Chapter 112
After that day, the two grew much closer. McRae took Hyeon-woo out for lunch, saying there was a hidden gem near the side gate, and even followed him to the library to study together.
There was also a time when McRae invited Hyeon-woo to watch a sports game together. If Hyeon-woo had known it was a Whaleshark game in which McRae was playing, he would never have agreed to go.
“Danny! No! That’s it! Danny!”
Because of Ashley enthusiastically cheering for McRae beside him, Hyeon-woo’s gaze kept following her chants towards McRae.
Hyeon-woo, who usually had no interest in sports, was a bit surprised to find that ice hockey was a much rougher game than he had imagined when he watched it for the first time with his own eyes.
When McRae suddenly threw his gloves onto the ice and grabbed the collar of an opponent who had been ruining the flow of the game with unsportsmanlike play throughout, Hyeon-woo was so startled he nearly stood up. However, unlike him, the crowd seemed to have been waiting for this moment when McRae took off his gloves, cheering even more enthusiastically than when the puck went into the goal.
Hyeon-woo was puzzled that the referee didn’t stop McRae when he aggressively body-checked the opponent with his broad shoulders, but he soon learned from Ashley that this too was part of ice hockey sportsmanship.
Because it’s such a violent game, emotional conflicts between players often escalate into group brawls, leading to serious injuries. To prevent such incidents, only one player on the team is given the right to engage in physical confrontations with opponents.
McRae’s position was precisely that of the “enforcer.” The enforcer, who has the complete trust of teammates, acts as a bouncer protecting the team and leads the game performance. Often, the enforcer takes on the role of team captain, and the leader of the Whalesharks was indeed Daniel McRae.
However, regardless of the nature of the sport, to Hyeon-woo’s eyes, McRae’s aggressive charging just looked like a lawless thug gliding across the ice. As if reading his thoughts, Ashley, determined to clear McRae’s bad reputation, cornered Hyeon-woo and made him listen to McRae’s heroic exploits until he was sick of it.
Following his growing closeness with Ashley, Hyeon-woo noticed that his fellow students’ attitudes towards him had become strangely more docile recently. Some even started offering him a seat when he was standing awkwardly with his tray because the student cafeteria was full.
Puzzled by their suddenly changed attitude, it was only today that Hyeon-woo realized the source of this goodwill when Ashley asked if there were any part-time positions available at Blue Door.
It had been a few weeks since rumors spread that McRae was a regular at the newly opened Blue Door on Elliott Street and was close with its Asian female owner. It seemed that the fact that he was the son of that store’s owner had just come to light.
“You’re still hiring, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Hyeon-woo mumbled while chewing his sandwich.
“I’m taking a semester off next term to save up for tuition. Could you tell me if there are any qualifications needed to work at your store? I have two years of experience as a server on cheese boards, would that help?”
“Well, I think it might help, but my mother will be conducting the interviews, not me, so I don’t know the details.”
“Really? You’re going straight to the store after classes today, right? I’ll come with you. I might as well have an interview today!”
“Okay.”
Ashley excitedly took out a hand mirror from her pocket and started fixing her hair. Her black hair flowed softly following her hand movements. Just a few days ago, her hair had been light brown.
After McRae’s game, skating across the rink with black hair and handling the puck with his blade, was broadcast on local TV, black hair dye became a trend throughout the neighborhood. Thanks to this, Hyeon-woo felt that the sense of alienation he had experienced as a lone foreigner here was suddenly dispelled.
The contemptuous looks from people towards him also softened considerably. Although he was reluctant to admit it, he couldn’t deny that all of this was thanks to McRae.
Ashley, who followed Hyeon-woo to the store after classes, was hired on the spot. Due to the sudden increase in customers, the store had become busy enough to hire two new employees.
The other one was a middle-aged woman named Marine Keenan, hired as a full-time employee rather than part-time. Marine worked in the back room with Hyeon-woo’s mother, handling the cooking, while Ashley worked in the same service position as Hyeon-woo, taking care of the hall. As she had said she had experience working as a server in a large franchise restaurant, Ashley was indeed skilled in customer service.
*
“Whew, the number of customers has really increased, huh?”
McRae entered the store, whistling at the bustling interior as he approached the counter where Hyeon-woo was standing. Ashley, who was placing drinks on the pickup counter, recognized McRae and quickly approached Hyeon-woo to whisper in his ear.
“Let me handle this, let me do it.”
McRae gave an enigmatic smile to Hyeon-woo as he yielded his position to her. Then, handing his card to Ashley who was now at the counter, he spoke.
“The usual for this time.”
Ashley, who had no idea what that was, gave an awkward smile and followed Hyeon-woo to pass him McRae’s card. Hyeon-woo returned to the counter, customized the seasonal iced tea to McRae’s preference on the POS, and completed the payment.
Ashley, who took the order slip, memorized its contents. Seasonal iced tea. With additional options of sugar-free and decaf.
They had planned a seasonal fruit-limited drink inspired by the strawberry season in Korea, which many customers found interesting and liked. An iced tea decorated with honey-soaked lemon, blueberries, and rosemary on top was served in a glass filled with ice.
As McRae approached the pickup counter to receive the drink Hyeon-woo handed out, a sharp nicotine smell wafted from him. Hyeon-woo thought that quitting smoking would be several times more beneficial to his health than drinking such decaf beverages.
As if reading Hyeon-woo’s mind, McRae narrowed his eyes, mimicked holding a cigarette between two crossed fingers, and exhaled with a “whoosh.” McRae’s breath ruffled Hyeon-woo’s bangs. Hyeon-woo wrinkled his face at the bitter scent invading his lungs.
“…Quit smoking.”
“…”
“It looks unprofessional and not good for an athlete to smoke.”
“Don’t you like the taste of cigarettes?”
“What?”
When Hyeon-woo questioned, not understanding the strange remark, McRae laughed briefly.
“When kissing, I mean.”
“…”
“If that’s the case, I’ll try to quit.”
“…Do as you please, quit or not.”
As Hyeon-woo turned away irritably, McRae smiled, his eyes crinkling, and headed to his usual seat with his drink.
McRae’s eye-smile, which curved like half-moons whenever he laughed mischievously, looked just like a fox. A nine-tailed gumiho that bewitches people and eats their livers. It was impossible to know what face he was hiding behind that handsome and glib mask.
McRae moved aside the newspaper that had been placed at the far corner of the L-shaped bar table, put down his drink there, and sat down after taking out a book from his bag. It was McRae’s designated seat. A place reserved for McRae, the store’s special regular customer. Hyeon-woo’s mother would place the daily delivered newspaper there every morning to prevent other customers from taking the seat.
In fact, it was such a poor location that no one would want to sit there even without such troublesome reservation. It wasn’t a seat with a view of the outside through a window, nor a place where warm sunlight shone, nor a spot where one could watch people laughing and chatting.
All that could be seen from that position was the busy sight of employees working frantically, yet McRae always insisted on the same seat.
After a wave of people left and things finally calmed down, Hyeon-woo finished the backed-up dishwashing and hall cleaning. He then filled a small plate with water and went outside the cafe.
McRae, noticing this, followed Hyeon-woo. What he thought was a plate turned out to be an espresso cup saucer upon closer inspection. There was a shallow pool of water in the circular depression in the center of the saucer where a cup would normally sit. McRae looked puzzled as he watched Hyeon-woo place it in a corner of the railing.
“I’ve been wanting to ask, why do you put water for stray cats on such a high railing? And isn’t the amount too little? It would disappear after just three licks.”
“This isn’t for stray cats.”
“Then what is it for?”
“It’s for honeybees.”
“Honeybees…?”
“Yeah. There are a lot of flowers in this neighborhood, so honeybees are often seen, but there’s no lake or pond nearby, so they have no place to drink water. I hope the honeybees passing by our store don’t get thirsty.”
“…”
