I bowed in greeting and checked my phone to find a reply from Jung Yoonseo. It looked like he’d sent it in the middle of my shift.
It’s less about being busy and more that I’m not feeling well.
Not feeling well? Jung Yoonseo wasn’t originally the type to talk about being sick. And it wasn’t like Jung Yoonseo was the type to be sick often either. It seemed like he’d naturally gotten run down from being busy. Realizing that I’d played a part in that busyness, I suddenly started feeling unbearable guilt.
Isn’t it because you’ve been pushing yourself too hard lately?
I sent the reply, but again there was no answer for quite a while. It stayed quiet until I got home, showered, finished cleaning, and lay down. The answer finally came around midnight.
It’s not a one or two day thing, so don’t worry.
Jung Yoonseo’s answer was a bit absurd, so I laughed. I thought for a moment, then sent a reply.
Should I stop by briefly tomorrow evening after dinner, even if it’s late? How about nursing service?
A reply came right away.
Why are you being cute?
I checked Jung Yoonseo’s reply and called him. I thought calling would be better than staring at the screen sending texts.
Jung Yoonseo answered the phone after several rings.
“Hello?”
[Why the sudden call?]
Jung Yoonseo’s voice was completely hoarse. Was it a throat cold?
“Your voice sounds really bad—did you go to the hospital?”
[I went, so don’t worry. They said it’s just a light cold.]
“Please don’t get sick…”
[I’m not someone who gets sick often enough to hear that kind of thing, but I am…]
Jung Yoonseo playfully drew out the end of his words, but because his voice sounded so bad, even that didn’t sound playful.
“First, I’m really grateful for all your attention. I didn’t know you’d pay this much attention.”
[I didn’t do everything myself.]
“Still. I’ll really repay you however I can.”
[I’m investing in this opportunity too, and if it works out well, that’s good. I’m not completely disconnected from the entertainment industry either, so I could expand in that direction with this opportunity. In various ways.]
“I’m really grateful. But your voice sounds really bad, you know? Don’t talk too much.”
Jung Yoonseo’s laughter burst out briefly.
[If you’re telling me not to talk, why did you call?]
“…I didn’t know it would be this bad when I called. I’ll hang up.”
[Without even telling me why you called?]
“Ah. I called to say thank you. And I was curious about your condition, hyung. Since you said you’re sick, I thought calling would be better than staring at a phone screen…”
[How thoughtful.]
“Should I come over tomorrow and make you porridge or something?”
Though I didn’t actually know how to make porridge, so right after asking, I had an ‘oh no’ moment. However, the answer came without needing to think—a refusal.
[These days delivery works well, so why bother?]
“Got it. Go to sleep quickly.”
[I was about to sleep when you called. Do you know what time it is right now?]
It had already been close to midnight anyway. Only then did I check the time to find it was well past midnight. I said hurriedly:
“That’s why I’m hanging up. Please go to sleep.”
[It’s like the military…]
“Did you serve in the military?”
[You tell me to sleep but keep making me talk?]
“I’m sorry. Please go to sleep quickly.”
[No. I’m not that sleepy yet.]
Jung Yoonseo’s voice held a subtle hint of laughter. Normally Jung Yoonseo’s voice was extremely relaxed and languid, maybe because of his way of speaking, but because his throat wasn’t in good condition, today it sounded a bit rough.
“Should I not hang up?”
[Do you want to hang up?]
“Stop answering questions with questions.”
[I’ll put down the phone, so you ramble on by yourself. I’ll use it as a lullaby and sleep.]
“What? You’re telling me to ramble on when you won’t even answer?”
[You can hang up if you don’t want to. Though I did dedicate an entire week for tomorrow’s meeting.]
“Really?”
An entire week? I was genuinely surprised for a moment and asked back.
[No. But it’s true that I put in effort, so ramble a bit. Your voice is gentle, so it’s nice to listen to.]
I let out an incredulous laugh at Jung Yoonseo’s answer. I thought for a moment, then slowly began reciting what had happened during the day. About halfway through, I ran out of things to say, so I just went back over the drinks I’d made at work today in order. By the time I was talking about putting 60g of syrup in the green grape ade, complete silence had fallen on the other end.
I wondered if I could hear breathing, so I briefly closed my mouth and brought my ear close, but I couldn’t hear any sound. I was about to hang up but didn’t, in case hanging up would wake Jung Yoonseo. It was almost time for me to sleep anyway.
Like that, I plugged in my phone to charge and fell asleep without hanging up. When I woke up, it was past 9 AM. When I checked my hot phone, the call had been disconnected an hour ago.
***
I checked to see if Jung Yoonseo had contacted me, but there was no separate message. I re-downloaded the file Jung Yoonseo had sent me, read it carefully on my laptop, and prepared to go to work. I usually handled opening or closing shifts, but lately on weekends I’d been put in for the middle shift during peak hours. I’d work from eleven AM to four PM, then go straight to the dinner meeting.
Today Cha Hyunwoo was handling closing, so my schedule overlapped with the manager in the morning and Cha Hyunwoo in the afternoon.
“Being closing yesterday and opening today is a bit cruel and unusual…”
At the manager’s sigh-filled words, I answered worriedly:
“Didn’t you tell the boss about your schedule? You should have asked him to change you to closing today.”
“But I have to go down to Busan this evening, so I asked to do opening. Self-inflicted.”
“Busan? Are you going on a trip?”
“I have something I need to do at my family home.”
“Your family home is in Busan?”
“Yes. Don’t ask me to use the dialect.”
“Of course not…”
Come to think of it, there did seem to be a slight dialect in the manager’s intonation. But it wasn’t like I knew the Busan dialect well anyway—I’d only encountered it through media and a few people around me, so I hadn’t thought much of it.
“This is what’s unique about you, Hyun-ssi. For someone kind, you have no interest in your surroundings. You’re kind and thoughtful but don’t meddle much. It’s hard to put my finger on exactly how to describe it.”
“I just… don’t think much.”
I really wasn’t the type to think about things in a complicated way, and I thought living day by day was important, so unless it was necessary, I didn’t fall into deep thought. Plus, if I thought too deeply… my thoughts tended to go to strange places.
Now that I said it like this, it seemed I really didn’t fit the writer type, so I had no idea how I’d thought broadcast writing suited me. I definitely wasn’t an artist type.
After that, we were busy for quite a long time, so my conversation with the manager broke off. When we had a moment to catch our breath after lunch rush, I encountered an unexpected person.
…Is this even possible as a coincidence?
“Lee Hyun?”
“…Huh?”
The man was the one who’d handed a business card to ‘Lee Hyun’ before going to Jung Yoonseo’s house last week. He was someone I’d passed by, so I hadn’t remembered his face properly, but now that I was face-to-face with him, I could recognize him at a glance.
The name I saw on that business card was…
“Bae Taehyun… ssi?”
“…What’s with that way of addressing me? Are you acting distant because you went up to Seoul? You… you don’t not remember me, do you?”
Too much information came in at once. The manager looked between me and Bae Taehyun, asking with her mouth if we knew each other. I nodded for now.
“…Can I help you with your order?”
“Seeing you speak formally feels weird…”
Were we on casual speaking terms normally? Flustered for a moment, I mumbled and answered vaguely:
“Uhhhhh… I’m working right now…”
“Ah, I guess that makes sense. Why didn’t you contact me? I was waiting…”
“…Sorry. On that bus, people suddenly crowded around so I might have lo-lost it?”
“Really? Ah, anyway, give me one hot americano. I drink americanos now too?”
“Oh…”
Since we really didn’t know each other, I didn’t know how to react, so I could only give a bland response. Should I cheer or something? Just then, the manager tapped my back and said quietly:
“A friend from your hometown?”
“…Yes.”
“Go for a bit. I’ll watch the counter. But you have to be back in 10 minutes, okay?”
“Yep. Thank you.”
