Final EP. The Neighbor and the Townspeople

“…….”

Perhaps sensing his gaze, the woman looked at him.

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

Realizing he had been staring too intently, he bowed his head apologetically.

He buried his face in his food, shoving noodles into his mouth.

Scrape, scrape. The plastic chair screeched against the floor.

Kang In-ho, with a mouthful of spicy noodles, squeezed his eyes shut.

‘Oh, great. Here comes trouble.’

Anyone drinking until 4 a.m. was bound to cause problems. It was as clear as day.

He belatedly blamed himself for coming out for a late-night snack.

Thunk. A glass and a soju bottle were placed in front of him.

“???”

He looked up, confirming the green soju bottle.

“Join me.”

The woman’s words were short.

She looked much younger than him, and she was speaking informally, but Kang In-ho didn’t take issue with it, feeling it was his fault for giving her an opening.

“Why?”

He expressed his minimal desire to avoid getting involved with her.

However, she was a formidable opponent. She ignored his answer and sat down across from him.

Her hand holding the soju bottle caught his eye.

Kang In-ho suddenly thought of the phrase ‘slender, jade-like hands.’

Drizzle, drizzle. Clear liquid flowed from the green spout into the glass.

Once the glass was full enough to ripple, she raised it again.

The light reflected off the moonlight, once again mesmerizing Kang In-ho.

“Haa-“

She swallowed a shot and smacked her lips as if something was missing.

“Not strong enough.”

Was she looking for stronger liquor? Kang In-ho wondered, picking up noodles with his chopsticks.

Tap, tap. Her index finger tapped the table.

“Yes?”

“You too?”

The woman had already filled a glass and was holding it out to him.

“I’ll pass.”

Kang In-ho shook his head.

“Can’t drink?”

“No. I just don’t want to right now.”

“I see.”

Seemingly convinced, she didn’t offer him the drink again.

‘What a strange person.’

Kang In-ho sped up his eating to escape this uncomfortable situation as quickly as possible.

The quiet space of the late-night convenience store was filled with the sounds of someone drinking and someone eating ramen, filling the loneliness.

Kang In-ho filled his empty stomach, his lungs filling with the cool, refreshing air of that time of night.

As his stomach filled, the amount of ramen in the paper cup gradually decreased.

The stranger’s soju bottle was also steadily emptying.

Scrape. The chair slid back as she stood up.

“I always drink here. Every day.”

With those words, she left.

“What was that?”

To: HR Department

CC: Sales Planning Department; Shin Dong-young; Kim Ji-hoon;

Hello. This is Kang In-ho from the Sales Planning Department.

The training for new employees Kim Sung-ah and Lee Mina has been completed, so I am submitting this evaluation report for your review.

The following is a brief summary of the evaluation. Please refer to the attached individual evaluation reports for detailed information.

1.Kim Sung-ah

Her understanding of the internal management program is average, and she is currently adapting to actual work.

There were some shortcomings during the training period and in actual work, but the extent of these shortcomings was not significantly different from other new employees.

2.Lee Mina

She is very proficient in the internal management program and actual work.

That is all. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Kang In-ho

After sending the evaluation email, I stretched my stiff body.

The email was short on words compared to its formal content, and the attached evaluation report simply required filling in scores on a form provided by the HR department, so it wasn’t a difficult task.

However, I couldn’t help but feel burdened, knowing that people’s lives depended on the evaluation report I was writing.

The words, ‘Team Leader, could you please write this for me?’ were stuck in my throat the entire time.

But what could I do?

Company policy dictated that the training manager must send the evaluation report directly to the HR department, so I had no choice but to accept it.

Perhaps it was because I was reluctant, but it took me several hours just to write and send that simple report.

My shoulders were like a broken car with its hazard lights flashing, and I couldn’t move my hands as if glue had been applied to every joint.

After struggling alone like that, I finally succeeded in sending the email.

I saw a senior colleague, who had been lazing around, approaching from the other side.

“Let’s get some air.”

The senior colleague raised his index and middle fingers, mimicking the action of picking up a cigarette.

I shrugged and stood up from my seat.

“Sure. I need to buy some coffee anyway.”

“Oh, are you buying?”

“We’re splitting it.”

“You’re so heartless. I saw you buying coffee for the new recruits the other day.”

“You get paid more than me, so why should I buy?”

I retorted with a smirk, and the senior colleague raised his middle finger.

In the end, I was the one who bought the coffee. The senior colleague sipped his free coffee and lit a cigarette.

He looked like a typical, jaded office worker.

“Wow… you really look like an old man.”

Perhaps that’s why the words came out without filtering.

“This is the only joy in life.”

“If cigarettes and coffee are the only joys in life, that’s a pretty sad life.”

“Tell me about it. Oh, by the way.”

The senior colleague, who had casually dismissed my words, perked up.

“What happened with that?”

“With what?”

“You know, that woman you met at the convenience store.”

“Ah….”

I had told the senior colleague about the mysterious woman I had met in front of the convenience store a few days ago.

“Was she pretty?”

“She was pretty.”

“How pretty?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, how does she compare? Was she as pretty as Lee Mina?”

“Why do you always have to compare….”

“Or did she look like any celebrities….”

The senior colleague stopped talking abruptly and turned around.

“…….”

“…Haha, how long have you been…..”

Lee Mina and Kim Sung-ah were standing behind the senior colleague, apparently having just returned from the cafe.

I had gotten used to Lee Mina’s expressionless face, but for some reason, Kim Sung-ah’s face wasn’t very bright either.

I wondered if something bad had happened.

Lee Mina’s eyes turned to me.

“I’m curious too.”

Lee Mina took a step closer to me and said,

“Was that woman prettier than me?”