After hearing my words, Eun Haejin picked up his spoon after a long pause. I decided to postpone scolding him about his drinking habits for later.
- Truth and Misunderstanding
After that, Eun Haejin pushed his food around for a while, but it didn’t seem to decrease much. Was his stomach upset?
“What’s wrong? Stomach bothering you?”
I asked just in case, but he shook his head, hesitated for a long time, then asked.
“What did I do yesterday?”
He asked so seriously with such an anxious voice that I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. He’d definitely blacked out. I’d been worried about how to handle the atmosphere if he only partially blacked out, so this was actually fortunate.
“Don’t remember?”
“Bits and pieces…”
Bits and pieces? It would’ve been better if he completely blacked out. I answered while pretending not to know.
“You acted up a bit, but nothing I couldn’t handle.”
“…What did I do?”
“I brushed your teeth for you yesterday.”
At my words, Eun Haejin’s body froze. I quickly grabbed his hand and lowered it before he could drop his spoon. When I grabbed his hand, Eun Haejin reflexively pulled it away.
“Brushed my teeth?”
“You said you wanted to brush your teeth, but you couldn’t even hold the toothbrush properly.”
“…I did?”
“So I did it for you. It felt like raising a baby.”
I watched Eun Haejin’s face turn red in an instant. I guess he’s embarrassed. I was about to tease him more but stopped, worried he’d be too mortified.
“You obediently opened your mouth when I told you to open and spit when I told you to spit, so it wasn’t that hard. If I think of it as practice for raising a kid, it was manageable.”
However, Eun Haejin latched onto something strange.
“A kid?”
“Based on yesterday, you were about three years old.”
“You want to raise kids?”
“Suddenly? Well… won’t I raise some eventually? Maybe not. I’m not the one giving birth. I’m just leaving the possibility open.”
At my words, Eun Haejin’s brow furrowed. The alcohol definitely hadn’t worn off yet. He opened his mouth slightly as if to say something, then quietly asked.
“…Was there anything else besides brushing my teeth?”
Whether it was a drunk habit or he mistook me for someone else, I didn’t know, but it felt awkward to tell him that he’d rubbed his lips against mine. I shrugged and asked something else. Actually, I’d been curious about this since Eun Haejin kissed me yesterday.
“Did you start liking someone?”
“Huh?”
Eun Haejin’s face, which had turned pale after being red earlier, began to redden again. Judging by his reaction, it’s true, huh? …Could it be following the original story? Things wouldn’t progress this fast though. Does plausibility even manipulate things like this? The timing was a bit too coincidental to completely dismiss. I asked subtly to probe.
“Someone from work?”
“What bullshit?”
But the response that came back was cold. It wasn’t him trying to deflect, but genuinely denying it. I’d asked thinking there was a chance it was Jung Yoonseo…
“Never mind then.”
Before the atmosphere could get stranger, I just shut my mouth and shoveled rice into my mouth. But then Eun Haejin suddenly hardened his face and asked seriously.
“What did I say yesterday?”
“What? You didn’t say much.”
It was true. He really didn’t say much—the problem was that he rubbed his lips against mine before he could say anything…
“But why are you asking? Did I say I like someone yesterday?”
“No? Just… my intuition.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Your intuition sucks. You have no sense either.”
I was momentarily dumbfounded by the sudden criticism. Eun Haejin might not know, but I was someone who’d lived hearing praise for being sharp at work anywhere I went. Being perceptive and good at work was one of the few things I took pride in from all my part-time jobs.
“What are you talking about? I’m perceptive.”
Eun Haejin scoffed at my words. He’s not even listening.
“I’m serious.”
“You?”
“Hey. Even my boss praised me for being really good at work. Of course, I didn’t use the word ‘really’ like that.”
“When did I say you were bad at work? I said you have zero sense.”
“How can you be good at work without being perceptive?”
“Ha… You idiot.”
At Eun Haejin’s words, I opened my mouth to retort but closed it, feeling like I’d just get more entangled. When I didn’t say anything, Eun Haejin resumed the meal he’d briefly paused. After that, we finished eating while making small talk, and while cleaning up the dishes, Eun Haejin asked.
“…So nothing happened yesterday, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then that’s fine.”
I looked at Eun Haejin’s back for a moment, then silently threw the regular trash into the garbage bag.
“I have a late shift today, so you can stay a bit longer if you want.”
“Then let me shower once. Lend me some clothes.”
Since Eun Haejin had gotten up wearing the strange combination of my t-shirt and dress pants, I agreed and handed him comfortable pants and a t-shirt.
“Give me underwear too?”
“You got new ones?”
I chuckled at Eun Haejin’s question.
“Being shy now?”
“Fuck off…”
Eun Haejin frowned deeply and quickly went into the bathroom carrying just the clothes. Seeing his reaction, I’m glad I didn’t tell him about the kiss.
I waited for him to finish showering, then we lazed around in the room doing our own things slowly. That’s not to say either of us was focused—when we didn’t feel like it, we’d throw jokes at each other and pass the time.
“How’s your superior at work?”
“What superior?”
“Well… your mentor or… team leader?”
“Ah, fuck… my mentor’s a piece of shit.”
“Why?”
I’d asked because I was curious about Jung Yoonseo, but Eun Haejin suddenly frowned deeply and cursed out his mentor.
“He nitpicks every single thing I do. I mean, it’s my first time, how would I do it well?”
“Right.”
“Ha… Yeah. If I did a shit job, there’s nothing to excuse. But I did exactly what he told me to do, and then he goes crazy asking when did he ever tell me to do it that way. But I also made another version properly because I felt something was off while doing it. When I showed him that, he bitched about me not doing what I was told.”
“Is he crazy? Give me his number. Hyung will take care of it for you.”
“Ha…”
“So he teaches you like shit and then tells you to do the work well. Does he have no conscience?”
Eun Haejin began venting about his mentor in unusually vivid detail. His words reminded me of my own past, so I spent a while cursing out the mentor on Eun Haejin’s behalf, then asked what I was curious about.
“How’s Team Leader?”
“Team Leader?”
“Yeah.”
Eun Haejin looked at me strangely for a moment as if I was asking something out of the blue, then frowned slightly as if recalling something.
“…Ah. Actually, I don’t see him often since he’s busy with work, but the team leader is… the son, right?”
“Of Chairman Jung Cheolyeong?”
“Yeah. The chairman’s son.”
“How is he?”
Eun Haejin was about to say something but just flopped onto the pillow.
“Just ridiculously handsome.”
“He doesn’t look like Chairman Jung Cheolyeong.”
“Yeah. I heard he was handsome, but he looks completely different in person. Like seeing a celebrity. Like a foreign actor…”
“But you’re handsome too.”
At my words, Eun Haejin was about to say something but snapped his mouth shut. I could see his ears turning subtly red. Cute guy… He used to not even acknowledge it when I said he was handsome. I felt mischievous and praised him more.
“Right? Our university’s business school heartthrob.”
“Just. Stop saying stuff like that.”
“Accept yourself.”
“Why’s he acting like this.”
“You’re really handsome. Tall, good body, handsome face.”
Eun Haejin didn’t respond and played dumb. I chuckled, then checked the time and threw off my pajamas. As I stripped off my clothes, Eun Haejin’s nagging immediately followed.
“Ah, stop taking your clothes off.”
“I have to take them off to change. I have to go to work.”
“Work?”
“Yeah. I have to leave in 30 minutes.”
I gave a half-hearted response and finished changing. Eun Haejin felt awkward staying sprawled out alone, so he got up and hovered around behind me for no reason. I kept my eyes on him for a moment, then just quickly changed and prepared to leave.
As I put on my sneakers, I told Eun Haejin.
“Rest more before you go.”
“Why don’t you just quit that cafe?”
“You gonna support me?”
Eun Haejin didn’t answer. Telling me to quit when he’s not going to support me… He became a new employee at J Company and has a lot to say.
“At least see me off.”
“…Get back safe.”
“Okay.”
I answered and closed the door. Well, there were a few ups and downs, but it was still an ordinary day anyway. …Probably.
***
Eun Haejin had dinner with me that night after I got off work, then went home. The next day was almost a full-time part-time shift, so I couldn’t even think about Eun Haejin. I’d throw some light jokes with Cha Hyunwoo, but our conversation kept getting cut off by the influx of customers. Still, being busy was normal now, so aside from that, there were no problems.
After my part-time job ended and I was heading home, I habitually checked my phone and saw a missed call from Jung Yoonseo. What’s going on? I immediately called Jung Yoonseo back, and after a long ringtone, Jung Yoonseo answered with a tired voice.
“Why did you call?”
[Were you working?]
“Yes.”
[I wanted to see you briefly if you had time today.]
“Ah, if now works, do you want to meet? It’s a bit late though.”
[No. It’s a bit late…]
“Nothing’s wrong, is there?”
