Salt Society Chapter 57

[Teacher! Did you really quit without saying a word to me?!]

Along with the question of when I had quit, I was asked if I could come work as staff for the national swimming team for the Olympics.

“I am not the director, you punk, why are you the one deciding that.”

[Ay, if it is someone like Teacher So, our director would absolutely welcome you.]

Judging by his tone, it seemed he had already spoken to the director and the coaching staff. I was grateful that he thought well of me, but I was in a difficult position because I had quit with a specific purpose in mind.

“Cheoljin, I am grateful you thought of me. But I quit because there are matters at home, so I will not be able to take the national team trainer position.”

[Ah… Is something going on, Teacher?]

“It is nothing big, just because. Let us have a meal sometime later. I will treat you.”

Cheoljin seemed disappointed, but I did not have the physical strength to humiliate him further. Thinking that the fact that I was exceptionally tired lately was all due to hormones made me feel strange.

I hung up the phone just like that. Without even thinking of drying my wet hair, I left the living room to go into my room when I suddenly got a strange feeling.

Kihyun approached the living room light switch, turned off the lights, and stepped out onto the veranda again.

“…”

The parking lot was not clearly visible, so as Kihyun opened the window and looked down outside, he first discovered a bright red ember.

“Why is he still there…”

I could not help but mutter blankly. A man, leaning his long body nonchalantly against the sedan, was smoking a cigarette. It was not to the extent that his face was visible, but Kihyun knew very well who it was.

Pale white cigarette smoke was rising from the guy leaning against the car. Perhaps the guy bit the end of the cigarette in his mouth, because the ember died out slightly before burning fiercely toward the filter. Kihyun turned his gaze without realizing it and looked at the clock attached to the living room wall. Between coming out from washing, spacing out, and taking the phone call, it had been quite a while since he had delivered the bags to Manager Yoo, so he could not understand why he was acting like that.

It was just as he was about to go back inside with a sigh.

“…!”

Kihyun stopped breathing right then. It was because he felt like their eyes had met. No. Their eyes had definitely met. Click, he clicked his tongue, hurriedly closed the window, and came out from the veranda.

He went straight into the bedroom and lay down on the bed. Since stray thoughts were coming in, he counted the things he had to do tomorrow and closed his eyes.

Inside his eyelids, the afterimage of the red ember was burning.

For several days, I had to go to Ilsan every morning to coordinate various things with the interior design company.

I heard the explanation from the company employee that because there was no need to touch the frame, the other finishes were completed early. Since they said only the wallpapering was left, it seemed I would be able to come in exactly on the scheduled moving day.

Saying I was counting on them, I ordered Chinese food for the workers and the company people and paid for it, and I could not win against them repeatedly urging me to eat before leaving. In the end, Kihyun sat in a circle with the people on the floor covered with newspaper and ate jjamppong.

“If you are moving here, this place does a good job. They use starch powder for the sweet and sour pork batter, too.”

An older lady doing the wallpapering told Kihyun to eat a lot and piled a mountain of sweet and sour pork on the radish dish in front of him.

“You there, because the homeowner’s features are so good, the husband isn’t even in your sight, is he?”

“Exactly! You try looking handsome like that and see if I don’t live just looking at you!”

Whether the couple did the plastering together, an older man sitting next to them eating jajangmyeon expressed his irritation to the lady. When the lady replied without backing down, the people around them burst into boisterous laughter. Taking advantage of everyone laughing, Kihyun also let out a slight smile.

I still could not laugh out loud properly and only ended up tilting the corner of my mouth up, but it was more natural than before. While wondering if it was because I had quit my job, my mood sank slightly as I remembered the red ember visible in the parking lot throughout the early morning a few days ago.

“By the way, it looks like a house to live in with a baby, but does the baby’s mother not need to come see it?”

At the lady’s words, Kihyun nodded and replied with a lie.

“Yes, she told me to do as I see fit.”

Having said it, it was not particularly a lie. I am the baby’s mother and I am the baby’s father, so it is a matter of me handling it on my own.

When the child developed their own tastes and there were many things they liked and many things they hated, I planned to move houses again then. Since a baby who would be busy crying at scheduled times for the time being could not possibly have tastes, I planned to live roughly until then.

Still, eating with someone after a long time seemed to make more go down than when eating alone. My stomach, which had become heavy, was slightly troubled. It was because I had an appointment in the evening.

I had hoped that Damon or Wickman or whoever would please cancel the appointment, but such a miracle did not happen easily. Because of that, claiming I would settle my stomach, I brushed off everyone’s attempts to stop me, organized the dishes on the newspaper, and even cleaned the floor.

Since I planned to take the Jayu-ro, I thought I should go before rush hour, and as I headed to the entrance, the company employee greeted me.

“Are you leaving now?”

“Yes, I am counting on you.”

He told me to go carefully with a smile, so Kihyun also gave a wide smile and gave a nod. Just like that, he left the Ilsan villa again and headed toward Seoul.

Even though I left early in a hurry, I got caught in rush hour and the traffic was quite heavy. Thanks to that, it looked like I would have to go straight to the restaurant.

One silver lining was that it was a restaurant familiar to Kihyun. It was a place he had been dragged to frequently like an ox with a pierced nose because of Cho Yeonoh, who loved wandering here and there, dragging Kihyun along when he just wanted to eat at home.

Since it was a road he knew well from coming so much, Kihyun crossed the bridge without even setting the navigation and entered the busy district.

After arriving at the restaurant and handing over the car for valet, he was about to go inside when Damon got out of a large foreign SUV, as if he had just arrived.

“Hello.”

“Yes, hello.”

With a slightly tired face, Kihyun looked at Damon, who had suggested a meal for the twenty-first time even after being rejected twenty times with “I am fine.”

Dressed neatly in a thin jacket suited for the weather that was starting to get warm, it suited his tanned skin well, befitting an outdoor sports star.

For Kihyun, for whom his skin being quite white despite his frame being on the sturdy side was a point that was subtly bothersome, he became slightly envious of Damon, who looked full of healthy beauty.

“Let us go in.”

Damon led Kihyun skillfully, unlike how he had looked miserable on the day of the accident saying he could not drive. With the relaxed thought that since I had come this far I might as well eat, Kihyun also went inside without refusing.

Whether he had reserved in advance, a seat was prepared inside. Kihyun wondered if he should order what he always ate whenever he came with Cho Yeonoh, then chose a menu item he had never tried before.

Damon glanced at Kihyun, then told the employee to give him the same thing. Since it was served as a full course meal, it seemed there would be some time until the food was served, so Kihyun said he would go to the restroom, then stood up from his seat and left the room.

Having come quite a lot while caught by Cho Yeonoh, who dragged him here and there to feed the picky Kihyun, the restaurant hallway was familiar. He was heading toward the restroom without the employee’s guidance when the restaurant manager walking from the opposite side recognized Kihyun.

“Have you arrived just now? Director Cho has already started his meal, but he did not say anything to me.”

Then he suddenly said those words. Kihyun barely suppressed the urge to click his tongue. It seemed Cho Yeonoh had also come to this place today.

The manager, who was about to say more, left the spot with a word of apology, perhaps because he received a call from other staff through his in-ear piece. It was while Kihyun, left alone in the hallway, was letting out a sigh.

“…You.”

It was a familiar voice. Kihyun wondered if he should just keep walking, then looked back. At the end of the hallway where the manager had headed, Cho Yeonoh was looking at Kihyun with a stiff face.

Cho Yeonoh, who hesitated for a moment, began walking straight toward Kihyun. Just when I thought that since there was no more hesitation in his footsteps, it would not even take long for him to reach me with his large strides.

“Mr. Kihyun.”

From behind Cho Yeonoh, Damon called Kihyun.

Although they had exchanged introductions, it was the first time he had been called by name directly like this, so Kihyun narrowed his eyes without realizing it. It was Kihyun’s innate nature to become burdened when the other side narrowed the distance too much.

Moreover, since the situation was what it was, I had hoped he would go quietly without getting involved, but Damon popped out from behind Cho Yeonoh and was approaching Kihyun.

As Damon passed Cho Yeonoh, seeing the guy look at Damon with one corner of his mouth tilted mockingly made my head ache already.

It was because I could not know what Cho Yeonoh, who had lost his temper, would do to Damon. Since he had a violent side despite being raised gently as a child of a wealthy family, I had no choice but to be on guard on behalf of Damon, who was walking toward me knowing nothing.

Cho Yeonoh, who was looking down at Damon with chilly eyes, spoke toward Kihyun.

“Do you really want to come here carrying something like this?”

It was most annoying that he spoke as if nothing were wrong. Of course, Cho Yeonoh being here must be a coincidence. Even at a glance, he seemed to have visited for business entertainment, so I did not want to say anything, but speaking as if nothing had happened was a different matter.

After he had broken up with me as he pleased, as if the end of this relationship also rested in his hands, it felt like he was ignoring Kihyun’s words to not see each other’s faces. It is not like he and I are in a relationship where we fought while betting on a foot volleyball game; we are no different from strangers now.

“Mr. Kihyun, is this someone you know?”