When Your Pain Becomes Mine

"Hmm."

After hearing the story, Ojae looked at Gyeonhui's face.

"So, you mean, you feel her pain. Is that correct?"

Ojae asked carefully not to offend him.

"... Yes."

Gyeonhui seemed frustrated, loosening his tie.

"Hmm."

With a brief sigh, Ojae looked anxiously at him, and suddenly, he raised his two fingers and asked.

"... How many fingers do you see?"

"What are you doing?"

"How many does it look like?"

"... Two."

"How about this?"

"Four. What the hell are you doing?"

Gyeonhui couldn't tell what Ojae was trying to do. Gyeonhui asked him with an unhappy expression.

"Do not move."

Ojae rose up from his seat and touched Gyeonhui's forehead.

"You don't have a fever."

Gyeonhui finally figured out the situation and struck Ojae's hand away from his forehead.

'Slap!'

The stinging sound and the pain rushed to him all at once.

"Ouch"

Ojae clutched his sore hand and trembled.

"So, you're saying that I'm crazy?"

Gyeonhui looked at him with a stern expression and asked.

"No, that's not what I'm trying to say, but it really doesn't make any sense... wow... Put yourself in my position and think. If I said this to you, would you trust me?"

"... I wouldn't believe it."

"Yeah, that's right."

Ojae smiled brightly. On the contrary, Gyeonhui's face was serious.

"So, according to what you said, I just lied to you point-blank? Is that right?"

"What?"

"I've wasted my time to listen to this gibberish. Isn't that right?"

"Oh, no. I didn't mean to say that... It's such a mysterious thing..."

"Get out before I kick you out."

"Really?"

"Don't you know how to leave?"

Gyeonhui stared at Ojae as if Gyeonhui had fired a laser at him with his eyes.

"Oh, okay, I'm sorry."

"Don't tell anyone about this. Got it?"

"Of course. I'm a man of a few words. Don't you worry."

Ojae looked fiery with his fists and quickly exited Gyeonhui's room.

***

At the employees-only restroom, Ojae came in and checked all the toilet slots. When he realized that no one was there, he quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket. When he pressed the call button, a picture of Sarah, which had been stored on his phone, appeared on the phone screen. She had an expression that looked a little too greedy with her eye slightly raised. There were a few beeps, and the other party answered the phone.

"What?"

Over the phone, he heard the voice of Sarah, Ojae's lover.

"This is a jackpot case. The jackpot."

Ojae spoke in a thoroughly excited voice.

"What's up?"

Sarah asked, smugly, seemingly uninterested.

"Well, Gyeonhui said, he feels the pain of his broken lover."

"What are you talking about?"

Ojae took a deep breath, cleared his mind, and continued to speak.

"Do you know Sun? I'm talking about the girl who had been dating him for three years."

"Oh, yeah, I remember her. What about her?"

"Well, Gyeonhui feels her pain."

"Pain?"

Sarah thought that this was absurd. As Ojae peeked at the mirror, he noticed a stray nose hair.

"So... Okay. If you pull a nose hair, ouch! You... and I feel the same pain."

Ojae was brushing off his nose and could not hear that someone was entering the bathroom.

"Really? Does that make sense?"

"That's why this is such a big deal. Even if it's real, it's a jackpot, and even if it is not, it's still a jackpot. Gyeonhui had been off lately. Feeling the same pain…."

"Sharing? So does she feel his pain too? That doesn't sound great."

"How so?"

"I don't know, but I know that he's being punished. He was always mean to every girl he met. He always put them into a corner. Then, when the girls left because of his behavior, he said, 'girls are all the same.'"

Ojae mimicked Gyeonhui's voice.

"So, is this a real disease?"

"Huh? I don't know? Why?"

"If I get sick, I want you to feel the same thing."

"What? Why?"

"You should feel the pain that women feel, so you could appreciate what we go through. If you're sick, ask me to feel the pain too. I have to go. Talk to you later."

Sarah ended the conversation with her words abruptly.

"What is it?"

Ojae looked at the phone, seemingly outraged.

"By the way, if this is a real disease, what am I supposed to do?"

At one point, Ojae remembered Sarah suffering from menstrual cramps. Then Ojae remembered touching Gyeonhui's forehead.

"Oh, my hand. No, no way!"

Ojae began to wash his hands frantically with the liquid soap in the corner. He was still freaking out about it, so he washed his face too.

'Bang!'

Then, Ojae heard someone kicking the bathroom door.

"Oh, my!

Ojae turned his head without opening his eyes properly because of the soap on his face, but Ojae couldn't see Gyeonhui clearly. Gyeonhui's eyes were directed at Ojae through the bubbles.

"Didn't you say that you're a man of few words?"

Gyeonhui's voice sank coolly.

"Gyeonhui…"

"Did you say Gyeonhui?"

"No, I mean, Mr. President…"

"Yes. I'm the CEO, and you are my assistant. The assistant is supposed to listen to their boss."

"Sure. Hehehe."

"Pack your stuff."

"Sorry?"

"Pack your stuff and get out of my company!"

Gyeonhui left the bathroom with a cold expression.

"Oh, what a big mouth! No way, Mr. President!"

Ojae hurried to lie after him, failing to clean the bubbles on his face properly.

9. Unfamiliar Voices

Consencio's office. Ojae folded his hands politely, and with a nervous face, he looked at Gyeonhui's expression.

"I regret that I haven't been good enough to fulfill my role as your assistant, and I will try to work harder in the future. Is this your resignation letter?"

"... It's not a resignation, it's a letter of apology. I'm examining myself a lot. Please forgive me just this once, please?"

Ojae pathetically rubbed his hands together to evoke as much pity as possible.

"You're useless. You're not helping me here at all. Moreover, you don't even trust me."

Gyeonhui threw the piece of paper at him and replied disgustedly.

"No. I trust you two hundred percent. I mean it."

"Oh, is that why you talked about me in that way with Sarah?"

"Oh, that was just a joke. Hehe. Who would believe your story? Heh."

Ojae smiled and tried to change the mood. Still, the cold-hearted expression on Gyeonhui's face made his nervous laughter disappear.

"I really can't find a reason to have you here in this company."

This time, Gyeonhui seemed to have made a firm decision.

"Get out before I call security."

Gyeonhui moved his gaze to the papers and said this to him without looking at Ojae.

"You have a schedule to meet at the stores today. Don't you think I need to go with you?"

"I don't need you."

"... Okay."

Ojae opened the door in silence. When Gyeonhui heard the sound of the door closing, Gyeonhui stood up from his seat, frowning. Wearing a jacket to go out, Gyeonhui tapped his back as if he had back pain.

"I can't believe it either."

With a long sigh, Gyeonhui walked out of the office with disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e on his face.

***

At a bus stop near the port.

"Thank you."

Sun sat right in front of the very back seat on the bus. She had to make a long bus trip to get to Seoul. Sun looked relaxed and moved her gaze out the car window. It was dusk over the horizon, all shrouded in red. She tried to plug earphones into her ears, but she heard a young voice.

"Here it is, Honey. Put this on."

When she turned her head, she noticed a couple preparing to get off the bus. A man who looked like a college student took off his coat and put it over the woman's shoulder. They naturally held each other's hands in comfortable silence.

As she looked at both of them with a smile, she suddenly remembered the old days.

***

Sun scrambled through the meeting room with a nervous face. The dark circles under her eyes had been growing for a long time. When she looked inside on her tiptoes, Gyeonhui was examining the design with no sign of emotion. 'Can I show you my results?' She responded with a thesis, but the process of proving it was not smooth. It was already her thirty-second attempt.

"Why did I say that..."

Someone said it was too late for regret. After a moment of contemplation, Sun soon opened the door. After seeing her, Gyeonhui moved his eyes to the design again. It was a short moment, but she could read his eyes flawlessly. Sun shut her mouth and approached him and put the design in front of him.

"Her name is Croc."

Croc's eyes were charismatic, but they were somehow cute crocodile dolls.

"It's a crocodile that makes a lion tremble, but he opens his mouth to a little bird to help him. I think that's going to be the concept for Consencio, which is emerging as a strong leader in the retail industry. Work strongly, but be friendly to customers."

Without answering, Gyeonhui examined the character's appearance and image slowly and meticulously. His sharp eyes scanned the dolls. Sun looked as if she was being tested, swallowing her saliva.

"... Not bad."

He smiled as he spoke.

"Really? Wow...! I'm sorry. I'm so excited."

Sun soon closed her mouth, seemingly conscious of Gyeonhui. However, she couldn't resist the constant bursting of her smile.

"What's so exciting?"

"You smiled for the first time, so..."

"... I don't smile."

"No? Oh, okay."

She really didn't mean anything special about it, but as the conversation flowed strangely, Sun quickly switched the topic.

"Oh, I didn't mean much. I'll bring the modified design back.

Sun reached out to pick the design. At that moment, Gyeonhui reached out and covered her hand. She looked up at him with her eyes wide open. He looked at her still and slowly opened his mouth.

"Have you eaten anything?"

She looked at him with surprise since he had never asked such a private question before.

"No, not yet..."

"Would you like to eat something? Let's eat something. Together."

His voice, which seemed indifferent and heavy, felt strange. Because of his eyes, Sun had to bow her head down unknowingly. His hands covered her hands. Even at that unrealistic moment, Sun thought his hands were so gorgeous.

***

When Sun woke up, the couple had already been dropped off. Sun turned her head with a bitter expression and looked out of the window.

"Why do I only remember the good memories of us after we broke up?"

As she sighed for a long time, Sun's cell phone rang. It was Ari.

"... Why are you calling me when I'm having such a bad day?"

Sun answered the phone happily.

"Don't you feel good today? Anyway, where are you now? Are you not coming back to Seoul today?"

Ari's voice seemed urgent.

"No, I think the bus is almost to Seoul. Why? What's going on?"

"Today is the day I have to collect the money from Mr. Choi. I totally forgot. Mr. Choi went to another meeting, and I couldn't get a hold of him. If I don't go to him on time, He won't not pay us until next month."

Ari spoke as if he was about to cry. Sun, who knows Mr. Choi's personality better than anyone else, could understand how Ari felt.

"What time is the appointment?"

"Thirty minutes from now."

After confirming the time, Sun nodded slowly.

"I think I can be there if I rush."

"Phew. Thank you. I owe you a big one."

"Dducktuisun?"

The word for a set of rice cake snacks, tempura, and soondae, a Korean sausage.

"Is it going to be enough? I'll also buy you a fish cake too!"

"Where's this coming from? That's great, anyway. I'll see you soon."

When she hung up the phone, Sun smiled and quickened her steps. To stop Mr. Choi, she had to arrive at the store as soon as possible.