Chapter 20

“Hmm…”

Stretching her arms, Haji pulled the cozy blanket closer. Thanks to a deeper sleep than usual, her eyes opened lightly. Smiling pleasantly at the refreshing feeling, she stretched her body.

“Huh?”

Realizing she wasn’t in her own room, Haji’s eyes darted around, and she quickly sat up.

“Oh? Sunbae?”

Recalling the events of yesterday, Haji looked around frantically, searching for Seojin, who was nowhere to be seen.

Just then, she heard the front door open with a click.

Haji jumped up, opened the door, and headed towards the entrance, not thinking about her just-woken-up appearance.

“You’re up?”

“Yes, where did you go?”

“This.”

Seojin, changing into indoor slippers at the entrance, raised his hand. He was holding a shopping bag with sushi drawn on it.

Despite meeting her eyes, Seojin headed to the kitchen, looking as usual except for his response. Haji followed him with her eyes.

“Are you feeling okay?”

Is it really okay for him to be out already?

At her concerned voice, Seojin turned his head slightly to face Haji.

“Thanks to you. I had a proper caregiver.”

Seeing his slightly upturned lips, Haji’s face turned red, recalling the misdeeds she had committed yesterday.

“Come sit. You must be hungry.”

“Ah, just a moment.”

Covering her face, Haji turned her head. She suddenly realized she hadn’t washed up yet.

Seojin, watching Haji’s retreating figure as she hurried to the bathroom, chuckled and placed the freshly bought sushi on the dining table.

***

The two of them sat across from each other, having their first meal together, albeit late.

“It’s already this late…”

Only after sitting at the dining table did Haji check the time and gasp. It was already past noon.

She had spent the entire Sunday morning sleeping. It felt so wasteful.

Seeing Haji lost in thought, Seojin handed her a glass of water.

“You slept well.”

“Huh?”

“In my room. Even snoring.”

“Snoring…? Me?”

She had never heard such a thing before. Snoring while sleeping.

Flustered, Haji waved her hands and opened her mouth. She couldn’t bring herself to deny it. Having never lived with anyone, she couldn’t be sure.

“Eat. You slept well, so you need to eat a lot.”

At his teasing words, Haji’s cheeks turned red.

“Don’t tease me.”

“It’s my recent joy, so it’s a shame if I can’t.”

When their eyes met, Seojin’s lips curled up, and Haji’s already red face grew hotter.

It felt like the sensations she felt in her sleep were coming back. The pleasant thumping of her heart and the warm hand that gently stroked her hair.

“Joy, huh…”

Grabbing her chopsticks, Haji observed Seojin’s complexion.

“You didn’t lose sleep because of me, did you?”

“And if I did?”

“Sorry…”

“Thanks to you, I was warm. You wouldn’t leave my side.”

Seojin, smiling as he looked at the wide-eyed Haji, picked up an egg sushi.

“That’s the truth.”

“…I know.”

She knew it herself. Although Seojin had initially pressed her head down, she was the one who fell asleep in that state.

“Eat. You said it was delicious last time.”

Not wanting to continue the conversation, Seojin changed the subject. Taking a bite of salmon sushi, he gestured at the sushi in front of Haji. She then properly held her chopsticks.

“Are you going to work today?”

“No, I’ll stay home.”

“Oh…”

Haji mumbled, trailing off.

“Why?”

“If you’re feeling better…”

“I’m fine.”

Before she could finish her sentence, Seojin quickly replied. His gaze urged her to continue, so she nodded and spoke.

“I was thinking of taking the blanket to the laundry shop.”

“I’ll go with you.”

Seojin responded smoothly, as if her hesitation was strange.

“It might be too heavy for me alone.”

“I’ll carry it.”

“You don’t have to carry everything.”

“Alright.”

They couldn’t just leave the soaked blanket in the washing machine. She would call the service center on Monday to fix the broken machine, but who knew how long that would take.

“Shall we go after eating?”

As Seojin nodded and continued eating, the phone on the dining table vibrated. Naturally, both their gazes turned towards it.

<Jeong Eun-sol>

Seeing the name, Seojin picked up the phone and stood up.

“Keep eating.”

“Are you done?”

Seojin nodded slightly and went into the room, as if it was a call he had been waiting for, he walked quickly.

Two pieces of sushi that were meant for Seojin remained on the table. Haji, staring at them, put her tuna sushi in her mouth. Her gaze drifted to Seojin’s slightly open room.

Hearing Seojin’s faint voice, Haji’s chewing slowed. His low voice continued for a while. In English.

Is the other person a foreigner?

She vaguely recalled the mixed-race woman who had been with Seojin at a fashion show not long ago.

“Was her name in Korean?”

A subconscious thought slipped out.

She guessed that the name on the phone might be the woman’s Korean name. If not, it was another woman.

Without finishing the food in her mouth, she stuffed a sweet egg sushi into her mouth. It felt like a different taste.

“It doesn’t taste as good as before.”

It was delicious before.

Muttering to herself, Haji cleaned up the table when she no longer heard Seojin’s voice.

***

After ending the call, Seojin opened his tablet. He had received some requirements related to the housing construction in downtown Seoul that he had been preparing for.

Checking the email, Seojin called Matthew again, searching for ‘Jeong Eun-sol’.

Hearing Matthew’s voice on the other end, Seojin sighed.

“Why do you keep speaking in English?”

Seojin frowned and asked. He couldn’t understand why Matthew had been speaking in English since a while ago.

– I feel like I haven’t used English enough lately.

“Then go back.”

– Come on, help me out. What’s the point of having friends? Do you want me to be stuck in Korea and forget my English?

“Not my concern. Did you check the email?”

Not wanting to engage in unnecessary chit-chat, Seojin got to the point.

“From what I see, there doesn’t seem to be any non-negotiable points in the requests. What do you think?”

– I’m a bit stuck on the location. We’re preparing for the Jung-gu area, right?

“You think they’ll prioritize the Gangnam area over the central part of Seoul?”

They couldn’t change the prepared location at the last minute. They had already purchased all the surrounding buildings.

“Don’t worry about that. It was anticipated.”

– Do you have a plan?

“Of course. I anticipated that too.”

Confidently, Seojin reviewed Emily’s profile.

He had considered Emily as the model for this housing project because she was optimal in many ways, including the location issue.

– Boss, let’s share. How can you drive a sports car alone? It’s too fast for just you.

“I was going to share, tomorrow.”

Responding calmly to Matthew’s grumbling, Seojin checked the reply from Emily’s agent.

“I’ll only join the Gangneung resort business trip until next week. After that, I need to focus on this.”

– This soon?

“I think we’ll need to negotiate the advertising fee.”

If he had asked Emily as a personal favor, it might not have been a big concern. But the amount quoted by her agent was higher than expected.

“We’ll need to adjust the budget.”

– It’s already maxed out. We’ve redirected all our earnings from the resort to this.

“See you at the office tomorrow.”

Ending Matthew’s grumbling, Seojin frowned as he scrolled through his tablet.

“Were we not prepared enough?”

He thought they had prepared thoroughly for this project. But he couldn’t foresee the new obstacles that arose.

He knew things wouldn’t go as planned. But he would make it work somehow.

***

It was a quiet time at the bustling café, with customers slowly leaving.

“Boss, this coffee bean has a bit of a sour taste. Is that its characteristic?”

Sehee poked at the coffee grounds in her hand. When she didn’t hear a response, she waved her hand in front of Haji’s eyes.

“Boss?”

“Huh?”

“What are you thinking about so seriously?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Lost in thought, Haji forced a smile and looked at the coffee grounds in Sehee’s hand.

“What did you say?”

Recently, Sehee had switched from a part-time schedule to full-time. She had shown interest in coffee, and since an afternoon worker was needed, her hours were increased.

“These coffee beans.”

Lately, Sehee’s interest in coffee had grown significantly. During breaks, she constantly asked questions.

Just then, Sehee’s pocket buzzed with a ringing sound, causing Haji to pause.

“Isn’t that a call?”

“It’s okay. I don’t need to answer it now.”

“Huh?”

If it’s a useless call, just ignore it?

“He keeps asking to meet. The guy I bumped into on the street the other day.”

Seeing Haji’s expression, Sehee continued the story. It was about the guy she had mentioned bumping into recently.

“Do you not like him?”

“Well, I’m not sure yet.”

Sehee shrugged and laughed softly, sniffing the aroma of the coffee beans. She seemed genuinely uninterested in the call.

“Calling constantly means he’s interested, right?”

“Probably? Unless he has too much free time?”

“Right.”

That woman must have kept calling Sunbae too.

Even on the way to the laundry shop with Seojin the previous day, the phone kept ringing. Seojin ignored it, and it was Haji who was more concerned.

‘The phone keeps ringing…’

‘It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.’

Seojin’s cold demeanor as he turned off the phone seemed very indifferent.

“Why? Is someone calling you constantly too, Boss?”

“No, not me…”

Sehee’s eyes sparkled, waiting for Haji to continue. She seemed to be expecting some news.

“It’s about someone else.”

“Hmm, really? If someone keeps calling you, you should be careful.”

Sehee, disappointed, continued with some advice as if she had just remembered something.

“If someone keeps calling after being rejected, they might have a possessive personality.”

“Really?”

“Yes, so you should be careful with people.”

Haji nodded, pretending to be serious.

How many times did the phone ring yesterday?