First Monday in June. I went to work with a plan in mind.
Two spoons, three packets of sugar, the 25th-floor button.
And then a voice that started to say, "Yeoju," and stopped.
The one who answers in a second in front of the team leader gets weird only in front of me.
I wanted to check whether it was really because of me.
*
I ran into Assistant Manager Jung Won in front of the elevator.
It was a light blue shirt. Sleeves rolled up twice.
"Good morning, Assistant Manager."
"Good morning."
I took one breath and said it as casually as I could.
"That shirt looks good on you today, Assistant Manager."
Assistant Manager Jung Won looked down at me.
I was expecting him to get flustered, press the wrong button, or turn red at the ears.
But after staring at me for a while, Assistant Manager Jung Won asked in a low voice.
"...Do you say things like that to just anyone?"
"Huh?"
"I mean, do you say it to just anyone."
The elevator doors opened. Assistant Manager Jung Won got on first and pressed the 12th-floor button. This time, correctly.
I got in after him and clamped my mouth shut.
I was the one who meant to tease him, so why was I the one with nothing to say?
*
Just before lunchtime, Assistant Manager Jung Won stopped beside my desk.
"Ms. Kim Yeoju."
"Yes?"
"What you said earlier."
I tilted my head. What had I said?
"The shirt."
"Oh."
Assistant Manager Jung Won hesitated for a moment, then said while looking toward my monitor.
"...Thank you."
He said only that, then went out for lunch.
A person who replies to a compliment heard at nine in the morning at eleven fifty.
I watched his back and pressed my forehead to my desk. What is this guy, seriously?
2:00 p.m.
I dragged my chair over to Assistant Manager Jung Won's desk.
There was something confusing in this week's report. Really.
"Assistant Manager, this part here."
Assistant Manager Jung Won began explaining while looking at the monitor.
Plainly, precisely, without any extra fluff. When talking about work, this person never wavered.
I pulled my chair a little closer so I could see the screen better.
Close enough that our shoulders touched.
The explanation stopped.
"...So put this figure in as month-over-month. I'll write it down for you."
Assistant Manager Jung Won picked up a pen and tried to write something in my notebook.
But the tip of the pen only skated across the paper.
The cap was still on.
Assistant Manager Jung Won looked down at the pen. He opened the cap. This time, he was holding it upside down.
"Assistant Manager."
"I know."
Assistant Manager Jung Won held the pen properly and, with an expression as if nothing had happened, wrote three lines of numbers.
The handwriting was neat.
I took the notebook and went back to my seat.
Then I hid behind my monitor and laughed silently.
So much that my shoulders shook.
*
4:00 p.m., the break area next to the emergency stairs.
I was choosing a drink in front of the vending machine when Assistant Manager Jung Won came in.
It was just the two of us.
I glanced sideways. The tips of his ears were still a little red.
"Assistant Manager."
"Yes."
"Your ears are red."
Assistant Manager Jung Won stopped just as he was about to press a vending machine button.
"...It's hot."
"But the air conditioning's blasting."
"I get hot very easily."
"Even in the elevator earlier? It was morning then."
Assistant Manager Jung Won slowly turned to look at me.
Then he said with a calm face,
"Is this fun? Is teasing your senior that fun?"
Senior.
It was the first time I'd heard that word since I joined the company.
From Assistant Manager Jung Won's mouth, referring to himself.
I answered, holding back the laughter threatening to burst out.
"Yeah. It's fun."
Assistant Manager Jung Won let out a breath like a sigh.
Then he bought a drink from the vending machine and put it in my hand.
"Then that's fine."
"Huh?"
"If it's fun, then it's fine."
I looked down at the can in my hand.
Peach iced tea.
It was the exact drink I'd been debating over in front of the vending machine for ages.
"How did you know I was picking this?"
"You were staring at it for a long time."
Who buys a drink for someone who's teasing them?
And even the exact one they were choosing.
Assistant Manager Jung Won pressed the button for his own coffee.
He bent down to get the can, straightened up, and said casually,
"Ms. Kim Yeoju, that blouse looks good on you today too."
I nearly dropped the iced tea.
"...Huh?"
Assistant Manager Jung Won looked down at me. With a calm face.
"Shouldn't I ask whether you say things like that to just anyone?"
Those were the words he'd said himself that morning.
He gave them right back to me.
My face burned all at once.
I tried to find something to say, but nothing came to mind.
Then Assistant Manager Jung Won laughed.
The corners of his mouth lifted just a little, then his eyes too.
He tried to turn away and hide it, but it was too late.
I saw it all.
It was the same face I'd once seen in the company cafeteria, only in front of Assistant Manager Park Seunghun.
This time, he was smiling at me.
"That's funny."
Assistant Manager Jung Won left the break area with just that.
He didn't say what was funny. But I understood everything anyway.
*
On the subway ride home. I looked at my face reflected in the window.
I tried pressing the can of iced tea I'd gotten earlier against my cheek, but it didn't help.
It had long since gone lukewarm.
The tips of my ears were red.
I was the one who started teasing him.
But the one whose ears turned red was me.
