Working with Hyedam, who had a neat appearance, was friendly, and had a good personality, was a pleasant thing. It might sound like empty flattery, but it wasn’t insincere, and he never crossed any lines. Above all, having a team member who was quick-witted and skilled at their work was fortunate for those working alongside him.
Even now, a faint smile lingered at the corners of Seoyun’s mouth as she watched Hyedam, who was insisting on grilling the meat himself while wielding the tongs. He was like a youngest sibling with quite an age gap, one might say.
“It’s all cooked.”
“Whoever it is, they must have accumulated merit over three generations to date our Hyedam-ssi.”
“……That’s probably not the case?”
After eating the meat Hyedam had placed on her side dish plate, Seoyun emptied the drink glass beside her and picked up the bottle. Since Hyedam had matched her drinking pace and was holding up his glass, the two filled their glasses again in unison.
“By any chance, are you seeing someone?”
“Come on, who would I be dating? What dating?”
“Don’t try to fool me.”
“I understand if other people doubt me, but you know you’re not qualified to do that, Team Leader-nim, right?”
“So now I’m not your direct team member anymore. Is that it? You’re hitting me with facts like this.”
“Beautiful Seoyun-ssi doesn’t fail at dating—you choose not to date.”
“If only you couldn’t talk……”
Even while leisurely eating meat and drinking, Hyedam only made superficial conversation, but Seoyun didn’t rush him. It might be a story he didn’t want to tell, or words that were difficult to bring up. The morning’s talk about wanting to quit might have just been something blurted out impulsively from surging emotions.
However, seeing him drink faster than usual, she could at least infer that something was definitely going on with Hyedam.
Even after they moved to a nearby bar after their meal with drinks, Hyedam only talked about what hobbies would be good to do alone or said he should exercise, so Seoyun recommended appropriate things while shifting her gaze to the window.
“I don’t know how everyone lives so busily. This year’s already gone, and in a few days I’ll just be another year older. I haven’t done anything this year. Should I try dating next year too?”
“Dating is good.”
“Got anyone decent? This noona is free. Older or younger, doesn’t matter. Alpha, omega—doesn’t matter either.”
“Younger guys are a bit……”
“If it’s someone much older than me with a big age gap, wouldn’t I be sad?”
“Younger guys… they always win arguments, but only act young when they need something. Really.”
“That sounds cute.”
“……If you saw his build, nobody would think he’s cute.”
As Hyedam answered a beat slower than usual while swirling the glass filled with golden liquid, only one corner of Seoyun’s mouth lifted. Now the story he wants to tell is coming out, huh.
Even if my own love life is hard, listening to someone else’s love story is fun, right? Like life—it’s a tragedy up close but a comedy from a distance.
However, the longer Hyedam’s story went on, the more question marks filled up above Seoyun’s head.
“No matter what, you met years ago and even spent the night together, but when you met again he couldn’t recognize you—does that make sense?”
“……He could do that. Anyway, that’s the past and it’s over……”
So he met someone from the past again, and they ended up in a sort-of relationship. Not knowing what employees were in the Marketing Team, Seoyun just gave simple responses while listening to Hyedam’s rambling. The person he met again seemed to be a Marketing Team employee, and seeing each other’s faces every day and getting entangled made it uncomfortable, so he seemed to be thinking about quitting—Seoyun tried to piece together Hyedam’s fragmented words this way and that.
“What exactly is the problem? Like you said, Hyedam-ssi, the past is the past. If you don’t say anything, it’s over! If you both have good feelings for each other right now, just date. You think everyone who dates gets married and has a happy ending? We don’t live in the future, we live today. Just be happy today and enjoy today! From what you’re saying, it sounds like you’re already dating?”
“Because if I’m left behind again, it’ll hurt too much. Even now, there’s nothing I can do for him. Even if I want to buy him something, he already has much better things than what I could buy him. I can’t be a reliable support, and later on it’s obvious I’ll just hold him back, so how can I do that?”
“So you’re saying the other person is younger than you, has money, has ability, has parents who can be a reliable support for life, comes from a good family, and is popular too?”
After draining the liquor in his glass and filling it himself before she could even move, Hyedam nodded, and a hollow laugh escaped from Seoyun’s mouth.
“And that kind of person says he likes you, Hyedam-ssi?”
Though slow and full of hesitation, Hyedam moved his head up and down again.
“……Are you teasing this old unmarried woman right now? Of course you should be grateful. You should eagerly accept it like it’s the jackpot. Why are you even worrying! Like you said, Hyedam-ssi, let’s say it doesn’t end well. This is a memory you can cherish for life, isn’t it? You can say I dated such a great person back in the day. It becomes a heroic tale like that!”
“But you see, Team Leader-nim…… For me, it’s my first time. Doing everything with him is my first time, so I don’t think I could see anyone else. It took me years to become numb and forget, but when I saw him again, I realized I hadn’t forgotten or become numb at all. I remember everything. I remember what I said and how I said it. But now there are more things to remember than back then, so what if instead of years, I can’t forget for decades?”
The moment she noticed the trailing end of his mumbling words stretch out and his voice tremble, Seoyun erased the smile she’d been wearing until now.
“Too afraid of maggots to make soy sauce? If you’ll regret it either way, whether you do it or not, then do it. And Hyedam-ssi. From what I can see, it’s already too late. To pull your foot out, your feelings are definitely not light, Hyedam-ssi.”
At the frustrating sight of him stubbornly pressing his lips together and shaking his head—what kind of pig-headedness is this—Seoyun clicked her tongue and leaned back fully into her chair. On Hyedam’s phone placed on the table, someone named ‘Ondal’ kept contacting him continuously.
Without any alarm or vibration set, it just kept flashing with light, which Hyedam still hadn’t seemed to notice. It would be understandable to give up after trying a couple of times without getting through, but seeing messages and calls pouring in, it seemed to be the person Hyedam was talking about right now. Since she couldn’t answer someone else’s phone, Seoyun filled Hyedam’s glass that had somehow emptied.
“Everyone I love leaves quickly. My parents did, and my grandmother who raised me through hardship…… I was going to settle down a bit and treat my grandmother well. You see, I couldn’t even say goodbye to my parents or my grandmother. Something like seeing the person I love most in the world lying down covered with a white cloth—I don’t want to see that anymore. But what if this misfortune I have goes to that person too?”
Having unintentionally heard Hyedam’s painful family history, Seoyun could no longer easily speak. Even though Hyedam losing his family members and being left alone was absolutely not his fault, he was blaming himself.
She could give advice about cute dating worries like “I like them but I’m scared we’ll break up so I can’t start,” but pain buried deep in the heart wasn’t something to casually comment on.
Hyedam, who seemed drunk enough not to know what he was saying, let out a long sigh and picked up his phone that was still diligently flashing.
“You stupid idiot. Don’t call me!”
Ah…… Um, Hyedam-ssi?
As Hyedam held the phone to his ear and shouted angrily before collapsing onto the sofa, the sound of “Lee Hyedam!” came through the phone.
― Where are you? Not answering calls. You pathetic fool. Not answering?
It was Seoyun who became awkward as the voice from the other end of the phone that had slipped from Hyedam’s hand—who had his eyes tightly shut, whether asleep or not—kept coming through continuously. She couldn’t just leave it like this. The other person didn’t seem like they would just talk to themselves for a bit and hang up either.
It was a man? This wasn’t expected……
Though she didn’t want to get involved, she didn’t have the courage to handle the passed-out drunk Hyedam alone, so Seoyun picked up Hyedam’s phone.
“Yes, this is Lee Hyedam-ssi’s phone.”
― Who is this?
“I’m the person accompanying Hyedam-ssi.”
― I’ll go right now, so leave him as he is. Where are you?
At the sharp-edged voice with a businesslike tone from the other person, Seoyun looked at the sleeping Hyedam.
“It would be difficult to tell you our current location when I don’t even know who you are.”
― I understand.
After a moment of silence, the call ended right away without pressing further, leaving Seoyun embarrassed as she looked at the disconnected phone screen for a moment. If he was going to give up so easily like this, why did he sharpen his voice so threateningly? Isn’t he the person Hyedam was talking about?
Since Seoyun was also drunk, she had no time to think deeply. Right now, the priority was to deal with the drunk Hyedam, send him home, and return home herself as well.
“Hyedam-ssi, are you asleep? If you’re going to work tomorrow, we should get going.”
Moving to the sofa side where Hyedam had collapsed, Seoyun gently shook Hyedam’s shoulder with her fingertips as he lay in an uncomfortable position.
“Ngh……”
The small reply that came back suggested he wasn’t completely asleep, so Seoyun first finished paying by calling over staff.
“Hyedam-ssi. Tell me your home address. I’ll call a cab.”
“……Our…… home……”
“Huh? Where?”
“I’ll take him.”
It sounded like he was saying the address, but since she couldn’t hear properly, Seoyun had leaned toward Hyedam when she raised her head at a man’s voice.
