My thoughts stopped as if someone had pressed pause. I stared blankly at Seogong before asking a beat late.
“To you… I mean, they came to your hospital room? Someone who’s a company president?”
Seeing my strange expression, Seogong nodded in bewilderment.
“Why? Didn’t you get a job?”
I quickly shook my head and smiled.
“No, it’s right that I got a new job. But this is the first time I’m hearing that the president met you… What did they say?”
Even when hyungnim did a background check on me and had someone tail me for surveillance, I just accepted it. Because I thought someone who paid that much money and made them do such outrageous things could certainly do that.
But I never dreamed he’d personally go all the way to the hospital to meet Seogong.
“He said he was passing through the corridor and saw a familiar name, so he came in just in case. I let it pass at the time, but thinking about it now, it is kind of strange. Normally people wouldn’t come all the way into the hospital room.”
Even though I was smiling, my expression must have been awkward because Seogong seemed tense too.
“Did he just say hello?”
“Yeah, we didn’t talk long. He just said he was the president of the company hyung works at… What was his name? Lee Sihu, was it? I got his business card but I lost it somewhere while walking around.”
He even gave him a business card? Then could the company name have been written on it too? I desperately wanted to ask if he remembered the company name, but I couldn’t.
“He said hyung is really diligent and works well. You haven’t even been there long but you’re already a total ace?”
Seogong spoke with a proud expression as if he’d been the one praised.
“Well, I’m good at everything wherever I go. I’ve been saying that all along. The Pig Dream boss really liked me too.”
“I thought you were just talking, but it was true…”
“Stop talking now and get some sleep. You have double eyelids.”
Seogong with puffy eyes looked indescribably pitiful. I arranged his bedding again and stood up, bracing my knees.
“I’ll wake you when it’s time to eat.”
I watched Seogong, who must have been sleepy as he closed his eyes right away, then turned off the light and quietly closed the door. I couldn’t even let out a breath and only sighed deeply inside.
What was hyungnim’s intention in visiting Seogong? Was there really someone he knew hospitalized at that hospital? No, there was no way such a coincidence existed.
“……”
I was starting to get irritated. I could endure whatever happened to me to some degree since I chose this and was being paid for it, but not Seogong. He has nothing to do with this, so why is he doing this?
If I’d had the contact information, I would have called without hesitation, but I couldn’t. I paced around the living room anxiously and finally sent Jiwoo a text.
Did you meet him?
But even after waiting a bit, there was no reply. Could he be meeting with hyungnim right now? Then at the earliest, I might get a call sometime today.
I didn’t know why, but Jiwoo had talked as if he’d know the whole story of the drug incident as soon as he met hyungnim. If that was true, I’d be able to have a more detailed conversation about Jiwoo and hyungnim going forward.
Finding out what hyungnim does wouldn’t mean I could do anything about it, but still, having some information would mean I wouldn’t feel like I was wandering in a labyrinth like this.
With those thoughts, I turned on my phone’s vibration and left it in a visible spot while doing housework. But there was no contact from Jiwoo even late into the night.
Not the next day either, or the day after that.
***
Unbelievably, a week had passed since I’d been able to contact Jiwoo. Could something bad have happened when he met hyungnim? He wouldn’t answer calls and didn’t reply to texts either.
If something bad happened to Jiwoo, my job would just end there. Then hyungnim would have contacted me, but that wasn’t the case either.
I was so frustrated I could die because I had no idea what was going on. Jiwoo knew where I lived, but I didn’t even know where he lived. If Jiwoo went underground like this, there was no way to find him.
“Hyung, have a good day at work.”
“……”
Seogong waved his hand, seeing me off to work. I looked at the bright-faced Seogong with a complicated expression.
Because he thought I’d gotten a job, I couldn’t postpone going to work any longer. I hadn’t known I wouldn’t be able to meet Jiwoo for this long, so I’d roughly said I’d start work from today and couldn’t take it back.
“Why’s your expression like that again? I told you not to worry. The lady said she’d come by later too.”
“Lady” was the title Seogong used for the landlady.
“The portions hyung divided up in the fridge, I just have to heat them in the microwave. Or I can just roughly boil them in a pot myself. I told you not to worry.”
At least Seogong’s recovery was fast, which was fortunate. Otherwise, I would have fallen ill again from stress. I sighed and moved my reluctant feet.
“I’ll come straight home after work, so if anything happens, call me. Even if you feel something strange, call right away.”
“What do you mean something strange? Is this a horror movie? Just go. Shoo, shoo.”
“No, you know that feeling when you think you’re going to be sick. Don’t just let it pass.”
“Okay. I’ll call right away if anything’s even slightly strange. Happy? Have a good day at work. And buy ice cream on your way back.”
Ice cream, when you can’t even eat it… I sighed and left the house. In case Seogong was watching from the window, I didn’t stop walking until I was far from home.
Then I took a bus, went to a cafe I’d never seen before, and settled into a corner spot. Among the clothes Jiwoo bought me were suits, so I wore one and it was uncomfortable as hell.
I thought people dressed up when going to work at a company, so I chose it, but I wondered if I’d overdone it… I’d have to actually commute to a company to know. The dress shoes hurt my feet to death too.
But I maintained a poker face because it would look pathetic if I showed I was in pain. You know, like a typical busy office worker in modern society.
I wanted to drink a blueberry smoothie, but it didn’t seem to match my outfit, so I just ordered an iced Americano.
“……”
It’s really fucking bitter. I should’ve just ordered what I usually drink instead of being difficult. No one’s watching anyway. Ugh, fuck.
With an expressionless face, I took a few sips of the poison and just looked out the window for no reason. I probably looked like I was waiting for someone. This wasn’t acting.
I’d been thinking—if something happened to Jiwoo, or if he knew we hadn’t met for a whole week, wouldn’t hyungnim approach me?
To make it easier for him to approach, I was waiting obediently alone in a corner. Since he said someone named Choi Gunho was tailing me, it would be easy to find me wherever I was.
Well, if not, it couldn’t be helped, but I had nothing to lose. And I had nowhere to go anyway. After saying I was going to work, it pricked my conscience to hang out with friends. Why should I care since it’s a lie anyway, but what if I ran into someone I know while playing around?
My guts were already small, but since starting this job, it felt like they’d shrunk from the size of a bean to the size of a grain of rice.
“Phew…”
I sighed as if I were a busy office worker agonizing over work problems and watched the people outside the window. An hour passed like that, then two hours. I felt self-conscious sitting for so long after ordering just the cheapest thing, so I ordered a salt bread sandwich in between.
I was bored, had nothing to do, and my butt hurt from sitting so long, but it wasn’t even noon yet. Time really isn’t passing. The coffee must be self-replicating or something because no matter how much I drank, the amount didn’t decrease.
“Eat this too.”
Then I heard someone’s voice from behind. Before I could even turn my head, a red cookie suddenly popped into my view. Reflexively catching the round cookie as I stood up from the chair, a familiar man sat down across from me.
“Who are you waiting for so intently?”
“……”
“Lee Jiwoo?”
It was hyungnim.
