Start Up Vol.2

Chapter 5

"Can I buy you a meal?" asked Jihyun.

"Why would you?" Jipyeong asked nonchalantly. Was it because of his action just now that she felt it was needed to repay his gratitude?

"Well, you spared me from getting drenched. I ought to thank you."

"Why would you need to treat a meal for that?" Jihyun was lost for words. Isn't that normal? Why would he need to question her action for that?

"Aniiii, you saved me, I must do something to repay you. Isn't that normal people do?" She asked.

"Nope. I don't expect anything. I helped you just now because I can foresee it's going turn out even worse than how you handled the situation."

Her mouth gaped opened slightly. "Woww, I'm speechless. Why you have to be very so straightforward? I don't care, I need to repay you, whatever your reason is. I don't like to owe anyone, you know?"

Jipyeong looked at her. Jihyun stepped forward and grabbed his shirt cuff. "Let's go to that tteokbokki stall."

"Ya..." he sighed.

—-

Jihyun poured water into the cups, one of it she placed on his side. As she set up the table, she was still talking. "If I don't repay someone's kindness, I feel weird. I believe that through repaying is an act of affirming their kind gesture. Have a drink." She gulped down her drink at once.

Jipyeong awkwardly shove the cup to his mouth as he took a sip cautiously.

"Mr...?"

"Han Jipyeong."

"Han Jipyeong-sshi, whatever it is, thank you so much. Although your words said otherwise, your action was enough to prove it. And that alone, I'm grateful to you."

After the food has come, he realised his hunger was slowly kicking in and couldn't resist those tantalising tteokbokki.

"How's the taste? This is the best tteokbokki stall around this area." Jihyun stares at him. Somehow her friendliness made him slightly awkward.

"Er..yeah, nice." that was all he said.

My gosh, these tteokbokki. It was too delicious to even admit. Jipyeong has that habit of closing his eyes while enjoying very delicious food. How can such simple delicacy be so delicious?

"Ahhhh, so nice. It's been a while since I've eaten tteokbokki from this stall. How long was it again?" She counted with her fingers.

"Ya..." she looked up. "Can't you just concentrate on the food? I'm trying to savour the taste here."

She frowned slightly. "Why are you so bothered? I was just talking to myself." She wiped her mouth with a tissue. Glancing over him, she decided to break the ice.

"My name is Yeon Jihyun. Actually, I plan to quit my job at that workplace." Jipyeong was not attentively listening to her, his mind was on the tteokbokki.

"I'm going to enter Sandbox."

Jipyeong choke on his food. He quickly shove the water into his mouth. Jihyun was flabbergasted. "Are you okay?" She was about to go over when he held out his arm, telling her not to come over and he was okay. She retreated back to her seat.

"Aishhh..." he cursed under his breath. She poured water in his cup again. "Drink slowly this time." She sighed. "Are you a kid? Fancy choking on your food, aigooo."

He stared at her. "Did you just use banmal on me, Yeon Jihyun-sshi?"

Shucks. She accidentally used less formal speech with him and he didn't seem too pleased. On the other hand, she was quite disgruntled by his attitude.

"I'm sorry." she apologised.

The atmosphere became silent. 

Was he too curt? Perhaps the way he said made him looked bad.

"Regarding Sandbox..."

She looked up upon hearing his voice. He noticed her expression changed slightly.

"Being in startup company is not easy. Only 3% startups able to survive. Are you really up for it?"

She smiled. 

"I'm up for any challenges. Even if I fail, I learn something from it. That's how you grow."

Failure wasn't something that he could accept easily. All these years, he was someone who calculated risks before making any decisions. He was too comfortable in his comfort zone. He thought being a failure once during his childhood was enough for him to endure. He had to put a stop.

In reality, he was trying to protect himself from getting hurt again.