Chapter 107
Startled, I turned my head and met eyes with the boss, who was holding recycling trash bags in both hands. It seems he had come out to throw away garbage and spotted me.
Joo Kwon-oh’s gaze also turned towards the boss. The boss flinched and then set down the garbage in front of the utility pole with jerky movements.
“I was wondering why you hadn’t come in even though it’s time… Is that your friend?”
“Ah, I’m sorry. I’ll come in right away.”
Despite intentionally arriving early, my conversation with Kwon-oh had gone on longer than expected, and it seems I had passed my start time.
“Alright, talk to your friend later and come in quickly.”
With those words, the boss retreated hastily as if escaping. I opened my mouth to finish the conversation, keeping my gaze fixed on my feet.
“I need to go in now. You should go too…”
“Then let’s finish talking after your shift. I’ll wait.”
“Don’t wait. I… I’ve said everything I wanted to say.”
If we kept talking about this topic, I felt like I might cry. Having concluded that breaking up was better for both of us, I didn’t want to leave any lingering attachments. I turned away resolutely without waiting for Kwon-oh’s response.
Then Kwon-oh grabbed my arm.
“How can everything be so simple for you?”
A voice full of anger.
“Denying our relationship, suggesting your boyfriend go on blind dates, and saying we should break up. It all seems like nothing to you.”
A trembling voice barely suppressing fury and unable to control emotions. It was a voice of Kwon-oh’s I had never heard before.
“Are you really ending it this easily?”
Easy? My insides turned at his words.
I lifted my head forcefully and glared at him.
“Do you think it’s easy for me to say these things?”
I shouted, shaking him off, and Kwon-oh’s eyes widened.
“You’re the one…! You turned away first without listening to me until the end.”
“……”
“You didn’t come out even when I waited in front of your house to talk! You turned off your phone, didn’t contact me, and went out with friends. Who’s saying it’s easy?”
“What? When did you wait in front of the house? And when did I go out to play… Oh.”
“Right. I guess not. It, it’s not my business anymore, so forget it. You don’t need to explain.”
I didn’t want to bring this up. I got too excited for a moment and ended up pressing him accusingly without realizing it.
The more I spoke, the more I felt this wasn’t like me. Even though I knew there was no need to be this sharp since we had decided to break up, my emotions felt out of control, as if they weren’t my own.
“I can explain! That day…”
“Go. I need to work.”
“Jeong-ha!”
“Ah, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t wait from now on. It’s uncomfortable for you to come here.”
I ran to the store to avoid being caught by Kwon-oh again.
Only after confirming that he was no longer following me could I stop.
“Haa, haa…”
Even though I was standing still, my heart continued to beat violently without stopping. As I exhaled heavily, I replayed the sharp words I had just uttered.
…Why? Is this how people normally change when they get angry at someone they’re dating? I had never shouted at or sneered at someone to this degree in my life, so I still couldn’t calm down.
I clearly intended to persuade him well and send him away…
I wonder what Kwon-oh thought after seeing how I just acted. Has he completely lost affection for me?
“You’re here?”
“…Ah, yes.”
As I opened the store door and entered, there was a clattering sound from the counter.
The boss had dropped everything he had just arranged while sorting accessories by size into cases.
“Are, are you okay? I’ll pick them up.”
I caught my breath and quickly ran to him. But the boss adamantly refused and picked up the fallen items himself.
“No. It’s fine, I can do it.”
He was fidgeting even more noticeably than when we had met in the alley earlier. He kept frantically picking up items, glancing at me, and then picking up again.
It was an awkward movement that anyone could see. It seemed he had overheard my conversation with Kwon-oh.
I turned away to hide the lump in my throat.
“Should I start cleaning?”
“Huh? Yeah… Go ahead.”
I took out a broom and dustpan from the storage room and started sweeping the store floor.
Normally, he would have quickly left, saying he had his own work to do or other appointments, but today the boss sat persistently at the store counter, making the atmosphere uncomfortable.
While pretending to sweep calmly, I was frantically thinking inside.
This is bad. It seems he heard everything. What was I thinking, raising my voice about breaking up or not outside?
I was already a mess because of the Kwon-oh situation, and now thinking that the boss might have found out about our relationship, my anxiety peaked.
I swallowed dryly. Then I turned to the boss, who had been glancing at me for the past few minutes.
“Do you have something to say?”
“What?”
“……”
“……”
“Then do you have any tasks for me…”
“No? Not at all.”
The boss, who had been resting his chin on the counter, shook his head excessively. Then he scratched his cheek and glanced at me.
“…Is that punk gone?”
“Yes.”
“……”
“……”
The conversation broke off again.
While wiping the display case glass that customers often touch with a dry cloth, I was conscious of the boss’s gaze that wouldn’t leave me.
Even though I tried to ignore it as much as possible, it was too blatant to pretend not to notice.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“Did you… hear all of the conversation outside earlier?”
“Ah.”
The boss was startled by my calm question and rolled his eyes.
“…I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. I was checking to see if that guy was hitting you. It just happened… Ahem.”
“……”
It was the moment my suspicion turned into certainty. It felt like all the composure I had barely maintained was crumbling. Everything went dark before my eyes.
So the boss found out too. That I was dating Kwon-oh.
To be discovered by the boss when I hadn’t even recovered from the shock I received from Lee Sung-rok sunbae.
As I stood there silently without saying anything, the boss cleared his throat again.
“Jeong-ha, were you gay…?”
“……”
I felt an emotion close to fear at the direct question.
“You’re not, right?”
What’s the intention behind this question? Hasn’t the boss already seen and heard everything? Or does he want me to deny being gay?
But it wasn’t an atmosphere where he would believe me if I just denied it outright. What difference would it make to lie and say I’m not when I’ve already been caught?
“Yes, I’m gay.”
My tense voice came out very cracked.
“Really?”
“Is, is that not okay?”
I reflexively responded with a somewhat sharp attitude.
Suddenly, all my senses were on edge, afraid he might tell me not to work at the store anymore or react saying he doesn’t understand.
“It’s not that it’s not okay, but… it’s a bit strange.”
As soon as I heard the word ‘strange’, my hand gripping the rag tensed up.
“What exactly… is strange?”
“Don’t gay people usually dress well?”
“Pardon?”
“……”
“……”
The store was once again enveloped in deep silence. The boss soon shook his head and scratched it vigorously.
“Ah. No. It’s a bit different from what I thought…”
At the boss’s words, I froze in place where I was standing.
Regardless, he looked me up and down with blank eyes that showed no trace of malice.
“I guess there are gay people who don’t dress well too.”
“What? That’s… such a rude thing to say…”
“Ah, sorry. Anyway, that guy who looks like trouble was your boyfriend, right? That’s why he came all the way here to wait. Wow.”
The boss muttered with an expression that seemed even more shocked than mine.
“You’re young, so young…”
“……”
I thought he was going to say something more, but he started rustling about at the counter, working as usual.
I barely gathered my wits while holding the dry cloth and watched the boss’s reaction.
“Um, boss.”
“Yes?”
“Is it okay if I continue cleaning?”
“Oh, go ahead.”
The boss answered indifferently, as if wondering why I was asking such a thing.
Despite having just heard that I was gay, he seemed completely unfazed. All the awkward behavior he had shown for the past few minutes had now completely returned to normal.
What’s going on? Is this really the end of it? If so, why did he ask if I was gay?
Is he perhaps pretending that nothing’s wrong…
With the Kwon-oh issue and now the boss issue added on top, my mind was more confused than ever.
This time, it was my turn to move stiffly like a robot, unable to accept reality.
Even if the boss was putting on an act, I was grateful that he hadn’t immediately kicked me out.
For now, I mechanically finished the cleaning I had been doing.
In between, a customer came in and I recommended some accessories, and even until I finished organizing inventory in the storage room, the boss didn’t say anything unusual.
As several hours passed normally without incident, I finally started to relax gradually.
