“Did you make a reservation?”
That was already the third time today.
Fine, I could concede a hundred times over that you needed to call ahead to look at a car or a house.
But why a restaurant?
‘Is it a trend these days to tell people in advance before you go anywhere?’
Well, apparently there were even cafés you had to reserve through DM, so whatever.
Sorting out my slightly tangled thoughts, I tried to answer the employee staring straight at me as confidently as I could.
“Uh… ah, no.”
That was what I meant to say.
I wanted to answer confidently, too, but with the other employees and customers beside her seeming to stare right at me, the words got stuck in my throat.
In the end, my confidence vanished completely.
The confidence that had been blown away by the wind didn’t seem like it intended to come back anytime soon.
“Mm…… We do give priority to customers with reservations… Ah, Manager.”
The female employee hesitated for a moment.
Then, when a staff member wearing a gleaming gold name tag came out from the back, she hurriedly called him over.
Since she called him manager, he seemed to be someone fairly high up.
‘That gold name tag is kind of cool.’
For some reason, I thought of the nameplate I’d used at the company.
Mine had been a plastic slab with a piece of paper printed in Hangul Office, showing only my position and name, slipped inside.
What had they said again?
‘It’s your nameplate, so look at the ones next to you and print it yourself,’ was it?
Well, it wasn’t like I was the only one. The senior staff and assistant manager used those nameplates too, so I didn’t particularly have any complaints.
I just thought, wow, it really was a shit-tier small company.
They could’ve at least used a template. What the hell was [Employee/Choe Minhu] on a plain white background?
As I spaced out thinking that, my eyes met the manager’s.
A decent-looking man with his hair slicked back in a pomade style.
I wasn’t sure if he was handsome. He did give off a very active sort of impression, though.
But when your eyes meet someone’s, aren’t you usually supposed to feel awkward and look away?
He was staring hard at me.
“Manager?”
“Uh… yes? Did you call me?”
The female employee tilted her head and looked at the manager.
She stared at him for a moment, then seemed to realize something and began looking me up and down.
How should I put it? It felt like she was trying to figure me out.
It felt a little strange.
‘I have absolutely no interest in your manager, though.’
I couldn’t exactly say that out loud, so I simply looked away slowly.
“This customer came without a reservation. Is it all right for her to dine now?”
Was it just my imagination, or did her tone carry the meaning, ‘She didn’t make a reservation, so let’s send her away’?
The manager hesitated for a moment at her question.
Apparently, according to the rules, it wasn’t allowed.
If they said no, then I’d have no choice but to go to the rice bowl place next door.
Just as I was forming my next plan, he suddenly awkwardly rolled back his sleeve and started checking the time.
The orange lighting softly illuminating the steakhouse.
The wristwatch gleaming even more elegantly beneath that light.
‘That’s intentional.’
I could swear this wasn’t just my imagination.
My friends had used that tactic from time to time, so I knew it well.
It was a good tactic, but it didn’t work on me.
Reason number one.
Even if I look at watches, I don’t know a thing about them.
Other than the G-something wristwatch I used in the army, I don’t know any brands.
Ah, I do know one more. Rolex.
Anyway, that’s why it doesn’t work on me.
And reason number two.
On the inside, I’m a man.
That’s the end of it.
He used a tactic that wouldn’t work on me while watching my gaze.
When I looked at him with eyes that showed no interest whatsoever, he let out an embarrassed cough and slowly spoke.
“Ahem, did you ask how many people?”
“No. How many are in your party?”
As soon as she heard the manager, she immediately asked me.
She wasn’t a messenger pigeon, so why was she asking like that?
Since she asked in a slightly colder tone than before, I was a little overwhelmed by her momentum and ended up answering in a small voice without realizing it.
I should’ve just gone to eat rice bowls.
“Just me….”
“Please show her in.”
At the word “just me,” the manager gestured toward the inside of the restaurant with his hand.
Hearing that, the female employee nodded and smiled. Perhaps because it was a forced smile, her face looked somehow uncomfortable.
‘This is driving me insane.’
“Understood. I’ll show you this way~”
Receiving the female employee’s uncomfortable guidance, I walked slowly and sat in the most secluded seat in the restaurant.
I actually preferred it, but wasn’t her intention a little too obvious?
“We would appreciate it if you placed your order using this tablet.”
After finishing a brief explanation, she disappeared.
Only then did my heart calm down a little.
I’d never once experienced being the target of this kind of jealousy before, so my head hurt.
If I were used to it, I might have been able to show some nuance like, ‘Don’t worry about it,’ or something.
Grrrrl—
My stomach told me to stop thinking useless thoughts and just eat.
‘Yeah, let’s just eat.’
Letting out a short sigh, I turned on the tablet at the corner of the table.
I’d only ever been to places where you loudly called, “Auntie!” or pressed the restaurant bell to summon an employee, so this kind of place was new to me too.
Awkwardly, I looked at the steaks on the tablet.
Something about marbled sirloin, something about chop steak, something about ribeye.
I had no idea.
Wouldn’t it be fine if I just ordered the most expensive one?
They all looked delicious, so it probably didn’t matter.
‘It’s beef, after all.’
####
My stomach was full.
After eating one steak, the portion felt lacking, so I ordered and ate another.
Before I knew it, I had become a woman who ate two steaks in one meal.
And the price was ridiculously expensive too.
It felt like the first time I’d ever splurged.
“I’ll pay.”
Holding my comfortably full stomach, I arrived at the counter to pay.
The female employee who had been keeping me in check earlier received the bill and, with slightly surprised eyes, stated the price.
“O-one… one hundred fifty-two thousand won.”
Was she looking at me like, ‘You burned 150,000 won on one meal?’ Or was it, ‘You ate two steaks in one meal?’
I wasn’t sure, but wasn’t it probably both?
“I’ll do a bank transfer.”
Anyway, now I needed to head down and buy the things I needed.
“Uh… I’m sorry, but since we’re a directly managed branch, separate bank transfers aren’t possible.”
Huh?
“Bank transfer isn’t possible?”
The female employee nodded at my question.
A faint smile showed on her face.
What was I supposed to do now?
Did I have to go through the trouble of withdrawing cash and coming back?
These days, bank apps were pretty well made, so if you applied for a withdrawal, you could immediately take out money from an ATM.
So I was about to say I’d go withdraw some cash for a moment and leave, when the manager approached from behind.
“What’s going on?”
Hearing the manager’s voice, the female employee suddenly looked flustered and began waving her hands.
“Ah…… It’s nothing much….”
“Oh, she said bank transfers weren’t possible. Would it be all right if I withdrew some money from an ATM?”
The manager tilted his head at my words.
Meanwhile, a shadow fell over the female employee’s expression.
“…Pardon? Who said that?”
Hmm.
I guess she really did dislike me.
I was going to let a moderate amount of jealousy slide, but I couldn’t overlook her telling a lie that would obviously be exposed like this just to make things inconvenient for me.
While wondering what to do, I thought of one method.
It might be a little childish, but it was reliable.
“Uh… the employee in front of me.”
“……Jeong Iju. Is that true?”
“I must have confused it with another part-time job. I’m sorry….”
“You call that an excuse right now…?”
The female employee started getting scolded.
Ah, that wasn’t the method I had thought of. The method I’d thought of was this.
“Excuse me, I’m sorry, but…… could I get your number?”
“……Pardon?”
“She said bank transfer wasn’t possible… so I was wondering if I could send the money to you separately, Manager….”
Creating an opening for no reason.
Sure enough, at my words, the manager froze, and the female employee froze in a different sense.
The flustered manager hurriedly took my phone and began entering his number.
And Jeong Iju watched that sight with a vacant expression.
So don’t get nasty ideas, and live nicely.
“This is my number…. But you don’t have to go out of your way to transfer it to me….”
“No, you’re the manager, so I don’t have to worry, do I?”
“Yes……?”
His ears began turning red.
No, I didn’t mean it that way.
In any case, the manager appeared in my contacts.
His profile picture was a soccer player. He did look like he’d enjoy sports.
I immediately transferred 152,000 won to him.
Hearing the ding, he took out his own phone.
“Uh… yes. Payment confirmed.”
He nodded with a silly grin on his face.
Jeong Iju still looked complicated.
Don’t worry, I have no intention of dating him.
I didn’t have any intention of contacting him separately or meeting him in the first place. I’d only exchanged numbers as a show.
I was happy because I got to pay by bank transfer. The manager was happy because he got my contact information.
Good things are good for everyone.
“Then I’ll get going. Thank you for the meal.”
And so, leaving the two of them standing there blankly, I leisurely slipped out of the steakhouse.
####
“Did I buy too much?”
Looking at the full cart, I let out a small sigh.
I had to load all this into the car, go home, unload it, organize it—at this rate, I couldn’t even guess when I’d finish moving it all.
“……What am I going to do about the studio apartment’s stuff?”
For some reason, I remembered all of Choe Minhu’s belongings filling the studio apartment.
They were things I could just throw out, but the biggest problem was that the person who had to throw them out was me.
“This is insane.”
The work never ended.
For now, I had to start by moving this luggage into the car.
“Ugh… this is seriously damn heavy….”