Place to Be Chapter 21

Jang Wigeon, who gave a nonchalant look at the laborer walking slowly away, instead scolded Seo Chiyoung and let out a short laugh.

“The customer didn’t even do anything wrong, so even if you don’t get angry, why are you apologizing?”

“Uh… but the customer… didn’t get angry either.”

Seo Chiyoung muttered as if making an excuse. Jang Wigeon started to say, “Well, that’s because,” but then closed his mouth with an ambiguous smile.

Yes, it was something like this. Seo Chiyoung recalled the thought anew.

Jang Wigeon almost never gets angry at other people. He didn’t even place enough interest in people who had nothing to do with him to get angry. And that was the reason why he didn’t show even a hint of displeasure toward Seo Chiyoung.

Seo Chiyoung smiled bitterly. Then, he continued like a sigh.

“And since that Mister’s left leg is uncomfortable, it must have been hard for him to turn the cart to the right. He might be having a hard time in other places that aren’t visible, too…”

Thinking that it would actually be much better if he showed an annoyed face instead, Seo Chiyoung muttered haltingly. In front of him, Jang Wigeon suddenly arched an eyebrow and watched the laborer walking some distance away, limping faintly.

“Was he someone you know?”

“Pardon?… No, I don’t know him.”

At first, Seo Chiyoung looked at Jang Wigeon in bewilderment, not understanding what he meant, but then followed his gaze to the laborer and shook his head. While Seo Chiyoung blinked, not knowing why he was suddenly asking if it was an acquaintance, Jang Wigeon turned his gaze from the laborer and looked at him.

“…I guess you’re naturally good at observing other people.”

Observation—Seo Chiyoung repeated the word in his mind. He had never intentionally been conscious of someone or watched them, so he looked at Jang Wigeon in embarrassment.

It was just that people with physical discomforts, who might need his help in even the smallest way at any time, simply caught his eye quickly. He had never thought of it as intentionally scanning or watching.

Not knowing how to answer, Seo Chiyoung stared blankly at Jang Wigeon and scratched his head awkwardly. Wait, why did the conversation go in this direction? What I originally wanted to say to Jang Wigeon was… While Seo Chiyoung was thinking this, he heard a fairly loud rattling crash behind his back and turned his head. It seemed the rubber band on the handcart the laborer from earlier was pulling had snapped, as the boxes stacked inside were scattered on the ground.

“Uh… please wait a moment.”

Seo Chiyoung asked Jang Wigeon for a brief moment of understanding and ran over there without hesitation. Then, beside the laborer who was incessantly spitting out curses while gathering the items, he picked up the boxes together and stacked them back onto the handcart.

Although the mouth that had been spewing curses fell silent, Seo Chiyoung helped the laborer—who was still grumbling under his breath as if dissatisfied—by tying the snapped rubber band in half and securing the load tightly. It didn’t take very long for him to return to Jang Wigeon.

Jang Wigeon, who had remained standing there watching him with his arms crossed, said shortly, “You’re good at that.” Seo Chiyoung shook his head bashfully.

“No, it’s just something I did often when I used to work moving cargo… No, that’s not it, uh… how far had we talked?”

Seo Chiyoung became needlessly embarrassed and mumbled, not even knowing what he was saying.

Jang Wigeon looked down at Seo Chiyoung silently before slowly opening his mouth. “We got to the part where I said I wasn’t particularly going to do anything, and there was no need for you to go out of your way to apologize to me.” In his slow, low voice, the calm traces of laughter that had been there until a moment ago were gone.

Even though he had thought it would be better for him to show a look of displeasure, Seo Chiyoung ended up falling silent. The quiet, low voice without laughter was cold enough to make his shoulders instinctively shrink.

Seo Chiyoung rubbed the back of his neck anxiously again. Words still didn’t come to him easily, but he picked out the words that were in his heart one by one.

“It’s not because I thought the customer… would do something. I didn’t think that. Just…”

Seo Chiyoung paused and added quietly.

“I hope that the customer isn’t displeased, even in parts that don’t show on the outside.”

Jang Wigeon, who had been lost in thought while watching the laborer staggering away in the distance, shifted only his eyes toward Seo Chiyoung.

“Why. Because I might be having a hard time in other places that aren’t visible too?”

Seo Chiyoung looked at Jang Wigeon. It was still an expression and voice that were sunken low and devoid of laughter. Seo Chiyoung looked at him hesitantly, then suddenly blurted out a single sentence.

“…Because it’s scary.”

In an instant, Jang Wigeon looked at Seo Chiyoung with eyes full of disbelief, as if he had been caught off guard. Seo Chiyoung shut his mouth.

Yes. It was scary. Even if he knew that the man smiled calmly at everyone—and that he didn’t harbor any particular ill will toward him—knowing that he was drawing lines in places he couldn’t see made it feel like he wouldn’t be able to look at him as peacefully as he had until now. He was afraid that a shadow would be cast over his heart as he quietly watched him.

“…”

Seo Chiyoung let out a quiet sigh. Jang Wigeon remained silent, staring at Seo Chiyoung as if he found it absurd.

It’s understandable that he’d find it absurd… Seo Chiyoung rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

Then suddenly, a quiet murmur like a sigh leaked out. “This isn’t even about being unlikable…” The sound of a click of the tongue followed.

“I get it. What you’re saying.”

Finally, Jang Wigeon’s answer came back. Seo Chiyoung looked up at him with an “Oh.” Jang Wigeon’s composed voice was no different from a moment ago, but the tone that had been cold and emotionless beneath that voice softened. Fine, I lose—it was as if he were saying that.

Jang Wigeon was wearing a distorted smile, as if saying, “Good grief.” The wrinkle slightly formed between his brows wasn’t pleasant, but Seo Chiyoung looked at him without even blinking, happy to see the faint smile gracing the corners of his eyes.

“It wouldn’t have been any different whether you said it or not, so did that weigh on your mind? If you worry about things like that, life must be exhausting.”

To Jang Wigeon, who asked while clicking his tongue lightly, Seo Chiyoung muttered as if embarrassed, “I don’t usually worry,” but the other man replied, “Is that so?” with a look that suggested he didn’t really believe it. In the voice that ended with “life must be exhausting,” a hint of worry seeped through.

He really has softened. The thought made his heart race. So Seo Chiyoung watched Jang Wigeon fixedly, then followed him as he started walking toward the parking lot again, speaking before he realized it.

“Thank you.”

Jang Wigeon looked back as if puzzled.

“For what.”

“Uh… for not just saying it’s fine and brushing it off moderately.”

In truth, he thought that even if Seo Chiyoung apologized, the man would just say it was fine because he didn’t really care and then move on. Without giving him even a fingernail’s worth of room to follow.

So, the fact that Jang Wigeon had waited silently for Seo Chiyoung’s words was both unexpected and made him very happy.

Jang Wigeon’s pace slowed. He looked at Seo Chiyoung with a somewhat strange face, then slowly formed a bitter smile.

“Good grief… did you just come back from looking inside my heart? How peculiar. Why would you think that when looking at a kind and truthful man like me?”

Having murmured that somewhat playfully, yet as if truly curious, Jang Wigeon began to move toward the parking lot again. This time, with a slightly slower gait.

“Normally, that’s what I would have done. But… fundamentally, I like people whose gaze toward the world is warm. Since I’m a bit on the opposite side.”

Jang Wigeon spoke casually, and Seo Chiyoung ended up smiling awkwardly, not knowing how to respond.

Soon, when the parking lot began to appear in the distance, Seo Chiyoung slowed his steps.

“Um, then I’ll be going now.”

Jang Wigeon, who had been walking a few steps ahead, looked back at Seo Chiyoung. Then, he looked curiously at Seo Chiyoung, who was standing at the entrance of the path leading from the livestock market to the main road.

“Did you park your car somewhere else?”

“Pardon? No… I’m taking the subway…”

“…While carrying that?”

Jang Wigeon made a strange face as he looked at the small handcart loaded with a Styrofoam box that wasn’t very large in volume but still had considerable weight. Seo Chiyoung smiled sheepishly and muttered, “Yes, it’s manageable.”