How to Avoid the Monday Blues Chapter 10

They were waiting for the food to come out when the man’s phone rang. The call rang once and stopped, but despite the man ignoring it, it started ringing again.

“…Haah, persistent. Sorry.”

After excusing himself to Sewon, the man answered the call. While the man was on the phone, Sewon took out the paper he had folded twice and put in his bag and roughly checked the schedule.

“The shipments went in on time, so what’s the problem? Accidents are so colorful with this place… No, I can’t come in right now.”

He couldn’t tell what it was about, but it seemed related to work. The man let out a long sigh. Sewon raised his head and subtly gauged the man’s mood.

“If you want to save time, you have to spend money. They’re making me do useless work again.”

His tone was one of exasperation, but the man’s expression didn’t change. It was a reaction that suggested he was used to this sort of thing happening many times over.

“Yeah, I’ll get back to you in the evening. Let’s hang up now.”

— Hey… You don’t know… Since it’s overseas, rumors…

At the man’s words to hang up, the other person suddenly raised their voice, and the half-cut conversation reached Sewon faintly.

“Enough. I’m hanging up.”

The man ended the call before the other person could even finish. At that moment, the two people’s eyes met directly.

“Was that work?”

At Sewon’s question, the man nodded.

“It seems like there’s a lot of work even though you’re on vacation.”

“A little. But well, aren’t all office workers pretty much the same?”

The man gave a slight shrug and spoke in an indifferent tone. To Sewon, whose current dream was to be an “office worker,” it simply seemed impressive.

“Ah…”

“Among them, our company is a bit… I think it’s on the side of working people like dogs.”

The man added with an impassive face. Then he tore off a piece of the white bread in front of him and put it in his mouth.

Among the people Sewon knew, the one with the best body was Han Jaehee. And Han Jaehee was the type to restrict carbohydrates. Sewon had thought most people who built muscle managed themselves as thoroughly as Han Jaehee, but the man didn’t seem to pay much attention to flour or sugar intake. Even though he had a body that was appropriately thick yet well-sculpted with muscle, like a picture.

Not long after Sewon picked up the bread, the food the two had ordered came out. It was tender lamb chops and kebab made with minced meat grilled with pistachios.

“Please enjoy your meal.”

“Yes, you eat a lot too, student.”

At Sewon’s polite greeting, the man playfully shot back.

“…Thank you for the meal.”

Sewon cut the lamb chop into small pieces and put them in his mouth. He could detect the scent of a unique spice, but rather than being off-putting, it actually masked the gamey smell. It was when he took a large bite of the grilled bell pepper that came as a side dish.

“It seems like traveling suits you.”

“Me? Why…?”

“You just eat well, this and that. It makes the person buying worthwhile.”

To the man, who looked somehow proud, Sewon gave a slight nod as a sign of thanks.

“After lunch, let’s cross over to the Asian district. We can see the mosque there, and… if we see the toy museum too, today’s schedule is done. Is there anywhere else you’d like to go?”

“Your plan is so perfect that I feel like I just need to follow along.”

He had worked hard to prepare within the given time, but being praised as having a perfect plan was a little embarrassing. Well, the man had given the same praise when Sewon handed him the itinerary copied this morning.

“I’ve been told a few times that I’m like a J, but I’m not perfect…”

“…J?”

The man, who had been listening to Sewon’s modest words, asked in a puzzled voice.

“MBTI.”

“MBTI…?”

“…The 16 personality type test.”

Thinking the man might not know, Sewon explained the definition of MBTI at length. After hearing Sewon’s words, the man suddenly bowed his head deeply. Startled, Sewon looked at the man. His shoulders were slowly shaking. Only after hearing the man’s voice that followed did Sewon realize.

The man was laughing.

Ahem— the man cleared his throat and raised his head. On his face, the laughter he hadn’t fully hidden remained intact.

The man Sewon had observed was mostly expressionless. Sometimes, when he raised his indifferent, downcast gaze, even the air around him seemed to grow cold. He had looked that cold… but when he laughed like this, sincerely, he seemed like a completely different person.

“…Why are you laughing?”

“Nothing, just, because you really seem like a baby?”

“I’m not that young.”

At the man calling him “baby” again, Sewon protested.

“Yes, I understand.”

“I’m graduating from university soon. Once I get a job… I won’t be a student anymore, I’ll be a member of society.”

Since the man didn’t seem to take his claim of not being young seriously at all, Sewon spoke in a tone of grievance.

“Yeah? You’re graduating soon, so… I was wrong.”

This time he answered in an overly serious tone. Even though Sewon knew it was a joke, the man’s grave-seeming demeanor made him just shut his mouth. And without a word, he put a piece of kebab left on the plate into his mouth. It was savory and delicious, with finely crushed pistachios mixed in.

The man, watching Sewon diligently chewing his kebab with cheeks as round as a squirrel’s, narrowed his eyes and asked.

“What is it.”

“…Yes?”

“You have a face that says you’re curious about something.”

“…”

How did he know…

Sewon slowly set down the utensils he was holding and examined the man’s face. He was relieved to see there was no sign of displeasure.

There was a rule tacitly agreed upon between Sewon and the man in their companionship.

First, not to ask each other’s names.

And second, not to ask about personal matters until the other brought it up themselves.

These two rules were a kind of “line” drawn between the two people sitting across from each other. A line meant to leave the memories of the trip only at the travel destination.

“How did I know? It’s all written on your face.”

The man said that and handed Sewon a napkin. Sewon looked at the man’s hand, which had come quite close to him. The man tapped the corner of his own mouth with the hand that had returned to its place. When Sewon wiped the corner of his mouth with the napkin, a little white sauce came off.

“Ah… that’s just because I got it on me while eating. Not because I’m a baby who got food on his face.”

Sewon quickly added. At Sewon’s words, the man let out a low chuckle. The way he sat with one arm propped on his chin, looking at Sewon, seemed much more relaxed and languid than before.

“Um… your company.”

Sewon, taking a slight breath, looked at the man and slowly parted his lips. As if curious what kind of question would come out, the man looked at Sewon with serious eyes.

“…”

“Did you get in through the open recruitment, by any chance?”

Hearing Sewon’s question, the man dropped his head abruptly. Then he covered his face with his hand. The man’s shoulders began to shake gently again, just like before. Watching him, Sewon asked in a wronged voice.

“What…!”

“No, no. It’s just the first time I’ve been asked a question like this.”

The man, raising his head, tried to hold back his laughter at first, but eventually gave that up too and laughed brightly.

“…I was just curious.”

Both the MBTI question and the question about whether he’d joined through open recruitment were ordinary questions with nothing particularly interesting about them, so Sewon couldn’t understand why the man was laughing.

“It wasn’t through the new employee open recruitment—I joined after graduate school, but… that was already.”

Years ago now. The man, seeming to mull over his graduation year, closed his mouth. Just as Sewon was getting nervous, wondering if he had asked something unnecessary at the man’s suddenly serious face—

“Still, I’ve sat in on interviews a few times, so would that be of any help?”

“As an interviewer…?”

“Yeah. A few times as a working-level interviewer when our division was hiring new employees.”

He had thought there would be a bit of an age gap between them, but an interviewer? The sudden sense of distance made Sewon straighten his back.

Just then, a server standing nearby came over and asked, “Çay?” It meant, would they like black tea for dessert? When the two nodded at the same time, the table was cleared in an instant.

“Um… when you have an interview, you do a self-introduction. Does the first sentence always have to have an impact?”

“Impact?”

As if he didn’t quite understand Sewon’s question, the man tilted his head slightly. After thinking about how to explain it, Sewon said, “Let me try,” and stepped up proactively.