Salt Society Chapter 28

Kihyun was at a loss for words. In truth, he had no reason to be curious. Even if the person Cho Yeonoh was seeing now was himself, he wondered if prying too much into an ex-lover was a breach of etiquette. Since Cho Yeonoh was the first person he had seen since becoming an adult, Kihyun actually did not know much about dating.

He simply wondered if he had asked something he shouldn’t have just because the guy who had done it plenty of times before was acting offended. As Kihyun’s lips parted slightly, the guy turned his gaze back to the front and asked in a low, sunken voice.

“Then you answer first. I’ll answer you afterward.”

“Answer what.”

Kihyun turned to look at the guy in the seat next to him at the suddenness of the question. The car came to a smooth stop. Looking ahead, the light was red. Kihyun locked eyes with Yeonoh once more. One half of his face was cast in the red light, while the other half was submerged in darkness.

With eyes that made it impossible to tell what he was thinking, Cho Yeonoh opened his mouth.

“Who hit you on the cheek.”

Kihyun exerted all his strength to avoid making a surprised face. He exhaled slowly and let out a smirk. It was a decent piece of acting.

“What cheek. I told you earlier I bumped into a strength-measuring machine.”

Cho Yeonoh’s eyes narrowed. It was a gaze searching for So Kihyun’s true intent. Kihyun felt as though his face were twitching. What kind of expression was he making? It was at that moment. A small “honk” sound came from behind.

Cho Yeonoh slowly withdrew his gaze. Then, he took his foot off the brake and pressed down steadily on the accelerator to start moving.

“Right, I did hear you say that.”

The answer only came back a long while later. Kihyun remained with his gaze fixed out the window. He had long since forgotten that he had a question of his own that needed an answer. Between a false answer and a reply not heard, he wondered which would make the other person feel more strange.

Kihyun was curious about that.

⏳

The good thing about today was that it was Friday.

“What are you doing today, Mr. So?”

Byungju, the exercise therapist in the athletes’ room, asked. Kihyun, who had cut his finger on a piece of paper while making charts, was in the middle of spraying alcohol from a bottle on his desk onto his hand. Ignoring the stinging wound, he roughly shook his wet hand and began tapping on the keyboard again as he spoke.

“I’m going to sleep, for about 11 hours. No, make it about 13 hours.”

Today was the day Cho Yeonoh’s business trip was confirmed. Did he say he was going to play golf? It didn’t seem like he was going for a hobby, but rather a rounding session related to business. Since he said he was heading down to the countryside, I could sleep soundly until at least Saturday morning.

“No, Mr. So, are you some kind of newborn? Why do you sleep so much?”

Kihyun let out a smirk but did not answer. Byungju muttered, wondering if his back didn’t hurt, and organized his share of the charts.

It was a day when even Team Leader Lim had taken a half-day off for once. Thanks to that, Friday afternoon was peaceful, even if it wasn’t idle. Just the absence of Team Leader Lim—who would usually sit in the office, push all his assigned athletes onto Kihyun, and stay busy preparing his graduate school thesis—made him feel free.

“Ssam, ssam! What’s your ideal type?”

Yubom, a rhythmic gymnast, giggled and hovered around the front of Kihyun’s desk. Her pronunciation, ending in “yeo” instead of “yo,” was dripping with aegyo. It was obvious she was playing a prank with the older girls. Kihyun answered without even a smile.

“Someone who can do 700 squats without resting once.”

“Ah, stop joking!”

“It was a joke. Ssam’s ideal type is someone who does 500 squats. 700 is a bit much.”

When he spoke without an expression this time as well, she went into fits of laughter, perhaps because she was still young. Only then did Kihyun let out a smirk. It wasn’t even a big deal, but her crying-laughing reaction was so typical of her age that he ended up laughing too.

As she laughed to the point of tears and collapsed onto the desk, heaving, her long, untied hair spilled over. Kihyun nudged the young athlete’s hair aside with a ballpoint pen and placed a file folder on the empty space. He only did it because there was no room for the folder, but without it being worth the effort, Yubom, who had been leaning on the desk, suddenly sat bolt upright and asked again.

“No, really. Our coach asked if you had a girlfriend, ssam.”

The question Yubom asked while wiping away the tears gathered at the corners of her eyes was unexpected.

“Coach Nam did?”

Byungju, who was next to him, grinned and asked Yubom instead of Kihyun. He was already acquainted with Yubom’s coach, who had brought rhythmic gymnasts several times for hospital treatment. There had been no such sign, so he wondered if the mischievous Yubom was just saying things.

Byungju asked Yubom again, looking interested.

“Coach Nam asked if Mr. So had a girlfriend, Yubom?”

“Yes!”

“What about me? Is there no one asking about me?”

“Yes. Not at all.”

Byungju looked visibly dejected at that answer. Regardless, Kihyun closed the computer window and let out a small yawn.

“I told you my ideal type. Pass it on. Tell them I like someone who can do 500 squats without stopping.”

“That’s impossible!”

Yubom let out a shriek now. Kihyun yawned once more and asked Yubom.

“By the way, are you talking to me after finishing all your exercises? How far did you get today. Bring me your chart.”

“Ugh! No! I’m going to do them now!”

Then she scurried off again. It was absurd to see the girl, who came in because her ankle was in bad shape, running out of the office. “Sigh,” he shook his head, and Byungju tapped Kihyun from behind, smirking.

“You should go on a blind date.”

“I have someone I like.”

Kihyun answered casually while wiping the tears that had gathered from his yawn. Byungju spoke as if he wouldn’t be fooled this time.

“No, you’ve been saying you have someone you like for years now. It looks like there’s no hope, so you should just switch to someone else.”

Well. I wonder if there’s really a need for that. Even if Cho Yeonoh doesn’t love me, even if there is no hope like Byungju said, is there a need to intentionally like someone else? Even now, it’s so overwhelming and difficult; I wonder if there’s any reason to increase the number of rooms for another person. Since Cho Yeonoh won’t leave, Kihyun’s room was always in a heavy state. He was in a state where even the energy to try and kick him out was exhausted. Since he couldn’t let that boredom fill him up, he intentionally replied lightly.

“Meeting someone is a hassle.”

“Well, that’s true. Since we’re busy going home and sleeping once work is over.”

Byungju also opened his mouth wide and answered, having caught the yawn. Kihyun nodded. Still, today was Friday, a rare day when Cho Yeonoh was absent.

—Or so I thought, but I don’t know how this happened.

“So, why do I have to go.”

“That is… please just go once, Mr. So. If I go back just like this, I’ll be beaten to death with a golf club by the Director.”

“Apply for workers’ compensation, sue him, file a civil suit, and file criminal charges too.”

“Yes, of course, I didn’t mean he would actually hit me. But he beats me with his eyes!”

He thought about telling him that a person’s eyes cannot commit physical assault, but he kept his mouth shut. Having received the special mission to bring Kihyun, Manager Yoo, who had traveled from a members-only golf course in Namhae-gun all the way back to Seoul on a Friday night, was a pitiful sight.

“Sigh…”

However, the one letting out the sigh was the same on this side. So Kihyun was also a worker like Manager Yoo. Moreover, one who had reached the peak of a week’s stress and was only waiting for the time to unwind. So Kihyun, who had even ordered a pizza he rarely ate, thinking he would just eat dinner and sleep deeply today, had no choice but to blame himself from five minutes ago for opening the door at the sound of the doorbell, thinking the delivery had arrived.

Kihyun spoke with a face like he had swallowed something bitter.

“…I ordered pizza. It’ll be here soon, so let’s eat together and then go down.”

“Heok! Thank you so much, Mr. So! Truly!”

Manager Yoo looked ready to prostrate himself. However, having seen Manager Yoo for a long time, Kihyun knew well that it was an exaggeration.

There was only one reason why Cho Yeonoh, while playing golf way over in Namhae, mobilized Manager Yoo to call So Kihyun to spend the weekend together. It was because So Kihyun was weak to Manager Yoo’s pitiful office worker act. Being in a medical service job of sorts, Kihyun found it difficult to refuse Manager Yoo’s pleas every time. So, he was heading down today as well, pretending to give in.

In fact, this was close to a predicted future. From the phone call that came an hour before leaving work, he had to listen to Cho Yeonoh’s voice talking nonsense about coming down to Namhae. Kihyun, who had ignored him and hung up telling him not to talk trash, ultimately could not refuse the plea of Manager Yoo, who pressed his doorbell.

Ultimately, Kihyun, who stuffed the pizza in with a face full of irritation, felt like he was getting indigestion but set off for Namhae anyway. He tried to pack a simple bag, but since he was told most things were provided, he just packed some clothes.

“Ah, you don’t need to pack golf wear. The Director has a rounding partner.”

Manager Yoo stopped him with an nonchalant face. Kihyun let out a smirk. He knew. Even if he went down to Namhae at this late hour somehow, he was merely a human pillow; Cho Yeonoh wasn’t idle enough to play golf with him all weekend.

Having that confirmed by someone else’s mouth made his stifled chest feel even more frustrated. Kihyun, who went to the kitchen and took a digestive pill, answered in an indifferent tone.

“I know. Don’t worry, Manager Yoo. I’m not that fond of golf myself.”