GGAS 21

Kim Abang rose onto his tiptoes as if he was hopping and started whispering into Seo Taerim’s ear. As Kim Abang explained his idea in detail, his face looked like the happiest in the world, and surprisingly, that was not limited only to Kim Abang. The longer Kim Abang explained, the more Seo Taerim’s stiff face relaxed, and his expression gradually became gentle. When Kim Abang lowered his heels back to the ground as if he were putting a period at the end of his story and looked at Seo Taerim with eyes full of expectation, Seo Taerim even showed a rare bright smile on his lips.

“Thank you for explaining. But as I was listening, I started to have one question. May I ask you?”

When Seo Taerim asked gently, Kim Abang smiled brightly.

“Of course! What’s your question?”

“Kim Abang-ssi, by any chance.”

“Yes.”

“While you were making that plan, did you ever think even once that I might die of embarrassment?”

Seo Taerim was still smiling, but he especially emphasized “even once” and asked clearly. Then Kim Abang laughed.

“Die of embarrassment over something this amazing? No way! Taerim-ssi, you always make such witty jokes that my own lack of humor makes me feel sorry sometimes~.”

Looking at the cheerful Kim Abang, Seo Taerim’s whole face softened into a faint smile. At this point there was no doubt. Because of some plan that Kim Abang had made, Seo Taerim was sure he would die of humiliation soon, and the only remaining problem was, “What color should the coffin be?”

‘Of course, the neutral tone suits me the best…’

Seo Taerim thought of his wardrobe and picked out a few colors that seemed suitable, feeling a small joy. The color of the trench coat he had bought recently seemed perfect as the color of the place he would stay until his bones turned to dust. But then he thought that once he became a corpse, his personal color might change, and he quickly became gloomy again. Ah, from the plan Kim Abang had set up to the color of the coffin he would enter, in this wide world there was nothing he could decide for himself.

“-rim-ssi, Taerim-ssi?”

Kim Abang’s lively voice broke into Seo Taerim’s depressing thoughts.

“Yes?”

When Seo Taerim turned his head and asked back, Kim Abang was laughing in a way that would make anyone watching feel good.

“Taerim-ssi, to celebrate resolving the situation in advance, I’ll buy you a meal!”

“A meal?”

“Yes! It’s lunchtime. What do you want to eat, Taerim-ssi? Eat what you want to eat!”

Eat what he wanted to eat. Those words pierced Seo Taerim’s heart as if Kim Abang had seen right through his loss of choice that had made him feel depressed. Embarrassed, Seo Taerim kicked at the stones stuck in the ground for no reason.

“Well, anything is fine for me…”

“Ah, don’t say that~”

When Kim Abang insisted two or three times that he really wanted to buy, Seo Taerim rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat.

“Hm, then… I would like salmon sushi.”

“Perfect, I know a place that makes really delicious salmon sushi!”

Kim Abang grabbed Seo Taerim’s hand excitedly, shook it up and down, and shouted, “Let’s go!” Seo Taerim nodded awkwardly and started walking in step with Kim Abang. Since he was trying to match Kim Abang’s short stride, his way of walking became a little awkward. Kim Abang saw it and said, “Since Taerim-ssi is matching strides for me, then I’ll take care of the eye level,” and hopped as if he had springs attached to his soles. People passing by kept glancing at them, but either way, the two of them walked in step.

“Taerim-ssi, Taerim-ssi. Hold my hand a little tighter. That way I can jump more steadily. Right now, every time I jump, your arm shakes like the air doll in front of the sagori gamjatang restaurant.”

“…Isn’t that overly specific?”

“But it really does shake like that… Ah, look, there really is an air doll over there!”

Kim Abang pointed at the air doll in front of a discount appliance mart and shouted. The slightly deflated air doll was swaying helplessly, exactly like Seo Taerim’s arm.

“It really does look alike.”

Seo Taerim stroked his chin and said with a troubled face.

“Right?”

Kim Abang agreed with a big smile and suddenly went “ah-cha-cha” as he pulled out his phone from his pocket.

“Then do you want to take a picture with that doll? A commemorative shot!”

“Yes?”

Seo Taerim blinked in confusion at Kim Abang’s talk about taking a commemorative shot. But before he knew it, he realized he was already standing next to the air doll, making a V sign with his fingers as if it was the most natural thing.

‘Wha…, what is this? Why am I doing this?’

As Seo Taerim flinched and looked around restlessly, he heard Kim Abang laughing happily.

“Taerim-ssi, not there, look over here~”

When Seo Taerim turned his head toward the sound of Kim Abang’s voice, he squinted reflexively because of the sunlight. The sunlight was shining brightly behind Kim Abang’s head, creating a backlight, and he could hardly see Kim Abang’s face. Seo Taerim quickly shaded his eyes with his hand, but he still couldn’t see clearly, so he blinked a couple of times.

Then, when he opened them the second time, Kim Abang was clearer than the first, and when he opened them the third time, clearer than the second. His black hair shone under the lazy midday sun, his lips curled up roundly from smiling, his cheeks flushed lively red, and his eyes, focused on taking the picture, stood out as if a sketch had been redrawn with thicker lines. It was a more piercing sight than the white sunlight that had been flooding his eyes just a moment ago without any shield.

‘…It feels like an illusion.’

Seo Taerim suddenly thought. Kim Abang was truly a strange person. Someone he had never met, never heard of, never even thought might exist somewhere on Earth. Like the most absurd illusion in the world. He had suddenly dropped out of the sky one day, picked out the most nonsensical things to do, and now he had overturned Seo Taerim’s whole world. He would probably never forget following Kim Abang over a wall, crashing into a trash can, and seeing his vision flip.

How could a person fly?

As Seo Taerim recalled the feeling from that moment, he let out a hollow laugh. He thought he knew a lot about Kim Abang, but he still couldn’t tell what Kim Abang would do next. And to be honest, even if someday he came to know everything about Kim Abang, he felt he would never know what Kim Abang would do next.

‘It’s too absurd to forget, and too unpredictable to look away.’

In so many ways, Kim Abang was a troublesome person. He pulled at all of Seo Taerim’s attention and senses. And when he was with Kim Abang, even Seo Taerim couldn’t predict his own next actions. Just now too. He had ended up raising his arms and flopping them like the air doll because of Kim Abang’s suggestion, “Why not wave your arms like the air doll?” And after Kim Abang ran back to him after taking the photo and showed it to him, he was persuaded into setting it as his wallpaper. Kim Abang also changed his own phone’s wallpaper to the two-shot of Seo Taerim and the air doll and chattered excitedly.

“Perfectly thorough! Now even the reporters will be completely fooled. After all, only couples would have the exact same wallpaper, right?!”

Kim Abang looked up at Seo Taerim with sparkling eyes.

“Is that so? But if you think about it, we might just look like electronics mart employees full of company spirit….”

Seo Taerim voiced his concern as he looked at the photo of the air doll with “Refrigerator 50% Big Sale” printed in large letters. At that, Kim Abang clapped his hands.

“Ah! An office couple~?! I’ve always wanted to try being an office couple!”

Kim Abang spun around to face Seo Taerim, grabbed both of his hands tightly, and smiled brightly.

“You’re the first person who’s done two things on my bucket list with me!”

‘The first?’

Seo Taerim’s heart flipped helplessly. He wet his dry lips for a moment and then carefully chose his words to reply.

“I…, it’s my first too. We both did it for the first time.”

“Wow, amazing…! Doing two things on my bucket list for the first time with someone is itself another bucket list item…!”

When Seo Taerim saw Kim Abang’s eyes widen in surprise, he thought that the corners of his own mouth had lifted a little.

“Is that so?”

“Yes, because I like the number 2!”

After Kim Abang declared that cheerfully and began walking backward, Seo Taerim slowly started walking as well. For some reason, his chest tingled from the small hand that was pulling him along. There probably wasn’t any restaurant that would welcome two people who had just fallen into a trash can, but for now, he felt it was fine not to tell Kim Abang that yet.

***

At that time, Hau Group.

“Ah, Director. I really can’t do this anymore. I feel like the scallion kimchi is about to call me ancestor~.”

Ha Bomi sprawled over the desk that had turned into a mess of document stacks as she spoke. At that, Kim Gwanggong pressed his hand on his eyelids and put down the report he was holding.

“…Let’s rest for a moment.”

Kim Gwanggong closed his eyes and leaned his body against the backrest of the chair.

“Ughhhh….”

Ha Bomi groaned. It was understandable. Just before the launch date of the main product for the project Kim Gwanggong was in charge of, the subcontracted factory responsible for production had run into problems. Because of that, Kim Gwanggong, Planning Team 1, and even Ha Bomi, who was both his secretary and one of Hau Group’s capable talents, had all been urgently called in from the weekend and had been suffering under the workload. From Saturday, Sunday, and all through Monday, they had been running between headquarters and the provincial site without even eating a proper meal, and now, even past noon on Tuesday, the situation had still not calmed down. But regardless of whether it calmed down or not, Ha Bomi’s stamina had already been worn out long ago.

“I’m really scallion kimchi, scallion kimchi….”

Ha Bomi kept muttering the words scallion kimchi over and over like a broken record, then slowly lifted her forehead and rested her chin on the desk.

“Director.”

“What is it.”

Kim Gwanggong answered with his eyes still closed.

“Since I keep saying scallion kimchi, I’m craving gukbap with scallion kimchi. Do you want to go have a bowl?”

Ha Bomi asked as she added in a gesture with both hands as if mixing gukbap.

“I don’t eat gukbap and I don’t eat scallion kimchi.”

Hearing Kim Gwanggong’s cold reply, Ms. Ha Bomi clicked her tongue and straightened her body.

“Eh hey, Director. How can you know one thing and not the other? If you keep being that stubborn, you might end up in the ER, and then your older brother might quit his business and get a job here just to make you eat properly.”

“…….”

“Oh, but thinking about it, it’s no loss for me, is it? Since your brother is fun.”

“…Let’s go.”

Kim Gwanggong let out a low sigh and lifted his body from the backrest.