“Uh….”
“See you tomorrow.”
Since Eun Haejin kept tugging at my clothes from the side, I bowed and walked away again. Well, Eun Haejin is someone who’s a bit shy with strangers, so he might be uncomfortable. For me, meeting new people every day was my job, so I wasn’t shy, but Eun Haejin really didn’t like meeting new people.
It’s only been a few days since I actually met Eun Haejin, but maybe because I saw him for so long in print, it feels like we’ve become very close friends. Of course… that’s unilaterally rude, but. Well, as long as I don’t say it out loud.
“Owner-nim?”
“Ah, that’s the owner where I work part-time.”
“You said you work part-time at a café.”
“Yeah. He’s the café owner though?”
“…He’s handsome.”
“Is he your type? Wake up from your dream.”
“Stop fucking around.”
Eun Haejin frowned. Eun Haejin’s default was a slightly furrowed brow, so he always looked somewhat dissatisfied. Of course, that was putting it negatively—if you looked like Eun Haejin, a normally furrowed expression was just an element that enhanced a uniquely cold atmosphere.
I impulsively pressed Eun Haejin’s brow with my hand.
“…What are you doing?”
“Unfurrow your expression.”
Eun Haejin looked at me for a moment, then ignored my words and kept walking. As we walked, we arrived at Eun Haejin’s studio apartment building and were waiting for the elevator when Eun Haejin fired off complaints as if he’d been holding them in.
“Why did you smell him? I seriously thought you were acting like a fucking dog.”
“No, he seemed embarrassed, so I was trying to let him know he didn’t smell.”
“I think you made him more flustered.”
“I went a bit overboard.”
“Seriously overboard.”
I obediently admitted I’d overdone it.
“But he really didn’t smell.”
“Got it.”
“No, because of the smell from your clothes, I really only smell your scent.”
“…What? What smell?”
Eun Haejin asked in a slightly flustered tone. No, not that kind of smell.
“Not that kind of smell, anyway the smell is good so you don’t need to worry. This is washed clothes anyway, right?”
“…Yeah.”
“What fabric softener do you use? The smell is really good. I want to use this too.”
“I don’t know. Just something I buy at the mart….”
“Then is it just your scent?”
While chatting with Eun Haejin, the elevator arrived. The chicken was already placed in front of the door, so when I picked up the chicken, Eun Haejin entered the door code.
After setting up the chicken and beer, I even opened a few bags of snacks.
First, since I was a bit thirsty, I gulped down a few mouthfuls of beer and asked what I’d been curious about all along.
“Do you think you’ll pass?”
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t you have a feeling?”
“Well, I did answer everything they asked at first.”
“What did they ask?”
“Just the same stuff. Motivation for applying. Like leadership demonstrated, asked about volunteer work, what role you can play if you join the company. And asked about your strengths and weaknesses.”
“What did you say?”
Eun Haejin was about to bring the chicken to his mouth but paused and put it back down.
“Strengths and weaknesses?”
“Yeah.”
“For strengths, I said I’m diligent, keep time commitments well, have a strong sense of responsibility so I try to finish whatever I take on no matter what.”
“Right. That’s good though?”
“…The weakness was a bit fucked.”
“What did you say?”
“For weaknesses, you can’t really talk about real weaknesses, you have to talk about something that’s kind of a weakness but not really, right?”
At Eun Haejin’s words, I also felt ominous for no reason. What if he said his personality is shitty?
“Did you say your personality is shitty?”
“Fuck, is my personality shitty?”
“No….”
When Eun Haejin glared at me, I slightly avoided his eyes. Eun Haejin had a talent for saying the same words with a murderous edge. Of course, saying such things in the first place was proof of a bad personality.
Still, he wasn’t a completely unusable guy. To be precise, it wasn’t that his personality was shitty, but that his manner of speaking was blunt and he was unsociable. Also, he was actually three years younger than me, and with the college student passive added, he had some pretty cute sides.
“So what did you say?”
“…That I’m a bit stubborn.”
Oh. That’s a statement boomers would really hate.
“Oh….”
“That was the only thing I could think of.”
“Your boss will hate that.”
“I know.”
Eun Haejin responded as if it was no big deal, but his expression was quite crumpled.
“Couldn’t you have fit it in appropriately? Like ‘I’m stubborn, so I don’t really use shortcuts and make sure to follow the manual well.’ Something like that.”
“No, I couldn’t think of stuff like that at the time. But you know what the person sitting next to me said?”
“What did they say?”
“They said their weakness is having no weaknesses.”
Oh…. That’s the spirited dropout answer #1 that comes out every year.
“You’re better than that.”
“I’m taking comfort in that….”
“It’s okay. You’ll pass.”
…Right? You have to, so the story can progress. I tried to believe in the power of story plausibility while grabbing a handful of potato chips and dumping them in my mouth. Having completely forgotten about the existence of the business card in my pocket.
***
“…You have your part-time job tomorrow, so is it okay to drink this much?”
I looked at the bottles already sprawled out and shook my head. I wasn’t originally someone with a weak tolerance for alcohol. I was the type who could drink up to three bottles of soju alone. But Lee Hyun had a similar build to me yet had a weak tolerance.
“Don’t know….”
Mm, he’s definitely drunk. I could tell because I found myself smiling stupidly without realizing it. Besides, Eun Haejin only had two cans of beer and a few shots of soju before stopping, so that meant I’d emptied almost all the bottles here.
“…Sleepy.”
“Go wash up and sleep.”
“Don’t wanna sleep….”
“Why.”
“Don’t know.”
While talking, I found myself grinning stupidly without realizing it. Fuck, this is bad. I’m drunk.
“Haejin.”
“What.”
“If I sleep now, I think my hangover will be fucking brutal. Should we go for a walk?”
“No, I’m the one who went to the interview today, so why did you drink it all?”
“Iiing.”
“Ugh, fuck. Get up. Let’s walk around.”
“Help me up.”
Eun Haejin looked at me like I was pathetic but still reached out his hand and pulled me up. Even though I wasn’t normally the clingy type, I couldn’t help but act clingy because Eun Haejin’s disgusted reaction was funny. Plus, even though we’re the same age here, he’s still three years younger than me, so he seemed kinda cute. He felt like a cousin who complains a bit but still does what I ask.
My steps were quite unsteady, even to my own perception, confirming I was drunk. But as I hummed and walked down the street, my mind seemed to clear up a bit. Of course, that didn’t mean my physical control had returned.
“Haejin…. The world is spinning.”
“Not my problem.”
“Iiing, Haejin. When you get your first paycheck from J Company, let’s eat steak.”
“I don’t feel bad at all, but is it your paycheck?”
There was a spot where the sidewalk block jutted out, and I almost tripped. I barely avoided falling and turned to look at Eun Haejin, who was gripping my t-shirt tightly.
“Ah fuck, this is my fault for bringing a drunk person out.”
“Hey, you’re gonna stretch out your clothes.”
“Can’t you walk properly?”
“The ground is too squishy, so it’s hard to walk straight.”
Eun Haejin laughed briefly in disbelief and practically dragged me to a bench and threw me onto it. When I sat down almost lying on the bench, Eun Haejin kicked my thighs a few times to adjust them and sat down next to me. After a long silence, Eun Haejin asked in a low voice, hesitating.
“…But really, why didn’t you go to the interview? Up until a month ago, you seemed really desperate to get a job.”
“Just. Honestly, I didn’t really want to go, so I didn’t.”
“Are you kidding? How are you going to live from now on?”
“Don’t know.”
“…You’ve really been weird lately. Your personality seems to have changed a lot.”
“Why’s my personality—?”
Eun Haejin stared quietly into space and then sighed.
“…We haven’t known each other for that long, but I’ve seen you for a few years now, so I thought I knew you pretty well, but lately I’m not so sure.”
“…Yeah?”
“I knew you were originally fickle, but lately it’s a bit…. No, and you weren’t originally the type to take care of people. Even if you liked being taken care of by others.”
That’s probably because Lee Hyun liked you, so he liked you taking care of him. I tried to explain with my slowly turning head.
