Chapter 5
Territorial Disputes in the Cafeteria
Behind?
I reflexively turned my body to look behind me.
But all I could see was the chair from the back table.
I looked at Junseo with a ‘what’s the problem?’ expression, and he put down his tray, grabbed my shoulder, and turned me slightly.
“Uh!”
Jimin, who had been watching to see what was happening, let out a small gasp.
Why? What is it?
Startled, I tried to look behind me again.
But there was still nothing.
Can these people see something I can’t?
Without thinking, I reached my hand behind my back to feel, and my fingers touched something strange.
“Huh?”
The ends of my hair were clumped together.
Moreover, my fingertips felt something wet.
What in the world…?
I pulled my hand back in surprise and looked at it.
I could see something red smeared on my fingertips.
“What is it?”
“Tissue, tissue!”
Seunghyeon quickly grabbed a bunch of tissues from the table and handed them to me.
It can’t be blood, right?
I rubbed the substance on my fingertips with my thumb, then cautiously sniffed it.
“It’s gochujang.”
Well, we are in the cafeteria, and today’s menu is bibimbap, so that’s the most logical explanation, right?
Feeling drained, I let out a hollow laugh.
Jimin handed me more tissues and asked, “Should I help you wipe it off?”
“Is there a lot?”
“Uh…”
When I turned my back to her, Jimin hesitated.
Is it that bad?
“Eww.”
Abandoning my half-eaten meal, I went to the restroom to check. A long streak of gochujang was smeared across my back.
Of course, the ends of my hair were smeared too.
“Huh.”
What do I do about this?
I occupied a restroom stall, looked down at my shirt with its bright red gochujang stain, and sighed.
There’s no help for it.
If I tried to wash it and wear it, it would still be damp.
If I have to wear it anyway, I might as well wear it like this.
“Are you okay?”
Soobin and Jimin were waiting for me by the sinks and asked.
I felt like I’d gone back to high school.
Someone waiting for me by the restroom sinks.
I forced a smile and said,
“What can you do? Someone must have made a mistake.”
But my smile must not have been very convincing.
Soobin checked my back and said,
“If you got someone dirty, you should at least apologize before leaving.”
“They probably didn’t know.”
“And leave this much of a mess? Maybe they ran away because they were afraid you’d ask for dry-cleaning money.”
When Jimin joined in, I sighed.
It did seem likely.
But thinking that would only make me feel worse, so I’d been trying to think positively.
“These things happen, I guess.”
I said that, turned on the water, and started wiping the gochujang from my hair.
Then I turned back to the two of them and said,
“I have no intention of giving up on the company cafeteria because of this. If I can endure for a month, I win, right?”
Soobin and Jimin looked at me as if wondering what I was talking about, but soon burst out laughing.
Jimin shook her head and said,
“Well, I’ve already lost, so I’ll buy coffee.”
“Want to go together?”
At Soobin‘s question of whether I wanted to go get coffee with them, I was about to say no, but then nodded.
So what if I have gochujang on my back?
It’s not like I committed a crime.
“Huh? Assistant Manager Lee.”
We were coming back with our coffee when we saw Junseo standing by the elevators.
He saw us and raised an eyebrow.
“You went out to buy coffee?”
“If you eat a meal, you need coffee afterwards.”
“How’s the shirt?”
“It’s getting along fine. It’s just my heart that’s a little sore.”
Hearing our exchange, Jimin and Soobin started giggling.
Junseo gave a wry smile, then held out what he was carrying to me.
“I think your heart might be soothed with this.”
Only then did I see it was a department store shopping bag.
What’s this for? I held up my coffee and asked, >”Is it a snack?”
“I’ll consider snacks for next time.”
He said this and placed the shopping bag in my free hand.
It’s pretty light for a snack…
As I peeked inside the bag, Jimin leaned in too.
Huh? What is it?
“It’s clothes?”
Jimin asked first.
Sure enough, what was inside was clothing.
Why is he giving me clothes?
When I looked at him in surprise, Junseo shrugged and said,
“It seemed like you might need a change of clothes.”
“Why would you… no, why would Assistant Manager Lee…?”
“Lucky for you. I was feeling bothered by it anyway.”
I was about to say I couldn’t accept it when Soobin cut in.
What?
When I looked at her, she took the coffee from my hand and said,
“Go change. Or you can use my office.”
Before I could even protest, the three of them herded me to the office and opened the team leader’s room door for me.
Jimin even wondered aloud in the middle of it all if the size would fit.
Before I knew it, I had changed clothes and realized I felt a bit more at ease.
It had been embarrassing to walk around with a huge gochujang stain on my back.
“Oh, it fits well. How did you know?”
When I came out, Jimin lightly admired the fit and asked Junseo.
He, who had somehow already returned to his desk, turned his head to me and said as if it were nothing,
“It’s not like there are that many sizes.”
Well, that’s true, but it’s not like there are so few that you could buy the exact right size. I checked the tag I had removed.
How much is it? I should probably pay him back.
“This… how much was it?”
I noticed the price part was torn off the tag when I asked. Junseo looked up.
He stared at me silently for a moment, then suddenly took out his phone and started making a call somewhere.
“Yeah, it’s me.”
And with that, he just walked out of the office.
What was that just now?
I realized he had dodged the question and my mouth fell open.
Wait, I need to know the price to pay you back!
“Just wear it. Assistant Manager Lee has plenty of money.”
Soobin said that and then slipped into the team leader’s room.
Huh? Is that something a team leader should say?
“Don’t think too much about it. It might even be Assistant Manager Lee’s fault in the first place.”
Jimin said that and then sat down at her desk.
Junseo’s fault? What is?
But when I asked what she meant by it being Junseo‘s fault, she didn’t answer either.
What’s going on?
I sat down at my desk and looked over at Junseo‘s empty seat.
Suddenly, I remembered Jisoo‘s question about what the atmosphere in this office was like.
“Ms. Park Chaewon.”
The next day, while waiting in line at the cafeteria, Junseo called my name.
Today’s menu was pork cutlet.
I had been wondering what the big deal was, since Soobin and Seunghyeon‘s opinions on it were divided.
“Yes?”
“Come in front of me.”
Junseo said that and positioned me in front of him in the line.
There had only been three people between him and me.
Thanks to Junseo, the women behind me ended up moving ahead of me.
“Why?”
Usually, people use others as an excuse to cut forward, not to pull someone back, right?
As I stood there bewildered, Junseo shrugged and said,
“I was lonely.”
Ah, what is he talking about?
I shook my head at Junseo‘s nonsense and looked forward.
Then, I made eye contact with three women who had turned to look at me.
Strangely, all three were staring at me.
And they looked displeased.
What’s this about?
I wondered if I had bumped into them when Junseo pulled me over, but I was sure I hadn’t.
So then, why are those three glaring at me?
“Our Junseo does get lonely.”
Just then, Seunghyeon, standing in the next line over, cracked a joke.
Jimin and Soobin nodded in agreement.
“That’s why he always tries to avoid working late.”
“It’s not like anyone can work late with him anyway.”
What are they even talking about, seriously?
I found it so absurd I started giggling.
The people in this office sometimes, no, quite often, talk nonsense like this.
But when I turned my head again, I saw the three women in front of me were still glaring at me.
I really don’t get what’s going on.
“Over here.”
A little later, I had gotten my food and was looking for an empty seat when Soobin grabbed me and pulled me over this time.
Huh? I thought she had found a table big enough for all five of us and turned.
At the same moment, someone bumped hard into my arm as they passed.
“Uh.”
Even before I could turn my head, the distinct smell of pork cutlet sauce hit me.
I checked the arm that had been bumped. Sure enough, pork cutlet sauce was smeared on it.
“Excuse me. You got some on me.”
Jimin, who was standing behind me, called out to the woman who was trying to walk away.
The women who were leaving with her stopped and looked back at me.
I realized they were the same three women who had been in front of me in line.
“You bumped into her.”
Junseo, who had come over, spoke to the women.
The woman who seemed to have bumped into me hesitated, then said,
“It was an accident.”
Her expression suggested it was anything but an accident.
