ENM 08

Chapter 8

Jiwoo, Wooyeon, and Jeongheon sat facing one another in a private room covered with tatami mats. The soft sound of string instruments and the sound of running water from the indoor garden flowed through the private room’s windows.

The three of them were at Soo, a restaurant famous for its omakase, located right in front of the gallery.

Jiwoo seemed flustered by the sudden dinner invitation, but soon she could not hide her excitement, saying that who knew when she would ever get a chance to come to a place like this. She kept smiling brightly.

“Oh, you really didn’t have to do this. I feel a little shameless accepting a meal like this. Thank you, Director. This place requires a reservation at least two months in advance. I’m so touched.”

Jiwoo’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the neatly arranged table.

“I come here often.”

Jeongheon answered casually, as if it were nothing special.

It was an expensive restaurant that the gallery staff could not easily visit, not only because reservations were difficult but also because the prices were far from cheap. Yet they had entered the place with ease, simply because of one phone call from Kwon Jeongheon.

Just as easily as he had opened the doors of Nasun Gallery.

Jiwoo gave him a double thumbs-up, saying that she respected him, completely unaware that Wooyeon was feeling increasingly uncomfortable beside her.

What on earth was this?

Wooyeon felt discouraged inside.

Leaving aside the fact that she had been working through the nights preparing for the White Night Festival, which was only two weeks away, while also preparing a solo exhibition for one of the gallery’s artists, today had been strangely exhausting.

It was not enough that Kwon Jeongheon had suddenly appeared at the gallery without warning. He had rejected every work she showed him, only to suddenly suggest having dinner.

Even while sitting across from him with a whole table between them, Wooyeon could not understand how she had ended up here.

The more she experienced Kwon Jeongheon’s ambiguous attitude, which sometimes seemed deliberate and sometimes did not, the stranger it felt.

At this point, it did not seem like he had forgotten her. But she simply could not understand why he was going this far.

It was not her first time having a meal with a regular customer after closing a deal, but this was completely different, and her thoughts were complicated.

She wondered if she was the only one who felt uncomfortable while Jiwoo was having such a wonderful time and Jeongheon was offering an excessive amount of considerate kindness as though this were perfectly normal.

“What about alcohol?”

“I’ll have—”

“I don’t drink.”

Jiwoo, who was about to say that she would, immediately closed her mouth after seeing Wooyeon’s warning glance.

“If you want to drink, then drink. We’re all working to make a living, aren’t we?”

Did he not know who had kept them here until this hour?

If he wanted to be generous, he should start by respecting their work-life balance.

Wooyeon swallowed the words filling her throat along with some water and remained silent.

Unlike Jiwoo, who happily moved her chopsticks around and slowed down whenever her eyes met Jeongheon’s, Jeongheon ate in a neat and composed manner.

There were things she wanted to ask. Things she actually wanted to snap at him about. They rose to the tip of her tongue again, but she forced them back down.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you eating?”

“No. I’m eating.”

She belatedly picked up a piece of sushi with her chopsticks.

Only after chewing and swallowing the fresh piece of fish completely did Jeongheon’s gaze leave her.

“It’s good.”

The meal properly began.

Jiwoo ate everything without being picky.

She chattered about how coming here had been on her bucket list, but even after working at Nasun for over a year, she had never had the chance to visit.

Wooyeon, on the other hand, remained quiet.

Thinly sliced abalone noodles, flounder sashimi sprinkled with fish roe powder, smoked bonito sashimi, striped bass sushi, grilled tilefish, sushi made with tuna cheek meat, and other delicious dishes were brought out one after another and disappeared into Jiwoo’s mouth.

“How does it taste?”

“Amazing. It just melts in my mouth.”

Starting with tuna maki and ending with golden-eye snapper sushi, Jiwoo ate as if the food were disappearing before her eyes. She even received some of Wooyeon’s food when Wooyeon pushed her plate toward her, telling her to eat more.

“Oh, Manager. I’m not that greedy.”

“No. You barely ate lunch today. Eat more.”

“Oh, if you insist, then I suppose I should. It would be rude to refuse when you’re offering, even if I have no shame.”

Jiwoo reached toward the small dish on Wooyeon’s plate with a look that made Wooyeon seem like her benefactor.

“Isn’t it hard to make sure you eat properly when you’re working?”

“Well, it’s like that for most people. Not always, but sometimes I lose track of meal times when I’m working.”

“Everyone’s life is pretty much the same.”

“Of course. Whether here or somewhere else, people live the same way, and we all eat and poop the same—Ah, I’m sorry for ruining this sacred mealtime.”

Jiwoo pretended to bury her face in her plate.

Jeongheon gave a faint smile.

It was a smile that made it seem as though Kwon Jeongheon’s expression could never become disordered. His sharp features seemed to soften into gentle curves for just a moment.

The feeling was surprisingly refreshing.

For a moment, Jiwoo even forgot to eat and stared at him blankly.

When their eyes met, Jiwoo’s cheeks quickly turned red.

But his kind smile lasted only briefly. His slightly tilted gaze soon returned to Wooyeon.

Perhaps because Wooyeon had been focusing only on eating without saying much after taking her first bite, she looked as though she was barely touching her food.

“Is the food not to your taste?”

“No.”

Wooyeon lightly wiped her mouth with a napkin before answering.

There was a faint smile around her lips, but she did not look like she was enjoying the meal very much.

“Do you not like this kind of food? Then what do you like, Manager Go?”

What was he trying to do?

Wooyeon’s eyebrows twitched noticeably, though she did not say it aloud.

Jeongheon had been the one who led them here because he genuinely wanted to treat them to a good meal.

Half of him seemed genuinely curious about what kind of food she liked, while the other half seemed to be searching for another reason why she was not eating much.

His polite but clear gaze did not seem to care whether the other person felt uncomfortable.

“I eat pretty much anything.”

Wooyeon answered in a businesslike tone.

Jiwoo quickly joined in.

“Our Manager likes Korean set meals. There’s a really good place just around the corner. It’s called Sichon Bapsang. It’s famous around here. There’s always a long line during lunch, and it’s basically the favorite restaurant of office workers around here.”

“We’ll go there next time.”

Next time?

Wooyeon stopped while lifting her chopsticks.

When she looked at him again, Kwon Jeongheon was smiling annoyingly.

What was that confident look in his eyes, as if he was certain there would be a next time?

There was no reason for Wooyeon to avoid his confident gaze, so this time she looked straight back at him.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

It was only a brief moment, but their gazes fiercely tangled in the air.

The mixed gazes felt as though they were silently fighting for dominance, and even though it lasted only a short while, it was exhausting.

“Do you have something to say?”

“No.”

It was the same answer she always gave, but Jeongheon immediately repeated it.

“No.”

His eyes narrowed slightly as he repeated the words Wooyeon had just said, as though pointing out the wrong answer.

It was not really that he had answered her words. It was more accurate to say that he had deliberately caught onto her wording.

“That’s the word I’ve heard most from you, Manager Go.”

“From me?”

“Whenever I ask you something, you always say, ‘No. No, that’s not it.’”

“No.”

“Again.”

The inside of Wooyeon’s lip stung where she had unconsciously bitten it.

Does he think I’m funny? Does he think closing several big deals means he can cross the line with me?

Whatever his intention was, being put on the spot did not feel good.

Seeing the atmosphere beside her, Jiwoo let out an exaggerated laugh and cleverly changed the subject.

“That’s just a Korean habit. We start with ‘No’ before anything else.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Whenever someone says something, we start with ‘Nooo,’ and then say, ‘That’s not it.’ Without that, it almost doesn’t sound like a proper conversation. I do it too. Everyone does.”

“Interesting.”

Was he really interested?

Seeing Jeongheon smile faintly, Jiwoo looked proud of herself for successfully saving the atmosphere.

Beside her, Wooyeon tried her best to concentrate on her meal.

As a little food entered her stomach, exhaustion came rushing over her.

She had only slept for an hour that morning and had now been awake for fifteen hours.

As expected, sleep was more important than food.

Wooyeon desperately wanted to finish eating as quickly as possible and end this dinner.

“Finish your food.”

After the meal was over, dessert arrived.

As the course, which consisted of more than thirty dishes, came to an end, the cautious atmosphere had become somewhat more relaxed.

Wooyeon had managed to chase away her overwhelming sleepiness and return to an alert state.

She could not tell whether her instincts were controlling her reason or whether her reason had simply gone numb, but thankfully, the tension in her nerves had eased.

Perhaps having a full stomach had made her feel a little more generous.

It was not bad.

The words being exchanged simply went in one ear and out the other, and even Jeongheon’s gaze, which had been fixed on her throughout the meal, no longer bothered her.

“Ah, I’m really happy. How can even the dessert be this amazing?”

Jiwoo was delighted as she ate green tea ice cream.

Wooyeon felt even better seeing her like that.

She had promised to buy Jiwoo a good meal after work, but she would never have been able to treat her to something like this.

Perhaps this really was a blessing in disguise.

Wooyeon quietly watched Jeongheon eat his green tea ice cream after handing his card to the employee who brought the dessert.

You really don’t remember me?

It did not seem that way.

But it also seemed as though he knew and was acting this way on purpose.

If that’s true, you’re really cruel.

Whenever she looked into his eyes, they were always completely black, as if he knew nothing.

No—his eyes were black as though he had deliberately decided not to know.

A winter eleven years ago.

A memory Wooyeon wanted to erase forever floated through her mind.

The reason she could not stop thinking about him was because she had unexpectedly met the person who had left her with the worst memory of her life.

Once the work was finished, this old connection would be severed.

Until then, she would simply keep this much distance.

Not any closer.

Not any farther.

Just like this.

Wooyeon rinsed her mouth with Sejak green tea and calmly organized her thoughts.

At that moment, her eyes met Kwon Jeongheon’s again as he returned from paying the bill, card in hand.

Again.

In the very brief moment their eyes met, a strange feeling was clearly engraved between them.

“You can ask me directly if there’s something you want to know.”