By Zephyria 
Yi-ho identified himself at the information desk and put on a staff lanyard. Standing before the spacious hall, he gazed blankly at his surroundings. The gray interior of the building wasn’t much different from those in Korea, but the languages echoing from all directions, the appearance of the people, and their attire gave him a strong sense of being in a foreign country.
While heading toward the session hall, he received a call from an unfamiliar number. Since he was on a business trip and didn’t know who might be contacting him, he answered immediately.
“This is Song Yi-ho.”
-Yi-ho, it’s Kim Kyung-hyun. I called because I figured you’d be arriving around now. Did you land safely?
Kim Kyung-hyun was the planner from the Thailand branch who was co-leading tomorrow’s session with Yi-ho. The cheerful female voice, laced with a foreign accent, was the same one he had heard during their video conferences.
“Yes. I dropped off my luggage and I’m at the conference venue now.”
-Just like that? Do you have any sessions you’re attending today?
“I’m not presenting… but I’m planning to listen in on a few topics I’m interested in. I figured it might serve as a bit of a rehearsal for tomorrow’s presentation.”
-Hmm, hold on a second.
The sound of busy clicking echoed through the speaker. In the meantime, Yi-ho moved toward a large notice board and scanned today’s session list.
The technology used at his company was quite limited. Perhaps in the research department, it would be different, but Yi-ho’s current team handled development directly tied to practical operations, making it difficult to introduce experimental technologies.
In contrast, the notice board was lined with new technology topics he had only vaguely seen as titles in research papers. Wow, it’s already reached this stage. Wow, wow…
-Yi-ho? Song Yi-ho!
“…Ah, yes.”
Kyung-hyun’s voice snapped Yi-ho out of his trance.
-I can get to the session hall in about an hour; shall we just meet there? We haven’t actually met and coordinated in person yet.
“All right. Please let me know when you arrive.”
-Will do.
Yi-ho ended the call and moved to find a session he could listen to while waiting for Kyung-hyun.
On the backs of the zip-up hoodies worn by those heading toward the session hall, logos of development tools or primary languages were printed. It was like baseball fans wearing their team’s jackets… Back when he was an undergraduate student freely participating in various competitions and events, he had many opportunities to get items like those hoodies that gave a small boost to a developer’s pride. Unfortunately, those opportunities vanished after he joined Taejang Electronics, a company with strict corporate regulations. Yi-ho entered the hall, staring at people’s backs as if possessed. The air conditioning in the hall was blasting, making Yi-ho envy the zip-up hoodies in a different sense as he sat down and opened his laptop.
“Hey.”
A voice called out from the seat next to him. Me? When he turned around, a large man nodded at him. Then, he held something out. What appeared before Yi-ho’s eyes was a cat logo sticker, the signature of a famous version control tool.
The man pressed the sticker into Yi-ho’s hand and pointed to the back of his own laptop. His laptop was covered in as many stickers as the logos on the hoodies of the people here. It was a flamboyant sight, not unlike the back of Min-jung’s tablet, who loved Jelly Jelly Roll.
On the other hand, the back of Yi-ho’s laptop was smooth, with only the Taejang Electronics logo engraved into it.
“Student?”
It seemed the man mistook Yi-ho for a beginner who had just started developing. Yi-ho explained haltingly in English.
「No, I’m an employee. Thanks for the sticker. But my company wouldn’t like it if I put another company’s logo sticker on it.」
「Which country are you from?」
「Korea. South Korea.」
「Taejang?」
「Yes.」
He held up his staff lanyard and nodded, confirming that ‘Tae-jang’ was correct. The man opened both hands and shrugged, gesturing that he couldn’t understand.
“So nerdy.”
Even Song Yi-ho thought, ‘That doesn’t seem like something that should come from the nerdiest group in the world…’ He tried to give the sticker back, but the man wouldn’t take it.
Usually, when the company gathered this many people in an auditorium, there would be a loud stir in a few places. However, the people here mostly tapped away at their devices in silence.
The gray atmosphere unique to a space packed with developers entered his body. He wondered if this was how a migratory bird that had lost its flock felt when it found its kin again the following year. He felt a surge of kinship that transcended nationality.
Eventually, the presenter appeared. The lecture time passed productively. Just as the session and Q&A ended and people began to stand up, Yi-ho received another call from the same number.
-Yi-ho, I’ve arrived. Where are you?
“Ah, then I’ll head toward the exit. Let’s meet in front of the information desk.”
As Yi-ho hurriedly packed his laptop, he felt the gaze of the man from the next seat who had given him the sticker. The man’s eyes wandered awkwardly between Yi-ho, who was clumsily rising from his seat, and the phone wedged between his shoulder and cheek. Yi-ho gave a small nod, then, thinking that might not be the right greeting, waved his hand and left the area. The man’s gaze followed Yi-ho for a moment longer before pulling away.
“I’m almost there. I’m coming from the left.”
Scanning the area near the information desk, Yi-ho spotted a woman looking around with her phone to her ear, just as he was. She wore a daring fashion combination of a white dress shirt and Adidas shorts, but it suited her well, like a celebrity pulling off a mix-and-match look. She made brief eye contact with Yi-ho but quickly looked away.
-What are you wearing?
“I’m wearing a blue top and black pants…”
-Huh?
The other person looked back at Yi-ho with wide eyes. Her eyebrows twitched as if confirming, ‘Is it really you?’ Yi-ho ended the call and gave a small bow. Approaching him, she read the name ‘Song Yi-ho’ on the guest pass dangling near his solar plexus.
“Yi-ho, what is this? Wow, what’s going on?”
“…Yes?”
“You didn’t look like this during the video conferences! Where did you put your camera? Yi-ho, you can’t take selfies, can you?!”
“I rarely take them…”
“Well, I guess you wouldn’t feel the need to… Ah, I just mean I’m surprised because you’re handsome. Just a disinterested admiration.”
“Th-thank you.”
Song Yi-ho’s gaze lost its direction before his head eventually dropped. Even knowing it was just a polite remark, Yi-ho didn’t know how to handle these kinds of conversations flexibly. Perhaps that was why the other person’s reaction felt even more intense.
In situations where he found it difficult to cope, Yi-ho often imagined, ‘What would Cha Min-gyu do in this situation?’ Of course, he couldn’t replicate it 100%, but it usually resulted in a better response. In a time like this, Min-gyu’s reaction… he would probably say something smooth and clever, but replicating that was too hard. One thing for sure was that he would smile. So, Yi-ho awkwardly pulled up the corners of his mouth.
For some reason, Kyung-hyun let out another “Wow” of admiration and led Yi-ho to a cafe in the same building.
The cafe was crowded, and the round table the two of them took was completely filled by just two laptops. The tables were packed closely together, so the noise from the next seat was transmitted without filter. Consequently, Yi-ho, who had a small voice, leaned his upper body forward slightly to converse. Fortunately, it was a posture very familiar to developers.
“The presenter’s name will be listed as an English name. Except for Koreans, people can’t pronounce both characters of ‘Kyung-hyun’ at all, so I just use an English name.”
“Ah, I see.”
“Then, I’ll try reading first…”
Kyung-hyun’s ability as a presenter was as refreshing as her personality. Since they had already coordinated once via video conference, the progression was smooth. Yi-ho flipped through the demonstration pages according to her explanation and added supplementary details where necessary.
“Wow, this is actually really good for something we crammed for.”
A palm came toward his face. A light high-five collided, and Yi-ho’s gaze quickly shifted elsewhere in embarrassment.
As the afternoon deepened, most of the sessions ended, and the lobby became quiet. Instead, the crowd of people stopping by the cafe for a drink after finishing their conference participation increased. Orders began to pile up, and a line of people stretched from the counter to the cafe entrance. It seemed they were able to get this small table only because they had arrived early.
Just then, two men opened the cafe door and walked in. Since it was a tech conference, two men together wasn’t an unusual combination. However, what was surprising about them was that they entered holding hands. Thinking he had seen wrong, Yi-ho looked closer, but the hands of the two people crossing between tables in search of a vacant seat remained joined. They were holding each other’s hands tightly, fingers curled.
“…….”
“Yi-ho.”
Kyung-hyun’s slightly lowered voice called him. She was looking at Yi-ho with a slight frown.
“Ah, I’m sorry…”
“You don’t need to be sorry to me. Thailand is a country friendly toward homosexuality, so you might see things like that occasionally. Even if you don’t like it, you shouldn’t make it obvious.”
“I…! I have no prejudice!”
His voice came out a bit too loud, and a flustered Yi-ho covered his mouth. But it was a reaction that had burst out because he was genuinely surprised. There was no way he had a prejudice.
Fortunately, his sincerity seemed to be conveyed through his absurdly foolish reaction.
“I’m glad to hear that. I have a prejudice against people who have prejudices.”
After chatting a bit more with Kyung-hyun, he learned that same-sex marriage had been legalized in Thailand not long ago. Yi-ho remembered seeing rainbow flags on his way here.
In this country, perhaps if one confessed to a male friend, even if they were rejected, they wouldn’t have to worry about being seen as strange.
He had come to such a country with Cha Min-gyu. For no reason, his fingertips tingled slightly.
A place filled with foreign languages, a person who said she had no prejudice against homosexuality and whom he would likely never see again after tomorrow. That made him add one more sentence.
“…People loving people is a matter for the parties involved.”
“Ah, that’s exactly right. As long as they aren’t harming anyone, leave them be. They’ll figure it out on their own.”
It was the perfect encouragement for a one-sided love that drifted aimlessly, like a lost inner tube without a goal.