GGAS 23

Ha Bomi laughed “hohoho” until her mouth hurt, and according to what she heard, the situation was as follows. Eun Sanho had met quite often with that ‘person’ he got matched with through the marriage agency, or at least he had memorized about ten different dating courses in his head. And he had around one hundred more opinions on how to modify those details so that ‘that person’ would like him more. If you only considered the effort he put into making the courses, Eun Sanho looked like he was in a grand romance with ‘that person.’

‘This is driving me crazy….’

While Ha Bomi laughed like a spectator, she started to feel a little scared that Kim Gwanggong was not saying anything. Even though Kim Gwanggong was someone who lived his daily life like a dating sim game, alternating between short answers like ‘No,’ ‘Yes,’ ‘Think about it again,’ after getting used to short replies, he was not the type to stay quiet for so long. If anything, Kim Gwanggong was closer to the type who, because of his nasty personality, would keep picking fights with only short answers in conversation, which in turn made the other person want to quit their job.

Ha Bomi also started to feel uneasy because she saw that Kim Gwanggong was dipping and pulling his spoon into the soup at short, regular intervals, eating very diligently. She thought a person in a stable emotional state would not be eating so artificially like that.

‘Sanho-ssi, please stop….’

This time, Ha Bomi prayed not to God but to Eun Sanho. But Eun Sanho seemed to have decided to abandon Ha Bomi and go hand in hand with ‘that person.’ He kept going on about things like a hill with a beautiful sunset, or a museum cafe with delicious strawberry cake, even though he was not a travel blogger.

‘Wow… he has been rambling alone for over 30 minutes, isn’t he tired?’

Ha Bomi massaged her cramped calf and thought. Eun Sanho looked fragile but seemed to have more stamina than expected. And seeing how he left out the fact that to reach that hill with the beautiful sunset you had to pass through the snake trail, and that the cake shop cafe in the museum, which sold such delicious cake, was scheduled to close a week later, Ha Bomi was certain Eun Sanho either had a brain as clear as the autumn sky or had bought a lot of land¹ in Shancho Boulevard.

‘Ha….’

Ha Bomi looked at the bowl next to her that was scraped down to the bottom and felt it was like her shortening lifespan.

‘Please, anyone is fine, I beg you, pity me and shut Eun Sanho-ssi’s mouth…. I don’t care about the method or the means, just someone, please… ah, Jesus, Buddha, Allah, Mother Earth….’

Ha Bomi prayed earnestly. But the new generation of only gods and the great Mother Earth did not seem to have ever had a daughter like Ha Bomi. This time, Eun Sanho even pulled out equipment and started another story.

“Bomi-ssi, do you want to take a look at this?”

Eun Sanho pushed his phone in front of Ha Bomi.

“This time I’m planning to go here with that person. A cruise party.”

Ha Bomi looked at the online invitation on the phone and forced a smile like a yellow smiley emoticon.

“Ahaha, cruise~, it’s a cruise~”

“Yes, a cruise. They said a chef I usually liked is also coming, and at the end there will be fireworks. Doesn’t it sound good for a date?”

“Wow, amazing. How could it be, fireworks on the sea~? The harmony of yin and yang is insane~”

Ha Bomi let out a half-hearted admiration, not because she had lost her manners, but because she was too drained of energy.

Then suddenly, Kim Gwanggong put his spoon down on the table with a tap.

“Secretary Ha.”

Kim Gwanggong called Ha Bomi in a low voice. Ha Bomi got a bit nervous, wondering if this guy was going to scold her for giving sloppy answers to the person he liked.

“Wh-what is it.”

But the reply was unexpected.

“Let’s go too.”

The words were cut short at both ends, so Ha Bomi frowned.

“…Where?”

Then Kim Gwanggong gestured with his eyes at the invitation displayed on Eun Sanho’s phone.

“What? Th-there?”

Ha Bomi blinked and asked back.

“Yes.”

When Kim Gwanggong answered briefly, Ha Bomi scratched her neck roughly in embarrassment and then frowned.

“Ah….”

Ha Bomi opened and closed her mouth like she did not know what to say. In the end, she sighed, picked up Eun Sanho’s latest model phone, and showed it to Kim Gwanggong.

“Ha. Director, do you see how thin this is?”

“……?”

“No, what I mean is, the reason you can see a person inside the phone is not because a person actually goes inside, but because of, well, electrical technology. That’s what I’m saying.”

“……”

“It, it might be hard for you to accept, but anyway, what can’t be done can’t be done. Of course that is the fastest way to become the pocket man inside Eun Sanho-ssi’s pocket, ack!”

Ha Bomi yelped with tears pricking her eyes. Kim Gwanggong, with a cold expression, lifted the foot he had been pressing down hard on the top of Ha Bomi’s foot.

“…Not the phone. The cruise. I’m saying we should go to the cruise party.”

Kim Gwanggong pushed his own phone toward Ha Bomi to show her. Ha Bomi massaged the top of her foot while looking at the invitation.

“JDI party… held on a cruise, starting tomorrow at 7 p.m.?”

Ha Bomi pressed back to check the mail arrival time.

“Huh? Based on this, tomorrow means today.”

“Today.”

Kim Gwanggong answered casually. At that, Ha Bomi, who was at least a diligent office worker, was dumbfounded.

‘Even after eating gukbap I still have a mountain of work left, so what party, what damn party? What is this Director talking about?’

She had been calling him Shancho Boulevard Fire Garlic, and now it seemed his brain had burned up and combusted.

“Director, how could we go to a party at 7 tonight? Even if it were 7 tomorrow morning we still couldn’t go.”

Ha Bomi spoke in disbelief.

“We can go.”

Kim Gwanggong spoke as if he would not waste words.

“How? Are you planning to grind me up and eat me?”

Ha Bomi grumbled and asked. At that, Kim Gwanggong raised his eyebrows, displeased.

“I make it a rule not to eat what is bad for my body.”

“Ah, right….”

Ha Bomi replied unhappily. Kim Gwanggong leisurely pulled out a tissue and neatly wiped away a drop of red pepper paste from his fingertip.

“I’ll double the speed at which I handle work. Then we can make it in time.”

At Kim Gwanggong’s words, Ha Bomi’s eyes widened.

“Huh? Then you mean you’ve been doing everything at half speed on purpose until now?! This is betrayal, ack!”

Ha Bomi clutched the top of her other foot and shouted. And this time, it was not Kim Gwanggong but Eun Sanho who calmly lifted his foot from the top of Ha Bomi’s foot.

“Gwanggong-ssi, of course I’d be glad to see you at the party… but aren’t you pushing yourself too hard?”

Eun Sanho looked at Kim Gwanggong’s roughened skin and asked with concern. Ha Bomi, who had no sense, could not notice it, but in the thoughtful eyes of Eun Sanho, it was clear that Kim Gwanggong was hiding how exhausted he was and pretending to be fine. Kim Gwanggong stopped the hand that was about to push the tissue back to its place and met Eun Sanho’s gaze.

“…Not at all. It’s not overdoing it.”

Kim Gwanggong answered slowly as he saw his reflection in Eun Sanho’s clear eyes. Next to him, Ha Bomi groaned that the top of her foot was crushed, but neither Kim Gwanggong nor Eun Sanho acted like they heard.

“…They say the dress code is pink too.”

Eun Sanho said it quietly, almost like talking to himself, while staring straight into Kim Gwanggong’s eyes. Ha Bomi shouted next to them that both of them were psychopaths, but neither Kim Gwanggong nor Eun Sanho acted like they heard.

“I like pink.”

Kim Gwanggong also muttered, shifting his gaze toward Eun Sanho’s soft pink-colored hair. At that, Eun Sanho, who had not turned away even when being looked at directly in the eyes, suddenly had the tips of his ears flare red. At the same time, he hurriedly covered his bangs with his hand and lowered his eyes.

“…I-I had no idea you liked it.”

Kim Gwanggong could even hear the sound of Eun Sanho’s eyes rolling round and round. He faintly smiled.

“Yes. I like it, pink.”

Kim Gwanggong muttered again. Watching them while clutching the top of her foot, Ha Bomi started to think, ‘Is this a smooth green light?’ and despite the pain in her foot, her heart felt warm. She even felt proud, thinking that earlier when she had grouped them together as ‘both psychopaths,’ that had actually helped strengthen their bond and love. Ha Bomi wiped under her nose and gave a little chuckle.

“Ha~. Even if Director hated pink, thanks to me this turned out somehow, didn’t it~.”

Ha Bomi shook her head in self-admiration, then looked up when she noticed the sudden silence. There she saw Kim Gwanggong looking at her with the coldest eyes, and Eun Sanho flustered.

“…You, you hate it?”

Eun Sanho touched his hair and asked with trembling eyes as he looked at Kim Gwanggong.

“No.”

Kim Gwanggong denied quickly, but Eun Sanho looked unconvinced.

“But Bomi-ssi said….”

“How could Secretary Ha know my feelings when she is not me?”

Kim Gwanggong cut coldly. Ha Bomi, though she had no sense, had a survival instinct, so she nodded her head.

“Y, yes. That’s right. The Director and I are quite far apart emotionally. We’re basically strangers who have never even met.”

“So I hear.”

“But….”

When Eun Sanho hesitated and muttered again, Kim Gwanggong suddenly stretched out a hand toward Ha Bomi.

“Slipper.”

“Excuse me?”

“Take it off and give it here.”

“Wha? O-okay….”

Ha Bomi took off her slipper and handed it to him. Kim Gwanggong looked down at the dirty slipper in his hand with a frown for a moment, then turned his gaze to Ha Bomi.

“Secretary Ha, what color does this look like to you?”

“Uh… it’s dirty, but originally it’s pink. If you look at the side part, you can still see some of the original color.”

“So, your answer is that it’s pink?”

“…This wouldn’t be blue?”

When Ha Bomi scratched her cheek and asked, Kim Gwanggong raised his eyebrows.

“#elcee4.”

Kim Gwanggong spoke shortly, and Ha Bomi blinked.

“…What?”

“A pinkish lavender. Not just pink.”

Kim Gwanggong set the slipper back down in front of Ha Bomi’s foot and straightened his body. Then he turned his head, scanning the gukbap restaurant, and slowly opened his mouth.

“The frame of that picture hanging there is cranberry. The sole of that man’s sneakers in hiking clothes over there is frolly. The swaddling cloth wrapping the crying baby is muted pink-lavender tone. The shirt of the person holding the baby is carnation pink. The flowerpot at the entrance is cancan. The remains of the mug the part-timer is cleaning up are mulberry.”

After listing one by one the exact color names of the pink items in the restaurant, Kim Gwanggong’s final gaze landed on Eun Sanho’s pink hair.

“And Eun Sanho-ssi’s hair is light pink.”

Kim Gwanggong muttered in a low voice. Eun Sanho flinched, but Kim Gwanggong did not turn his gaze away.

“Secretary Ha, do you like pink?”

Kim Gwanggong asked while looking at Eun Sanho’s light pink hair as if he was admiring it.

“Uh… yes.”

Ha Bomi answered. Kim Gwanggong slowly tapped the table with his finger.

“Then let’s organize this. Secretary Ha said she likes pink, and I am being suspected of being a pink hater. But Secretary Ha, who said she likes pink, looked at this slipper and just called it pink, while I said it was exactly a pinkish lavender. Therefore, objectively speaking, the probability that I like pink more than Secretary Ha is higher. Isn’t that so?”

Kim Gwanggong shifted his gaze slightly downward, met Eun Sanho’s eyes, and asked. Eun Sanho, who had been staring blankly at Kim Gwanggong, flinched at the question and gave a small nod.

“Good. And I am planning to wear coral tonight at the party.”

Kim Gwanggong concluded in a voice that sounded as if he were presenting a report, solemn and plain, yet oddly gentle. And even to Ha Bomi, who was weak at metaphors, it was an immense statement. She was so shocked she opened her mouth wide. But Kim Gwanggong and Eun Sanho did not care whether Ha Bomi was putting her oral structure on display. The two of them were too busy filling the silence that had briefly fallen over the table with their gazes at each other.

“Would that be enough of an answer, Eun Sanho-ssi?”

Kim Gwanggong broke the silence first and asked.

“…Yes.”

Eun Sanho answered quietly. Kim Gwanggong gave a faint smile, satisfied with the answer. The sound of Ha Bomi dropping her spoon echoed, but neither Eun Sanho nor Kim Gwanggong noticed.

And because Kim Gwanggong was looking at Eun Sanho, and Eun Sanho was looking at Kim Gwanggong, and Ha Bomi was in shock, nobody noticed the news flowing from the large electronic billboard on the building across from the gukbap restaurant. It was news that the H Hotel’s CEO, Seo Taerim, would hold the JDI party that evening and at the end would have a press conference together with his partner, a handsome man.

1. a way of joking that he talks endlessly about some place, almost like he’s personally invested in it. ↩︎