While half-listening to the employees’ conversation, I organized the plates washed by the machine. I gathered dozens of plates that were still hot because the heat hadn’t dissipated yet, to bring them to the hall.
It seemed choosing to work at the hotel instead of on-site work was a good decision. If I had done carpentry work in this condition, I wouldn’t have lasted even half a day.
While thinking that, I, who had stacked new plates in front of the hall food, walked around the tables to collect the plates the guests had emptied.
I moved mechanically and was about to pick up an empty plate when a guest grabbed my wrist.
“Ah. If you’re still eating…”
“Right? Hyun Taeyoung.”
At the familiar voice, I turned my head and confirmed the person holding my wrist.
A face with very bold features yet pretty at the same time. Despite being masculine, perhaps because his facial features were smooth, his overall impression was soft. But he was someone I didn’t know.
But why did I just think it was a familiar voice?
“Do you know me?”
When I asked, the other person made an expression of disbelief. Then he glared at me.
“What kind of trick is this now?”
“…Pardon?”
At the gaze filled with contempt, I furrowed my brow. I couldn’t understand what kind of situation this was at all.
“It’s you I saw at the wedding yesterday. How long have you been working here?”
“…….”
“What about the work you were doing at the construction site?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“What?”
The man spoke as if he knew me very well. But even when I carefully looked over his face once more, he was someone I was seeing for the first time.
“Have we met before?”
The man who looked like he would get angry at any moment suddenly made a strange expression at my question. A few seconds later, he lowered his voice and growled.
“Are you trying to play around?”
Playing around? What would a hotel employee have to play around with a guest about? There’s clearly a misunderstanding.
“I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else. If you don’t need anything more, I’ll be going.”
“Hyun Taeyoung!”
I hesitated for a moment because he called my name accurately, but thinking about it, there was a possibility he called me after seeing the name tag on my chest.
Suddenly grabbing someone, getting angry by himself, and acting familiar seemed like he wasn’t in his right mind. I hurriedly left the spot.
More than anything, from the moment I faced that man, an indescribable discomfort surged up. Throughout the conversation, I only thought about wanting to get away as quickly as possible.
I entered the kitchen holding the collected plates.
“Huh? Taeyoung-ssi, where are you going?”
When I tried to leave again without properly organizing the dirty plates, a nearby employee stopped me with a puzzled face.
“I’m going to the restroom.”
“Ah. Don’t be away from your spot for too long. It’s a busy time.”
“Yes.”
I headed to the employee restroom. Somehow my insides felt stuffy. The aftermath of yesterday’s fight seemed to continue affecting me.
I was walking down the hallway, breathing deeply in and out, when suddenly someone blocked my way.
“Why aren’t you answering your calls?”
It was that guest from earlier.
“Are you talking to me?”
“Who else is here besides hyung?”
He was a persistent person. I braced myself against the unpleasantness and observed the other person closely once more.
He was very tall. I wasn’t short either, but he was looking completely down at me.
Not only tall but his build was also very large. A gangster? Or an athlete? At least he definitely wasn’t an ordinary person.
When I just stared without saying anything, the man roughly swept his hair back.
“Have you really gone crazy? Or are you staging a protest?”
“…….”
The one who’s crazy seems to be you, not me. His face looked fine, but it was unfortunate.
“It seems we can’t communicate, so I’ll be going now.”
I decided not to deal with him anymore and moved my steps. What should I do if he grabs me again? I’ve never received a response manual for cases like this.
In the first place, the manager had no intention of putting me in serving or service, so I didn’t receive proper training related to customer service. My main tasks were to move, clear, and handle things in places that weren’t visible.
I thought I should ask the manager in detail about dealing with crazy customers next time I saw them.
Fortunately, the man didn’t grab me and didn’t approach anymore. He seemed to have given up on his own. That was good.
“Taeyoung-ssi, Taeyoung-ssi! What did you say to athlete Kwon Yujin?”
When I returned to the kitchen, several employees who were taking off their aprons to go out for lunch break approached.
“Who’s that?”
At my words, the employee who asked the question opened her eyes wide. As if asking how I could not know that.
“We talked about it in the hall earlier. Kwon Yujin, the swimming athlete. You really don’t know?”
That strange man’s name seemed to be Kwon Yujin. His occupation was swimming athlete. That’s why he didn’t look like an ordinary person.
Was he that famous? I traced my memory. Thinking about it again, I felt like I had heard it somewhere.
“We didn’t really talk.”
“What did you say though? Hm?”
If I told them honestly, they would probably be more bothersome, so I covered it up with an appropriate lie.
“He said the food was delicious.”
“Oh, really? That’s a relief. But did you really serve athlete Kwon Yujin without knowing who he was?”
“I think I’ve heard the name before.”
“You’ll remember when you see him again. He won a gold medal at a recent swimming competition.”
“…….”
Did he? Since I don’t watch TV often, I might have only heard it in passing.
On the other hand, unlike me, the employees all seemed to know the man called Kwon Yujin and endlessly continued conversations about him.
For several minutes, stories about Kwon Yujin’s family, swimming records, face, and connections poured endlessly from the employees’ mouths. Why would a person with such a decent background act familiar with me and talk nonsense?
Could it be… because he’s an alpha, he was hitting on me? But unless his taste was quite bizarre, that would be impossible. Moreover, I was wearing a mask so my face wasn’t even fully revealed.
“Since you talked to him first, Taeyoung-ssi, you bring him the congratulatory cake.”
A moment later, the thought that had been going on for a while was cut off by the chef in charge of desserts handing me a cake.
I checked the small cake the chef brought. On the whipped cream, the words “Congratulations on winning the gold medal ♡” were written.
“He seems to be alone, so don’t bother him too much.”
“Gasp. I’ll go with that, can’t you give it to me?”
When another employee butted in, the chef rolled her eyes.
“I told you not to bother him. Is this a neighborhood cafe? All the servers are going to pop out and watch.”
At the chef’s scolding, the employee who had volunteered to go looked dejected.
“It seems Taeyoung-ssi already greeted him, so let the person who’s familiar bring it. Don’t be bothersome, just give congratulations and come back.”
“Understood.”
I couldn’t think of a particular reason to refuse, so I took the cake and left the kitchen.
Finding the table where athlete Kwon Yujin was seated was easy. Since his build was so large, he was immediately noticeable even from afar.
When I approached, he, who had been sitting still without eating, spotted me and furrowed his brow.
“This is a service from the chef-nim.”
“…….”
“Congratulations on the gold medal.”
Athlete Kwon Yujin, with his arms crossed, looked down coldly at the cake I placed on the table.
“I really don’t know what you’re trying to do. It’s not even like you’re teasing me.”
“…….”
“I really don’t understand.”
I didn’t want to come either, but since he kept pouring out criticizing words, even I couldn’t help but wear out my patience.
“I think that’s what I should be saying.”
“What?”
“I don’t even know what I did wrong, and I don’t know why you’ve been making such an unpleasant expression and saying incomprehensible things since earlier.”
I conveyed my intentions clearly without avoiding athlete Kwon Yujin’s gaze. I didn’t know what he was thinking, but I had no obligation to play along with him.
It was the moment when Kwon Yujin, who had been glaring at me fiercely for a while, was about to open his mouth.
“Kwon Yujin, what brings you out early?”
Someone approached calling athlete Kwon Yujin. When I turned my head to check, a man who appeared to be around his age was standing there. The two seemed to be friends.
After confirming that he naturally sat in the seat in front of Kwon Yujin, I bowed in greeting and turned around. I felt a gaze following my back, but nothing happened where he stopped me again to be bothersome.
I was just leaving the hotel after safely finishing work. I planned to take care of business right away and return home so that what happened yesterday—turning to another path and drinking—wouldn’t occur.
But before I could even walk a few steps from the hotel, someone suddenly popped out. It was athlete Kwon Yujin I had seen at the buffet.
“Let’s talk.”
