Nam Jeong-tak felt like he was suffocating under the thick aura of grudge. Ji Hyun-ho, still harboring resentment from a previous slip of the tongue, wasn’t holding back his energy. The accumulated resentment in the café reminded him of his days as a private during chemical warfare training.
“Ha Sung-joo harassed Lee Ye-jin?”
The owner looked at the passport photos of the man and woman displayed on the tablet and asked. Nam Jeong-tak, taking shallow breaths, nodded.
“He claimed it was personal affection, but his actions were far from normal.”
The messages Ha Sung-joo sent every night included one-sided confessions, threats of job consequences, and eventually, pictures of his private parts.
Upon receiving those pictures, Lee Ye-jin immediately reported him to the company. Ha Sung-joo, who received a three-month salary cut from the disciplinary committee, began to harass her terribly afterward.
“He excluded her from tasks, prevented her from mingling with other employees, openly rebuked her in front of everyone, and did all he could to make her miserable.”
“And the only person who stood by her was Song Tae-eun.”
“Yes.”
Nam Jeong-tak watched his long fingers interact with the tablet, wiping the sweat from his forehead. The bruises on his neck were just fading, and he couldn’t afford another slip of the tongue. Even simple answers required caution.
“Both were college classmates and joined the company in the same year; they had many connections.”
“But why did Song Tae-eun get involved?”
“What?”
The shaman nearly adjusted his posture while reaching for his iced coffee. The owner was flipping through photos of the women together, his brow minutely furrowed.
“Ha Sung-joo harassed Lee Ye-jin, and it led her to suicide, right? But why was Song Tae-eun involved?”
Nam Jeong-tak maintained his silence for a moment, considering that his owner was originally a spirit. It must be hard for him to understand the pure friendship among people.
“They both relied a lot on each other while living away from home, so you can imagine how devastated the other must have been when one suffered that fate.”
“But why would she transfer to the team where her deceased friend worked? That doesn’t make sense to me.”
Sweat trickled down inside his smooth winter hanbok. Nam Jeong-tak felt like he was being interrogated, forcing a smile.
“It seems she wanted to gather evidence of the harassment to report it externally. But then Ha Sung-joo caught on, and she was ostracized just like Lee Ye-jin. Eventually, she resigned due to her parents’ advice.”
“Why go that far?”
Nam Jeong-tak wanted to shout at him to ask Song Tae-eun directly. But his neck was precious, so he patiently explained as if teaching Hangul to a child.
“She cared deeply for her friend.”
“Does caring always lead to such actions?”
“He was exceptionally kind-hearted, and he really cherished Lee Ye-jin, so perhaps that gave him the courage.”
Ji Hyun-ho watched the photos of the two women and shut his mouth. In the silence, Nam Jeong-tak quickly gulped down the refreshing coffee.
While the owner remained silent, even the ancient tree outside seemed to hold its breath, and the shaman visibly withered. He clenched his eyes shut to endure the oppressive aura weighing him down.
He couldn’t understand why he was summoned today to be squeezed dry when he had sent the documents the day before. It was supposed to be a busy holiday period, but he might as well have come here to be tortured instead of serving the line of customers.
Only when the ice in the now-empty glass clinked down did the owner look away from the tablet.
“I still don’t understand.”
“Yeah…”
“I guess I’ll have to study it on my own now. You’ve been helpful.”
“Thank you. I’ll take my leave now.”
Nam Jeong-tak quickly stood up and bowed deeply. There was no returning greeting, but he didn’t mind and hastily left the café. Only when he felt the cold air did he feel like he could breathe again.
“Hey, I’m going to go now. Tell the customers to wait a bit more.”
The shaman finished his call and started the car. However, he was immediately stopped by a traffic light, and his gaze fixed on a woman crossing the street.
Her pale face and densely lashed large eyes instantly caught his attention. Her neatly tied-up long hair swayed with each step. Her slightly parted, plump red lips unwittingly provoked his thoughts.
Startled, he rapidly slapped his cheeks. It had only been the other day that he nearly got killed for merely mentioning a ‘miss.’ If he were caught harboring such thoughts again, it would be like boarding a fast train to the afterlife.
He tore his gaze away from Song Tae-eun, who was heading to the café, and drove off quickly. Staying in Hajung-ri for too long wasn’t wise.
***
Ji Hyun-ho was quite a decent boyfriend.
His looks and physique were beyond reproach, he dressed well and cooked even better. Apart from the fact that his café only attracted a handful of customers daily and his conversations could be unpredictable, he was nearly perfect.
They were preparing to watch a movie in the café, which was closed for the Lunar New Year holiday. However, Tae-eun, feeling uneasy about idling away from the café, spoke up.
“Should we try running social media for Hajung Café 61?”
“Why?”
“These days tourists find places through that stuff. The café’s interior is pretty, and the coffee is good—we could promote it a bit.”
As Hyun-ho took brownies out of the oven, he chuckled. She felt slighted, thinking he was mocking her. Here she was, more concerned about sales than he, the owner, seemed to be.
“It’s a hassle.”
“I’ll handle it.”
“So, you’ll continue working here?”
She hesitated before responding, spurred by the ambition to earn her hourly wage worth.
Her future was still undecided. Whether to look for another job, and if so, when to start preparing, or whether to change her career path. Questions that needed consideration piled up like a mountain, yet she continued to avoid them.
“If you start something, you should see it through.”
Hyun-ho cautioned her as he pulled out a fork.
“If you can’t commit, then don’t start it at all.”
His words sounded as though they were also considering their relationship. She reined in her nosiness and kept quiet.
Hyun-ho, making no attempt to hide his intentions today, blatantly started a risqué movie. As the screen on the white wall was filled with flesh-colored scenes, she turned her head to check the automatic door for passersby.
“No one is watching.”
He placed his arm over her shoulder and pulled her close. Her lips protruded in displeasure.
“How can you be so sure?”
“I have eyes on the back of my head.”
He replied seriously. Flabbergasted, she ate the brownie directly from the plate. It was delicious as expected.
“Can you turn it down a bit?”
As the moans in the movie grew louder, an anxious Tae-eun asked him.
“I turned it up so you’d feel comfortable making noise later.”
“Who says I’ll be making any noise?”
His lips twisted mischievously. Soon after, his large hand covered her lower abdomen and began to rub it in circles. She grabbed his wrist.
Her face heated up suddenly. Tae-eun was still not used to such blatant remarks. Following him, she tried to think of a retort but decided instead to ask something that had been on her mind.
“Hyun-ho, stop doing this here.”
“Let’s go to the camellia grove when it warms up. We can recreate the dream, oops.”
Tae-eun quickly covered his mouth with her palm, her eyes narrowing uncharacteristically.
“Do you only think about this? Is this why you meet me, just to do this?”
His expression slowly hardened. Tae-eun, without realizing it, had blurted out her inner thoughts and now her face turned red. She hurriedly removed her hand and looked away.
She hadn’t realized she wanted to vent like this. Their relationship, unconventional from the start, might have been cultivating a certain unease in her, now openly displayed.
“You’ve been in a good mood lately.”
Hyun-ho played with the ends of her hair which was tied up neatly. His statement was more of a conclusion than a question.
“You’re dreaming a lot, yet you seem well-rested, light as air, your appetite’s back, your digestion’s great.”
Tae-eun nodded blankly. What she felt recently matched his observations. She hadn’t discussed her physical state with him, yet he diagnosed her as if he could see right through her.
“It’s all because of sex.”
She snapped back to reality immediately, her large eyes cooling rapidly. But he continued with his bizarre explanation.
“The proper circulation of yin and yang energies is cleansing your blood. That’s why you sleep well, eat well, and feel better overall.”
“You sound like a con artist right now.”
She stuffed a brownie into her mouth, mulling over a conclusion.
“I could get healthy just by running around the neighborhood. That would boost blood circulation and help me sleep too. So, we don’t necessarily have to do—that—so often.”
“Sex is exercise, too.”
He brought her an iced Americano and put the straw to her lips. Speechless, she sipped her coffee.
“I’m already busy walking Dodam. Why bother finding time for running? One round with me does the trick.”
His soft lips grazed hers as he spoke. He lightly crinkled the corners of his eyes and whispered.
“You just have to lie there.”
Unable to retort, Tae-eun watched as his hand moved to undo his pants button and pull down the zipper. Soon, his long fingers slid beneath her underwear and ventured deeper.
She buried herself in his embrace, suppressing moans. The movie they watched was loud with indiscriminate sounds, but she merely shivered, holding the plate.
“Look at me.”
As she turned her head, Hyun-ho captured her lips in his usual insistent suction. Before long, cold and hot air alternately filled her.
Her body melted away completely.
🍉🍉🍉
