“You weren’t reachable at all last week.”
“Me?”
“You didn’t reply to the company messenger, didn’t check KakaoTalk. Didn’t answer your phone either.”
Come to think of it, there had been a call. Surim realized that in the midst of being so busy, he’d seen the missed calls and KakaoTalk messages, thought he’d contact them later, and then completely forgot. Since he used separate computers—one connected only between computers inside Research Lab 0 and another connected to the internet—he hadn’t even known a message came through the company messenger.
Surim smiled apologetically, thinking he’d been rather indifferent.
“I’ve been all over the place. Sorry.”
“If you’re sorry, spare me some time. How about coffee on the first floor?”
“Now?”
He’d told Song Hanyeong he’d be away for about an hour, but two hours had already passed. If it was Song Hanyeong, who was sensitive about his subordinate’s whereabouts, his absence would already be bothering him.
“Just ten minutes. Please?”
“Mm… Okay, let’s go.”
Since he was already late, another ten minutes wouldn’t make much difference. Besides, there was actually something he wanted to ask Ji Seongchan anyway. The reason he’d thought about bringing some plants into the office was because of Ji Seongchan’s office environment setup report, and he was curious where he’d ordered the plants from.
“I’ll buy. You can get something expensive.”
“We are going to the company cafe, right? Cold brew coffee is 1,200 won.”
There were even welfare points that came out monthly for meal expenses, so it was practically free. The amount given for one meal was more than one meal at the company cafeteria anyway.
“I said you can get something expensive. Get the 1,800 won vanilla latte.”
Ji Seongchan, who jokingly acted generous, started walking ahead. Surim looked at him with an absurd expression, then soon burst into a hollow laugh and followed behind.
A moment later, Surim was holding a cold brew coffee in his hand. Ji Seongchan, holding a vanilla latte, pointed outside saying let’s walk for a bit.
“Wow, it’s so nice to be outside. The work isn’t terribly much, but the old man keeps assigning me things like sorting papers. I didn’t even come in as a researcher.”
Ji Seongchan, who had been grumbling, groaned with an “Ah.” It seemed he belatedly remembered he’d made another slip of the tongue.
“Hey, it’s not like Surim-ssi is someone who’d tattle on me for this, so what does it matter. Let’s talk more comfortably when it’s just us two.”
“Sure.”
“Thanks. Anyway, so in one week I did overtime three times. Actually, I brought in the plants by insisting I can’t work in such a dreary environment. That place has a whole research lab that feels exactly like a laboratory—bleak and kind of creepy. The old man has a bit of a cleanliness obsession. He knows he’s making me do unreasonable work normally, so he just let me do as I please.”
So there was such a story behind granting his son’s friend’s request. Surim listened to that interesting story with enjoyment.
“But Surim-ssi, why did you lose so much weight in the meantime? Don’t tell me your boss is bullying you?”
“Ah, me losing weight is just… I couldn’t eat meals properly for a while. I’m okay now, so I’ll gain it back.”
“Why couldn’t you eat?”
“…Just, something happened.”
Surim awkwardly changed the subject.
“More than that, the other people seemed to be having a really hard time. I didn’t know the researchers would make them run errands and all that.”
There was even a manager who said he ran cigarette errands and cleaned up eaten disposable lunch boxes every single day. The researchers didn’t clean up a single empty lunch box they ate from, and ultimately the cleanup had to be done by the manager who had to manage the conference room. Assistant Manager Seong said she’d talk about that problem, but in a research institute where the senior researcher was the king of the lab, it was uncertain whether it would really improve.
Only then did Surim realize he was fairly lucky. Lee Myeongho, who had shown him around the office at first, wasn’t the type to act territorial, and Song Hanyeong, who seemed not to welcome him much, was okay now too. In the first place, Song Hanyeong’s initial wariness toward him had been because of the blood-selling contract.
If he had to point something out, the problem would be that Song Hanyeong was a bit sensitive about his movements. Even that wasn’t to the point of making him report every single second, so it wasn’t that uncomfortable. From Surim’s perspective, it was rather welcome as it gave him an excuse to talk to him often.
It was a bit much that there was too little work, but it seemed better to have no work than to run cigarette errands or clean up someone else’s lunch.
“…I guess researchers are a bit sensitive after all.”
The two briefly badmouthed the nasty researchers and talked about each other’s work environments. The one doing most of the talking was Ji Seongchan though. After all, Surim didn’t have much he could share.
Ji Seongchan was very good at talking. Surim enjoyed listening to his stories, unaware of time passing.
“Really?”
“I’m telling you.”
“All sorts of things happened while I wasn’t there.”
Surim, who was giggling and shaking his head, made eye contact with someone walking from the opposite direction. It was Lee Myeongho. Lee Myeongho, who was waddling along clutching armfuls of paper bags and couldn’t see ahead well, widened his eyes when he spotted Surim.
“Surim-ssi, why are you here?”
“Pardon?”
“Wait, you went out saying you had a meeting and still haven’t gone back in? It’s been almost three hours?”
Surim hurriedly checked the time on his headphones. It was true. If a little more time passed, it would be lunchtime.
He’d meant to talk for just ten minutes, but nearly thirty minutes had already passed. Frightened, Surim turned his body toward the company’s main entrance.
“Ah… Surim-ssi!”
“Seongchan-ssi, I’ll contact you later!”
“Okay, be care… Watch out, in front!”
Surim nearly crashed into the revolving door but managed to stop just in time, then hurriedly moved his steps again. His gait, almost half-running, was rushed.
Ji Seongchan, who had been watching that retreating figure with regret, let out a deep sigh. He’d been planning to ask him to eat lunch together later, but he’d just rambled on with pointless talk.
“Hey there, what’s your name?”
At the voice of the man clutching paper bags, Ji Seongchan turned his head that way and then froze. For reasons he couldn’t understand, he felt a suffocating sense of pressure from a man who wasn’t particularly tall or had a sharp appearance.
“I asked you. What’s your name?”
“Ji Seongchan… it is.”
“Your department?”
“General Affairs Team.”
“You must have joined this year. Right?”
“Yes…”
The man, who looked displeased and wrinkled his mouth, clicked his tongue, then lifted and hugged the paper bags.
“You can’t grab someone from another research lab and ask them to play with you during work hours. Okay?”
“Yes, I’m sorry…”
“Well, as long as you know. Be careful from now on.”
The man picked one of the breads filling the paper bag and pressed it into Ji Seongchan’s hand.
“This is a gift. In the sense that you should do well from now on.”
Then he irritably whipped his body around.
“Shit, looks like the mood’s going to get ruined again.”
Only after he disappeared could Ji Seongchan breathe comfortably. Until just moments ago, as if he had a lion or tiger before him, he had to hold his breath without even daring to breathe carelessly. It was because a premonition that something terrible would happen if he made a mistake filled his head completely.
‘…Who was that?’
With the thought that came belatedly, Ji Seongchan clutched his head in confusion. A person whose identity and location he didn’t even know asked him questions and he obediently answered, yet in that moment he didn’t know what was wrong.
Even if this was a research institute site with no outsiders, it was strange.
* * *
Surim, who hurried back to the research lab, immediately sent Song Hanyeong a message.
[Jin Surim] I’m back. I’m sorry for being late.
Then he nervously waited for a reply, but strangely, Song Hanyeong didn’t respond at all.
“…Is he not at his desk…?”
That wasn’t it. Song Hanyeong was sitting at his desk doing something on the computer. If so, a notification that a new message had arrived on the messenger app should have appeared.
Could he be deliberately pretending not to know? Surim anxiously rolled his eyes while gnawing on his thumbnail. Is he angry?
That’s when it happened.
[Song Hanyeong] You’re late.
[Jin Surim] Yes, the meeting took longer than expected.
[Song Hanyeong] I see. Understood.
Surim smiled as if relieved. It seemed he’d just checked the message late because he was busy. He’d worried for nothing.
Come to think of it, Song Hanyeong was a good enough boss to personally take home a subordinate who’d passed out at the first company dinner, so he wouldn’t get angry just because he returned a bit late.
With his worries gone, Surim glanced at the clock and took out the green juice he’d brought from home. There were 10 minutes left until lunchtime. He’d just taken a 30-minute break and now it was lunchtime already—his conscience pricked him while he was also excited.
Of course, thinking about having to fill lunch with tasteless green juice was a bit depressing, but it couldn’t be helped.
“Jin Surim-ssi.”
Lost in other thoughts and unaware that Song Hanyeong was approaching, Surim’s shoulders jumped. Song Hanyeong’s dry gaze looked at such a Surim for a moment, then briefly lingered on the cold brew coffee with the company cafe logo drawn on it.
“Come to the conference room.”
There were 5 minutes left until lunchtime. While puzzled, Surim obediently followed behind Song Hanyeong toward the conference room.
A large shopping bag was placed on the conference room table. Since Song Hanyeong sat on the other side of the table, Surim also suppressed his puzzled feelings and took a seat.
