‘Reporter Choi from Jeonnam… No, apparently he met that bastard personally through Yeonhwa.’
‘I heard he really likes Artist Moon Sujin’s paintings. He fancies himself an artist too, the nerve. Yeonhwa got him an unreleased work by Artist Moon. How they even managed to get that, honestly… I guess being number one in the business world means being number one.’
‘And as Reporter Choi knows, Cha Jaewon is quite interested in Yeonsen… no, that Yeonhwa son, right? Just the fact that he met with him personally caused such a huge fuss. He spread the rumor around so much that even my husband who works in finance heard about it. On top of that, he prepared a customized gift for him, so he fell for it completely. Anyway, it worked out well for us.’
‘So they’re doing the interview again. There was no request to change reporters either. I just scheduled it myself in case they contact each other and fight again. Rest a bit more today and start work again with that tomorrow. There’s a memo on my desk with the details, so grab it when you get back to your desk.’
‘What, aren’t you happy? Why aren’t you saying anything, Reporter Choi?’
BANG—!
“Oh shit, you scared me. Hongdan, what’s wrong?”
At the sudden massive rupturing sound like the earth collapsing, Hongdan’s colleague sitting next to him turned to look. The person who had clearly made that tremendous noise said nothing at all. The kind colleague decided to try one more time.
“Hongdan…?”
Bang! Bang! CRASH—!
But Hongdan only brought his fist down even more dramatically, as if to show off. His black eyes were filled with murderous intent too.
“……”
As they say, avoiding a crazy person is the best survival instinct.
Hongdan’s colleague abandoned any unnecessary humanitarianism that wouldn’t help extend his lifespan. Then he fled to the break room to avoid getting caught up in trouble.
Even then, Hongdan was completely oblivious to the stares around him.
No, in fact, he was in a state where he couldn’t see anything except the face of one person dominating his mind.
“……Damn bastard.”
Cowardly bastard, pathetic bastard.
Son of a bitch. Fucking bastard. Stupid bastard.
Idiot! Sucker!
This fucking……
“Ha.”
That damn Yeon Seonha.
“Ah, so annoying……”
His eyes started to burn hot. The emotion he wanted to spit out and the emotion his head recognized seemed different. Before the latter could spill out entirely, Hongdan rubbed his face roughly with his sleeve. Even so, the heat kept rising, making him even more irritated.
How did he find out?
Did he use someone to look into it because I seemed to be in a bad mood?
Even so, why go to such lengths with something so pathetic……
Seonha hated pleasing others more than death. Especially strangers he’d never meet twice—to him, they were no different from pebbles that happened to get in his way. They might even be less than that.
Moreover, two days ago, hadn’t Hongdan chosen only the harshest words he knew to tear him apart inside? From the start, even if he groveled and conveyed his sincerity this much, it wasn’t certain he could be properly rewarded.
So Hongdan couldn’t believe Seonha’s choice, his actions because of it. The things contained within were so heavy that just quietly recalling them made his throat tighten painfully.
……What am I to you, really.
Of course, the wrongs Seonha committed against him were several times greater, but for now, hadn’t he forgotten all the time they spent together except for some memories from high school? In truth, there was no reason for him to hear such harsh words. Yet Seonha had worried about him instead. Showing his unchanging, naive affection.
So.
“What am I……”
What was I to you that was so great for you to do this……
‘The protagonist? Then if I become your autumn, won’t I keep being the protagonist? I’ll do it for you. Just try dating me first.’
“Ah.”
In an instant, a voice quickly flashed through Hongdan’s mind.
At the same time, a phrase he’d tried hard to erase came to mind.
[For your eternal autumn]
BANG—!
Once again, a thunderous explosion struck the office that had briefly quieted down. At least it was fortunate that Hongdan’s colleagues had now adapted to his antics and paid no attention to him.
“My bookmark!”
So even when Hongdan suddenly overturned his trash can, they only glanced over without asking why.
“Did they already empty it? Ah, please.”
***
He searched through every trash can in the company, begged the cleaning lady, and even went down to the garbage collection area on the second basement floor, but couldn’t find the bookmark Seonha had given him. He spent all his remaining work hours on that foolish task.
“Shit……”
In the end, Hongdan plopped down on the floor. He didn’t even realize that the spot where he sat was dirty enough to have black grime between the tiles. Deep helplessness and loss dominated his entire body. The only person maintaining their sanity was the cleaning lady who had brought Hongdan here. She had been organizing trash a little ways away when she was startled by the sound of something heavily collapsing and rushed over to Hongdan.
“Oh my— young man! This place is so dirty, how can you just sit down like this! What on earth did you lose? Is it a wedding ring? Just buy a new one!”
“I can’t buy it……”
Hongdan had no intention of getting up. Instead, he buried his face in his knees. Then the lady grabbed his arm and pulled him up while scolding him.
“Then just forget about it! A grown man not going home after work over losing some item—do you think your wife will like that? First, go home! Whether you beg desperately or shamelessly pretend not to know, just do that. Get up, get up.”
“I don’t want to beg desperately to him though……”
Even as he raised his upper body reluctantly at her urging, Hongdan pouted his lips. He looked like an annoying teenage son.
The lady’s affectionate scolding immediately struck Hongdan’s back.
“Him? What’s this ‘him’ when talking about your wife!”
“Ow, that hurts! It hurts, ma’am!”
“Either way you deserve a beating anyway. Work hours ended ages ago, so hurry home! Take this chance to fix that way of talking too.”
She pushed Hongdan’s back with the strength of someone who carried 100L trash bags every day. That strength was so powerful that even Hongdan, a sturdy adult male, could only be helplessly pushed away.
“……Thank you for helping me.”
Though it was frustrating to be treated like an immature husband to the end, knowing there was no malice in that misunderstanding, Hongdan bowed. In fact, her work hours had run late too. Still, he couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh.
“I didn’t even get to touch it properly, really……”
Rough and crooked.
The appearance of the bookmark that was already starting to fade in his memory was truly terrible, made by someone who had never done handicrafts in their life.
But setting all that aside, Hongdan wanted Seonha’s clumsy heart that had no choice but to offer it that way.
***
Creeeak—
After his brief runaway, Hongdan returned home and timidly opened the front door. Even so, he couldn’t bring his whole body inside, only peeking his head in and looking around the house.
“……”
It was silent.
Was he planning to hide again today? Or had he really left?
Hongdan’s gaze lingered especially long on the living room and kitchen that were always filled with Seonha’s presence. But because the lights weren’t even on, embarrassingly nothing was visible.
“I never asked you to go this far…… idiot.”
He even tried talking to himself on purpose.
Being raised preciously with a sensitive temperament, no matter how much he was holed up in his room playing hikikomori, there was no way he’d miss his voice. If he was still here, it was obvious he’d come running out like a puppy right away. But.
“Is he really gone……?”
There were no excited footsteps, not even the sound of his breathing.
It was a longing he could no longer deny. Hongdan’s head dropped. Even though he’d made the effort to come home, he didn’t want to go in.
The time he’d have to endure alone, like those days long ago, because he’d left again without a word.
‘Seonha, let’s meet face to face and talk. Can’t you just come home? I won’t start yelling out of nowhere either. I won’t hit you anymore. I really promise, okay?’
He was scared.
That’s when it happened.
Thud, thud. Heavy and slow footsteps. Pheromones that could turn even the coldest season into a seductive one in an instant.
Most of all.
“Huh?”
A voice so low and deep it could never be forgotten even if heard in passing, yet simultaneously foolish.
Though Seonha had only uttered one syllable, that single syllable pierced Hongdan’s eardrums more intensely than anything.
“Is it really Hongdan? You’re completely back now… Ack!”
It didn’t even take 0.1 seconds for the fingers frozen by the biting wind that shifts seasons to grab Seonha’s hair.
“Ho, Hongdan. Hongdan? It hurts! It hur… Aack!”
