As the night grew late, as many customers as yesterday came to Dies. The person who came yesterday also came again.
‘I can understand why customers gather.’
Seeing the appearances of Cheon Sa-yeon, Woo Seo-hyuk, and Kwon Jeong-han shining brilliantly under the lights, I sighed.
There were so many people, I ended up having to serve just like yesterday. After serving alcohol at table 7, I looked around the crowded hall on the first floor.
“Wa… really, are you not a celebrity?”
“What a waste! I think being a celebrity would make a lot of money.”
“Thank you.”
When the female customers complimented him with a full excitement on their faces, Cheon Sa-yeon smiled slightly and put the snacks he was holding down on the table. I never thought I would see Cheon Sa-yeon serving.
‘Moreover, he did surprisingly well.’
Well, since he was SS-rank, he wouldn’t turn everything upside down or break a plate while serving, but I didn’t expect him to be able to do it so perfectly. Come to think of it, I heard that he did fan service quite well. Is it similar?
After serving, Cheon Sa-yeon straightened his bent upper body and turned his gaze to me. I, who had been watching Cheon Sa-yeon in disbelief, turned my head belatedly.
To be honest… no matter how busy I was with my work, I couldn’t concentrate at all. All my nerves were focused on Cheon Sa-yeon and Kwon Se-hyun.
‘…what are you going to talk about?’
If Kwon Se-hyun mentioned his name to Cheon Sa-yeon… No, I told him not to do it in advance, so it would be fine, but…
Although I had never brought up the name ‘Kwon Se-hyun’ in front of Cheon Sa-yeon, I couldn’t be relieved because Park Geon-ho and Woo Seo-hyuk, who were involved in a club incident, knew it. Especially since Woo Seo-hyuk might have mentioned the name I had used as an alias while reporting what happened at the club.
I couldn’t even guess what would happen if Cheon Sa-yeon heard Kwon Se-hyun’s name. Cheon Sa-yeon was the most dangerous than anyone else. Because he was the only one who noticed that I wasn’t Han Yi-gyeol.
After being restless until the end of the business, I eventually couldn’t stand it and quickly went up to the third floor. Cheon Sa-yeon was going to visit Kwon Se-hyun soon, so I wanted to ask him one more time before that.
Kwon Se-hyun, who was looking at the documents with a very tired face, looked at me with a puzzled expression as I entered the office.
“What?”
“That…”
I couldn’t stand it any longer, so I came up, but when I met Kwon Se-hyun, the words didn’t come out easily. I opened my mouth with difficulty, having only muttered several times.
“Are you… really going to meet Cheon Sa-yeon?”
“I said I would meet him, so that’s it.”
“Boss, as I explained it that night, the name was never…”
“Mentioned? I remember, so stop worrying about it and do something about the Boss thing.”
Even with Kwon Se-hyun’s indifferent voice, the anxiety didn’t go away. Actually, Cheon Sa-yeon was more of a problem than Kwon Se-hyun. After all, the person he was going to talk to alone was Cheon Sa-yeon.
“…all right. Please never forget the deal with me.”
If Kwon Se-hyun, who didn’t know what was wrong, tried to brush him, things wouldn’t get better. Kwon Se-hyun narrowed his eyes when I added with weak momentum.
“You don’t seem in a good condition, so tell me about the future now. Don’t come back up and just leave work right away.”
“……”
Don’t come back here? Even though I knew in my head that he was speaking with care, emotions that I couldn’t understand filled my heart. Enduring the distortion of my face, I spat out the information I had been thinking about.
“Tomorrow, Go Dong-ju-ssi, on the way to work, he will fall and suffer a minor scratch. It’s going to rain a lot.”
“What?”
“That’s all. Please tell him to be careful. Then I will go out.”
I left the bewildered Kwon Se-hyun and immediately left the room. Then, at the same time, I saw Cheon Sa-yeon, who was coming up to the third floor, under the stairs. With my back to the closed door, I faced Cheon Sa-yeon from the front.
Cheon Sa-yeon stopped in front of me and opened his mouth as usual.
“You were up here. Secretary Woo Seo-hyuk was looking for you.”
“Woo Seo-hyuk-ssi?”
“Yeah. Come down.”
“……”
I swallowed dry saliva and backed away. Somehow, it sounded like he told me to get out of the way to the door right away. Not? Is this just my imagination?
When I stood up like I was nailed down and didn’t move, Cheon Sa-yeon tilted his head slightly. I couldn’t tell him not to meet face-to-face…
After contemplating a dozens of times, I cautiously spoke out.
“That, I think… it seems better not to meet Manager.”
“How come? Maybe I can figure out a way out of this space from him.”
“You’re not going to meet him to find a way out.”
Maybe if I did well, I could persuade Cheon Sa-yeon? I added hastily to the expectation that he might stop taking interest in Kwon Se-hyun if I only cleared up the misunderstanding he had.
“Cheon Sa-yeon, this is a created space anyway. Meeting someone who doesn’t even exist is meaningless.”
“Hm.”
Cheon Sa-yeon blinked his eyes slowly with a strange expression.
“It’s a created space… well, that’s true.”
“Then…”
“But there are other things to check. No matter how much it was created, it doesn’t seem to be any different from the reality that we’ve met like this.”
“……”
“Even for me, I don’t want to miss this opportunity.”
Even it was the fake Kwon Se-hyun… we met him in person, so it was like reality. Cheon Sa-yeon, who was staring blankly at me without any objection, smiled slightly.
“Why. Are you jealous?”
Jealous. That words pierced my heart sharply.
‘Jealous…’
But I’m Kwon Se-hyun…
My whole body became cold in an instant. There was a slight vertigo and I felt like I was about to vomit something up at any moment from my stomach.
“Han Yi-gyeol?”
Cheon Sa-yeon, realizing that my condition was strange, extended his arm to me. I was horrified by the sensation of grabbing my wrist and shaking off Cheon Sa-yeon’s hand.
“Ah… This is, I mean…”
A thumping heart pounded in my ears and I was sweating profusely. Cheon Sa-yeon’s face with a frown on his forehead felt as if he was questioning my abnormal behaviour.
“I was just a little surprised…”
No… this shouldn’t be the case. I smiled forcibly with the meaning that it wasn’t a big deal.
“Alright. Go ahead and talk. I’m going down to meet Woo Seo-hyuk-ssi…”
“Han Yi-gyeol.”
Like a cornered rat, I stepped backwards and opened the distance from Cheon Sa-yeon, so I didn’t answer the call and left as if running away. I gave strength to my shaky legs and went down to the first floor to see a hall being cleaned up. There was no one following.
‘It’s hard…’
A slight pain came from the shoulder, which had been stiffened by excessive tension. As if waking up from sleep, I moved with a hazy mind.
“Woo Seo-hyuk-ssi.”
As I approached the bar table, Woo Seo-hyuk, who was displaying cleaned wine glasses, lifted his head. Like Kim Woo-jin, Woo Seo-hyuk had to leave the kitchen and work at the bar at the request of Park Joo-won, who couldn’t handle the influx of customers.
He couldn’t make as many cocktails as Kim Woo-jin, but… Still, Park Joo-won liked it because it was a great help.
“You worked hard. Where’s Kwon Jeong-han?”
When I asked while forcing what had just happened to the corner of my head, Woo Seo-hyuk looked at me for a moment and then opened his mouth.
“He went to help clean up the second floor.”
“I see.”
As I sat down on the bar chair, Woo Seo-hyuk asked a question this time.
“Did something happen?”
“It’s not like that… I’m just a little tired. We have been very busy today.”
“Clearly there were a lot of customers.”
When I answered appropriately while supporting my chin, Woo Seo-hyuk nodded his head. Then he turned around and placed the cocktail glass in front of me, which had been set aside at the back.
“This…”
“This is a cocktail I made separately after work. Would you like to taste it?”
The cocktail, sparkling in crimson, had a faint scent of fruit. Immediately recognizing what kind of cocktail it was, I raised the glass and said.
“Is this a cosmopolitan cocktail?”
“You’re right.”
He must have made it for the first time today, but the colour and scent were perfect. As expected, because it was Woo Seo-hyuk?
“The alcohol content is a bit high, so there is no need to overdo it.”
“It’s just one glass. Thank you. I will drink.”
As I drank the cocktail, a sweet liquid touched my tongue. So that I could drink comfortably, Woo Seo-hyuk quietly arranged the wine glasses without saying anything.
When the cold drink came in, my head, which had been cloudy as if it had become foggy, became a little clearer. Now I could look at the situation objectively. I thought as I touched the half of the remaining cocktail glass.
Actually… there was nothing wrong with Cheon Sa-yeon. This wasn’t the first time he made fun of me like that. It was the same with Kwon Se-hyun.
I was the only one with the problem.
‘It’s really pathetic.’
Even though I was determined not to be swayed, this was how the end of it. I was ridiculed for not being able to do anything properly. With what kind of confidence did I have to make a deal with Kwon Se-hyun.
It had only been four days since I had been in this space. I was exposed to the bottom in only four days.
I couldn’t hold on to it until Edward figured out how to get all of this space and get out. It happened in four days and I couldn’t even imagine what the hell I would be like a month later.
‘Still…’
I have to hold on. As long as I stood alone, everyone could get out safely.
I poured the remaining half of the cocktail into my mouth. There was no taste this time.
“..are you okay?”
Woo Seo-hyuk, who had already finished organizing, asked me. His black eyes looking at me were filled with a look of concern.
“Of course. One drink is fine.”
“……”
I put down the empty glass and got up. Now it was time for me to return to the hotel. Cheon Sa-yeon, who had met Kwon Se-hyun, would come down as soon as the conversation was over, so I thought it would be better to change clothes in advance and wait.
“Are you two finished with your work?”
Kwon Jeong-han, who was on the second floor, came down with good timing. Kwon Jeong-han paused for a moment when he saw me and then smiled as usual.
“Yi-gyeol-hyung, you must have had a hard day today. You look very tired.”
“Really?”
“Indeed, it’s no joke that there are a lot of people. You have to come tomorrow too, are you really okay?”
“Of course, it’s fine.”
I took off the tie on my neck and smiled at Kwon Jeong-han. How many times did I say it was okay? Still, I was able to smile much more easily than before.