By Zephyria 
Ten minutes before lunch break, Min-gyu stood up from his seat first. A large hand pressed heavily onto Yi-ho’s shoulder for a moment before pulling away.
“Enjoy your meal, Team Leader Song.”
“Yes.”
Without looking back, he slipped out of the office. Seeing how early he left, Yi-ho wondered if he had an appointment somewhere. He had hoped to have lunch together and watch the peacock strut a bit more, so it was a disappointment.
Ah, no. Was stepping back so casually a sign of being “just friends”?
Yi-ho fell into thought. Out of the habit of nursing a long-term unrequited love, he would have normally just swallowed his disappointment and let it pass blandly. However, from what he had experienced so far, Min-gyu was the type to be obsessively focused on special behaviors befitting a lover.
As if to say that if Yi-ho feared breaking the boundary of friendship, he would show a side of himself so different that “Friend Cha Min-gyu” wouldn’t even come to mind.
Furthermore, he executed that intent with tremendous momentum. Same apartment, same company. Even though the environment remained the same, Yi-ho couldn’t help but feel that Min-gyu had changed completely.
In contrast, he felt that his own changes were… somewhat lacking.
Yi-ho scratched the back of his head and opened his message inbox.
What should I do?
After pondering, Yi-ho reached a conclusion. Suppressing his emotions was something he had done tediously for far too long. Therefore, for Song Yi-ho, “change” would mean expressing his emotions without filtration.
Since this thought and desire stemmed from his feelings for the person he liked, he decided to at least try sending a message.
If it wasn’t meant to be, then so be it; he wouldn’t have any lingering regrets.
Yi-ho typed a message.
[Who are you eating with?]
Once it was written, a wave of embarrassment washed over him. Was it okay to send something like this in a relationship at his age…?
Yet, alongside the embarrassment, he felt as if this still wasn’t enough. It felt as though the words he truly wanted to say were still being suppressed.
One more sentence was added below.
[Eat with me tomorrow.|]
Just then, a reply arrived immediately beneath the unsent message.
Cha Min-gyu
[Haha, I was wondering when you’d ask]
[Who else would I eat with? I have to eat with my darling]
[(Photo)]
[I’ve got the AC on in the car and I’m all ready to go. Come down quickly.]
Min-gyu attached a photo of the passenger seat of his car. A Jelly Jelly Roll keyring, depicting a character using a laptop, occupied the empty seat.
“…….”
Wait.
What?
Suddenly, his heart began to feel a little—no, a lot—itchy. Seeing Cha Min-gyu waiting for him, taking it for granted that they would eat together, with a doll that he claimed looked like him sitting in the passenger seat…
He felt the lingering disappointment he had felt while typing the message vanish in an instant. Yi-ho realized the words he truly wanted to say a moment ago.
[Why aren’t you eating with me?]
That was his true heart.
“Mr. Yi-ho, let’s go eat. How about budae-jjigae today? Oh, you must like the menu. You’re smiling.”
“Ah, I… a sudden appointment came up. I’ll eat separately today. Enjoy your meal.”
Yi-ho turned off his laptop screen, grabbed only his phone and wallet, and stood up. As he left the office, the smile the team members had noticed remained on his lips.
There were too many people heading down for lunch in front of the elevator. Leaving the packed elevator that had just departed for the lower floors, Yi-ho turned toward the emergency stairs. Descending seven floors wasn’t difficult, but since the weather was still hot, his forehead and the nape of his neck were slightly damp by the time he reached the basement.
As if waiting for the perfect timing, Min-gyu’s SUV pulled up right in front of him the moment Yi-ho stepped outside. Yi-ho picked up the Jelly Jelly Roll that had been occupying his seat, placed it on his thigh, and got into the car.
“Why did you come out through the emergency exit?”
“There were too many people.”
“Aha.”
From the driver’s seat, Min-gyu leaned toward Yi-ho. Their faces grew close, and a long arm reached over to pull the seatbelt. As he pulled the belt across Yi-ho’s body, Min-gyu carefully stood the Jelly Jelly Roll doll upright against his stomach and buckled it in as well.
“Make sure you keep hugging it.”
“…….”
The difference between friendship and romance seemed to be quite—no, very—wonderful.
After leaving the company parking lot, the car drove for about ten minutes and stopped in front of a white building. It seemed to be a popular restaurant, as people were seen lining up inside the alley. If they waited from now, the lunch break might be a bit tight.
However, Min-gyu led Yi-ho straight inside the restaurant.
“I made a reservation under the name Song-songi.”
“……?”
“Song-song…? Ah, I’ll guide you to your seat right away.”
The employee glanced at Yi-ho and Min-gyu’s faces once more, seemingly concluding that Yi-ho was more likely to be ‘Song-songi’ than the man in the three-piece suit. Yi-ho glared at the back of that annoying head as he walked toward the reserved seat.
The spacious restaurant, which occupied the entire building, had an element that Yi-ho liked very much: the tables were spaced far enough apart that there was no chance of bumping into other tables. Min-gyu, who knew Yi-ho’s tendencies well, must have chosen it on purpose.
The two were assigned a seat in the corner. Sitting at the ‘Song-songi’ table, Min-gyu opened the menu and placed it in front of Yi-ho.
“The lunch course is good. Since it’s a company lunch break, if we ask them to adjust the pace, they’ll serve it quickly.”
“Uh…”
Yi-ho, who had been skimming the photos in the menu, looked up and asked.
“What would you have done if I hadn’t asked and just gone to eat with the team? Why did you make a reservation first?”
“Then I would have eaten two portions by myself and sent Song-i a tearful selfie.”
“…Can’t you just tell me directly that you plan to eat with me?”
“Actually, I was going to call you at 12. But seeing Song-i whine via text was just too good.”
“…….”
“I’m glad I tested the waters.”
There was a subtle request embedded in those words. It was a plea and a hope that he would do that again next time. The already small print of the menu became even harder to read. Yi-ho closed the menu and pushed it to the center.
“I’ll have what you suggested.”
Min-gyu smiled and ordered the lunch course for two. In the brief gap in conversation after the server left, a low whisper filled the air.
“I should have started dating you sooner. I didn’t know it was this good.”
“…….”
Indeed. Even if it felt like his heart might explode every day, this was definitely a good thing.
There was a garden outside the restaurant window. The cherry tomatoes planted in low pots had turned halfway red. The hazy sky, a symbol of summer, was gradually clearing into a blue. Now that the rainy season was over, less than half of the year remained. It had been a half-year where an unrequited love was miraculously fulfilled, but it had been accompanied by so much turmoil that he wasn’t sure if he could do it all over again.
“Song-i, you dressed prettily today too.”
While looking out the window, he heard a shy compliment. Yi-ho’s nose felt ticklish for no reason. Yes, if he knew such a future awaited him, he could endure anything desperately.
“…I did put some effort into it.”
It had been a morning where Yi-ho did his absolute best.
But what was the point, when he was faded by the peacock beside him? Yet, his lover continued to gaze at Yi-ho with a ticklish look, as if he were the most wonderful thing in the world.
“Should I try sweeping my hair back like you? I haven’t done it since my interview.”
Seeing Yi-ho lift his bangs to reveal his forehead, Min-gyu’s smile deepened.
“I’d like that.”
“Ties are too suffocating, so that’s a no… I’m thinking of wearing a t-shirt underneath tomorrow.”
“Yeah, sounds good.”
“And on top, probably the cardigan I bought with you at the department store.”
“I like that one too because it looks pretty on you.”
“…Just for the hell of it, should I wear a ribbon in my hair to work?”
“Ah, that would be the absolute best.”
“Are you kidding? Why is everything ‘good’?”
“Because it means Song-i is conscious of me, so everything is good. I hope you care more, and that I’m very much on your mind.”
“…….”
When they were friends, Yi-ho used to think, ‘When will I ever be able to win against that silver tongue?’ Now, a new worry had emerged: ‘When will I be able to say things like that to him?’
While Yi-ho was promising a very distant future, the ordered food arrived. It tasted exactly as expected from a restaurant Min-gyu would choose.
After finishing the meal, since Min-gyu had handled everything from finding the place to the reservation, Yi-ho opened his wallet and headed toward the counter.
“Song-songi, this way.”
Just then, Min-gyu grabbed both of Yi-ho’s shoulders and turned him toward the exit. As the two tried to leave without paying, the staff calmly bid them farewell.
There was no way Min-gyu had paid first. Neither Yi-ho nor Min-gyu had stood up from the table even once. As Yi-ho glanced back with a puzzled face, Min-gyu gave his shoulders a firm squeeze.
As they stepped out the door, the hot midday sun poured down. Even if it was time to start stepping into autumn, it was still a season where air conditioning was essential. But compared to the tumultuous summer, the weather felt a bit cooler.
As before, Yi-ho climbed into the passenger seat and Min-gyu into the driver’s seat. Yi-ho, who hadn’t found an answer during the walk, finally asked.
“When did you pay?”
“There’s a way that Song-i will never find out.”
Hearing him say that made Yi-ho stubborn. He brought up the most plausible theory.
“Do you happen to have shares in this place?”
Min-gyu let out a short laugh. It was at the moment Yi-ho felt offended because Min-gyu laughed too openly at his wrong answer.
“No, it’s just that I heard an executive from our division actually invested in the startup costs here, so I found it funny.”
“If it’s really an executive, then you don’t need to buy me dinner, so please give me back my partition.”
“Seeing as I didn’t grant it even though our Song-i wants it so badly, I guess I’m just a lowly team leader with no shares and no power.”
“Then how on earth did you do it?”
Min-gyu simply moved the car through the alley without giving an answer. Then again, even if he found out the answer, there was no way Cha Min-gyu would take money from him.
“I’ll buy dinner.”
“Oh, we’re in trouble.”
Min-gyu spoke in a very irritating tone, as if nothing was wrong at all.
“Why?”
“I bought all the ingredients to cook dinner at home today, so if Song-i does that, those poor ingredients will have no choice but to rot…”
“Hey, are you the only one in this relationship?”
“My goodness, how can you say such harsh words. I’m so shocked that I’m starting to confuse the accelerator and the brake. Song-i, although we were born on different days, I’m happy that we’ll be leaving this world hand-in-hand at the same time.”
“Seriously…”
“But I think I’ll calm down a bit if Song-i says he’ll let me spend the evening at the house next door after work.”
“You’re going to wear some weird clothes again, aren’t you? Ha… just feed me every single meal, why don’t you.”
“That’s number one on my relationship bucket list.”
Yi-ho suffered another defeat without winning a single argument. He vowed that this weekend, he would definitely find a great restaurant and take Min-gyu there.
Chapter
67
An ordinary afternoon, calculating the time remaining until clock-out. In the silence, only the occasional sound of someone answering an internal call drifted through like white noise. The Executive Director had been under the grand delusion that removing the partitions would lead to active conversation and communication among members, but in reality, people had become so afraid of disturbing others that they held their breath even while typing or scribbling notes. Because the space was open and exposed, it was plainly visible that several employees with sensitive temperaments had newly placed stomach medicine on their desks.
At a time when it felt as if one could hear the footsteps of a passing ant.
“Aaaagh!”
A scream rang out loudly through the office. At the horrific sound erupting so close by, Yi-ho reflexively hammered the save shortcut key about three times. Then, he lifted his head to investigate the cause of the commotion.
The protagonist of the scream was Assistant Manager Lee Jae-sik of the development team. For the first time in years, Yi-ho realized that Lee’s voice—which usually consisted of nothing more than indifferent mutterings while pushing up his glasses—could be this clear.
The person standing behind Lee looked at him with a bewildered expression.
“Oh, I’m sorry. You must have been startled.”
“No, …it’s okay. No…”
“Yes, Executive Director. It’s nothing. Yes, yes.”
At the voice of the person answering the internal call, Lee Jae-sik’s face turned even paler. Lee and the employee standing behind him bowed their heads to the person, and although the person waved them off as if it were fine, a hint of displeasure remained.
“The screens of the development staff are just so fascinating. I didn’t realize I was staring from behind. My apologies.”
After apologizing repeatedly, the figure behind Lee hurriedly left the scene. Lee apologized to the development team at the same table and the surrounding tables in his usual ant-like voice before sitting back down. He looked at the screen again, but his flushed face, lost eyes, and trembling hands could not return to normal. The lack of a partition to hide such a state was a factor that made him even more anxious.
Most people turned away, thinking it was just a minor happening, but a few looked at Assistant Manager Lee Jae-sik as if he were a socially inept developer who had just had a sudden outburst.
However, the moment Yi-ho witnessed the situation, he immediately grasped what the problem was. And that Lee was in a very unfair situation.
‘My beloved nerd team…’
Yi-ho swallowed a sigh that felt like it could punch a hole through the office floor and stood up.
He tapped the desk in front of the still-restless Lee to get his attention. Even without trying to act like a “good team leader,” a smile full of pity naturally formed on his lips.
“Shall we escape for a bit? Let’s go have a cup of coffee.”
Yi-ho pointed toward the office exit. Yi-ho saw the area behind Lee’s thick glasses grow moist.
∗ ∗ ∗
“Assistant Manager Lee, you’ve been having a hard time lately, right…?”
“…….”
“Did you say it like that?”
Min-gyu, mimicking his tone, was slightly annoying.
Furthermore, it was exactly what Yi-ho had said the moment he sat down at the cafe with Lee, so he couldn’t refute it. It was Yi-ho’s fixed repertoire for surviving as a team leader leading seven precious nerds.
“I did not.”
“No way you didn’t.”
“…’Jae-sik nim, you’ve been having a hard time lately, right…?’ I did say that.”
“Ah, I didn’t even know your assistant manager’s name, Yi-ho.”
With a chopstick held between his teeth, Yi-ho stared at his lover, with whom he shared both lunch and dinner. Noticing the sudden halt in eating, Min-gyu shrugged.
“I know. It’s annoying when someone approaches you while you’re concentrating.”
“That’s not it.”
“Hmm?”
“I just really, really, really hate it when someone looks at my monitor from behind…”
“In what sense? Like you’re being surveilled?”
“No.”
“Ah, not that either?”
“If it’s a place where surveillance is explicitly declared, like a hackathon, I don’t care if they look or not. The problem is when someone secretly looks at my screen without me realizing it.”
“…Even if there’s nothing to get caught for, as long as you weren’t texting or slacking off?”
“I’m telling you, that’s not the point. When eyes other than my own look at the screen… hmm…”
Yi-ho knit his brows tightly for a moment, then snapped his fingers as if proud of himself for finding the right analogy.
“It feels like a hallway where all the lights have gone out stretching behind my back.”
“Ah… so, the fear of the unknown.”
“Yeah, exactly. That’s it.”
Yi-ho nodded vigorously in agreement. In truth, Min-gyu didn’t understand a single word of his developer lover’s explanation, but he possessed the acting skills to pretend he did.
“Are you like that too, Song-i?”
“I’ve half-overcome it in the lab. It’s a characteristic of professors to appear without a sound and just peek. Still, it’s an unpleasant behavior.”
To think it was treated the same as a professor’s behavior for someone who had gone to grad school. Whatever the case, the colleague who startled Lee earlier seemed to have quietly earned Yi-ho’s hatred.
After taking a few more spoonfuls of rice, Yi-ho collapsed onto the table, resting the side of his face against it.
“Huuu… Hey, seriously, what do I do? Jae-sik nim cried at the cafe earlier.”
“…Because of that? Isn’t it just something that’s embarrassing for a moment and then over?”
“No, he said removing the office partitions is too hard and stressful… This incident just made him snap. Sigh, but there’s nothing I can tell him other than that he’ll get used to it soon.”
In Min-gyu’s common sense, there was no need to offer comforting words to someone who had already reached the rank of assistant manager.
“Ah, it’ll be a real problem if he says he can’t stand it and quits.”
Min-gyu recalled the image of the assistant manager. He felt as if he had seen about thirty people who looked similar among the computer science students around Yi-ho on campus. It made him wonder if that was why Yi-ho cherished and cared for him so much…
He pulled Yi-ho’s rice bowl, which was about one-third full, and the spoon toward himself. After scooping a bite-sized portion of rice, he topped it with bulgogi and held it to Yi-ho’s lips.
Looking at the thing approaching him with unfamiliarity and confusion, Yi-ho soon accepted the food, his ears flushing red.
“What’s this…”
Following the peacock-like three-piece look at the office, tonight’s dinner attire was a sporty boyfriend look that provided a charming contrast. Mesmerized by the sight of the forearms exposed by the sleeveless shirt carefully placing side dishes on the spoon, Yi-ho swallowed another spoonful. Min-gyu’s expression became satisfied. From his perspective, whether it was Assistant Manager Lee or whoever, the bigger problem was that his lover wasn’t eating enough.
“It’s not like you can actually do anything for him. It’s not a problem you can solve.”
“I did create a very small solution…”
“What did you do?”
“I told him I’d switch him to the most secluded seat at the table.”
“…Isn’t that your seat?”
Chewing the rice he had received from Min-gyu, Yi-ho gave a smile that highlighted his characteristically youthful face.
“I’m an adult…”
“…….”
∗ ∗ ∗
‘What a pushover.’
Min-gyu thought of a rather harsh criticism for his lover. Upon arriving at work, he saw that Song Yi-ho’s seat had been pushed toward the aisle.
Team Leader Song Yi-ho was not a particularly sociable person. He preferred working alone over interacting with people, and when working, he preferred an isolated and quiet environment.
Because of this, Min-gyu could feel Yi-ho’s back tensing up every time people passed behind him. In Min-gyu’s eyes, it looked as if the meals he had carefully fed him the previous day were turning into stomach pain for Yi-ho.
Min-gyu grabbed his tablet and stood up. Deputy Manager Kang, who was working at the same table, asked him.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to monitor Team Leader Song. To see if he’s meeting his deadlines or not.”
“Stop bullying him…”
With a simple shrug, Min-gyu headed toward where Yi-ho was. He took the empty chair next to Yi-ho. It was a seat that protruded toward the aisle and had been chosen by no one. By sitting there, Min-gyu blocked the view of Yi-ho from the aisle.
Min-gyu narrowed his eyes at Yi-ho, who looked back at him.
You should take care of yourself before making concessions; how can you be this stressed?
Having entered the company through a special hire for his PhD, skipping the ranks of employee and assistant manager, Yi-ho tended to take the responsibilities of a leader more heavily than others. Experience shows that superiors are also human—they avoid what they can and can be coercive—yet he was struggling to be an ideally unicorn-like leader.
In fact, Min-gyu had no disagreement that Yi-ho was a good leader. There were very few team leaders in this world who sacrificed themselves for the convenience of their team members.
However, from his lover’s perspective, he was just the worst kind of pushover. What could he do? If he couldn’t stand seeing that pushover behavior, he had no choice but to become an even bigger pushover by shielding him.
The problem was that because he sat in the protruding seat, Min-gyu stood out much more than usual. As always, Team Leader Cha, dressed flamboyantly, exhibited himself to every colleague passing through the aisle and was spoken to once every ten minutes.
“Min-gyu nim, why are you here?”
He had become too tired to even answer properly.
“I felt like there was a water vein flowing through my original seat.”
“Ah… it does feel like it’s flowing not just through that seat, but overall…”
Ending the conversation shortly, Min-gyu pulled up a few drafts on his tablet. Since Min-gyu didn’t particularly care whether someone watched his work from behind or not, he soon began to concentrate. Occasionally, the sound of Yi-ho typing next to him or the sound of his soft breathing was pleasant to hear.
Min-gyu also thought that this partition-less office should not last long. The efficiency of the marketing team was also starting to drop. Probably within a month or two, it would become a topic at the executive meeting and soon vanish into memory, becoming nothing more than drinking snacks for a while.
However, even risking work inefficiency, the pleasure of enjoying things like this in the early stages of a relationship was quite nice.
To add one more thing, it was a position that reminded him of the time they sat side-by-side studying in the self-study room during high school. Usually, Song Yi-ho sat by the window, and he sat on the outside, glancing around as if the classroom were stifling. Just like now.
Yi-ho, who had been typing, frowned as if threatening the code and leaned his head toward the screen, then pulled his head back and covered his mouth. Then he scrolled rapidly again. It couldn’t be that interesting. To the point where he could stare at it all day.
“Huh? Min-gyu nim, are you working here today?”
“Yes, I feel like this seat is a place where work goes well today.”
“Aha. It also seems like a seat where you’re monitored by everyone. Good luck.”
“Yess.”
The person who had exchanged a few bland words passed by. When he looked back at Yi-ho, Yi-ho was already looking at Min-gyu.
“……!”
Yi-ho lightly placed his hand on Min-gyu’s thigh and fidgeted. What was this? Song Yi-ho’s seduction? …A shiitake mushroom’s? Just as he was chuckling at the absurdity of the thought, Yi-ho met his eyes with a slightly flushed face.
‘Breakroom.’
His lips moved like that. Then Yi-ho stood up first. The direction he walked was toward the breakroom.
Hah… Min-gyu let out a small breath and checked his watch. Song Yi-ho, why has he become such a fox since they started dating? He waited for the second hand to make exactly three rotations before standing up. Although he didn’t care how others looked at him, his gait became a bit shy now. This is why everyone gets caught in office romances. Min-gyu already knew that rumors were circulating that his lover might be someone in the company. It seemed he, too, had been quite excited about the office romance.
Min-gyu was already imagining Yi-ho’s business. Since it was the shy Song Yi-ho, he couldn’t expect a very bold attempt, but that only made him happier at small reactions.
…Since he called him out after someone spoke to him, he even had the delusion that it might be jealousy…
Ah, what if it really is that? If that stoic personality showed jealousy, he wouldn’t be able to resist kissing him. Suddenly, the inside of his suit felt hot. There were only a few steps left until the breakroom.
Even if he couldn’t manage his expression out of happiness, the many prejudices of the world and the image the two had built up would protect them.
Inside the breakroom, Yi-ho was alone. He was in the middle of sipping caffeine from a large cup. And upon discovering Min-gyu, his eyes widened. Min-gyu went and sat next to Yi-ho. The distance was much closer than when they sat where others could see. Their thighs touched, and their shoulders were so close that no air conditioner breeze could seep in, allowing them to feel each other’s body heat.
“Why did you call me, Darling?”
While he had no strong opinion on office romances themselves, Min-gyu had always thought they were ‘unnecessary.’ Was there any advantage to having a lover in the workspace?
However, the advantages that couldn’t be measured by specific numbers or theories were, after all, the best.
Yi-ho rubbed the cup and looked up at Min-gyu. Today, his eyes looked like a puppy drenched in rain.
“Cha Min-gyu.”
“Yeah.”
“I like you a lot. You know that, right?”
“…I know.”
…This is actually quite heart-fluttering. Min-gyu unconsciously stroked his heating neck. He never thought he would hear such words from Song Yi-ho at the office in his entire life. Min-gyu sincerely gauged the remaining workload for today and the number of remaining vacation days for the year in his head. And the location of the hotel closest to the company.
“I mean, you really know, right? So don’t misunderstand when you hear this.”
“Darling, I won’t misunderstand anything you say. Don’t worry. What is it? Did you get voice-phished and need to transfer all your assets? Is your ancestor’s personality bad so we need to do a shamanic ritual that costs a thousand per session? Just say it. I’ll do everything for you.”
“No…”
Of course, what Yi-ho had to say wouldn’t be of that kind. This was simply the words jumping out first because he couldn’t contain his anticipation. Urging him to say what he wanted to say quickly.
After a short deep breath, Yi-ho let out a very lovely confession.
“Go sit somewhere else…”
A hesitant explanation followed.
“People keep staring because they’re looking at you, so I can’t get any work done.”
“…….”
Cha Min-gyu was, honestly, sulking.
The development team leader and the marketing team leader came out of the breakroom together, and then the marketing team leader silently packed his things and abruptly moved his seat.
With this sight alone, there would never be a chance of their office romance being discovered.