When Muyeon beat the Director with words without distinguishing between what should and shouldn’t be said, separating bone, flesh, and pride, Seungju listened happily, but now his feelings were subtle.
“There’s no reason it wouldn’t be okay, but…”
“There are no good restaurants here. Let’s go, I’ll buy you something delicious.”
“Really?”
The doubt in Seungju’s mind faded. Anyway, a person who buys you food is a good person. Seungju followed him and got in the car.
The place Muyeon headed to was a meat restaurant not far from the company. It was a high-class place where all the tables were divided into private rooms and staff grilled the meat directly. Muyeon was right. This is a delicious place. It’s just so damn expensive that I’ve only been here twice.
Sitting down and handing over the menu, Muyeon said.
“What do you want to eat?”
“You choose, General Manager.”
“Since I’m buying, Team Leader, you choose.”
“Then shall we order two servings of sirloin for now?”
Muyeon nodded. Seungju, who pressed the call bell, asked.
“Do you drink alcohol by any chance?”
“What about you, Team Leader?”
“If you drink, General Manager, I’ll have a glass too.”
That was Seungju’s gentle refusal. Because Muyeon had brought his car, so he couldn’t drink. Going off-site with a superior and eating dinner was already a bit burdensome, but drinking on top of that. No matter how much Seungju loved alcohol, that was difficult. But defying Seungju’s expectations, Muyeon answered lightly.
“Then let’s order some.”
A staff member opened the sliding door of the private room and entered. Seungju pointed at the menu with his finger and ordered. When the price caught his eye, he automatically tensed up.
“We’ll have two servings of this sirloin and soju… Chamisul…”
Seungju glanced at Muyeon. Muyeon nodded. He just nodded with his elbow on the table and his chin resting on his hand, and he looked ghostly handsome doing even that. So Seungju failed to notice that the pose was very arrogant.
“Please bring one bottle of Chamisul Fresh for the soju.”
When the staff left, the table became quiet. Muyeon seemed to be quietly thinking about something. The silence was by no means comfortable. However, since the person who had started conversations and held the initiative all along had been Muyeon, Seungju didn’t know what to say.
Fortunately for Seungju, the staff soon brought glasses and alcohol. Seungju picked up the soju bottle. Only then did Muyeon open his mouth.
“I’ll pour for you.”
Seungju held out his glass as if honored. Muyeon poured the alcohol generously. Into Seungju’s glass, and into his own glass. Seungju, who was preparing to receive the soju bottle and fill Muyeon’s glass, looked at Muyeon somewhat tensely. Muyeon smiled and raised his glass.
“Drink comfortably. You can fill the next glass, Team Leader.”
“Ah, yes. I understand.”
Would there be an idiot who actually drinks comfortably just because the President’s son told them to drink comfortably? Seungju turned his head and gulped down the alcohol with his hand covering his glass. When he put down his glass, Muyeon was looking at him.
Just as Muyeon was about to speak, the staff came in again. They laid out side dishes and put charcoal under the grill. The staff placed thick meat on the grill and carefully grilled it. Muyeon kept his mouth shut and said nothing while the meat was being grilled. Seungju just drank water alone. It was embarrassing to busily pick at side dishes when his superior was just sitting quietly without saying anything.
The staff, who had pushed the cooked meat to the edge of the grill, put down the tongs and left. Enjoy your meal.
Only then did Muyeon open his mouth.
“Aren’t you going to refill my drink?”
“Ah, yes.”
Seungju picked up the soju bottle, supported the bottle with his other hand, and poured. Muyeon snickered and laughed.
“I told you to be comfortable, but you’re not doing it.”
So would you be comfortable if you were me? Seungju soon realized that the man before him had a social status where he’d never been uncomfortable in front of anyone. He sighed “aigoo” inwardly.
“It’s because it’s a habit. You’re a superior, General Manager.”
“That’s why I told you to be comfortable.”
What is he saying, really. Seungju just smiled and replied.
“It’s not that easy. I’ll probably get more comfortable as I see you more often.”
“You’re really good at answering.”
Muyeon said with a bright smile. Following him, Seungju tried to laugh “hehe.” However, in that instant, he felt a chill again. ‘You’re really good at answering’? Just because it’s said with a smiling face and gentle tone doesn’t change the content of the words.
Before Seungju could move on to the next thought, Muyeon continued speaking.
“I guess that’s Team Leader’s personality. Last time when we talked too, you were really good at answering in an interesting way.”
Muyeon added while picking up his chopsticks. Eat. Comfortably.
So Seungju followed him and picked up the well-cooked meat. Looks delicious. His thought was right. It was really delicious.
Seungju’s mood naturally improved. He decided to slightly forget about the General Manager’s chilling way of speaking. And Seungju’s positive circuit turned. From the looks of it, Muyeon is a very straightforward person. He speaks as if breaking down the walls of relationships that form between people who meet at the company, as if there’s no need to put on an act. That’s probably a result created together by his innate personality and his upbringing environment.
Muyeon’s unexpected words, reactions, and attitude gave the feeling as if he had boldly approached right up to Seungju’s nose. He couldn’t tell whether it was a danger signal or dizziness felt because of the rapidly shortened distance, but it was certain that it made Seungju’s heart race. So Seungju mustered the courage to reply somewhat comfortably as Muyeon demanded.
“It’s a skill rather than personality. It’s an essential element of working life.”
“Then what’s your original personality like?”
“Well… This is the first time since writing a self-introduction that I’ve talked about my own personality.”
Muyeon giggles. Seungju’s heart became more generous. He thought about what kind of personality he had.
Come to think of it, what did I write in my self-introduction? I packaged the days of chasing after drinking gatherings because I liked alcohol as sociability and affability, and slightly changed my stance on the experience of coming out to write that I showed respect for diversity from a broad perspective. I don’t remember the rest well.
Seungju just gave up.
“My personality… I think it’s just moderate. Actually fun, but it’s embarrassing to say that.”
Haha… This time Muyeon laughed out loud.
Seungju looked at him while picking up more meat. As before, the fact that he made Muyeon happy made Seungju excited. Moreover, this man is even more handsome when he smiles. Suddenly Seungju wanted to make him laugh more with all his being.
“Why are you laughing? Moderate isn’t a bad thing.”
“That’s true. But as you said, Team Leader doesn’t seem to be just a moderate person. You’re interesting.”
“If you see it that way, I’m grateful.”
“Those words definitely seem like lines that came out thanks to social skills.”
“You’re accurate. As expected, you have good insight.”
Muyeon laughed again. Seungju also laughed following him. They clinked glasses once more.
I’m in good condition today. The alcohol went down smoothly. Seungju filled both glasses full again. Should I order another bottle? No. Let’s empty this and think about it. He couldn’t easily succumb to the temptation of alcohol in front of this man. Seungju roughly knew how much of an idiot he could become when completely drunk.
He raised his glass and said.
“It’s not a joke, originally I had a good personality too.”
“And now?”
“Considering the stress gained from working life, I think this personality isn’t bad.”
“Do you have that much stress? Well, people who work well are tired. On top of that, it must have been hard doing it alone.”
His heart melted gently at the kind words. But Seungju realized that his words were an extension of the conversation they’d had when they met on the rooftop. He newly recalled that time when he was so shocked his internal organs felt stuck to the floor. Even thinking about it now, it’s a chilling thing to have badmouthed the President where the President’s son could hear.
The reason that just passed as a happening was solely because Muyeon was a person who didn’t maintain distinctions between superiors and subordinates. However, whether Muyeon maintains distinctions or not, the difference that he’s a superior and Seungju is an employee is clear. So since he was doing it anyway, Seungju wanted to score more points with Muyeon.
“Now that you’ve come, General Manager, won’t things get better?”
Muyeon didn’t reply immediately. Seungju watched his reaction and thought. Did I show too obviously that I want to look good?
But Muyeon soon lifted the corners of his mouth and smiled. Seungju smiled following him and naturally lowered his gaze. If he looked more, it seemed like it would be bad for his heart.
Muyeon tapped his glass with his finger. Being distracted by his face, he kept missing the timing to refill the drink. Ah shit, I need to look good. Seungju asked while lifting the nearly empty bottle.
“Should we have another bottle?”
“No, there’s a company dinner tomorrow too, so let’s not drink too much.”
Right, the Sales Team welcome party. Seungju nodded. He’d clearly thought earlier that he should restrain himself, but the alcoholic who had alcohol in him inevitably felt regret. Muyeon continued speaking.
“You said you like alcohol, right?”
“Yes.”
“Who do you usually drink with?”
“I often drink with people from the company, and I drink with friends too.”
“Dawon?”
“Oh, yes.”
Seungju was a little surprised. He didn’t know Muyeon knew about his private friendship with Dawon. Well, Dawon thought of Muyeon as a good superior. When exchanging various stories with a close superior, it could come up. A bit different from me, who lies the moment I open my mouth to the Director.
Park Dawon, you didn’t even tell him the KakaoTalk chat room name, did you?
“You must be close with Dawon.”
“So-so. Dawon is closer with Lee Jongmin from Planning Team 1 than with me.”
“I’m not trying to set them up. I’m not really curious who Dawon is closest with either.”
“Ah… I see.”
A question came to Seungju a beat late. Then what are you curious about?
As if reading Seungju’s mind, Muyeon said.
“Who are Team Leader Seungju’s close friends?”
“Me? I… At the company, besides Dawon, I often drink with Team Leader Cha Sojeong from the design team.”
“You interact a lot with women?”
“It ended up that way. It’s also a company with a lot of women.”
“Is that so?”
Muyeon raised his glass. The meal was almost over. Seungju again held his glass with both hands. Muyeon just smiled a little without saying much else.
“Let’s have one last drink and go.”
