Chapter 12 – A Relieved Smile

[Are you saying you really want to date?]

Ding-dong.

[Jung Wooseok. Answer me.]

Ding-dong.

[You’re joking, right? If you’re messing with me, I’ll kill you.]

Wooseok couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. He could imagine Shin Eunjae anxiously sending those messages. What should he do with this fool? As he kept staring at his phone, something suddenly landed in front of him with a thud. When he looked up, there was a water bottle placed before him. The one who threw it was Kiwon, who was presenting meeting materials.

“Team Leader Jung, are you not paying attention?”

“…Sorry.”

Wooseok lowered his head with a faint smile.

“We’re about to have to redo the entire Jeju Island project, and Team Leader Jung, you seem pretty happy? I was going to go on next week’s business trip alone, but that won’t work. Team Leader Jung, you’ll finish the Sejong work this week, right? Come with—”

“No.”

Wooseok answered before Kiwon could finish. Kiwon, at a loss for words, put down his file and perched on the edge of the conference table. Whatever happened over the weekend, Wooseok was overly lively this Monday morning, which made Kiwon a bit uncomfortable.

He’d spent his weekend frantically revising blueprints, while Wooseok looked on as if it were someone else’s problem. The Jeju Island project had been entrusted to Wooseok from the start by the client, but Kiwon had taken on some of the workload to balance things out. Whether Wooseok understood the President’s intentions or not, he just sat in the meeting room, glued to his phone.

“Why not? Let’s hear your reason.”

Kiwon crossed his arms and looked at Wooseok.

“I have an important appointment.”

His answer was almost unbelievable.

“You don’t even have one yet, and you’re just expecting it? There’s no such thing as that in our line of work.”

“Hey, President. Team Leader Jung seems to have something good going on.”

Park Sungho, Manager of Team B, who’d been watching their banter, slyly sided with Wooseok. Having risen to manager thanks to his sharp sales skills, it was only natural. Kiwon also hoped Wooseok had some good news.

“What? Really?”

Kiwon looked at Wooseok with new interest. But Wooseok didn’t deny it. He just stared intently at today’s meeting materials. At that moment, Kiwon naturally glanced outside the blinds. As always, Shin Eunjae was quietly working at her desk. It was an ordinary scene, but somehow odd. Kiwon’s gaze snapped back to Wooseok.

“Reschedule that appointment for next week. Let’s separate work and personal matters.”

Kiwon didn’t back down, grabbing the meeting materials and standing up. The atmosphere in the meeting room stiffened, and Manager Park had to keep an eye on both Wooseok and Kiwon to survive the Monday meeting. Why did he always feel drained by their arguments? He couldn’t help but blame himself for joining [Seum].

Wooseok slammed his work notebook and materials onto his desk and slumped into his chair. His office was separated from the rest of the staff by glass, giving him a bit more freedom. He leaned back on the long chair, closed his eyes, and rubbed his temples.

Today, Kiwon seemed especially intent on giving him a hard time. Wooseok understood why—it was his fault for not focusing during the meeting. When he remembered Eunjae’s message, his lips curled up again. As if on cue, his phone vibrated on the desk.

He sat up and quickly checked the screen, but the smile vanished from his face. The caller was his mother. Wooseok just stared at the vibrating phone.

Time passed, and the call ended with a missed call notification. He figured he wouldn’t hear anything good if he answered now, so he decided to ignore it. It was better not to pick up during work hours anyway. Then—beep. A text message alert sounded. Wooseok checked the message.

[This Saturday. 2 p.m. at A Hotel. I’m sending the lady’s photo, too.]

Wooseok sighed irritably. His mother wouldn’t be satisfied until things went her way. He’d said he wasn’t interested, told her not to do this, said he’d handle things himself—but she’d made the appointment anyway.

He understood why his mother was so anxious.

‘Is it her again? Shin Eunjae. That girl in your life… honestly…’

It was something he’d heard on his brother’s memorial day. Their family rarely gathered otherwise. It had become the norm. After his brother’s death, everyone had to cope with grief in their own way. Wooseok respected his parents’ choices. His father, a professor, announced his retirement, and his parents decided to build a house somewhere in the countryside.

Since then, Wooseok had no choice but to live apart from his family, only seeing them on holidays or birthdays. His father especially found it difficult to even call his son. Wooseok conveyed his wishes to his mother, and that’s how he’d hear about things.

This was just an extension of that. On his brother’s memorial day, Wooseok chose to spend time with Eunjae instead of his parents. After hearing about Eunjae’s situation from Jiyeon, he couldn’t just sit by. He figured it’d just be another meal where he’d be pressured about marriage, so he was relieved to leave quickly. He could have lied, but didn’t want to.

Someday. Yes, at some point, he’d formally introduce Eunjae to his parents. He’d always tried to make it obvious that he and Eunjae were close, almost like one person. His mother disliked that most of all.

“Hoo…”

Wooseok stared at the open message window, lost in thought, then recalled Kiwon’s mention of the Jeju Island business trip. He hadn’t expected it to become a perfect excuse.

[I’m going on a business trip to Jeju Island this week.]

He sent the message, and the reply came back immediately. Feeling relieved, he turned his attention to the computer screen, then glanced out through the glass door. From his seat, he could see part of Eunjae’s desk. Sometimes he could only see the top of her head, but even that was a blessing.

He found it endearing, and often, when stuck at work, he’d gaze absentmindedly at Eunjae’s back. But now, she wasn’t there. She’d bombarded him with texts during the meeting—where had she gone? It was lunchtime, so maybe she’d gone to a restaurant with her team.

Wooseok considered asking Eunjae about her whereabouts but gave up. If he pushed further, Shin Eunjae would surely run away. He stretched his neck, refreshed himself, and focused on the Jeju Island documents Kiwon had handed him. He was soon immersed in the blueprints.

“It’s like sleeping with a friend you’ve known for twenty years.”

“Cough.”

Eunjae nearly spat out her coffee. Intern Minhyuk, sitting next to her, quickly got up and brought the tissue box from the back of the break room for her. Gayeon, who’d made the comment, seemed to think it was nothing, just a bit of coffee going down the wrong way.

“So?”

Hakyung from the accounting team, sitting in front, asked. But her face didn’t seem interested in the story at all. It was just a mechanical response.

“Isn’t the next part obvious? Physical attraction turns into emotional attachment.”

Physical, emotional—Gayeon used terms like a romance expert, but everyone present understood her by now. Gayeon, a romance novel fanatic, always brought weekend reading gossip to the team.

Today’s topic seemed to be about friends turning into lovers. While Hakyung and Eunjae might not care, it was funny that Minhyuk, the only guy there, was quietly listening. At twenty-nine this year, he often chimed in with the conversation. Apparently, he had three older sisters at home. Everyone nodded in agreement.

“I just don’t get it.”

Hakyung shrugged her shoulders again. How could a twenty-year friendship become a romantic relationship? That wasn’t realistic. How many times do people just sleep together and then develop feelings? Most mistake desire for affection and end up in awkward relationships. Hakyung, who had no illusions about men and women, always took the opposite view from Gayeon’s novels.

“I knew you’d say that. Manager, you don’t even believe men and women can fall in love.”

“Isn’t that obvious? Should I recite Korea’s divorce rate again?”

“Ah, enough. I’m not even trying to sell you romance anymore.”

Gayeon turned to Eunjae. Eunjae swallowed hard. No one here knew what she’d done over the weekend, but she felt guilty anyway.

Why, how—why was this week’s romance novel about friends becoming lovers? Just then, the phone Eunjae had placed on the table vibrated. Everyone’s eyes turned toward it.

“It’s Team Leader Jung.”

Hakyung saw first and commented, and Eunjae quickly grabbed her phone and put it in her pocket.

“You’re not answering?”

Gayeon asked, puzzled.

“Oh, later. He probably wants me to run some errand.”

Eunjae deliberately smiled wider and got up with her coffee. At that moment, Gayeon, sitting close, moved suddenly, and Eunjae’s drink spilled all over Minhyuk’s pants.

“Oh, sorry! How…”

It happened in an instant. Eunjae, startled, quickly pulled tissues from the box. The Americano soaked Minhyuk’s beige pants all the way down. Hakyung and Gayeon hurried to bring things to clean up.

“It’s fine, Assistant Manager.”

Minhyuk was the calmest. Even though his light-colored pants were soaked, he smiled, making Eunjae feel more apologetic. As an intern, saying “It’s fine” seemed to be a habit.