The World’s Greatest Girlfriend
"Son, you've been taking a lot of vacation days lately, haven't you?"
"Huh? ...Ah, I suppose I have."
"Going somewhere again? Is it because you're in the early stages of dating? You're really doting on your girlfriend, aren't you?"
"Ha, ahahaha..."
Team Leader Han Gaeun sat at her desk, tossing a joke my way with a sly, cunning smile. Her teasing had become remarkably natural lately. At first, I could see her struggling to act cool, but now she seemed to have found some breathing room, as if she’d finally come to terms with the past. Watching her, I pushed aside my complicated feelings and blurted out, "Um... actually, I'm planning to cancel the vacation I booked for Monday and Tuesday the week after next."
"Oh? Why? No, it's fine! The project is finished, it's the perfect time for a vacation, so don't worry about what others think and just use them. You've been saving up your days for a while now, haven't you?"
"No, it's just... a problem came up for those days."
"? Isn't that the time you cleared for a trip? Did you get into a fight with your girlfriend or something?"
"..."
Her intuition was terrifyingly sharp; she’d hit the nail on the head in one go. Seeing my gloomy expression, she let out a playful, nasal hum and chuckled. "I don't know what happened, but it's a problem everyone goes through in the early stages of a relationship. Whatever it is, it's probably trivial, so it's best to make up quickly."
"Ah, ahahaha, is that so..."
"Yes, you'd do well to listen to your senior."
'...Actually, it's a problem that has a lot to do with you, Team Leader.'
I laughed on the outside while pouring out my troubled heart on the inside. She patted my shoulder as if to comfort me before walking away, leaving me feeling suffocated. I immediately traveled back in time. Back to that motel where we were playing around, filming our sex life.
I finally confessed one thing. About that incident that had brushed past us before.
"Um... actually, I went on a business trip with my supervisor a while back, and we drank together."
It was none other than the incident during the business trip with Team Leader Han. The drunken confession that suddenly hit me, and my quiet rejection. Even though I had rejected her, I couldn't stop thinking about the incident where she had caught me off guard with a kiss. Since I started dating Joo Yeoeun, this had been weighing heavily on my mind. It was too much to keep as a secret between us, especially since it involved physical contact.
If you're wondering why I didn't tell her immediately if it was bothering me, it's because it was such an ambiguous situation—it happened back when we were just 'sex friends.' It sounds like a pathetic excuse, but given our complicated relationship at the time, it was difficult to bring up, yet equally difficult to keep buried.
"So... after we had some drinks, she opened up about her feelings... and somehow, she confessed and kissed me. Ah, wait! Even if she kissed me, it was just a quick peck at the end!"
I had been obsessing over it ever since, and finally, I let it all out. As the weight on my heart lifted, a massive wave of tension washed over me. How would Yeoeun react to this news?
To summarize Yeoeun in one word: she had a relaxed personality. She was the type to boast a mature composure while not feeling the need to bind her partner too tightly. In short, she was cool. So, would she be cool enough to let this slide?
"...Heh?"
"..."
...No, it was icy. This was 'cool' in a literal sense, but the temperature I was feeling in front of her was freezing. After listening to the whole story of the business trip, Yeoeun forced the corners of her mouth up into a smile, only to drop it immediately and turn stone-faced. Sitting naked on the bed, she stared directly into my eyes, which was strangely terrifying.
"So, did you do it?"
She asked, her long eyelashes not even fluttering once as she locked eyes with me. No, looking at the atmosphere, it was closer to an interrogation.
"Do it—?! No, no! Absolutely not! I swear, we just kissed and that was it! That's all!"
"Even so, in that kind of atmosphere, didn't you hold hands?"
"No, not at all— ...Wait, since she was on top of me, I think I might have been touched...?"
"..."
"No, no, really, but it was nothing! That's truly everything!"
"It was nothing, yet you kissed?"
"..."
I really had nothing to say to that. That one kiss the Team Leader had taken as a reward while smiling softly was only a good memory from her perspective.
"Leaving that aside, why are you telling me only now?"
"Um... I was really conflicted. Even though I rejected her, I thought it was better to tell you now, even if it's late..."
"..."
Yeoeun’s face, pale and expressionless, was something even a tiger descending from the mountain would fear. It felt like standing in front of a gumiho. I gulped hard and said, "You know, if I hadn't told you, you would have hated it even more—"
"Obviously!"
"S-sorry!"
I flinched at her sharp retort. I knelt, pressing my knees together, begging like a private standing before a division commander. Naturally, there was no mood left to do anything else. We weren't in a state to be together.
"Pfft! ...Fucking hell."
Yeoeun downed a bottle of water she’d left on the fridge. As she cooled her insides with the cold water, she kicked the motel chair with enough force to break it, as if she couldn't contain her rage. She huffed and puffed, went to shower alone, and then, dressed in her Dongtan look, she shouted, "I'm leaving!" and walked out. I wanted to stop her, but the atmosphere made it impossible. Even if I did, what could a sinner like me say to calm her down?
"Haaaaa..."
All I could do was let out a long, drawn-out sigh. After I washed up and left, I simply paid for the damages to the motel property. That was the end of what happened back then. Since then, it was only natural that Yeoeun wouldn't come to meet me. She ignored my texts like she was Kirby, leaving them on 'read' to make it clear she was angry. That was the most painful thing she could do to me, but at the same time, it was completely understandable.
'Ha... how do I soothe her?'
If the roles were reversed, I would have gone crazy too. Even if it was a coincidence and Yeoeun had handled the man who confessed to her well, if she told me she’d kissed another man, I would have lost my mind. Unlike the distant past, this was happening in the 'present.' If it were the other way around, I would have lost my confidence, and it would have been even harder for me to meet Yeoeun. For the record, the overseas trip I’d been talking about recently was naturally canceled. We hadn't set an exact date, but we were planning to go together this summer; I couldn't force the preparations when I couldn't even get in touch with her.
After that, all I could do was keep sending apology texts. We did meet again two days later, but as soon as she saw my face, she made it clear she was angry, saying, "I don't think this is going to work..." and left. That went on for three days. It seemed she still didn't have the heart to forgive me even as time passed. So, I decided to focus on work. I was suffocating, but since I couldn't find any release, I tried to distract myself with work. It wasn't very successful.
"Huh? Manager, I was going to get this signed, but where did the Team Leader go?"
"Ah, I heard she left early for the afternoon."
"Left early?"
It was completely unexpected. If I was a workaholic who didn't use vacation days after joining the company, the Team Leader was a workaholic for whom the option of 'vacation' didn't even exist. When someone does something out of character, I get worried. As I wondered if something had happened that required her to leave early, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I checked the top of my KakaoTalk, and a message from Yeoeun had arrived. I hurriedly opened it to find a single line conveying a very concise purpose.
I had to leave early in a rush. With the Team Leader gone, I pestered the manager to get the approval and headed to the cafe. I went out with a bright smile, thinking she might finally be ready to forgive me, but—
"Here."
Yeoeun was definitely there. However, there was one very unexpected person sitting next to her. Someone who wouldn't even make eye contact, looking as if it were embarrassing to see me.
"...Son, you're here."
"Team... Leader Han?"
Team Leader Han Gaeun, who I thought had left early. I wondered if she had some urgent business, but she was sitting right next to Yeoeun, drinking coffee. Beside Yeoeun, who was wearing a hypocritical smile, the Team Leader’s extremely uncomfortable expression was a bonus.
"..."
"..."
"..."
As the three of us gathered in one place, an incredibly awkward silence flowed, creating a synergy effect. Like gunslingers before a draw, the pressure was suffocating.
"Hoo..."
As if she couldn't take it anymore, Team Leader Han unbuttoned the top button of her blouse and drew her gun first. "So, that..."
"It's Joo Yeoeun."
"Yes, Ms. Yeoeun. ...I told you repeatedly that there was no need for this. At the time, I had absolutely no such intentions."
"Oh? You say you had no intentions, yet you kissed my boyfriend?"
She hadn't mentioned it to my face until now, but here, she emphasized the word 'boyfriend' clearly.
"Th-that is!"
Embarrassed in a public place, she retorted with hyperventilation, then, "...Yes, I admit it. I was a bit drunk on the atmosphere. Even though I knew you were seeing someone—"
"...You even did it knowing that?"
"No, no! It was only to let go of my lingering feelings, ending it with that..."
"Is a kiss really an appropriate form of physical contact to 'let go of lingering feelings'? How would you feel if the roles were reversed?"
"..."
The Team Leader, usually so sharp and decisive, was clearly being pushed back, her embarrassment evident. Not wanting to feel like I was ganging up on her—or rather, feeling sorry that she’d even dragged someone else into this—I intervened.
"Yeoeun, the Team Leader really... didn't do anything else."
"You don't know that."
She crossed her arms, looking indifferent. "What if you two did more and secretly agreed to keep it quiet?"
"No, no, I really didn't know it would come to this! I don't know how you even got the Team Leader's contact info... but you've heard it from her now, haven't you?"
She’d even secretly called the Team Leader and then called me for a three-way confrontation. My girlfriend was more ruthless than I thought. Now that she was angry, the usual composure was nowhere to be found.
"Hoo... I see."
Ultimately, this was the key. Rather than rational persuasion, the top priority was to calm Yeoeun’s angry heart somehow.
"What can I do... to make you stop being angry?"
"..."
She simply demanded a way to resolve the knot in her heart. It was the kind of situation where I’d have to kneel and beg, but if Yeoeun wanted it, I could do anything.
"Son..."
Even so, I was innocent because nothing major had happened with the Team Leader other than that final kiss. From Yeoeun's perspective, it might have been an unpleasant and scandalous incident, but I had rejected the Team Leader's confession on the spot and had tried my best to avoid being conscious of her at work. Because there was a woman I had entered into a relationship with, and I couldn't betray her. I could confidently shout that one feeling—
"Sorry. I don't think I can do this after all."
"...!"
My heart dropped at her calm statement. Terrified that she was about to announce we were breaking up, I clutched my chest, trembling, when she added,
"Do it in front of me."
"..................................Huh?"
With a stiff expression, she gestured with her chin and said, "I won't feel better until I see the two of you kiss in front of me."