episode_0135

A clear-eyed man.

‘Man with clear eyes’ is a meme used for someone with a clear eye as the focal point, but with an unknown sense of madness. It is also known as ‘clear-eyed madness.’

That’s how the Tree Wiki explains it.

Famous for having the eye gaze motif from a mobile game character, recently, a person who is the leader of a popular idol group is associated with this trend once again.

Anyway, he had those clear eyes, but it was impossible to figure out what he was thinking. In short, he could be summarized as a crazy guy with clear eyes.

I wondered if such a character actually existed when I saw him on TV shows a few times, but here he was right in front of me.

I glanced at him, wondering if he was the person Chulsoo had introduced me to, and Chulsoo humbly nodded in confirmation.

Sigh… I was wrong to trust Chulsoo’s judgment of people.

I couldn’t afford to make another mistake, so I desperately tried to control my expression as I faced her once again.

“Ah, please have a seat first. Is the handsome guy behind also with you? You can sit next to him.”

We sat side by side as she suggested. Chulsoo was at the bar table, and opposite to him, in order, she, me, and Kim Taehyun sat down.

After sitting down, we each ordered the drinks we wanted from Chulsoo and turned to her.

“You said you wanted to see me…”

“Oh, right. I got carried away. I only talked about myself without introducing myself. This is who I am.”

She took out a business card from her pocket and handed it to me.

Metropolitan Senior Editor Ju Hyemin.

Metropolitan. I’ve heard that name before.

If there’s the famous ‘Maxim’ in men’s magazines, the bible in women’s magazines is ‘Cosmopolitan.’

Anyway, Metropolitan. It’s a magazine that came out as a parody of Cosmopolitan, challenging the authority of Maxim, a famous men’s magazine.

How do I know so much about this?

Well… let’s just move on.

Anyway, why would the senior editor of a well-known magazine like Metropolitan be in such a humble place?

No. More importantly.

Why did she search for me so eagerly?

I had to introduce myself first before these questions arose.

I took out a business card from my handbag and handed it to her.

“Oh, you work at a food company.”

She quickly took the business card I handed her, scanned it, and said, “But your name is Kim Taehyun? It’s a different name, right? Is this someone else’s?”

“Eh?!”

Kim Taehyun, who was standing behind, was startled and screamed.

I wondered for a moment why I was making such a strange noise. Suddenly, a memory of something that happened before leaving work flashed through my mind.

“Oh! That, that’s not it. Yes. Haha.”

I quickly snatched the business card from her hand, rummaged through my bag, and found my own business card. After confirming that it was indeed mine, I handed it back to her.

“Ah, Jung Doyeon. Assistant Manager at Woosung Food… Oh, you’ve been working there for a while, right?”

“Yes… it’s been a bit long. Haha.”

I handed Kim Taehyun’s business card, which she had taken, back to Kim Taehyun standing behind me.

“This, Taehyun’s business card sample from the waiting room earlier. He asked if it was okay to pull it out like this. I checked it and didn’t see anything wrong, but just in case, check it yourself. I forgot to mention that earlier.”

Keeping it stuffed in my bag led to this mistake. It was a minor mishap, but it was true that I felt a bit embarrassed in front of Ju Hyemin.

“By the way, how old are you…?”

“Nine.”

“Nine? Can I speak comfortably then?”

From our first meeting, she naturally used formal language, her appearance, and habits made her seem younger than me.

“Uh, sure.”

“Okay, then can I call you Doyeon comfortably?”

“Uh, um? Oh, me?”

“Yeah. Doyeon. Why? Is that not good? If it’s uncomfortable, you can just call me Editor or Director.”

“Well, Cheolsu seems to call you Director….”

“Wait. Cheolsu, how old are you? Thirty… something?”

Cheolsu put down the brandy bottle he was holding and answered her question.

“I’m 39 years old this year.”

After thinking for a moment, she suddenly widened her eyes.

“Wait. Could it be that when you said nine, you meant not twenty-nine but thirty-nine?”

I nodded my head as if to ask why she was questioning the obvious. Surprisingly, she laughed as if she couldn’t believe it.

“Haha, look at that face, thirty-nine? Wow. There’s a limit to everything. No, your skin doesn’t even look like a thirty-nine-year-old’s skin. Can I touch it a bit?”

Oh, this is embarrassing.

But what can I do. I can’t refuse and say I don’t like it, so I just let her do it.

-Swish, pinch!

“Ouch!”

“Director?!”

Naturally, I leaned in to let her touch my face, but I felt unexpected pain on the back of my hand and let out an involuntary sound.

“What, what are you doing!”

Surprised, my voice unintentionally rose in tone.

“Huh? What? I’m measuring your skin age.”

So why are you pinching my hand while measuring my skin age!

“Oh, you don’t know this? Hmm… interesting. Well, you might not know. Haha. Anyway, let me explain. You pinch the back of your hand like this.”

“Ouch.”

Fortunately, this time I was somewhat prepared, so I didn’t scream or anything embarrassing.

“One, two. Oh… depending on how quickly it recovers, you can roughly tell if someone is in their twenties, thirties, or forties and fifties. Look.”

This time, she pinched her own hand and reached out to show me.

“How is it?”

Unlike me, who recovered in about two seconds, her hand took about four to five seconds to recover.

“Since I’m in my mid-forties, even if I take care of it, this is normal. In your twenties to thirties, it’s one or two seconds. In your forties, it’s three or four seconds. But looking at Doyeon, your skin is almost….”

This time, she grabbed my hand and rubbed the back of it.

“Wow… this is almost like a baby’s skin?”

She marveled at my hand, but I felt uncomfortable with her touch.

As I endured the discomfort and furrowed my brow, she quickly withdrew her hand and apologized.

“Oh, sorry. Haha, got a bit carried away. Anyway, just by looking at your skin age, you could easily believe you’re in your teens. It’s natural for me to be surprised. Who would look at you now and think you’re a middle-aged woman in three months? Ah, it’s unfair.”

Seeing her complain, I felt a twinge of pity.

After all, while other women strive to cultivate and avoid aging, I was lucky enough to have this appearance as a kind of natural gift.

Well, it’s not something to be sorry about, as they don’t suffer because of my appearance. Besides, I have lost a lot by going through such things myself.

“Hahaha….”

Without boasting or feeling sorry, she simply laughed, as she knew that the other woman had not meant any harm with her words. So, she opened her mouth again to start talking.

“Well, anyway… Huh? Hmph. By the way, who is that handsome guy over there?”

Following her gaze, Kim Tae-hyun came into view. He raised his hand to eye level, pinched the back of his hand, and carefully examined it.

Kim Tae-hyun continued this action repeatedly.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“Huh? Oh, um. Well, I think I’m recovering slower than the team leader…. Does that… make sense?”

It seemed like he was concerned about actually recovering slower than me.

Well… it is something to be concerned about…

-Pinch, pat, pinch, pat.

His actions were so silly that I just let out a deep sigh.

And as I was about to say that he was a subordinate, suddenly…

“Boyfriend?”

“Hmph! Absolutely not?!”

Kim Tae-hyun, who had been pinching his hand vigorously, suddenly denied loudly.

“Then what’s the deal?”

“Sub-subordinate! It’s definitely not a romantic relationship. Nope!”

Watching her with an amused expression, Ju Hye-min, and me, shaking my head. Still, it’s interesting, so let’s see how it goes.

“A boss and a subordinate, and they came together this far? That’s even weirder. Why don’t you tell us what position Do-yeon is in today?”

“Well, I heard it when she was on the phone next to me….”

She was surprised at the mention of hearing it while on the phone.

“You heard it while she was on the phone?! Wait, what can you possibly think when you hear a personal conversation between a boss and a subordinate next to you? Oh, a crush. Something like that?”

“No! It’s just that, she happened to be in the team leader’s car at the time. And besides, they were using the car audio, so I couldn’t help it!”

“Kyaaah! They were in the car together and had a personal conversation on the car audio?! This is definitely it! What do you call each other when you’re alone? Huh? Do you call her ‘Team Leader,’ not ‘Kim Employee’?”

Well, this reaction is new again.

I was a little surprised at her girlish interest in love stories. And it was even more surprising that she was a woman who seemed like a bodyguard, taller and bigger than me.

“Of course, I call her ‘Team Leader.’ Right? Team Leader!”

He looked at me with pleading eyes and asked.

“Of course. Yes. I usually call her ‘Team Leader’ respectfully.”

“See? That’s right!”

Now that his grievance was finally resolved, Kim Tae-hyun spoke excitedly, and Ju Hye-min looked at me with a resentful look as her interest waned.

“But, that ‘Nun’ title might be a bit uncomfortable. Let’s just stick with ‘Nuna,’ okay?”

“Nun is awakeeeee!”

“Ah! Team Leader!!!”

It was a day in a small bar in Gangnam, where a man’s cry and a woman’s cheer echoed together.