By Zephyria 
Does he think lowering his voice and threatening me is all it takes…?
“…….”
It was. Yi-ho spent the entire day suffering, unable to shake the heavy afterimage Min-gyu had left in his mind.
Not everyone in the world can just say, ‘Right, let’s sit down at the negotiating table immediately,’ the moment a problem erupts, you bastard. Some people need time to wrap their heads around what emotions they’re feeling and rehearse how to convey them to another person…
Of course, in the eyes of the world, Song Yi-ho’s current attitude was called avoidance.
It was avoidance. It was, but isn’t it okay to be a little scared of an opponent who comes charging in demanding a resolution to a one-sided love that’s lasted over a decade?
“…Son of a bitch. Seriously.”
To force his way into the house and say that while he doesn’t love him, he doesn’t want to lose a friend, so they should try dating.
“What would you have done if I actually accepted, you crazy bastard? If I asked a friend for kisses and sex, would you do that too? You’re the one who’s only dated women your whole life. You had so many girlfriends… …….”
Then, Yi-ho smacked himself in the head for imagining Min-gyu treating him the way he had treated those girlfriends. He must have hit himself quite hard out of self-loathing, as his vision blurred for a moment.
He really had no backbone, even in the midst of such a disastrous confession.
The conclusion was that Song Yi-ho still liked Cha Min-gyu, even after all this chaos. Enough to cling pathetically to his lingering feelings until the day he took early retirement from the company.
“Haaaa….”
With a sigh that felt like the ground was sinking, Yi-ho thought once again the same thoughts he had been having countless times this week.
What exactly is commuting? What is a salaryman, someone who must naturally move for the benefit of the company over themselves even in this wretched situation?
Fortunately, today’s work wasn’t something that required deep thought, but rather something that could be processed mechanically. Screens filled with lines of code scrolled past Yi-ho’s eyes.
In the middle of this, a team member posted a question. Yi-ho scrolled up and down the problematic screen, then stood up to wash his face before returning to his seat. This was already the third time today. Only by splashing cold water on his face could he find a momentary burst of concentration. The temporary strength provided by washing his face shattered as soon as he solved the bug the team member had encountered.
Yi-ho collapsed onto his desk. While he continued to work from home, stubbornly digging his own grave, Min-gyu had also gone to the office. As proof, a green light was lit next to the name of Team Leader Cha Min-gyu of the Marketing Team.
What was scary, however, was that the ‘away’ status didn’t appear even during lunch break. It meant he was staying at his desk without even eating. There is only one reason a salaryman makes such a choice: leaving exactly on time. Yi-ho hoped that Min-gyu had a separate appointment scheduled for when he left the office…
‘Tomorrow, you’ll have to sit properly across the table from me, Yi-ho.’
Given Cha Min-gyu’s personality, it was likely a futile hope.
How on earth could he act like that?
That… bulldozer-like attitude, so confident it was almost brazen, was fascinating. Looking back, he couldn’t even understand the flow of the conversation.
But in the end, both Cha Min-gyu and Song Yi-ho were saying the same thing. They were both suffering because they couldn’t remove the other person from their lives.
“…….”
Even with the air conditioner running all day, the air felt damp. Just like the weather, nothing but questions arose.
He said he didn’t have feelings for me.
Then, logically, the one who nurtured the love alone should be the one to organize their feelings.
That’s how it should be, so why on earth is Cha Min-gyu so angry?
Despite their polar opposite personalities, Yi-ho and Min-gyu had rarely fought during their fifteen years together. Even if they had an argument, it usually resolved blandly before a deep rift could form. True to his personality of not being strongly assertive, Yi-ho hated conflict, and Min-gyu knew this, so he adjusted to Yi-ho in most cases.
That’s why this was the biggest fight the two had ever experienced. This time, Yi-ho did not bend his claim, even if it meant enduring conflict. Min-gyu, likewise, stood his ground with no intention of accommodating him.
It suddenly felt sorrowful that the reason he had clashed this severely with Cha Min-gyu for the first time in his life was because of his own feelings of love. Moreover, he became terrified of what words they would exchange when they sat across from each other today.
“…….”
Rolling his head left and right on the cool surface of the desk, Yi-ho suddenly bolted upright.
No matter how he thought about it, meeting while sober was impossible. Then, he would borrow the help of an external factor. Yi-ho grabbed his wallet and went outside. As soon as he left the range of the air conditioner, the heat hit him. The sky was gloomy, just as the news had been warning for several days that the rainy season was starting and a record-breaking monsoon was expected. It felt as if the rain would start pouring in earnest in a day or two.
The place Yi-ho headed to was a convenience store near his house. He planned to crack open a bottle of soju to lower this tension.
A bottle of soju with a red cap was placed in the plastic basket. Considering his alcohol tolerance, one bottle was likely to only make his heart race more. So he added another bottle… and since it was hard to drink just soju, he added a few cans of beer from the ‘four for 12,000 won’ deal. The basket became heavy enough that he felt it was excessive, but he took it to the counter anyway.
The part-timer’s gaze swept over Yi-ho’s face and his exceptionally shabby attire.
“That will be 19,800 won.”
“I’ll take a bag, too.”
“That’s an additional 100 won.”
After paying with his phone, he stepped outside with the heavy alcohol hanging from his wrist. His trudging feet came to a dead stop about ten steps before the main gate of the apartment complex. At the same time, his breath stopped. The other person must have clearly noticed his expression of sheer shock.
Min-gyu was standing in front of the wall of the security office building. He was looking at Yi-ho with his arms crossed.
“Convenience store?”
“…….”
Yi-ho looked around the surroundings, which were still bright white despite the clouds. Even if it was summer, it wasn’t even 5 o’clock. Even he, who was working from home, hadn’t finished his workday yet, so how?
“Half-day leave.”
Yi-ho’s question was read instantly.
“That…”
In the gap where Yi-ho paused, Min-gyu’s steps drew closer to him.
“Perfect. Let’s go up together, Song Yi-ho.”
“…….”
“You decide the location, whether it’s Unit 1 or Unit 2.”
“…….”
This wasn’t right. He said after work… No, Cha Min-gyu had only said ‘tomorrow’ and hadn’t specified a time. For Yi-ho, this was a sudden situation he hadn’t predicted at all. While it had happened very often that Min-gyu wore a suit and he wore ready-to-wear clothes, he didn’t want to face him looking shabby, fresh out of working from home, on a day like today. He wasn’t ready to talk to him at all right now, and he didn’t want to meet him.
No.
The moment he realized this clearly, his body turned around and he began to run.
“Song Yi-ho, …hey!”
A bewildered voice sounded behind him, followed by the sound of a pursuit.
“Are you kidding me right now? You…!”
The sound of Min-gyu saying something was drowned out by the clinking coming from the bag on his wrist. Yi-ho passed the convenience store where he bought the alcohol and turned into the back of the shopping center. Now that he was in a quiet place, the sound of his own urgent footsteps sounded even louder. As did the sound of dress shoes running behind him.
Yi-ho glanced back while running. Cha Min-gyu was striding after him, clutching his jacket in one hand. Eventually, Yi-ho set down the alcohol bag, which was hindering his escape, on a bench. His running speed increased significantly.
“Song Yi-ho!”
However, instead of the sound of bottles clinking, the voice from behind became clearer.
The desperate game of tag between two grown men drew the attention of passersby. The reaction of elementary school students playing outside was particularly enthusiastic. He was glad he was desperate enough to overcome the embarrassment.
He ran one lap around the apartment complex. It was the first time he had sprinted for this long since turning thirty. In the muggy temperature and humidity, sweat began to drip instantly.
At some point, the sound of the pursuit seemed to disappear. Yi-ho stopped, gasping for air. Min-gyu was not visible behind him.
“Oh…”
Did he give up?
…He wished that were the case, but as expected. Min-gyu was standing like a gatekeeper at the entrance of the apartment building. With the alcohol bag Yi-ho had discarded tucked under his arm.
Having run in a full suit, Min-gyu’s hair was even wetter than Yi-ho’s. Stains had formed on the clothes of a man who was usually fastidious about being neat.
But Yi-ho knew that expression of Cha Min-gyu’s. It was a face he had often seen in front of the ring before things happened. An expression that said, ‘Let’s see who wins.’ Min-gyu wiped the sweat from his chin with his sleeve and crossed his arms. His attitude suggested he wouldn’t mind waiting there all night.
Cruelly, the place where he fixed his piercing gaze was the only parking lot entrance to the apartment. So that he would know immediately if Yi-ho tried to enter the building through there.
Yi-ho slumped down behind a flowerbed. A sense of self-loathing over what he was doing hit him belatedly. Besides the heat, embarrassment played a large part in this burning sensation.
Now that the situation had become like this, it became even more uncomfortable to look at his face. But there was no way Cha Min-gyu, who seemed to have set a date for today, would let him go easily…
“Hah.”
What on earth was he doing?
The corners of his mouth, which had formed a forced smile with a hollow breath, dropped shortly after. This was a situation Song Yi-ho could not handle. It was a storm that left him reeling, crashing into his calm and ordinary life.
It wasn’t that Song Yi-ho’s life had been without ups and downs. When the biggest storm of all had come, he had stopped as if collapsing in place. It was when his father passed away suddenly. Back then, when he couldn’t think or act, Cha Min-gyu had grabbed his wrist and pulled him along. Thanks to that, he was able to do what he had to do as a son and organize his laboratory smoothly.
But now, he was in a situation where he wouldn’t be able to budge no matter how much Min-gyu pressed him.
Ah.
Something that wasn’t sweat dropped on his arm. The sky had turned even darker than before.
Was the monsoon rain starting today?
In the moisture-filled air, the raindrops were thick from the start. Large droplets formed on the phone in his hand. Yi-ho put the phone in his pocket. As if announcing the beginning of the rainy season, the rain quickly intensified. The group of elementary school students playing outside also screamed and ran back into their respective homes.
Swoosh—.
The wet areas of the asphalt grew wider and wider. Yi-ho swept back his hair, which had sunk from the moisture. In the distance, Min-gyu came down the stairs and looked around the apartment complex where the rain was falling in earnest.
With his fists clenched, he shouted.
“Are you really going to be like this?!”
“…….”
Looking up at the rumbling sky, Min-gyu covered his eyelids with his hand. He let out a long breath toward the trees swaying in the wind and rain.
“Go inside! I get it, I’ll go home too! Go inside before you get soaked!”
Having shouted loud enough to ring through the entire apartment complex, Min-gyu bit his lip and turned back into the apartment entrance.
A short while later, Yi-ho took the elevator, completely drenched. By the time he arrived home, the rain had thickened as if it were about to break the windows.