On the last Friday of June, I came to Gapyeong for a team workshop.
Recreation started in the front yard of the training center by the river.
The host was Mr. Sunwoo, self-proclaimed mood maker.
"Now, our first game is a two-person long jump rope! Pairs will be decided by lottery!"
Assistant Manager Jeongwon took his phone and keys out of his pants pocket and put them in a basket.
A little black cat was hanging from the key ring.
Huh. I didn’t expect he was the type to carry around something so cute.
That thought flew out the window the moment I unfolded my lot. The name written on the paper was Yang Jeongwon.
*
The earlier teams had a hard time even making it past ten.
The team leader and Assistant Manager Yujin got caught after just five tries.
"Team Yang, you're up!"
I stood next to Assistant Manager Jeongwon.
Because the two of us had to run in together, we had to stand so close our shoulders were almost touching.
"Assistant Manager, on three, let’s go in."
"Okay."
One, two, three.
The moment we went in, the rope caught Assistant Manager Jeongwon’s foot.
"...Again."
The second time. He made it over once, then got caught.
The third time. I lightly grabbed Assistant Manager Jeongwon’s arm to keep in rhythm, and he got caught right there on the spot.
"Assistant Manager Yang!"
Mr. Sunwoo made a megaphone with his hands.
"You were doing over thirty by yourself when you were practicing earlier. Is your condition off today?"
Everyone burst out laughing.
Assistant Manager Jeongwon looked down at the rope and answered casually.
"The rope’s a little short."
"It’s the same rope, though?"
I lowered my head, trying to hold back my laughter.
Right beside me, I could see Assistant Manager Jeongwon’s ears turning bright red.
In the end, our team came in last.
Our punishment was grilling meat for the evening barbecue.
*
The sun went down and the charcoal fire was lit.
I stood in front of the grill with the tongs in hand.
The moment I put the meat on, smoke hit my face all at once.
My eyes stung, and as I turned my head, someone took the tongs from my hand.
"Stand on the side opposite the wind."
It was Assistant Manager Jeongwon.
He nudged me over to the side where the smoke wouldn’t reach, then stood right in the middle of it himself.
"The punishment was for both of us."
"Then you just hold the plate, Kim Yeoju."
Assistant Manager Jeongwon flipped the meat, cut it, and put the cooked pieces onto my plate first.
His hands were quick and precise. It was hard to believe this was the same person who had gotten caught three times in front of the jump rope.
"Please eat first, Assistant Manager."
"The one grilling eats later."
"Then I’m grilling too."
"Kim Yeoju is the plate-holder."
In the end, I laughed and put the first piece in my mouth.
Assistant Manager Jeongwon kept his eyes narrowed in the smoke, looking only at the meat.
But when I said, "It’s delicious," his hand with the tongs stopped for a moment.
That night, I sat with the team on the riverside platform until two in the morning.
Assistant Manager Jeongwon sat in the far seat across from me, wordlessly fiddling with a can of beer.
Our eyes met now and then.
Each time, he was the first to look away.
*
The next morning, the bus back to Seoul stopped at a rest area.
"Who wants coffee!"
At Manager Yujin’s words, Assistant Manager Jeongwon was the first to stand up.
"I’ll go buy it. Everyone iced Americanos, right?"
"Yeah!"
I nodded too. That was how it always was at the company.
Ten minutes later, Assistant Manager Jeongwon got back on the bus carrying two carry-ons.
After handing out the cups one by one, he finally set one down in front of me last.
Caramel sauce had been drizzled in a lattice pattern inside the clear cup.
"Huh?"
Manager Yujin leaned over to look at my cup.
"Why is yours different, Yeoju? Assistant Manager Yang, how did you know she likes that?"
"You drank nothing but that in college."
The bus went quiet.
Only then did Assistant Manager Jeongwon look like he realized what he had just said.
He froze for just a moment, then added in his usual matter-of-fact tone.
"...Because you carried it around from the department office every day. Anyone from the same department would know. You were pretty famous"
"Oh, so you were college seniors and juniors."
Manager Yujin accepted it without a second thought.
Mr. Sunwoo grumbled, "I only drank banana milk in college, and nobody knew."
I was the only one frozen, cup in hand.
He said anyone from the same department would know.
But even some of my college classmates didn’t know.
There was no way a senior who had only ever run into me at the department office would know.
And then I remembered.
The coffee he bought on my third day at the company, saying he’d just picked whatever.
*
The bus set off again.
Assistant Manager Jeongwon was in the seat next to mine.
The same seat he had taken on the way here.
The river flowed past outside the window.
I wrapped both hands around my cup and, after hesitating for a while, asked quietly.
"Assistant Manager."
"Yes."
"Since when did you remember that?"
Assistant Manager Jeongwon didn’t answer.
He just looked out the window.
"The coffee you bought me on my third day. That wasn’t just some random pick either, was it?"
Still no answer.
Instead, Assistant Manager Jeongwon leaned his seat back a little.
"Go to sleep."
"Huh?"
"You pulled an all-nighter yesterday. I’ll wake you when we get there."
Then he closed his eyes.
He said that, but his ears were red.
Even redder than when we were jump-roping yesterday.
I looked down at my cup.
For four months after coming to the company, I’d only been drinking iced Americanos.
Enduring the bitterness, thinking no one would know.
But this person had seen everything.
The way I kept staring at the menu on my first day, the way I steadied my expression while drinking my iced Americano.
Maybe ever since college.
I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes.
I felt like I should at least pretend to be asleep.
For a split second, I thought about leaning my shoulder against him.
I didn’t have the courage for that.
Instead, my heart was pounding so loudly that I held my breath, afraid he’d hear it all the way from the seat next to me.
