How to Avoid the Monday Blues Chapter 6

[Is it that good to eat like that? It’s not exactly pleasant to look at.]

Because of a passing remark Han Jaehee let slip, Sewon didn’t eat hamburgers in front of him at all. There was no way the man could know about such trivial circumstances, but his words seemed to confirm that Sewon’s choice hadn’t been wrong.

“I’ll get going then. Thank you for buying me the hamburger.”

Sewon bowed politely to the man. The man couldn’t hide the smile that softly bloomed every time Sewon showed his manners.

“Alright, enjoy your travels.”

Leaving a brief farewell, the man headed toward the road to catch a taxi. Since they were staying at the same hotel, they might run into each other again. But Sewon and the man parted without leaving any room for that.

Sewon, who had turned around and was walking aimlessly, stopped in his tracks. His next destination was Yerebatan Sarayı, but he was terribly confused about the way. Sewon, having opened a map app, wore a careful expression with furrowed brows.

The hotel is behind me right now, so…

“Should I go left?”

Left seemed right, but all the tourists were walking toward the hill on the right, which made him hesitate.

Truthfully, Sewon had a terrible sense of direction.

As he spun in place, confused about which way to go, the compass in the app spun along with him. That was when someone tapped Sewon on the shoulder. Instinctively clutching his bag tightly, Sewon turned around. There stood the “man” who had been with Sewon just moments ago.

“Oh, I thought you’d left…”

Haah— the man let out a deep breath. Just like… someone who had run over in a hurry.

“In case the baby gets lost.”

As if I could go anywhere.

It was a voice so small Sewon had to strain his ears to hear it.

“Baby?”

“…”

“Are you… perhaps talking about me?”

When Sewon asked with wide, round eyes, the man answered calmly.

“Is there any other baby here?”

Just then, a baby in a stroller passing by the two of them went “Waaah—” and cried.

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

Even though an actual “baby” had just passed by, the man feigned ignorance with a serious, unplayful tone. Hearing such absurd words delivered so earnestly, Sewon couldn’t even bring himself to laugh.

“I’m… not really that young.”

“To me, you look young.”

Fearing the man might bring out that cringeworthy term “baby” again, Sewon quickly threw out a question.

“Didn’t you say you had an appointment in the afternoon?”

“I had a scheduled call, but it got pushed back before I could catch a taxi. I thought you’d already left by now…, but you’re still here.”

“Yeah…, one thing led to another.”

“Did you follow someone and get lost?”

The man slightly raised one eyebrow as he picked up Sewon’s words. It was as if he was asking, “Doesn’t that still make you a baby?” Sewon felt the need to explain himself.

“I’m not lost, I was just a little confused about the direction and looking at the map. Here.”

“You said you were going to the Yerebatan underground cistern, right.”

“Yes.”

When Sewon nodded, the man stepped forward and stood beside him. The two of them looked at the map together.

“…Since the hotel is behind here, we should go right. Seeing how everyone’s heading that way, it looks like we’ll have to line up again this time too.”

“You’re really good at finding directions.”

Watching the man figure out the direction to go in one go, Sewon admired him inwardly.

“Let’s go.”

Sewon diligently followed the man, who walked without a moment’s hesitation.

As with all tourist sites in Istanbul, a long line stretched in front of the ticket booth. Yerebatan Sarayı, called the underground palace of Istanbul, was also one of the must-visit attractions, but thankfully it wasn’t as crowded as Hagia Sophia.

“It’ll take about 30 minutes.”

“That’s not too bad…”

Sewon trailed off as he looked at the line at the ticket booth.

“Did you study up on the places you’re visiting today?”

The man’s gaze as he asked was directed at Sewon’s phone. On the screen was a still cut from an action movie filmed at this very place, Yerebatan Sarayı, nicknamed the underground palace.

Since there was no reason to hide it, Sewon showed the man his phone. In the notes app, a schedule and various travel tips collected from the internet were meticulously organized.

“It’s just a simple summary of my travel plans and information. Um…, there are over 300 columns in the underground cistern here, and because the construction period was tight, they were brought from various temples. So each column has a different architectural style…, I wrote stuff like that down. I thought knowing about it would help with sightseeing.”

“…”

“What?”

“Nothing…, just that you’re smart?”

Smart…

At the man’s words, Sewon furrowed his brows. He was about to graduate soon, so at school he was treated like a “fossil,” and now being called a baby, or smart… Every descriptor the man attached to him was unfamiliar. Sewon had been unsure, but now it seemed clear the man was teasing him. Just as Sewon’s lips were about to pout with dissatisfaction—

“I traveled to Istanbul with my mother when I was young.”

“Ah…”

“Back then, I nearly toppled over trying to look at the Medusa head embedded upside down in the cistern’s column. Other memories are faint, but I can’t figure out why this one won’t fade… I couldn’t ask anyone, so I came to check for myself.”

“…”

The man, who had hesitated even to give his name, revealed a fragment of personal memory to Sewon. He didn’t seem to care much about Sewon’s somewhat blank reaction.

“My mother was very interested in history, so she dragged me around a lot when I was young. Domestic and overseas, everywhere.”

“Oh…, that’s cool.”

“She was cool. Cultured.”

The man ended his sentence in the past tense. The temperature of his voice had dropped ever so slightly. Sewon guessed that the man’s mother might also be deceased, like his own mom, but he didn’t ask.

“Ah…”

“Since you came traveling…”

Just as the man, conscious of the heavy atmosphere, was about to ask Sewon a question, a group of tourists brushed past the man’s side. As the man was pushed inward, his and Sewon’s fingertips grazed each other.

“Sorry…”

“I’m sorr…”

There was no need to determine who apologized first; the words slipped out simultaneously. The warmth felt from the fingertips that had touched so briefly was hot, as if burned by fire.

As Sewon raised his head, the two people’s gazes, now much closer, met in midair.

In that moment, Sewon realized he was paying far too much attention to the man. Having feelings for a friend—a male friend at that—was a secret he kept to himself. Normally, this kind of skinship between two men should be nothing. This was barely a “graze,” too insignificant to even call skinship.

Thinking he should show that he wasn’t conscious of it, Sewon looked at the man. But Sewon’s words caught in his throat. The density of the air felt completely different from before.

Just as Sewon was uselessly moving his lips, the man’s phone vibrated. The man excused himself and took the call at a distance from Sewon.

“Yeah, yeah. No. A week.”

Sewon’s gaze was drawn to the man like a magnet.

“I took leave. Right… The shared file, the department head… Yeah, I’ll look at it then.”

Putting together the fragments of words he overheard, it seemed to be about work. Sewon tried not to pay attention to the man’s conversation.

The man, who finished the call in a gentle tone, returned to Sewon’s side.

“Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine.”

Sewon answered with a slight lift of the corners of his mouth. The man, after a brief glance at the screen, tucked his phone into his coat’s inner pocket. Then he asked Sewon the question he’d meant to ask earlier.

“Are you traveling?”

“…Yes. Something like that.”

Travel.

Rolling the word “travel” around in his mouth, Sewon echoed what the man had said earlier.

“Something like that?”

“To call it traveling… it’s no different from just running away.”

Sewon’s answer was mixed with frustration and unease.

“What were you running from?”

“Just…, this and that. Thinking about going back and cleaning up the mess feels overwhelming.”