Then I felt a touch on my hair. It definitely wasn’t stroking my hair, but rather the feeling of slowly brushing through the ends of my hair. It was a touch that seemed to be trying not to wake me up. I left Eun Haejin to play with my hair for a moment, then decided to just let my consciousness drop a little more.
When I turned on my side, I could feel his flat-as-a-wall abs through the thin layer of clothing. Whether it was his thigh or abs, everything was so hard that the position felt strangely uncomfortable. A slight groaning sound leaked from my mouth without me realizing. As I moved my head on his thigh looking for a more comfortable position, I felt his abs tense up even harder.
But doesn’t this guy’s leg hurt?
That question suddenly occurred to me, but soon my consciousness faded again.
***
“Hey.”
I felt a large hand suddenly cover my face. As the hand rubbed my face vigorously, I woke up without realizing.
“Wake up. You said you’re going to your part-time job.”
“…What time is it?”
Perhaps because I’d slept really deeply without realizing, my voice cracked again.
“2:40.”
“Then I should get up.”
Contrary to my confident statement, I crossed my arms and curled my body up again. Eun Haejin roughly stroked my hair. Or rather, it was closer to rubbing it vigorously like wiping.
Only then did I get up from Eun Haejin’s leg. I seemed to have slept for about an hour, but Eun Haejin was surprisingly soft-hearted and didn’t even shake off the bastard shamelessly using his leg as a pillow.
“Doesn’t your leg hurt?”
“You were lying down so fucking shamelessly I couldn’t even think to pull my leg out. Ugh, my leg’s asleep.”
“I didn’t think you’d let me sleep like this either, I’m touched.”
“Yeah, if you’d woken up even 1 minute late I would’ve woken you up fucking roughly, too bad.”
At Eun Haejin’s curt answer, I awkwardly headed to the bathroom. I washed my face once with cold water and even brushed my teeth. My hair was in terrible condition, so I roughly combed it with my hands to fix it. I also buttoned up the buttons I’d undone because they were uncomfortable earlier, except for the top one. I checked if there were any wrinkled spots on my clothes and came out of the bathroom.
“Want to leave together?”
Eun Haejin was sitting in the exact same position as when I’d entered the bathroom. Eun Haejin ran his hand over his face once and declined.
“…No.”
“Are you tired?”
“…Yeah, a bit.”
“What? Did you get some contact while I was sleeping?”
I asked because Eun Haejin’s expression looked a little serious, but Eun Haejin didn’t really answer. Is his condition not good?
“Not feeling well?”
“I’m fine so just go to your part-time job.”
“Okay. If you’re tired, sleep a bit.”
I was about to check on his condition more, but time was getting tight so I rushed out the door. It was fortunate the cafe was close to home. Before closing the door, I cheerfully called out toward Eun Haejin, who was sitting with a slightly tired look.
“Hyung will go earn money!”
Eun Haejin raised his middle finger without answering. Ah, that guy’s leg is probably asleep so he’s doing that, but he’s putting on airs.
Because I wanted to arrive with a bit of time to spare, I ran to the cafe. It was close anyway so it took 5 minutes walking, but since I even ran it took less than a minute.
“Hyun-ssi, you’re here?”
“Yep, I’ll change clothes quickly and come out!”
I went straight to the break room and changed clothes. Taking off a shirt and putting on a shirt made the process annoyingly tedious. I checked the time, stuffed the clothes into the locker, and rushed out.
“How’s your body?”
“Even if ten different kinds of smoothies came in at once, I could do it without crying.”
At my confident answer, Cha Hyunwoo laughed softly.
“But where did you go today?”
“No? Oh, except for going out in front of my house to eat earlier?”
“What did you eat?”
“Seolleongtang. Did you eat?”
“Yes. I switched shifts this morning. I asked because you came wearing pretty clothes today.”
At Cha Hyunwoo’s words, I briefly recalled my past work outfits. I’d been alternating daily between the hoodies and training clothes Lee Hyun had.
“Ah, I washed all my comfortable clothes… I need to buy some clothes.”
“Really? I thought you went to an appointment. …Like a date.”
“If you put it that way, isn’t the boss going on a date every day? You come wearing pretty clothes every day. You even wear cologne.”
I recalled the clothes I saw when I opened Cha Hyunwoo’s locker yesterday. They were clothes I would absolutely never wear unless it was a date.
“I’m not seeing anyone right now.”
Cha Hyunwoo’s voice broke my thoughts. Cha Hyunwoo made eye contact with me as he spoke.
“It’s been a while.”
Cha Hyunwoo’s expression looked so resolute that I momentarily forgot what to say and just stared at him. A solo declaration like this?
“I… I’m not either?”
Because Cha Hyunwoo’s solo declaration was so tragic, the words that were about to come out naturally ended up stuttered. The corners of Cha Hyunwoo’s mouth slowly rose.
“You’re not seeing anyone?”
“Right…?”
“Unexpected. …I thought you would be.”
With those words, Cha Hyunwoo turned his head again. And he muttered to himself softly, “I really thought you would be.” Yes, thank you for your enthusiastic support…
I was about to jokingly ask Cha Hyunwoo if he was happy to have a comrade, but stopped because Cha Hyunwoo seemed to be in a good mood.
Because Cha Hyunwoo’s cafe was always crowded, there was no time to rest except for the timing when people left all at once. Today too, we only got a brief moment to catch our breath after making orders for two group customers and countless iced Americanos.
“You’d think I’d get used to the crowds, but I don’t.”
I said while rotating my stiff wrist from making coffee. Making a hundred cups of coffee, not just one or two, was definitely not an easy task.
I unconsciously put my hand in my apron pocket and pulled out a piece of paper I grabbed. It was a note with a number on it.
When work piled up at the cafe, naturally I’d handle the counter and Cha Hyunwoo would churn out the drinks, and in doing so I received notes with numbers on them at least three times a day. The sender wasn’t for me, and it was a note that naturally came with the words “please give this to that handsome boss over there.”
But when I received notes during busy times, I’d often forget to pass them on and leave them neglected. Eventually, the papers I’d roughly stuffed in my apron would get mixed up and I couldn’t tell whose number was whose.
Today too, I only now remembered the number notes I’d put in my pocket. As I rummaged through my apron to pull out the notes, thinking about it, I realized I’d never once passed these notes to Cha Hyunwoo. A chunk of papers accumulated over about two weeks was pulled up.
“What’s that?”
“Numbers.”
“…Numbers?”
“Customers gave them and left.”
“Ah…”
Cha Hyunwoo showed a not-so-pleased look. Is this the fate of handsome people?
“I forgot to give them to you, boss.”
“Mm? Why to me?”
“Because they said to pass them to you?”
“Ah?”
“If you don’t want them, I’ll throw them away. Actually, there are so many I’ve already forgotten who’s who.”
“No, give them to me.”
At Cha Hyunwoo’s words, I obediently handed over the papers with numbers. Seeing how Cha Hyunwoo carelessly put the notes away, I had a hunch that none of those numbers would ever be saved.
Looking at Cha Hyunwoo like that, I suddenly felt a little guilty. They probably handed them over not thinking I’d pass them on like this. But if you were really interested, I hope you’d give your contact directly. Please don’t go through me…
“Because a handsome person runs a cafe, this kind of thing is everyday life.”
To break the awkward atmosphere, I threw out a joke. Cha Hyunwoo made a subtle expression at my words. And he spoke in a voice small enough to be a mutter.
“I have no intention of making a girlfriend.”
“That’s understandable. Dating has cycles too. You do it when you want to and don’t when you don’t want to.”
“I didn’t say I have no intention of dating.”
What is he saying? Is this Schrödinger’s lover? The existence is determined when you meet. States of dating and not dating coexist. Is that it? I was having idle thoughts when I slowly realized.
Did Cha Hyunwoo originally like men?
But I couldn’t ask him “Then do you have intentions of making a boyfriend? Haha!” so I just silently nodded.
