Ah, maybe that’s not it.
The hypothesis that he might invite a friend or two collapsed immediately with the thought that followed. The possibility that he might get a girlfriend. Of course, he said he didn’t have one right now, but hadn’t he mentioned there was a girl he liked? Perhaps the reason he had two sets of tableware prepared like this was out of hope that things might work out with that girl someday and he could invite her over.
“Why are you making such weird faces, frowning and relaxing? Does something not taste good?”
At some point, Jukyung had stopped eating and was staring at me. His forehead was slightly creased, as if he was ready to snatch the plate away the moment I said it didn’t taste good.
“Hm? Oh, no, it’s delicious. Really delicious. You said you don’t cook often, so why are you so good at it?”
I asked hurriedly while shoving noodles into my mouth. Jukyung’s brow furrowed again. I immediately realized it was because he didn’t like me talking with food in my mouth. Clicking my tongue inwardly, I straightened my posture and quietly chewed my food with my mouth closed.
I had been educated about table manners to the point of having it drilled into my ears under the name of etiquette. However, my father, who forced such education on me, actually had—to put it nicely—free-spirited, or to put it badly—rough eating habits himself. Having grown up watching him since childhood, no matter how much he told me to do this or that with words, there was no way I could have been completely unaffected when I had learned by seeing it with my own eyes.
Of course, I had developed the habit of maintaining strict manners depending on the place or the people I was meeting, but in comfortable settings or among close friends, I often let things slip. On top of that, the aftermath of living roughly for the past month was significant. Wait, does this mean I’m comfortable around Kwon Jukyung right now? That can’t be. Who could possibly feel comfortable around such a fussy and eccentric germaphobe, the very embodiment of pickiness and drama? At that level, even family would feel uncomfortable.
Well, anyway, living with him became an opportunity to discover one or two good points about my father, whom I had only thought of as a dictator. Like how he was generous with money, or how he was generous with money, or how he was generous with… Hmm.
“I saw you looking at job sites earlier. Did you find anything good?”
While I was having such thoughts to myself, Jukyung threw out a different topic.
Mmm…
Even though I was eating something delicious, wrinkles naturally formed between my brows.
“No. After removing everything that bothered me, there wasn’t much left. It’s not the season when they hire many new employees either, and when I try to apply for what’s available, there’s so much they want me to prepare.”
As I spoke, a sigh escaped without me realizing it. Jukyung shrugged his shoulders.
“Did you think making a living was that easy?”
Honestly, I thought it was easy. Even if not at my father’s company, I thought all the workplaces in the world would be waiting eagerly for a talent like me to work for them. I bit the tip of my pinky finger out of habit and fell into thought.
“Maybe I should try physical labor.”
Jukyung’s hand, which had been moving his chopsticks, stopped abruptly. His long eyes sharpened as he glared at me.
“What would you do?”
“Physical labor. That kind of thing should be easier to find, right? There wouldn’t be many documents to scrutinize either.”
Jukyung snorted.
“You’ve never even worked as a restaurant server, yet do you even know what physical labor is like? If you rush into it without knowing, your hospital bills will cost more. I have absolutely no intention of nursing you, so don’t even think about it.”
Who asked him to nurse me? I never expected that anyway. And what does he take me for? I’m not that weak of a constitution.
“……”
But actually, since I hadn’t done it, I couldn’t know for sure. I had exercised regularly and was confident in my stamina. However, it was also true that my recent period of terrible living had turned years of effort into bubbles. If I really did end up hospitalized, Jukyung would choose to somehow find out where I lived and send me away rather than nurse me. That would be the real problem.
“Why don’t you work as an English instructor while preparing for public recruitment exams? Anyway, since you attended school abroad for a long time, getting a position at a private language academy shouldn’t be that difficult. Test English requires separate techniques, so you might need test scores, but for conversation instructors, if you show your graduation certificate and demonstrate your skills in an interview, you’ll pass right away. I don’t know much about it, but I heard there are quite a few native English speakers who work as academy instructors in Korea to earn travel expenses.”
Jukyung said nonchalantly while twirling spaghetti around his fork. But contrary to Jukyung’s indifferent expression and attitude, I felt like I had seen a flash of enlightenment thrown by a sage. An English instructor—I hadn’t even thought of that.
After eating dinner and cleaning up, I returned to the living room. I placed my laptop on the low coffee table and sat on the floor. Even though it was summer, the floor was cool from the air conditioner’s cold air, making my bottom a bit chilly, but there was nothing I could do about it. If I sat on the sofa, my posture wouldn’t work out.
Coming out of the kitchen belatedly and seeing me, Jukyung’s eyes furrowed slightly. Was he thinking it looked messy with me spread out in the living room? But since the situation was urgent, I decided to just ignore it. It’s not like I have my own study, and if he’s not going to lend me his study, what am I supposed to do? Finding a job quickly, paying back the money, and leaving the house would be good for Jukyung too.
I went back to the job site and started focusing on finding English instructor positions. Regarding salary and conditions, everything was written as “according to internal regulations” or “to be discussed during interview.” It seemed better to go with a larger place if possible, but not having attended university in Korea, it was difficult for me to quickly figure out which were the famous academies for adults. While I was sitting with my arms crossed, thinking, Jukyung suddenly stood behind me and tapped my back.
“Sit on this.”
What Jukyung held out was a small rug. And it was fluffy and spotlessly clean—brand new. My eyes widened. Where did this suddenly come from? I thought he said he didn’t keep rugs or carpets because they collect a lot of dust and are annoying to clean.
“I got it as a gift but didn’t need it, so I was going to throw it away. Well, there’s no need to buy something you don’t have, but since it exists, just use it. You can take it with you when you leave or throw it away.”
When I just stared without taking it, Jukyung dropped the rug on my lap as if annoyed. The way he spoke somewhat hurriedly made me wonder if there was something bothering him about it, but whatever.
“Hey, thanks. I was just thinking my butt was getting a bit cold.”
My mouth stretched into a grin as I spread out the rug and sat on it. It had cushioning and a pleasant scent as if something had been sprinkled on it. My bottom, which had been suffering on the cold, hard floor, felt like it was being pampered all at once.
With a much improved mood, I devoted myself to job hunting again. For some reason, instead of playing by himself or going into his study, Jukyung helped with various things from beside me. He told me about several famous academies, so I focused on looking into those places and decided to apply after supplementing a few things the next day during the daytime. By the time I closed the laptop, positive energy had filled me up again, making me feel as if I had already secured employment.
That night, I fell into a deep sleep right away without tossing and turning for once. I don’t know if it was because fatigue had accumulated from not sleeping well for a while, or because I had received plenty of sunlight during the day and walked a lot, but whatever the reason, it was good. Deep sleep is the best means of maintaining one’s condition for anyone.
—
8
—
Several days later in the afternoon, I wore my newly bought suit for the first time in a rather nervous state. I tidied my hair neatly and stood in front of the mirror, checking my appearance. Thanks to eating and resting well for several days, my face had recovered its original luster. As I turned my chin this way and that examining my face, my gaze suddenly stopped at the watch sparkling on my wrist.
When I told him yesterday that I had interviews at two places today, Jukyung had lent me this watch last evening. As far as I knew, it was a watch worth nearly the price of a decent supercar. Honestly, it was a watch I could only drool over because I couldn’t afford to buy it myself. Was it fake? I didn’t really want to wear a fake one. When I shot him a dubious glance as he handed it over, Jukyung frowned.
‘I’m just lending it to you because I’m sick of it, but as you know, it’s incredibly expensive to me. Never take it off your body. If you take it off carelessly and lose it, I won’t let you off. Got it?’
When he said such burdensome things, there was no way I’d want to borrow it. Besides, even though he said he was sick of it, he had maintained it so well that there wasn’t a single scratch on the surface—it looked almost brand new. I quietly unfastened the watch from my wrist.
‘No, I have my phone too, so I don’t think I really need to wear a watch…’
‘What kind of stupid thing are you saying?’
Jukyung’s eyes flared.
‘Do you know how untrustworthy it looks when a working adult doesn’t wear a watch? In the business world, time is money. Especially in Korean society, they’re conservative about such things. If you glance at your phone to check the time, it’s perfect for being misunderstood as checking personal texts. Or they’ll think you’re bored. It’s easy to hear talk behind your back that young people these days can’t distinguish between personal and professional matters.’
Kwon Jukyung’s words grew long again. Usually, the guy’s mouth was locked like a padlock, but once he latched onto something, I didn’t know why he became so full of nagging.
‘Then what if I buy one separately at a low price…’
‘Low price—how much?’
Well, can’t I buy one for about 3 or 400 thousand won? Oh, is that expensive too? But can you buy a watch cheaper than that? Watches are originally expensive items.
When I couldn’t answer and hemmed and hawed, Jukyung’s eyes narrowed.
‘Really, the thoughts of a young master raised in comfort. Why would you buy another watch you won’t even wear later when there’s already one available? Why make such a waste? I’m just asking you to be careful—what’s so burdensome about that? As long as you don’t take it off outside and don’t pass out drunk, what could happen?’
Well, that’s true. But when people live their lives, they might take off a watch because it feels stuffy, and if you have a company life, there’s something called company dinners, right? Then you might get drunk and act foolishly, right? Honestly speaking, after hearing about company dinners, that’s what I was looking forward to most about working life.
