Chapter 13 (1/2)

Chapter 13.

“Did you see the workshop schedule for the first quarter?” Jihoon asked Woojin who just returned from a long conference call with the business department team. When Woojin sat down wearily, Jihoon patted his head.

Jihoon was smiling widely as if he had good news. One of the things Jihoon never forgot to do everyday was to visit the secretarial and HR teams and gossip with them. Jihoon was always the first one to find out the latest news and rumors in the office.

Woojin quietly pushed Jihoon’s hand away and shook his head. It was one of Jihoon’s habits Woojin hated: touching Woojin without warning.

Jihoon grinned and asked, “Are you going to skip work again soon? Like the last time?”

“… It’s none of your business.”

Woojin always gave him the same answer to any personal questions he asked, but Jihoon seemed unfazed. Persistence had to be his middle name.

Jihoon smiled at Woojin like he found him cute, and pulled the chair closer to Woojin.

Woojin wished he was alone right now, but Jihoon was right there staring at him. It seemed that Jihoon had been behaving more familiarly now to him than before.

When Jihoon continued to look at him curiously, Woojin finally had to ask, “What do you want?”

His grin getting wider, Jihoon answered with another question, “Is it really true you ate lunch with Shin Kim today?”

“…”

“Apparently the entire marketing team went into a shock after you dropped by before lunch time to see Shin Kim. I heard Chief Seulgi Kim is very upset about the whole thing. I think it’s for a good reason.”

“…”

“So what made you do such a thing? I thought you never made friends at work.”

Friend.

Woojin wondered if Shin Kim and himself were friends. Were they?

There were many times when a relationship couldn’t be easily defined by one word, but the society always wanted a name for all relationships. Family, friend, co-worker, colleague, boyfriend, girlfriend, or lover.

Slowly, Woojin replied, “… he isn’t my friend.”

“Then what is he to you? You always eat alone and stay alone. Wasn’t today the first time you voluntarily had lunch with someone at work? And it was a person from another department too! So crazy!”

When Jihoon looked at him suspiciously, Woojin looked down and wondered again.

Were they friends?

Woojin had lived his 30 years of life a little differently than everyone else. Things that most people experienced were still unfamiliar to him.

A hug from a mother, a praise from a father, having a close friend, and… having a lover.