episode_0033

“Jihee, are you almost done?”

“I’m sorry…! Just a little more and I’ll be finished…”

The movie screening time is 7:20. To watch the movie with Jihee, you should arrive at least 20 minutes early.

Surprisingly, there are no movie theaters around Yeoksam, so if you want to go to Gangnam, you have to take a train and walk for 10 minutes through crowded streets. It was already 6:40, well past the end of the workday.

“….”

Who wouldn’t be happy to have a subordinate willing to work? Probably no one except for the small business owner who doesn’t even provide overtime pay.

I’m not the one who gives out salaries, nor am I a small business owner, but seeing Jihee, who was looking for more work even though she had already finished her tasks, made me angry.

“If you keep this up, I’m leaving.”

“I’ll finish up.”

I would have listened if she had any personal concerns to share, but even though we were close, she had never confided in anyone except Manager Choi… Maybe age is the issue.

Jihee stopped what she was doing and started organizing her things.

“Jihee, what’s really going on?”

The average quitting time for office workers is between 6 and 7. The hallway was crowded with people leaving work. Seeing the lights on in the building past 10 pm automatically made me feel sorry.

As we rode the subway, I asked Jihee.

“No… I just wanted to get things done in advance…”

“I told you before that it’s not good to be too sneaky. It’s not good to work too hard either.”

“That’s why…”

“If you have any concerns, just tell me–”

“I said it’s nothing!”

“….”

People glanced over at us briefly when Jihee raised her voice, then continued on their way. I casually put my hand on Jihee’s shoulder and led her into the station, and their interest quickly faded.

“Ah…”

I saw Jihee get angry for the first time. She immediately apologized to me, realizing she was in the wrong.

“I’m sorry, Director…”

“It’s okay.”

No matter how close we are, the reality of the age difference is something we can’t overcome.

“I have this sort of obsessive-compulsive disorder… When I feel my heart racing or something like that, I can’t relax until I do work… I didn’t take any time off because… there was nothing else to do… I feel better when I’m working…”

“I see…”

So she worked even if it was too much. And she didn’t want to stop until the job was done.

It’s like when someone who doesn’t have OCD doesn’t want to stop working when they’re on a roll, so I understand.

“Was there something that made your heart race?”

“That’s… well…”

Jihee blushed and avoided eye contact. There must be something she can’t talk about. Oh, today was that day, right. That’s why. I see. I shouldn’t have asked so deeply.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to. Let’s go. We’re going to be late.”

“Huh? Are you leaving?”

I knew what Jihee was trying to say. She probably didn’t want to go, but she said let’s go. Still, if we left like this, it would be awkward, so I didn’t leave her behind.

“Of course. It’s a waste of money. If you’re tired, you don’t have to go.”

“I’ll go!”

And we barely made it to the movie screening 5 minutes before it started, quickly grabbed our tickets, and entered.

~~~

“Wow…”

From the title alone, I had a bad feeling, and it was too racy.

The poster showed a man and a woman holding hands, a very ordinary poster, but from the start of the movie, they kissed for 3 minutes.

“Sunbae…”

I immediately understood why they titled it “Embarrassing”. The kissing sound in a PG-12 movie was sweeter than the ASMR you’d find on an 19+ channel on XTube.

I wondered if it was just me, but everyone in the theater held their breath and watched the scene unfold.

“That’s…”

Finally, saliva dripped down during the ending kiss. Usually, in filming, the act of saliva flowing is not tolerated in order to cleanly act. However, this was so intense that it didn’t care about the fact that it was filming.

“Ha….”

Jihee couldn’t hold back, and the sound escaped her lips, causing everyone, including me, to look in that direction. Fortunately, her hands were placed in a normal position.

Well… I understand. The movie was so intense that she probably didn’t even realize what she was doing.

I raised Jihee’s hand to get her attention.

“Jihee.”

“Oh, sorry…!”

The story was just ordinary. Colliding and meeting in college, becoming friends, going out, and then kissing after a brief fight. The first kissing scene was after the ending scene, the ending was falling for each other, and after the credits rolled, the opening scene appeared once again.

“How was it?”

“I, I found it watchable….”

Perhaps because we watched that scene twice, and in a dark movie theater, we felt a bit awkward.

“Shall we go? The lights are back on….”

“Uh, yeah…?”

Although it was slightly chilly due to the air conditioning, Jihee’s chair automatically folded, revealing traces of a wet diamond shape.

“Did she spill a drink or something?”

I didn’t ask what it was, as I felt like I would regret it if I did.

—

“If we had dinner and watched a movie.”

“That’s right.”

It was a little past 9 o’clock. I didn’t buy popcorn, but buying a large cola made me feel full, so I didn’t need to eat anything late at night.

Glancing at Jihee’s stomach, it seemed more prominent than before, so I automatically looked away.

“Today wasn’t fun… but sometimes going on dates with the boss is enjoyable.”

“Dates…?”

“Yes. Oh, are you excited?”

“No. Not at all.”

I was just a little surprised to hear the word “date” when we weren’t in any kind of relationship. For me, it was just doing a favor, nothing more or less.

If I had started dating Yoohee a little earlier, I might have refused Jihee’s request.

“Anyway, go in! See you tomorrow!”

“Okay.”

Seemingly in a hurry, Jihee ran off towards the opposite direction. I hope she’s not going to work again….

I followed her, worried, and saw Jihee waiting for the train on the platform.

“Phew….”

Fortunately, Jihee boarded the same train in the same direction as me.

…We didn’t need to part ways after all.

“……”

I boarded the train one door down from Jihee, and we were in the same space. Jihee didn’t seem to notice, but pretending not to know felt a bit strange, so I decided to just stay quiet.

This is totally not like being a stalker.

“The train doors are closing.”

Although it was past 9 o’clock, there were still many people playing here, as there were many office workers, so unless it was dawn, people were still bustling.

“Please take the next train!”

It’s quite a nuisance to be told to take the next train. It’s because the train departure time is delayed, but it’s quite common for the next train to take more than 5 minutes to arrive. I’ve even seen a train conductor telling people to take the next train when the last train was about to depart.

“Ugh.”

I almost fell over due to the wind pushing me in the crowd. Fortunately, people unintentionally caught me, so I didn’t actually fall, but being jostled among sweaty people was not pleasant. Thanks to that, Jihee, who was watching me, missed it.

“This station is Gyodae. Gyodae. The doors on the right….”

There were hardly any people getting off at Sadang. Especially, no one got off at Bangbae or Seocho. At least in the car I was in, that was the case.

Because of the occasional people getting off, I ended up in the middle of the crowd.

And then, something familiar touched me down below.

“Hu…!”

“……”

The train swayed in the wind, making it unavoidable to grow. This time, I didn’t even bring my bag, so I couldn’t cover myself with my hands, which was quite awkward.

Soft things surrounded me on both sides again. The space was perfectly formed, making my head dizzy.

I had to stay in this state until we arrived at Sadang Station.

“……”

“……”

As people started to leave a bit, I finally moved away, and without realizing it, I found myself in a polite posture.

“Um…”

“It’s because of the boss.”

“Huh?”

“I’m like this because of the boss….”

“……”

“I’ll get off.”

The door opened at Seoul National University Station. With those words, Jihee got off.

‘It’s because of me….’

It wasn’t intentional…. But still, I couldn’t deny that it wasn’t my fault, so I could only watch her back.

~~~

“Yoohee, I’m out… Oh, she’s not here yet.”

I thought about calling her, but I didn’t do it because I thought it might disturb her while she was working.

“Ah….”

Without even washing up or changing clothes, I turned on the air conditioner and lay down on the bed.

The uncomfortable feeling from earlier didn’t go away. The fact that Jihee developed OCD because of me. It made me feel uneasy, especially because it was due to sexual harassment.

And to get excited when Yoohee was around. Are men really like this? I think I understand why affairs happen.

If this continues….

‘……’

Even though it wasn’t intentional, and it was inevitable, Jihee wouldn’t say that, but you never know how people’s hearts can change. I should apologize properly tomorrow.

“I’m sleepy….”

My tired eyes wouldn’t open since I didn’t come home on time. I need to shower, but I can’t get up.

‘……’

How many minutes passed? When I opened my eyes, it was already time for Yoohee to come.

I couldn’t fall asleep like this, so I sighed and got up to take off my clothes and go shower.

– Knock knock knock knock.

I was in the middle of soaping up when I heard the sound of the secret code being entered from outside, followed by Yoohee’s bright voice beyond the bathroom door.

“Are you showering, honey?”

“Yeah.”

I couldn’t refuse, as I had already said I would watch a movie after showering. I quickly finished my shower to see Yoohee.

Sweat was dripping down my forehead, and it was clear that she also wanted to shower. And in her hands were the lunchbox and thermos that I should have taken out.

Yoohee was the first to speak.

“Honey.”

“Yeah? How was work?”

“What’s this?”

I could sense something was off in Yoohee’s voice. Her gaze felt cold as she looked at me.

“This lipstick. What about it.”