IFBS 10

Chapter : 10

“Let me know if some weird fly starts buzzing around you. I’ll deal with the bastard myself.”

“You’re not still using your fists, are you?”

Dowon had always had a rough mouth. In the past, he couldn’t finish a single sentence without swearing, and there had been plenty of times when his fists moved before his words did.

He thought Dowon had mellowed out quite a bit since becoming an adult, but whenever he heard that rough way of speaking, doubts would inevitably creep back in.

“As far as Han Se-a is concerned, I still plan on using them.”

“Oh, dear…”

Se-a shook her head.

<If you guys bother her even one more time, I might break your wrists clean off. I’m not kidding, so if you want to end up crippled, go ahead and try.>

It had been back when some boy at the orphanage had grabbed her by the hair for no reason.

She had been struggling helplessly because of the difference in physical strength when Dowon suddenly appeared and grabbed the boy’s hand.

<Look at this coward. If you’ve got that much strength to spare, why don’t you try doing the same thing to me?>

The previously cocky boy had fled in terror.

When Se-a later asked Dowon why he had helped her, his answer was simple.

<Because you’re a good person. Didn’t you give me some of your side dishes last time? I was just paying you back.>

She had only given them to him because he had asked her not to throw them away if she wasn’t going to eat them. Calling it “sharing” was technically a stretch, but that incident had brought the two of them closer.

And when she had said she was going to follow her aunt…

<If those people ever hurt you or start giving you shit because they won’t pay you, call me right away. I’ll turn the whole place upside down.>

Apparently, words alone weren’t enough, because Dowon had even rented a place nearby.

While every child at the orphanage had been afraid of Dowon because of his hot temper and frequent trips to the police station, to Se-a, he had always been the most dependable person in the world.

“Wow, that looks delicious.”

When the spicy cheese-covered dakgalbi arrived as their drinking food, Se-a immediately picked up her chopsticks. She was about to use them as she normally did, but then stopped, wiggled her fingers, and slowly adjusted her grip.

Dowon’s eyes narrowed as he watched the awkward movement.

“What are you doing?”

“Hm? What?”

“That.”

Dowon pointed with his chin at Se-a’s exceedingly awkward hand.

“Oh…”

“Did someone criticize the way you use chopsticks?”

“What?”

“You wouldn’t suddenly start practicing otherwise.”

“It’s not like that.”

“What kind of era are we living in that someone would make an issue out of something as trivial as using chopsticks? Do you have to worry about how you eat, too? What kind of old-fashioned bastard is it?”

Se-a had only become conscious of it after eating with Je-eon, but Dowon immediately became indignant without giving her a chance to explain.

Se-a shuddered as if she were used to it.

Honestly, you couldn’t tell him anything.

“It just looks nicer, so I wanted to try fixing it. You’re good at it too.”

“Are you sure nobody said anything?”

“No one’s going to say anything about this.”

“Then forget it. Watch me. I’ll show you how to do it…”

Dowon demonstrated it himself, but perhaps because everyone had their own way of using chopsticks, it didn’t really click for her.

“I’m more comfortable doing it this way.”

Se-a began using her chopsticks the way Je-eon had taught her.

“Oh, right. Han Se-a.”

“Yeah?”

It was just as she was about to pop a piece of dakgalbi wrapped in melted cheese into her mouth.

“Who is he?”

“Hm?”

“You said you were going to eat with someone you knew when I contacted you last time. Who is that ‘someone you know’?”

One face immediately flashed through her mind like lightning.

The scene of having dinner with Je-eon passed vividly before her eyes.

“……Cough. Cough!”

She hadn’t even finished swallowing the dakgalbi when she suddenly choked.

A suspicious glint appeared in Dowon’s eyes.

After handing her some water, Dowon crossed his arms.

“You’re especially suspicious today.”

“What, what’s suspicious?”

“Who else do you know besides me?”

“……”

“You don’t even meet your university classmates that often.”

Dowon knew every detail of Se-a’s social circle.

She wasn’t as close to them as she was to Dowon, but she had enough of a relationship with some of them to occasionally exchange greetings. She saw them maybe once a year, if that.

“Just a coworker.”

“You said you weren’t close with your coworkers.”

“We had some work to discuss, so we had dinner. Why are you being so persistent? I have a private life too, you know.”

“Oh, look at you. You have to keep your big brother informed so I can do something if anything happens to you.”

“What do you mean, big brother?”

“We’re family, family. We just don’t share blood. If anything happens, you’re supposed to tell me immediately, not your cousins. Got it?”

It was something she had heard countless times.

“Yes, yes.”

“Ah, I’m serious.”

“Serious, my foot. Just eat your dinner.”

“Pfft. You’re really no fun.”

Dowon, accustomed to Se-a’s terrible wordplay, twitched the corners of his mouth as he laughed.

She was gradually getting used to the study group.

Everything was fine, but there was one thing that had started to bother her.

[Se-a, did you get to work okay? The weather is nice today. ^^]

Kyeong-min had been sending her increasingly frequent personal messages.

At first, she had simply assumed that he was being attentive to a new member as the group leader. But as time went on, it began to feel excessive.

The messages continued today, just as they had yesterday.

[I just took this. Pretty, isn’t it?]

Se-a stared quietly at the photo of the sky Kyeong-min had sent her before typing a reply.

[Yes, it’s pretty.]

No matter how consistently she answered with short replies, Kyeong-min never seemed to run out of things to say.

[Are you working late again today?]

[Yes. Have a good evening.]

Their conversations always went like this. She felt awkward about making her discomfort obvious, wondering if perhaps she was simply overreacting.

Could he eventually even show up at her workplace…?

No, no. He didn’t know where she worked. How could he possibly find it?

She convinced herself that there was no way that would happen and deliberately left work early instead of staying late.

“Se-a!”

Her name came from somewhere nearby.

A chill ran down Se-a’s spine.

She had a pretty good idea who the owner of that voice was.

When she looked around, just as she had feared, the person she expected was getting out of a car.

“H-how did you get here?”

“Yena told me.”

“Yena did?”

Yena was a fellow member of the study group who was around Se-a’s age. She had approached Se-a first and often found opportunities to talk with her.

Se-a wasn’t used to socializing with people and usually only answered whatever she was asked, but she hadn’t expected the things she had casually mentioned back then to reach Kyeong-min’s ears.

“Se-a, I heard you work for a really good company.”

“Ah…”

“By the way, you said you were working late, so I almost just went home. But I happened to be passing by, so I thought I’d come.”

Why?

What did her working late have to do with his working late?

“If you really had been working late, I wouldn’t have been able to see you. What a coincidence, huh?”

“Ahaha… yeah…”

Even when she tried to force a smile, she couldn’t manage her expression. She could practically feel her face twisting into an increasingly awkward grimace.

“You’re going home, right? I’ll give you a ride.”

Why was he assuming she was going home?

She was going home, technically, but…

If it weren’t for the study group, she would have politely refused, but she hesitated because she didn’t want to create unnecessary awkwardness between them.

“Um…”

It was just as she finally managed to part her lips with a troubled expression.

HOOONK—

The sound of a car horn from fairly close by made Se-a jump and turn her head.

“……!”

A familiar brand of car was just pulling out from the company parking area.

It was definitely Je-eon’s car.

Her eyes met his as he looked in their direction.

He gave a slight nod, then subtly tilted his head toward the side.

It seemed as though he had deliberately made his presence known after roughly assessing the situation.

“What should I do? I think I have to go.”

“W-who?”

If she said he was her boss, she felt like this wouldn’t be the last time something like this happened, so she blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“My boyfriend!”

“Your boy… friend?”

“Yes. He said he’d finish late, so I was going to leave first, but I guess he came out right after me.”

“Oh, an office romance… I hope you don’t misunderstand after seeing this, haha.”

Kyeong-min’s words came out faster, as though he were flustered.

“As the leader, I have a responsibility to check whether Se-a is adjusting well to our group and whether she’s having any difficulties. That’s the only reason I came here, so please don’t misunderstand. Oh, a car’s coming up behind you. Hurry and go!”

“Yes, yes! Then…!”

As though she were being chased by something, Se-a hurried toward Je-eon’s car.