If he had been traveling with Secretary Kang, they might have stopped once, but the person driving now was Ho Munbeom. Surely someone at the rest area would recognize him, causing a commotion. It would be better to continue quickly without stopping.
Though there was some traffic along the way, they were able to arrive earlier than expected. Yeonwoo got out of the car that had stopped at a place that wasn’t his home and looked back at Ho Munbeom. When their eyes met, he awkwardly said, “I’ll see you next time,” to which Ho Munbeom smiled.
“Yes, let’s meet again next time.”
“…”
Only after the car door closed and the vehicle departed did Yeonwoo begin to walk slowly.
His physical condition was such that he felt like collapsing and sleeping as soon as he entered his home. Nevertheless, he was in a good mood. Without realizing it, he seemed to have been smiling.
It was fortunate to have these occasional moments that allowed him to breathe. Yeonwoo headed home in good spirits, and that feeling continued until the next morning. However, the moment he arrived at the supermarket for work, something happened that completely scattered his good mood.
***
“Yeonwoo, don’t you have anything to say?”
“…”
The man interrogating him in a cold voice wasn’t a stranger. He was the HR manager who had called Yeonwoo in when the supermarket was in turmoil over Director Park’s sexual misconduct scandal. Having found their previous conversation uncomfortable, Yeonwoo hadn’t wanted to face him again, but he hadn’t expected to see him so soon.
The man was sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed, while Yeonwoo stood meekly beside him. At a glance, it looked as if Yeonwoo had committed a terrible mistake.
Avoiding the HR manager’s gaze, which seemed to be waiting for his answer, Yeonwoo looked at the table. There lay a thick stack of documents and several photographs. The person captured in those photos was Yeonwoo.
He didn’t know who had taken them or where, but in the photos, Yeonwoo was getting into or out of an expensive-looking car. It was the vehicle Secretary Kang had driven when Yeonwoo met Ho Munbeom. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be any photos from when Ho Munbeom had driven the car himself.
Seeing that Yeonwoo’s closed lips showed no sign of opening, the HR manager heaved a heavy sigh.
“Strange rumors have been circulating recently. That one of the supermarket employees seems to be having compensated dates. After all, why else would someone secretly get into a foreign car, avoiding people’s eyes?”
“…”
“Of course, I don’t mean to trouble you with unconfirmed facts. But considering the unfortunate incident that occurred when Yeonwoo first started working at the supermarket…”
When Yeonwoo had just begun working at the supermarket, there had been several incidents because of his appearance. People loitering around while he stocked empty shelves, suddenly giving him their contact information, or demanding to meet him. All were one-sided actions committed by customers visiting the store.
Yeonwoo had done nothing wrong in relation to those incidents, but after Director Park joined in, Yeonwoo was eventually transferred to the logistics team. Co-workers who had become friendly with him during work would say, “This is all because you’re too good-looking,” trying to put a positive spin on it, but Yeonwoo couldn’t accept it that way.
“As you know, there was an incident at the supermarket recently. Things are already unsettled because of that, and now with these photos circulating, some employees are saying things like ‘Omega gold-digger’ or ‘he’s being worked…'”
“I’ll quit.”
“…Pardon?”
The HR manager, who had been rambling while observing Yeonwoo’s expression, closed his mouth in apparent surprise.
“I said I’m quitting the supermarket.”
“…Yeonwoo, wait a moment. What I’m trying to say is…”
“So, will you tell me who took these photos?”
Seeing that once again the situation was developing differently from what he had expected, the manager closed his mouth. Regardless, Yeonwoo calmly continued his questions.
“If I take action regarding this matter, will there be legal disputes with the supermarket?”
“Yeonwoo, just a moment. What I want to say is…”
“I’m aware of the strange rumors spreading about me. And I know how vile and filthy those words are. It seems you want to clean up Director Park’s mess by using a seemingly insignificant part-timer like me, but you know better than anyone that this isn’t right.”
“…”
“You know better than I do what a piece of trash that man is.”
The moment he saw the photos, Yeonwoo decided to quit the supermarket.
He didn’t particularly want to know who was doing this or why, nor did he want to stay and feel uncomfortable. Though he felt unpleasant and feverish to the point of having a headache, he tried hard to remain calm.
Having said he would quit, the cleanest solution was to simply quit and leave.
However, their actions were so dirty that he couldn’t leave without saying something. Yeonwoo brought up Lee Jonghoon, who wouldn’t care whatever happened to him.
“I worked here because of complicated family circumstances, but it doesn’t really matter if I don’t earn money. If I ask my father for help, he’ll support me. And if he finds out what kind of treatment and words I’ve endured while working here, he’ll undoubtedly be very displeased.”
“No, well, Yeonwoo…”
“I don’t want to think about matters related to Director Park anymore. What I experienced from that person is so unpleasant and disgusting that I don’t want to recall it. I originally wanted to work until the end of this month, but that doesn’t seem possible. Still, I trust that you’ll pay me for the days I’ve worked.”
Then Yeonwoo gathered all the photos placed on the table.
“Are the negatives stored separately?”
“…”
“Please dispose of them properly. There’s no benefit in keeping them. And once I quit, please stop the false rumors about me. I still live nearby and might occasionally use the supermarket. Now, I’ll be leaving.”
Yeonwoo left before the manager could say anything.
Upon exiting the office, the gazes directed at him felt distinctly different from before. Previously, he had thought that regardless of what people said about him, he only needed to not care, but that thinking was wrong. While he had been quietly doing his job, truly absurd things had been happening.
Clutching the gathered photos with both hands, Yeonwoo headed straight for the changing room. After changing his clothes and stuffing the photos into his outer pocket, he left with just his mask on.
Though he had pretended not to be nervous in front of the HR manager, in reality, with each statement, he had kept thinking and rethinking whether he was saying something wrong. If he made a mistake, it could harm not him but the other person in the photos. He didn’t want to cause unnecessary trouble for Ho Munbeom because of himself.
On the other hand, he wondered how people viewed him for such absurd rumors to circulate.
‘Strange rumors have been circulating recently. That one of the supermarket employees seems to be having compensated dates-.’
Compensated dates?
What he and Ho Munbeom were doing was nothing of the sort.
We, that person and I, that is…
Just then, startled by a vibration from inside his pocket, Yeonwoo stopped in his tracks.
When the person who had been walking straight ahead with an almost frightening focus suddenly stopped, a woman approaching from the opposite direction cautiously distanced herself. Flustered, Yeonwoo repeatedly opened and clenched his lowered hands before taking out his phone. He worried it might be a call from the supermarket. If he had to exchange words again, he wasn’t confident he could remain calm this time.
With a reluctant face, he checked the screen, and his eyes trembled briefly. Surprised, he hurriedly answered with a “Hello?”
“Hello? Has something happened to my father…?”
[…Yeonwoo.]
The call had come from the hospital where his father was admitted. Yeonwoo’s face, initially surprised by the call at such an odd time, froze with a different meaning. As he held his breath in a daze, he heard a weak whisper saying “Dad” through the receiver.
He had sometimes imagined his father suddenly becoming healthy. In Yeonwoo’s imagination, his father looked very healthy and happy, as if he had never been sick. Because that’s what Yeonwoo wanted. He wanted his father to no longer suffer and to be happy.
But imagination was just imagination, and the possibility of it becoming reality was slim. Even if his father miraculously recovered, Yeonwoo didn’t know how to make him happy.
Hearing his father’s voice through the hospital call, Yeonwoo couldn’t gather his thoughts. He immediately hailed a taxi to the terminal, bought a ticket, and held his phone the entire journey. He couldn’t even remember how he arrived at the hospital. Yeonwoo ran to the desk for visitor registration, panting heavily.
“Hello, I’m Yeonwoo. I mean, Lee Yeonwoo. My father…”
“Yeonwoo, calm down. Your father has gone up to the physical therapy room. Go see him.”
The nurse, who seemed to have been waiting for him, grabbed his hand across the desk upon seeing Yeonwoo arrive in a panic. When she asked if she should go with him, Yeonwoo shook his head and headed toward the corridor.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
