shoulders and started working on the document again.
“Aren’t you leaving work?”
“Ah, General Manager…”
Not long after turning his eyes to the monitor, Seungju raised his head again. Muyeon was standing in the hallway looking at Seungju. The spring coat suited him incredibly well. Even his bag was pretty. At the visual that made his eyes happy, Seungju barely gained the energy to smile weakly.
“I have work left. Have a safe trip home.”
“Alright, leave work soon.”
Seungju watched Muyeon’s back as he walked toward the office door until the very end.
Just exchanging a few words made him feel like his mouth would tear. Today, from Muyeon’s first day coming to the Planning Division, they’d exchanged greetings twice. He felt like he’d gotten considerably closer to him.
Moreover, all the conversations he’d had with Muyeon up until now had started with him speaking first. Seungju’s mind instantly filled with a flower garden. Yeah, this is how it all starts anyway.
Just before the happy circuit that had been downing a bowl of kimchi broth since morning could activate, reality recognition tapped him on the back.
Liking someone who works at the same company, moreover a superior, and not just any superior but the owner’s son—that’s crazy.
So what? Does liking someone mean you’ll date them?
That’s nonsense. Analyzing what the problem is with something that has no possibility of becoming reality is pointless. Seungju handed back objective judgment to that good guy called reality recognition who would slap his cheek whenever he lost his mind.
And then Seungju turned on his happy circuit again. Seeing how Muyeon initiates conversation every time, it seems I’ve gained a bit of his favor.
I’m excited. It would be really nice if we ended up getting close like this.
***
General Manager Baek Muyeon took the elevator down to the underground parking lot. Whether by chance or not, there was no one else who got on the elevator with him, and no one got on in the middle either. Since the 2nd to 10th floors of this building were occupied by other companies besides Vision Factory, this was rare.
Muyeon glanced down at the watch on his wrist and snorted once. That’s right, it’s well past quitting time. In the first place, Vision Factory employees in departments other than the Planning Division would have left work ages ago, and the Planning Division employees who had gained their freedom would have all escaped the company too.
Muyeon had known well since joining Vision Factory that elevators in office building complexes become quiet except during commute times and lunch hours. That’s because he had the freedom to wander around inside or outside the building without restriction, even when it wasn’t commute time or lunch hour. That was a natural right that came to him from the moment he decided to take over the company through his parents’ earnest request and persuasion. While he didn’t wastefully squander such freedom, there was no need to give it up either.
The day he ran into Team Leader Heo Seungju alone in this elevator was also a day when he was enjoying such freedom.
It was the day Baek Muyeon ate lunch with Assistant Manager Jeong from the Sales Team. Usually, Muyeon didn’t remember every detail of when or with whom he ate lunch at this company, but anyway, he couldn’t help but remember that day because what happened during that lunch hour triggered a chain reaction that led to a certain incident.
Assistant Manager Jeong, who had to serve the President’s son lunch, rattled off stories about the sneaker collection he was currently obsessed with to quickly fill the unbearably uncomfortable meal time. Thanks to that, the meal ended in 20 minutes.
Like a generous boss, Baek Muyeon freed Assistant Manager Jeong early without coffee time after the meal. That was because Assistant Manager Jeong’s talk about shoes reminded him of dress shoes he’d almost bought recently. He went to a nearby department store and bought new shoes. When he returned to the company it was almost 1:30, but naturally Baek Muyeon didn’t care at all.
Of course he cared when the elevator door opened on the 1st floor and he ran into Team Leader Heo Seungju.
A familiar face. At this time? Was he slacking off?
However, his tired face didn’t look like he’d been out playing at all. His reddened eyes, whether sunken or feverish, caught his attention. Before thinking he’d been crying, Team Leader Heo Seungju turned around.
He felt it was a shame.
That thought was truly an incident. Because Baek Muyeon was someone who had never felt something was a shame before.
As a result, even now Muyeon thinks he did well to turn him back around by speaking to him with trivial words in the elevator. It created an excuse to talk to him when he ran into him again on the rooftop.
While poking at him and coaxing him on the rooftop, Muyeon realized something. He’d felt it when they met in the elevator too, but watching Team Leader Heo Seungju’s flustered face was fun. Well, it is indeed an interesting thing to see someone who comes and goes from the company expressionlessly as if they’ve lost their soul or spirit, their face carrying all the world’s exhaustion, make a different shape of expression.
Based on that interest, Muyeon didn’t feel much hesitation about the matter of moving to the Planning Division either. Anyway, there was nothing he couldn’t do at this company. Thinking about it, it was something that had been decided from the beginning that he’d just been putting off, so it worked out well for everyone.
Of course, even without a particular excuse, it wouldn’t have been difficult to speak to Team Leader Heo Seungju anytime. Muyeon had no reservations about such things. The matter of approaching someone who shows interest in him and demanding their favor, that is. As if enjoying someone’s gaze was a natural right given to him from birth.
So he knew well who was interested in him. Getting in his car, starting the engine, and checking his phone notifications, Muyeon chuckled.
Well, I mean, looking at Team Leader Heo Seungju’s eyes as he looked up at me brushing his hair, anyone would be right that they couldn’t mistake the interest contained in them. And Muyeon liked those kinds of eyes. Those eyes that couldn’t get a grip because of overflowing favor always brought him extreme satisfaction and fulfillment.
There was one missed call on his phone. It was a call Muyeon had missed during the short time he left the office and came down to the underground parking lot. After checking the caller, he immediately made the call.
“Yeah.”
– What do you mean ‘yeah’? When your hyung is calling.
“What is it?”
– It’s your first day being sent off as General Manager, so I called because I was curious how it went. When I met you at that company before, you said you’d already decided to transfer, right? And yet you didn’t say anything about transferring departments or wanting to do more work.
“How did you know whether I became General Manager today or not, hyung?”
– There are many ears listening and many mouths talking inside the company, so just listen well to the advice to be careful.
“Geez…”
Muyeon, who had started the car, let out a hollow laugh. His cousin sometimes said ridiculous things like this. Of course, he didn’t dislike the warm care from him, the only male blood relative in a family with many daughters.
– So, how is it?
“Yeah, there are interesting aspects.”
– That’s good.
“But I don’t know if I’ll do it for long. Though there is something I want to do.”
He could hear laughter from the other end of the phone. Muyeon briefly doubted whether he understood that “something I want to do” didn’t mean wanting to accomplish tasks within the company but rather meant wanting to do something with a person.
– Yeah, don’t just do what your parents want, do what you want to do. For a kid who loves himself as much as you do, it’s impressive enough that you listened to your parents’ fuss just once.
“You’re working hard to say in a roundabout way that I’m narcissistic.”
– I’m always amazed that you know that fact.
“Is that a bad thing? I think it’s good.”
– Yeah, yeah. Got it.
Muyeon hung up without any particular goodbye. His cousin probably wouldn’t be surprised. It would be more surprising if Baek Muyeon gave a warm greeting.
Exiting the parking lot, Muyeon looked up at the 13th floor where the lights were still on. While doing so, he thought about the quite warm and also generous words he’d said at the company a little while ago. And also the face of a certain person who smiled back at those words.
Thinking about enjoying that gaze made him smile again naturally.
Yeah, social life is about putting on an act. The man who loved himself extremely smiled once more at himself for realizing that fact, and at himself for doing quite well at this thing called social life too.
