Stranger

Chapter 9 The Night Before (2)

Is Yeon Woojeong fine? I thought of sending him a message if I got the time, but whenever I was thinking, there was a customer, so the time flew by. He said he would get home earlier, but I didn’t expect much. You never know what’s going to happen if there’s a lot of work after all.

It was when I was fiddling with my phone. Seo Jihee next to me let out a little exclamation.

The bell rang, and the door opened. The person walking in was Yeon Woojeong.

“Welcome!”

Yeon Woojeong glanced swiftly at me, lowered his head slightly this way, and walked inside. Naturally, my gaze chased after him. He headed to the refrigerator for beverages.

He took barley tea, then he moved to another refrigerator. There were two chocolate milk in his hand as he approached the counter. Yeon Woojeong put down the items in front of me with a subtle smile. Fortunately, he didn’t look sick. After looking at him, I scanned the barcode one by one.

“Do you want a plastic bag?”

“No. Please have this.”

Yeon Woojeong gave one of the milk to Seo Jihee, and he pushed the other one close to me. The tip of his finger touched my nail. He swiftly grazed my nail, then pulled back his hand. I got goosebumps.

“Gasp, thank you. I’ll enjoy it!”

“Keep up the good work.”

He smiled, bowed his head, then left the convenience store. I felt annoyed looking at him winning favor by pretending to be courteous. I scratched my palms hard.

“Woah. I can’t believe I got milk from that person.”

Seo Jihee was happy, covering her mouth with her hand. Yeon Woojeong didn’t immediately go back, sitting at the table in front of the store, and opened the beverage bottle. He drank barley tea like drinking beer.

“It feels like I often get things like this since you came. Right?”

“… Sorry?”

“Things like two plus one or one plus one. Sometimes, I get it when there are some left, and there are customers that buy me drinks like this, but it really is rare. But since you came here, I really feel like I often get free things.”

Seo Jihee, who was smiling for the free milk, opened the pack and drank it. So, she liked it because it was free, not because Yeon Woojeong gave it? She always made a fuss, so it was hard to figure it out. I was examining her expression for a minute, and there was a vibration from my inner pocket.

[I’m bored.]

It was a message from Yeon Woojeong. When I looked outside, Yeon Woojeong was looking down at his phone. At a glance, it was a serious face as if he was doing his work.

Why is he like that outside when he has a fever? I looked at Seo Jihee drinking the milk, then sent the reply.

[gohome]

[I was told to go home early, yet someone is late.]

Late? The part-time job ended at 7 p.m. so I wasn’t late. And it wasn’t something for someone who was always late to say.

I turned my gaze outside, and I made eye contact with him. Yeon Woojeong wiped the tail of his eye with his hand. It was a playful pretense, as if he was crying.

[Why don’t you drink the milk? I bought it for you to drink.]

Seo Jihee completely emptied the milk while letting out some sound. I will drink once I get home.

[When do you finish?]

[You are making me lonely.]

[And you don’t drink the milk.]

What’s wrong with this person? He sent messages without a break as though he was very bored, and it annoyed me. Seo Jihee showed curiosity at the continuous vibration.

“Who is it that you smile like that again?”

“… I didn’t smile.”

“Ay. Crush?”

“No.”

“Hmhm.”

I shoved back my phone. Seo Jihee said to not mind her, but she laughed annoyingly. I ignored her and checked the time. I got off work in ten minutes.

When I looked outside again, Yeon Woojeong had already left. Did he go home? Couldn’t wait for seconds.

I left at 7 o’clock sharp after checking the time numerous times while fiddling with the milk. I looked around, but there was no Yeon Woojeong. It seemed like he had gone home. I also hurried my steps.

It was just when I entered the entrance to the officetel. Yeon Woojeong walked from my left. It was the direction of the smoking booth. I wondered if he smoked, but there was no smell.

“Did you smoke?”

“I didn’t.”

That’s good. A person with a fever smoking? That’s a stupid thing to do.

Yeon Woojeong put his arm around my shoulder, then turned my body.

“Let’s go grocery shopping. There’s nothing to eat at home.”

He’s going to eat the lunch box, anyway. It was frustrating, but I meekly followed him. He, who looked for the cart as soon as we entered the mart, put his arms on the handle, leaned his body, and asked,

“What will you make me?”

‘What will you make me’? I stopped for a moment and looked at Yeon Woojeong. 

“Are you telling me to make dinner?”

“I’m a patient, right?”

The healthy Yeon Woojeong talked shamelessly. My chest swelled up. There was a time when he said he wouldn’t eat what I made.

“What do you want to eat?”

“Something warm.”

“Then… What about something like soup?”

“Do you know how to make soup?”

“Yeah.”

“What?”

Actually, there wasn’t much that I could make. Still, it was easy to do if it was a common ingredient. Something like egg, kimchi…

“Bean sprouts.”

When I answered as I saw packed bean sprouts, Yeon Woojeong pushed the cart there. After putting the bean sprouts in the cart, we gradually put in the necessities.

“We ran out of toothpaste.”

“Really? What about toothbrushes? We don’t need to change them?”

“There’s some left.”

Doing grocery shopping with Yeon Woojeong was fun. Since he didn’t really know what was in his house, I had to teach him one by one.

A plastic bag was full from grocery shopping. Yeon Woojeong and I went home holding each of the handles. 

We organized the things in the bag together, then while Yeon Woojeong changed his clothes, I prepared the dish. There was not much to be prepared for. Since he bought an omelet and braised fish from the side dishes corner, I only needed to prepare the soup.

Yeon Woojeong, who had changed his clothes, put the omelet and braised fish on plates, then warmed them up. I turned my body to the side, trying to pick the ladle, and I almost bumped against Yeon Woojeong who was coming here. I flinched at the very close distance, but Yeon Woojeong smirked, then he tapped my stomach, picked up spoons, and left.

I touched my stomach, picked up the ladle, then poured the soup into bowls. As the soup was set on the table, the dinner was ready.

“Let’s eat.”

Yeon Woojeong picked up his spoon and spooned the soup. After swallowing a spoonful, he opened his mouth.

“It’s good.”

Only then I also picked up my spoon. The soup tasted okay. The bought over side dishes were all good too.

“I shouldn’t go home early next time.”

“Why?”

“I got home, but you weren’t here.”

He flashed up his brows. Ridiculous. I always entered the house without him.

“You can just wait for me.”

“Should I? Alright. It doesn’t sound bad.”

Yeon Woojeong flashed a light smile, and continued his dinner. He poured coffee after finishing his meal. When I sat next to him, who went to the sofa earlier, he pushed a cup to me. It was the chocolate milk he bought me.

“What do you do? When you get home after work.”

“Eat.”

“Eat, then?”

“Solving puzzles, or… watching videos.”

“Video? What kind of video?”

“It’s just something like a car.”

“Tea?” (TN: car and tea both are 차.)

Yeon Woojeong’s gaze moved to his cup. There’s no way I would watch boring videos like that.