Only You in That Place (4)

"Minjae?"

That was the moment. A sudden sensation, like a balloon popping right beside my ear. It felt almost as if I'd been wandering through a dream and had just snapped my eyes open. And the thing that jolted me back to myself was Noona's worried voice.

She was sitting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠next to me, poking my shoulder with her finger, calling my name to wake me. Only then did my mind clear. Right—I was in the club room, working alongside Noona.

"Is something wrong?"

"Ah… I just feel a little tired, I guess. Or maybe I just can't focus…"

"You've been pushing yourself too hard since you started the part-time job, haven't you?"

"I can't exactly say that's not true…"

She was probably right. I'd never earned money through a part-time job before, and I'd never put my body through that much physical work either. That sudden change in my daily routine seemed to be taking more of a toll than I'd expected.

"I'll go grab us some drinks. Just wait a second."

With that, Noona stood up and slipped out of the club room. I decided I couldn't keep sitting there in a daze, so I pushed my chair back and stretched. I need to pull myself together. I can't keep going like this. I'm making Noona worry about me. At this rate, she might even tell me to quit the job.

As I thought that, my eyes naturally fell on the laptop she'd left open. In the upper-left corner of the screen was a small notepad window where she seemed to have written down everything she needed to do, day by day. Just looking at the past few days, I could see assignment deadlines, exam schedules, that sort of thing.

And taking up a proud spot of its own was the schedule for our club activities. Seeing that filled me with a strange swell of emotion. You could tell Noona was taking this seriously—genuinely. Of course, I'd already known that… but seeing that she was thinking about club work even behind the scenes made the feeling hit even harder.

I was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠still glancing at her laptop screen when a messenger notification suddenly chimed in the bottom-right corner. And… my eyes went to it before I could stop myself. It wasn't like I'd meant to look. It was just natural, wasn't it? When something suddenly appears, your gaze follows it on reflex.

And in that instant—

"The vending machine was pretty far, so it took longer than I thought."

"Ah… thanks, Noona."

The door opened and Noona came back in, a drink in each hand. So I never found out who that message was from, or what it said. Honestly… trying to find out would have been a little weird anyway. Who was I to go snooping through Noona's private life?

"Here. Drink up and hang in there. You've got work again tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah… unfortunately."

"Would it be okay if I came by the place where you work?"

"Wha—what? Why?"

Noona glanced at me sideways as she said it. She wanted to drop by the shop where I worked. Honestly, the first feeling that hit me was joy. If Noona came, even for a little while, just seeing her face would give me the strength to keep going.

But I couldn't let that happiness show freely—because worry followed right on its heels.

First of all, I worked with Seoa. That meant Seoa would see Noona too. And Seoa didn't like Noona. I knew that for a fact. I'd even seen what happened last time when I brought Noona up—Seoa had completely changed, flipped like a switch. Something was bound to happen. And that worried me. Not so much that I was worried about Seoa herself—more that I was worried about whatever new problem might come of it.

And second… this one was a lot more personal than the first. I was a little embarrassed. About letting Noona see me at work. Unlike with games, I was a complete newbie here… so there were plenty of rough edges, and depending on the day, I might even get chewed out if luck wasn't on my side. Showing Noona that side of myself felt a little off.

"Why…? Would it be awkward if I came?"

"Ah… no. Please come."

That was what I thought—but the moment I looked at Noona's face, turning her down was hard. I'd never been good at saying no in the first place. She was coming for my sake, and there was nothing wrong with someone dropping by the shop. What reason did I have to refuse?

If I turned her down, it'd look like I was hiding something. I'd decided not to hide anything from Noona, so letting her come was the right call.

The next day.

As soon as classes ended, I headed straight for the shop. On days like this, Seoa and I always made our way there together after the last lecture.

Judging by those messages from Noona, she was planning to come today. She was actually coming.

I glanced sideways at Seoa. Calling it reading the room wouldn't have been an overstatement. Well… it would be fine. If I had to choose between the two of them right now… of course it would be Sebin Noona. That much was obvious.

"Table one, order's up—!!!"

"Welcome--!"

"Boss! I'd like to order!"

"Table three, one soju—!"

The moment I arrived at the shop after school, I was thrown into the chaos of the floor with no time to catch my breath. It being the dinner rush only made it worse. Still, around nine I'd usually get a little room to breathe. Every time I came here, I just told myself to hold on until then.

Anyway—right in the middle of rushing around serving tables and clearing them, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. But I couldn't check it now… so I just left it. I could already guess it was Noona. Should I say I'm going to the bathroom and check the message?

"Minjae! Clear that table and seat the next guests right after. Party of three!"

"Got it…"

No choice. I still didn't have a free second to look at my phone… So in the end, I never checked the buzzing phone and just kept working hard.

About ten minutes must have passed.

"Welco…me."

Just as I was starting to resent the endless stream of customers pouring in without a break… I found my color again.

"Noona!"

Her name slipped out before I could stop it. I was so glad to see her. Running into Noona in the middle of this battlefield of a workplace—I was just so happy.

And she walked in with both hands full of coffee.

"Someone you know, Minjae?"

"Yeah."

"Oh…"

Oh…? What kind of reaction is that?

Once the coworker heard she was my acquaintance, they thoughtfully left the greeting to me instead of handling it themselves.

"Here… have these while you work. I bought enough for everyone, so…"

"Thank you!"

"Whoa, coffee. I'll enjoy it. Thank you so much!"

Before even sitting down, Noona handed out coffee to the people I worked with. Seeing the looks on their faces as they took it made me feel proud right along with them. I was really grateful to her—for looking after the staff like that too.

But one person. Just one person didn't take ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the coffee Noona had so thoughtfully brought.

"Seoa, you should have some coffee too. And thank you for introducing Minjae to this job."

"……."

Noona held the coffee out to Seoa with a smile. But Seoa didn't take it. So I just took Seoa's for her. I couldn't leave things hanging like that.

"Yours is separate, Minjae. The biggest one. And there's chocolate too. Don't share this with anyone else—eat it all yourself, secretly!"

Noona handed it to me right in front of Seoa. Seoa's gaze made me a little self-conscious, but there was nothing I could do about it. If I had to choose between the two, I had to choose Noona. I liked Noona. Holding back my gratitude toward her just because I was worried about Seoa's eyes on me… that wasn't something I could do.

"Thank you. Thanks to you, Noona… I feel like I can actually survive this. And I'm really happy you came all the way out here…"

After that, Noona looked satisfied and sat down with the friend she'd brought to eat. The fact that I kept hovering near her table even when I had nothing particular to do is a small secret of mine. It was the first time I'd ever seen Noona with another friend… so it felt novel, and I was curious what kind of things friends talked about when they were together.

"Excuse me—!"

And maybe my lingering really wasn't that natural, because Noona spoke up first.

"Yes? Do you need something, Noona?"

"I was wondering when you get off."

"Pretty soon, actually—why?"

"Then I'll wait a bit and we can leave together!"

That was it. From the start, Noona had planned to walk home with me when my shift ended. The thought made a small smile tug at my lips before I could stop it. But there was one more thing that snagged. Me getting off meant Seoa was getting off too. Which meant I'd have to leave with Noona right in front of Seoa. It made me feel awkward for no good reason—even though I'd already decided not to care about that.

With that in mind, I glanced around the shop—and only then realized Seoa wasn't there.

"Boss, where's Seoa?"

"Ah… she said she suddenly wasn't feeling well, so I sent her home a little while ago. Things have quieted down enough now anyway."

Haa.

So this was how it was going to go. She hadn't looked the least bit sick until just a little while ago. Leaving early like this out of nowhere—it had to be because of Noona. That said, I had no intention of going after Seoa to soothe her. If anything, this worked out fine—now I could walk home with Noona without any awkwardness.

Yeah. Showing Seoa kindness and yielding to her was one thing… but I didn't have to look after her like it was some kind of duty. If the situation forced me to choose Noona, then I had to choose Noona.

"You worked hard today."

"It wasn't that bad, thanks to you. And thank you so much for bringing coffee for everyone too."

"Come on, of course. I know perfectly well why you're working this job in the first place."

"Lately I've honestly been so worn out… but today really helped me get my head back on straight."

We talked like that as we walked home along a peaceful evening street. This moment made me happy. I hadn't known that having someone waiting for me could fill me with this much joy.

"Yeah. This is about all I can do for you. And it's what I'm best at, too. So you can lean on me. If you're struggling, say you're struggling… if you're exhausted, say you're exhausted. I like listening to that kind of thing. So don't feel too sorry about it either."

"Okay… Today I'll walk you home. You came all the way out here for me first, so I want to see you back on the way home."

That was only right. At the very least, after receiving this much, I ought to offer the bare minimum of something in return. No matter how freely she told me to lean on her… it was hard to rest easy against someone when I hadn't given anything back at all.

"Really? I was planning to walk you home… but you're walking me home instead?"

"Yeah. How could I make you take me all the way to my place again? You need to get home and rest too."

Noona looked like she might refuse at first, but in the end she went along with what I said. Come to think of it, though—this was my first time at Noona's place. Just because you know someone doesn't mean you necessarily need to know where they live, but it still felt strangely new.

And one more thing that caught me off guard…

"You live alone, Noona?"

"Yeah. Why?"

Noona was living on her own, just like that. How do I put it—this was just my own assumption, but… Noona always went home early. Even at the latest, she always caught the last train back. So I'd naturally figured she lived with her parents. I hadn't expected her to be living alone. Well… saying it out loud, it didn't actually seem that unusual.

"I always saw you heading home early, so I thought you lived with your parents."

"Ah… y-yeah, I can see how you'd think that. I just like getting home early… I guess it's become a habit."

"That makes sense. Well, go on in and get some rest. Thank you so much for today!"

Well, of course, right? Wanting to get home early was natural enough… and not wanting to waste money on a taxi was natural too. Still… there had been a day ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠when she could have stayed a little longer.

The day I was thinking of was the one after we'd barely finished the first round of the competition, when the two of us had met up for a small celebration. On a day like that… we'd met late to begin with, so it would have made sense to spend a little more time together. It had been a special day… and Noona had looked reluctant to leave, too.

Thinking about it left me a little hurt for no good reason. Just genuinely, pointlessly hurt. The fact that even on a day like that, she'd chosen to go home—it stung a little. Even though it was never Noona's fault at all.