LM 11

“Welcome… Oh my.”

The manager stopped mid-greeting and covered her mouth. Siyul also paused as he was about to take out the menu. It was someone he knew well. The man shook off the water droplets on his shoulders and grinned.

“Not open for business today?”

“Director!”

Not just Siyul, but the other employees also seemed familiar with Woo Hyunse. The disappointment in their eyes turned to delight. Chef Park and his assistant even rushed out from the kitchen, loudly greeting, “Director, you’ve come!”

Siyul quickly bowed, following the others’ lead. While texts and calls were fine, facing him directly made Siyul feel unnecessarily intimidated, even though he hadn’t done anything wrong. The memory of the man’s palm tapping his cheek and the shoe that had been covered in vomit came to mind first.

Their eyes met. Woo Hyunse glanced at Siyul briefly before looking away. That was better. Siyul stood awkwardly at a distance.

“What brings you here?”

“Why else? I dropped by for a drink. But the atmosphere seems off. Did I come at a bad time?”

“A bit. We were actually about to close since we didn’t expect any more customers today.”

“Hmm,” the man approached with steady steps. He glanced at the rain-soaked windows, where a misty fog was forming, before adding:

“Then close up. As Manager Kang said, it looks like business is done for today.”

“Do I have that authority? We should follow your decision, Director. But our sales today were quite low… Would you mind helping us out a bit?”

Manager Kang whispered, subtly wrapping her arm around Woo Hyunse’s. He smiled back, not backing down.

“This is why I like you, Manager Kang. You’re so good at milking people.”

It was a sign of approval. Manager Kang cheered and called for Siyul. At the order to close, Siyul quickly locked the glass door and flipped the open sign. The ‘Closed’ sign now hung lonely on the glass door.

An unexpected drinking party broke out. Manager Kang encouraged everyone to order the most expensive items on the menu, as if determined to bankrupt the director, including pricey drinks that rarely sold. Chef Park and the bartender were the busiest. Even Hye-na joined in without hesitation, raising her hand repeatedly to order drinks and snacks.

Woo Hyunse didn’t mind as the table filled up with food and drinks. He even pushed the menu forward, urging them to order more. Somehow, Siyul ended up seated next to Woo Hyunse, pushed there by the others. Though they weren’t touching, strangely, the side of Siyul’s arm and thigh closest to Woo Hyunse felt warmly heated.

Perhaps due to the humid air, his shirt clung to his skin. Heat built up under the clothes wrapped around his flesh, so he rolled up his sleeves, but the carelessly pushed-up fabric quickly slid back down his arms. After several attempts, Siyul gave up on the sleeves and unbuttoned the top button of his collar that was choking him. Finally, he could breathe a little easier.

As he reached for a beer, he felt something touch his cheek and turned his head. Woo Hyunse was looking at him with a glass of alcohol pressed to his lips. Siyul’s gaze first landed on his wrist.

From the cuff of the suit and white shirt, to the protruding wrist bone and watch, the thick edge of his hand, the bluish veins pushing through the skin on the back of his hand, and the thick knuckles, Siyul’s eyes finally traveled up to meet Woo Hyunse’s. When their gazes met in mid-air, Woo Hyunse turned away as if he hadn’t been looking.

“Come to think of it, did we do his initiation?”

“Oh, what initiation? These days, if you do that to kids, they’ll run away before the day is over.”

Manager Kang waved her hand as if dismissing a ridiculous idea. Siyul also smiled awkwardly, inwardly cheering on Manager Kang. He didn’t have the courage to dance or sing in front of these people.

“Still, we should do it.”

But Woo Hyunse didn’t back down. His logic was that everyone who came here had done it once, so there couldn’t be an exception.

“I’m not very good at singing.”

“What about dancing? I think I saw you at the club.”

Woo Hyunse pointed out mischievously. Beside him, Yang Hye-na teased, “Oppa, you even went to clubs?” Siyul rubbed his reddening face with both hands, sighing, “Ah…”

While it was true that he had gone to clubs, had drinks, listened to music, and nodded his head to the beat, that was just getting caught up in the atmosphere while working. He wasn’t originally someone who enjoyed such things. Moreover, since getting caught by Woo Hyunse, he hadn’t set foot near those places.

“If you can’t sing, then dance.”

“I’d rather sing.”

Siyul stood up, calming the people who kept chanting “Dance!” and “Sing!” He couldn’t ruin the mood by refusing outright. Excited, Yang Hye-na waved her phone, saying she’d play any karaoke backing track if he just named the song.

He boldly took the stage, but no particular song came to mind. With everyone’s eyes on him at once, he felt tense. Siyul grabbed the microphone and swallowed hard. Only one song suddenly flashed through his mind, but it happened to be in English.

Fortunately, he knew all the lyrics. It was a song the orphanage director often played when bored, even teaching them each word personally. Instead of nursery rhymes, the orphanage children would sing the director’s favorite song when they had nothing else to do.

“Fly Me to the Moon,” he said.

It was the only English song Siyul, who had always put studying on the back burner, knew. He knew the pronunciation of the lyrics more than their meaning. But there were exclamations of 

“Oh!” from all around.

Afraid Siyul might change his mind, Hye-na quickly started the backing track. Too shy to look at the others while singing, Siyul lowered his gaze before squeezing his eyes shut completely. The familiar intro played in his ears.

‘That song again?’

Kwon Yuwon would always wave his hand in annoyance whenever Siyul hummed this song, complaining it was tiresome. Even to his own ears, he wasn’t singing particularly well. His voice was rough and his pronunciation was a mess. He was just desperately trying not to lose the tune.

Siyul only opened his eyes after the song ended. He expected everyone to tease him, asking what that was, but instead they applauded and whistled, saying he sang well. He had anticipated complaints. His tense expression relaxed at the unexpected reaction.

“The director sent us a good talent. Next time Hye-na can’t make it, we should use Siyul as a substitute. Nice voice.”

Manager Kang seemed especially pleased, putting her arm around Siyul’s shoulder and pulling him close. In Siyul’s life, the only experience of being embraced by an older woman was with the orphanage director, so his ears turned bright red as he quickly slipped away. The soft sensation on his cheek lingered.

“Excuse me.”

Woo Hyunse, who had been quietly observing, stood up. When Manager Kang asked where he was going, he lightly touched his index and middle fingers to his lips. As they watched him disappear into the smoking room, Manager Kang soon followed.

“I have a hunch about this.”

As the two vanished beyond the smoking room, Chef Park narrowed his eyes and muttered as if he’d noticed something. Hye-na, who was eating melon wrapped in ham, showed interest.

“What kind of hunch?”

“I think the manager and the director might get back together.”

“Were they dating?”

“Yeah, but they broke up a while ago.”

Hye-na covered her mouth in surprise, exclaiming, “Wow.” No wonder Manager Kang’s touch on Woo Hyunse seemed so natural. Siyul glanced at the two through the smoking room window. He could barely see their heads close together. As Chef Park said, the atmosphere seemed good.

“But they still meet like this after breaking up? I can’t stand even accidentally running into my exes.”

“Wow, is this Hollywood or what?” Hye-na dramatically stuffed snacks into her mouth as if eating popcorn. To Siyul, it was like a story from another world. He had never dated anyone or even liked someone. He had received a few confessions but always rejected them, too busy trying to make a living. So talk of meeting, breaking up, and getting back together was all foreign to him.

“Well, they must have ended on good terms. Or maybe there are still feelings left.”

As the smoking room door opened, they quickly changed the subject with a startled “Eek.” Siyul quietly drank his alcohol, smelling the faint scent of cigarettes.

Whether Woo Hyunse and the manager dated or not, what did it matter to him? Thinking it was adult business and not something he needed to know, he let it go in one ear and out the other. His eyes did briefly flicker to Woo Hyunse, but his gaze didn’t linger long.

Even after the drinking party ended, the rain hadn’t stopped. It had lessened somewhat but was still heavy. Recently, he had been walking after work to save bus fare, but in this downpour, he’d end up soaked like a drowned rat even with an umbrella. So Siyul sat at an outdoor table of a nearby convenience store, sheltered by an awning.

The weather forecast said the rain would stop within an hour. Siyul stretched out his legs, aching from standing for so long. He was killing time playing a game on his phone when he heard someone seemingly recognize him with an “Oh.” He looked up.

A large man holding a black golf umbrella stood in the rain. Even without lifting the umbrella, his handsome face was clearly visible from the front.

“Why are you here? Not going home?”