Drinking cold water to shake off the remaining drowsiness, Hyedam had to suppress the self-loathing rising from deep within.
He did tend to sleep in, but he wasn’t the type to enjoy naps. Even on weekends with nothing to do, he might laze around watching movies, but he didn’t take naps. Yet after sleeping for days without eating, how had he fallen asleep again after just a few hours? On top of that, the fact that he had fallen asleep with Leo right beside him was even more absurd.
He didn’t even want to think about how he had been moved from the hotel lounge to the room. He had awkwardly exchanged glances, but he hadn’t even properly greeted the personal shopper.
Sitting alone on the sofa, drinking the water Leo had given him while observing the atmosphere, Hyedam quickly set down his cup and stood up when Luna approached.
“Hello. I’m Luna Stewart. My job is personal shopper, and Leo is my friend and client. You’re Lee Hyedam-ssi, right? Nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you too, Luna Stewart-ssi. I seem to have been rude from our first meeting.”
Hyedam answered as politely as possible while shaking the hand Luna offered first.
“Anyone can be like that when they’re tired. And if it’s Leo who’s your boss, it must be even more tiring and exhausting. Plus, it’s Saturday today. A boss who calls you out on Saturday to make you work is really something else—what’s with that money of his. Anyway, it seems like we’ll be seeing each other often, so please take care of me.”
A natural smile formed on Hyedam’s face as he watched Luna speak cheerfully with a bright smile. It was because she was openly saying all the things he had been grumbling about internally and suppressing.
“I should be the one asking that of you.”
Holding both hands tightly while exchanging pleasantries and good energy, Hyedam suddenly raised his head at the touch that gently grabbed his wrist.
“This first.”
Led by Leo’s hand that had abruptly cut off the friendly introduction with Luna, Hyedam found himself standing in front of a rack with numerous clothes hanging and couldn’t hide his flustered expression.
What am I supposed to do? I just woke up and can’t even grasp the situation properly yet.
Clothes? What, I have to pick out your clothes? I don’t know anything about this. I have zero interest in fashion—when I buy at stores, I just get whatever the staff picks out, and when I buy online, I get whatever the model is wearing.
He knew the commonly known high-end brands, but he didn’t know about hidden brands beyond that, and he especially didn’t know what was trending this year. Things like watches or cufflinks had nothing to do with him until now, so he had lived without even paying attention to them.
Leo seemed to be conveying his opinion with a simple chin gesture, but Hyedam, who quickly grasped his intentions during work, couldn’t figure anything out right now.
“Pardon?”
“You need to choose.”
“That’s the shopper’s expertise…”
With a bewildered expression, Hyedam urgently looked at Luna standing behind them and quickly sent her an SOS with his eyes.
“Luna brought good options, so choosing from among them is Hyedam-ssi’s job.”
Their eyes clearly met, but Luna avoided his gaze by pretending to look at the tablet she was holding. Caught between her and Leo who was telling him to hurry and choose, Hyedam slowly looked Leo over.
Wasn’t the completion of fashion the face and body? He concluded that even if you draped a straw mat on someone like this, it would obviously be elevated to unique fashion, and Hyedam turned his gaze back to the rack.
Year-end party. Pick a suit, pick a shirt, pick a watch and cufflinks, handkerchief and shoes. That’s the basics, right? Ah. Do I really have to pick out all the accessories like ties and scarves too? Similar colors and similar designs—suits are all the same anyway, with slightly different collars and different pocket positions or shapes. What am I supposed to do with that!
“Can’t choose?”
Though his fingertips touched the clothes and his eyes examined the designs, Hyedam couldn’t make any decision. Seeing the smile on Leo’s face, he felt the urge to punch him.
“At least tell me what style you prefer…”
“If you can’t choose, should we get everything?”
“That’s a good idea.”
Hyedam answered immediately without hesitation. Why would I stop you from buying things with your own money? Buy it all. And pick out what to wear yourself that day. Whether you call the shopper here to choose or tell Robert—that’s none of my business.
“That’s fortunate.”
“Is there anything else I need to do?”
After only briefly hesitating in front of the rack, Hyedam escaped from there with the decision to buy everything Luna had prepared without needing to choose. He moistened his dry lips with the tip of his tongue.
The sun has already set, so please just let me go home.
Looking alternately at Luna and Leo who were standing some distance apart, Hyedam desperately hoped his thoughts would be conveyed.
“Let’s get some food.”
“Food?”
“You come too if you want. You both deliberately made time on Saturday, so I should at least compensate you that much.”
Luna reacted first to the single word ‘food,’ so Hyedam, having missed the timing, still had his gaze fixed on the two of them as they continued their conversation.
“That tone sounds quite strange? ‘You too’? It sounds like you’re asking out of politeness but would prefer I didn’t come along?”
“Your eye for goods isn’t the only good thing about you.”
“I don’t know what it is, but I want to eat too.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re going to eat something delicious.”
It was clearly bickering, but light smiles were spread across both their faces. It was the trust that whatever they said wouldn’t hurt the other, the security that comes from a relationship that wouldn’t easily break from one mistake.
“Just go.”
“No. I’m going to eat too. How picky is your palate—you won’t even say something is delicious unless it’s really good. So if you’re going somewhere, even if it’s shabby, it must be a great restaurant, and why would I miss that information?”
“Ask Robert for a restaurant list or something.”
“No, that’s something Hyedam-ssi would know better, isn’t it? It’s not Europe, and Robert doesn’t know every Korean restaurant inside out.”
“He knows most decent places.”
“You just said let’s go eat, the three of us.”
“That’s true.”
“Hyedam-ssi, do you have a restaurant you go to often?”
While rapidly exchanging conversation, the eyes and hands of both were working. Luna was checking and marking off the items Leo had just selected. Leo was searching for something on his tablet.
As if he wasn’t even there, the two had been conversing while doing their own work, but when both their gazes suddenly turned to him at once, Hyedam’s lips involuntarily tensed.
“Wow. Hyedam-ssi. You have dimples? They’re really cute and pretty.”
“Where do you go often?”
The very handsome man and the woman with refreshing features and a lively personality were indeed each saying what they wanted. Of course, he was the one who had to respond to that conversation.
“I don’t have a place I go to often. Luna-ssi. Thank you for seeing me favorably.”
“Ah. They only appear when you press your lips together like that?”
“But you must have food you like.”
It was better when the two of them were talking to each other. Receiving the excessive attention of both people and plotting his escape, an hour later Hyedam found himself at a shabby gopchang restaurant he used to frequent with Junseok.
“…What did you say this is?”
“Gopchang. Luna-ssi, they’ll set up a new meat section next to you.”
“The part…”
“It’s cow intestines.”
Hyedam suppressed his laughter internally at the sight of the two people sitting awkwardly at the round tin table of the gopchang restaurant in front of the university he had attended. Unlike Luna, who was looking around curiously and asking questions about everything, Leo had a sullen expression as if something displeased him.
Then again, by Leo’s standards of only frequenting the finest, cleanest, most pristine top-class restaurants, this place might need to disappear immediately. That’s what you get for making such a fuss about me choosing the restaurant.
“…Intestines?”
“Stomach, small intestine, large intestine.”
Though he spoke Korean well, these weren’t words commonly used, so the moment Hyedam explained more specifically to Luna who didn’t immediately understand, the chopsticks heading for the hot pot disappeared.
“…”
“And it’s spicy. Luna-ssi, can you handle spicy food?”
“No.”
Grilled was also excellent, but for pairing with soju, it had to be hot pot. As the hot pot began to bubble and the grill plate for cooking meat was set up beside it, Hyedam picked up the tongs first.
“I’ll grill meat on Luna-ssi’s side, so please only eat from here. Team Leader-nim, you eat gopchang well, right?”
There was no response, but since Leo had eaten retort gopchang well, Hyedam only looked after Luna, not him. Hyedam placed the ordered galbi meat in front of Luna and the gopchang on the grill in front of Leo, then pushed the freshly served steamed egg toward her as well.
“Luna-ssi, next time you come to a place like this, make sure to have it with soju. Wine and Western liquor are good too, but Korean food goes with soju. Though chicken goes with beer.”
“We can drink too. Work is over.”
Without even giving him time to say anything, Hyedam ended up laughing along with Luna’s smile as she pressed the bell. If asked whether what they had done today was an extension of work, he couldn’t answer readily. But gopchang without soju was simply unacceptable.
