Long, sharp eyes. A mole below the outer corner of his eye that made his overall sharp impression even more solid. His slightly wavy hair was neatly styled with the bangs parted a bit, and he had three piercings, only on his left ear.
He had a high nose bridge and an overall shadowed appearance, which perhaps was why he gave off a particularly subtle atmosphere when he lowered his eyes.
That was one of the reasons he was disagreeable. Because the background of a man who was so intensely and splendidly handsome was predictable even without seeing it.
Perhaps it might be prejudice, but…….
“Did you hide something here or what?”
It was precisely then that their gazes locked directly. At the woman’s question, the man unconsciously rolled his eyes toward the counter.
After he himself had looked over, he tensed his eyes knowingly or unknowingly. As if he hadn’t expected it.
Eventually, he looked back at the woman naturally as if nothing had happened. Eunha, who had been watching them to kill time out of boredom, felt that familiar disagreeable feeling again.
In the sense that while he’d seen many people who approached while gauging the situation and threw subtle signals, this was the first person who quietly only gauged for a whole month.
Wondering what his intentions were, it felt fresh yet at the same time bothersome and uncomfortable, like his nerves were being scraped little by little in one corner. Like an annoying mosquito that won’t actually suck the blood it’s after but just buzzes around nearby, irritating yet out of reach.
Right. That was exactly it. Eunha’s dissatisfaction that had piled up toward the man for nearly a month.
“I just… don’t want to be at school during free periods.”
At the voice that eventually came through readily, he inwardly retorted. Liar. The man attended the cafe without fail even on Fridays when he appeared to have no classes and on weekends when there was no reason to go to school.
However, from the conversation that followed, he thought it might not be entirely made up after all.
“…Ah. I know. Is it because of that crazy bastard Kim Yeongmin?”
“Mm. Don’t curse.”
“How can I not curse. Aren’t you frustrated? If it were me, I really would’ve been so pissed I’d cry.”
“Still.”
“‘Still,’ my ass.”
At the reproachful tone, the man again curved the corners of his eyes faintly as if to smooth things over. It was a limp, bland smile. The woman banged the table with her fist as if frustrated. She went on at length with words of concern. Listening roughly, it seemed there had been some conflict at school.
“Kim Yeongmin is one thing, but honestly I think Hyeonju is a bit much too. She’s keeping her mouth completely shut. I understand not wanting to become a hot topic, but you’re the only one who got into trouble. No. No, that’s not it. What do you mean just ‘in trouble.’ Your reputation is just completely fucked……”
So apparently, it was over a romantic issue.
A love triangle conflict. His own college days suddenly flashed by. It was a familiar topic that had broken out diligently here and there.
The man answered quietly, barely audibly.
“It’ll die down. Because it’s not true.”
“This isn’t something you can take so leisurely. Aren’t you even angry?”
“I am a little tired.”
“Then you need to actively explain yourself. Why are you just sitting still.”
“Because doing that seems like it would be more tiring.”
“……Geez, really.”
Thanks to the woman raising her voice while being indignant as if she herself felt wronged, the content itself was well heard, but since he couldn’t grasp exactly what happened, his interest gradually waned. The voices became blurry and flowed out one ear.
On the other hand, Jeongho, whom he discovered while turning his head, had an intrigued look. Though he didn’t blatantly put his gaze there, it was immediately felt that his ears were perked up like a rabbit’s. It was clearly visible that his mind, as he prepared a takeout customer’s drink, was sold elsewhere.
Eunha, who had been leaning against a long-legged stool, let out a snickering laugh. Then he languidly glanced at Jeongho’s slow, sluggish hand movements and deliberately made a stern expression.
When he tapped his toes with the tip of his shoe as if asking what he was doing, Jeongho flinched and turned around, and upon grasping the situation, immediately made an awkward expression.
“The thing is, boss.”
“Yeah. Hurry up and make it.”
“Yes.”
After answering, he quickly prepared the drink. That deliberately eager appearance seemed cute. Eunha generally felt that way when looking at Jeongho. Fresh, cute, and not hateful no matter what he did. Twenty-one years old, they said. There was a seven-year age difference between them.
It was the same when dealing with other part-timers. He wasn’t particularly generous or friendly toward others, and had lived a life far from goodness or magnanimity all his life, but only toward people younger than him did he change his attitude a little. It seemed to become more so as time passed year after year.
Even doing the same actions, he came to view them a bit more leniently, thinking they’d manage somehow.
“……”
Right. Generally, that was the case.
Eunha glanced again at the man who was an exception to that. He was still dealing with the woman who was fuming over his situation. Without being greatly shaken throughout.
His stance was fundamentally like that. How to put it…… his facial expressions were always not dramatic and had a calm feeling. An overall settled atmosphere. That kind that seemed emotionally completely closed off.
To put it nicely, he was well-centered, and from Eunha’s biased perspective—he already looked like he had plenty of experience.
He seemed to be unjustly involved in a tremendously noisy conflict, yet to have such a detached and indifferent stance.
‘He must have experienced many similar things……’
He couldn’t help but think that.
So that’s why he didn’t seem cute at all like this. That handsome face he saw every day, the gazes that met at every opportunity, the fingertips that occasionally touched as if by chance during payment.
It only gave him feelings of being stuffy and unclear and bothersome and wondering when this would end. It was a talent in itself if it was one, to give only such negative emotions.
Roughly estimated, he’d only be about twenty-three or twenty-four.
He stared emotionlessly at the man who still showed a slight trace of youthfulness, then turned his gaze away. There were no customers today for some reason. It was around the time he had turned on his phone and was fiddling with it.
“Yeonjun-ah. I think you don’t quite understand yet……”
Eunha’s eyes, which had been loosely relaxed, became clear in an instant. He blinked. Because it was the first time he’d heard the man’s name.
Yeonjun. Yeonjun, huh. Mulling over the name that brought to mind a soft impression several times, surveying the man who by any measure only oozed sharp edges several times. As he alternated between them, he tilted his head slightly.
Banhwihyeol……? A name like that would suit him better instead.
Well. It didn’t really matter anyway. It was the moment when Eunha, who had briefly perked up, was about to look at his phone again.
“I’m really okay. No matter what anyone says. You know I’m innocent, sunbae.”
“……”
“Because that’s enough for me.”
It was a terribly gentle, sensitive way of speaking. It was to the extent that even the listener felt ticklish, so Eunha, momentarily surprised, swiftly brought down the hand holding his phone again.
He narrowed his eyes with an expression of ‘what the hell.’ Because it was a bit absurd.
Then, seeing that Jeongho, who had also entered the edge of his vision, seemed to have received a similar impression and had an oddly clouded face, it became even more absurd.
And even more so after witnessing the woman who heard the man’s words being silent for a moment, then unnecessarily sweeping her hair behind her ear and clearing her throat with a “ahem.”
‘Right. Just now…… wasn’t that too blatant flirting.’
“……Honestly. How can your threshold for ‘enough’ be that low.”
“Is it low?”
“What else? You’re saying it’s okay if everyone except me badmouths you, or what.”
“Mm. It’s just-. I know you’re defending me in various ways, sunbae. Thanks to you, it seems like a lot of misunderstandings have been cleared up too……. So.”
It meant I’m grateful. Eunha slowly scrutinized the man who brightly added in a slightly coquettish tone with a completely cold face.
It was a moment when his prejudice became even more solidified.
