OTC Chapter 6

What are the standards of “anything¹” as spoken by someone in their twenties? 

Eunkyo couldn’t readily agree. Lee Jaeheon wasn’t a whining child; he was clearly a grown man.

“Is this… how your personality normally is?”

“And what do you think my personality is like?”

“Well… it doesn’t seem to match what I thought it would be.”

Lee Jaeheon was someone who enjoyed subtly revealing his twisted emotions. Or perhaps no one had ever noticed it before. If she wasn’t mistaken, Lee Jaeheon was enjoying her awkwardness right now.

That’s why she didn’t want to play along.

“I thought you noticed, sunbae.”

“Noticed what?”

“I tried to be kind and gentle to you, too. But…”

He trailed off, looking her up and down, then chuckled.

“You know what kind of guy I am.”

A deep crease formed between Eunkyo’s brows as she tried to understand what he meant. She didn’t ponder for long. In short, did he mean he wasn’t going to bother with a “nice-guy” act in front of her?

Meeting her gaze, he gave a bright, irritatingly handsome smile.

He knew that the face behind his mask had slipped. She now understood why their eyes had kept meeting at the izakaya.

Her gaze, which seemed to see right through him, had made him uncomfortable.

Looking up at his downcast eyes, Eunkyo replied with a straight face,

“I was shortsighted. Thinking about it again, I don’t really need the notebook… I’m sorry to bother you when you’re busy. I’ll be going now.”

At her lightning-fast change of attitude, the man’s lips curled in displeasure.

“Aren’t you giving up too easily?”

Having just turned away, she turned only her head back to look at Lee Jaeheon.

“I don’t enjoy word plays, arguments, or pointless mind games. And it’s not that important of an item.”

At Eunkyo’s sarcastic reply, implying that he was different from her, Lee Jaeheon’s eyes narrowed, and his red tongue darted out from between his slightly parted lips before disappearing again.

“Are you angry?”

“Do I look angry?”

“Hmm, then are you annoyed?”

She nodded her head curtly in farewell and took a brisk step forward, but he suddenly grabbed her wrist.

“I was wrong. I’m sorry, sunbae.”

Not only was Lee Jaeheon quick to apologize, but his expression management was also top-notch.

She was dumbfounded. 

Did he even realize how absurd this insincere apology was?

“I’m not offended, so you don’t need to apologize. And… do you really have to call me sunbae?”

She tried to pull her hand away, but his grip was too strong, and it was, as always, futile.

“Then should I call you noona²?” 

“…Are you kidding?”

“Jung Eunkyo.”

At the sound of her name, spoken in a low, clear voice, she involuntarily held her breath. For a fleeting moment, her heart skipped a beat.

At the end of Eunkyo’s dazed gaze rested Lee Jaeheon’s lips.

She thought she had heard his voice somewhere before. Now she understood why his voice had felt strangely familiar.

It was similar.

A voice similar to that bastard’s, the one who had made her life so miserable.

“I don’t think I can call you by your name after all. Can’t I just call you sunbae?”

Smiling brightly as if nothing had happened, Jaeheon moved his face closer. Eunkyo hurriedly nodded.

“D-Do as you please. I think it’s better to just call me sunbae than by my name.”

At her flustered agreement, Lee Jaeheon faintly smiled.

“I’ll bring you the notebook. So don’t be angry, sunbae.”

“Thank you. Then… I’ll leave it to you.”

Finally, her wrist was free. As she stood there, clutching her arm in confusion, the boisterous voices of people coming down the stairs reached her ears.

“Here, here!”

“Looks like the move is over, oppa³. There are no more boxes.” 

“I guess so. Hey, Lee Jaeheon! Let’s eat jjajangmyeon⁴!” 

Lee Jaeheon’s eyes sharpened as he looked towards the door, and his jaw muscles tensed slightly. But he quickly returned to his usual gentle, smiling face.

“Looks like my friends are here.”

“Then I’ll be going. Please don’t forget to bring the notebook.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the door burst open. About six people poured in.

“Oh?”

The people who entered the studio with flushed expressions froze upon noticing Eunkyo and, instead, now looked flustered, an awkward smile spreading across their faces.

Eunkyo, avoiding eye contact, quickly dashed out of the studio. Awkward farewells followed her.

They were all clearly Lee Jaeheon’s friends, around his age. As she looked back halfway up the stairs, she saw him through the glass door, greeting his friends warmly as the door closed.

He was in his mid-twenties, a young man she couldn’t possibly get involved with.

Eunkyo, who had momentarily linked Lee Jaeheon and Lee Dohyun because of their similar voice, reflected on her rashness.

“Still… that’s a relief.”

Relieved that she would get her notebook back, she ran a hand over her chest and looked at her reflection in the building’s entrance.

Her face, flushed red to her ears, was burning. Her unusually swollen lips made her look like she had just been kissed.

─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───

“I think we need to hire a part-timer.”

Eunkyo, who had skipped lunch and worked until closing time, finally suggested. Haeda, who had just turned off the cafe’s sign, nodded in agreement.

“I can’t keep up anymore. It’s college summer break now, so there should be a lot of kids looking for part-time jobs. I’ll look into it.”

They left the cafe, looking unusually tired. Kim Haeda’s car, which was usually parked in front of the cafe, was nowhere to be seen. As she looked around, Kim Haeda pushed her shoulder toward the building entrance.

“My sister is coming to pick me up. Hurry up and go inside.”

“Ah, your sister’s coming? Okay. Get home safe.” 

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

He shoved his hands into his pockets, took out his phone, glanced at the screen, and stood by the roadside.

Eunkyo glanced at the quiet, dark basement before heading upstairs. She had seen his friends arrive earlier, but they seemed to have left already since it was now quiet.

He was probably planning to bring the notebook tomorrow. Unlike earlier, now that night had fallen, she felt strangely calm.

Arriving home, Eunkyo turned on a single indirect light, lay down on the sofa, and opened the email she hadn’t finished reading earlier.

It hurt her pride, but the editor’s words weren’t wrong.

She had indeed tried to take the easy route by following trends, jumping on the bandwagon. It was a piece she had scribbled down while tormented by the pressure to write.

After lying there for a while, she sat up abruptly, clutching her growling stomach. Come to think of it, all she had eaten today were two strawberries and a cup of coffee.

The belated hunger pangs were overwhelming. So, Eunkyo rummaged through a food delivery app and then went into the bathroom.

After ordering something quick and easy and taking a lukewarm shower, she felt like the happiest person in the world.

She barely bothered to dry her hair before flopping onto the bed and turning on the fan.

Her hair gradually dried in the gentle breeze.

‘Should I just go to sleep…?’

Perhaps because of the drowsiness, her raging appetite subsided, and sleepiness washed over her.

Ding-dong.

The sound of the doorbell startled her awake. She waited about 30 seconds after hearing the doorbell rang before opening the door.

Expecting the delivery person to have left, Eunkyo gasped in surprise at the sight of the man’s sneakers as she opened the door.

“Huh?”

“Isn’t ordering delivery at this hour a little… dangerous?”

Standing at the door was Lee Jaeheon, holding the bag of food she had ordered.

“Uh, uh… Do you have a part-time delivery job?” 

Chuckling at her absurd question, he abruptly held out the food bag.

“No. I ran into the delivery guy at the bottom of the stairs. He seemed to be in a hurry, so I brought your notebook along. I tried to make it before closing time, but I failed.”

Unlike earlier, Lee Jaeheon was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt and sweatpants. His tall frame and black clothing made him look like a man who brought the night with him.

Taking the bag, Eunkyo swallowed hard, her eyes fixed on the notebook in his hand.

Their eyes met, and he looked her up and down before holding out the notebook.

“This is it, right?”

The familiar smiley face drawn on the cover of the notebook brought a faint smile to Eunkyo’s lips.

“Yes… Thank you. You could have given it to me tomorrow.”

“Did I come for nothing?”

“No! I feel bad. If you’re okay with it, would you like to come in? We can eat this together.”

She had said it out of politeness. The portion of the food was quite large, and she was grateful that he had come all the way back just to give her the notebook.

And she’d somehow thought he would politely decline. She thought he would smile gently and say it was okay, just like he did with others, but…

“I have some wine in my car. I’ll go get it, sunbae.”

She was wrong.

Chuckling, he trudged back down the stairs. Eunkyo stared at the stairs where he had disappeared, a bewildered expression on her face.

Then, a breathy laugh escaped her lips as she wiped her mouth and went inside.

Leaving the door wide open, she took the food out and placed it on the table in front of the sofa. She felt strange. Unfamiliar and a little bewildered.

Had anyone ever been to her apartment before? Even Kim Haeda rarely came inside unless it was something important.

And yet, her first guest, so to speak, was Lee Jaeheon. Moreover, the man’s intention to drink wine with her at this hour was so obvious that she couldn’t help but laugh.

Eunkyo lightly grazed her front teeth against the lip he had pressed with his nail.

Lee Jaeheon… didn’t seem to be the type to hide his desires. Or perhaps, now that she had seen through him, he didn’t feel the need to.

Strangely, the feeling that had been pure bewilderment during the day became clearer now that night had fallen.

Eunkyo knew the meaning of the sweat that had dampened her palms when she first saw him. She just hadn’t acknowledged the flicker of interest-driven impulse she had felt.

“I brought two bottles. Is that okay?”

Lee Jaeheon’s voice came from the entrance. She sat up and saw him closing the door behind him as he walked in. Lost in thought, she skillfully concealed her thoughts and emotions.

“What about driving after drinking wine?”

“I can sleep in my studio.”

“Oh… Isn’t it still messy?”

“It’ll work out somehow.”

He put down the wine he had brought and slowly looked around.

The apartment was filled with cute knick-knacks, and most of the furniture was built-in. His gaze, as he took in the studio-style interior with its island counter instead of a dining table and the partition separating the living room and bedroom, seemed devoid of any particular emotion.

While he looked around, Eunkyo brought the opener and glasses and plopped down on the sofa in front of it. 

Why did she have to realize this now, of all times?

She felt that the more casual and composed she acted, the less awkward it would be. So she turned on the TV and patted the seat next to her instead of the one opposite, gesturing for him to join her.

“Come on. Have you tried this wine before?”

“No. Someone gave it to me.”

“Ah… I like this one.”

“Really?”

Lee Jaeheon shrugged as if it were a coincidence and sat down next to her. Their arms naturally touched, and their clothes brushed against each other. Trying not to show her nervousness, she drew her knees together.

Pizza, oil pasta, and a cheese-laden salad—it was far too much food for a quick and easy meal. If Lee Jaeheon weren’t here, it would have been enough for at least three days’ worth of late-night snacks.

As she put a fork in her mouth and fiddled with the remote control, Lee Jaeheon reached his hand into her damp hair.

“It seems too wet. Are you okay, sunbae?”