The General Affairs Woman's Approach (2)
Oh Ha-young drank well and talked even better. Something had her visibly excited, her whole expression bright and lifted. Was it because she was on a one-on-one date with an elite employee from Seoul National University? On top of that, Kim Chirok resembled the actor Song Joong-ki — that handsome face of his only seemed to buoy her further.
"Kim Chirok! You're barely drinking. Have another glass."
"Ah, I am drinking."
"I'll be honest with you. I'm going to say this while I've got some liquid courage. You know I like you, right?"
"Excuse me?"
"When you finished new-hire training and came to our company, do you know what Moon Ji-hye from IT said?"
"Moon Ji-hye? What did she say?"
Moon Ji-hye was the last person he had expected to hear about. She was someone he had only crossed paths with a handful of times for work. He didn't know her hometown or what school she had gone to, and he had never had any reason to.
"Moon Ji-hye said it looked like a decent guy had joined the company. So I told her I'd already claimed you, and she wasn't to go near you."
"What? I'm sorry?"
"We all know you don't have a girlfriend. It's a woman's intuition. Am I wrong?"
"W-well, that's true, but..."
"You're heading to Group headquarters, so I suppose I should congratulate you first."
"Thank you."
"But I'm disappointed. I was just starting to get closer to you, and now you're leaving. You'll come to Incheon often, won't you?"
"W-well, I don't know."
"I heard promotion is faster at Group headquarters. You can make Assistant Manager and come back to H Chemical."
"D-does it work that way? The company decides those things."
"I heard they have morning language classes at Group headquarters too. You'll keep studying Japanese, right?"
"I've already started, so I suppose I should keep it up."
"Let's go to Japan together next year."
"Excuse me?"
"I went to Fukuoka with friends last year. And I visited Tokyo when I was in college."
"Is that so?"
"This time I was thinking of Osaka or the Kyoto area. I don't speak English, but you're good at it, Chirok, so we wouldn't have any trouble at hotels or the airport."
"U-um, aren't you drinking a bit too much?"
"It's fine. I'll just call a designated driver."
A junior staffer drinking and calling a designated driver? This woman would bleed a household dry.
"Calling a designated driver costs money, you know."
"It's fine. I get a salary and I spend it on myself."
"Haven't you opened a savings account or anything?"
"Haha. How long would it take to save anything with a savings account? When I get paid, I invest in self-improvement. My father told me to do that, too."
"I heard your father runs a motel in Juan."
"Oh my god! Who said my father runs a motel?"
I'd heard he ran a motel — was that wrong? Had I misheard?
"I thought one of our colleagues mentioned it..."
"I knew it. Kang Ji-eun from Labor Relations, right? She's the one who spread rumors that I was a school bully."
"So that's a false rumor?"
"Kang Ji-eun went around saying nasty things about me in school, so I slapped her once. I guess she's still holding a grudge over that."
"Even so, slapping someone..."
"Didn't you get into fights as a teenager, Kim Chirok? That's just a normal part of growing up, isn't it?"
"W-well, I suppose so."
"And yet she still goes around talking about it as an adult. Kang Ji-eun is pretty pathetic, honestly."
Kim Chirok took a sip of beer. He ate a piece of sashimi and studied Oh Ha-young's face. It was, without a doubt, the face of a woman with a temper. This was not his type. Kim Chirok preferred a more traditionally modest, demure East Asian beauty.
"If I may ask," he said, "what does your father do?"
"It's not a motel, it's a hotel. Kang Ji-eun from Labor Relations will say anything to tear me down, so she calls it a motel, but it is a proper hotel!"
"Is that so? So your father is a hotel owner."
"It's not large. It's a motel-grade hotel. But it definitely provides breakfast in the morning — that much is a fact."
"That must be nice. Having a father who's a hotel owner."
"That's why a lot of men approach me with ulterior motives. But you're not like that, Kim Chirok."
"Excuse me? I'm not?"
"You're the type who only cares about his work, aren't you? I overheard Director Park from Planning and our General Affairs director talking about you once."
"What did they say?"
"They said you have no hobbies and don't know anything except work."
"Is that so?"
That much was true. Kim Chirok knew nothing but work. There was a reason for it, though. He was human; of course he wanted hobbies. But those things all cost money.
Right now he was splitting his paycheck to put away three million won in savings, and sending living expenses to his mother's house in Bongcheon-dong besides. He simply had no room to let his attention wander anywhere else.
"Kim Chirok?"
"Yes?"
"We'll see each other often, right?"
"Incheon and Seoul are far apart. How would we see each other often?"
"When you go to Seoul, will you live with your parents? Where's your house?"
"Bongcheon-dong."
"What? Bongcheon-dong? Wasn't it Gangnam? Didn't you go to high school in Gangnam?"
"I did go to school in Gangnam, but we've moved since then."
At those words, a crease briefly formed between Oh Ha-young's brows. Then she muttered something half to herself.
"I told my father that Kim Chirok lives in Gangnam, Seoul, and graduated from Seoul National University..."
"What? I'm sorry? You told your father about me?"
Kim Chirok was so stunned he nearly jumped out of his skin.
"A matchmaking offer came in, so I told them I already had a nice boyfriend at the company."
"Why would I be your boyfriend?"
"Then surely you're not friends with Moon Ji-hye from IT or Kang Ji-eun from Labor Relations?"
"I have no interest in the women at our company."
"So proud, just like a Seoul National University graduate. I like that about you. Have another drink."
With that, Oh Ha-young smiled brightly, lifted the bottle, and poured into Kim Chirok's glass. He was in no pleasant mood, but he filled her empty glass in return.
They drank in silence. After a while, Oh Ha-young raised her glass.
"Let's do a bravo."
He could hardly refuse a bravo. They clinked glasses and drank.
Oh Ha-young kept looking at Kim Chirok's face with an expression of open fondness.
"If you live in Bongcheon-dong, we can meet around Sindorim Station sometimes. From Bongcheon-dong, Line 2 would get you there easily. I live in Guwol-dong, where Incheon City Hall is, so I can get to Sindorim Station with one transfer."
"And what would we do if we met?"
"What do you mean, what? Eat, watch a movie, drink like this, same as today. Blow off the stress from work."
Kim Chirok pretended to check his watch.
"It's gotten quite late, though. Won't your parents worry if you get home late?"
"If I tell them I'm with you, they won't say a word."
If she's with me they won't say a word? I'm going to lose my mind.
Kim Chirok was so flabbergasted he forgot how to speak. He just stared at Oh Ha-young's face with his mouth hanging open.
Oh Ha-young suddenly stood up. Then she moved to the seat beside him and took a selfie of the two of them sitting together.
"Hey! What are you doing?"
"I need a proof shot. I'll get scolded if I get home late."
Then she took another. Because it was a selfie, both of their faces filled the frame — Oh Ha-young smiling, Kim Chirok wearing a dazed, bewildered look.
"I'm not photogenic. Please don't take pictures from now on."
"What's the big deal? Anyway, we're out of drinks. Should we get another bottle?"
"Let's call it a night. I think we've had enough. I'll get the bill."
"Thanks. Call me a designated driver, would you? No, I'll call one myself."
Oh Ha-young asked the restaurant owner at the counter for the designated-driver number. Her voice carried over as she made the call.
"Come to the public parking lot next to the Yeonan police box. It's a silver BMW."
Kim Chirok frowned. Even if her family had money, it sat poorly with him that a junior staffer was driving around in a BMW.
The two of them stepped outside. A sea breeze seemed to blow in from Yeonan Pier. Oh Ha-young didn't link arms with him, but she caught hold of his sleeve. Looking up at him with a smile, she spoke.
"You'll come out to Sindorim Station often, right?"
"W-well, I don't know."
"I know I'm not much of a catch. I couldn't get into a university in Seoul. I went to school in Incheon."
"School isn't what matters."
"You really think so?"
Still holding Kim Chirok's right sleeve, Oh Ha-young took another selfie.
The designated driver arrived. Oh Ha-young said she would have him dropped off at his studio in her car. Even on the ride, she kept glancing at him, as if in high spirits, looking at him with a smile full of happiness.
When they parted, Oh Ha-young held out her pinky.
"Promise we'll meet often at Sindorim Station."
A woman was offering her hand; it was hard to push it away. So Kim Chirok stuck his out in a halfhearted, careless way.
"The sashimi was really good today, Kim Chirok."
"No. I'm the one who should thank you for making time."
"You're on Instagram, right?"
"What? No, I'm not."
"I won't be able to make Japanese class tomorrow."
"I'll go through tomorrow. I should at least say goodbye to the Japanese instructor."
Oh Ha-young and Kim Chirok bumped palms in farewell.
Back at his studio, Kim Chirok called his mother.
"Mom? I've been assigned to headquarters in Seoul."
"Is that so? That's wonderful."
"I'll work here through tomorrow, then I'll probably have to move out of the studio the day after."
"Don't get another studio. Just commute from Bongcheon-dong. Where's headquarters, anyway?"
"It's in Gangnam. On Teheran-ro."
"Gangnam's good. You can just take Line 2. I won't be so lonely now."
His mother was pleased. She had been lonely on her own, and the thought of her son coming home seemed to make her happy.