Midday Guest Chapter 70

A large hand slid beneath his clothes and stroked down his thin back. Yiwon unconsciously straightened his waist and pressed his body tight against Cha Seokjoo. Their lips interlocked even more deeply, and the grip on his waist grew increasingly firm.

“Should I tell the boys to come a little later?”

Yiwon thought of the numerous employees he had briefly seen at the airport and quietly shook his head. Though he surely must have seen the sign, Cha Seokjoo rolled up his sleeve to check his wristwatch.

“About 30 minutes? Let’s pull one out quickly during that time.”

“You say that every time, but you’ve never once pulled out quickly.”

Cha Seokjoo let out a rumbling laugh from his throat. The vibrating movement was transmitted directly to Yiwon, who was pressed close to him. Yiwon hugged his shoulders with a bit more strength.

He spent some time like that, sitting on the man’s lap. He felt as if he had drifted into a light sleep while feeling the touch caressing his back.

Then, he opened his eyes to the sound of a commotion outside.

“Director!”

Cha Seokjoo woke Yiwon by rubbing his back.

“I have to go.”

“Ah, yes. Have a good meeting.”

“What about you?”

Yiwon took his phone out of his pocket and showed him a notepad.

“I’m going to try going outside. There are places I wanted to visit.”

“Should I attach Oh Taesik to you?”

Yiwon thought it over and shook his head. It was just a feeling, but somehow it seemed like Oh Taesik was needed more by Cha Seokjoo than by Yiwon.

“I just need to wander around like a tourist.”

The arms Cha Seokjoo had around Yiwon tightened.

“Fine, then. But come back before the sun goes down.”

“I will.”

Thump, thump, thump. The sound of footsteps grew closer. Yiwon could recognize it now just by the sound. The moment he climbed down from Cha Seokjoo’s lap, the door burst open.

“Director, are you in!”

It was Oh Taesik. Cha Seokjoo rubbed his temple with his palm and answered with a short “Yeah.” The arms intertwined with Yiwon released at the same time.

Somehow, he felt a sense of emptiness. Yiwon stared blankly at Cha Seokjoo as he moved away.

“Is the meeting schedule set?”

“Not yet. They said they’d send someone from over there, but they’re really dragging their feet—.”

“Come in. Talk inside.”

“Yes, sir.”

Cha Seokjoo gestured with his head toward the room where a large conference table was set. Simultaneously, the employees waiting at the entrance moved in unison.

During that time, Cha Seokjoo stood at the entrance and kept his gaze on Yiwon before finally turning around and disappearing last. It was only after that that Yiwon finally averted his eyes.

☼

Hong Kong in February was similar to spring weather by Korean standards. Yiwon stepped out into the street in light clothing. A solo trip abroad. With a fluttering heart, he left the clubhouse and boarded a tram.

Ding, ding. A bell rang from the tram as soon as it departed. Sitting in a window seat on the second floor, Yiwon enjoyed a moment of leisure, feeling the wind coming through the window.

Neon sign billboards that felt reachable if he just stretched out his hand, and standardized, tall buildings passed by precariously close.

After looking at apartment windows that seemed to hold individual stories, he spotted a building jutting out very high and realized he had arrived near his destination. From then on, he got off the tram and walked.

The streets during the day were quiet and peaceful. Yiwon walked here and there while looking at a map app on his phone. He looked at paintings on Soho Street and visited an egg tart bakery rumored to be famous.

He moved wherever his feet took him without a plan. He browsed antiques and second-hand shops placed nonchalantly on the streets.

During that time, he took a lot of photos. He moved to the next location while scrolling through the photos that had quickly filled his gallery.

While setting his next destination on the navigation app, he also checked to see if any messages had arrived. Red badges were attached to various chat rooms, but the conversation with the one person pushed down to the bottom showed no movement.

Is he very busy?

He thought about sending a message to Cha Seokjoo but stopped and put the phone in his pocket. He didn’t want to be the person who interfered with work while he was just traveling without doing anything, despite having followed him as an executive assistant.

He crossed the street a couple of times and took a walk around the park.

Even if it was similar to spring weather, his stamina began to hit rock bottom rapidly from walking the streets. Especially while going up and down the hills. Eventually, feeling as if his soles were on fire, he went looking for a cafe.

He entered a familiar franchise he had seen a few times, but turned right back around and walked out at the prices, which were much different from Korea. Knowing the price was nearly double made the desire to eat run far away.

It was while he was climbing a slope like that. Between narrow alleys branching off from the main road, he saw a shop with yellow lights turned on.

It was an eatery that sold simple food and tea. Yiwon remembered seeing it in passing during a search. Was it a famous Cha Chaan Teng restaurant in Hong Kong?

Even at an awkward time between lunch and dinner, there were quite a lot of people. Still, he decided to join the line and wait. Even though it was called a cafe, he felt like he wouldn’t be able to enjoy a cafe with this kind of atmosphere anywhere else if not in Hong Kong.

He only found out after finishing his order that the closing time was 4:00 PM. It was thanks to the employee pointing at the watch and saying, “Lucky you.”

Yiwon was almost the last person to order food. He ordered one milk tea, which he heard was a must-drink here, and a signature toast to go with it.

Finally, a seat opened up, and he sat in the middle of the shop. The table was narrow and the space was not ample, making it a place where his back might touch a stranger with just a small movement.

While waiting for the menu to come out, other travelers joined. The people who looked about Yiwon’s age were all Korean tourists.

“Hello, can we sit with you?”

“Ah, yes.”

Simultaneously with the answer, Yiwon pulled his chair to one side to sit. Sharing a table with strangers was a natural culture here, so Yiwon was blending in.

Among the people sharing the table, the man sitting across from Yiwon spoke to him warmly.

“It looks like you came on a trip alone.”

“I have a companion, but we’re traveling separately today.”

“Ah, I see. There are many cases of setting schedules like that lately.”

In the meantime, the food Yiwon ordered arrived. He politely asked for understanding and tasted the milk tea first. It had a taste that couldn’t be compared to commercial products. To the point where he thought about ordering another cup before even finishing it.

However, the gaze of the man who had come to share the same table remained continuously on Yiwon. It was an unexpected meeting, but since they were using the same table, he couldn’t ignore him, so he decided to strike up a conversation.

“It looks like you came with friends.”

“That’s also true, but….”

He had an ambiguous expression. When Yiwon looked at him with wide eyes, the man scrunched his nose and laughed.

“Actually, we met in a hurry today after exchanging comments on a travel app last night.”

“Pardon?”

“So, we’ve been friends for about 30 minutes.”

Yiwon laughed shortly at the cheeky remark. Food was placed in front of the two men as well. Curiously, it seemed they had ordered the exact same food as Yiwon.

“What, we all ordered the same thing. That’s amazing.”

The man laughed out loud. Then, he asked Yiwon in a plain voice.

“Meeting like this is fate, so how about we get to know each other? I’m Song Junhyuk.”

“I’m Nam Jaehyun.”

Even the person who had been quiet for a while added his introduction. They were all the same age, and even the fact that they lived in Seoul was the same. Everything down to the fact that they came because they desperately wanted to travel before the semester started.

The unfamiliar energy vanished at once at the suddenly generated rapport. After talking about this and that, they began to speak comfortably.

Having run straight through without taking a leave of absence, they were already worrying about making a living. Nam Jaehyun shook his head and gulped down the milk tea.

“This vacation is truly the last one… I’m about to enter the path of a lifelong slave soon….”

“You have to be accepted to even be a slave.”

At Song Junhyuk’s bone-chilling remark, Nam Jaehyun let out a deep sigh.

“…Haah. I should probably think of it as having no vacation for about a year, right?”

“A year? I just have to close my eyes and go around thinking ‘I am a lackey’ until I get a rank.”

“Horrible.”

“Shouldn’t we be having drinks during the day instead of drinking tea?”

When Nam Jaehyun spoke while taking a bite of the toast, Song Junhyuk made a crying sound and buried his face on Yiwon’s shoulder.

“Boo hoo, do you really want to have a drink? They said the atmosphere here is great when the pub opens in the evening.”

Song Junhyuk, who had been making sounds that were indistinguishable between crying and laughing for a while, lifted his head and asked Yiwon.

“Yiwon, what about you? Do you have time?”

“Oh, I’m supposed to meet my companion in the evening. I don’t think I can. Sorry.”

“I see… that’s a shame.”

Song Junhyuk spoke while moving closer to Yiwon and pulling his chair next to him. He even pulled his food over completely. Song Junhyuk’s curiosity continued.

“Then what about after returning to Korea? What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to school too. The semester starts soon.”

“Yiwon, were you a college student too?”

“Yeah, but I’m a returning student now, so I have a long way to go until employment.”

“I see. That’s nice. Then you’ll still have the leisure to try this and that.”