Chapter 43: CH 6.2

When I emptied the bowl, I heard a movement as though Yeon Woojeong was coming out of the bathroom inside his room. After rustling for a long time, he came out and sat down laxly on the sofa in the living room. That appearance of his was just like a sloth.

Yeon Woojeong didn’t turn on the TV and only blinked his eyes, staring at the ceiling. My irritation disappeared as I saw that. Holding the bowl, I rose to my feet and cleaned the table. Then, as I sat on the sofa after brushing my teeth, Yeon Woojeong raised his finger.

“Do you grind your teeth at that age?”

The place pointed to by his finger was a wound in his neck that obviously looked sore at a glance. I wondered if that should be treated with ointment. However, I didn’t want to bring it to him. How long would such a wound last?

Yeon Woojeong put down his finger and said nothing else. He curled his toes and yawned.

It flustered me that he calmly brought up last night’s thing. I didn’t know if he did so because he felt nothing about it, or because things like this were originally natural and normal. Who was that woman, and what happened to her? The thoughts, which were buried due to the activities that happened fiercely, noisily came to my mind. 

“Is there anything you want?”

“… why?”

“To celebrate your twenty.”

“Is becoming twenty important?”

“I’m just adding a pretext. It’s good to celebrate anything, right?”

Yeon Woojeong’s eyes were slowly closing. Following the movement of his eyelids, I breathed out slowly. Then, my head which was turning upside down slowly calmed down.

“What’s good about celebrating it?”

“Won’t you remember it every time you look at the gift? Your twenty is… an age to get blessings from someone.”

Twenty. My twenty.

I never thought about it in that way. Since celebrating age was a luxury that I couldn’t even think about.

Yeon Woojeong closed his eyes. I felt my insides stir.

“What if I have nothing I want?”

“I’ll pick it for you. Ah, this should be a surprise. Right?”

A smile decorated his lips. And that, too, soon disappeared. The living room turned quiet. The movement of his toes stopped.

He, who comfortably lay down on the black sofa, was made of light colors. However, the red wound on his white neck was tinted with a strong color. It was just like the warning sign notifying danger.

I wanted to remain as such a color to Yeon Woojeong. I didn’t want him to easily look past me. Then, what should I do? What should I do so that Yeon Woojeong would be less peaceful than now? I wanted to make a mess of his head—his mind—not his face.

The sunlight that permeated through the window showered on Yeon Woojeong’s face. It seemed like the clouds had disappeared. His forehead was creased. I quietly got up and approached the window. The sky was clear. As I looked down at the view spread under the wide window, I felt like something piled up in my heart. I didn’t know what it was.

I turned back. I walked while positioning my shadow so that it covered his face. Yeon Woojeong’s face turned soft. I stared at him for a while, then closed the blind. The darkness that came was peaceful.

***

I was busy in my own way. I folded the blanket that was hung, went grocery shopping because there was nothing to eat, and the lunch box and vegetables arrived again, so I organized it.

Even though it felt like I did a lot of things, time moved slowly. The indicator was Yeon Woojeong’s time to go home. When he wasn’t present, the time was slow, and once he got home, it moved quickly. I did solve the puzzle at times, but I wanted to do something else. However, I didn’t know what exactly I wanted to do.

I took out the curry powder and packed vegetables for the curry that I bought from the mart. When I poured out a bag of curry, it was quite a lot. Still, I thought I would be able to finish this in two days. The smell scattered in the kitchen stimulated my stomach. I opened the window to ventilate the air, then opened the refrigerator. There was no water.

It seemed like I bought 500ml bottled water at once, but as I drank it all on the way back, it disappeared quickly. After taking and wearing a padding jacket, I took the card and went out.

Leaving the officetel, I went to a convenience store. I was about to open the door, but the paper attached to the door caught my eyes.

[Looking for a part-timer

Mon~Thurs, 11:00~19:00]

You are reading story Stranger at novel35.com

Part-time?

I read the sentence that wasn’t long for a while then went inside.

“Welcome.”

There were two employees at the cashier’s desk. One was a woman, and the other one was a man. The convenience store was indeed wide, but looking at how there were two employees, meant this place was busy. I didn’t know because I rarely came here, but was this place that hectic to need two people?

Even though this place was busy, I didn’t think the work here would be that difficult. Since there was no need to move like serving customers, I would be less tired, and if there was only one employee who worked with me wouldn’t there be relatively few annoying things? If the work was from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. I guessed it was good to kill time until Yeon Woojeong got home. He got home before 7 p.m. if he was early, but it was rare for him to get home early.

I put a bundle of six 2L bottled water on the counter. The employee scanned the barcode and told me the price. I handed the card and paid. I stole a glance at the woman and man’s faces, but then I met with the woman’s eyes. She immediately looked away and asked,

“Do you want a receipt?”

“No.”

“Yes, thank you.”

I accepted the card, then walked out while holding the bundle of water in one hand.

Part-time. Part-time…

Will I be able to do it well? Truthfully, I wasn’t confident. However, work wasn’t something to do with confidence. I had to do anything. I had to because I didn’t want to be Yeon Woojeong’s burden.

The hourly wage would surely be not much. Still, it would be enough for my pocket money, and since I’m not the type to spend much, it wouldn’t be that lacking. Anyway, I wouldn’t chip away at Yeon Woojeong’s money.

If I tell him I will do it, what will Yeon Woojeong say? Will he tell me to do it? It is impossible for him to take away my pocket money. Although it won’t be a huge help for him just because I work, I want to show him.

The cold wind felt refreshing. I moved my feet quickly. I wanted to quickly ask Yeon Woojeong. Would he think that I would be able to do it well?

When I opened the front door, Yeon Woojeong’s shoes were there. I wasn’t expecting it, but while I was going out for a moment, he got home earlier. Great. I can ask him right away, can’t I?

“You’re here?”

He, who was looking at his notebook without even changing his clothes, turned his head a bit and asked. I put the water on top of the dining table. My palms felt ticklish now that I was about to ask him. I took apart the bundle of bottled water, put some in the refrigerator, put some outside, and turned around. The clicking sound of the mouse rang regularly.

Yeon Woojeong was looking at the notebook with an expressionless face. And I slowly parted my lips.

“I saw the convenience store across the road is looking for a part-timer. Do you know?”

“Is that so?”

“Should I do that?”

Yeon Woojeong’s head turned to me.

“Do it if you want.”

It was a flat answer. He kept telling me to do what I wanted, but I didn’t know what I wanted. For me, there were a lot of things I had to do even if I didn’t want to, because there was little I wanted to do.

I thought he would give me guidance if I asked him this. Do it, or don’t do it.

Yeon Woojeong’s gaze turned again. I scratched the dining table with my nails. An odd impatience drove me.

“If I do that, will it…”

I moved my mouth, but the words didn’t come out easily. As silence flowed in, Yeon Woojeong stared at me again. As soon as I saw his eyes, the question jumped out.

“Make me have value?”

After saying that, I felt like I knew it. I… I had to be a man with at least minimal value to him. So that he couldn’t throw me away. So that he needed me. So that I wouldn’t be a burden even if I stayed here for a long time.

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