A man standing with his arms crossed, leaning against a car. The streetlight was too far away to see his face clearly, but a person with that kind of build would be extremely rare even among ordinary people.
At my call, the person raised his head that had been lowered. Only then did the shadows lift, revealing an expressionless face clearly.
“You’re late.”
As expected, it was Kwon Yujin. I was surprised and immediately ran toward him.
“How did you get here?”
“You told me, hyung.”
“I did?”
I think I did explain my situation in a rambling way when I left a message on the voice mailbox, but had I even told him the address? I carefully retraced what I’d said.
“I don’t think I gave you the address.”
“This was the only building under construction in the neighborhood you mentioned.”
“Ah.”
I see. I belatedly looked around. Since it was a neighborhood far from the beach, it was overall desolate. Perhaps because it was obviously under construction from the building framework itself, the site I was working on stood out particularly, just as Kwon Yujin said.
“How was the training camp? Were there no problems with your condition?”
I was curious about many things regarding that. We hadn’t seen each other for two weeks—had his physical condition worsened in the meantime, how were the training results, why did he come all the way here from Seoul when he could have just called in advance? Was there a problem after all?
“Why do you keep doing this work? I gave you a card and money.”
But Kwon Yujin didn’t seem to have any intention of answering even one of my questions.
Rather, he asked back in a voice that said he didn’t understand. The expression on his face as he looked at me was clearly displeased.
“Didn’t Chief Secretary Kim deposit the money for you?”
I was flustered by his tone that pressed me as if I’d committed some great wrongdoing. Only then did the contract details I’d forgotten vaguely come to mind. Including the part where I was supposed to receive compensation in return for helping Kwon Yujin.
“I haven’t checked my bank account yet. And regardless of receiving money, I have to do my work.”
Kwon Yujin let out a sigh.
“Don’t do this kind of work during the contract period.”
Honestly, when the chief secretary explained about the contract, I didn’t properly listen to the content about compensation, so I didn’t quite remember how much I’d agreed to receive.
The truth was, compensation and such wasn’t important to me. Even without such things, I would have done anything if I could help Kwon Yujin.
“Still, I have to work….”
“So you want me to keep coming and going to match your schedule like today?”
“That’s not what I meant. Then I’ll only go to Seoul sites from now on.”
Even though I offered what I thought was a solution, Kwon Yujin’s stiff face showed no signs of softening.
“Don’t be a nuisance and don’t do it for the time being. Just come out promptly when I call you.”
“We only meet once a week anyway. I need to earn money.”
“Is what you’re getting now not enough?”
“No.”
Honestly, I didn’t even know how much he’d given me so far. I’d have to check my bank account later.
Anyway, the conclusion was the same. Even if I received a lot of money, I had no intention of quitting work. And I had no intention of spending the money Kwon Yujin gave me either.
I didn’t know why. It was an emotion I couldn’t even understand myself, so explaining it to Kwon Yujin was also impossible.
As the silence lengthened, the quietness dug deeply between us. I gave up thinking further and just moved my feet.
“Where are you going?”
Kwon Yujin asked from behind.
“Hey, Hyun Taeyoung.”
“I have to go to the mart.”
I barely came up with an excuse.
“Mart?”
“It’s closing soon, so I need to shop and go in.”
As I continued walking toward the mart as if escaping, Kwon Yujin followed behind. He seemed to have parked his car. Would it be okay to keep leaving it there?
I was curious, but if I spoke first, it seemed like the talk about quitting work would start again, so I just pretended not to know.
“Haah.”
I heard Kwon Yujin sigh, but fortunately he didn’t stop or block me.
The mart was quite large. I immediately grabbed a shopping basket and put in eggs, green onions, and onions marked as special discounts.
“Aren’t those onions rotten?”
Kwon Yujin, who had been quietly watching me shop from a few steps away, interjected. I glanced at the onions to check.
“They’re fine.”
“They smell. Buy these.”
Then he lifted up a net bag with fresh onions next to it. I shook my head.
“These are the cheapest.”
“Does that mean you eat rotten ones?”
They weren’t quite rotten, just a bit soft, but that’s how they seemed to Kwon Yujin’s eyes. As expected of a rich young master, it seemed he didn’t know well because he had no experience shopping alone. Anyway, I didn’t need fresh onions.
“I won’t die from eating them.”
At my firm answer, Kwon Yujin stood frozen in place for a moment with an expression like he’d lost his words. I also put in ugly apples that were on sale.
“The difference isn’t even much, just eat normal ones.”
Since Kwon Yujin was giving advice again even about the apples, this time I pretended not to hear. Then it suddenly occurred to me that he might want to eat fruit too.
“Do you want fruit too? You said you liked mangoes.”
Only after the words came out did I remember that was something I’d heard from young Kwon Yujin 14 years ago. Did I unnecessarily bring up the past? I flinched without realizing it.
I belatedly gauged his reaction, but Kwon Yujin himself didn’t seem to care. That’s a relief. Seeing that he didn’t particularly deny it, he must still like mangoes.
Since Kwon Yujin would eat the mango, I picked the freshest one, not from the sale product stand. When I touched it, it wasn’t soft at all but firm.
“Don’t get that.”
However, Kwon Yujin sighed again and put the mango back in its place.
“Why? Do you not like mangoes anymore?”
“With mangoes, you shouldn’t pick unripe ones like that but ones that are properly ripened.”
“Ripened?”
At my question, Kwon Yujin was silent for a moment as if choosing his words.
“It needs to be ripe. Soft on the outside.”
“Really? I’ve never eaten one, so I didn’t know.”
“……”
I said it because I was genuinely curious, but for some reason he seemed at a loss for words. I didn’t mind and was about to put the soft mango that Kwon Yujin mentioned into the basket when I suddenly stopped at the faint scent rising up.
“This smells similar to your pheromones.”
“You’re joking, right?”
“About what?”
“About never having eaten one.”
“Mangoes? Yeah. It’s true though.”
Don’t pick hard mangoes. As I inputted that fact into my head and walked ahead first, Kwon Yujin followed behind.
“Peaches?”
There happened to be peaches displayed on the stand, so he seemed to be asking. I stared at the neatly packaged fruit and thought carefully.
“I’ve eaten them, but it was so long ago I don’t remember.”
“When did you eat them?”
“When they came out in school lunch.”
Since that was middle school, it was over 10 years ago. That’s why my memory is hazy.
“Then you don’t usually eat fruit?”
Kwon Yujin seemed to have a lot of curiosity today. Does that mean the training camp records were good?
“Apples and bananas.”
“What else?”
“That’s it.”
“Why only those two?”
“Because they’re cheap.”
Kwon Yujin made an incredulous expression. But I was the one who was dumbfounded because he was asking such an obvious question.
“I gave you money.”
“That’s why I bought a mango.”
“You didn’t buy it to eat yourself.”
“I don’t eat things like that.”
“Haah….”
I placed my groceries on the checkout counter while observing Kwon Yujin’s expression. Unlike when I first saw him, he looked tired somewhere.
“Would you like a bag?”
“No.”
“Yes.”
My and Kwon Yujin’s answers crossed at the cashier’s question.
I shook my head. Since I had little luggage, I could just carry it. The lodging was even close by. I was about to say that when Kwon Yujin emphasized again.
“Please give us a bag.”
“I don’t think we need one.”
But my words added afterward were thoroughly ignored. Moreover, just as I was about to pay, Kwon Yujin held out his card to the employee first.
“Why are you paying for that?”
Did he judge that I had no money because I mainly bought discounted items? I said there was no need for that, but even this was ignored. It seemed like he wasn’t listening to me at all.
“Oh my. Aren’t you swimmer Kwon Yujin? The swimming athlete!”
As we were about to leave the mart after unavoidably putting all the items in the bag, the employee recognized Kwon Yujin and spoke to him.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I thought so, you’re such a striking person. Oh my goodness, could you give me just one autograph?”
Before he could even answer, the employee hurriedly held out paper and a pen. Kwon Yujin smiled appropriately and gave an autograph on the paper. Fortunately, the surroundings were quiet, so there was no crowd gathering.
“Thank you. You look even better in person. My, you could even be an actor when you retire. Please come again.”
After suddenly receiving the employee’s enthusiastic farewell, we left the mart and headed straight to my lodging. This time, Kwon Yujin didn’t ask me where I was going either.
I knew without needing to be told that the purpose of coming here was probably because of pheromones anyway. Since Kwon Yujin wasn’t a leisurely person, it would be best to quickly go to a place where only the two of us could be.
