“I’ll pay you properly for it, so please take it. You know how hard it is these days to find a designer who can really pull off PC product promos and product cuts.”
“Mm, I can take it, but the work’s going to need some ti—”
I was about to ask for a generous deadline when I realized it a beat late.
‘Wait. Heunjeok’s gone now.’
I didn’t need to stay up all night preparing for guild wars anymore… which meant I had way more time now.
At most, the only extra thing on my schedule would be dragging Ilhwiilbi around and messing with him.
After a brief moment of thought, I changed my answer.
“Would mid-next month work?”
“Huh, really? That’s perfect for me. I thought you were busy, so I was prepared for it to take way longer.”
“One complicated thing got sorted out.”
“That’s great.”
“I’ll look through the materials a little more. There’s more than just this file, right?”
“Yep. There should be a folder in the center of the desktop. I put everything in there. Look through it comfortably. I’ll send it by email later too.”
I opened the folder Im Sohee had pointed out and started looking through the files.
Maybe because she’d majored in design too, the prepared materials were flawless.
In the meantime, our drinks and dessert must’ve been ready, because my boss personally brought them over.
I slid the laptop to the edge of the table so she could set down the two drinks and cake.
Resting her chin on her hand as she watched me, Im Sohee suddenly asked,
“But Do Haejun, are you still playing that game these days? Arc Road?”
“I am.”
Since she ran a business selling PC-related products, Im Sohee was naturally interested in games too.
The difference was that while I played Arc Road, she played the more popular game, Xenoris.
“Maybe I should start Arc too.”
“Why would you deliberately downgrade into an even more dead game?”
“You say that because you haven’t played Xeno lately. That game’s a total dead-game mess too. And unlike you, I’m not a guild master, so I can try different things.”
Clunk.
The moment Im Sohee finished speaking, the sound of a table shaking came from behind us.
I instinctively turned around and saw the regular’s back, his head slightly lowered.
‘What’s with him?’
Did he bite his tongue while eating cake or something?
I turned back and answered,
“Well, I was thinking of quitting too, but it got fun again these past few days. If I weren’t the guild master, I probably would’ve dropped it the second it stopped being fun and moved on to another game.”
“Aren’t you rank one on your server? Even a rank one guild master can get bored of a game, huh. What was your guild’s name again?”
“Yoil.”
Good thing we’d picked a normal guild name.
Even so, I didn’t really want to sit here gossiping about game stuff in public, so I was just about to steer the conversation back toward design work when a loud noise exploded behind us.
Clatter, clang!
Startled by the piercing sound, I turned around to see spilled Americano and a cake fork on the floor.
The regular, who had been staring down at the floor just like me, lifted his gaze and met my eyes.
His eyes widened slightly in surprise before he hurriedly forced an awkward smile.
“I’m sorry. I accidentally knocked the cup over.”
“Just a second. Don’t touch anything. Leave it as it is.”
I was technically already off work, but pretending I hadn’t seen this mess would’ve been ridiculous.
I got up, stepped behind the counter, quickly explained the situation to my still-unaware boss, and came back out carrying a mop.
“Did you get hurt anywhere?”
“No.”
At least the cup hadn’t shattered, so cleanup was easy.
After quickly finishing, I picked up the fallen cup and said to Im Sohee,
“Senior, please wait just a minute.”
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t mind me, just go.”
Glancing between me and the regular, Im Sohee waved me off as if telling me to hurry.
I set the coffee-soaked mop aside, dropped the empty cup into the sink, and washed my hands thoroughly.
Then I took out a new cup and made another Americano.
Carrying the fresh drink and a new fork, I returned to the table.
“Here.”
As I handed them over, the man looked up at me with the corners of his long eyes lowered into a smile.
“I feel bad. It was my mistake.”
“Well, you’re a regular. I should at least do this much.”
I tossed out a casual answer.
The black eyes of the man looking up at me from his seat glinted strangely.
Hopefully this at least cleared up his weird misunderstanding that I was the kind of guy who randomly handed cookies to other men.
***
“Then I’ll organize the materials and send them by email tonight. Check them later.”
“Okay. Get home safe.”
After we more or less finished talking, Im Sohee left first, saying she had another schedule.
I still had to wash the mop from earlier and grab my bag from my locker, so instead of leaving with her, I saw her out at the door.
At some point, it had gotten pretty dark outside.
I was about to head toward the staff restroom where I’d left the mop when—
“Um, Do Haejun?”
“…?”
A completely unexpected voice called out to me.
When I turned my head, the regular was standing there, watching me with a faint smile.
He was definitely calling me, right?
How did he know my name?
As I narrowed my eyes uneasily, he said,
“Thank you for helping me earlier.”
“No, it’s fine. I work here, so don’t worry about it.”
“It looked like you were talking with an acquaintance, not actually working.”
“Yeah, well. That’s true. But it’s fine.”
I gave him a suitable answer and was about to head off again, but he stopped me once more.
“Still, I’m really grateful.”
“No, I mean…”
“Could you give me your phone number?”
“…What?”
For a second I thought I’d misheard.
I stared at his face, and he curved his eyes slightly before holding out his phone toward me.
“Your number, please.”
“……”
What the hell was this guy?
Why all of a sudden?
A cold shiver crawled down my spine.
The customers around the café, who had already been subtly sneaking glances our way, immediately started buzzing when they heard him ask for my number.
Even my boss, watching from the counter, had a hand over her mouth and a look of pure interest.
‘What the hell…’
A horrible premonition hit me that if I didn’t shut this down immediately, my part-time life here was going to become hell.
So I refused at once.
“Sorry, but no.”
“Why? It’s just a phone number.”
“Spilling a drink is a common mistake. Plenty of people do it. So really, don’t worry about it.”
When I explained firmly, he touched the corner of his mouth as if thinking, then blinked his long lashes.
“I think I skipped a few steps in the middle. I am grateful, but that’s not the only reason I’m asking for your number.”
“What do you—”
“To be honest, I wanted to get closer to you. I’ve been thinking that for a while. Every time I come to the café, you’re kind to me, and you seem like you have a good personality. You even gave me cookies.”
For fuck’s sake, why bring up the cookies now?
I was so dumbfounded I lost my words.
Meanwhile the onlookers around us started whispering even more actively.
“Like I said back then, the cookies were a service item. I didn’t personally give them to you. My boss told me to hand them out…”
“How about we continue the rest of that conversation after you give me your number first?”
“……”
This guy really wasn’t listening.
Haah.
I let the sigh out openly and turned away.
“Sto— no, don’t say weird things. If that’s all, I’m leaving.”
I barely swallowed the curse that almost slipped out and headed for the staff restroom, my original destination.
Thankfully, this time he didn’t stop me.
Grinding my teeth, I rinsed out the mop, shoved it into the wringer, and twisted it hard.
Honestly, I wanted to shove that regular into the wringer and squeeze him instead.
‘Is he gay?’
As I put the dried mop back into the supply cabinet, the thought suddenly hit me.
I wasn’t a woman.
Did it even make sense to ask for my number just because I cleaned up spilled coffee and gave him a service cookie?
Between two guys?
‘But even if the world’s changed a lot, do people really make it this obvious?’
I stood there in front of the cabinet for a long while thinking, until the start of a headache made me press a hand to my forehead.
Forget it. Enough.
Whether he was gay or not, what did it have to do with me?
Seriously thinking about some stranger’s sexuality was ridiculous in the first place.
After heading into the staff lounge and grabbing my bag from my personal locker, I finally started walking out to go home.
The grin on my boss’s face as she greeted me was irritating, but I didn’t have the mental energy left to stay in the café any longer.
Jingle.
The bell rang as I stepped outside.
The street was lit by yellow streetlamps.
Feeling unusually exhausted today, I let out a long tired breath.
Then I sensed someone beside me.
“You came out later than I expected.”
“……”
The moment I saw half his face lit by the streetlamp, my expression twisted miserably.
Even though I openly frowned in disgust, the regular didn’t lose his smile.
“I only waited because our conversation ended awkwardly. Don’t you think you dislike me a little too much?”
“Haah…”
I covered my aching brow with one hand, trying to force my sharp voice down.
“What do you mean awkwardly? It ended perfectly clearly. I said I’m not giving you my number.”
“I think you’re misunderstanding something about me.”
“The misunderstanding was when I gave you cookies and you decided whatever the hell you wanted on your own.”
“I don’t understand why you’re so angry.”
As if he truly meant it, the man tilted his head in genuine confusion.