#052
#052
The next day in the early morning, there seemed to be about 20 people gathered to do volunteer work. They said people usually do volunteer work as new employees. Because they took the advice of their seniors to heart that you have to do it when you’re young to suffer less later.
The reason I learned about these circumstances floating around the company was thanks to Employee Ha, one of the three people I was with throughout the donation event yesterday. It was fun hearing him tell me various stories related to the company that I didn’t know, but the other two looked tired from constantly checking my reaction and covering Employee Ha’s mouth or poking his side.
“Hello.”
As I approached while greeting, the gathered people focused on me with eyes full of tension and curiosity. When I smiled brightly at them, only then did they relax their guard and return the greeting. Among them, the familiar Employee Ha, with his curly hair fluttering, ran up to me.
“Ha Jin. You’re here? Who’s behind you?”
Employee Ha, who speaks to me in a friendly manner, is definitely an extrovert with conviction. I briefly introduced Sun Woo behind me.
“This is Sun Woo, my friend. When I said I’m doing volunteer work, he said he’ll do it together too.”
“Which group is he from?”
He seems to think Sun Woo is also a chaebol son since I said he’s my friend. Strictly speaking it’s true, but not right now, so I shook my head.
“He’s a school friend.”
“Ah. I thought he had a noble air about him.”
Employee Ha, perhaps embarrassed, randomly grabbed my arm.
“Let’s go, Ha Jin. There’s a vest you wear when doing volunteer work. I’ll get it for you.”
At that moment, Sun Woo suddenly grabbed Employee Ha’s arm and detached it from me. Employee Ha was naturally flustered, and I wondered why this magpie was suddenly hitting his head against a bell for no reason. There’s no snake attacking a scholar here either.
“He’s not a kid. He can walk on his own just fine. Just tell us the location.”
“Really? They’re handing them out over there…”
Employee Ha awkwardly used formal speech and pointed ahead with his finger. In the place he pointed to, a person holding a neon green vest could be seen.
Sun Woo slightly nodded his head and went to receive the vest. The abandoned Employee Ha immediately drooped the corners of his eyes and made a pitiful face. Indeed, even I find it a bit scary when Sun Woo speaks bluntly, so how much more so for Employee Ha who just met him.
“Is it because I misspoke? I mistakenly thought he was a group heir… I’m sorry about this.”
“It’s not that.”
“Then? He seemed super pissed?”
“…”
I couldn’t bring myself to answer. Sun Woo clearly dislikes when someone touches me. Through several situations, even though I didn’t want to know, it just got inputted into my head. It was like a formula. Someone makes contact with me. Sun Woo immediately intervenes and detaches them from me. And then I had to smooth over the awkward atmosphere. Sun Woo, why are you doing this to me?
“Just… It’ll be fine as long as you don’t come near me.”
I indirectly told him not to touch me. Employee Ha looked at me with a face that said I was talking nonsense, but I couldn’t give a detailed explanation. I’m too embarrassed to even say out loud that my friend is overprotective of me.
Employee Ha naturally left my side when Sun Woo came back with the vest. He was quick to read the situation. Sun Woo rolled up the vest he received from the bottom and put it around my neck. Even doting parents wouldn’t do this. He’s treating me, a college student, at the level of a kindergartener with a runny nose.
“Weren’t they people on your father’s side? He’s quite friendly with you.”
“It’s only natural for company people to be nice to the group’s successor.”
I finished putting on the vest and tapped Sun Woo’s shoulder.
“Mr. Magpie. Please don’t hit your head against a bell at any time.”
Sun Woo made a deflating sound and smiled at my joke. Seeing his smile, my expression also naturally softened. He must have really followed me to the volunteer work out of concern for me. Studying together with me and paying so much attention to take care of me just because I got hit by my father a few times.
I felt touched for no reason and my heart felt fluffy.
* * *
The volunteer work was delivering fans in preparation for the heat wave. It was providing Eunha Electronics fans to the vulnerable class, but most of the houses were in places difficult for vehicles to enter, so we had to walk and deliver them directly.
We split into teams and each rode a truck to disperse. Perhaps in consideration of Sun Woo being my friend, we ended up on the same team. I wish he’d just leave me alone a bit.
Contrary to my concern that he would definitely stick by my side and bother me again, once the volunteer work started, Sun Woo quietly and diligently carried out his assigned tasks. The protagonist seems to have been born a model student. How can he do volunteer work so uprightly too?
‘It’s hard to adapt when he keeps going back and forth between normal and abnormal…’
Seeing him, I also felt relieved and was in the middle of delivering fans to the places assigned to me.
The fans weren’t heavy so I was moving while carrying them easily, but one company employee kept following and walking with me. All he had in his hand was just one camera. At first I thought maybe he had a job taking photos related to the company’s volunteer work, but to deliver quickly, we were each moving individually, so it bothered me that he kept following only me. As I was carrying the fan and turned back, he lifted his camera to take a picture of me and struck a pose, so I asked.
“What are you doing?”
At my question, he looked around and confirmed no one else was there except himself, then pointed to his chest with his finger.
“Me? I’m taking photos?”
He asked as if I should know by looking.
“I mean. Why are you only taking pictures of me?”
I put the fan box on the ground and walked over, and he lowered the camera to his waist and fidgeted with it in his hands. Standing in front of him, he frowned and looked at me. It seemed he was also annoyed to be doing this. Meaninglessly following me and only taking photos.
“…Ha Jin, they sent me to take your pictures. So I have to take them.”
“Who?”
“The PR team.”
The PR team? As I thought about it quietly, I could roughly picture it. Since I said I’m participating in volunteer work, a report must have gone up. It wouldn’t have been an ordinary matter for the group’s successor to step up and say he’ll do volunteer work. And they definitely misinterpreted my intentions a bit. That there was a political calculation rather than a pure heart in the volunteer work.
They must have thought the young master who got into an accident is doing this to improve his image. At that, my expression naturally hardened.
“Please delete all the photos you took of me just now.”
“Pardon?”
“I’ll convey the message to the PR team. You don’t have to take them anymore.”
“Did I, perhaps, do something rude?”
He erased his annoyed face and immediately made a frightened expression. He must have recalled that my single word could make his job disappear overnight. Being a chaebol is really no joke. I have to be careful with every word. I relaxed my hardened expression because it felt like I was unnecessarily hurting someone.
“I really came to do volunteer work. So please let me quietly do the volunteer work and leave. I’m not doing it to have my photo taken.”
“…Pardon? But.”
“Really. I’m sincere. You can go now. I’ll tell the PR team nicely.”
“…”
He rolled his eyes as if trying to grasp my intentions. He had a frustrated look as if he couldn’t quite figure it out, but I couldn’t pressure him any further, so I just picked up the fan box I had put down and moved my steps towards the address. When I looked back, he was no longer following me.
* * *
“I’ve been to five places already.”
There were check marks on five of the addresses written on the paper. I took out my cell phone and was looking at the map to find the next house. As I was passing through a narrow alley, I suddenly collided with someone who ran out. I only took a few steps back, but the other person was flat on the ground.
“I’m sorry.”
I reached out my arm to help him up, but he got up right away at a speed that didn’t even need my support and ran off without looking back. He looked like he was in a lot of pain, so as I watched the back of the person running off, I thought his body must be sturdy. I was about to say I’ll see all sorts of strange people and move on, but I heard a loud shout from the alley.
“That bastard! That bastard took my wallet and ran! Aish. Huh? Hey, young man. That guy with the hat! Catch that bastard for me.”
Huh? The person who bumped into me was also wearing a hat? Sure enough, at that sound, the one who had collided with me was adding even more speed and quickly disappearing from the alley. At the man’s shout, I put down the fan box and ran after him. As I ran at high speed through the narrow alley, my arm got scratched by a protruding brick on the wall. Without even paying attention to the wound, I kept running after him, and before I knew it, I came out to a wide road after leaving the alley.
At that moment, I saw the person who had been taking my photos until just now trudging and walking in front of the guy running away with a hat on.
“Catch that person!”
At my shout, he turned his head back to look, then without even a chance to think about what was going on, he reflexively threw himself towards the guy with the hat. The running guy couldn’t overcome the speed and fell over, and the photographer fell over too. It looks painful just watching.
In case he tries to run away again, he climbed on top of the guy with the hat, pressed his back with his knees, bent both arms behind his back, and restrained them with one hand. The photographer seemed not to grasp the situation and was just blinking his eyes in surprise.
“Wow, thank you. Thanks to you, I caught him.”
“Who is he?”
“A pickpocket. Look, that man is running over here. He said that man stole his wallet.”
“Ah, yes…”
“Are you okay? You had a big fall.”
“I don’t know. My mind is actually blank right now.”
With his dazed face, I was worried about him for no reason and examined him. He doesn’t seem to have anything wrong… As I was looking him over here and there, I saw his camera bag fall to the ground and told him to look with a gesture, and he was startled and lifted the camera bag like handling a precious object.
“Huh? No way. No way! No… Please be intact…”
He rummaged through the bag and closed his eyes tightly.
“Is it broken?”
When I asked with concern, he nodded his head with a crying face.
“Don’t worry. I’ll buy you a new one.”
“Yes… Huh? Yees?”
He answered glumly and then asked back in surprise. More than that, I couldn’t just keep pressing the guy squirming underneath, so I asked him to call the police.
“First, please report it to 112.”
“Ah yes yes. Yes!”
Perhaps because of the sudden incident and his broken camera, he seemed flustered and asked me a very embarrassing question.
“But what’s the number for 112?”