Chapter 5.3

Beep, beep, beep.

A disinterested clerk scanned three barcodes; taking her purchases, Min-kyung sat down at a long, high table next to the window. She laid out the triangle tuna gimbap, a cup of ramen, and a bottle of mineral water. She placed a set of chopsticks on the ramen as it cooked with the hot water filled inside and took her phone out to text Se-ah.

[I have something to tell you but can’t through a message. Can you talk on the phone for a moment? I’m free for the next 30 minutes.]

Earlier, while texting with Se-ah, Min-kyung had failed to mention that Hyunseong had gone to the hotel. Maybe he had already spoken to Se-ah, but seeing that she hadn’t texted her yet, it didn’t seem like Se-ah knew.

[?? I’m on the phone rn 😭]

Min-kyung hesitated momentarily when she read Se-ah’s response and decided it was best to just tell her.

[Last night, I ran into Jong-woo after dinner at the lounge bar, and then Hyunseong oppa stopped by. I was completely drunk.]

[WHAT 😱]

A series of gifs and stickers appeared one after another, some with their mouths open or screaming NO. Then stopped.

[Sorry. I’ll you cover with Hyunseong oppa.]

Sad stickers were sent after.

[No, no, so don’t worry, we had an agreement; I’ll take care of it.]

‘Make up your mind, Min-kyung…’ she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Okay, just get rid of the trench coat, then there will be no more strings to untangle with Lee Seop, right?’

Pressing her temple, she took off the lid to the ramen, spicy steam entered her nostrils as it rose. Slurping down the hot broth, warming her throat down to the middle of her chest. Steam and heat escaped her mouth as she scooped up chewy ramen with her chopstick and sucked it up. 

When she added the tuna gimbap to her mouth, which was still full of ramen, Min-kyung smiled, satisfied. She scooped up another chopstick full of ramen and shoved it in her mouth. Carbs are the best, and fried carbs are even better. Whenever her mind feels agitated, which it had very much been until a moment ago, she can find sanity thanks to the combination of carbs and spice.

Slurping up the noodles, Min-kyung read through the articles she had saved. She had read through three articles by the time she finished her meal, but after, she felt like something was missing. Sugar... the perfect ending to a salty and spicy meal.

‘Where is it?...’ After finishing the ramen and gimbap, Min-kyung looked all over the top shelf and at the bottom section. She couldn’t find what she was looking for even though it was stocked at almost all convenience stores and supermarkets.

‘This can’t be possible…’ She bent down and looked more closely. Ah, as expected, the box had been pushed in on the shelf. Min-kyung picked out two plumb chocolate bars filled with rich caramel and headed again towards the counter when she suddenly stopped in her tracks.

Lee Seop stood in front of the beverage refrigerator in the corner, a few steps away from her. He put a hand in his pocket, tilted his head with a crooked smile, and made eye contact with Min-kyung. He then approached her in two giant strides.

“Are you going to buy those?” he said slightly mockingly. She wasn’t sure if his mocking was because of the chocolate or because of last night, but he passed by her, not interested in an answer. Min-kyung followed behind him, and Lee Seop placed a green bottle of carbonated water on the counter.

She looked closely at the bottle and saw it was lime-flavored. Generally, they only stocked lemon or plain. ‘I guess he prefers lime flavor.’ Min-kyung was thinking about lime flavors when Lee Seop broke her out of thought and tapped on the countertop with his finger.

He pointed to her hand and said, “Add this too.”

Min-kyung quickly handed the bars to the cashier to ring up. After paying, Lee Seop walked straight to the table by the window. He had already put his bottle down when she realized she hadn’t cleaned up her containers yet.

She ran over to the table to throw the container away and wipe the table down with a napkin. Lee Seop watched her scurry about, then asked, “Are you done now?”

Sunlight showed through the window and made her forehead tingle in the heat. She felt like she couldn’t say, ‘Please forget yesterday.’ So Min-kyung bowed her head with remorse and spoke “I’m sorry for being such a mess last night.”

“What are you sorry about? It’s Deputy Director Kang’s private life.” Shrugging, Lee Seop twisted open the cap of his carbonated water. It hissed loudly from the sound of air bubbles escaping. Min-kyung swallowed hard at the tension in the air like it was also a bottle about to explode. “I’m sorry still, even though it wasn’t a work infraction since it was a weekend night.”

Lee Seop brought the bottle of water to his lips and gulped it down as if he were dying of thirst. Min-kyung’s eyes naturally were entranced by him, looking at the angles of his jawline and chin raised as he drank… and his extended neckline; it all was an art form. The way his adam’s apple protruded more with his chin raised and moved as he drank, felt strangely foreign. Min-kyung couldn’t take her eyes off it all, she then looked up and made eye contact with him.

Looking at each other, her right cheek and ear and his left cheek and ear glowed red from the sunlight shining through the window. Lee Seop fixed his gaze on her, then rubbed his wet lips with his fingertips. ‘Who drinks like this?’ he remembered his thought, although he felt it wasn’t the best way, it did feel refreshing when he drank so deeply.

(Translator note: Gross, who chugs a bottle of fizzy water… burp city)

“I feel really frustrated.”

“Do you have indigestion?”

“No, I had an intense dream.” Lee Seop spoke somewhat unfocused and held out his hand.

His heart throbbed when she looked at his fingers, they twitched slightly in response. He thought for a moment he’d suffer from this humiliation every time he held out his hand. As Min-kyung stared at his hand, Lee Seop then pointed to the chocolate bar, “You have two chocolate bars; give me one.” 

“Oh… yes.” Min-kyung took out the chocolate bars, peeled half the wrapper, and held it before her. He snapped a finger. She held the half-opened chocolate as if entranced and then placed the other chocolate bar in his long hand. Her fingertips grazed his palm, maybe…

Lee Seop tore the wrapper lengthwise and took a big bite. “Eat. Don’t you like these bars?”

Min-kyung opened her mouth slightly and bit into the chocolate bar. The half-melted chocolate stuck to her mouth, and her tongue became sticky as the rich caramel flavor flowed out. She glanced at Lee Seop, who was chewing the bar slowly and gracefully. Min-kyung thought she should have explained more about the situation last night, but no, she had to report to him about adding a meeting in the afternoon. She didn’t feel like doing either of those or anything right now.

‘What happened that night.’ She had been trying to think positively about last night, trying to kick off the feeling so that she could just forget about being embarrassed.

“Did you succeed last night?”

Min-kyung’s eyes widened at Lee Seop’s unexpected question. The afternoon that started warm, quiet, sweet, relaxing, and chocolate-like was just shattered.

*   *   *

Lee Seop’s nerves were tightly wound all morning. The nerves that would rise then fade away, like waves on a shoreline, surging in and out, repeatedly. All because of that strange dream.

Even after eating a late donburi lunch, Lee Seop felt antsy in the office. He had hoped that by going to the convenience store, he could calm his nerves and stomach with some carbonated water. Then he saw her. He knew what chocolate bar she held without looking at the label.

~~

“It’s the best value for the money. The cost per 100 grams is relatively low compared to the amount and flavor of caramel and nuts. It’s my favorite.” Min-kyung explained as she gave Lee Seop the chocolate bar while they were on a break during their Jiri Mountain climbing program at training. Even after that day, he remembered and thought occasionally about how delicious it actually was.

~~

Spring sunlight was streaming through the window, heating them up. The sweet chocolate bar in her hand was sticky and starting to melt onto the tips of her fingers. Because of the sunbeams, Lee Seop kept closing his eyes, but every time he did, all he saw was Min-kyung looking extravagantly last night. When he opened them, the memory image overlapped with Min-kyung sitting beside him.

She sat there, right there in front of his gaze, slowly and calmly biting into the chocolate. It was unexpected, but ironically, it didn’t matter to him. After last night, the first time she had shown that much of herself, Lee Seop now started to imagine. ‘If I took those clothes off of her…’ thoughts that were never had gone through his mind. But now…

Lee Seop’s weakened reason overcame his earlier grumpiness. What could he have done differently yesterday? Even though Kang Min-kyung is a robot. It hadn’t even been more than a day, but still, he wondered.

As he stared, suppressing this sweet irritation; her long eyelashes behind her glasses moved up and down slightly occasionally. Her robotic dark eyes glanced back at him indifferently. Every time she looked at him, his hands trembled. 

He was awestruck and, for the first time, thought about feeling like a perverted male boss. The idea gave Lee Seop a headache, but then his nerves calmed. 

Rubbing his temples with his index finger, he uttered the question, “Did you succeed yesterday?”

Min-kyung, who was leisurely enjoying the melting chocolate, looked at him with wide eyes. Her pupils shook slightly. He knew the question was troubling, but still, her sudden look was a bit refreshing. Lee Seop felt a little embarrassed since he was interrupting her leisurely moment, while she was grazing on her snack, by suddenly throwing a wrench into the silence.

Min-kyung shook her head at him, obviously wondering, ‘What is he asking me?’ Instead, she asked him, “I’m sorry?”

“Did you succeed last night?” Lee Soep spoke more harshly with a scratchy voice. 

“I don’t know what you mean.” Not showing any displeasure, Min-kyung raised her hand to brush her hair from her face. But she put a little too much force into the phrase, harshly pronouncing the ‘D’ in ‘don’t.’ She sounded like she was saying, ‘I don’t know…’ with a curse behind her words.

Lee Seop smiled softly, “I had a hard time sleeping. So I thought… I’m sorry.”

“Sir, do you have something to be sorry about…”

“Ah, let’s change the topic? Deputy Director Kang, last night you looked like you put a lot of effort into your look and hair.”

Remembering Min-kyung’s hair last night, Lee Seop raised his hands next to his ears and outlined what looked like a cloud down to his shoulder. He wanted desperately to ask about the tight miniskirt and camisole. Still, he limited himself to her wavy hair that was down.

“Anyway, that lawyer I met… “Lee Seop continued, “Or I mean, that ‘oh–pah’? Or something? I thought maybe I muddied up the waters with him, judging by how you acted.” He sneered a bit as he pointedly said the sounds oh. Pa…

Min-kyung forced a smile onto her lips, “Muddy waters…. Haa, but you’re the Executive Director.”

‘Ahh… boss.’ Lee Seop muttered lowly, then spat out, grumpy. “So it was just a matter of pitting your boss against another man? That’s not right, huh?”

“Sir, no.” Min-kyung could hardly suppress her anger behind her calm words.

“Ah, so then I will take advantage of that Oppa? Or you are thinking that I’m going to get hosed by him?” He asked, bothered and jealous with his assumptions.

“Yes?” Suddenly, Min-kyung’s dark eyes seemed to sparkle, and they squinted like crescent moons. It was as if laughter started to leak out from her eyes but also out of her mouth. As she tried to not laugh, it just made her laugh grow like a balloon being blown up, and she ended up bursting with laughter.

“Pffft, sorry…hehe, sorry.”

Although he had been adequately provoked by her, Lee Seop was then entirely defeated. His heart started to skip a beat when he saw Min-kyung smiling and laughing. ‘ah…Am I really this excited?’ Lee Seop felt a little more distraught. He turned and sulked and drank the rest of his sparkling water.