"Don't you think Assistant Manager Yang has been dating lately?"
Tuesday lunch, the cafeteria. As soon as Sunwoo set down his tray, he lowered his voice.
"Why?"
Section Manager Yoojin asked while spooning up soup.
"You keep smiling at your phone. I saw you in the hallway after yesterday's meeting, and you were smiling to yourself while looking at your screen. Assistant Manager Yang, I mean."
After yesterday's meeting. The only message I sent at that time was
"Your tie is the exact same color as the chair in the conference room today."
The spoon stopped.
I said nothing and just kept eating my soup.
It felt like if I said even one thing, it would all show on my face.
"You know, Yeoju? She's your mentor."
"...I don't really know."
Sunwoo continued his deductions on his own, looking disappointed.
A client, a college classmate, a blind date.
Section Manager Yoojin ate without answering.
Glancing at me now and then.
When I got back to my seat, there was a message waiting for me.
Sunwoo says I seem like I'm dating
I heard him. I almost choked on my food
I'll stop smiling at my phone now
Can you even do that?
There was no reply.
When I glanced at the seat beside me, the senior was staring at the monitor and pressing down the corners of his mouth with all his might, pretending to look at the screen.
Sunwoo was right.
That person had been smiling a lot lately.
*
On Thursday evening, Jongseong said he'd buy dinner.
Jiwon said she really wanted to apologize to you. You had to put up with a month of trouble because of our ring
Jongseong was one of the few people who knew about us.
That day he spent five minutes doing nothing but apologizing.
And he promised several times that he would absolutely never let it show at work.
Before I got off work, I sent my senior a message.
I'm having dinner with Jongseong and Jiwon today
Okay. Have fun
The answer was the same as always.
But after that, the messages suddenly got strangely short.
Senior, are you still at the office?
Yeah
How's dinner??
I ate
What did you have?
Rice
I looked down at my phone.
Rice. Just one syllable.
By the time I arrived at the restaurant, Jiwon was already there.
As soon as Jiwon saw me, she hugged me and said sorry about ten times.
Jongseong just kept grilling meat.
"But that senior, is he good to you?"
Jiwon asked, placing a piece of meat onto the small plate in front of me.
"...Yeah. He's good to me."
"How good?"
"For our first date, he came with a schedule."
Jongseong burst out laughing, tongs still in his hand.
Jiwon nodded without laughing.
"He's a good person."
While we were eating, I took a photo of the three of us together.
Then I sent it to my senior.
Jiwon is here too. I told you from the start we were eating as three
He replied in one second.
I know
Then why do you only say dinner?
The typing indicator stayed up for a long while, then disappeared. Then it came back.
Just because
Were you jealous?
...A little
I laughed out loud with my phone still in my hand. Jiwon asked what was so funny.
"No. Nothing."
Did it all go away after being a little jealous?
Seeing the photo made it go away. Call me when you're done. I'll pick you up
Overtime?
It just ended
He was the kind of person who would be jealous, but would never go all the way and tell me not to come.
When we came out of the restaurant, a familiar car was parked across the street.
The senior got out of the car.
He was wearing the same shirt he had on at work.
Jongseong bowed first.
"Assistant Manager. I'm really sorry about that back then."
"It's fine. I was the one who misunderstood on my own."
The senior also greeted Jiwon.
Jiwon looked the senior up and down once, then poked my side and said quietly,
"He's really a good person."
*
The day before the Chuseok holiday, there was a team dinner planned.
The restaurant alley behind the company was packed that day with people wearing employee badges around their necks.
Since the holiday was coming up, it seemed like everyone had booked team dinners for the same day.
You guys have a team dinner today too? We do too lol where are you guys
It was Hyunseo.
A barbecue place deeper in the alley. You guys?
The seafood place across from us. Are our second rounds going to overlap too?
At the barbecue place, the senior sat at the very end of the table.
I was at the opposite end.
Since we even commuted separately, that kind of distance felt natural.
After a few rounds of beer, Sunwoo started again.
"Assistant Manager Yang, are you not calling that person today?"
The whole table jolted with a, wow.
The senior flipped the meat over and answered calmly.
"Not during a company dinner."
"So there is someone after all!"
The senior didn't answer.
I hid my face behind my beer glass.
After round one ended, round two was karaoke.
The moment Sunwoo grabbed the mic, the manager left first, and Section Manager Yoojin picked up a tambourine.
The senior's phone vibrated.
The senior looked at the screen and stood up.
"I'll go take a quick call."
"I thought you said you wouldn't during a company dinner!"
Sunwoo shouted into the microphone, but the senior had already gone out the door.
Three minutes later, my phone vibrated too.
Back alley
I slipped out of the karaoke room under the pretense of going to the bathroom.
Behind the karaoke building, in a narrow alley barely touched by the glow of the signboard, the senior was standing there.
The moment he saw me, he held out his hand.
"Just five minutes."
"Senior, you said you were taking a call."
"I did. With you."
As soon as I took his hand, the senior finally let out a breath.
The person who had been wearing only his work face all day finally let his expression soften.
At that moment, footsteps sounded near the alley entrance.
"Yeoju? What are you doin' here..."
It was Hyunseo.
He had a bag of hangover remedy in his hand.
He looked like he'd just come out of the convenience store across the street.
All three of us froze in place.
Hyunseo's eyes went to me, then to the senior, then to our hands.
The senior didn't let go.
He looked like he'd missed the chance to let go completely.
Hyunseo let out a long sigh.
"I didn't see anything."
"...Thanks."
the senior said at last.
Hyunseo was about to turn away, then added one more thing.
"But Assistant Manager, smile a little less at the company. It's all obvious."
Then he shook the hangover remedy bag and left the alley.
While showing me his phone.
The alley was left with just the two of us again.
"...Obvious?"
the senior asked, looking smug.
"Very."
In the end, I burst out laughing.
The senior covered his face with one hand.
His ears, visible through his fingers, were bright red.
Even so, his other hand never let go until the end.
