Chapter 32 – Omen of Isolation
1.
The large cosmetics store where Hyeji works was particularly crowded today.
Although it was the weekend, it was the last day of a sale event that started a few days ago, so many customers came to the store late.
The line waiting to check out is long and shows no signs of abating. There is no room to move as customers somehow manage to squeeze through the crowded crowd.
“Thank you, come again!”
Hyeji shouted empty greetings behind the backs of customers coming and going from the store. About one or two out of ten would occasionally nod and accept greetings, but most of them just hurried on without even listening.
I smiled bitterly as I thought it was similar to a signboard in front of a store with no one paying attention.
In my head, I had been desperately thinking about leaving work. She wanted to quickly fall into her brother’s arms and whine about how hard today was.
When Hyeji thought of Hyunwoo, she took out her cell phone from her pocket. In principle, she was prohibited from using a cell phone while working, but there are sometimes exceptions.
“Haa…”
She was a little hopeful, but there was still no reply from her. She let out a deep sigh and her fair forehead wrinkled slightly.
It’s already been over four hours since she sent the KakaoTalk message, but I’m concerned that she hasn’t even read the message yet.
He held her cell phone in her lowered hand, glanced at her, found her call button, and pressed it. However, only a harsh sound came to her pricked ears.
‘Yes, you might be tired. A person who used to sleep in late every day woke up early in the morning, and he even sent me off.’
Hyeji consoles herself by twisting her hair, neatly tied into a ponytail, over her shoulder. She calms her mind by thinking about her happy morning.
Just as she was about to put her cell phone in her pocket and concentrate on work again.
Wow –
Her short vibrating sound rang in my ears. She immediately took out her cell phone without any hesitation.
She noticed that the manager, who had been eyeing her earlier, clicked her tongue with a disapproving expression, but she paid no attention.
[Hyunwoo is my destiny♡: I’m sorryㅜㅜ I put it on silent and forgot… I didn’t even know there was a callㅜㅜ I was sleeping all this time, and now I woke up… Are you very angry?]
A bright smile appeared on Hyeji’s frowning face as if it had never happened before. It was Hyunwoo’s KakaoTalk message that I had been waiting for so long.
As expected, she must have been unable to overcome her fatigue and stayed asleep.
When he asked her if she was angry at the end, her heart felt warm as she heard his soft tone of voice. He was upset for hours waiting for the call, but he wasn’t upset at all.
The precious boyfriend I started dating yesterday. After a quick lunch, I changed his name saved on my phone to ‘Hyeonwoo is my destiny♡’.
She couldn’t find another suitable word for Hyunwoo other than fate.
He was a pitiful person with wounds similar to his own, and there would be no one who could understand him as well as he could.
Hyeji moves her fingers busily, carefully observing her manager’s notice. Since she usually worked diligently without doing anything else, I thought she might understand the situation for a while.
[Jeong Hye-ji: heheyou idiotㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ I was so worriedㅠㅠㅠ He thought he was deadㅜㅜ Thank goodness!!!!! Did you sleep well?? Are you refreshed?]
But she was so caught up in the reply that she didn’t notice the manager trotting over with his frown set.
“Hyeji, what’s going on today?”
Hye-ji puts down her cell phone in surprise and raises her head. Her manager and her older sister stood in front of her with a cold face.
At first glance, it seemed like a question to say hello, but even a child could tell that the intention behind it was scolding.
“Ah… I have a call I was waiting for. It’s just been finished. “I’m sorry.”
“You’ve been staring at your phone since a while ago, but you know you shouldn’t do that, right? “Have you not received any training?”
“I’m sorry.”
She kept not seeing it… She kept holding it in and brought it up just once… Hyeji swallowed her inner words and bowed her head to her manager.
“Have you not received any training?”
“… I received it.”
Her manager glared at her for a while and then turned her away, telling her to be careful in the future.
From the looks of it, she was in no mood to take out her phone anymore, but Hyeji started laughing without even realizing it.
She was coming home from work in a little while, and I also received a call from her brother.
Hyeji shouted with a voice that was incomparably more vibrant than before with the pride surging in her heart.
“Thank you, come again!”
Hyeji’s white face sparkles with a fresh smile under the bright lights of the store.
Those who were just leaving the entrance also turn their gaze to the cheerful voice and glance at her fair face.
A bright smile that makes even those who see it feel good.
It was a beautiful smile blooming from a woman who was in a fateful love, or rather, she believed she was in that kind of love.
2.
“Thank you for your hard work~ I’ll go in first.”
Hyeji walked around the store and politely said hello to other part-time workers. She was the youngest here because she had recently changed jobs.
After quitting her part-time job that lasted from afternoon to deadline and switching to her current job, she was able to get her evening life back.
Of course, she spent most of the time she gained just lying around with Hyunwoo.
“Hyeji, where is your home? “Are you going by bus?”
“Oh, I just walk. “What about Jiyoung…?”
“Phew. If it’s awkward to call her Jiyoung, she just calls me unnie.”
As Hyeji walked out the door of her store, she happened to run into a co-worker and ended up walking side by side. She knew that their working hours overlapped, but this was her first time leaving work together.
She is 4 years older than me, so she can’t bear to say the word ‘~’, but she seems to have realized that and makes me feel comfortable.
“Yes, then from now on I will call you sister.”
Hyeji smiled and answered, then glanced sideways at her cell phone. She did not hear from the person who said she was going in to take a shower even after a long time. Furthermore, she might have fallen asleep again.
“Hyeji, I think that guy is kind of cool.”
As she was typing a message with a sullen expression, Jiyoung’s older sister tapped her shoulder and whispered.
“Yes?”
“A man in a white short-sleeved T-shirt across the street. In black slacks. Can you clearly see who it is?”
Hyeji raised her head and looked across from her. There, the man who had crossed this crosswalk with her this morning was standing there, looking at Hyeji. When her eyes meet, she shakes her hand.
“Recognize that you’re handsome? Wow… I guess he looks good even though he’s dressed casually like that.”
Hyeji could no longer hear the fuss she was making next to her. No matter how many times she closed and opened her eyes, she was right.
I thought she was just sleeping, but it seemed like she had prepared another surprise for the morning.
No, if you think about it, it wasn’t even a surprise event. She dropped me off in the morning and asked if I would pick her up at night as well. Those words weren’t just empty words.
The signal changes. Hyunwoo motions for her to run over and be held in his arms. Her face was full of mischievous smiles.
Hyeji quickly ran away, completely forgetting the presence of her older sister next to her. As she got closer and closer to seeing her face, she screamed loudly with joy flowing through her whole body.
“Oppaaaaa!”
Then she fell into Hyunwoo’s arms and rubbed her face. My person. My man. Although we were only apart for a few hours, it was nice to see each other as if we hadn’t seen each other in years.
She stood there blankly, and Jiyoung, who followed her late, only made a puzzled expression. They have no resemblance whatsoever to say they are biological siblings…
Is she really dating? With this guy, with this guy?
Even though Hyeji was pretty, it occurred to me that she was a bit out of class. That’s because the man in front of her made the viewer happy not only with his face but also with his physique.
“Hello, this is Hyeji’s boyfriend, Kim Hyunwoo.”
Even his voice was good. A hand held out politely, folding its kind eyes into a half moon. Jiyoung was startled and grabbed his hand.
“Ah… Yes.”
Jiyoung was staring at Hyunwoo’s face so blankly that she didn’t even feel that her hand, which had been touching for a moment, slipped away.
I knew him from across the street, but when I saw him up close, I realized he was a handsome face. There was no flaw in her small face, with her eyes, nose, and mouth filled with details.
“Oh, I’ll go first then. Have a nice date, you two.”
Jiyoung quickly came to her senses and lowered her head deeply. She felt embarrassed as her cheeks turned red.
“Ah, take care, sister. I’ll see you tomorrow!”
Jiyoung didn’t even bother to say hello to Hyeji, but she hurriedly turned her back. She then goes a few steps and glances behind her again.
I thought it was a little strange that the man was hiding his left hand behind his back, but in that hand was a beautifully wrapped rose.
It’s probably a gift for your girlfriend. She waited for me to get home from work and gave me the flowers. And with a face like that.
Jiyoung felt herself getting excited and took out her phone. It was a pity that she kept this hot news to herself. She told what had just happened in a chat room with four or five part-time workers.
[Awesome!!! The new boyfriend is perfect!!!]
[Newbie? Hyeji him?]
[ㅇㅇㅇㅇ My boyfriend bought flowers and picked me up in front of the store haha. We just met while getting off work together!!]
The conversation in the group chat room, where he was talking about how handsome the man was and how embarrassed he was, surprisingly led to gossiping behind Hyeji’s back.
This was because as soon as Hyeji got home from work, her manager’s words had already spread throughout the store.
[But the manager says he’s like that? I heard you were asking what kind of person it was…]
[ㅇㅇ They keep looking at their phones while workingㅁㅊ Haha. Has it been over 2 weeks now? I’m already crazy haha]
[LOL When I saw that and said something, I heard that I was acting so rude, and I was so upset…]
‘He didn’t look like that kind of person…’
Jiyoung couldn’t help but be momentarily taken aback by the unexpected flow of conversation.
[ㅇㅇㅇㅇ Thank you. I could hear you shouting all the way into the storeㅠㅠ Why did you do that all of a suddenㅠㅠㅠ]
[After getting scolded, he said he split it to show off haha. When I heard that, I thought he was a bitch haha]
The sarcastic comments that had been pouring out little by little became uncontrollable. Jiyoung, who had been quietly watching, also quietly joined in.
[Wow, I had no idea she was like that ㅠㅠㅠ Somehow haha. We were walking together and when she saw her boyfriend, she didn’t pay any attention and ran out alone haha. It was a bit odd…]
Jiyoung sent her last chat, and she looked back once more. Although it was blurry now that she was quite far away, she could see the rose in Hyeji’s hand. The back of a man stretched out.
[But my boyfriend is really greatㅠㅠ It’s a waste of a man…]
[In the first place, those guys are good at seducing men haha. Men don’t even know what they’re doing.]
In that way, Hyeji’s image changed from ‘a silent and quiet girl’ to ‘a bitch’ in an instant. It didn’t matter whether it was true or not. Because lightly teasing her fingers and giggling was good entertainment for them.
