BYB 22

Chapter 22

After roughly stubbing out his cigarette in the ashtray, Kim Daejin spat and looked at Jiwoo. His irritation and contempt were undisguised.

“You’re saying someone is framing you? At HK Ilbo? Or at the HK Group? As retaliation? A big corporation would go after someone like you? That’s a very dangerous claim. Do you have evidence?”

His relentless questioning left her speechless, but Jiwoo finally opened her mouth to counter.

“I don’t have evidence, but given the circumstances, that post seems suspicious, and also…”

“Hey, the evidence is that you went to the hotel. You’re saying the evidence that’s clearly visible is fake, but suspicious circumstances with no evidence are real? You know how ridiculous that sounds, right.”

Countless words swirled in her mouth, but Jiwoo chose to swallow them.

“……”

The resolve that had kept her standing firm through the barrage of criticism and finger-pointing was slowly being chipped away in front of this man. At least with this person—at least he shouldn’t have said such cutting things.

Because even if the whole world didn’t believe her and pointed fingers, he was her boyfriend. He was supposed to be the one who worried about her safety more than anyone else.

If he had embraced her—suffering alone in the midst of gossip—comforted her, and been her pillar of support, she had been prepared to endure this storm somehow. Wasn’t that the bare minimum warmth a lover should share?

Conversely, if he had been in trouble, Jiwoo thought, she would have gladly been his shield. And at the same time, she firmly closed off the heart she had been slowly opening. Since there had never been any real feelings to begin with, there was no great loss.

*This is as far as he goes.*

The feeling of that tenuous trust snapping was uncomfortable, but only for a moment. Quickly sorting out her thoughts, Jiwoo looked him straight in the eye and spoke.

Calmly.

“Alright, then. Let’s break up.”

As if he had no regrets whatsoever, Kim Daejin quickly turned his back. And muttered to himself.

“I put in all that effort because she was the prettiest among the new hires, but what a waste of time, fuck…”

And so, Jiwoo quit both dating and her job, and came back down to her hometown.

The weekend came.

“Excuse me, but how old are you?”

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

“Are you preparing to become an actor?”

Every time he served, questions poured in from the women. Eunho replied flexibly.

Old enough to be old. Has a girlfriend. Acting is too tiring.

“Ah, you have a girlfriend. Well, that figures.”

Receiving openly disappointed looks, Eunho skillfully set down the menus and turned away. Then he glanced toward the kitchen. The woman he would soon make his girlfriend kept popping her head out like a meerkat to observe the hall.

Did she know that she stared even more blatantly when he talked to female customers?

Her clumsy jealousy, which she couldn’t even properly express, was so adorable it was driving him crazy.

Eunho was pleased by the exponentially rising sales, yet secretly delighted at the woman’s discomfort. He also wondered how she would react if he treated the customers even more kindly.

At first, Eunho had treated all customers with equal coldness. No matter how much attention the customers showed, he always maintained an icy gaze. Jiwoo had chided him several times for that attitude.

—Chunsam-ssi, smile a little. You have to smile for customers to come back. Serving requires a service mentality too.

She had said it herself, so she couldn’t complain about Eunho’s now-cheerful smile. And that would make her even more uncomfortable. He wanted even more to see the sight of her biting her lips, trying to suppress her jealousy.

“Excuse me!”

Eunho smiled and approached the table where a female customer was gesturing to him.

*An accident?* Can she really forget that passionate kiss?

He planned to punish her for that adorable delusion.

Saying she didn’t like him, when her eyes were filled with obvious fondness.

Before opening, when he had mustered the courage to press his lips to hers once more—that moment, Eunho was certain. That this woman’s feelings were the same as his. Even though she could have easily avoided it, she had simply closed her eyes tightly. The memory of her clear face made him want to laugh like a madman.

It would be best for her to play hard to get while she still could. Once she was completely his, she wouldn’t be able to afford such composure in front of him.

Even this subtle push-and-pull was enjoyable to Eunho.

“What’s your name?”

“Why do you ask?”

Eunho, who had learned to smile like a snake, narrowed his eyes into crescents and asked the female customer.

“Because I want to call you by name next time! Don’t you remember me?”

“Is that so? Where did I see you? I do remember seeing you somewhere.”

He had never seen her face before in his life, but it didn’t matter. Eunho played along appropriately and replied skillfully. This level of service was now second nature to him.

If the business planning team members saw this, their eyes would roll back in their heads. Or perhaps they wouldn’t believe it even if they saw it. The great Managing Director Song, smiling sweetly and catering to someone’s whims.

Haha. Hoho.

After giving appropriate responses, he figured this was enough and turned around.

At that moment, his eyes met Jiwoo’s, who had been peeking out.

What was contained in her drooping eyes—could it be disappointment?

*I hope so*, Eunho thought as he headed straight for the kitchen. Then, using the excuse of helping because the kitchen was busy, he began to closely observe her complexion.

Saturdays were always busy, but today was especially so. As she dissolved the tteokbokki sauce paste in the pot and glanced outside, the tables were already full.

“Wow… we’re going to have huge sales.”

Back when her father Cha Wonchul was running the place, most of the customers were middle-aged men. Regulars were only the laundry shop owner and the hangover soup restaurant owner.

But now, young women were overflowing. And they were lovely young ladies—university students or early-career workers.

Joo Minhyuk. Song Chunsam.

The reason lay with the two staff members working the hall. Female college students had always been plentiful because they came to see Minhyuk, but today there seemed to be even more. Were all the young working women here to see Song Chunsam?

Business was done with good looks, and since she had hired a top-tier handsome man as staff, rising sales were only natural—but she couldn’t understand why she felt so uneasy. Jiwoo pouted her lips for no reason and began making tteokbokki more aggressively than usual.

“Excuse me, but how old are you?”

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

“Are you preparing to become an actor?”

Haha. Hoho. The high-pitched laughter carried all the way into the kitchen, but the man’s voice was nowhere to be heard. Even though it was nothing, she secretly found herself wondering what he had answered, and it bothered her.

*Excuse me, ladies. That man is really strange…*

He eats candy like cigarettes, and the only shoes he owns are one pair of slippers… He’s also incredibly full of himself. So stop paying him attention.

She was the one who had turned away with sharp words, so why did she feel so put out? Jiwoo pouted her lips.

She shouldn’t have said to forget it. She should have just said she needed some time.

Now she realized there was not a shred of sincerity in the words she had thrown out earlier. Her heart sank deeply. To be honest, from the moment their eyes met, her fingertips had tingled, but she hadn’t had the courage to speak her true feelings.

It was a feeling she didn’t want to admit.

“Big sis! Is the tteokbokki for table 3 ready yet?”

At that moment, Minhyuk poked his head into the kitchen and broke through Jiwoo’s thoughts. Jiwoo wiped the sweat from her forehead and checked the pot. The appetizing tteokbokki was bubbling in all its red glory.

“Almost done.”

“We’re a bit backed up.”

“I’m much slower than Dad…”

As the conversation continued, the man suddenly walked into the kitchen.

“Do weekend part-timer, you handle the hall alone. The kitchen is busy right now.”

“Yessir!”

For some reason, Minhyuk had started treating the man like a god, acting as if he’d die for his words. It was both funny and puzzling.

As soon as Minhyuk disappeared, the man picked up the cooking utensils and spoke.

“How do you do this? Show me.”

“?”

“Please show me, Manager.”

After blinking his impassive eyes a couple of times, he pushed Jiwoo aside from in front of the stove and spoke. In that brief moment of pushing her aside, he didn’t forget to check the bandage on her finger.

“You were cutting your hand earlier.”

“Ah.”

“And now you’re about to burn yourself.”

He must have seen her flustered as orders came in at once. Earlier, she had made a slightly loud noise while setting down a hot pot.

Jiwoo’s cheeks flushed.

“I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“……”

“Show me. I learn quickly.”

The man’s gaze touched her trembling lashes and lips briefly before moving away.

Jiwoo’s mind grew hazy. Feeling embarrassed, she raised her hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead. But the man was faster. He pulled out a wet wipe and gently dabbed at Jiwoo’s forehead. Careless yet meticulous.

Just like a lover would.