Following the address Shin Kwonjoo sent to him via text, he arrived at a pub. The building was unexpectedly older and in a remote location so he spent a while trying to find it. And by the time he arrived, he was 3 hours later than expected due to changing schedules and unexpected incidents. His tardy steps began to move faster.
The pub was a narrow space of about 10 pyeong but the busy steps of workers carrying the food and the conversing folks letting out their stress of the day, made the place seem familiar and friendly even though it was only his first visit.
As he opened the entrance and looked around for a table, he caught the sight of Shin Kwonjoo immersed in conversation with someone. The image of Shin Kwonjoo wearing a charcoal-colored suit did not seem to match well with such a small and old-fashioned pub. His long legs that didn’t fit in the small table were sticking out funny from one side.
Sitting on the same table was a man wearing a slim casual suit that fit his skinny build. He was probably the Waiton editor-in-chief that Shin Kwonjoo told him about. Ha Joyoon tried his best to push down the sudden uneasiness he felt and walked over to the table.
Step Step– As his steps moved closer, Shin Kwonjoo’s figure as he was immersed in conversation became clearer. Seeing him now, Ha Joyoon suddenly wondered how the other would frame the reality he was living in now if he had continued taking photos.
“You’re here?”
“Yes. I’m a bit late.”
“I didn’t think you’d make it on time, anyway. You can sit and introduce yourselves.”
Shin Kwonjoo slightly raised his hand when their eyes met. The man who was sitting with his back against the entrance turned around. Sharp eyes through the rim of his silver glasses and both of his cheeks were dented, the man’s face seemed like one of an all-round fastidious person.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Ha Joyoon.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Lee Haejoon. I’m from Waiton News Agency’s branch office. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Unlike the sharp impression he gave, the man’s tone was very gentle and the atmosphere was also quite comfortable. They shared a handshake in the awkward air and Ha Joyoon sat down on the stool Shin Kwonjoo took out for him. Shin Kwonjoo took his camera bag and materials from him, putting them on an empty stool before asking, “Have you had dinner?”
“A little. I had a small meal so I’m not really hungry.”
“I was going to order a side dish so you can have that. Is that alright?” He asked again when he received a new menu from a passing worker.
“I’m not really hungry, though.”
“Just eat.”
“…Okay.”
Empty plates of side dishes and several empty bottles were sitting on their table as if to let Ha Joyoon know that they had been here for a while. The amount of bottles he counted at glance were a lot more than usual, making him glance at the man sitting next to him in question. He didn’t seem drunk at all.
“We can both hold our liquor well so we’re still sober.”
Shin Kwonjoo said while searching through the menu and telling an employee his order for a new side dish. Ha Joyoon grabbed some chopsticks and let out a good natured smile before nodding. He said he’d only order for one thing but during his conversation with the employee, Shin Kwonjoo’s hands busily pointed here and there on the menu. Just as Ha Joyoon was about to stop him; “I heard alot about you from Director Shin. We were talking about you a while ago.”
Ha Joyoon was surprised by the sudden voice giving a simple greeting, unaware of the person next to him. The other also seemed surprised, which made him feel sorry. I have to fix things, I have to fix things… No matter how many times he repeated that in his head, things like this only seemed to happen again and again.
Ha Joyoon suppressed his gloomy thoughts and tried his best to respond, “I only get scolded by sunbae.”
“I doubt that’s true. He’s usually harsh with criticism but he said good things about your photos.”
“Ah…”
“There’s so much authenticity to your photography. Isn’t that very difficult to do? Especially since artists nowadays manipulate their photos by waiting for a certain moment to capture a scene.”
“The compliments seem excessive but thank you.” He said, slowly shaking his head and hands. The man who had finished making his order joined in the conversation. “He’s quite competent but he doesn’t know how to put it to good use. My words don’t seem to get to him, so it would help if you gave him some advice, Sunbae-nim.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Is that something someone else should do?”
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“Okay…”
“You must be quite tired because of Director Shin. I know what he’s like and he tends to bleed his employees dry.”
A hushed laugh poured out of his lips. He had heard this from many people since this morning, but the consistent evaluation was a little funny. Clear soju filled the glass.
“Please take care of me.”
“What a funny joke.”
Lee Haejoon chuckled at the formal feedback, lifted his glass and clinked it lightly. Ting.- With a clear sound, the even clearer soju sloshed around the glass. In line with the other’s movement, Ha Joyoon also emptied out his glass of alcohol at once. The strong liquid went down his throat and spread warmth throughout his body. The person who arranged the meeting was busy checking his phone looking like he had been contacted again.
“Even though his personality is that way, he does a good job at taking care of his people. It’ll help you at some point. Just hang in there for now. But from what I’ve seen, he seems to pay a lot more attention to you, Reporter Ha.”
“Haha.”
“I’m not joking. Does that guy seem like the type to tend to his juniors?”
Lee Haejoon poured alcohol into Ha Joyoon’s empty glass once more and spoke in a joking manner. Still making a phone call somewhere, Shin Kwonjoo stared fiercely in their direction as if he knew they were talking about him. Ha Joyoon shook his head in embarrassment and filled the other’s empty glass as well.
“Your main focus was on civil war zones, right?”
“Yes. I stopped right after I joined the company.”
“Hmm, where did you go?”
“At first, it was Iraq and after that, I went from Libya to Syria. During the time when the refugee situation was at its peak, I also stayed around Greece andTurkey for a short while.”
“You’ve been to all the tough places. I also stayed in Libya for around a year and at that time, I really thought I’d wind up dead. Besides, going there during your 20s must not have been an easy feat. Going through several dangerous situa… Oh.”
The words Lee Haejoon spoke were left vague at the end. Ha Joyoon smiled awkwardly as he realized that the other seemed to know about his situation. “Ehem.” Lee Haejoon cleared out his throat in embarrassment with a good natured smile and calmly changed the topic.
“These days, photojournalists tend to outsource or only buy copyright free images. Perhaps the TPA wouldn’t want to miss reporter Ha very much.”
“It’s not like that. The timing seemed right when I joined the company.”
“I’ve heard that you’re going to submit your work to the WWP. If it’s too much to do alone, think about working as a team. In the past, we also teamed up with the New York Times and won the award.”
“Yes, I’m still considering that.”
“It’s not urgent, anyways.”
At that moment, the ordered side dishes were soon brought out. It was clear clam soup. The waiter skillfully arranged the messy table in an instant then placed a burner and a hot pot full of clams and vegetables in the middle of the table.
After several attempts, a blue flame was lit and burned hot. Deliciously prepared seafood and various kinds of shellfish boiled with a bubbling sound.
Lee Haejoon clinked his glass lightly again and poured out some alcohol, saying it was in commemoration of their side dish. The alcohol’s unique and cold energy calmed down his tingling head for a while. Stirring the soup with a ladle, Lee Haejoon glanced at Shin Kwonjoo and murmured in passing,
“He’s not going to be around for long so be sure to get as much help from him as possible.”
“…”
“Oh, you didn’t know? He’s going back to the headquarters soon.”
Tilting his head in surprise, Lee Haejoon stared at Ha Joyoon as the other gazed blankly at his glass of wine, unable to say a word in response.
“No matter how late, I plan to move before summer next year.”
His memories wandering in disorder were inserted one by one like puzzle pieces to draw a whole picture. In a small vase placed on an old wooden shelf in the corner of the pub, there were yellow flowers blooming beautifully regardless of the season.
Pitter-patter, Pitter-patter.-
The sound of rain tapping on the yellowish window drifted the focus of hazelnut-colored eyes. It was autumn rain. The drops of water buried in the coming winter drifted diagonally, leaving traces of life on the surface of the window. The man in front of him was still absorbed in the call.
“Isn’t it necessary for me to know that? It’s going to end up being a lot of trouble if things continue this way. It was a mistake to think that you’d comply with leaving a reporter’s section.”
The voice that did not hide friction with the other party was low and serious, but it also contained a suppressed fierceness and coldness. It seemed like the call would take a long time due to the seriousness of their conversation. Shin Kwonjoo’s hand holding his glass gradually became tense.
For the first time, Ha Joyoon realized the period of time that Shin Kwonjoo had suggested to him. He didn’t know that this was how it felt having a relationship with a fixed deadline and a set limit from the beginning. And so, he didn’t know what to do about his suspiciously shaken heart.
“Inviting someone out only to stay on a phone call throughout. You shouldn’t get used to this. Make sure to call him out for it later, Ha Joyoon.”
“…Haha.”
“He crossed the line.”
Seeing foam from the soup bubbling to the top of the pot, Lee Haejoon hurriedly stirred the soup with a ladle. However, Ha Joyoon couldn’t respond and simply watched. A sudden thought crossed his mind, that maybe the farewell he had to experience wasn’t just with one person.
The lone autumn rain soaked dry leaves and fell onto man-made land. Becoming one with the sound of rain tapping against his chest, Ha Joyoon quickly emptied the glass in front of him.
***
“He seems like a decent kid. His thoughts and values seem to be in the right place too. His stance is also good.”
The man, who was drinking leisurely, smiled calmly as he checked the empty seat next to him with inexpressive eyes. Outside the timeworn window, Ha Joyoon was seen on the phone with a look of embarrassment at the phone call from home.
“Seeing as you didn’t dispute it, you must like him alot.”
“There’s nothing to like or dislike about him.”
Giving a short reply, Shin Kwonjoo refilled the other man’s empty glass. What a bluff. Lee Haejoon gave a small smile and quickly emptied the glass. Pitter-patter, Pitter-patter.- With the downpour due to the end of autumn, the evening, post-work scenery seemed even quieter.
“Our conversation reminded me of Hyuksoo.”
“…”
“He seems calm yet very passionate.”
At the name that left Lee Haejoon’s lips, the hand reaching for the side dish, came to a stop. After a short silence, Lee Haejoon cast a long look as he began to reminisce.
“Hyuksoo was like that too. Reckless, passionate and devoted to one thing.”
“…Is that so?”
Shin Kwonjoo pushed back the half full plate of soup and drank from his glass. The area occupied by empty soju bottles on the new table expanded as they filled each other’s glasses.
“Thinking about him is funny, isn’t it? They look nothing alike since Hyuksoo must’ve been two times bigger than Reporter Ha. He was quite the tough guy.”
“But things ended up in the worst way possible for him.”
With a bitter smile, Shin Kwonjoo also recalled his close friend who left them a long time ago. A person who was incredibly meddlesome compared to being stiff and inflexible. Hyuksoo believed that the justice of the world was his to realize, which was stupid to a fault. But then left Shin Kwonjoo with deeply rooted trauma as if to laugh at his snobbishness which always looked pathetic to him.
Not even a small breath could escape from his tightly closed lips. Slowly sweeping a hand over his forehead, he laid down his glass on the table.
“It’s strange. Is it because I lived too complacent? It feels like I’m getting woken up to the things I forgot. It’s nice but also sad.”
While emptying his glass, Lee Haejoon threw out a vain smile and took the plate in front of Shin Kwonjoo, handing him a large amount of clam soup that he had just served. Lee Haejoon inhaled his hot soup at once and continued to talk, rubbing his wet mouth with a napkin.
“By the way, did you not tell that kid that you were going to headquarters?”
“What do you mean?”
The inquiring voice was incredibly low and razor-edged. At his junior’s sharp response, Lee Haejoon shrugged his shoulders, recalling Ha Joyoon’s reaction a while ago.
“It didn’t seem like he knew.”
“That’s not possible.”
“Really? He seemed shocked but maybe I only imagined it.”
“I did tell him a while back so I’m sure he knows.”
Shin Kwonjoo had an amused expression filled with skepticism before turning to the window again. His eyes caught sight of a round head covered with light brown hair. He stared at Ha Joyoon for a while and immediately turned his head again. Lee Haejoon, who lost interest in the other’s lukewarm response, continued to speak, stretching his body that had been clumped together.
“By the way, I heard your wife will be in the country soon. Weren’t you supposed to meet her? When is she coming back?”
“It was delayed a little more, and she said it would be next week.”
“The both of you are something else.”
His straight eyebrows became frowned and his sharp eyes sank heavily. Several complex emotions switched over his face full of thoughts, but the silence did not last long. It eventually led to another topic and once again, the tone of their voices were combined to create each other’s stories into conversations.
The usual, late autumn night seemed to hold the time and emotions of different people in the same space, moving at different speeds towards a finish line.
Thank you so much for the new chapter!!!
Thank you for the update ❤️🐸