Saturday's Master

Volume 3 - Chapter 10

Underwear, lotion, toothbrush and toothpaste. There were three pairs of socks, but now I see that one pair is the wrong pair. A pencil and a book, which I don't know why, were also in my hand. Unopened enema boxes rolled around the bottom of the bag. In the morning, while waiting for the car outside, the inside of the bag he had packed was jagged, like the luggage of a hastily packed refugee.

I zipped my bag back up, pushed it aside, and poked my head out between the driver's and passenger's seats. I rested my elbows on the backrests and fixed my eyes on the windshield. It was a Sunday when there were not many cars at work, so I could see the other side of the parking lot sparsely between the cars and the pillars. So I was able to watch Team leader Han walk all the way from the door leading to the elevator lobby. Today, the smell of air freshener was sweet.

"... What are you doing in the back seat?"

He opened the car door and asked. The smell of the parking lot, faintly mixed with exhaust fumes, entered the car. I missed the beat to reply, distracted by the face that came from afar and now I saw it up close.

"Leave the front seat empty and sit there?"

"... No, because of the bag... ."

I picked up a duffel bag that smelled like plastic and showed it to him. He looked at me with the look of 'what is that?'

"I forgot to pack something, so I think I'll have to go home again."

"It's not possible."

The answer was so quick and calm that it was late to understand. While I blinked, Team leader Han climbed into the driver's seat and closed the car door. he said as he started.

"Come to the front sit."

"... If you go first, I'll take the subway home and go straight to the team leader's house. It won't take long-"

"I already said no."

His eyes were looking at me through the rearview mirror. I didn't even ask to take him, but I didn't understand why he refused, so I kept my mouth shut. I left my bag in silence, got out of the car, and got into the front seat. When the car door closed, he took off his coat, threw it on the back seat, and started the car.

It was a little past eight o'clock. It was an intersection in front of the company that I saw every day, but the light from the streetlights passing by was bright yellow and unfamiliar, perhaps because I was used to fluorescent lights all day. Team leader Han who reached out to adjust the temperature of the heater said.

"We should eat dinner. Do you have anything you want to eat?"

"... ah."

"You can stop by on the way, or you can buy it and take it with you. Try anything."

Strangely, the inside of my mouth was dry from earlier. He didn't say anything or do anything. He was just sitting next to him, his heart pounding dizzy. I thought that the space itself was abnormal for a car designed so that the driver's seat and passenger's seat were closely attached to each other without a partition in a narrow place. At this distance, you will hear even small sounds and see small movements. From my seat, I could see everything, even the fine grid pattern on his cufflinks.

He released his hand from the steering wheel and suddenly grabbed my wrist. He ran my hand through it as if he was trying to gauge the finely trembling fingertips, and laughed as if it was absurd.

"Why is this?"

"... How about some sushi?"

All I could think of was that. I spit it out, and I was surprised to myself, so I added a series of explanations.