Chapter 114
* * *
……A little while ago. Early Saturday morning.
Ha Seorim had stepped outside her front door and was in the middle of a phone call.
There was her younger brother inside, and the house was small.
In every respect, it wasn't a suitable place to make a phone call.
“Yes, let's talk again sometime.”
[“Yeah. See you.”]
A gentle voice came through.
That was the last thing she heard before the call ended.
The name “Yoo Haneul” appeared on the screen, then disappeared.
“……”
Ha Seorim let out a small breath.
She was relieved that Haneul seemed to be doing well afterward.
Trring—trrring—
[Ji Nuri unni.]
Just as she was about to go inside, she received another call.
“Hello?”
Ji Nuri had a simple reason for calling.
She was calling to set a practice schedule for the band club.
Ha Seorim turned around and leaned her back against the wall again.
“Yes, yes. Then let's do it then.”
Ha Seorim worked out the schedule with Ji Nuri, and before long, the conversation shifted to personal matters.
At first, they had only discussed things like club schedules. There had been nothing personal.
At some point, that changed.
They began sharing personal stories.
[“—So that's why I said I'd become president there.”]
Ji Nuri was regaling her with one of her heroic tales.
‘Another story about the counseling club.’
Her conversation topics with Ji Nuri were always the same.
Ji Nuri would go on about something that had happened in the counseling club.
It was actually pretty entertaining once you got into it.
“So Shin Ayoung became vice president?”
[“That's right. Sol doesn't like positions like officer—they're a hassle.”]
“Mm-hmm.”
Well, that personality was obvious at a glance.
[“Hmm……”]
Ji Nuri's voice trailed on.
What else was she debating whether to talk about?
Ha Seorim waited a moment for the next words to come.
[“From your perspective, Seorim, what do you think of Lee Seungho and the others?”]
Those were the words she finally uttered.
“…Pardon?”
Ha Seorim raised her voice before she knew it at the question.
Not only did she not understand what the question meant, it was also a slightly different topic from usual.
[“I mean, it's just……”]
Silence followed.
Ji Nuri continued pondering for quite some time.
[“……No, never mind.”]
In the end, she pretended she had never asked the question.
She had brought it up, then abandoned it on her own.
“Uh, um….”
An awkward silence formed, with neither of them having anything to say.
Because of that, the call gradually began to wind down.
Ha Seorim pulled the phone slightly away from her ear.
‘…It's getting about that time.’
When she checked the time, it was already eleven in the morning.
It was about time for her to head to the store.
Ha Seorim pushed herself away from the wall.
“Sis, then I'll call you again sometime. It's time for me to go to my part-time job now.”
[“Oh. Yeah. Right. I was keeping you too long, wasn't I?”]
“Oh, no, it's fine.”
[“Good luck at work. See you Monday.”]
“Yes.”
Trring.
The call ended.
Ha Seorim went inside to get her things.
“I'm off to my part-time job, so eat what's on the table.”
“Mmhmm.”
Ha Seorim left her TV-watching younger brother behind and went outside.
“……”
Tap-tap—She adjusted her shoes and stepped out the front door.
As she passed the spot where she had just been on the phone, Ji Nuri's question came back to her.
‘…Why did she suddenly ask me that?’
What did she think of Lee Seungho?
Ji Nuri had meant to ask how “Lee Seungho and the others' relationship” looked to her,
but Ha Seorim had taken it differently.
She had understood it as, “What do Lee Seungho and the others look like?”
“Hmm……”
Ha Seorim thought about it briefly.
‘Lately……’
Her thoughts about him had been changing.
He seemed like a somewhat different person from what she had heard.
Whether he had changed or had always been like that,
he was perceptive, didn't make pointless advances, and did his work diligently.
He didn't seem like a bad person.
At least, that was how Lee Seungho had seemed to her.
***
“Seorim, do you think Seungho oppa likes coffee?”
The question came out of nowhere.
She froze.
Ha Seorim stopped the arm that was passing through her sleeve.
She was changing clothes in the store's changing room.
“What?”
“Ah, or does he prefer something besides coffee?”
Her same-aged coworker, Choi Suhyeon, widened her round eyes.
“……No, why all of a sudden?”
Ha Seorim narrowed her eyes halfway.
The way Suhyeon addressed him, among other things, made the question raise all sorts of questions.
“Well, Seungho oppa switched part-time shifts with me once before.”
“……”
“So I was thinking of buying him something.”
As Choi Suhyeon said this, the corners of her mouth curved faintly.
“…?”
Seeing that expression, Ha Seorim felt her eyes narrow even further.
“You don't happen to—”
“It's not what you think…!”
Choi Suhyeon's reaction was excessive.
It was less rejection than embarrassment.
It wasn't romantic feelings, but a hint of fondness was visible.
“……”
Ha Seorim's tightly closed lips parted.
When had things gotten like this?
She couldn't pinpoint the exact moment.
Perhaps repeated kindness and goodwill had slowly drawn her in.
‘……That guy.’
Ha Seorim revised her assessment of Lee Seungho.
He had a knack for winning girls over.
Whether he meant to or not, that was the case.
But…….
“……Why are you asking me that?”
“You went to the same middle school as him, Seorim. And you work the floor together now. Aren't you two close?”
“What does that have—”
—what did that have to do with this? She was just about to tell Suhyeon to ask him herself if she was curious,
when Ha Seorim pressed her lips tightly shut.
“Huh?”
When Ha Seorim remained silent, Choi Suhyeon raised a questioning eyebrow.
“……”
Ha Seorim fell into thought.
It was instinct.
She had a feeling that if she let Choi Suhyeon and Lee Seungho get entangled, things would become even more troublesome later.
“……Fine. I'll ask him later for you.”
Ha Seorim swallowed a sigh and changed the subject.
“Really? Please do.”
Choi Suhyeon stepped out of the changing room with a light step.
“……”
Watching her back, Ha Seorim pressed her fingers firmly against her forehead.
She felt a headache coming on before her shift had even started.
As she came outside and prepared for the shift change,
‘……What's with him now?’
Round and round.
Ahn Hyunsu, the male part-timer her age, was hovering around her for no reason.
“What? Do you have something to say?”
Ha Seorim narrowed her eyes at him.
“No, it's just…….”
Ahn Hyunsu looked around, then asked in a whisper,
“……Does Boyoung like watching movies? I was thinking of asking her sometime.”
So Kim Boyoung had someone interested in her.
She hadn't known that.
She really hadn't.
“Why are you asking me that?”
Ha Seorim looked utterly dumbfounded.
I don't know either.
Why did every single one of them come to her for relationship advice?
She hadn't even held a man's hand once, let alone dated anyone.
Did she really look that experienced?
“No…… What if Boyoung doesn't like it? Help me out a little. You're the only person I have to ask about this stuff.”
“Ask her yourself.”
It was a brief piece of advice.
Things like that were quicker if you just said them yourself.
Women generally didn't mind watching a movie with a man they liked. That was how it usually worked.
Ha Seorim briskly walked past him.
“Ugh……”
A sigh escaped her.
Ha Seorim felt her head beginning to ache from the situation unfolding around her.
Now she understood why workplace romances were prohibited.
“……As if there aren't already barely any people working at the store.”
If one of them confessed to the other,
and on top of that, if it ended badly…….
The outcome was obvious.
She could only hope neither of them would quit.
* * *
And now—
“……”
“……”
Inside the quiet stockroom,
Ha Seorim was alone with Lee Seungho.
‘……I don't know if this is the right thing to do.’
She had stopped Lee Seungho from going over to where Choi Suhyeon and Ahn Hyunsu were.
It had been a spur-of-the-moment decision.
She really couldn't take her eyes off him for even a moment.
If she had let him join them, he would have started doing this and that for them again.
And then he would gradually grow closer to Choi Suhyeon.
“……”
Ha Seorim could already imagine herself working alone inside the store.
That couldn't happen…!
“Let's get started.”
“…Oh.”
Lee Seungho nodded with a strange expression.
“Whew.”
Ha Seorim rolled up her sleeves, revealing her pale forearms.
Since she was here anyway, she might as well organize everything properly.
‘The inventory quantity file……’
She was searching around for the paperwork when
“Here.”
Lee Seungho handed her the file.
“Oh, thank you.”
Ha Seorim took it.
……And so the stockroom organization began and proceeded quickly.
He told her the quantities and locations of the inventory she was looking for,
and moved himself whenever something was out of reach.
Their hands and feet worked together perfectly, as if he could read her mind.
“This is the last one.”
Lee Seungho gave the supply box a light thump.
They were done organizing.
‘What the.’
Ha Seorim checked the time blankly.
It should have taken at least thirty minutes, but it had taken only half that.
Lee Seungho dropped into a seat and said,
“Should we stay here for about ten minutes, then go out?”
“Hmm….”
“Since we finished early, staying for a little while should be fine.”
“…Then shall we?”
Her legs did hurt from standing for so long.
Ha Seorim followed him and sat down in a corner of the stockroom.
‘…Should I study?’
Rustle, rustle.
Ha Seorim pulled out the English vocabulary notebook she had put in her pocket.
She had nothing else to do, so she figured she might as well memorize some words. She needed good midterm grades to keep receiving her scholarship going forward.
“Here.”
Lee Seungho held out a paper cup.
She didn't know when he had gotten it, but he had fetched cola from the store floor.
“…I'll enjoy it.”
“……”
Lee Seungho said nothing after that.
Since he sat quietly looking down at his phone, Ha Seorim was able to focus on memorizing English vocabulary as well.
Was he being considerate?
“……”
Ha Seorim's hand slowed.
The next moment, she realized:
There was no intention or deeper meaning to be found in it,
so she was simply accepting his kindness naturally.
So this was why girls kept getting drawn to him.
‘I can't let my guard down.’
Ha Seorim furrowed her brow in concentration.
She focused even harder on the vocabulary book lying before her for no particular reason.
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(!Signboard!)
(There's an illustration if you scroll down!)
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Part-Timer Ha Seorim Minimi