“I’m really sorry I couldn’t keep in touch.”
“No, no. I’m the one who should apologize. In the end, you couldn’t even come to my wedding…”
Unless someone had received permission and been properly vetted, I wasn’t allowed to invite them. That was why it had continued to weigh on me that I hadn’t been able to keep my promise to invite them to my wedding.
“We figured you must have had your reasons, Team Leader.”
“That’s why I couldn’t contact you either. Somehow, it felt like we’d grown apart.”
“…Does that mean you reached out again because you got divorced?”
The news of Jaekyung’s divorce had already appeared in the papers and even become a trending search term. Her wedding had been such a high-profile affair that, unfortunately, the divorce ended up being just as sensational.
Reporters had filled their articles with all sorts of speculation, and NI Company had deliberately emphasized Park Jaekyung’s name over Han Taeseok’s, releasing stories that made it seem as though the divorce had been Jaekyung’s fault.
So there was no way these people could have been unaware that I was divorced.
Perhaps I’d hit a little too close to home, because the conversation suddenly fell silent.
“Ah, sorry. I was just joking.”
“Team Leader… Honestly, I can’t say that wasn’t part of the reason. When we heard that you’d gotten divorced, we wanted to contact you right away… but somehow, we felt terrible, and we were worried it would look like we were only reaching out because of the divorce. But we kept wanting to contact you. Today, after holding back for so long… we finally reached out. I’m sorry if we hurt your feelings.”
“No, no! Not at all. You have no idea how happy I am that you reached out to me.”
It had been a long time since I’d had a proper conversation with anyone besides the customers and manager at the convenience store. Of course, I still talked to my mother on the phone, but that was different. Besides, whenever we talked about anything, she would soon get teary-eyed, so we could never have a long conversation.
When Jaekyung assured them that he was fine, everyone visibly relaxed, letting out sighs of relief.
Soon, the door opened, and one dish after another of a hearty spread was placed on the table. Everyone raised their glasses, and we shared a long-overdue, welcome toast.
“Huh?”
As they ate, they asked Jaekyung how he had been doing and whether things were going well with work. At Young-eun’s answer, Jaekyung’s chopsticks suddenly stopped.
“You started your own company?”
“Yes, two months ago. Our entire team quit and opened an office in Hongdae. It’s an advertising planning agency.”
“Oh…”
“There are four of us, and we’re all co-CEOs.”
“Oh… Congratulations! If I’d known sooner, I would’ve at least sent you some flowers… Would it be okay if I came by sometime?”
“Of course! Come visit and give us some advice.”
“We really need a leader like you, Team Leader. I think we’re still pretty inexperienced. We keep failing to see eye to eye, so we end up arguing all the time. Hehe.”
Minji spoke a little bashfully. The others nodded in agreement.
Come to think of it, all four of them had been pretty stubborn in their own ways. Remembering how their meetings used to turn into heated battles every time, Jaekyung let out a laugh.
“Where did you end up working, Team Leader?”
“Ah… A convenience store?”
“Huh?”
Everyone stared at Jaekyung in bewilderment. For a moment, they wondered if they had heard him wrong and asked again, but there was only one answer he could give.
“Uh… Do you mean a company that operates convenience stores? Like Sejin or something…?”
“No. I’m just working the night shift part-time at a small neighborhood convenience store.”
“Oh, but why? Someone like you must have plenty of people you could call on… If you wanted, you could even get your old job back at Jaewang…”
Jaekyung idly stirred the soy sauce with his chopsticks and smiled.
There were things he couldn’t tell them, things that pressed heavily against his chest, but he couldn’t bring himself to say them out loud. No matter how grateful he was to them, and no matter how much he trusted them as good people, there was no telling where a story might end up once it left his lips. Visit novelping dot com for the full chapter.
“Um… I’m telling you this because I don’t want you to misunderstand, but I’m actually very happy with my life right now. I’m enjoying myself. I’d always wanted to try working part-time at a convenience store, too…”
“But still…”
“Don’t feel sorry for me. And don’t pity me, either. I’m really okay. This is something I chose for myself.”
“Team Leader…”
“This really isn’t the time to get depressed… I’m not saying this to bring the mood down, either.”
Jaekyung spoke cheerfully as he picked the meat from the lobster that had arrived with the next course and ate it.
“Team Leader! Let’s go for a second round after this. It’s on me!”
Young-eun suddenly shouted, holding up a lobster. She explained that they had finished everything they needed to do today, so she could come into work late tomorrow.
Watching her, Jaekyung could practically picture how that company was being run. Still, he had no reason to turn down the invitation.
After filling their stomachs with a lavish course meal at the upscale restaurant, their choice for the second round was a gopchang restaurant.
As they sat around a round metal table and watched Ha-seong stir-fry the gopchang, Jaekyung realized just how long it had been since he’d been somewhere like this.
Gopchang, of all things…
When he thought about how he used to secretly—very, very secretly—sneak out just to eat a bowl of gukbap…
“Here, Team Leader. Have a drink.”
“Sure.”
As he raised his glass, Young-eun filled it to the brim with soju.
Ah, soju, too. It had been a long time.
He clinked glasses with them and tossed the shot back. The sharp warmth of the alcohol slid down his throat.
Ah… this feeling…
It was fun. It really was.
“So, after getting divorced, moving, and starting a part-time job at a convenience store… Is that pretty much everything you’re doing these days?”
Once the alcohol had gone to their heads, everyone started asking Jaekyung all sorts of questions without worrying about how they might come across. Jaekyung carefully chose his words and answered each one as best he could. As long as they didn’t touch on anything forbidden, he wanted to talk to them too.
“I suppose you could say that.”
“Hmm… What about traveling or, I don’t know, going shopping or something? My friend went traveling right after getting divorced. She went around the world.”
“Ah… No, I haven’t really thought about traveling.”
That wasn’t true.
He had wanted to travel. He had always thought that traveling alone was the best way to experience true freedom, but the moment he received the divorce settlement, that freedom had been put on hold.
Was it the third condition? Or the fourth? He couldn’t even remember anymore.
All he remembered was that one of the conditions prohibited him from leaving the country for a year.
He had asked why that condition was necessary.
He wasn’t allowed to work for five years in the same industry or at any related company. And, even more absurdly, for three of those years, he wasn’t allowed to take a job at any company at all.
When Jaekyung had angrily asked about it, what had that man said to him back then?
He couldn’t remember.
The only thing that came to mind now was the sight of those lips, pressed tightly shut.
“Team Leader. Team Leader.”
Young-eun, Minji, and Ha-seong were completely drunk by the time they stumbled out of the restaurant, clinging to Jaekyung and calling after him.
He didn’t dislike them, those puppy-like young people who followed him around so earnestly. If anything, he was grateful that they hadn’t forgotten him and had gone out of their way to find him.
He put them into taxis one by one, until only Gwak Hae-shin remained. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Hae-shin hadn’t said a single word to Jaekyung all night.
But his eyes had never stopped watching him.
“I’m not the team leader anymore…”
“To me, there’s only ever been one person like you. Even until now. So… may I contact you again?”
“Of course. Thank you for inviting me. I’m free now, so let’s see each other often.”
Jaekyung smiled and closed the taxi door. After telling the driver his destination, he leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes.
He could hold his liquor fairly well, but perhaps he’d had too much after such a long time without drinking. A pleasant buzz was slowly beginning to spread through him.
It had been so long since he’d had this much fun. So long since he’d been able to laugh out loud without holding anything back.
This is what living is supposed to be. This is what it means to be human…
“The place where you are isn’t a place where people live.”
“It’s a prison.”
Jaekyung slowly closed his eyes.
***
The spacious living room was filled with nothing but expensive furniture and a suffocating silence. Every now and then, the faint clink of teacups was the only sound that reminded Jaekyung that this was, in fact, a place where people lived.
“Good.”
Director Ji set down her teacup and finally spoke. It had been more than twenty minutes since she had sat down and begun drinking her tea, and this was the first word she had said. Of course, to Jaekyung, those twenty minutes had felt like an eternity.
“Tomorrow will mark one month since you got married, so it’s about time you started making the rounds to greet everyone, don’t you think?”
“Yes…”
One month. Had it really already been a month?
He didn’t even know how he had gotten through it. No… he knew exactly how he had spent it. What he couldn’t understand was how the time had passed so quickly.
What had he done all month?
He had been trapped in this house, unable to go anywhere or do anything. He had stayed in one place so long that even the housekeeper had practically pushed him toward the door, pleading with him to please go outside.
Jaekyung wanted to leave, too.
But he couldn’t.
He had no idea where they might be watching him from or how closely they were keeping tabs on him, so he couldn’t afford to step outside carelessly. What frightened him most of all was the possibility of running into Director Ji.
Fortunately, since Jaekyung had stayed quietly inside and never gone out, Director Ji hadn’t called for him.
He had only hoped that time would pass like that, quietly and uneventfully…
And yet, only a month had gone by.
Director Ji handed Jaekyung a notebook.
“Here are the contact information and birthdays of the elders in the family and the people you’ll need to keep in touch with. Back in our day, notebooks were all we had, so this was the only way to keep track of things. These days, you can put everything into the calendar on your phone. Make sure you register all of them and remember to call and pay your respects regularly. Understood?”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Jaekyung took the notebook and quickly flipped through it. The pages were packed. He had assumed there wouldn’t be many relatives since Han Taeseok was the eldest grandson and only son, but apparently, that wasn’t the case.
“And starting next week, come to the gallery. Before you forget everything you worked so hard to learn.”
“Yes…”
After Jaekyung answered, Director Ji let out a deep sigh and clicked her tongue. Unable to meet her eyes, he lowered his head, only to feel her gaze grow even sharper.