As it happened, the café was closed today and I was also curious about Eun Haejin’s interview story, so I just decided to wait near Eun Haejin’s company. It’s not like I’ll be able to meet Jung Yoonseo just by going today, but still, human curiosity is like that.
With about three hours left until the interview ends, if I just camp out at a café, he’ll come out soon—it was a complacent thought.
***
There wasn’t really anything to do while waiting for Eun Haejin. Still, I needed to graduate, so I was reviewing my thesis, but honestly I didn’t understand anything. It seems Lee Hyun started writing a thesis with the future-oriented nature of marketing as the topic, but as soon as ‘Analysis of Social Network Advertising’ appeared, I gave up. By the way, that was Chapter 1.
I just sat there and fixed typos. What was Lee Hyun in such a hurry about that there were so many typos? Or maybe he’s just someone who doesn’t know spelling well.
…Can’t I just submit it like this?
The professor’s correction saying [Attach actual company data required] was annoying, but I roughly ignored it. Professor, it’s okay if I can’t get a job, so I’ll just graduate.
I was diligently fixing only typos and awkward sentences when I suddenly felt the café buzzing. When I glanced at the time, it was exactly when office workers would come out for coffee.
“Huh?”
A foolish sound came out without me realizing it. It was a face I was seeing for the first time, but a person I knew had entered the café.
Light-colored hair and light-colored eyes. And a man with a large, good build who caught my attention. His height and build seemed subtly larger than Eun Haejin’s, but his facial lines were rather thinner, giving a strong impression of being pretty.
I thought I’d build up some immunity after seeing so many excessively handsome men here, but since they’re all handsome in different ways, I just end up admiring them every time I see them. Anyway, that person was definitely Jung Yoonseo.
Jung Yoonseo was the child born when J Company’s Chairman Jung Cheolyeong married a German actor in his youth, and he spent his entire childhood in Germany before coming to Korea after becoming a middle school student.
He was one of the richest people in this country, but he wasn’t someone who grew up receiving his parents’ love well. That was because Chairman Jung was busy and his mother had no interest in Jung Yoonseo. Moreover, when he first came to Korea, he apparently suffered subtle ostracism due to his exotic appearance and poor Korean.
Personally, if I had been a middle schooler at that time, I think I would have tried talking to him a few times out of curiosity about how handsome he was, but it seems Jung Yoonseo didn’t have even such an idiot. On top of that, when he went up to high school, all the friends who approached Jung Yoonseo were bad guys who approached him looking at his family background. Getting burned by human relationships in various ways, Jung Yoonseo closed his heart tightly, but in contrast, he came to have the slick personality people expected. Of course, that was a defense mechanism, and when he reveals all these facts to Eun Haejin, the two connect emotionally.
I just need to badmouth Jung Yoonseo to Eun Haejin and get cut off. When I summarize it like this, it seems like I became the worst person. Well, I do love Eun Haejin. Don’t they say you become a bit of an idiot in front of love? Of course, even so, you shouldn’t go around badmouthing others.
Jung Yoonseo had entered the café and was buying coffee for the coworkers who came with him.
“Can I order something expensive?”
“Do you think I’d be stingy about that?”
When Jung Yoonseo grinned, the face of the coworker who came with him relaxed completely. Unlike Eun Haejin who had no interest in being handsome or Cha Hyunwoo who got embarrassed when called handsome, Jung Yoonseo made thorough use of his natural good looks.
Well, if you’re born looking like that, I think it makes sense to use it a bit. Jung Yoonseo seemed intent on getting coffee not only for the colleagues who came with him but for all the other colleagues in the company, as he had carriers in both hands and made his coworkers carry several more coffees.
They always end up spilling when they do that.
I glanced at Jung Yoonseo and turned my gaze back to my laptop. There’s no reason to get involved with Jung Yoonseo now, and he’s not someone I’ll be involved with in a positive way in the future either. It would be nice if I could hear about the romance situation by starting a conversation… but Eun Haejin isn’t the type to talk about such things.
“Oh my! I’m sorry!”
…That doesn’t mean I wanted Jung Yoonseo’s company employee to spill four iced Americanos on my laptop.
No, to be precise, I didn’t want two cups spilled on my laptop and two cups spilled on my clothes and hair.
I instantly became a drowned rat—no, a coffee-soaked rat—and sat blankly in my seat. Fuck. I shouldn’t have sat by the door…
“I’m really sorry. Really. I’ll compensate you for the laptop. Your clothes are all wet too.”
The company employee floundered while bringing napkins and started wiping my laptop. Of course, that was nowhere near enough. While a café employee hurriedly brought a mop, I just sat there blankly.
“Are you okay?”
“…Yes. What I was looking at just now was my graduation thesis, but…”
The one who asked me the question was Jung Yoonseo. Jung Yoonseo handed me his business card on behalf of the flustered employee.
“Please contact me at this number. I’ll compensate you.”
“…Pardon?”
“I’ll help you recover your work as much as possible.”
“Team Leader-nim…”
Ah, was Jung Yoonseo a team leader? I took the business card once and just put it in my pocket.
“I’m fine, so please go up first. It looks like lunch time will end soon.”
And anyway, I’d just sent the graduation thesis by email, so nothing was really lost. The remaining revisions wouldn’t be done properly anyway, so it was fine.
“Please be sure to contact me.”
Jung Yoonseo said with his eyes curved in a smile. Seeing him up close, his face was handsome in even more specific detail. More than anything else, his eyelashes were so long and thick that I could see them flutter, and since even their color was light, my gaze kept being drawn there.
“Yes… well.”
Even after hearing my answer, Jung Yoonseo lingered for a moment as if concerned, then he and his colleagues went back up to the company. I roughly wiped my face with the handkerchief the employee who spilled the coffee earlier had given me, wiped the moisture off my laptop too, and just put it in my bag.
I just needed to be a drowned rat for two hours until Eun Haejin finishes.
***
With the laptop dead, I waited for Eun Haejin for two hours just staring blankly out the window. I thought about watching some fun videos on my phone, but I hadn’t brought earphones so there was really nothing to do. Plus, since my clothes were all soaked in coffee color, people kept looking at me as they passed by, so I endured two hours with my gaze fixed outside the window, pretending not to notice.
Interview finished.
That’s when I got a message from Eun Haejin. At the simple text, I immediately called Eun Haejin.
[Yeah.]
“How was the interview?”
[…I don’t know. I think I did reasonably well, but there were things I couldn’t answer. And I stumbled over some things.]
“Everyone does that much. Good job. You didn’t curse at the interviewer, did you?”
[Am I crazy?]
“Yeah. Then you’ll probably pass.”
I said it sincerely, but Eun Haejin’s voice seemed a bit complicated.
[I don’t know. I’m going to have a cup of coffee.]
“Why? The interview’s over.”
[I’m drained. But where are you?]
“Me?”
With good timing, Eun Haejin entered the café. I waved my hand toward Eun Haejin.
“Why are you here?”
“I was waiting for you.”
“Why do you look like that?”
“Ah… how I look?”
Toward Eun Haejin, who was looking in shock at my hoodie that was completely stained with coffee, I shrugged my shoulders as if to say it was okay.
“Someone spilled it by mistake earlier, but it’s fine.”
“But how long have you been waiting?”
“Not that long.”
“What kind of bullshit is that? Am I an idiot? The coffee stains are all dried now. How long have you been waiting?”
“You said you had an interview, so I was here too. While fixing my graduation thesis at the same time.”
“You waited for three hours?”
“Time passed quickly though?”
Honestly it didn’t pass quickly. But I couldn’t say “time passed so fucking slowly I thought about going home,” could I? Plus, I was curious about Eun Haejin’s interview story since Eun Haejin needed to get into this company for things to progress. I also felt sorry for ignoring all of Eun Haejin’s messages these past few days.
“Let’s go change your clothes first.”
“Aren’t you going to order coffee?”
“I’m so dumbfounded I can’t even think about drinking coffee.”
“Then let’s go.”
