Endless Kiss v1c7

“Ah, sunbae. You’re going back now, right?”

“Yeah. I have to submit this. But why?”

“Please give me a ride on your way.”

“Ah, your car broke down. I don’t mind giving you a ride, but Unhyuk-ssi, you really have bad luck. How can a car break down on the highway?”

“I know, right.”

When I answered weakly, Park Jeongho sunbae told me to cheer up. Like that, we went down to the underground parking lot and each called our respective superiors.

The department head, unsatisfied with the brief verbal report, told me to come right away and report. It was the same for Park Jeongho sunbae. We looked at each other’s faces once and got in the car, each saying a word about how hard life is.

Special Management Bureau for Heteromorphic Organisms, vampires, secret agents.

In the end, we were civil servants.

*

“He’s not protesting?”

“No. He laughed it off saying it could happen, but honestly I don’t know how it will turn out either.”

I conveyed my honest impression to the department head. Then the department head let out a long sigh. The department head, who had the nickname Buddha not just because of his gentle-looking appearance but also because of his generous personality, was also a civil servant. And a middle manager at that.

He would overlook minor matters or pretend not to know, but he couldn’t help being sensitive to trouble that occurred with a state guest. The vampire department was on high alert and keeping close watch over the distinguished guest, and after going out to meet him, trouble erupted, but since the person involved, Rashanin, said nothing, it was natural to become anxious. I, who knew the department head’s true feelings, also let out a sigh.

“The blood?”

“He said he doesn’t need it. Even though we offered it free of charge, he said he’d handle it himself. He also said since it’s an official visit, he won’t cause any unseemly incidents.”

“Ha. How difficult. Got it. You can leave work now. Good job.”

The department head told me to leave work, but I couldn’t. I answered with a smile.

“I’m working overtime today.”

“I know you need money urgently, but take care of your body too.”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll head out first.”

The department head gathered his documents and left work, and I returned to my seat. Since it was past 6 o’clock, the regular workers had left and only the night shift workers and overtime workers remained. Due to the nature of vampires, urgent matters tended to happen at night, so three shifts were the standard. Outside of regular work hours, the night shift that started at 5 o’clock and the overtime shift that stayed up all night had to guard the office.

“Unhyuk-ssi. Good work. You had a tough time.”

Deputy Manager Choi Ji-sook, who had been on night shift since yesterday, placed a bottle of Bacchus on my desk. I held back laughter at seeing the Bacchus.

Deputy Manager Choi Ji-sook, who looked much younger than her age with a youthful face, liked all kinds of rumors. The Bacchus she offered was clearly a warm gift of comfort and also a bribe to make me spill what happened today.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Too many things went wrong today. Of all times, there’s a traffic accident, an appendix bursts, and a car breaks down. Do you know how shocked I was when I heard that? It’s really an unlucky day. Today is.”

“I almost died from frustration. Really.”

I couldn’t blame anyone for what happened during the day. As I complained about how unfair it was and booted up my computer, Deputy Manager Choi Ji-sook sat in the seat next to me.

“Aren’t you leaving work? You don’t look so good.”

“I’m working overtime.”

“Again? Today’s overtime… Chihwan sunbae is at his desk, so you switched with Hyowon-ssi? Money is good, but you’ll hurt your body at this rate.”

“I have to earn while I’m young. Well.”

“That’s true. It’s nice to be young.”

“Yes.”

It was Deputy Manager Choi Ji-sook’s habit to tell me, the youngest in the department, every time that it’s nice to be young. It wasn’t particularly pleasant to hear. Especially since she knew about my debt. Still, it wasn’t malicious but literally a habit, so I just nodded roughly.

It was obvious I’d remain stuck in the department, and if I openly talked back to a workplace superior, my future life would become difficult, so this was also a kind of worldly wisdom.

“More than that, what did he look like? Does a noble look different?”

Deputy Manager Choi Ji-sook leaned in, showing curiosity. Thinking ‘here it comes,’ I recalled Rashanin’s face and let out a chuckle. If Deputy Manager Choi Ji-sook, who’s crazy about handsome men, had seen Rashanin, she would have definitely liked him.

“You know that model you like, deputy manager-nim. That Edis… was it?”

“Yeah, yeah. Eyers Radgrion. Don’t tell me he looks like Eyers?”

Eyers Radgrion. The model set as Deputy Manager Choi Ji-sook’s computer wallpaper. Actually, to my eyes, handsome men’s faces all look the same, but Rashanin had a different charm.

“A thousand times more handsome.”

“Really? Is he really that handsome?”

“To borrow Park Jeongho sunbae’s words, a halo shines from behind his face. When he smiles, there wouldn’t be a woman who wouldn’t fall for him.”

“Even Park Jeongho-ssi said that. Now I want to see what he looks like. You said Rudan, right? Should I wait in the lobby this weekend? I won’t get kicked out, will I?”

At the mention of a handsome man, Deputy Manager Choi Ji-sook blushed and made a fuss.

“You said you don’t even have time to meet your husband.”

Because Deputy Manager Choi Ji-sook’s husband went down to the provinces for work, the two of them were living as a weekend couple.

“Husband is husband, and handsome men are treasures of the world. Well, Unhyuk-ssi is handsome too, but…”

“My fashion sense is bad?”

“Oh my, I didn’t say that.”

“It’s fine. It’s something I always hear.”

I waved my hand at Deputy Manager Choi Ji-sook, who looked apologetic, saying it was okay. It was something I heard from Huijeong all the time too. That I try to wear only black clothes, and that my taste is like an old man’s. Back then I was a bit hurt, but now I didn’t care at all. Especially when a man lives alone, black clothes that don’t show dirt were the best.

“That’s why you should dress better. Even if you just wear bright-colored clothes, you’d look ten times more handsome.”

“My tastes don’t change easily.”

“True. My husband is like that too. Even though I bought him coordinated outfits, he says the colors are weird and doesn’t want to wear them. Then he only goes around wearing strange checkered shirts.”

I couldn’t even retort ‘no’ to Deputy Manager Choi Ji-sook’s words as she clicked her tongue saying men don’t know how to dress up, and just smiled bitterly.

“Ah, you haven’t eaten dinner yet, right? It’s still dinner time, so go grab a bite.”

“No, it’s fine.”

“You’re working overtime. You can’t last until the late-night snack. You’re so skinny and frail.”

It was almost 7 o’clock when dinner time would end, so I was going to skip it, but Deputy Manager Choi Ji-sook pushed my back. Taking care of people was also her personality. I had no choice but to get up from my seat, find the convenience store, buy triangle kimbap, pour hot water into ramen, and wait.

It had been drizzling rain all day. The rain was weak, but it was enough to wet the city. I didn’t like rain. When it rained, clothes got dirty easily, and when I was young, my stepmother would severely scold me for it. So on rainy days, I tried not to go outside and stay only indoors as much as possible. Of course, each time my stepmother would always send me on errands. What a nasty person.

I clicked my tongue and organized what I had to do tomorrow in my head. As soon as I finished overtime and returned to the goshiwon, I had to do laundry and sleep so I wouldn’t be flustered for my Saturday part-time job.

But I wondered if the laundry would dry well. There was no stepmother to nag about clothes getting dirty from rainwater anymore, but instead, the problem of drying laundry was serious. I stared blankly at the rain streaming down the glass and had the absurd question of why there’s no dryer in the goshiwon. In the middle of that, the cell phone I had put in my chest pocket vibrated.

The name on the screen was Choi Seong-jin. Thinking the surgery must have already finished, I opened the folder.

—Aren’t you even coming to visit me?

Complaints poured out right away without even a greeting.

“Did the surgery go well?”

—I just woke up.

“Are you okay?”

—It hurts like hell. I can’t even fart.

“It can’t come out already. They say that takes several days.”

—Ah, shit. Why today of all days. You met the VN, right?

“Yeah.”

—Damn it. I’m dying of jealousy.

Seong-jin, who had shouted he was dying of jealousy, soon made groaning sounds, saying “ow ow ow.”

“Does it hurt?”

—Of course it hurts. My heart hurts. You know how much I was looking forward to it. Of all times, my appendix burst. Ah, it’s so unfair. So unfair. Ow. It hurts. It’s unfair. It hurts.

Ignoring Seong-jin as he whined, repeating “unfair” and “hurts,” I stirred the cup ramen noodles with chopsticks and covered the lid.