CH 7.1

Chapter 7 Soft Glass

The customers practically didn’t stop coming. If one person left, one person came, and if two people left, two people came. It wasn’t hard. There were weird people sometimes, but compared to handling drunk people, this was far easier. First of all, Seo Jihee was good at work, so even if I wasn’t good, it had the effect of covering me.

Still, when we worked hectically, there were times when the customers stopped coming in. As there were no customers, Seo Jihee sighed, taking out a book she left under the counter, then sat on the chair.

“I’ll read a book for a moment.”

The book cover was flashy. Even though the book with the title ‘Ideas for Designers’ didn’t look interesting, Seo Jihee was reading it intensively. I stared at her since I also had nothing to do, and Seo Jihee looked back and smiled.

“Are you curious?”

“Is it interesting?”

“Yes. There are a lot of pictures.”

Seo Jihee showed the book to me. As she said, there were really a lot of pictures.

“I’m majoring in visual design—though I’m on a break for now. I’m preparing for a contest these days, so I have to keep studying.”

“I see.”

“Ultimately, my dream is to make a movie poster. Ah! Do you want to see my portfolio?”

I didn’t answer her, but Seo Jihee took out her phone from her pocket and showed the photo album to me. There was a movie poster on the screen, and although I didn’t know much about it, it looked cool.

“Do you like movies?”

“No.”

“Is that so?”

“But… I think you’re doing good.”

All the slid posters were nice. Maybe because I knew about it, there were some pieces that made me think they were made by one person.

“Hmm, you think I’m doing good?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, I’m feeling proud because you said that, Jiho.”

Seo Jihee, who said she would read a book, put back her phone and chatted.

“What’s your dream, Jiho?”

“I have no dream.”

“I see. Then what kind of subject did you like when you were in school?”

I don’t really like this kind of topic. I don’t have many good memories of when I was in school. I listened to the lecture quite diligently, but one day, the realization that I wouldn’t be able to escape no matter how hard I study chased me as if trying to eat me.

Still, I tried to recall when I attended school. There was a class that was good.

“It’s science.”

“Science? Woah, I gave up on math, and I gave up on science. What was the most fun?”

“It was just, things like experiments.”

“I see. Actually, I think I liked living creatures quite a bit.”

The long explanation was boring, but when I did it myself, there were some that stuck in my head. Even so, it didn’t mean I liked it. I had nothing I really liked in the first place. 

Seo Jihee said she liked art class and talked about how she came to like it. The book was somewhat forgotten, but this didn’t happen only once or twice.

“Anyway, that cafe was also good for drawing. Ah, the coffee from the cafe next door is delicious. Try it next time.”

“Yes.”

Seo Jihee finally returned her gaze to the book. I looked around the convenience store blankly, but then I felt a vibration, so I took out my phone. It was a message.

[What are you doing?]

A message from Yeon Woojeong. Maybe because this was the first message I received, I felt awkward for no reason. I sent a reply that I’m at work, and a message arrived instantly.

[I’ll come a bit late today.]

[Should I buy you something?]

I remembered Yeon Woojeong’s words telling me to call him if I have something I want to eat late at night. But now it isn’t late at night. I pondered, then I wrote the reply.

[Dunnowhatever]

I checked my phone after a customer came and paid for it. There was a message from Yeon Woojeong. Seems like he’s free today.

[What will you do after work?]

[Dunnowmaybetoabookstore]

[A bookstore? That’s good.]

[While you’re buying a book, buy a book you want to give me. I will buy you something I want you to eat.]

A book I want to give? He suddenly gave me an assignment. What kind of book should I buy?

“Woah, Jiho.”

“Yes?”

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

“No.”

Seo Jihee opened her eyes wide, then she looked alternately between me and the phone in my hands.

“It’s my first time seeing you smiling.”

“Ah…”

I wasn’t smiling though. I touched the corners of my lips that were in their places, but Seo Jihee closed her book and made a fuss. 

“So you also have your impression completely change when you smile. Ah, I envy you. I have a smiling face, so I can’t do that even if I want to look a bit arrogant.”

“Isn’t that better?”

“Why?”

“Because people won’t pick a fight with you…”

“Gasp, Jiho, do you get into a lot of fights? What kind of loutish people are they?”

Seo Jihee fumed. Sometimes, it felt like she was doing a play alone.

“But it’s not all that happy either for me. If I don’t smile at all, people annoyingly ask if something bad happens. Anyway… you can smile when it’s only the two of us. I won’t annoy you even if you smile.”

She smiled playfully and jabbed me in my arm with her elbow. After avoiding her by moving to the side slightly, I sent okay to Yeon Woojeong. 

I took a bus after my part-time job ended. The bookstore was inside the department store. When I saw the department store building, I remembered the scarf again that I felt churned up inside. I brushed it off and looked for the direction board. The bookstore was on the first basement floor.

I went down to the basement floor and entered the bookstore. This was my first time going to a bookstore to buy a book. I felt at a loss about what to look at first as I saw the piled-up books. For now, I slowly moved my steps to the novel corner, which looked the easiest.

I scanned the colorful covers one by one. There was no book that caught my gaze. What kind of book will Yeon Woojeong like? Even though I tried to think of his book room, there were a lot of varieties of books, so it was hard to know his taste. The most fun one was Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Is Romance of the Three Kingdoms a novel or a history book?

I got a headache. I left the novel corner and took a look here and there. I was looking through coloring books and origami books, but then found a book that stood out and hurried my steps.

There was a sparkling SUV filling up the book cover. It was cool.

The content was roughly about cars written by someone who used to be a mechanic. There were a lot of pictures and it looked fun. I checked the front pages and back pages, and I also opened the middle pages, then I put the book down.

First of all, I had to choose a book for Yeon Woojeong. I looked around, then I headed to a corner where a number of men were gathering. As I headed there, a comic with a lot of girls drawn was spread open. I stopped walking and turned back. I looked around again, and there was a woman in formal attire focusing on a book.

There were a lot of books that didn’t look interesting in front of that woman. I looked through the books for no reason, then I took a book that caught my gaze.

‘The Beauty of Obsession’

What kind of book is this that claims obsession is beautiful? All the books around were about psychology, so this book must be the same. On the back cover of the book, it was written that proper obsession makes life rich. Although it sounded like bullshit, I looked down at the book for a while, then took it with me.

I went back to where the book I saw earlier was. I thought about buying it, but I wondered if I could read all of it. It would be a waste of money if I didn’t finish reading it. It would be better to borrow a book from the library or buy it when I get my salary.