“Ah, as expected, Koreans run on rice.”
After eating a hearty breakfast, my body felt light. There was still a lot of the bean sprout soup Roban had made yesterday, so I mixed in some instant rice and ate it, with the fresh kimchi Roban brought as a side dish.
I wondered if it had only tasted good because I’d eaten it while drenched in a hangover, but that wasn’t it. Roban’s cooking skills were exceptional. While riding the bus, I seriously considered whether I should just start buying his kimchi. Then I remembered why I’d drunk so much, and a Monday-blues-like gloom washed over me.
“When you’re down, coffee’s the answer.”
I headed to a fast-food place to recharge with caffeine. The Americano here was lava-level hot, yet somehow addictively nutty and rich.
“One hot Americano is ready.”
I grabbed my coffee at the counter and was about to leave when a familiar face walked in.
Yot Seller. No—he was a licensed realtor from a nearby office. He was about to pass by me too, then suddenly stepped back and greeted me. I responded halfheartedly and tried to leave, but he abruptly followed and called out to stop me.
“Um, that… the landlord.”
“Pardon?”
When I gave him a puzzled look asking who he meant, he pointed out who else it could be—Seomun Jun, the landlord of the building across the street.
“I feel like I haven’t seen him at all lately. You’ve got his contact info, right? You two talk separately?”
Not that I remembered. Jun only contacted me through his dual-number line. Thinking about it, it was highly likely Jun had blocked this guy’s number—especially after he’d bragged about shoving something at ShutUp back then.
“Our boss calls him, he doesn’t pick up. We even tried the office number—nothing at all.”
As expected.
“Really? I haven’t talked to him much lately either.”
“Come on now… Why are you acting like that? I saw President Seomun Jun walking with you and a client the other day, the three of you together.”
“Ah, even after that, I didn’t hear from him.”
“This is local business—we shouldn’t hog everything alone, right? We should all make a living together. If I bring a studio client, you can show them that 13-story building in the back, right?”
“I’ll have to see about that.”
“See! I knew it!” he said, patting one side of my shoulder. Then he sneered that I must be handling the building’s lease management too—wow, President of Dajeong Real Estate must be getting rich soon.
You bastard. Try brokering monthly rent forever and see if you get rich. You’ve gotta broker entire buildings for that.
He kept tapping the arm holding my hot coffee, making me tense. I naturally switched the coffee to my other hand and just replied with a simple, “Yeah.”
Judging by how comfortable he looked, Yot Seller clearly hadn’t been dealt with yet. Since Jun didn’t know I played the game, I couldn’t exactly ask when he planned to take care of him. Still, it was obvious that day wasn’t far off.
Bzz—. Bzz—.
At that moment, my back pocket vibrated. It was the client who had come to see the studio the day before yesterday—the one who said they’d come sign but never showed.
“Alright, I’ll get going then.”
I greeted him and stepped out of the fast-food place. As soon as I answered the phone, the client’s disappointed tone came through.
[Boss, I came by yesterday but you weren’t there, so it was a wasted trip.]
“Sorry about that, I wasn’t feeling well yesterday. You’re signing today, right?”
[Yes. I’ll come between 10 and 11.]
I said okay and was about to put my phone back in my pocket when it rang again.
This time, it was Jun. A car pulled into the drive-through entrance as I passed by, so I couldn’t answer right away. After stepping safely onto the sidewalk, I pressed the call button belatedly.
“Uh, hello?”
[Where are you? Not opening again today?]
“I’m walking there now.”
Cars kept passing through the alley on their morning commute, making it hard to focus on the call. Whenever I tried to walk, I had to step aside for cars coming from behind, and just as I started again, another vehicle would tail me. Parked cars lining both sides made it even more uncomfortable. A loud honk—beep!—made me turn around, and I missed whatever Jun said.
Ah, I should tell him that.
Then I suddenly remembered the call with the client earlier and told him to come to the office around 10 or 11 so we could write up the contract.
But no reply came. Confused, I pulled the phone away from my ear and looked at the screen—only the call-ended message remained. I didn’t even know when it had disconnected.
“You hung up without saying anything?”
Grumbling, I slipped the phone into my pocket and started walking again when someone grabbed my arm from behind.
“Haa… I told you I could see you.”
“…Huh? When?”
It was Jun.
While we stood there talking, another car passed by. We stepped aside, but since it was a delivery truck, there wasn’t much space. Without hesitation, Jun pressed his body against mine, pulling close. Worried the hot coffee might touch him, I lifted my hand above my head.
What is this, first thing in the morning…
One car passed, and I tried to push away from Jun’s chest, but more cars came one after another. We were so close my forehead nearly touched his chin, and I could feel his breath against my cheek.
As I turned my head, I found myself looking closely at his chin—he’d shaved so cleanly he looked like someone who never grew facial hair at all. I could even see the fine downy hairs, reminding me again that he was five years younger than me. Still, maybe because of the mature skin scent coming from him at such close distance, those soft hairs didn’t seem purely innocent.
Once the cars were gone, the space between us naturally widened. As I slowly turned my body, he stepped forward and snatched the coffee from me.
“I’ll drink this well.”
It was probably still hot, yet he sipped it casually and walked ahead. Once the alley widened, I fell into step beside him naturally.
Then, for no reason, I glanced around behind and to the side. I wondered if anyone might be looking at us like that again. Well, this too was part of business—so even if it looked like I was monopolizing Jun, it wasn’t exactly a problem.
As we walked together toward the real estate office, I saw the hardware store owner opening up. I nodded first in greeting, and Jun greeted him alongside me.
The hardware store owner waved, saying we were finally here, while setting items out on the display. Then he stopped me just as I was about to open the door.
“Here, take this. It was in front of your door again.”
“…When?”
“The day before yesterday. I saw it when I was closing shop, so I brought it inside in case it got lost.”
That meant after I’d left work past 7 p.m. that evening. I remembered getting home a little late because of the studio contract that day. Which meant someone had intentionally left it after I closed the office.
“…Thank you.”
For now, I just took the delivery box inside.
Jun stared down at the box silently. Just like last time. Because he was here, I didn’t want to check it. So without opening it, I shoved it under the desk. Even if I threw it away later, I didn’t want to look at it right now.
“Aren’t you going to open it and see what it is?”
Jun sat on the sofa, leisurely sipping coffee as he watched me.
“I already know what it is.”
“Want me to throw it out?”
“No, I’ll handle it myself. You just keep an eye out in the evenings. See if some weirdo passes by.”
Then I pulled out the contract and the property disclosure form I’d prepared in advance in case the studio deal went through the day before yesterday. I asked Jun a few more questions about the building’s facilities, printed out the registry document, and placed it with the papers.
“Hyung. Did you return that?”
“What?”
“The watch.”
“Ah… not yet. Can’t you return it for me? I really don’t have the mental space to deal with other people right now.”
Even though I asked like that, Jun ignored me, just staring at his phone.
“You said I’m the master, right? Then shouldn’t you listen to the master?”
“That was before the contract, so it doesn’t count.”
“Juni, you’re pretty cold.”
“I don’t think someone who made me clean has room to talk, Hyung.”
It was already past 9:30. Jun showed no sign of leaving, as if he planned to stay until the client arrived.
His fingers moved busily, as if he was messaging someone. Since I didn’t really need to sit across from him, I went back to my desk.
I turned on the PC and checked the monthly rent, lease, and sale listings. Maybe because it was moving season, transactions had noticeably increased this month. All the properties I’d bookmarked were already sold.
Then I took my eyes off the monitor and glanced at Jun. He sat comfortably with his legs spread, tapping his phone screen with both hands.
“Juni.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you deliberately not answering calls from President Heo of Jackpot Real Estate? One of their staff asked me.”
“Jackpot… what?”
He was so absorbed in something that he didn’t listen properly. Even while I added more explanations, he kept playing dumb, and before I knew it, the words slipped out.
“How do you not remember? Yot Seller.”
Ah—damn. Well, I’d heard it myself that day too.
Only then did Jun lift his gaze from the screen and look at me.
“Do you play that game too, Hyung?”
“…Huh? No, what are you talking about? I’m too busy making a living to play games. I was standing right next to you back then, remember? Anyway, you remember now, right?”
His silent stare felt heavy, so I quickly turned back to the monitor. I pretended to type diligently, tapping the keyboard. The screen filled with meaningless strings of alphabet letters.
Honestly, part of me felt bad whenever Jun got badmouthed at realtor gatherings. He’d probably get dragged onto the chopping block again at the next meeting because of this. Even if the mutt I raised wasn’t loved by the neighborhood, I still couldn’t stand seeing it come back pelted with stones.
“Just tell them you don’t want to deal. Don’t block their numbers. Who knows? Maybe someday they’ll sell your building at a great price.”
“I’m not planning to sell, so don’t worry.”
Right… who am I worrying about anyway?
What was the point of a commoner worrying about a landlord? I just shut my mouth. Then I opened the locked drawer and took out the watch Jun had told me to return.
And I called the client I’d spoken with that morning. The background was noisy, like they were already on the way to the office. They said they’d arrive around 10:30, so I said okay and hung up.
“Looks like we’ll have to wait about forty minutes. You’re staying here, right?”
“Where would I go?”
“…To do the thing you told me to.”
I lifted the box containing the watch and shook it, and he complained about why I had to go now of all times. Well, the more annoying a task was, the faster it should be dealt with. Besides, it looked pretty expensive—if I lost it while holding onto it, that’d be a disaster.
“You’ll stay here? I think it’ll take me about twenty minutes.”
“Go ahead.”
Jun waved his hand without even looking at me.
