Chapter 20
That night.
Dinner time.
Man-sang, the largest merchant guild in Joseon, was essentially a logistics center that operated day and night, so around ten haengsu, including Hayun, lived here and took care of both their lodging and meals.
The haengsu who had families returned home after sunset. As a result, those who remained during dinner were naturally the young haengsu around Hayun’s age.
“Ah, my blood sugar’s dropping.”
Hayun entered the dining hall while clutching her hungry stomach.
“This won’t do. I need to get something in me first.”
She had been busy running around all day today and had yet to eat a single meal.
In the morning, she had been too preoccupied with the sales report, and at lunchtime, she had been unable to eat because she was delivering the wooden boxes.
After returning, she had to finish all sorts of paperwork, and by the time she was done, the sun had already completely set.
Because of her personality, which could not feel satisfied unless she personally inspected things until the very end, Hayun had even accompanied the porters all the way to Minister Min’s residence.
Only after confirming that the wooden boxes had been safely delivered was her entire schedule finally complete.
Grrrrr.
“…I’m really going to collapse at this rate.”
At the loud signal coming from her stomach, Hayun hurriedly began piling food onto her tray.
“Thank you for the meal.”
With her food in hand, Hayun naturally took a seat in a corner of the dining hall.
The haengsu who had arrived earlier were already eating in small groups, but it was true that it still felt awkward to join them.
After what had happened that morning, they now exchanged brief nods when they saw each other, but that was all. There had not been enough time to become close.
That was when it happened.
One of the men in the group stood up and approached Hayun.
“I see you in a different light now. You’ve got quite a talent.”
“Who……?”
When Hayun looked at him with a puzzled expression, the man introduced himself first.
“Ah, I’m Han Seong-deok. I’m a low-ranking haengsu just like you.”
Han Seong-deok was a male haengsu around Hayun’s age.
He had a sturdy build and an angular face. If he had not been called a haengsu, he looked like the sort of person one might mistake for a porter.
“I’m sorry for misunderstanding you all this time. I thought you were just a guy who was all talk.”
Han Seong-deok scratched his head sheepishly.
The gesture felt rather cute, completely at odds with his bear-like physique.
“But you weren’t bluffing. You really are a talent worthy of being personally brought in by Daebang.”
Han Seong-deok paused as though choosing his words, then casually extended a hand toward her.
“I’ll formally apologize.”
“……?”
It was a rough, calloused hand.
Hayun stared at it silently.
It wasn’t as though he had any ulterior motive.
‘Do men… apologize like this to each other?’
This was the first time she had ever encountered such a situation, so she could not decide whether she should take his hand or simply leave it alone.
As the time spent deliberating grew longer, Han Seong-deok asked anxiously,
“You…… not going to accept my apology?”
Only then did Hayun understand what he meant and replied curtly,
“I don’t know. I’ll decide after I see what you do from now on.”
“Haha. What a petty little man.”
Han Seong-deok laughed heartily and slapped Hayun on the back.
Thump!
The moment the bear-like palm landed on her back, an unexpected impact jolted through her.
“Cough!”
As a result, Hayun barely managed to stop the food she had just eaten from coming back up her throat.
“Instead of this, let’s go out. As an apology, I’ll treat everyone to a proper feast tonight.”
“Go outside?”
“Yeah. We can’t be satisfied with something like this on a day like today. Right?”
As it happened, Hayun had been craving some special food. She had barely been picking at her side dishes anyway.
If she were in modern times, she would have raised a toast tonight, at the very least.
Hayun might have seemed like someone who always lived properly, but she had her own principles.
Namely, whenever she successfully completed a project of this scale, she would celebrate her achievement by herself if necessary.
Soju, wine, whiskey… it did not matter.
She did not care what kind of alcohol it was, how badly she wrecked herself, or how she would feel the next day. She had to relieve the tension somehow, even if forcibly, before she could free herself from the pressure.
At precisely such a moment, her companion had made an appropriate offer, so Hayun had no reason to refuse.
Hayun smiled slyly and said,
“Can you afford me? My palate is pretty damn refined.”
“Haha! What do you take me for!”
Apparently pleased with the answer, Han Seong-deok burst into hearty laughter.
“I’ll treat you to the finest dinner in Uiju.”
Then he shouted toward the group he had been eating with moments ago.
“Hey, friends! Let’s have dinner at Cheongunru tonight. How about it?”
“Oh! Cheongunru! Sounds good!”
“Let’s get out of here right now!”
The moment the name Cheongunru came up, everyone sprang to their feet as though they had been waiting for it.
As if Hayun’s approval did not matter at all, they excitedly poured out of the dining hall in a group.
Just like they had intended to go there from the very beginning.
“Heh.”
Seeing them, Hayun let out a small laugh without realizing it.
At first, those people had merely seemed difficult to approach, but before she knew it, she had begun to see them as friends her own age. One way or another, they were young men in the prime of their lives who enjoyed having fun.
Perhaps feeling awkward because the dining hall had suddenly become empty, Han Seong-deok shrugged his shoulders.
“You saw that, right? I’ll be waiting outside too, so hurry up and come out.”
“Got it.”
Once it was decided that they would have dinner at Cheongunru, Hayun also headed toward the kitchen to return her dishes.
“…….”
Then, suddenly, Hayun’s gaze stopped on one spot.
There was one person still eating alone in the middle of the empty dining hall.
‘Song Do-hyeon……’
Song Do-hyeon had been alone ever since Hayun entered the dining hall.
No, he had always eaten alone all this time.
Even if Hayun herself was one thing, she could not easily understand how Song Do-hyeon, who had worked here alongside everyone else for more than ten years, had ended up as a loner.
“…….”
Despite the boisterous atmosphere around him, he remained quietly in his seat. Beside him, where there was no one else, lay a ledger.
He did not take his eyes off the ledger for even a moment. As if his fate itself were hanging on those pages.
“…….”
Looking at Song Do-hyeon like that, Hayun saw her past self in him.
The way she had once eaten alone after being ostracized by her team members.
Perhaps the emotions from that time had resurfaced. Without realizing it, Hayun approached Song Do-hyeon.
“Did you come here to laugh at me?”
Song Do-hyeon muttered without even looking up.
“If you’re going to laugh, then laugh all you want. Today is the last day you’ll be able to laugh like that.”
He did not even spare her a glance until the very end.
His eyes remained fixed solely on the ledger.
Hayun silently stared at Song Do-hyeon for a moment.
“…….”
Still, Hayun had realized one thing today.
No matter how much two people might be enemies, if one person extended a hand of reconciliation first, things could surprisingly be resolved quite easily.
Following what she had just learned, Hayun extended one hand toward him.
“You should come out too.”
“What?”
Song Do-hyeon looked up, somewhat startled.
Hayun’s delicate, beautiful hand was extended right in front of him.
“…What are you trying to do right now?”
“Make peace.”
“Not pick a fight?”
At Song Do-hyeon’s words, Hayun used the exact line she had just learned.
“What a petty little man. How does this look like I’m picking a fight?”
“What?”
“Ah, is this not how it works?”
Embarrassed by his unexpectedly hostile reaction, Hayun awkwardly withdrew her hand.
‘The world of men is difficult.’
She had simply copied exactly what Han Seong-deok had done moments ago. Yet she could not understand why the atmosphere had become so hostile.
‘Would patting him on the back be going too far?’
Hayun stared at Song Do-hyeon. Giving up after just one attempt would be far too heartless.
Hayun tried persuading him again.
“Instead of staying here like this, come out with us. What kind of pathetic sight is it to sit here alone?”
“Why should I associate with people like you?”
Song Do-hyeon closed his ledger and looked up at Hayun.
A cold chill lingered in his eyes as they met hers.
“‘People like you’…… Isn’t that going a bit too far?”
“I do not need cheap pity. If you have come here to comfort me, then leave.”
“Pity? This is what you call goodwill, goodwill!”
“……!”
At the word ‘goodwill,’ a strange glint appeared in Song Do-hyeon’s eyes.
But that lasted only a moment.
Soon, cynicism took its place.
“Goodwill…… Hmph. What a useless emotion.”
His response was so cold that Hayun’s heart finally turned away as well.
“Fine, if you don’t want to, then forget it. Do you think I’m doing this because I like it? I went out of my way to care about you, and you’re still being completely rude.”
“I never asked you to do that, so if you have nothing else to say, then leave. I still have a great deal of work to do.”
Song Do-hyeon waved his chopsticks around as though she were a nuisance, and Hayun, finally losing her temper, turned her back.
“Fine! You’re so great! Then eat your meals alone like that for the rest of your life!”
And just as she was about to walk outside…
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you coming out?”
Han Seong-deok, who had gone outside first, poked his head into the dining hall.
“Oh-ho.”
Seeing Song Do-hyeon bickering with Hayun, Han Seong-deok’s lips curled into a grin.
In fact, Han Seong-deok and Song Do-hyeon were practically from the same cohort.
Because of Song Do-hyeon’s peculiar personality, they were not particularly close, but neither did they exactly keep their distance from each other.
“You guys, still haven’t gotten over your grudge?”
Han Seong-deok approached the two of them.
Then, with a mischievous grin, he suddenly grabbed both of them and pulled them into a tight embrace.
“You two, follow me! Tonight, I’ll make absolutely sure you reconcile!”
“W-whoa?!”
Under Han Seong-deok’s tremendous strength, Hayun and Song Do-hyeon were practically dragged outside.
Comments (0)