GGAS 33

“But after listening to the story, I don’t think this was the first time. Hadn’t it already happened a few times?”

Chief Kang raised an objection.

“Back then, he came back right away.”

Seo Taerim let out a heavy sigh as he spoke.

“Then he’ll come back this time too.”

Chief Kang shrugged, speaking as if it was nothing serious.

“… It has already been two days.”

“Hmm….”

Chief Kang spun the paper cup in her hand and fell into thought for a moment.

“Have you not been able to reach him at all? Not by call, not by text?”

When Chief Kang asked, Seo Taerim’s expression immediately darkened.

“Ah, contact….”

“Is it cut off?”

“No, it goes through. But….”

“…….?”

“It goes through, but it feels like it doesn’t.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Chief Kang asked. Seo Taerim sighed gloomily and showed her the messages he had exchanged with Kim Abang.

Kim Abang-ssi, did you have a good lunch? 12:40 PM

Yes, Taerim-ssi, please enjoy your lunch! 12:45 PM

It is already dinner time. Did you have a good dinner? 7:30 PM

Yes, Taerim-ssi, please enjoy your dinner! 7:38 PM

“Isn’t this way too strange?”

“Hmm… I don’t really see anything strange here. He replies almost right away.”

“How can you say there’s nothing? It’s extremely strange.”

“Where?”

Chief Kang asked, completely unable to understand, but Seo Taerim looked frustrated as if he couldn’t believe she didn’t get it.

“If you look here, both times he only answered the questions I asked, didn’t he? Normally he should be talking about things I didn’t even ask. When I ask Kim Abang-ssi if he had a good meal, ten minutes later I should be able to know even the type of turtle food the delivery guy who brought him lunch uses. That’s what’s normal.”

“… Do you want to know that?”

“Of course!”

Seo Taerim answered as if it was absurd. Then, when Chief Kang gave him a strange look, he suddenly came back to his senses and his eyes widened.

“No, no?! Not at all?! Why would I be curious about that?!”

“Right….”

Chief Kang answered reluctantly.

“I’m really not curious. Not even a little. Not at all.”

Seo Taerim emphasized again. Chief Kang nodded willingly for the sake of her boss who looked mentally uneasy.

“Of course. I’m not curious at all.”

Seo Taerim bit at his nails as he spoke.

“Hmm….”

While Chief Kang was struggling to find an appropriate answer, Seo Taerim’s phone chimed and he snatched it up at once. But after checking the message, he looked completely disappointed.

“Haaaah………………….”

Seo Taerim let out a long sigh and banged his head on the desk with a thud.

“…Why on earth is Kim Abang-ssi acting like this? Why is there no contact? Why isn’t he asking more questions? There’s no way Kim Abang-ssi would end a conversation like this, without asking anything.”

Seo Taerim muttered weakly.

“Does he not have anything he’s curious about me anymore?”

“Hmm….”

Chief Kang couldn’t tell if he was muttering to himself or if he was asking a question, so she didn’t answer, but then Seo Taerim lifted his forehead and looked at her with a miserable face.

“Chief Kang, am I the type no one is curious about? Do you also not have anything you’re curious about me?”

“…Your lunchbox is getting cold. Are you not going to eat it?”

Chief Kang threw out a suitable question. Seo Taerim glanced sideways at the unopened lunchbox and let out another deep sigh.

‘Haaa….’

Chief Kang had already finished her meal and even drunk two cups of coffee, she looked pitifully at the drying-out bulgogi in front of Seo Taerim.

“If it really bothers you… wouldn’t it work if you tried being the one to talk about things Kim Abang-ssi didn’t ask first?”

Chief Kang suggested an alternative while praying for the bulgogi’s soul.

“Things he didn’t ask…?”

Seo Taerim looked at Chief Kang with a desperate face.

“You know, trivial stuff. The kind of useless thing that makes you wonder why you’re even saying it. And since you’re already starting a conversation, try making your questions more varied. Instead of the usual ‘Did you eat well?,’ ask something that might spark some interest.”

Chief Kang said. Seo Taerim muttered seriously, “Trivial things, things that spark interest….” then pulled out his phone. He typed and erased a message about five times before finally sending one.

Kim Abang-ssi, if it were you, would you choose curry that tastes like shit or shit that tastes like curry? 12:40 PM

I hope Taerim-ssi wouldn’t eat such junk food~ 12:40 PM

Yes.12:40 PM

Seo Taerim banged his head on the desk again.

“Now I just look like a childish and weird person….”

Seo Taerim muttered gloomily to himself.

“Hmm… at least now we know Kim Abang-ssi isn’t copy-pasting his replies. Congratulations, President.”

Chief Kang offered a halfhearted consolation, but Seo Taerim’s mood didn’t improve at all.

“Could it be… that Kim Abang-ssi dislikes me?”

Seo Taerim’s voice sound depressed.

“I don’t think it’s dislike. Saying he hopes you won’t eat junk food, isn’t that worrying about you?”

“That’s just humanity.”

Seo Taerim let out a hollow laugh and spoke pessimistically. Chief Kang was puzzled.

“…? You said you wanted to know whether he dislikes you or not. Isn’t it fine if it’s just humanity?”

Chief Kang asked. Seo Taerim, his hair messy from pressing his head against the desk too much, lifted his head. His expression looked as if he had been hit.

“Is humanity not enough for me?”

“That….”

Seo Taerim mumbled blankly.

“…President?”

When Chief Kang waved her hand quickly in front of Seo Taerim’s face, Seo Taerim flinched.

“Are you all right?”

“…Of course I’m all right.”

Seo Taerim said that, then stood up from his chair and suddenly spun in place.

“See? I’m fine, right? I spun and didn’t fall down. Perfectly healthy.”

As if to prove his words, Seo Taerim spun around once more, then out of nowhere, he smiled. The corners of his mouth lifted splendidly while his eyes still looked half-dead, a sight that was somehow unpleasant.

“I am fine.”

Seo Taerim said as if he was making a vow.

“Riiight…?”

‘Did his head also spin around when he turned just now?’

Chief Kang was starting to genuinely worry.

“Ah, and about the matter of Kim Abang-ssi. I’m just worrying about an acquaintance. Everyone does that kind of worrying, right? They say it’s serious if a person suddenly changes, don’t they? There’s that saying, right? Isn’t there? There is, right?”

“There is, but….”

Chief Kang thought that the one who had suddenly changed for the worse wasn’t Kim Abang, but Seo Taerim. The Seo Taerim she knew was not someone whose mood swung up and down like this.

“…President, did you at least get some sleep?”

Chief Kang asked while looking at Seo Taerim’s dark circles. Seo Taerim, lost in thought, nodded blankly, then suddenly opened his eyes wide.

“Chief Kang, what if Kim Abang-ssi… is sick? Wh-when someone suddenly changes, isn’t it usually because they’re sick? Could it be that Kim Abang-ssi is sick?”

Seo Taerim asked urgently.

“You can ask me that, but… I honestly don’t know anything about Kim Abang-ssi’s health condition.”

“Then who do you think would know?”

“Well, probably Kim Gwanggong-ssi? Since they live together.”

“Ah, you’re saying I should call Kim Gwanggong-ssi! That’s a really good idea.”

“…What?”

Chief Kang had never said that, so she asked again in confusion, but Seo Taerim didn’t seem to be listening at all. He was already muttering, “Kim Gwanggong-ssi’s number….” as he rummaged through his phone. Chief Kang gave him an nervous look, then left the president’s office. With the president acting strange, at least she had to get some work done.

Without even noticing that Chief Kang had left, Seo Taerim called Kim Gwanggong to ask about Kim Abang’s health. According to Kim Gwanggong, Kim Abang hadn’t caught a cold, didn’t have the flu, hadn’t had an upset stomach, hadn’t overeaten, and in fact at last month’s health checkup he’d been told there wasn’t a single problem anywhere in his body and even received high praise from the doctor. At the end, he added the latest update: since last night he had been in the kitchen making mountains of preserved lemon syrup, dragging Kim Gwanggong along to help.

Seo Taerim was overjoyed, as if it were his own matter, at the fact that Kim Abang was not just healthy but brimming with energy. As soon as Kim Gwanggong finished speaking, he exclaimed, “That’s such a relief!”

“But why on earth does CEO Seo think Kim Abang is sick? Doesn’t he look healthy enough to take down a water buffalo with his bare hands?”

Kim Gwanggong said, thinking it was absurd. So Seo Taerim hesitated and then confessed honestly: how Kim Abang had looked at him strangely and just left, how it felt like he was reachable but unreachable, how his replies were excessively short, and so on.

Kim Gwanggong had neither talent nor interest in giving advice on such matters, so he just listened while washing the lemon syrup off his hands, leaving the phone on speaker. Because of this, Chairwoman Kim and Lee Jaein in the living room ended up with something to chat about.

“Gwanggong-ah, tell your friend that’s just the honeymoon’s over~. Your father agrees too~”

Chairwoman Kim shouted from the living room while crunching on an apple.

“He is not my friend.”

Kim Gwanggong shook the water off his hands and said. Meanwhile, Seo Taerim was in a state of great shock.

“Honeymoon’s over…? Th-then what should I do…?”

Seo Taerim asked in dismay. Kim Gwanggong clicked his tongue, turned off the speakerphone, and put the phone to his ear.

“CEO Seo, have you ever been to a couple’s clinic? You’re not even dating to begin with, so what kind of honeymoon’s end are you talking about? Honestly, you take every little thing to heart.”

Kim Gwanggong lowered his voice so the living room wouldn’t hear. If Chairwoman Kim and Lee Jaein, believers in love and marriage, found out about the contract relationship, Kim Abang would be ruined that very day.

“But….”

“And why are you whining so much about a problem with such an obvious conclusion?”

“A conclusion…? There is a conclusion?”

“It’s obvious. From that day, Kim Abang started disliking you.”

Seo Taerim was so shocked at the bolt-from-the-blue words that he nearly dropped his phone.

“Th-that he started disliking me?”

“Isn’t that clear from the circumstances? Even ordinary people, when they answer with short replies, it means they don’t want to keep talking. And Kim Abang, of all people, giving short replies… think about it logically. It’s as obvious as can be.”

“…….”

“Kim Abang dislikes you.”

Kim Gwanggong said firmly, he left no room for rebuttal.

***

“Even if you stare at your phone like that, you won’t get a new message from Kim Abang-ssi.”

Chief Kang said.

“I know.”

Seo Taerim answered like that, but he kept glancing at his phone all through work, and on his way down to the parking lot after work, he walked while staring so hard at his phone that he smacked his head hard against the glass door. Holding his throbbing forehead, he drove off, but since his mind kept drifting back to it, he ended up pulling over on the sidewalk.

“Ha….”

Seo Taerim, frustrated, got out of the car with just his phone. Staring at it, he paced in circles on the sidewalk next to the car, then without realizing it, he started walking forward, forward. It was an old habit that came out whenever his head felt muddled, and he completely forgot the fact that he had left his car behind. The car wasn’t important to him now.

‘Has Kim Abang-ssi really come to dislike me?’

That was what mattered. He walked and walked, agonizing so hard it felt like his head would split. But with no real information, there was no way thinking could lead to any answer.

‘Let’s just not think at all.’

He thought that and kept walking and walking. From experience, if he walked long enough, eventually his mind would go blank. But unlike his experience, this time the more he walked, the more unsettled he became. This neighborhood couldn’t be explained without Kim Abang. Passing the trail where he and Kim Abang had tripped, banged heads, and fainted, the next landmark was the trash can where he had stumbled and crashed while running from reporters with Kim Abang. As long as he stayed in Shancho Boulevard, there seemed to be no moment when he could stop thinking about Kim Abang. Of course, even if he left, it didn’t feel like he could stop thinking about him.

“I’m going crazy.”

Seo Taerim muttered with a troubled expression as he stopped in front of a vending machine at the park entrance. After spending the whole day only speculating and worrying, his stomach felt so queasy that he thought he needed a cold drink to feel better. But this neighborhood, fitting for a place where Kim Abang had lived as a fixture for 27 years, never left him alone even for a second. As he dug through his pocket for a 500-won coin, a white puppy suddenly ran out of the bushes and rammed into his leg. Seo Taerim staggered and dropped the coin, which rolled away under the vending machine.

“No way….”

As a chaebol of the Millennials + Gen Z. generation, that coin was the only cash he had. He looked back at the puppy in dismay, then quickly pulled out his phone in a panic. Wasn’t this white puppy, with those eyes brimming with mischief, the runaway Ppoppi that Kim Abang searched for day and night?

“I-I have to contact Kim Abang-ssi….”

Seo Taerim fumbled to unlock his phone while staring at Ppoppi, but as soon as Ppoppi met his gaze, it flinched and tucked its tail. Judging by the way it ran off as if guilty, it really did seem to have run away again.

“Ah, Ppoppi, stay there!”

Seo Taerim failed a third time to unlock his phone, then gave up midway and chased after Ppoppi, shouting. But he didn’t get to call its name a second time. Because just then, a flyer blew in the wind and slapped straight onto his face.

“Mm… ugh….”

Seo Taerim flailed his arms in a panic, and after quite a struggle, he managed to peel the flyer off. At the top was the title “Notice from the Shancho Boulevard Women’s Association,” and below was a long text about the garbage sorting problem in Shancho. It was written with a perfectly proper beginning, middle, and end, condemning that putting chicken bones in food waste was something no proper adult with an ID card should be doing. The Women’s Association, newly reestablished after overcoming a dissolution crisis caused by election corruption, seemed to be doing its work well.

And as he read down the text, Seo Taerim’s expression gradually turned into one on the verge of tears.

“…….”

He thought he was going to go crazy missing the person who had once told him every detail of the political history of the Shancho Boulevard omen’s Association.

“Ha….”

Seo Taerim shut his eyes tight, then opened them and let out a sigh. Then he held the flyer carefully in both hands, as if it were Kim Abang himself, and looked down at it.

“…Kim Abang-ssi, do you really dislike me?”

Seo Taerim asked. Of course, the flyer had no mouth and couldn’t possibly answer.

“Hoo….”

Seo Taerim exhaled a long breath. He had to move his feet to look for Ppoppi, but it wasn’t easy.

‘He dislikes you… he dislikes you… he dislikes you….’

It felt like Kim Gwanggong had been chanting it in his ear on repeat since earlier.

‘So what this means is… Kim Abang-ssi is going about like usual, dragging Kim Gwanggong-ssi into some new scheme.’

If that was the case, the conclusion was clear. For some unknown reason, Kim Abang was acting strangely only toward Seo Taerim. More precisely, Kim Abang was avoiding Seo Taerim. Not because of some unavoidable circumstance, but purely by choice. And Seo Taerim found that absurd, baffling, uncomfortable, stifling, unfair… in short, he hated it enough that every negative emotion a person could feel applied.

But on the other hand, he also thought it was a relief. Wasn’t it far better that Kim Abang avoided him simply because he disliked him, rather than because he was sick, or there was family trouble, or debt collectors were chasing him? He knew he would never forget the sense of relief he felt when Kim Gwanggong told him about Kim Abang’s solid basal metabolism, muscle mass, and bone density. Though he did feel a bit guilty that it sounded like a privacy violation.

‘…What relief? He says he dislikes me.’

Seo Taerim rubbed his face with dry hands and leaned his head back. He could say with certainty that his mood had hit rock bottom. It felt like he would need 30 hours, 300 hours, no, maybe a whole lifetime of sleep to recover.

“Ah! You mustn’t tilt your head back if you have a nosebleed!”

A surprised voice broke through Seo Taerim’s thoughts. He turned around.

“……?”

Seo Taerim stared blankly at the small, round, familiar face standing in front of him.

“Oh, you don’t have a nosebleed? Then why did you tilt your head back?”

“…Kim Abang-ssi?”

“Ah, don’t tell me you were trying to look at the sky? Wow, amazing~”

Kim Abang clapped his hands in admiration.

“Taerim-ssi, you’re really romantic! I should learn from you~”

True to his nature of never delaying action, Kim Abang tilted his head back sharply before even finishing his words. And because of the massive bundle on his back, he lost his balance and swayed violently.

“Whoa!”

Kim Abang flailed his arms like a penguin.

“Kim Abang-ssi!”

Seo Taerim, panicked, grabbed him by the collar.

“Ar-are you all right?”

Seo Taerim asked. Kim Abang nodded with a startled look, then glanced at the sharp stone lying on the ground behind his back and wiped the cold sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.

“I really almost went to the afterlife. Thank you, Taerim-ssi!”

Kim Abang, still held by the collar, was very grateful to Seo Taerim. So grateful, in fact, that he even gave him a double thumbs-up.

‘What on earth… is this?’

Seo Taerim was confused. This man, who had practically vanished for two days, suddenly appeared to check whether his nose was bleeding, then nearly died in an accident right in front of him and was saved only because he grabbed his collar. What was he supposed to make of this? Seo Taerim had no idea of the answer, but for now, he pulled on Kim Abang’s shoulder to help him regain his balance. It seemed inappropriate to keep holding him by the collar while Kim Abang was cheerfully saying, “Taerim-ssi, you’re really my lifesaver~.”

“By the way, Taerim-ssi, what brings you here?”

Kim Abang asked. What brings him here? Seo Taerim was dumbfounded. This man knew the kind of turtle food someone else’s pet ate, but had somehow forgotten that Seo Taerim lived in this very neighborhood?

“…I live here too.”

Seo Taerim, unable to hold back his resentment, answered curtly.

“Of course I know that~.”

Kim Abang answered with a bright laugh, then suddenly pointed behind him.

“This is right in front of my shop!”

<Abang-Garde>