Place to Be Chapter 20

Seo Chiyoung, who had stood up along with him, also came out of the shop after exchanging goodbyes with the owner alongside Jang Wigeon. Looking at his watch, a little over an hour more than he had originally planned had already passed.

I’ll have to move busily once I get back to the shop. But even if I move as fast as I can, there won’t be enough time to soak the ingredients in the medicinal bath… what should I do?

However, even amidst that anxious feeling, he didn’t feel unpleasant or upset. He felt inwardly pleased, wondering if he might have been of some help to Jang Wigeon.

“I’m sure you’re busy, so thank you for introducing me to such a good person.”

Jang Wigeon spoke as they walked toward the livestock market to Seo Chiyoung, who was looking at his watch and calculating the time to return to the shop for prep work and business arrangements. Only then did Seo Chiyoung turn his gaze toward him. His eyes met with Jang Wigeon, who was looking at him with a faint smile as usual.

“Oh, no, it just happened that way… I hope the discussions go well.”

When Seo Chiyoung spoke, recalling the promise the butcher shop owner and Jang Wigeon had made to meet separately this weekend and head straight to the farm, Jang Wigeon smiled and said nonchalantly, “They will go well.” At the confidence that seeped out calmly even while he wasn’t trying to flaunt it, Seo Chiyoung stared blankly at Jang Wigeon for a moment before ending up laughing.

Right, come to think of it, I think I had these thoughts back in high school too. That confidence that naturally seeped out even through an ordinary demeanor distinguished Jang Wigeon from other people back then and now.

It truly seemed like it would be so. Like a conviction, he felt that confidence was not empty bravado, but something that would bring him actual results.

Jang Wigeon looked at the pleasantly laughing Seo Chiyoung curiously and asked, “Why?” but Seo Chiyoung shook his head, saying it was nothing. Jang Wigeon gave a light shrug and didn’t bother asking further. “Thanks to you, I feel good because I think I’ll be making a good deal,” he said with a smile.

Watching Jang Wigeon’s handsome smile, however, Seo Chiyoung slowly let his own smile fade.

He had forgotten for a moment, but seeing that smile made him remember again. The line that was clearly visible within that attitude of smiling nonchalantly and making conversation without hesitation.

…It would have been better if he had shown Seo Chiyoung a look of displeasure instead. Or, even if he didn’t show it openly, if he had shown a clear light of rejection by not accepting the goodwill of Seo Chiyoung who had contacted him. It would have been better if it was at least enough to indicate that his feelings were upset, but he didn’t do that.

He accepts the other person’s goodwill and returns that same amount of goodwill to them. While doing so, he has clearly drawn a line that must never be crossed.

“Come to think of it, how did you know Junyoung’s phone number?”

“Pardon? Oh… he calls me occasionally. Mostly late at night before the shop closes, telling me he’s coming from now on and to please wait without closing the door.”

“Really? Wow… It looks like he’s really fallen for it, that guy.”

Jang Wigeon laughed cheerfully as if it were surprising and amusing.

As if absolutely nothing had happened, as if the freezing of Jang Wigeon’s gaze that night was merely a misunderstanding on Seo Chiyoung’s part and a trivial matter Jang Wigeon couldn’t even remember, Jang Wigeon spoke to Seo Chiyoung with a casual smile.

He was like that to everyone.

However, that was always the case. Even in high school—no, back then they hadn’t even talked like this—and even after meeting again, hasn’t the only people Jang Wigeon treats without reserve in a true sense always been Yoon Junyoung and Kwon Kanghee, just those two?

So he should be glad just that he is speaking to him with a smile like this.

And yet, a small thorn caught in his heart wipes away the smile.

Jang Wigeon, who had been walking toward the parking lot—since it was the same direction as the subway station, Seo Chiyoung was also walking alongside Jang Wigeon—looked back curiously at Seo Chiyoung, whose pace was gradually slowing down. Seo Chiyoung, who had fallen a couple of steps behind before he knew it, stopped walking altogether and stared at Jang Wigeon. Jang Wigeon also stopped walking and tilted his head.

“Why? Is there something you forgot and left behind?”

Staring blankly at Jang Wigeon who asked curiously, Seo Chiyoung bowed his head deeply, even while thinking that making an apology like this might result in an even more ridiculous situation. Then, he spoke seriously to Jang Wigeon, who shut his mouth with a surprised look.

“I was rude the other time.”

“…The other time?”

Jang Wigeon tilted his head, raising an eyebrow. However, even as he asked back as if he didn’t know, he seemed to catch on immediately to what Seo Chiyoung was referring to. A troubled smile flickered for an instant before vanishing.

“The other time, I’m not quite sure what you mean.”

“…Because I feel like I crossed a line, you see.”

Seo Chiyoung spoke each word clearly even while stammering. Like a child confessing a mistake while knowing he’ll be scolded, he kept his head slightly lowered and only lifted his eyes to look at Jang Wigeon before dropping his gaze again.

Jang Wigeon didn’t say anything for a moment.

I thought he would smile and move on, saying something like, “Well, I’m not sure.” Or he might say, “It’s okay, don’t worry about it.”

Whichever it was, he would continue to keep his distance from Seo Chiyoung, but even so, Seo Chiyoung wanted to say it. Even if there was a possibility that it might make things even more awkward.

However, in front of Seo Chiyoung who was waiting with his head bowed, Jang Wigeon’s silence lasted longer than expected. Laborers moving cargo and pulling large handcarts from the parking lot to the inside of the livestock market glanced curiously as they passed by the two people standing blankly facing each other on one side of the road.

How long had they been like that? Eventually, the sound of Jang Wigeon muttering very quietly could be heard.

“For someone like that, you contacted me so nonchalantly that I thought your social awareness was just so-so.”

It was a small voice, like a monologue. Seo Chiyoung glanced up, and Jang Wigeon, who had been looking at Seo Chiyoung lost in thought, smiled after a few seconds once his eyes met with Seo Chiyoung’s.

“There’s no need to apologize specially…. It’s true that my mood wasn’t very pleasant that day, but I have no intention of bringing that matter up again in any form. It’s not like I’m going to say anything to you, Mister, and I certainly have no intention of getting angry or treating you uncomfortably. I thought there would be no problem if I treated you like I am now…. Did I perhaps treat you poorly without realizing it myself?”

At him asking back with a troubled smile, Seo Chiyoung quickly shook his head.

“No, it’s not like that. It’s not that, but I just, …”

Seo Chiyoung stopped speaking with his mouth still open mid-sentence. I just—the words to follow didn’t come to mind. I just wanted to apologize for my own self-satisfaction. I just hope you don’t draw a line against me. I just want to get closer to you.

They all seemed correct, yet different. However, unable to know himself exactly what words should follow, Seo Chiyoung just blinked with his mouth open before slowly closing it.

It seemed like he had something to say, and Jang Wigeon waited patiently for Seo Chiyoung, who was thinking hard while scratching the back of his neck. Perhaps Jang Wigeon would have waited for even a few more minutes. If only there had been no outside interference.

Behind the two people standing blankly facing each other, a heavy luggage cart rolled up. The laborer who was heavily pushing the cart, which was covered in bulging plastic and tightly bound with rubber bands, let out a sudden shout when he reached a point some distance away from them.

“Don’t stand there blocking the way, move! Can’t you see the cargo coming?!”

The short laborer, who looked about ten years older than them, was still a few steps away so there was enough distance to turn the cart, yet he immediately screamed and spat out profanities.

Jang Wigeon glanced back. Seeing the laborer who was glaring and spitting out ear-grating curses, he stepped aside a couple of paces without saying much. Seo Chiyoung followed behind Jang Wigeon and stepped to the side as well. While saying a short “I’m sorry” and stepping aside with plenty of room, the laborer pushed the cart past, narrowly brushing right by Seo Chiyoung’s side, continuously muttering profanities as he went.