OTC Chapter 3

“He’s handsome, isn’t he? Seriously.”

The recording session ended a little past 7 p.m. At Sunggeun’s words, coming from right beside her, Eunkyo gave an awkward smile and lifted her 500cc beer glass.

“Yeah, well….”

The izakaya¹, where every item on the menu was written in Japanese and English, was the recording team’s dinner venue. Beyond the thin panes of glass set in the lattice frame, the evening twilight lingered faintly. Eunkyo and Sunggeun sat side-by-side at the bar, sipping their beers.

“What have you been up to these days?”

“Writing, working at the cafe, traveling sometimes. Living pretty much like a bum.” 

“Right, you, Jung Eunkyo, is the real winner of this era.”

“Winner, my foot. I’m a real bum. Listless, passion at rock bottom. Just living a predictable life. Day by day.”

Eunkyo absentmindedly observed the scene behind her through a palm-sized wall mirror opposite her. Whether due to her profession or her usual habit, she had a tendency to stare intently at things.

Sometimes, she would gaze at a swarm of ants emerging from the softened earth, other times, her gaze would be captivated by ivy taking root in hard cement. And sometimes, she would even observe customers sitting on the cafe terrace, openly crying their hearts out.

It wasn’t as if she particularly let her imagination run wild or overinterpreted the situations of others.

It was a kind of zoning out. As usual, while staring blankly into the mirror with an unfocused gaze, she suddenly noticed that the person beyond the mirror was also staring right back at her.

As their gazes met, the other person naturally turned their head first. Lee Jaeheon, with a bright smile, clinked glasses with the people at his table. Eunkyo hid a chuckle and raised her beer glass to her lips.

If there were a national eye-smile competition in Korea, he’d be a shoo-in for a prize and could even aim for the grand prize. It was the kind of smile that made people’s hearts flutter quite a bit. 

That kind of person is so predictable.

A harmless narcissist. Probably, Lee Jaeheon, whether intentionally or not, was the type to win and sway people’s hearts with just simple actions. Eunkyo categorized such kind of person as a “harmless narcissist.”

Of course, it wasn’t a common case, but Eunkyo knew one other man like that.

‘Summer is here…’²

Forcefully suppressing the name that threatened to pop out unexpectedly, she ordered another glass of beer. It wasn’t the beef that Kim Haeda had mentioned, but the izakaya food was delicious. The unfamiliar dishes, with their sweet and savory soy sauce glaze and slightly spicy finish, soothed her fatigue.

“Here’s your beer.”

The izakaya’s owner, with short hair and a bandana, smiled kindly as he set down the ice-cold beer. Eunkyo took the cold beer and gulped it down. Letting out an involuntary sigh of pleasure, she wiped her mouth, and saw Lee Jaeheon’s side profile beyond the square mirror.

Maybe that’s what young guys these days are like.

The fact that her gaze kept being drawn to him meant there was definitely something there. A crooked curiosity lingered on the tip of her tongue, whispering to her that his innocent smile and amiable attitude towards everyone couldn’t possibly be genuine.

“Wow, I do climbing too! Should I switch to the place Jaeheon goes to?”

Someone sitting at Lee Jaeheon’s table exclaimed in in apparent fascination, and held out a fist. The gesture was directed at Lee Jaeheon. But Lee Jaeheon just smiled brightly and nodded his head, offering no further response.

See? That’s his true nature.

Eunkyo smiled as if she had correctly guessed the roll of a die and popped a well-roasted ginkgo nut into her mouth. Then, the man in the mirror, rubbing his sharp, smooth jaw, turned his head in her direction.

A dark gaze brushed past her through the small mirror. This time, Eunkyo was the first to naturally avert her eyes. For no reason, her lips felt a little dry.

Just then, Kim Haeda’s name lit up brightly on her cell phone, which she had placed on the table.

“Sunbae, I’ll be back after I take this call.”

“Kim Haeda?”

“Yes, I think he’s finished work.”

“Are you two dating? You really hang out a lot.”

“He’s like a ridiculously clingy family member, you know?” 

“Well, I can see that.”

Eunkyo slipped out of the noisy, cramped izakaya and answered the phone.

“Hey, what’s up?”

-What’s up? You’re not done yet?

Checking the time, she saw it was 9 p.m. Remembering the basement cleaning, she stamped her foot, exclaiming, “Oh shoot!”

“I’m going now. I was having a beer.”

-With who?

“With sunbae, and the recording studio staff.”

-I’ll pick you up.

“Now? No, it’s okay. I can go alone.”

-I’m near the recording studio anyway. Don’t waste time, just tell me where you are.

What’s he saying, pretending to be concerned.

Scoffing in disbelief, she told him the name of the izakaya. Kim Haeda said he’d arrive in three minutes and then hung up abruptly without saying another word.

The streetlights flickered on in the darkened alleyway, and the number of people passing by increased. People filled the brightly lit shops, and the sounds of loud music and murmuring conversations filled the night streets.

Eunkyo, who had been standing blankly, suddenly felt a sense of urgency. Although she felt bad about leaving the remaining food and beer, she couldn’t bring Kim Haeda, a mood killer, into the izakaya.

Kim Haeda would probably ruin the atmosphere by saying things like, “Why are you doing something that doesn’t even pay?” or “Talk about working for exposure,” the moment he saw Sunggeun. 

Her mind made up, she went back into the izakaya and said,

“Sunbae, Haeda’s coming to pick me up. I’m going to head out.”

“Suddenly?”

Sunggeun stood up with a disappointed expression.

“We have something to do together today. He says he’s in front of the recording studio now. I think he’ll be here any minute.”

“Then have a drink with us before you go. Thanks to you, the recording finished without a hitch.”

“Kim Haeda doesn’t drink. Instead, buy me some beef when the recording we did today is released. Everyone seems to be having a good time, so I’ll quietly slip out.”

Eunkyo said goodbye to the dejected Sunggeun, picked up her bag, and left the izakaya. As she crossed the alley, avoiding the acrid cigarette smoke, someone suddenly grabbed her arm.

It was Kim Haeda, his face creased in displeasure.

“This is where you were drinking?”

“Huh? When did you get here?”

“As soon as I hung up the phone.”

Kim Haeda shoved his phone into his back pocket and glanced over the interior of the izakaya through the glass pane with an irritated look. A smell of soap and cleanly contained cigarette smoke emanated from him. Eunkyo stood on tiptoe, sniffing, and furrowed her brow.

“You weren’t supposed to quit smoking?”

“Ah. You have a dog’s nose, Jung Eunkyo.”

“You know I hate the smell of cigarettes.”

“I know. Just let it slide today.” 

Kim Haeda chuckled and ruffled Eunkyo’s hair.

“Hey, stop it! Ugh, that’s seriously gross!” 

As she recoiled and swatted his hand away, he chuckled and turned his gaze back to the izakaya. Once again, Kim Haeda’s eyes narrowed in a strange way. It was the expression he made when he suspected something.

Eunkyo nudged his arm.

“What? Do you see someone you know?”

“Ah… no. Not really.”

“Then let’s go. I’m so full, can’t we walk?”

“No.”

Eunkyo pouted and got into Kim Haeda’s car parked in the alley. As she closed the passenger door and fastened her seatbelt, the entrance of the izakaya was reflected in the side mirror.

Eunkyo saw the man through the mirror again.

The door opened, and Lee Jaeheon walked out. He looked left and right with his hands in his pockets, then stared straight ahead. Someone who followed him out offered him a cigarette with a bright smile, but as expected, he politely declined with a gentle wave and went back inside.

It’s a little… strange.

Feeling a laugh bubbling up inside her, she scratched her lip with the tip of her finger, which was propping up her chin. To Kim Haeda’s nagging for her not to laugh pointlessly, she responded with her middle finger.

* * *

“Why are the lights out here?”

Eunkyo, changed into comfortable clothes and with a cap pulled low, stood in front of the dark basement. Kim Haeda, standing next to her, took out his phone and turned on the camera flashlight.

“I’ll go to the electrical panel. Wait here.”

“Can I go in first?”

“Are you afraid of ghosts?” 

“No. Just hurry up and check the electrical panel already.”

“Wait.”

Kim Haeda’s cursing faded away as he quickly strode up the stairs leading to the basement. Steeling herself, she also turned on her phone’s flashlight and opened the glass door right next to the roasting room.

Beyond the smoothly opened door, a fairly large window came into view, with streetlight spilling in.

Since the building was built on a slope, the window, tilted at an angle, reflected the windows of another building.

Eunkyo, her eyes now accustomed to the darkness, sighed as she spotted furniture and mattresses piled up in the corner, along with a clutter of miscellaneous items.

She wasn’t Indiana Jones; what was she even doing? With a reluctant expression, she stood in front of the piled-up belongings. While the furniture might have been usable in the past, now it was just junk.

A suitcase that looked like an immigration bag contained Dohyun’s clothes, and inside a wheeled drawer, she found a few intact spiral notebooks.

But Eunkyo closed the drawer without a second glance and squatted down to pull out a box from under a large printer.

One of the reasons she didn’t want to come into the storage room was because of this box. This box was filled with lingering attachments she couldn’t bring herself to discard.

Because they were photos taken together, because it was a travel journal meaningful to her as well, aside from the fact that it was with Lee Dohyun, because it was expensive, because… just in case he ever came back… she could return it to him.

Kim Haeda had said it would be easy to just classify them as trash and dispose of them, but even now, she hesitated.

As she opened the box and looked inside, heavy footsteps approached from behind her. Kim Haeda seemed to have returned. The fact that it was still dark meant he hadn’t found the reason the electricity went out.

Picking up a ring case from inside the box, she turned around, forcing a casual expression.

“I’ll tear the photos we took together in half… Eek!”

Suddenly, everything went black before her eyes, and the back of her neck was seized by a strong force. Someone slammed her body roughly against the wall, their arm pressing against her throat, and snarled fiercely,

“What the fuck is this… What’s there to see in someone else’s studio that you’d sneak in and rummage through their things…”

The fluorescent lights flickered on with a pop.

Eunkyo, her hands raised in surrender, felt her heart plummet like a basketball, then bounced back up. And then, it began to freeze over.

The man’s face, who had subdued her by pressing his arm against her neck, showed surprise that quickly changed into bewilderment.

The strong scent of fabric softener that had bothered her all day.

The dark eyes that had subtly brushed past her through the small, glittering mirror surface were right in front of her.

And those eyes were muttering, “Shit….”