SOG (English)

#8

— Huh? Did you give up on your unrequited love?

Yu-Ram stirred the soda with a straw and asked casually.

Jae-Chan was dumbfounded. She had completely assumed that he liked Go Woo-Jin. He realized once again that rumors of his unrequited love had been circulating rampant. He should have gone back to a point in time much earlier than this. For God's sake.

That evening.

On his way back to the accommodation after work. Jae-Chan was holding an umbrella in one hand and a convenience store bag in the other. He had bought as snacks a box of bombon chocolates and yakgwa (*honey cookie: a Korean confectionary made by pressing dough made with wheat flour, honey and oil into molds and frying or deep-frying the molded dough pieces). He crossed the sidewalk messed up by rain and wind and arrived at the official residence. The rain-soaked sneakers felt uncomfortable.

He shook off the umbrella. Jae-Chan's room was on the first floor. As he passed through the high-ceiling lobby, Jae-Chan, who was about to open the dormitory's door, noticed that it was unlocked.

His roommate must've been back.

Jae-Chan's reputation as a roommate was surprisingly good. Even if he didn't make friends with his roommates, it was because he was very ignorant of their way of life. It didn't matter at all whether his roommate lived dirtyly,  used his things carelessly, hung underwear on the door handle, or set 100 alarms in the morning.

Nevertheless, he remembered that his roommate this time around was a little uncomfortable, just as his sneakers soaked with rain water.

— …….

A long umbrella with dripping water and a convenience store bag were collected and held in one hand. He fiddled with his cellphone. It happened when he was standing in the hallway for a while. The sound of laughter from two people was heard through the slightly open door. One was a woman's voice, and the cheerful sound suddenly got closer.

— Then I'll go, Golden Boy! See you again! … Oh?

Jae-Chan ran into a woman who had pushed the door out without hesitation. He wondered why she was behaving so confidently, and it turned out to be a well-known employee of the official management office. A woman who can enter and leave the male Guide's accommodation naturally.

— Gosh.

Her bright red lips that must've been just re-applied with fresh make-up were curved. She passed by with a sultry smile.

He stepped inside. The indoor air without lights turned on was lukewarm, it felt stuffy and a complex and subtle smell floated around. It was that moment when his appetite dropped, overshadowing the snacks he had brought in one hand.

— Hmm. Worst timing, isn't it?

His roommate laughed. In the dark with the entrance sensor lights off. A silhouette of him leaning on the bed with his hands behind his back was reflected.

The large feet at the end of his long legs were twitching nervously. Jae-Chan, who hung up the umbrella, sighed and went inside. He turned up the long stand lights. The room was brightened with an orange hue.

— You should've come a little earlier.

The voice of his roommate, who seemed to sing, continued.

— Look at you, I called a girl just in time.

— …….

Jae-Chan, who put his cellphone down on the console and opened the window, turned around. It hadn't been a long time since the typhoon had passed, so an unusual wind flocked to the whistling room. He responded to the query with the air being ventilated and feeling more comfortable to breathe.