Younger Man at Work - Chapter 39

“That’s him!”

Eun Seo opened her eyes wide and stared at the screen, doubting her eyes the moment Chris appeared on it.

“…!”

It passed by so quickly that she couldn’t even distinguish the eyes, nose, and mouth of the person reflected on the screen.

“What just passed by?”

“Chris just appeared, didn’t he?”

“No, he didn’t appear. The camera just swept past. Isn’t it Chris’s part?”

“Yeah, ‘Look at me, look at me, look at me Look at me!’ The ‘at’ is Chris’s part!”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“Can you even call that a part?”

“Chris started close to 90th place from the beginning, you know? ‘At’ is already an honor, did you expect him to get a killing verse or something?”

While they were bickering, Sun Ah’s phone rang.

“Ah, I’m watching the Idol Project now. I’ll come right after it ends.”

– You foolish thing, is this the time for you to be blabbering about celebrities? Instead of finding a boyfriend…!

Sun Ah’s mother’s voice could be heard through the phone, speaking without even taking a breath. It seemed like Sun Ah’s mother could debut herself. As a rapper position.

“Okay, I’m coming. I’ll go now, alright?”

In the end, Sun Ah hung up the phone grumbling.

“Why, did your mom tell you to come quickly?”

“Yeah. She’s making a fuss about me coming home late when I don’t even have a boyfriend.”

Sun Ah stood up, looking regretfully at the TV screen where the opening was still playing.

“Ah, I guess I’ll have to watch it later on replay.”

Eun Seo and Seung Joo went out to the front gate to see Sun Ah off.

“Take care, Sun Ah!”

“Be careful on your way, elder sister Sun Ah!”

Sun Ah left, but ‘Idol Project 10’ was still playing on the TV.

Eun Seo sat in front of the TV with the intention of seeing who this Chris that Sun Ah liked so much was. However, even after a while, the trainee named Chris, who supposedly had no screen time, didn’t appear.

There were so many people that she couldn’t tell who was who, but they were all pretty and handsome, making her eyes brighten, and she found herself watching absent-mindedly without realizing it.

Suddenly, Seung Joo, who was watching beside her, muttered.

“They’re all so young.”

Not knowing what he meant, Eun Seo replied with her gaze fixed on the screen.

“Yeah, well. Since they’re idol aspirants, most of them are in their teens, at most early to mid-twenties.”

“I’m an old man…”

Startled, she turned her head to see Seung Joo looking at the screen with a gloomy face.

“You prefer those young and handsome ones too, don’t you?”

“Ah, no!”

Eun Seo hastily grabbed the remote and turned off the TV.

“In my eyes, you’re much more handsome than those guys!”

This wasn’t even Eun Seo’s biased view. We’re talking about Kwon Seung Joo here. If you stopped a hundred women on the street and asked them who’s better, a young male idol or Kwon Seung Joo, 99 would answer Kwon Seung Joo. The remaining one would be Kim Sun Ah.

“I must have had such a time too, but it passed by without me knowing…”

However, Seung Joo’s expression, firmly believing he looked like an old man, didn’t lighten up. He muttered with his head deeply bowed.

“You don’t have to comfort me. It’s true that I’m an old man. No wonder only the market ladies liked me so much…”

“I’m not comforting you, it’s the truth!”

Eun Seo regretted belatedly. She should have corrected him right from the start when he first started talking about being an old man, but she left it alone because his behavior was interesting, and now look at the situation.

“Idols can’t even compare. Even among actors, there’s no one as handsome as you. Among all the people I’ve seen in my life, you’re the most handsome!”

Eun Seo tried her best to lift Seung Joo’s dampened spirits.

“…Really?”

Finally, Seung Joo slightly raised his eyes to look at Eun Seo. Sensing her chance, Eun Seo poured out words.

“Really! At work, I was so nervous whenever I saw you that I purposely avoided you from afar? I couldn’t even look you in the eye, so even when we were in the same elevator, I would quickly get off in the middle!”

In her haste to comfort Seung Joo, she didn’t realize she was stepping on a landmine.

“Elder sister, did you perhaps like me?”

Seeing her surprised face, she belatedly realized her mistake.

“It’s not that I liked you!”

She had unintentionally confessed to him the feelings she had buried deep down, too embarrassed to even let them sprout.

Her face felt like it was on fire. She tried to quickly escape to her room, but Seung Joo firmly grasped her shoulder and wouldn’t let go.

“Didn’t you really dislike me, elder sister?”

“I said I didn’t like you!”

She struggled to break free, her face bright red, but she was no match for him in strength from the start. He looked into Eun Seo’s face with a determination to get an answer no matter what.

“Tell me. Elder sister, did you originally like me?”

“I said no!”

With his large hands firmly holding her shoulders, she couldn’t escape or even avoid his gaze. Eun Seo was on the verge of bursting into tears.

“How could I like you? Who am I to dare…!”

As soon as she said it, she realized it was as good as a confession. Not daring to look straight at what expression Seung Joo was making, Eun Seo just tightly closed her eyes. Since she couldn’t run away, that was all she could do.

Very close by, she heard a whisper.

“I’ve never kissed before. But…”

His voice, lowered with emotion, sounded like that of the original Kwon Seung Joo.

“I want to.”

Her heart screamed.

Even with her eyes tightly closed, she could feel his face coming closer. The man’s scent hit her nose, and his soft breath tickled her cheek.

“…”

She should push him away. This shouldn’t happen now.

They had promised to wait until she turned twenty.

Her head was clearly thinking this, but her body seemed bewitched and wouldn’t move.

No.

At that moment when Eun Seo was falling into sweet despair.

Chu.

The sound of a light kiss was heard.

…1 centimeter in front of Eun Seo’s lips.

The man who had kissed the air finally sighed and let go of the shoulders he had been holding.

“January 1, 2024, at midnight. Do you know what I’m going to do?”

The boy with a man’s face declared.

“I’m going to kiss you, elder sister.”

*

To face someone you admire was more than a dream. Even though they weren’t even able to hold hands and walk together, let alone share a light kiss, it was still the same.

“I told you I can go alone.”

“I know. I just want to take you there.”

Eun Seo walked a step apart from Seung Joo, who had insisted on accompanying her to the bus stop. Although she was clearly walking on an ordinary path paved with blocks, it felt like walking on clouds. Just because Seung Joo was beside her.

“Take care, elder sister!”

Even as she watched Seung Joo waving his hand outside the bus window, she couldn’t tell if this was a dream or reality.

…The moment she saw the face of the person sitting next to her at work, she was dragged back to reality by the collar.

“Good morning, senior.”

She felt irritated at the clean-looking face casually greeting her. The day before yesterday, he was completely intimidated in front of Seung Joo, but after resting for a day yesterday, it seems he had recovered his mental quite well.

‘I heard you couldn’t complete your MBA?’

Suppressing the urge to mock him, Eun Seo replied as professionally as possible.

“Good morning.”

Not wanting to see that person’s face even for a moment, Eun Seo fled to the break room under the pretext of getting morning coffee before even sitting down. As she stood in front of the coffee machine, the persistent voice followed her to her back.

“I’m sorry about that day. I should have honestly said it was elder brother’s instruction from the start.”

It was ominous to hear Seung Joo’s name from Kwon Seung Hyun’s mouth. Eun Seo turned around, steeling herself.

“The CEO instructed me to keep quiet, so I just followed that.”

Kwon Seung Hyun stared intently at Eun Seo’s expressionless face. As if trying to find something.

“Senior, you’re not, like, having any foolish dreams, are you?”

“What do you mean?”

“No, I’m sorry if I’m overstepping, but seeing you keep your mouth shut even while being interrogated like that, I wondered if you might have some other feelings for my brother.”

Her heart sank, but Eun Seo tried her best not to show it.

“If by any chance that’s the case, give it up. Our brother has a girlfriend.”

Eun Seo was stunned.

Come to think of it, it was unknown whether the 33-year-old Kwon Seung Joo had a lover. Since Kim Sun Ah, the world-renowned authority in Kwon Seung Joo studies, was certain he didn’t, Eun Seo had also thought the same, but when you consider it, the only basis was ‘he’s someone who only knows work, so he wouldn’t have time for dating’.

But now, from his brother’s mouth came the direct statement that he had a woman.

Her face burned furiously, and her heart pounded. Forcefully pulling herself together from the feeling of falling endlessly into an abyss, Eun Seo replied.

“I don’t think that’s any of my business.”

Kwon Seung Hyun muttered as if for her to hear.

“He even took her to our deceased mother’s columbarium, so it seems quite serious…”

Eun Seo tried hard to gather her wits.

Let’s say Kwon Seung Joo has a lover. What’s unknown is why this person is telling me this. What does it matter to me, a regular employee, whether the CEO has a woman or not.

Just as she was thinking about what his ulterior motive could be, Kwon Seung Hyun threw a straight pitch.

“My brother calls that woman ‘elder sister’ and always speaks formally to her, so she seems quite older, do you perhaps know anything about this, senior?”

Eun Seo almost let out a gasp.

…It’s me!