Chapter 26

“Introduce?”

– It’s my cousin. He was discharged from the military recently and worked at a café before.

“Really?”

– If it’s okay, I’ll tell him to check out your café.

If he was Seojin’s cousin, he was also Seonghee’s cousin.

Then it should be fine, right?

If Seojin was recommending him and he was Seonghee’s relative, Haji felt he would be a reliable part-timer.

“Sounds good.”

With that, they finished talking about the part-timer and moved on to mundane daily topics. Stories about meeting the neighbor’s kid’s mom at the market, not being able to find her sneakers in the morning, and more.

“Among the drinks, fresh strawberry juice sells the best.”

– I’ll have to try it next time.

“Should I make it for you?”

– Sure.

Haji, who had been chattering away, felt her eyelids grow heavy. She struggled to keep them open but couldn’t fight the drowsiness.

“Yawn…”

– It’s past your bedtime.

“Yeah, it’s already past midnight.”

– I miss you.

“……”

Me too. 

These words got stuck in her throat and wouldn’t come out.

But Seojin, seemingly not disappointed by her reaction, added,

– Sleep well.

His farewell felt bittersweet. Even though she knew she needed to sleep.

“Are you coming tomorrow?”

– Yeah, I’ll contact you before I come.

“Be careful on your way.”

She heard his small laugh over the phone. He must have sensed her awkward tone. Embarrassed, Haji buried her face in the pillow.

– Alright, I’ll hang up first.

“… Okay.”

Even after responding, she held onto the phone, listening to his breathing. Eventually, she ended the call and closed her eyes, still hearing his breath echoing in her ears.

***

Seojin, having confirmed the call had ended, brushed his hair. Dirt fell onto the carpet.

Before Haji’s call, he had been filling in for missing manpower at the site. From dawn, he had taken on all tasks, from management to manual labor.

Click, the door opened, and Matthew walked in, holding a beer can.

“Still not washed up? What are you doing?”

“What about you? Beer without washing up?”

“I’m tired, that’s why. Tired.”

Matthew slumped onto the sofa, tilting his head back with a weary expression. He turned to Seojin, who was smiling at his phone.

“Who are you talking to at this hour? And what’s with that creepy smile?”

“You don’t need to know who, and the same goes for my expression.”

“Don’t tell me you talk like that to the person you’re calling?”

Seojin frowned at Matthew’s words, as if he were talking nonsense.

“Hey, hey. But why are you like this to me?”

A bit unfair, don’t you think?

Matthew knitted his thick black eyebrows in a hurt expression.

“Because it’s you?”

“What? Ha? Seriously. How can I live being so unfairly treated without anyone to call?”

“Live. We need to finish the work by tomorrow.”

Can’t afford to lose good labor like you.

At Seojin’s follow-up, Matthew gulped down his beer. His friend only saw him as labor.

Seojin ignored Matthew’s grumbling and looked for the cross-section of the resort floors he needed to supervise the next day. There was no time to waste.

“Work again? When do you go on dates?”

Matthew shook his head, looking at Seojin, who worked at the site all day and continued working in his room. It seemed relentless.

“Dates?”

“What’s with that reaction?”

Matthew was taken aback by Seojin’s response, as if he had never heard the word ‘date’ before.

“Oh my god? You mean you never thought about dating?”

“… I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know? If you haven’t, you haven’t.”

It was clear he hadn’t. Ki Seojin never gave ambiguous answers.

Matthew, now sure, continued speaking, determined to help his clueless friend with his love life.

“You talk on the phone every day but never went on a date? That’s just confusing the other person.”

“Why?”

“You talk on the phone but never meet? After talking, you should meet, eat out, and progress things!”

Matthew didn’t know Seojin saw Haji at home after work, so he spoke from a general dating perspective.

He poured out dating advice based on his experience but stopped when he noticed Seojin’s lack of response.

“What? You’re not listening?”

“It doesn’t seem necessary.”

Seojin, who had casually dismissed Matthew’s advice, was organizing tasks on his tablet for the next few hours. Matthew sighed deeply and turned away, gulping his beer.

“You’ll get dumped at this rate.”

“There are plenty of people hoping I get dumped.”

“You’d deserve it. Who else? Who else is holding a grudge against you like me?”

Matthew felt he could understand anyone who resented Seojin. You couldn’t know how annoying Seojin was unless you experienced it yourself.

Seojin smirked at Matthew, who was genuinely curious about who else shared his plight.

“Someone next door.”

“What did you do to the neighbor for them to feel that way?”

“Who knows?”

“I understand that person. You must have done something wrong.”

“They said they were scared of the dark, so I stayed with them.”

“What? A girl?”

Matthew knew Ki Seojin wasn’t the type to stay with someone just because they were scared, even if it was a girl. But he asked just in case.

“Of course not.”

“But they said they were scared? And you stayed with them?”

Matthew squinted, thinking something was off.

“They said they were scared because their mom went out briefly. They’re about ten years old.”

“Ten years old…?”

“According to you, you might understand them well? You two might get along. Your mental ages match.”

Slap! Matthew slapped his own mouth. Seojin had compared him, over thirty, to a ten-year-old.

“See? You should listen to the end.”

“I’m leaving.”

Matthew, feeling Seojin’s disdainful gaze, left the room with his lips pouting.

After Matthew left, Seojin’s hand slowed down on the tablet.

“Date, huh…”

Tap, tap. His fingers lightly touched the tablet.

***

After closing time, the building lobby became quiet. As the remaining customers left one by one, Sehee started cleaning up.

“Boss, should I close the drinks too?”

“Wait, I’ll handle the drinks. Just need to make one juice.”

“Drinks? There’s no one here.”

Sehee looked around, wondering about the remaining order she didn’t know about.

“They’ll be here soon. I’ll do it.”

“Oh.”

Seeing Haji’s flushed cheeks, Sehee nodded. She could guess who it was just from Haji’s expression.

She understood why Haji had been in such a good mood despite being busy.

Haji checked the time, prepared the fruits, and got ready to make the drink.

A few hours earlier, she had received a call from Seojin saying he was leaving the business trip site and would come straight to her café after work.

“I’ll go change first.”

Sehee, having finished all other cleanups, went to the changing room, leaving Haji alone to handle the drink station.

The quiet lobby echoed with footsteps. Hearing them, Haji’s ears perked up, and she quickly looked up.

“Haji?”

“Oh… Hyeseong?”

“Were you waiting for someone? I’m sure it wasn’t me.”

Feeling embarrassed by Hyeseong’s words, Haji covered her mouth and laughed. She felt awkward and shy, realizing she had been too obvious.

“Anyone could tell just by looking at you.”

Hyeseong teased with a laugh.

“Haji.”

Just then, the voice she had been waiting for called out. Haji’s and Hyeseong’s heads turned simultaneously. Haji’s eyes were filled with excitement, while Hyeseong’s were curious.

“How close are you to know just by looking at each other’s faces?”

Seojin’s eyes were sharp, and his voice sounded like a warning. His approaching footsteps felt heavy, pressing on them.

The atmosphere felt like darkness was closing in, making Hyeseong very flustered. Of course, Haji was too.

“Sunbae…?”

“I don’t know. What kind of relationship do you two have?”

Hyeseong, understanding Seojin’s implication, tried to correct him.

“I think there’s a misunderstanding? It’s not like that.”

“Haji and I are just a good boss and regular customer, right?”

“Yes? Yes, of course.”

Haji nodded confidently.

Moreover, Hyeseong was on the verge of dating Sehee. Seojin had clearly misunderstood.

“Though, we could become more than that. We could get closer, right?”

“What…?”

What is he suddenly talking about?

Haji was confused by the sudden shift in conversation. Seojin’s eyebrows shot up.

Seemingly satisfied with Seojin’s reaction, Hyeseong continued.

“Wouldn’t you be upset if I said I didn’t know?”

“Why would I be upset?”

Why would you be hurt? I’m the one feeling hurt by this misunderstanding.

Haji shook her head, genuinely puzzled. She didn’t dare look at Seojin’s sharp gaze.

Their reunion, which she had expected to be joyful, was turning out to be disappointing.

“Hyeseong!”

Sehee’s voice echoed through the store as she came out of the changing room. The icy atmosphere between the three melted away instantly.

“Sehee!”

“When did you get here? Have you been waiting long?”

Waving his hands excitedly at Sehee, Hyeseong looked like a man in love. Sehee, running towards him, looked the same.

“See? We could become closer. Who knows what will happen between Sehee and me?”

“Oh…”

Finally understanding Hyeseong’s point, Haji nodded. If those two got together, she would naturally become closer to him too.

“Then you should have said that from the start…”

Why create misunderstandings?

Haji glanced at Seojin. His expression had changed as if he had understood the situation. The wrinkles on his forehead had smoothed out.

Hyeseong tilted his head and whispered to Haji.

“I felt a bit wronged, so I acted out. Sorry. But you saw how scary a man’s jealousy can be, right?”

“What? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Jealousy?