Chapter 109
The next day. I went to work at the store with a slightly lighter heart than yesterday. Thanks to the promise to take time to think, Joo Kwon-oh didn’t come to the front of the store today.
Although nothing has been decided yet, I felt more relieved knowing that I had the leisure to think about what I wanted to do for a week.
“Jeong-ha. By the way, is your boyfriend the obsessive type?”
As soon as I opened the store door more energetically than yesterday, the boss, who was already at work, asked such a question.
Because of this, my body, which had been completely drained, immediately went into a defensive stance.
“Why do you ask that? And now he’s not my…”
I was about to say he’s not my boyfriend, but for some reason, I couldn’t finish the sentence.
“Yesterday, when I was about to leave after closing the store, he was waiting for you again.”
“Ah… What did you say to him?”
“I didn’t say anything. He just left when he saw you weren’t there.”
“…”
“Isn’t this level a bit obsessive? When he just nodded at me, his expression, oh, I thought I was looking at some gangster.”
“I’m sorry. He really won’t come anymore.”
Suddenly, I was annoyed by the boss badmouthing Joo Kwon-oh, so I deliberately added a word.
“And he’s not that bad of a guy…”
“No. That young kid’s eyes already look rotten. How dare he glare at an adult like that?”
The boss frowned as if the mere thought of it made him shudder.
The boss’s intuition was accurate. Joo Kwon-oh had disliked the boss from the beginning when I started my part-time job.
But… I don’t think his personality is that bad, is it? He might be a bit rough with the same gender, but he’s straightforward, easygoing, and honest without holding grudges.
“That’s not true… He has a good personality…”
“Why am I having this conversation with you? If you’ve come to work, start by taking out the trash and cleaning.”
The boss waved his hand, strongly expressing his disagreement with my words.
“Okay.”
“You left through the storage room door yesterday because of him, right?”
“…I’ll go take out the trash.”
I hurriedly changed the subject and busily picked up the garbage bags. Fortunately, the boss pretended not to know and let it pass.
When I came out of the store, several delivery boxes were piled up in front of the door.
As the boss often ordered supplies for the store, I picked up the boxes as usual, but then I remembered the content of the text message I received yesterday.
Ah, Joo Kwon-oh’s birthday present.
I checked the recipient written on the delivery label. One box was for the boss, and the remaining two were indeed for me.
But two? Is the watch strap divided into separate packages?
As I entered the store carrying the boxes, I thought carefully and belatedly remembered that I had also ordered perfume along with it.
“What’s that?”
“Something I ordered.”
“Why did you order it to the store?”
“Perfume and… an Apple Watch strap.”
“Ah. A gift for your boyfriend?”
How did he know? Perhaps reading my startled expression, the boss shrugged.
“It’s obvious. The items are too much like a gift for a lover.”
“He, he’s not my boyfriend anymore.”
“Ah, is that so?”
Saying that, he reached out his hand, urging me to hand over the package quickly. As I gave him the box, I mulled over the words “boyfriend” and “lover” that he had casually used.
Come to think of it, since yesterday, the boss had been talking about my gender identity without any hesitation. I still wondered if it was okay to pass over such a serious issue so naturally.
Was the boss really okay with me still being here? Although I started with the condition of quitting the part-time job when the semester begins, there were still some days left before that.
“Boss.”
I opened my mouth while putting away my package and taking out the cleaning supplies.
“Yes?”
“Um… Can I continue working part-time as planned until the semester starts?”
“That’s what we agreed on, right?”
“Well, even after seeing everything yesterday, you’re not bothered at all?”
I asked again as if to reconfirm. I needed a strong assurance that my existence wasn’t a nuisance here, not just a casual dismissal.
“What are you talking about? What’s the big deal about a gay person who can’t dress well?”
You were the one who made it sound like a big deal….
I mumbled those words inwardly, holding them at the tip of my tongue.
Since yesterday, the boss had been alternating between rudeness and acceptance nonchalantly, but the strange thing was that I didn’t feel bad about it at all. I was surprisingly unbothered. Why?
He didn’t say anything particularly nice, so why do I feel a sense of stability?
“Honestly… I thought you’d find it strange…”
“It is strange…”
“What?”
The boss sighed and put the delivery box on the counter, opening it.
“Originally, the world is strange except for me.”
“Well, that’s…”
It was oddly true.
“And being gay on top of that, it’s definitely strange.”
What the boss took out of the box was incense to be placed in the store. He was examining the package this way and that without even glancing at me.
It was behavior that showed no consideration for me whatsoever.
But for some reason I couldn’t understand, unlike when dealing with senior Lee Sung-rok, I felt more and more at ease with the boss’s attitude. Incomprehensibly….
“I guess so.”
Why? Whether it’s the senior or the boss, they both see me as strange. What’s the difference that makes me not get hurt by what the boss says?
Is it because there’s no chance of rumors spreading at school? But the boss already knew exactly which school I attend and what my major is.
Not only senior Lee Sung-rok but also the boss was someone who could easily spread rumors if he wanted to.
“But what are you going to do with that gift? You said you broke up.”
“I don’t know what to do with it yet.”
I answered honestly.
After exchanging DMs with Joo Kwon-oh yesterday, my previous thought that breaking up was unconditionally right had changed slightly. But I still wasn’t sure if dating him again was the right thing for him. It was ambiguous in many ways.
Come to think of it, the boss continued to work even after breaking up with his girlfriend. There was a time when he closed early and went home, but even when a large order came in, he focused on work stoically.
I don’t know how he felt inside, but outwardly, he seemed quite mature.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“…”
“What is it, speak up.”
“How did you forget your girlfriend?”
“Who said I forgot? You just spend time working your ass off.”
“Ah.”
“There’s nothing else to do anyway.”
“I guess so…”
I mumbled like that while sweeping the dust.
If I really break up with Joo Kwon-oh, will I be able to forget him? Just thinking about it makes me want to cry.
But the boss doesn’t know how to forget either. It was sad to think that I would have to spend my days constantly feeling this gloomy mood.
At that moment, two female customers opened the store door and entered.
“Welcome.”
I immediately greeted them, straightening my bent back. But they didn’t seem to need anything in particular, as they looked around the store for a while and quickly left.
“Jeong-ha. What are you doing after work today?”
The boss asked me as I was about to enter the storage room to process online orders after finishing cleaning. I stopped in the middle of opening the storage room door.
“Nothing in particular.”
“Then want to go for a drink? I’ll treat you.”
Why the sudden invitation for drinks?
As I stood still, unable to answer promptly, the boss patted my shoulder.
“Come to think of it, we haven’t had a company dinner since you started working part-time. It’s a chance to unload your worries and have a company dinner at the same time?”
A company dinner alone with the boss, for someone like me whose sociability is far below average. Normally, I would have said I couldn’t go, but it was hard to refuse right away because it seemed like the boss was being considerate of me.
Moreover, after hearing the boss’s words, I felt like I wanted to drink today for some reason.
“Okay.”
When I agreed, the boss nodded, saying it was good.
“I know a place with a good atmosphere, just trust me.”
He smiled with satisfaction, mimicking the act of holding a glass and gulping it down. Then, without warning, he suddenly started giving an uncomfortable lecture.
“From my point of view, Jeong-ha, you lack social experience.”
I nodded awkwardly and entered the storage room, and the boss followed, continuing to speak.
“Don’t live with such a closed-minded attitude. And I’m not someone who discriminates against or oppresses homosexuality. I’m an open-minded person.”
“Yeah…”
“Don’t think of my words as those of an old fogey and listen carefully. You’ll understand when you get a bit older. How important it is to live by meeting diverse people with an open mind. Huh?”
It sounds very much like an old fogey, but how can you tell me not to think of it as such? I suddenly regretted agreeing to the company dinner….
The lecture, which seemed like it would never end, was fortunately interrupted by a timely visitor.
I wonder where he’s planning to go, talking like that. I’d be uncomfortable with a place like a club. In fact, I’ve never been to such a place, so I was even a bit scared. I don’t get along well with very noisy places either.
After the customer left, when I casually asked the boss where he was thinking of going, he evaded the answer, saying he would take me to a good place.
I bit my lower lip in rising anxiety. Because of the boss’s meaningful words, I couldn’t help but think of Joo Kwon-oh.
Somehow, I felt like Joo Kwon-oh wouldn’t like it if he found out later. …Even though it’s a drinking occasion, it should be fine since it’s a company dinner, right? It might not be a club.
For now, I couldn’t directly ask for permission whether it was okay to attend the dinner, so I had no choice but to endure the anxiety as it was.
Before I knew it, I had completely forgotten about my firm decision to break up with him and was instead busily contemplating what kind of excuse I should make later.
