Chapter 22: Senior and Junior

“Chicken is the best for recovering energy.”

There’s no real basis for it, but ever since I was little, whenever I went down to the countryside, my grandmother would boil chicken for me, saying it would help me regain my strength.

Not being particularly smart or talented in studies, I’ve always taken what adults say at face value. Including my grandfather and grandmother’s unfounded belief that chicken is the best thing for regaining energy.

“Should I make baeksuk?”

Baeksuk is a surprisingly easy dish to make. You just need a whole chicken, garlic and other ingredients to get rid of the gamey smell, and then boil it thoroughly.

It would be better if there was a pressure cooker, but unfortunately, the Team Leader doesn’t have one. There’s no need to buy a pressure cooker if you don’t use it that often. I don’t even have one at my place.

“Hmm…this will do.”

I bought a set that included the chicken and other ingredients, and additionally bought garlic and onions. Also, glutinous rice for making porridge.

Considering the Team Leader’s tiny stomach, it’s enough to last her the entire sick leave. By my standards, it’s an amount I could finish in a day.

“Oh? Hanbyeol?”

“?”

While I was busy putting ingredients into the shopping cart, I turned my head at a familiar voice.

“Se-young?”

“It really is you, Hanbyeol! Are you here to grocery shop?”

There stood our precious New Employee, who had been thoroughly chewed out by the Team Leader the other day. With a middle-aged woman.

“What brings you here?”

“Well, I came to grocery shop. It looks like you’re here to grocery shop too, Hanbyeol. Do you live around here?”

“No, not really…”

The supermarket I usually frequent is much closer to my house than this one. The reason I came here to shop is because it’s close to the Team Leader’s house.

My house is far, yet close from here. Someone with a car can come and go as they please, but it’s a burdensome distance for someone on foot.

“Se-young, who is this young lady?”

“Oh? That’s right. This is Hanbyeol, the kind senior colleague I told you about before. Hanbyeol, this is my Mom.”

“Oh, so you’re that colleague? Nice to meet you, you’re Seo Hanbyeol, right?”

The slender woman smiled and greeted me as soon as she heard her daughter’s words.

“My daughter is causing you a lot of trouble.”

“Ah, no… I mean, no, not at all, Mother. I’m happy to have a junior colleague like Se-young.”

I almost ended up badmouthing her daughter in front of her mother without realizing it, but the woman smiled and shook her head.

“Thank you for saying so, even if it’s just words. My child is good at studying, but she’s hopeless when it comes to work…”

“Oh, Mom!!”

“Ahahaha…”

…The mother and daughter have a good relationship.

“Please take good care of her in the future. If she acts rude or anything, please scold her severely.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll teach her well so that won’t happen.”

Since I’m not the one doing the scolding anyway—I shouldn’t say that, should I?

“I’ll leave you two to talk. I’ll go ahead with your dad.”

“Really? Okay!”

Se-young waved goodbye to her mother, who said she would go ahead, with sparkling eyes…why?

Does she like talking to her boss outside of work, when it’s not even at the workplace? I didn’t even have any intention of talking in the first place.

“Hanbyeol, do you have some time?”

“….Um..”

She’s even asking me to spare some time first. Culture shock.

Have I ever spoken to a superior first outside of work? Ah, I have.

Only to one person, the Team Leader.

“I’m free for…about two hours.”

“That’s enough! Would you like to go to a cafe or something?”

“Well…I don’t mind…”

…Taking raw chicken to a cafe is a bit…weird, isn’t it?

---

We headed to a rest area outside the supermarket.

The reason why we insisted on sitting outside in this cold weather was because Se-young belatedly noticed the raw chicken in my shopping cart.

As expected, taking raw chicken to a cafe is a bit much. It’s not like I’m going to ask them to fry it for me.

“Ugh, it’s cold…”

“Drink this, it’s on me.”

“Ah, thank… Vegemil?”

After handing her the warm soy milk, I opened the lid of my soy milk and drank it as well. Mmm, smooth.

“People say your taste is like an old man’s, Hanbyeol, and I think I know why.”

“Why? Vegemil is delicious, isn’t it?”

Is liking soy milk something that makes you sound like an old man? My grandfather and grandmother both like it…

…Ah.

“What other warm drinks do you like?”

“Yulmu tea, yuja tea, honey water, instant coffee.”

“You’re definitely an old man.”

“….”

…Yulmu tea is delicious.

“….I, I don’t mean it in a bad way! I like old songs and stuff too!”

“What do you like?”

“….Wind Memory? What about you, Hanbyeol…”

“Billy Joel’s <Piano Man>.”

“….Piano Man?”

If I remember correctly, Wind Memory came out in 2012.

Piano Man? It’s from 1973.

“…Hello, I’m your grandfather.”

Wow, the difference is almost 40 years.

“…A masterpiece transcends time, right? What does it matter if it’s 2012 or 1973, as long as the song is good!”

“…..Haha..”

How old is Se-young, two or three years younger than me?

It felt strange to hear words that I had only heard from older people or same-age friends from someone younger than me.

“….So, what’s up, Se-young? You said you didn’t have much to say.”

I changed the subject to lighten the gloomy atmosphere.

“…Ah, that’s right. Do you remember what happened the other day? At work…”

“…The other day? Oh…are you talking about the time you got scolded by the Team Leader, Se-young?”

That’s the only thing that would be memorable for Se-young, who hasn’t been with the company for very long. It was an incident that instantly crushed Se-young’s shoulders, which had been puffed up with pride as the top graduate of Yonsei University, into the rounded shoulders of a typical office worker.

“The Team Leader said you had a really hard time back then. Because you were cleaning up my mess…”

“Ah, that? It wasn’t a big deal. Accidents happen more often than you think at work.”

It wasn’t a huge accident, but it wasn’t a small one either. It’s true that it took a lot of effort to clean up.

But well, that level of annoyance is something I always put up with, and the Team Leader scolded her to prevent her from making such mistakes in the future, not because she was greatly disappointed or angry about the mistake itself.

Above all, the accident I caused when I was a New Employee was bigger than the accident Se-young caused. It’s not right for a fool like me to forget about my days as a tadpole and torment a New Employee.

“You’re still holding that in your mind? It’s okay. I’ve forgotten all about it.”

“Still, you suffered because of my mistake…”

But no matter how many times I said it was okay, our kind junior colleague still looked very sorry.

I told her several times that she didn’t need to feel so guilty. New Employees always make mistakes.

“So, well, it’s not much of a repayment, but it’s small and insignificant…”

Thump, something touched my chest.

“I, I bought this gift with the allowance I saved up before joining the company, please accept it!”

A beautifully wrapped, square box.

“What…is this?”

“J, just open it!”

The weight itself wasn’t that heavy.

But I had a feeling that her heart in this box was not as light as its weight.

“…This is…”

I tore open the wrapping, opened the box, and couldn’t help but be surprised at its contents.

“…A wristwatch?”

It was a wristwatch.

A classic wristwatch with a black leather strap and an angular body.

“…It doesn’t look like something that costs 10,000 or 20,000 won…”

I don’t know much about wristwatches, but even to my eyes, Se-young’s gift didn’t seem ordinary.

Is it okay to receive such a gift from a junior colleague, especially one who hasn’t been with the company for very long?

“…I’m sorry, but I can’t accept a gift like this…”

“Aaaaaaa!! I can’t hear you~~I can’t hear you~~!!”

I wanted to return it more than anything, but Se-young declared that it was non-refundable with her whole body.

“…..Umm…”

She’s going this far, so it wouldn’t be polite not to accept it…right?

She probably asked around. What my tastes are, what I like. The result of that is this wristwatch.

“Okay, I won’t say I won’t accept it, so stop it.”

“I can’t hear you….really? You’re not going to take back your words, are you?”

“I really mean it. What I want to say is just…”

That effort…wasn’t meaningless.

“..Thank you.”

People say that the most important thing about a gift is that the recipient likes it.

“Of all the gifts I’ve received lately, I like Se-young’s gift the most.”

This definitely, I liked it.

“…Hehe..”

So much so that I couldn’t help but smile like an idiot.

---

A smiling face is beautiful.

People say that to everyone. That a smiling face is the most beautiful.

Frowning makes you ugly. That’s true.

But that doesn’t mean that a smiling face is always beautiful, as people say.

Ugly people are ugly even when they smile, and pretty people are pretty even when they cry.

Saying that a smiling face is beautiful is just a formality, or a silent pressure with the hidden meaning that a frowning face is unpleasant to look at, so relax your face.

“You’re here? Let’s eat.”

“Yeah.”

That’s what I thought.

But now…I think my thoughts might change a little.

“Did you finish talking with Hanbyeol? And you gave her the gift?”

“Yeah, I gave it to her.”

“I can’t believe you’d use the allowance you saved up so desperately to give a gift to someone who’s not even your lover, but a complete stranger.”

A person with the most beautiful smile. Not just fancy rhetoric, but someone who is genuinely beautiful.

“Mom, you asked when I was going to bring a groom home.”

“Why, did you finally find someone you like? Who is it?”

A little…

“How about a bride instead?”

“…Are you crazy?”

…I think I’m going to fall in love.