“Is that a good place to start a business?”
“You worry too much about things, girl.”
“Right.”
Eunyoung burst into tears as she watched Sun smiling in vain.
“Would you like to drink until we blackout?”
“Argh. No one waits for me at home; let’s eat like there’s no tomorrow. There’s no turning back.”
“Let’s do this! Cheers!!”
Sun picked up the beer as she said it.
The beer was strong, and the alcohol stung her throat.
‘This suits you.’
His voice, his tone, his expression, it was all perfectly imprinted on her mind.
Today was the night where she wanted to get drunk.
Her eyes welled up as she closed them, and the tears were ready to fall.
***
The next morning.
Ready to go to work, Gyeonhui came down to the living room.
Ojae had been waiting in advance and rose from his seat.
“You’re awake, Mr. President.”
Ojae greeted him at a non-threatening angle, but Gyeonhui’s face did not change.
“Who are you, and what are you doing here?”
As if he was an unknown person.
“Oh, hey… just let me off the hook, please. I was really wrong.”
“I’ve done it several times.”
Gyeonhui looked in the mirror, straightened his clothes, and spoke in a resolute tone.
“Only once for the last time, please.”
“Are you serious?”
Suddenly, Gyeonhui’s face hardened as he became annoyed.
“Oh my…”
He frowned because of the headache he suddenly felt.
“… What’s wrong?”
Ojae, standing in his sight, asked carefully.
“Be quiet, my head’s about to break.”
Gyeonhui pressed his temples with one hand, but the pain wasn’t getting any better. At the same time, his stomach was in pain, and he felt very uncomfortable.
“My stomach doesn’t feel good…”
“Your stomach, too?”
Gyeonhui didn’t answer, and he pressed his head while seated on the bed.
“Prepare the car.”
“What?”
“I said, prepare the car.”
“Oh, okay.”
Ojae hurried to the parking lot.
Gyeonhui struggled to follow him frowning.
***
Dr. Seo’s office.
“Hmm.”
Dr. Seo, who was checking over Gyeonhui, breathed a shallow sigh.
“What seems to be the problem?”
“I’d like to know.”
Gyeonhui answered Dr. Seo’s question while swaying.
“I feel squirming and cracking in my head.”
“…Yes.”
He looked at Dr. Seo nervously.
“Is it a serious disease?”
“That’s….”
Dr. Seo paused for a moment and opened his mouth again.
“I think this is a hangover.”
“Sorry?”
“Yesterday, did you not drink?”
“Ahhh. I didn’t even take a sip of beer.”
He responded with a sigh of frustration.
“It’s weird. It’s definitely a hangover.”
“Would I have come to the hospital for a hangover? My time is gold.”
Dr. Seo shook his head as if he could not find any other cause.
“There’s a pain center in the human body. It’s literally a sensory organ that feels pain. This is necessary because we protect ourselves when there is a strong violation entering our body, such as injury or inflammation.”
Dr. Seo’s explanation sounded like a lecture, and it made Gyeonhui frown.
“There are two to four million pain receptors in the body, but the degree in which we feel pain differed from person to person. Some people feel a great deal of pain even in small matters, while others don’t.”
“Do you mean that I’m exaggerating the pain now?”
“That’s not what I mean…”
“Forget it.”
He rose up from his seat, scowling.
“Huh.”
As he left the room, he huffed in frustration.
His head was still splitting, and his stomach was sore and painful.
“Hangover? What a quack.”
He shook his head, but an idea swept his head at one point.
“No way… Cheonson?”
An ominous energy struck his body.
11. That’s Worth it
In the late afternoon at a residential area.
Sun was struggling to hold the snacks in her hand.
“Eh.”
She rubbed her stomach and exhaled for a long time.
The day before, a terrible hangover plagued her all day long because of her excessive drinking with Eunyoung.
“By the way, it’s somewhere near here…”
She followed the mobile phone navigation guide near the destination and looked around.
Then, she noticed a small sign beside the three-story house.
‘Kids Fan.’
After confirming the familiar sign, Sun rushed to step forward.
“Basement?”
A little surprised, Sun slowly descended the stairs and looked inside.
In the small basement office, Eunyoung and Ari were busy cleaning up their packages.
“Ta-da! I’m here!”
Sun shouted with a smile.
“Wow! Hey, you!!”
Ari ran to see Sun, and she grabbed the bag in her hand.
The snacks in her hands seemed more welcoming than Sun.
“Pan-fried rice cake, and Soondae. What, no fried squid?”
“Is fried squid more important than me?”
“No, but fried squid is the best snack. Are you offended?”
Ari asked in a loving voice.
“Go away.”
Sun pushed Ari away, pretending to be offended.
“Why did you come? I told you to return to work next week.”
Eunyoung looked at her and asked.
“I wanted to do something before my skill disappeared.”
“Do you even have the skills to lose?”
“Hey!”
Eunyoung’s joke struck Sun.
“Is your stomach okay? I drank a lot yesterday.”
“I feel like I’m dying. If I drink again in the future, just shoot me.”
Son shook her head.
“Wow! Delicious. The liver always tastes the best.”
Then Ari started eating the soondae while exclaiming at every piece she put in her mouth.
Son smiled since Ari looked so cute, and she turned her attention to Eunyoung.
“Hey, have some too.”
“How about you?”
“I have this.”
Son pulled some chocolates and candies out of her pocket.
“It’s not over yet?”
“It’s almost over.”
“It’s amazing. You usually don’t even eat anything sweet.”
Eunyoung smiled in shock.
“I agree. I don’t know why.”
Sun said while eating a piece of chocolate.
“Go home after you play here today. If you overdo yourself, you’re the only one who loses. Okay?.”
“Yep!”
With Son’s over-enthusiastic answer, Eunyoung looked at Ari with a smile.
“I’ll meet Mr. Choi to come to an agreement. You should go home right away after that. When it’s time, you may both go home, and you, Ari, don’t say anything useless. Okay?”
“… Okay.”
Ari answered with a glance at Son’s eyes.
Eunyoung said earnestly again and went outside with her coat.
When Ari heard the door closing, she looked at Sun.
“I didn’t even hear about your travels because I was so busy. Did you clear your mind? Did anything happen?”
“… Sure thing. Now it’s all sorted out.”
Sun said, but the afterglow of the moment unwittingly weighed down her heart.
“I’m glad. We were worried about you.”
Unaware of the meaning of the afterglow, Ari put a piece of Soondae in her mouth.
“Thank you, and I’m sorry, both of you.”
“Why do you appreciate and feel sorry for us?”
“Thank you for worrying about me, and I’m sorry that I made you worry.”
Ari pouted her lips out at Sun’s warm smile.
“Oh, but why did you move out all of a sudden?”
Sun looked inside of the office and asked.
The office was much smaller now than it used to be, and the location had never been worse.
“… You don’t need to know, but it happened.”
“What do you mean that I don’t need to know?”
“Ha. I can’t tell you.”
“What’s up? What happened?”
“Well… the boss told me not to say anything useless. Ha.”
Ari hesitated to speak, seemingly distressed.
When Sun saw Ari’s further hesitation, Sun became anxious.
“… What? What’s going on?”
“Well… Actually…”
Ari bit her lower lip slightly, seemingly determined.
“He came here, actually.”
“Who?”
“… The Consencio.”
Ari reluctantly answered.
“You mean Gyeonhui came here?”
Ari nodded slowly, shocked at Sun’s question.
Sun’s eyes shook violently.
“… Tell me more about it.”
She asked again with a firm expression.
“Oh, I can’t talk about it… but I have to tell you something.”
Ari opened her mouth slowly but was embarrassed. Sun’s expression gradually darkened as she listened to the story.
***
In front of the Consensusio CEO’s Office.
“It’s crazy…”
Ojae clutched his head and stood at the door.
Ojae was getting more frustrated because he knew Gyeonhui’s stubborn personality could not be beaten once his mind was set.
“Isn’t there any way to solve this?”
Ojae bit his lower lip firmly.
While Ojae was thinking, he remembered Sarah’s words.
‘Share? So the man feels the same pain as the woman? That’s not great.’
‘… This is it!’
Ojae perked up.
‘Knock, knock.’
Ojae knocked, opened the door, and went inside.
“What is it?”
As Gyeonhui checked the documents, he looked up and asked something.
“I found the reason why you have to keep me beside you.”
Ojae cried out in a hurry.
“What’s that?”
Gyeonhui asked with no expectations.
It could be Ojae’s last opportunity to convince Gyeonhui, so he tried to breathe and speak as calmly as possible.
“You’re feeling the pain of Sun now.”
“So?”
“You don’t know the exact range of that pain yet. And your pain may also be felt by herShe might also be feeling your pain.”
“…Maybe”
“Don’t you need someone to figure it out and verify?”
“Hmm.”
He looked at Ojae with his arms crossed.
“Yes, it might be embarrassing to go out on your own, or find a new assistant because not many people believe in the possibility of sharing someone’s pain.”
“…”
“And if this fact leaks out, then it could be a big blow as the CEO. Wouldn’t it?”
Ojae, who was pouring out his words like quick-sandpaper, carefully glanced at Gyeonhui.
He nodded and slowly cleared up the situation.
According to him, he still had some worth.
“Good. I’ll take it as an apology.”
Gyeonhui kept his resignation letter in a drawer, which had become a letter of apology.
The drawer was packed with documents and writing supplies as if he played a block-building game.
“Ha… thank you. I mean it.”
Ojae sat on the couch as if he couldn’t walk straight with his legs.
“What are you gonna do then?”
“Sorry?”
“You said that you’re going to find the cause of my symptoms?”
“Yes… but, now?”
“I’m still crying here. I’m not sure what’s going on with me. Have you changed your mind in the meantime?”
He opened the drawer again, pulled out the letter, and gestured in an attempt to tear the document with both his hands.
“Oh, no. Oh no. Hahaha. I’m leaving now. Hahaha.”
Ojae quickly rose up and left the CEO’s office.
“Ahh.”
Gyeonhui sighed.
Ojae had a point.
He felt her pain, but he didn’t know if she felt his pain too.
He looked down at his palms.
“What the hell is going on in my body, sheesh.”
His deep sigh swelled again in the air.
Then his cell phone, which had been placed on the table, began to ring.
It was a cell phone that never rung since no one was in touch with him.
He reached out and picked up his phone.
The name ‘woman #16’ in his phone’s contacts appeared on the screen.
***
The café in a residential area was still open in the evening.
Sun was the only person in the café.
‘… That’s why I used to visit here often.’
Sun smiled bitterly as she glanced through what lied within the café.
The simple interior was not exceptional, and there were only a few people on the tables.
An elderly man was sleeping even though there were guests.
There was nothing much to see inside the cafe, but it was a special place for her.
It was a special place because she had always been with him.
“Ha…”
A long sigh leaked from Sun’s mouth as she gazed at the coffee that had already cooled down.
What I had heard from Ari was just as shocking.
“I can’t believe that he canceled the acquisition of our business.”
Entering Consenscio was her biggest hope, and it was the result of her ability as a designer at a small company, Kids Fan.
However, because of her, everything had gone down to drain.
‘Ring, ring.’
The doorbell rang, and the door opened.
Then a cold breeze swept through the café.
Suddenly her mouth dried, and her heart began to run uneasily.
‘Boom, boom.’
The sound of footsteps approached her.
The sound of a long stride struck the floor, and she knew that he had come without even looking up at him.
The chilly air swept past her side, and he sat across her.
“Yesterday was such a memorable reunion. Wasn’t it?”
His words reminded her of what happened yesterday, which was something that she would rather forget.”
“It was unintentional.”
She tried to speak as calmly as she could.