#162
A man was collapsed on one side of the alley. Normally, he would have thought it was just a drunk person and passed by, but there was something about the way he was lying there that exuded a tremendous aura, causing him to stop in his tracks.
His head was drooping, and his shimmering golden hair falling gently was quite beautiful. Even though he was just sitting there as if he had collapsed, his tall stature was noticeable to anyone.
‘Is he a foreigner?’
He wondered if the hair was dyed blonde, but seeing the glossy shine, it seemed to be natural. Kim Sehyun approached carefully, worrying about what he would do if foreign words suddenly spilled out of the man’s mouth.
“Um, excuse me.”
Feeling somewhat awed, he couldn’t bring himself to touch the man and instead called out to him carefully.
“Mmm…”
As if regaining consciousness from being called, the man slowly lifted his face. As the golden eyelashes shadowing his deep-set, foreign-looking eyes slowly rose, blue eyes sparkled.
‘What, it’s exactly like the description in the novel!’
Kim Sehyun looked back and forth between his phone and the man for a moment. The man’s appearance was exactly the same as the ‘Center Director’ from the novel he had been reading just moments ago. The reason he thought they were identical was because the blue eyes were shining like sapphire gems from multiple angles.
‘Are there… such contact lenses?’
He had seen mixed-race lenses that make you look foreign, scleral lenses that make the entire white of the eye black, and even lenses with stars or hearts printed on the iris, but he had never seen lenses that made the eyes look like jewels like this. Honestly, it was hard to believe they were lenses.
“Beautiful…”
He muttered softly. Then, suddenly looking at the face closely, he was surprised and his mouth fell open. Because of the hair and eye color, the impression was different so he didn’t recognize him right away, but looking closely, he looked exactly like the 2 o’clock customer who came to the cafe every day!
‘Is, is it the same person?’
Kim Sehyun stared blankly at the man in confusion. However, unlike him, the man didn’t seem to recognize Kim Sehyun at all.
Come to think of it, maybe it’s natural. Kim Sehyun had such a gloomy appearance that he didn’t know how he got hired for the cafe part-time job.
Only his close friends and parents said his original face wasn’t bad. They told him to tidy up his curtain-like hair that cast shadows on his face and his messy style, and to keep his face up straight, but he couldn’t do it because he was so timid.
“Ugh…”
The man groaned for a moment with a queasy look on his face, then looked closely at Kim Sehyun’s face and frowned.
“Kim Sehyun?”
“Y-yes! Do you remember me?”
It was unexpected. Every time he came, his gaze was always fixed on Lee Jaeha, so he never thought the man would remember him. Moreover, since he knew his name like this, it seemed the man and the 2 o’clock customer were the same person.
He remembered the name because Lee Jaeha always called him “Mr. Hyun Dowoon” or “Dowoon hyung”. He recalled thinking even the name was handsome.
“……”
Hyun Dowoon stared intently at Kim Sehyun for a moment, as if thinking about something. It wasn’t a particularly good expression.
“Um… then I’ll be going…?”
If nothing else, it was clear that Hyun Dowoon didn’t like him. As the transparent eyes stared at him piercingly, his confidence gradually disappeared. Kim Sehyun lowered his head, slightly deflated.
“Wait a moment.”
As Kim Sehyun was about to quickly escape the alley, Hyun Dowoon suddenly stood up. Surprised by his overwhelmingly tall height, Kim Sehyun shrank even more.
“I have something to ask.”
After pondering for a moment, Hyun Dowoon spoke to Kim Sehyun. As he waited nervously, gripping the strap of his crossbody bag, Hyun Dowoon continued with a serious face.
“By any chance, Lee Jaeha…”
“Huh? He, he hasn’t been coming in lately! Ah, no, maybe you already know that…”
Kim Sehyun, who had spoken hastily, mumbled awkwardly. At that, Hyun Dowoon’s eyes lit up.
“I’d like to hear more details.”
“Y-yes…?”
“Let’s talk while we walk.”
Hyun Dowoon suddenly changed his cold attitude and spoke with a gentle smile. The already flashy-looking man now smiling was dazzling to the eyes.
Although he didn’t particularly want to, Kim Sehyun felt an inexplicable pressure and followed Hyun Dowoon obediently.
As he walked beside him, he suddenly felt a chill. Muttering “Do I have a cold coming on?”, Kim Sehyun rubbed under his nose and looked up at Hyun Dowoon with suspicious eyes.
“Do you know me?”
“Yes, yes… You came to our cafe every day…”
“Ah, is Kim Sehyun the cafe owner?”
“N-no! How could I have that kind of money! I’m just an ordinary part-timer like Lee Jaeha.”
“Ah… Jaeha works part-time.”
Hyun Dowoon nodded. Kim Sehyun, surprised at being mistaken for the owner, awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.
“Are you two close?”
“Huh? Me and Lee Jaeha?”
Kim Sehyun was shocked for a moment, hearing something unbelievable, and turned his face to Hyun Dowoon. Is he serious?
If there’s one thing Kim Sehyun has believed throughout his life, it’s that there are caste-like groups even in modern society.
Lee Jaeha, who is handsome, bright, and obviously an insider, is at the top of the hierarchy. And Kim Sehyun, who is gloomy and lacks confidence, is at the bottom. If there’s a protagonist, it’s Lee Jaeha, and Kim Sehyun is the extra with no presence.
“Did, did Lee Jaeha say he was close to me…?”
If that was the case, it would be understandable for Hyun Dowoon to misunderstand the relationship between him and Lee Jaeha.
Unlike the joke that good-looking people live up to their looks, Lee Jaeha was truly a kind and good person. Like someone who has been loved all their life, as anyone could see.
At best, they had only exchanged greetings and brief conversations when changing shifts at the cafe, but it seemed plausible that Lee Jaeha might have called him a friend. Isn’t that how insiders usually refer to people they’ve just briefly talked to as friends?
“I already knew you weren’t close. I can tell from the way you address him. I was worried you might think you’re close to Jaeha on your own, but I’m glad you don’t.”
At first, Kim Sehyun thought he had misheard the content. After all, he didn’t know it was possible to verbally beat someone while smiling so kindly and gently!
Kim Sehyun, who had suddenly been subjected to harsh words, was momentarily dazed. His face alternated between turning pale and blue.
“Anyway, that’s good. Do you know Jaeha’s number?”
“I… I don’t know his number… but there’s a group chat.”
“What kind of group chat?”
“The, the cafe employee group chat… But am I being interrogated right now…?”
Kim Sehyun tried to resist, but when Hyun Dowoon ignored him, he closed his mouth. It was very difficult for the shy and timid Kim Sehyun to resist further.
‘If I had known this would happen, I should have just pretended not to see him and passed by.’
From the beginning, he hadn’t approached with good intentions to help a collapsed person. He had just been drawn to someone who stood out so much from afar. But finding himself in this situation made him feel miserable.
“Let me see the group chat.”
“…What?”
It didn’t make sense for an outsider to see the group chat where cafe part-timers exchanged notices. Because of this, Kim Sehyun’s eyes widened. As he gripped his phone tightly, Hyun Dowoon’s gaze turned to the phone.
Seeing Hyun Dowoon silently pointing at the phone with his eyes, it felt like cold sweat was running down his spine. Kim Sehyun timidly shook his head.
“You… already know his contact information… Or maybe… are you some kind of group chat inspector? Does, does Lee Jaeha know about this?”
Kim Sehyun glanced at Hyun Dowoon with eyes that seemed to be looking at a jealous husband. Hyun Dowoon sighed, “Ha,” and ran his hand through his hair.
“You should consider yourself lucky that you didn’t meet Shin Haejun. Killing someone twice wouldn’t be much harder than doing it once.”
When death suddenly came up, a startled Kim Sehyun hastily held out his phone. Whatever it was, he didn’t want to die. He had vaguely become aware of Shin Haejun’s existence, who inevitably came to see Lee Jaeha while working at the cafe, and hearing about killing people sent chills down his spine.
Kim Sehyun briefly worried that Lee Jaeha might have gotten involved with people of bad character, but soon concluded that he should worry about himself being somewhat threatened by one of them.
“Hmm… You’re not close enough to contact each other personally. That’s fortunate in a way, but it’s inconvenient. I need to contact him.”
Hyun Dowoon frowned as he briefly looked at the group chat and clicked his tongue. From his expression, it seemed he was trying to see if he could move from the group chat to a private chat.
Kim Sehyun desperately racked his brain to come up with an explanation for this situation. Maybe Hyun Dowoon had lost his phone and couldn’t contact Lee Jaeha!
“I, I don’t know the emergency contact list. Only the owner and manager know that. He’ll come to the cafe tomorrow!”
Kim Sehyun, feeling preemptively guilty, shouted urgently. He felt that if Hyun Dowoon’s mood worsened and he messed with him, it would be a big problem.
“Tomorrow? Tomorrow, huh. Will Jaeha come out tomorrow too?”
“I, I don’t know about that. He said he was taking time off recently due to health issues…”
“Health issues?”
Instantly, Hyun Dowoon’s eyes sharpened. Kim Sehyun stepped back, flinching, sad and wondering why he had gotten caught up with such a person and was being interrogated on the street.
“I, I’ve arrived home! I’m sorry, but I’ll be going now…!”
“Ah, you’re inviting me in. Thank you. Shall we talk about Jaeha’s health issues as we go up?”
As Kim Sehyun exclaimed, brightening up because they were near his home, Hyun Dowoon smiled shamelessly. Not knowing that he would be interrogated until dawn, Kim Sehyun looked up at Hyun Dowoon with an anxious face.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
