Sunshine Shower Chapter 97

At the touch on his back, Moon Seoyoon turned his head. Song Jua was smiling brightly, as if something good had happened.

“What’s up?”

“The boss wants to have a company dinner this week!”

Oh, that’s all? Moon Seoyoon chuckled.

They had company dinners about once every month or two, and it seemed like that time had come again. It was a day to look forward to, especially for part-timers, since they could eat a lot of good food without having to spend their own money, all courtesy of the boss. Given that the boss wasn’t stingy about spending for these gatherings, it was even more exciting.

“What do you want to eat?”

“I should start thinking about it now.”

Song Jua, looking serious, began listing off menu options.

“Sushi would be good… Or should we have hanwoo beef like last time?”

“Eat whatever you want.”

“You always say that.”

“I really don’t mind.”

“For someone who says that, you seem to be pickier than I thought.”

“Me?”

Moon Seoyoon’s eyes widened at the unexpected remark.

“I don’t mean you’re picky or anything. It’s just, sometimes when we eat together, I can kind of sense it? I didn’t mean it in a bad way.”

He had never thought of himself as having a picky palate, but if that’s how others saw him, it might be due to Woo Yeonjae’s influence.

‘Now that I think about it, all the food I’ve considered delicious was at places Woo Yeonjae took me to.’

Moon Seoyoon didn’t really care much about food. When summer came, he often skipped meals, and even when he did eat, he thought it was enough to fill his stomach, without worrying about whether the food was particularly good. That’s why he could eat anything without much fuss.

“Hmmm, what should we eat? Beef is good, but we had it last time, so I want something else… Oh, how about eel?”

“Eel?”

Moon Seoyoon laughed aloud. It was a somewhat unexpected menu suggestion from someone in their early twenties.

“Do you not like eel?”

“No, I don’t have any dislikes. It’s just funny hearing you mention eel.”

“Why? Eel’s expensive, you know.”

Song Jua pouted playfully and leaned on the counter with a grin.

“Then shall we go for eel? I think the boss would be okay with it. Lately, he’s always saying how tired he is and that his stamina’s running low.”

“Alright, let’s do that.”

“Okay, I’ll talk to the boss about it.”

“Got it.”

They would likely finish up early on Friday and head out for dinner. As Moon Seoyoon began tidying up around the sink, he thought he should mention it to Woo Yeonjae in advance.

“Oh, they’re gone.”

The bell above the door jingled, and a few seconds later, Song Jua mumbled to herself.

“Gone? Those male customers from earlier?”

“Customers? More like nuisances. Seriously, what a bunch of jerks.”

They were middle-aged men, not the usual type of customer you’d see at a café near a university. Maybe they thought they could push around a young girl, as they kept giving Song Jua a hard time while she took their order. He ended up taking over, and the memory of their rudeness was still fresh in his mind. Thankfully, it wasn’t too busy at the time. But after they got their drinks, they even shouted for her to bring them over.

Trying to keep things calm, Moon Seoyoon had comforted the angry Song Jua and personally brought their drinks to the table. The condescending stares were unpleasant, but he wasn’t so sensitive that he’d be deeply offended by their sneers, so he let it slide.

“Look at this. They just left the cups here… Wait, what?”

“What’s wrong?”

“One of the cups looks empty… Did they break it? Ugh, no wonder they left earlier than I thought. Looks like they ran off.”

Moon Seoyoon stopped Song Jua from going out on her own.

“It’s fine. I’ll clean it up.”

“I’ll grab the broom.”

As they approached the table where the men had been sitting, sure enough, shards of broken glass were scattered around. The glass must have shattered loudly, but with all the chatter, they hadn’t noticed. At least the contents were finished, which made cleanup easier. It would’ve been messier if there were drinks left in the cup.

Moon Seoyoon knelt down and started picking up the large glass pieces first, then the smaller shards. Just as he was getting into the rhythm of cleaning, the bell above the door jingled again.

“Ow.”

Before he realized it, a sharp pain shot through his hand. As he reflexively turned his head, his fingers shifted, and a sharp shard dug into his skin. He carefully placed the glass shards onto the pile before examining his bleeding finger.

“Oh no, oppa! Are you okay?”

Song Jua, broom in hand, rushed over with wide eyes.

“I’m fine. Just take the next order.”

“What do you mean you’re fine? You’re bleeding! Hold on.”

I’m fine… Instead of waiting, Moon Seoyoon continued to place the larger shards into the dustpan. By the time he finished cleaning, his finger had a long cut, and drops of blood were steadily welling up.

“Are you sure you don’t need to go to the hospital?”

Song Jua suddenly approached and grabbed his wrist, pulling him along.

“It’s not that bad. Did you take the order?”

“How could I take an order when someone’s hurt? I told them to wait a moment.”

She led Moon Seoyoon into the supply room. After wiping the blood with a tissue she brought, he pressed around the wound. At that moment, a swift hand slapped near his wrist.

“Oppa, what are you doing? If you press it like that, it’ll start bleeding again!”

“Ah…”

Song Jua carefully squeezed ointment from the tube and applied it to the wound before tightly wrapping it with a bandage. He suddenly remembered she had younger siblings, which made him feel a little sheepish.

“I’ll clean up the rest, so you just take orders. I’ll make the drinks after I clean up, so just handle the orders for now, okay?”

“I can handle—… Okay.”

Faced with her stern gaze, he nodded without thinking. Following her back out, Moon Seoyoon returned to the counter.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. Can I take your order?”

“Oh, it’s fine. One iced Americano, please, and…”

As he pressed the buttons on the register, a faint pain crept through his hand. Woo Yeonjae will definitely say something about this, he thought.

And sure enough, Woo Yeonjae’s gaze dropped to his hand, and he frowned.

“You got hurt?”

“A cup broke. It’s nothing serious.”

“Doesn’t look like nothing. Let me see.”

Knowing that hiding it would only make it more suspicious, Moon Seoyoon obediently showed his hand. Woo Yeonjae’s long fingers gently touched the bandaged finger.

“Looks like it’s still bleeding.”

As Woo Yeonjae’s eyes lifted from his hand to his face, his eyelashes softly fluttered. Realizing how close they were, Moon Seoyoon unconsciously tensed his arm. Thinking he was trying to pull his hand away, Woo Yeonjae’s other fingers lightly pressed down on the back of his hand, as if to hold it in place.

“I applied ointment. It’s probably just the remaining blood coming out.”

“Let me see.”

Since he would have to remove the bandage to wash his hand anyway, before Moon Seoyoon could nod, Woo Yeonjae peeled it off. The cotton inside the bandage had absorbed the blood, so despite the blood-stained bandage, the cut itself was relatively clean. A thin red line remained where the skin had split.

“It’s not a deep cut?”

Woo Yeonjae pressed around the area with the tip of his short nail, sounding a bit irritated. It didn’t hurt since his intention was just to inspect the wound, but the contrast between his soft fingers supporting the back of Moon Seoyoon’s hand and the hard pressure of his nails felt strangely unsettling.

It must be some weird association, Moon Seoyoon thought.

You’ve lost it, he scolded himself internally before speaking.

“If it were deep, I would’ve gone to the hospital. It’s just a scratch. How bad could it be from cleaning up broken glass?”

He wanted to pull his hand away, but Woo Yeonjae’s fingers were practically wrapped around his hand, making it hard to move.

“You’re not going to quit your part-time job?”

“I told you, I’m keeping it until the end of this break. I’m not sure about next semester, though.”

“I don’t get why you’re so stubborn… There’s no reason to suffer like this just to avoid the professor anymore. You’re not going back home, and you’re living with me.”

It seemed Woo Yeonjae had figured out why he started the part-time job. Moon Seoyoon wasn’t too surprised, as he had expected him to know.

Since he wasn’t living at his parents’ house but at an apartment with Woo Yeonjae, there was no longer a need to avoid his father under the pretext of the part-time job. But for Moon Seoyoon, there was someone else he needed to avoid—Woo Yeonjae, his roommate.

Though he had decided on his own to move into Woo Yeonjae’s apartment, being together all day made him feel an inevitable tension. If he quit the part-time job during the break, he’d have no time to breathe. He needed some space, even if it was just for a little while.

“I’ve been busy lately. It wouldn’t make sense to suddenly quit now.”

He barely managed to come up with a flimsy excuse. While business was slow during the break, the nature of the small café, with its steady stream of customers, made the excuse somewhat valid.

“Then don’t get hurt and make people worry.”

Woo Yeonjae lightly pinched his cheek, eyebrows furrowed in a playful show of frustration. Knowing he was only pretending to be upset, Moon Seoyoon couldn’t help but laugh.