She shrugged her shoulders once.
“No, I heard from Marketing….”
This was definitely an interesting story. It might be even more premium information than what Dawon had mentioned today. Whether it was truly thrilling or not, Hyeondo snorted beside them.
“She said she heard it through the grapevine from employees she worked with when she was at a different affiliate before.”
“Yes yes, what is it.”
“Just, he’s apparently really like a young master. Kind of….”
Seungju’s and Dawon’s eyes met. Dawon rolled her eyes upward as if trying to recall Section Chief Mu’s young master-like appearance. Seungju unconsciously nodded his head and opened his mouth.
“Well, he’s the president’s son, so wouldn’t it be stranger if he wasn’t like a young master?”
While saying that, Seungju thought, just as Dawon had done, about whether there was anything young master-like in Muyeon’s appearance when they met on the rooftop. And also, why he wanted to take that man’s side without even knowing the reason. This must surely be because his character is a hundred points and his face is a million points.
The drinking party was enjoyable. Seungju really liked alcohol. He also enjoyed meeting people. It was fun to hear industry stories and life stories from a senior he met after a long time. It was sad that Sojeong and Dawon had to go home early when it was such an enjoyable gathering. Seungju and Hyeondo sent the two off with regret.
Seungju and Hyeondo decided to go to a second round. They entered a nearby izakaya. After finishing their order, Hyeondo went out to smoke.
Seungju sat alone and thought. Among the people he met while working in society, Hyeondo was the only one who knew Seungju was gay. Among Seungju’s college classmates and high school friends, only a few knew that fact. Seungju really had no intention of coming out to company people, but now he thought it was fortunate it turned out this way.
Working in society is about pretending. Everyone pretends to be agreeable and pretends to be sociable. Seungju didn’t think that was bad. Seungju also had several different shells. In the everyday life that flows like water, trivial bumps or conflicts only bring useless fatigue. Everyone makes a little effort to wear the right clothes to avoid that.
Of course, when Seungju pretends, he has to put in a little more effort than other people. Thanks to that, the Director believes that Seungju still has no intention of starting a new relationship because of the wounds from his girlfriend who broke up with him half a year ago. He felt a bit of self-reproach for how lies flowed so well whenever he opened his mouth, but anyway, Seungju liked that agreed-upon everyday life.
His everyday life and life are too harsh to pay attention to trivial things.
Still, sometimes, even if it’s someone you meet briefly, it’s not bad to have someone you can be honest with, dropping even one layer of pretense. No matter how well Seungju can pretend to be a figure well-fitted to social standards, being in a calculated state while tense for 24 hours is tiring.
And it’s also a lonely thing.
“Oh, the alcohol already came out.”
“Yes, please sit down, Senior.”
Hyeondo sat down with a smile. The two people clinked their glasses. Again, Seungju thought it was fortunate that the person who knew his true self was Yoon Hyeondo.
One of Seungju’s college classmates felt uncomfortable being alone together for a while after hearing his coming out. He felt more betrayed because he believed they were close. Seungju set a date and poured soju into that bastard’s mouth straight from the bottle while educating him on the universal fact that being gay doesn’t mean you like just any man, and his very strict subjective aesthetic standards.
However, Hyeondo was a person who didn’t care at all what shape the person in front of him took. He put down his glass and spoke.
“So, Seungju, why did you want to drink today?”
Seungju, who had put down his glass, propped his chin and let out a long sigh. At that ritual-like action, Hyeondo laughed softly.
“The president was in a bad mood so the Director was in a bad mood. Everything I brought for confirmation got rejected. Got yelled at. But after I hung up the phone with you, Senior, there was an even bigger problem.”
“What was that?”
“I cursed out the president over the phone, right? When I looked up, the president’s son was standing there. Section Chief Mu.”
Hyeondo burst into laughter. Seungju waited until his laughter subsided.
“Haha…. That much should be fine.”
“How do you know, Senior?”
“It was a coincidence, would he say something about that?”
Hyeondo’s words might be right. Section Chief Mu had said not to worry about it. That it wasn’t something to be sorry about.
While Seungju was convincing himself alone, the dried snacks they ordered soon came out. In the past, Seungju also cursed at people who ordered dried snacks, fruit snacks, or punch. But as he got older, his stomach got smaller so it was hard to pick at snacks even at the second round. While Seungju was rambling about such things, Hyeondo asked.
“How old are you now, Seungju?”
“Me? I’m thirty-one.”
“Wow, you even got team leader and you’re still only thirty-one?”
“It’s not like I became team leader because I’m good.”
“Still, that’s amazing. Let’s see, then you never even took a leave of absence.”
“That’s right. And I interned during my last semester of senior year and joined the company.”
“You really lived diligently. You’ve gathered only the parts that company’s president would like. Can’t help it, dude.”
Of course, even a person of character knows the fun of teasing people. Seungju lamented.
“Ah, Senior, please stop. Really, I want to smack both the president and the Director on the back of the head at least once if I could.”
“Can’t do that, after living so diligently, it’d be unfair if you got a criminal record.”
And then Hyeondo laughed. Seungju eventually laughed along.
That’s right. Seungju had lived diligently. To pretend to be agreeable and average.
“Are you dating anyone these days?”
“I’m not. I don’t have the time or energy.”
There was a more important factor in why Seungju continued to be solo, but he didn’t bother to say it.
It’s a sad story, but there aren’t many handsome men in reality. Like the face-obsessed person he was, Seungju fell for every single one of those few. However, a great many of them were straight, or had lovers. Or they were people with a big age difference from him, or if not that, they were just people he passed by on the street for 3 seconds.
So Seungju broke up with them in his heart alone within three days. The two or three men who developed into romantic relationships with difficulty knew too well how great they were to have a normal relationship. In short, they were bastards.
Of course, Seungju knew well that was an excuse. That all handsome guys are bastards is a fallacy of generalization. He just chose handsome bastards himself.
Naturally, Seungju didn’t want bastards. He liked ordinary things. And as always, ordinary is the most difficult.
Above all, Seungju didn’t have the energy right now to explore a partner with all his heart and soul. So what he said just before wasn’t entirely wrong.
Seungju stopped talking for a moment. And Hyeondo noticed that Seungju had something to say. He waited while drinking.
“There’s this person….”
“Yeah.”
Seungju chose his words. He smiles well and is kind. He’s friendly. That’s just because he’s a good person, not because he’s interested in someone and acting that way. Seungju knew that fact better than anyone.
But….
“I was sitting down and he came close like this and brushed my hair back with his hand.”
“Really?”
“Is it a green light?”
Hyeondo thought for a moment. He tilted his head and answered.
“I’m not sure from just that.”
“I knew it, right?”
Seungju became sullen. Hyeondo said with a laugh.
“I know one thing though.”
“What?”
“That person’s handsome, right?”
Hyeondo burst into laughter as if he’d said something funny. Seungju narrowed his eyes and glared at him. To enjoy himself thoroughly teasing his junior. He almost wanted to revoke the evaluation of being a person of character. However, Seungju ended up being led by him to laugh.
The topic moved to the story of the client Seungju dealt with yesterday. A sample came from China and blah blah, he definitely enclosed the color chip and color sample with the purchase order but blah blah. Production-related issues tormented Seungju every time to the point where it would be disappointing if there weren’t any, and each time he experienced them, his insides were newly scraped. The two people talked in unison and poured down alcohol.
It was close to midnight when the two people parted. Seungju, who saw off Hyeondo catching a taxi, moved his feet to take a bus home.
While walking, Seungju became lost in thought. When he goes home and sleeps, he has to wake up tomorrow morning and go to work again. And the day after that too.
The repetitive everyday life and the inescapable shackles of going to work suddenly became a heavy burden and hung on his shoulders.
So even though the weekend was approaching soon, he wasn’t very happy. The positive and naive Heo Seungju who was happy every Wednesday with the fact that if he just endured two more days it would be the weekend died in his second year. He sighed.
Still, there was one good thing. If the handsome Section Chief Mu came to the Planning Division, it might help relieve a little stress.
Seungju began walking with long strides.
