episode_0028

Surprisingly, this week went by smoothly.

There wasn’t anything major and there wasn’t much of a truth to it.

Of course, there were little things.

Most notably, Yoon Kang quit his job.

This was the exact content of the KakaoTalk message that Seyun sent saying that she finished it well.

I don’t know how, but Yoon Kang-i announced his intention to resign through Jong-hyun the next day, saying that he probably wouldn’t be able to come.

“Yeah, I guess there’s nothing I can do about it.”

The boss reacted coolly.

Rather than feeling regretful about the boss’s style of not stopping people from coming or catching people from leaving, he will probably have a headache calculating the retirement pay and annual leave allowance that he has to give to Yoon Kang.

Yoon Kang-i, who had worked for a little over a year, decided to hold a farewell party for him on the last business day before the holiday, even though the ending was not good, because of the bond they had.

It must have been quite noisy since the boss also went.

Me? Why am I going?

I was personally invited by the CEO and Jonghyun hyung, but I politely declined because I had something to take care of with an acquaintance.

I don’t know about anything else, but the fact that Seyun was going to that farewell party was enough to make me refuse.

When I told Jonghyun, who had been persistently urging me, that I was worried about Seyun’s attitude toward me, he patted my shoulder and apologized.

No, you don’t have to be sorry at all?

I wouldn’t have gone even if Seyun wasn’t there.

You want me to go to a drinking party with women and see Yeonseo get turned upside down?

I was talking about something like this that happened on Wednesday, the day I heard Yoon Kang was quitting, and when the topic of the farewell party came up, Yeonseo stopped what she was doing and glared at me.

“Are you going?”

“Why are you going? We decided to go to the jjimjilbang on our day off. If we go to the farewell party, I’ll drink like crazy, but then I’ll get so hot from the alcohol that I can’t go.”

“Is that why you’re not going?”

“My promise with you comes first, and if I drink the day before the holiday, Yeonseo, you’ll be home alone until late at night. There’s no reason to go.”

Yeonseo nodded in satisfaction at my firm answer.

I like it because Yeonseo likes it.

At some point, the center of my heart became asymmetrical.

Yeonseo’s obsession and possessiveness were just pleasant things to me.

Honestly, I also had confidence that Yeonseo would be just as good as our saint when she started going out in earnest.

However, there were expected and unexpected pitfalls related to attending the farewell party.

“Aren’t you going, Oppa?!”

“I have something personal to do.”

“Can’t you come after work? I’m going to have the next day off, so I’ll probably be drinking really late.”

“I have something to do starting tomorrow morning too.”

“Are you looking for a job, oppa?”

“No, no. Why would I do that?”

“But why~.”

“I don’t know, something keeps coming up.”

“What’s going on!”

“It’s a secret.”

“Wow! Then I’ll have fun without you too!”

“Okay.”

“Mr. Woo!”

He’s talking informally to me again.

The unexpected ambush was none other than Ha-yeon.

As it turned out, I ended up going home from work with Hayeon every day.

Yeonseo said that although she was upset about this, she would try to endure it since it was part of her work life.

I also swore to Yeonseo that unless there was a natural disaster or something, I would go home on time and not fly away.

Anyway, Ha-yeon’s unexpected invitation to participate was easily rejected.

“Why isn’t Jinhyeon going~?”

“There is work.”

“Is it because of me?”

“What do you think about that leads to that kind of thinking?”

The expected ambush was, of course, Se-yeon.

Even though I said that I had finished everything I couldn’t tell if it was a romance or a happening with Yoon Kang, the number of times he talked to me gradually increased while I was working.

The more I thought about it, the more I couldn’t figure out what kind of person Han Se-yeon was.

“Is Jinhyeon the type to eat breakfast?”

“Eat it as much as possible.”

“What did you eat for breakfast this morning?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Ah! You’re not lying about not eating, are you?”

“I ate it.”

“What did you eat?”

“I don’t remember.”

He asked me such pointless questions, but I had no intention of responding to them.

“We’re going in the same direction, so the three of us should go together!”

In addition, the number of people I go out with after work has increased.

Ha-yeon, Se-yeon, and I, the three of us, ended up leaving work.

Hayeon said she liked it too, and while the two of them were chatting away, she occasionally spoke to me.

“Jinhyeon runs along Seongrimcheon every day off. It’s me.”

“Do not go forward.”

“Ah, why! I’m good at running! Let’s make a crew, a crew.”

“I want to be a lonely deer.”

“It’s a harmful algae. I’ll go get rid of it.”

“I told you I won’t go anymore.”

No matter how much I built an iron wall, Seyun persistently stayed by my side.

Ha-yeon liked the conversation between Se-yeon and me, saying it was fun, but for me, it was crossing the line into a category that I couldn’t understand at all.

It wasn’t a useless question from low self-esteem like, “Are there any girls who talk to me?” It was because of Se-yeon’s attitude that the more I pushed her away, the more I liked her.

When I tried to be cold and cut off contact, Seyun smiled strangely like the last time I asked for her number.

Every time I saw it, I felt a sense of uneasiness.

I have seen many human figures in Askria.

That smile was the kind that came when one believed that one’s desires were being faithfully realized.

But objectively speaking, and even if we assume that Seyun has feelings for me, the distance between us is not getting any closer.

Rather, I am in a position where I am trying to run away even further.

But Seyun’s smile only grew brighter.

It was to the point where I told Yeonseo everything and even discussed what the situation was.

“Isn’t it because you like it when I push you away?”

Yeonseo, who was initially annoyed, listened to everything I said and took it quite seriously.

Yeonseo said that she felt that the problem could not be solved by simply cracking down on her because she kept approaching her even though she heard her complaints, which could be unpleasant if she did it wrong.

And the opinion that came out was this.

“I don’t quite understand what you’re saying?”

“I didn’t mean to, but I got annoyed because that guy named Yoon Kang kept clinging to me.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Seyeon just needs a friend, but guys keep approaching her and she’s getting really annoyed. Jinhyun, you draw the line, right?”

“Right?”

“That’s what I like. I think he won’t have any other thoughts and will remain a friend.”

If you look at the big picture, it was a plausible hypothesis.

But on the other hand, one question arose.

Do you think that a girl who wants a friend will accept all those rational appeals?

You even accept dates where the two of you hang out separately, but this is the response of someone who only wants to be friends?

But it was just a question, and I put it aside because it could actually happen.

“Why are you calling me your friend without permission? I hate you. He’s a total troublemaker.”

“Yeah, yeah! That’s a good attitude!”

“Thank you, Saint.”

“Don’t have impure thoughts and always work hard, warrior!”

“…….”

No, if you call me a warrior, I’ll get PTSD. I even had a nightmare about re-enlistment that night.

Looking back, I guess the incident started right at this point.

On the day of Yoon Kang’s farewell party, Se-yeon and Ha-yeon also went there, so for once, I was able to leisurely walk home alone.

For some reason, I was in a good mood, so I bought half red bean buns and half shoopung from a bungeoppang truck that I normally wouldn’t even look at, and when I got home, I got a call on my smartphone.

It’s an unknown number.

But I took it anyway just in case.

“Is that Jinhyeon?”

“That’s right, but who are you?”

“I’m Yoon Kang. I said I couldn’t come today, so I wanted to say goodbye.”

“Oh, sorry. I had something urgent to do, so I couldn’t go.”

“No, it’s okay. You’re the one who got between me and Se-yeon back then, so I’m sorry.”

Jinjja Yoon Kang was a good guy except for the sticky part at the end.

He was polite and even went out of his way to call me to take care of me.

“But, I really don’t have any regrets anymore, but I’m asking because I’m worried about you?”

“Huh? What?”

Yoon Kang suddenly lowered his voice and asked.

“Are you dating Seyun or something?”

Haa… Are you sure you don’t have any regrets?

I barely managed to swallow a sigh.

My teeth clenched involuntarily, but I didn’t want to say anything unpleasant at the end, so I spoke as softly as possible.

“How could that be? I go from home to work every day. I don’t even contact you personally.”

“I see. Jinhyeon, but I hope you don’t misunderstand and listen to me.”

“Uh.”

“If he approaches you and tries to hit you, never accept it. If you accept it and get the wrong idea, his attitude will change completely from then on. He’s a strange guy.”

Yoon Kang-ah, what are we going to do if this continues until the end?

“Thank you for the advice, and I’ll keep this in mind going forward, but let’s pretend we never had this conversation. Do you know what I mean?”

“…Sorry, I was too nosy.”

“No. Let’s just be careful.”

“Okay. I’m sorry. Thank you for everything.”

That ended the call.

“If you accept it, your attitude will change… .”

The heat from the bungeoppang bag in my hand was cooling off, but it took me a little longer to get home because I was repeating Yoon Kang’s words.