By Zephyria “While the event is in progress, everyone will wait in their assigned areas, and when the dinner starts, you’ll serve. The food will be brought out all at once, so just focus on the tables in your area with as much courtesy as possible, and if you need anything, you see that person in the uniform over there? That’s the banquet hall manager, so ask them or me.”
With those words, the student council president paired the students, one or two at a time, and had them stand in their assigned areas. Ryu Jeong, who had been worried about being paired with the male student who had spoken to him, was fortunately assigned to the side area of the banquet hall without being paired with anyone. He belatedly looked around for Su-bin. Su-bin was standing with a female student who seemed to be her friend in the area right in front of the stage.
He fidgeted with his toes, standing alone. After a long while, thirty minutes before the event was scheduled to begin, the already chaotic banquet hall began to grow even more noisy. He craned his neck in the direction of the sound and saw people slowly coming down, one or two at a time.
He had thought the scholarship award ceremony would be simple and quick, but seeing the people coming in one after another, it seemed to be a bigger event than he had expected. Most of them were middle-aged, but three or four of them were young people who looked to be in their thirties. The people in neat suits greeted each other with smiles, shook hands, and exchanged business cards.
Come to think of it, he remembered that all the graduates who had donated to the scholarship were said to be amazing people. Could they be politicians? Or businessmen? He never watched television, so he had no idea who was who.
Is that what the world of adults is like? Ryu Jeong, an adult himself but still a fledgling compared to them, couldn’t hide his wonder and glanced at the people. The other students were the same. The students who had come to work a day job and the students who had attended to receive scholarships were constantly looking around with a sense of wonder.
Before long, a woman and a man in bright-colored suits went up onto the stage. They stood on the left side, where the lighting was moderately bright, though not directly in the center, and organized a program about the size of two palms before grabbing the microphone. A loud screeching sound from adjusting the microphone caused everyone in the banquet hall to look at the stage at the same time.
The announcers from the university broadcasting station introduced themselves and led the award ceremony with skills that were no less than professional. After the president’s congratulatory speech, the student representative grabbed the microphone, saying that they had prepared a thank-you message to the graduates who had donated to the scholarship. The female student, who looked nervous to anyone, read the prepared remarks while trembling, and after that, the scholarship awards, which were the real purpose of the event, followed.
“The next is, the Vice Chairman of Young-gang Group….”
“Excuse me.”
In order, they went up on the stage, applauded, went up again, and applauded again. It was toward the end of the seemingly meaningless award ceremony, which seemed to be mainly for taking pictures. English was heard from somewhere. Ryu Jeong inadvertently looked toward the source of the sound. A foreigner with a distinctly uncomfortable expression was gesturing toward him. Ryu Jeong widened his eyes and quickly went to him, kneeling down.
“Ah…….”
He should naturally respond in English, but his lips wouldn’t part. It wasn’t that he couldn’t, but because of his pronunciation. Since he wasn’t born in Korea in the first place, he was more fluent in English than Korean, but people said it was difficult for others to understand him because of his unique Filipino accent. He didn’t know this until he overheard a white customer cursing at people in a Philippine brothel.
The foreigner, who had no way of knowing this, simply thought that Ryu Jeong was a student who wasn’t good at English and slowly asked the question in clear pronunciation.
“Does the food served at the dinner contain seafood?”
But for some reason, his pronunciation was also somewhat unnatural. While Ryu Jeong was mulling over what the man had said, he heard a woman sitting to the man’s left whispering softly. It was French. Ryu Jeong’s biological father would not only stay in the Philippines but would sometimes go to Vietnam for months to gamble, and he had learned a little French there by watching over his shoulder.
Ryu Jeong hesitated for a moment between the two languages, then decided to take the risk of being criticized for his pronunciation and to match the other person.
“Seafood… you mean?”
“You can speak French? Oh, that’s right. Seafood.”
Even though his pronunciation was clearly clumsy, the man was very pleased when French came out of Ryu Jeong’s mouth. The woman was the same. Ryu Jeong smiled awkwardly and asked cautiously, just in case.
“Are you perhaps allergic to seafood…….”
“Ah, that’s right. I didn’t receive any prior notice, but I was just wondering. My wife can’t eat shrimp.”
“I’m sorry, but… can I go and check separately and tell you?”
“Of course.”
Fortunately, the conversation with the man was smooth. There may have been mistakes that he didn’t know about, but perhaps the other person knew and understood. Ryu Jeong bowed lightly and carefully went around the banquet hall to find the manager so as not to disturb the event.
“Excuse me… is it possible to know what kind of food will be served at the dinner? There’s someone who’s allergic to seafood, so I think I need to check in advance.”
“Oh my, is that so? I didn’t receive any prior notice about that.”
The manager couldn’t hide her embarrassment. She said she would check and asked about this and that on the walkie-talkie she was holding, and Ryu Jeong nervously fidgeted with his hands as his lips felt parched. After several checks, the manager still had her eyebrows furrowed as she conveyed the situation to Ryu Jeong.
“It’s not all seafood, it’s said to be served with meat. First of all, do you know who that person who said they’re allergic is?”
“Ah, I don’t know exactly… they were foreign guests. A woman, and one person.”
“I’ll tell them to exclude seafood from that person’s plate. But the problem is… the serving isn’t being done by our hotel staff. It seems like the student will have to be in charge until the end, do you think you can do it?”
Ryu Jeong, who had been listening with his hands together, nodded. He would have answered that he would do it even if it wasn’t his assigned table.
“Normally, the carts are brought down from the restaurant. But the students are in charge of distributing them after they arrive, so they might get mixed up in the middle? So I think you should go up now and bring that cart separately.”
The manager, who had called again on the walkie-talkie, looked even more troubled. It was obvious that she was worried about what would happen if he made a mistake. Ryu Jeong’s mouth was also parched with anxiety that he might make a mistake, but now he couldn’t pass the responsibility on to someone else.
“Just tell me what floor the restaurant is on. Then I’ll go and come back.”
“Will you? It’s on the top floor. You can take the customer elevator when you go up, but there’s a separate elevator for the cart, so tell the staff there to let you know.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Ryu Jeong bowed and went back to the table. The couple, who had been talking with troubled expressions, looked pleased to see Ryu Jeong. Ryu Jeong knelt down again and stammered to convey the situation in French.
“I’m sorry, but it seems that some seafood is included. But, the restaurant said they would take out only your food, ma’am.”
“Oh, thank you. We would have been in big trouble if we hadn’t said it in advance.”
“I’ll take care of it until the end. You don’t have to worry.”
He wondered if they would say it with another meaning, but fortunately, it seemed to have been conveyed properly. Ryu Jeong bowed deeply to the couple, who were very grateful, and quickly left the banquet hall. Since he was in charge of the area by himself, there would be no one to fix things if something happened if he didn’t return to his seat quickly.
Fortunately, there was an elevator not far away. It wasn’t like the elevator speed would increase just because he pressed the button several times, but Ryu Jeong pressed the top floor button repeatedly.
He anxiously looked up at the electronic display, but the elevator stopped on the lobby floor. Ryu Jeong sighed and stood in the corner. He anxiously fidgeted with his hands, chewing on his lower lip, but the voices seeping in from outside before the elevator doors had even fully opened were so familiar that he froze.
“Why a meeting on the weekend? How busy can Darling be?”
“Well, President unilaterally postponed it once, so it was inevitably set for today. In the first place, the cause was provided by President….”
“Even so, asking to meet on the weekend is insane, Chief Yoon.”
The closed doors opened, and the figures of two men in a standoff came into view. The one who was grumbling with irritation, glancing at the other person, was someone Ryu Jeong knew. Ryu Jeong stared blankly at him, unaware that his lips were parting. As if sensing his gaze, the man also looked at Ryu Jeong as he was about to get on the elevator. The man’s eyes widening like Ryu Jeong’s was something that happened in an instant.
“…Jeong?”
“President…….”
It was Lee Do-hyeon. Ryu Jeong was surprised by the unexpected encounter and looked straight into Lee Do-hyeon’s eyes.
Lee Do-hyeon was also quite surprised, and after silently meeting his gaze, he seemed to come to his senses at the mechanical sound of the doors closing and quickly got on the elevator. He had already moved to the side, but Ryu Jeong moved even closer to the wall. This was because Lee Do-hyeon was not the only one who had gotten on the elevator.
“…….”
Chief… he had said. It was the title that Lee Do-hyeon had uttered gruffly, as if something didn’t please him. Ryu Jeong glanced at the person called Chief without making it obvious and lowered his head deeply, looking down at his toes. He didn’t care who he was. Meeting. Ryu Jeong felt a little gloomy at that word that had come out of Lee Do-hyeon’s mouth a little while ago.
“What brings Jeong here? Didn’t you say you were working on the weekend?”
It was Lee Do-hyeon who broke the silence first.
“Ah, yes. I, um… because of a part-time job…….”
“Here?”
“Yes. Scholarship… um, at the university. No, downstairs.”
Was it because he was too flustered? The words didn’t come out properly. Ryu Jeong, whose ears had turned red from rambling, bit his lip tightly in dismay, and Chief Yoon, who had been watching the scene from one step behind, quietly gave him a hint.
“There’s a Korea University scholarship award ceremony today. It seems like it’s being held at this hotel.”
“Ah, that. Was that today.”
For some reason, he reacted as if he knew what kind of event it was. But Ryu Jeong was too embarrassed by the fact that he hadn’t been able to say a single word properly, so he couldn’t pretend to know or elaborate on what he was doing.
Lee Do-hyeon stared silently at Ryu Jeong like that. At the white nape of his neck and his tightly clasped hands, and even the tips of his toes gathered together, which were revealed because he couldn’t make eye contact and was bowing deeply. The thing he wanted to see the most was his face, but he couldn’t dare to tell Ryu Jeong, who was clearly uncomfortable, to look up, even putting aside Chief Yoon, who was standing behind him.
He had been spending truly busy days, but Lee Do-hyeon had invariably thought of Ryu Jeong whenever he had even a little bit of free time in his daily life. That was no exception on his way to and from work, during the travel time between schedules, and even today. He had been suppressing his anger, thinking that he would have gone to see Ryu Jeong right away if it hadn’t been for the damn meeting, but he had never dreamed that Ryu Jeong would appear before his eyes like a gift at that moment.
His appearance in a white shirt, black cotton pants, and low-heeled shoes looked neat overall. He was always wearing what seemed to be a similar gray top and jeans every time he saw him, but seeing him dressed neatly, even if it was because of a part-time job, made him look even prettier. He was concerned that the complexion he had seen for a moment looked a little bad. Could it be because of his heat cycle?
“Are you feeling okay?”
Lee Do-hyeon asked in as casual a voice as possible so as not to make Ryu Jeong uncomfortable.
“Ah, yes…….”
Ryu Jeong, startled by the sudden question, answered while being conscious of the man who was with Lee Do-hyeon. He was worried that there would be a mention of his heat cycle, but fortunately, the question didn’t continue any longer.
Lee Do-hyeon, who had hesitated for a moment unlike himself, opened his mouth again.
“I don’t think I can talk for long right now because I have work to do too, but would it be possible to see you for a bit after work later?”
“Aft, after?”
“Yes. I’ll wait.”
“Ah, no. I have to do the cleanup, so it’ll end late.”
“Even if it’s cleanup, it won’t go past midnight.”
“That…….”
That’s true, but……. Ryu Jeong rolled his eyes, biting his lip in embarrassment. In the meantime, the elevator stopped on the top floor. The doors opened with a ding, but none of the three of them thought of getting off first.
Eventually, just before the doors were about to close, Lee Do-hyeon reached out and pressed the button.
“Weren’t you going to get off?”
“Ah… yes. Thank you.”
Ryu Jeong quickly lifted his head, looked up at the electronic display with the numbers on it, and quickly averted his gaze so as not to make eye contact with Lee Do-hyeon before running out of the elevator. He hesitated a little because he didn’t know the direction of the restaurant, but soon got his bearings and quickly moved in that direction. Lee Do-hyeon, who had followed him out, quietly watched Ryu Jeong’s back as he was almost running away, before turning toward the lounge where he had booked the meeting.
“…….”
He didn’t even look back. It seemed like the irritation based on disappointment was rushing in.