# Chapter 20
A week after starting his part-time job, Haeseung was finally allowed to touch the espresso machine. It was surprisingly simple. It was such a straightforward task that he wondered why there had been a waiting period at all. However, the problem was tamping, which supposedly greatly determined the coffee’s taste. He was told to apply 15 to 20 kilograms of pressure evenly, but Haeseung had no idea how much pressure he was actually applying. Even Sihyeong, who taught Haeseung the tamping technique, couldn’t guarantee he was doing it correctly. There was no way to know if he was applying 5 kilograms of pressure or 30.
“Why are you working at a café?”
As usual during slow hours, Sihyeong threw a personal question.
“To earn pocket money.”
“Math tutoring pays much better.”
Only then did Haeseung realize that Sihyeong’s question wasn’t “Why are you working?” but “Why are you working at a café?”
“What about you, hyung?”
“I entered Electrical and Information Engineering because I want to open a café someday.”
“Me too.”
Haeseung went along with Sihyeong’s frivolous joke. He too had developed the composure to exchange light jokes.
Haeseung stacked mugs upside down on the cup warmer, the crown of the warm espresso machine. Just then, the automatic door at the entrance opened, and a man and woman walked in. As soon as Haeseung saw the face of the tall, eye-catching man, his heart pounded as if he’d been caught stealing. It was Mugyeong. No matter how many times he rubbed his eyes and looked again, it was definitely Mugyeong.
Since the café was located in the university district, he hadn’t been unprepared for such a coincidence. That’s why he’d planned to tell him today, before it was too late. The problem was that it was already too late.
Mugyeong, walking towards the counter, spotted Haeseung and his face stiffened. Haeseung smiled briefly and awkwardly raised his hand in greeting.
“Lee Haeseung. What are you doing here?”
“Oh? Isn’t that Haeseung?”
The two spoke almost simultaneously. Haeseung set aside Mugyeong’s question for now and turned to the woman. Surprisingly, it was a familiar face. Of course, since she recognized Haeseung first. It was Hiyeon, who had lived in Haeseung’s rooftop apartment two years ago.
“Hiyeon noona!”
“It’s been so long. You’re working here?”
“Yes.”
Haeseung answered while subtly signaling to Mugyeong with his eyes that they’d talk later. Mugyeong, with an expression as if forcing himself to hold something back, firmly closed his slightly parted lips and avoided Haeseung’s gaze. Haeseung watched with complicated feelings as Mugyeong’s words, barely suppressed, visibly moved down his prominent Adam’s apple.
Sihyeong took their order. Haeseung watched the two find a table and sit facing each other, then quickly averted his gaze. While preparing the drinks they’d ordered, Haeseung felt an indescribable lukewarm emotion surging inside him. Unable to clearly define this feeling, Haeseung felt stifled. Then, without realizing it, he muttered to himself.
“What the fuck is this?”
Surprisingly, his mutter contained a curse. That curse stirred up strong waves in Haeseung’s heart. No. Perhaps the waves came first, causing the curse to slip out. Haeseung couldn’t tell what came first. The only clear fact was that he had cursed in his mutter.
Sihyeong, who was supervising nearby to see if Haeseung was making the drinks correctly, flinched in surprise at the quiet curse that escaped Haeseung’s lips. Feeling sheepish, Haeseung smiled awkwardly at Sihyeong. Sihyeong seemed quite perceptive and didn’t ask why Haeseung had suddenly cursed.
After finishing the drinks, Haeseung called the vibrating pager. He expected Mugyeong to come, but Hiyeon came instead.
“When do you finish?”
Hiyeon asked.
“At 11.”
Haeseung replied, and Hiyeon checked her wristwatch.
“Two hours left. Should I wait? Let’s have a beer, the three of us, when you’re done.”
“I’m sorry. Not today, another time.”
Hiyeon picked up the tray with the drinks, wearing a regretful expression. Haeseung looked at the table where Mugyeong was sitting, and their eyes met. Since he expected their gazes to meet, Haeseung wasn’t surprised. He knew Mugyeong had been staring at him the entire time.
“Then talk with Mugyeong later and set a suitable date.”
“Um, noona.”
“Yes?”
“How did you and Mugyeong…”
Hiyeon quickly caught onto Haeseung’s fading words.
“How did we meet? About a week ago, we ran into each other at school by chance. Isn’t that strange?”
“Yes.”
At that moment, a large group of customers entered, and they couldn’t continue their conversation. The group of eight each had different orders. Haeseung became instantly overwhelmed.
After overcoming this busy spell, Haeseung regained his composure and glanced at Mugyeong’s table. He immediately withdrew his gaze as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have. So they’re laughing happily, huh? They met a week ago, huh? They’re close enough to come to cafés together, huh? The irritating image of Mugyeong smiling at Hiyeon became firmly lodged in Haeseung’s mind. Mugyeong, who had accidentally met Hiyeon at school a week ago, was now sitting across from her in the café, smiling. Haeseung could easily guess that some intimate change was occurring between Mugyeong and Hiyeon. “Change,” huh. Haeseung was now sick of changes. He didn’t welcome any changes, whether they were the kind that arbitrarily tossed, stirred, and disrupted him, or the kind that occurred intimately without including him. As he tried to understand the identity of this unwelcome feeling, Haeseung’s mind gradually went blank.
“Hey, Haeseung. I’ve been wondering about something.”
Sihyeong spoke in an uncharacteristically cautious tone.
“Yes?”
“Did that guy steal that woman from you?”
“No.”
“Then why does your expression look like that? Like you’re about to cry.”
At Sihyeong’s meaningful and unique words, Haeseung heaved a sigh and pounded his waist with his fist.
“My back hurts so much.”
His eyes met Mugyeong’s again. This time, Haeseung didn’t easily look away either. Their gazes clashed tensely. Haeseung glared at Mugyeong with fiery eyes, while Mugyeong stared back with a cold, sunken gaze. Haeseung no longer had even a speck of apologetic feelings towards Mugyeong. Excuses like how he somehow ended up working at this café and had been planning to tell him sooner had long since vanished from his mind as he watched Mugyeong happily conversing with Hiyeon. As if seeing through Haeseung’s inner thoughts, Mugyeong suddenly gave a faint sneer.
That bastard is smiling? Haeseung was furious, but outwardly he showed a sneer no less intense than Mugyeong’s. The precarious psychological warfare continued for a while, but in the end, Haeseung was the first to look away. He could at least judge that in the current situation, there was no particular reason for him to be furious and indignant. Rather, he should be happy about the two getting together. Though he did think the question of why women he liked showed interest only in Mugyeong was something to ponder, even if it had to be while washing dishes.
“Excuse me.”
While rinsing the whipping apparatus, which was the most difficult to clean, under running water, Haeseung heard Mugyeong’s voice behind him. Haeseung only turned his head to look at Mugyeong. Unable to readily answer because of the formal address “excuse me,” Haeseung hesitated as Mugyeong calmly asked while looking straight at him.
“Where is the restroom?”
“It’s over there, to the right.”
“I don’t think I can find it. Could you show me directly?”
Haeseung was concerned about Sihyeong, who would certainly be listening to every word of his conversation with Mugyeong. When he glanced at Sihyeong, sure enough, he was watching both Haeseung and Mugyeong with an interested expression. Haeseung looked back at Mugyeong and said:
“It’s easy to find. It’s right next to the elevator.”
“The part-timer is being very unkind to a customer.”
Just as Haeseung was about to deliver a sharp retort to Mugyeong’s unreasonable behavior, Sihyeong’s voice interjected:
“Haeseung. Go show him and come back.”
With Sihyeong’s permission, Haeseung took off his rubber gloves. He strode ahead without even giving Mugyeong a glance. As soon as they came out through the back door leading to the building lobby, Haeseung pointed to the area right next to the elevator.
“It’s over there.”
Haeseung lowered the hand that had been pointing to the restroom. That hand was immediately caught by Mugyeong. Mugyeong gripped Haeseung’s wrist tightly and silently pulled him towards the restroom. Haeseung didn’t resist and followed obediently. After entering the restroom, Mugyeong confirmed that no one was inside and even locked the entrance door.
“Why are you locking the door?”
Silently, Mugyeong grabbed Haeseung’s shoulders and positioned him in front of the restroom door. Mugyeong came close, and Haeseung stepped back. With nowhere left to retreat, Haeseung’s back touched the door. Mugyeong stretched out one arm and placed his palm against the door. It was a posture that seemed to trap Haeseung’s body within his arm. Haeseung thought it was a familiar pose, like the embarrassing setup from old B-grade dramas where someone abruptly pushes the other against a wall and delivers an intense kiss.
“Why do you think I locked the door?”
“I don’t know. Maybe you wanted to create an outdated scene? It would be funny if someone opened the door right now.”
Haeseung inwardly laughed, imagining Mugyeong and himself hastily making way for someone who suddenly opened the door. Mugyeong probably had the same concern and made the instantaneous calculation to lock the door. Mugyeong looked Haeseung up and down. There was a mischievous, lascivious glint in his eyes.
“The skirt suits you well.”
“It’s not a skirt, it’s an apron. A uniform.”
“It’s still a skirt anyway.”
“Do you like it?”
“I want to tear it off.”
“Seems like you don’t like it.”
The distance between Haeseung and Mugyeong was very close. Mugyeong maintained a constant distance, neither getting closer nor further from Haeseung. With his back against the door, Haeseung had nowhere to retreat and couldn’t move away from Mugyeong. Haeseung found it increasingly burdensome to continue the banter. Just then, he heard someone turning the doorknob behind him. In that moment, Mugyeong revealed a gap. Haeseung slightly pushed Mugyeong’s shoulder away and said:
“…Go use the restroom. I need to go back and work.”
When Haeseung opened the door and came out, the man who had been turning the knob outside looked at both Haeseung and Mugyeong’s faces alternately with a puzzled expression. Haeseung left Mugyeong behind and went back into the café. Sihyeong was taking orders from new customers. Haeseung assessed the order list and began making the drinks.
About 10 minutes passed. Hiyeon approached the counter and greeted him.
“We’re leaving. Good work.”
When Haeseung glanced over Hiyeon’s shoulder, Mugyeong was already opening the door and leaving the café. Haeseung inwardly hurled unspeakable curses at Mugyeong for leaving without even saying goodbye, while smiling at Hiyeon.
“Take care on your way home.”
Hiyeon smiled brightly, even waving her hand cutely. The moment Haeseung saw her innocent smile, he inwardly hurled even more severe curses at Mugyeong. While Haeseung hesitated about whether to call Hiyeon back, she had already gone far away. Along with the presumption that Hiyeon had been showing Mugyeong the same charming, bright smile all along, Haeseung could immediately understand that she had completely fallen for Mugyeong. This made him feel even more sorry and deepened his resentment towards Mugyeong.
“Ah, that bastard.”
Haeseung sighed quietly. There was bright red chili powder stuck between Hiyeon’s pristine white front teeth.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
