TIC 07

Before her voice reached him, her breath, like the flutter of a butterfly’s wings, tickled his ear.

“And I am sensitive. I usually have insomnia. I get a little irritable during the day if I don’t sleep well. But not so much that it affects my social life. I’m a peaceful person as long as I’m not provoked. But if I am, I bite. Hard.”

This time Min-hyun whispered back.

“I never said that your social life seemed to be affected. I understand perfectly. Even insects retaliate when provoked. Or rather, all living creatures take a defensive stance when attacked.”

Just as Min-hyun paused and was about to add, ‘So I understand.’

She must have thought it was her turn to whisper back because she suddenly turned her head.

I haven’t finished talking yet.

Min-hyun craned his neck to whisper into her retreating ear.

Smack. A soft, squishy sound of fl*sh against fl*sh echoed through the bus. It was the sound of friction as his lips brushed against hers.

The brief contact of her lips was soft and yielding. And a dizzying scent, as if she had chewed wild flowers like gum, filled the air.

Startled, she covered her mouth with both hands and pressed her back against the window.

Min-hyun was equally flustered.

“I wasn’t finished talking.”

Min-hyun muttered, frozen. His throat was tight and warm.

“What were you going to say?”

Her face, still covering her mouth, was bright red.

“I understand… I was going to say that. What about you?”

She mumbled, her eyes dropping to the ground.

“So don’t provoke me… I was going to say that.”

There was silence for a moment. The silence was broken by the old lady sitting in front of them.

“Just messing around, seriously?”

Min-hyun bit his lower lip, trying to suppress the incredulous chuckle that threatened to escape.

Should he be grateful that he could laugh in this situation?

Min-hyun stood up abruptly.

“I apologize for the disturbance.”

He apologized politely to the old lady and turned to Ji Cho-yeon.

“I’ll move to a different seat.”

Just as he managed to take a step, “Hey, sit on your assigned seat! You can’t get up on the highway! And you can’t change seats on a chartered bus!”

The bus driver shouted at the top of his lungs. Min-hyun bowed apologetically in all directions and sat back down.

He felt incredibly embarrassed, but he wanted to laugh.

He must be going crazy.

Cho-yeon looked out of the window after confirming that he had sat down again. Her stomach churned at the vivid memory of their lips touching.

She was sensitive to sleeping environments, but she didn’t usually get carsick.

So what was this nausea?

Cho-yeon turned completely to the window, her back to him. She closed her eyes, but sleep didn’t come. She was just drowsy, drifting in and out of consciousness.

She opened her eyes, felt the bus slow down, and saw that they were pulling into a rest stop. When the bus stopped, he was the first to get up.

Wordlessly, she followed him off the bus. He headed for the restroom, and so did she.

After their accidental kiss, Cho-yeon couldn’t bring herself to talk to him.

After using the restroom, Cho-yeon stood next to the smoking area and called her colleague. She craved a cigarette after quitting a few years ago, but she had no intention of starting again.

Sometimes, when she had cravings, she would linger around where people were smoking to calm herself down.

“Deputy Lee, it’s me, Ji Cho-yeon.”

Lee Ji-hyun, who answered the phone, did support tasks for the product planning team.

-Oh, Deputy Ji. Are you on your way? Isn’t it a bit boring to plan a domestic product when you’re always going abroad?

The travel product planning team was flexible, with team members equally divided between domestic and international product planning. Cho-yeon, who was single and loved to travel, had basically been in charge of international planning all along. 

“I didn’t have time to be bored. Something came up, and I think we need to book another hotel room. Is that possible?”

-Hold on.

The sound of typing came from the other end of the line. Deputy Lee, a veteran of support tasks, didn’t ask why she suddenly needed another hotel room. She must have assumed that Cho-yeon wouldn’t make a frivolous accommodation request.

– What do we do? Everything is fully booked. I checked and it seems there’s some kind of event in the area today and tomorrow.

There has been a period of time when travel has been difficult due to domestic and international circumstances. Many accommodations and restaurants that catered to travelers had gone out of business. Now that travel is picking up again, there is a severe shortage of accommodations.

-The few hotels they have are all fully booked.

“Is there any way around it?”

-I’ll look into it.

After ending the call with Deputy Lee, Cho-yeon inhaled the cigarette smoke carried by the wind. Her chest felt tight and she longed for a cigarette even more.

Should I just go to the convenience store and buy a pack?

Cho-yeon gave up, remembering the clean-cut image of the man sitting next to her. She didn’t want to sit next to him smelling of cigarettes.

Team leader Kim Min-ah of the planning team called, most likely after receiving Deputy Lee’s report.

-You asked Deputy Lee to book another room?

“Yes, team leader. Professor Park Tae-hee had an emergency surgery this morning. So she couldn’t come. Another professor came instead, but he’s a man, so I need another room.”

She heard the team leader take a deep breath.

-Oh dear, I should check on Professor Park. There’s some kind of event going on where you’re going, Deputy Ji. You can’t just stay in a motel for the hotel simulation. And we can’t send the professor to a motel either… I’ll look into it.

“Thank you. I’ll see if I can find a solution locally.”

She tried to search for information about the event in the area, but she couldn’t find anything. It must have been a group-only event that didn’t need to be advertised to the public.

Since there were no vacancies on the travel agency’s accommodation-sharing system, it came as no surprise that there were no rooms left on the consumer apps either.

But sometimes she managed to find accommodations locally, so it was too early to give up.

As she boarded the bus, he got up from his seat to let her pass. A bottle of Ionic sports drink was in the seat’s cup holder.

“The driver said it was okay to drink beverages with lids.”

He spoke casually, as if their accidental lip contact had never happened.

“Thank you.”

Cho-yeon picked up the bottle and struggled to open it, but it wouldn’t budge. His subtle gaze was on her.

“Here, let me.”

He naturally took the bottle, twisted off the cap effortlessly, and handed it back to her. He spoke in a nonchalant tone, but his actions were thoughtful. 

There was still no contact from the office when they arrived at the Gurye Public Bus Terminal.

“Today’s itinerary…”

Standing in front of the bus terminal building, he looked at the itinerary Cho-yeon had sent him earlier. The man with the sophisticated image looked out of place in a bus station. Like a badly photoshopped picture.

“Shall we go to the hotel first?”

“Yes, let’s go.”

During the ten-minute taxi ride to the hotel, Cho-yeon nervously nibbled on her inner lip.

She desperately hoped that there would be at least one room left when they got to the reception. She hadn’t told him about the room situation yet, because she wanted to discuss it after checking all possibilities.

But the receptionist shook her head and said the hotel was fully booked.

“What event is going on here today?”

“We have a training program for instructors from nearby academies. I believe there are several similar programs in the area.”

Although she couldn’t offer them a room, the receptionist was quite helpful. Cho-yeon thanked her and turned around after receiving the keys to the hotel room. Standing a few steps away, he asked in his usual casual tone, “Is there a problem with the room reservation?”

Come to think of it, his tone hadn’t been so indifferent from the beginning. It had become noticeably drier after their lips had touched. But his lips had been so soft.

Cho-yeon was startled by the sudden memory.

“Actually, I was supposed to share a room with Professor Park Tae-hee for the two-person room usage simulation. I tried to book another room, but all the hotels in the area are fully booked due to various events today.”

“What about other hotels?”

“They’re all full, too. Same with motels and inns. And there are no guesthouses or room-sharing services nearby.”

“Is it a twin room?”

His tone was still indifferent, which made it easier for Cho-yeon to answer.

“Yes.”

“And you planned to do a room simulation?”

“Yes.”

“As long as you don’t feel uncomfortable, Ji Cho-yeon-ssi, I don’t mind.”

His expression was impassive, his voice and tone monotonous. This man had solved the problem Cho-yeon had been agonizing over with a single sentence, making her wonder, ‘He doesn’t mind? He doesn’t mind…’  

When she thought about it, it didn’t seem like a big deal. It might even be helpful to simulate the experience of married couples, who were the main target customers for this type of trip.

“Then please bear with me for today.”

He nodded and offered a brief, emotionless smile, the kind she might see in a lecture hall.

They entered the elevator together. It was just an extension of their work, nothing to be nervous or overwhelmed about.

But the moment they opened the door and entered the room, Cho-yeon was taken aback.

In the room that was supposed to be a twin room, there was a single large bed.