NFS 3.19

Strangely, their fur changed after meeting their new families. Probably because they were kept cleaner, but their eyes sparkled more and they smiled so well. The shelter staff said they realized the dogs were adopted when they saw how bright they became, but Joo Seung-ha felt it from a different point. Sometimes under adoption photos, people would write the family surname before the dog’s name like this.

Park Koko, Lee Gooreum, Choi Gomdol, and so on. Seeing that made Joo Seung-ha really feel that these dogs had found families. It made him slightly emotional thinking about how the owners felt sharing their family names with these small furry creatures who couldn’t speak and walked on four legs.

“Is there a problem?”

At the sharp question, Joo Seung-ha lifted his eyes from the bag and shook his head. Seo Ahn-jae had already sat in the driver’s seat and turned around to look at him.

“No.”

“What is it?”

As he was about to say it was nothing, Seo Ahn-jae slightly furrowed his brows. Strangely, to Joo Seung-ha it looked like he was worried about him, so he opened up honestly.

“It says ‘Seo Cookie.’ I just think it’s nice to see that he’s really become part of a family.”

“Are you envious?”

“No.”

Joo Seung-ha denied it immediately without even thinking. But the denial came so quickly that it made the other take it as confirmation. Seo Ahn-jae tilted his head to one side and stared at Joo Seung-ha.

“No. I’m not envious.”

When Joo Seung-ha emphasized once more deliberately, Seo Ahn-jae responded dismissively,

“Okay.”

Then, turning forward, he muttered as if to himself, “Seo Joo Seung-ha, that’s a pretty name.”

“It’s not pretty. Don’t change other people’s names carelessly. Besides, why should I become a Seo?”

“If you don’t like it, I can change it to Joo Seo Ahn-jae.”

“…”

There were many retorts he could make—don’t be ridiculous, that name is weird too. But his mouth wouldn’t open. Joo Seung-ha pretended to be busy petting Cookie to hide it. He couldn’t understand why those words weighed heavily on his heart. It was even more confusing because it felt similar to the emotion he felt when seeing Park Koko and Lee Gooreum. Though Joo Seung-ha showed no reaction, Seo Ahn-jae started the car as if he wasn’t concerned. However, when the car left the parking lot and entered the road, Seo Ahn-jae’s low voice could be heard.

“If you want, I’ll really make it happen.”

He might have mumbled “no thanks,” but it seemed to have been drowned out by the engine noise. Instead of confirming again in a louder voice, Joo Seung-ha turned his gaze to the window. Darkness had already fallen, and countless tailgate lights from the cars lit up as they headed home.

“What did you say?”

Joo Seung-ha, who had been preparing pee pads and water bowls for Cookie, asked the home owner in disbelief. The homeowner, who was preparing to leave again, answered brazenly.

“Watch Cookie well. I should be back before midnight, but if the talk runs long, I might come back at dawn.”

“No, why should I…”

“Then are you going to leave a sick dog alone?”

“No, but still…”

“Call the guardian and tell them directly. Say you won’t be able to take care of him.”

Wait, the guardian? Joo Seung-ha remembered the sister who looked at Seo Ahn-jae like he was a cockroach. Whoever they were, they absolutely shouldn’t upset someone who could treat the great Seo Ahn-jae that way. Of course, even aside from that reason, Joo Seung-ha couldn’t refuse due to his sense of responsibility for Cookie.

“Ms. lawyer, sigh, isn’t coming today?”

“No.”

“Why?”

Seo Ahn-jae didn’t answer immediately. 

“What’s wrong?” Then came the answer.

“Business trip.”

“When will she be back?”

Seo Ahn-jae’s eyes seemed to roll halfway before answering.

“A week later.”

What?! Surprised by the long period, Joo Seung-ha blurted out, “Where did she go on the business trip?”

“It’s a secret.”

How can that be? Ah, is it because she’s a lawyer, something about client confidentiality? While Joo Seung-ha was making misguided guesses, Seo Ahn-jae brazenly repeated his request.

“Take good care of him. If there’s any problem, we’ll be killed.”

“How can you say such…”

“I don’t joke about my sister.”

Seo Ahn-jae was serious. Joo Seung-ha became serious too.

“…You said you’ll be back by midnight?”

“We’ll see.”

Unlike Joo Seung-ha’s annoyed expression, Seo Ahn-jae, who seemed somehow pleased, pointed to a room.

“Use that room from now on. It’s empty.”

From now on? Joo Seung-ha reacted sensitively to those words and shook his head firmly.

“I won’t need it now or ever.”

“I wouldn’t mind sharing a room with you.”

“Again, why would I…”

“Didn’t you say he shouldn’t get excited? What if seeing me scares him and strains his heart?”

Then your sister would kill us. Joo Seung-ha wanted to back out of this situation, but seeing Cookie lying down cautiously in the corner made his heart soften.

“I won’t touch you.”

Seo Ahn-jae blurted out, as if pushing Joo Seung-ha’s hesitating back. Wouldn’t it be fine even if you did? I could just consider it repaying a debt. Joo Seung-ha hid his thoughts while keeping his gaze fixed on Cookie. Right, it was all thanks to his sister that Cookie was getting better, so I should at least do this much.

“You said she’ll be back in a week?”

“Probably.”

It’s not certain? When Joo Seung-ha turned around with glaring eyes, Seo Ahn-jae confirmed clearly.

“One week. One week will do. I won’t watch him even if I die after that.”

Something felt odd about the way he said “watch him,” but Joo Seung-ha had no more objections and nodded.

“Okay.”

“…”

“I said okay.”

Despite saying it twice, Seo Ahn-jae, who had insisted on him staying, just stared at Joo Seung-ha silently. As Joo Seung-ha was about to ask if he didn’t like that, Seo Ahn-jae slowly curved his lips into a smile.

“Alright.”

***

“Will this be okay, Director?”

On Friday, several team leaders and above were gathered in the conference room at Joo Seung-ha’s company, seriously putting their heads together. The only one who wasn’t serious was Joo Seung-ha, who had roughly checked the project proposal while meeting with Hong Chanwoo yesterday.

“Wow…The quantity. This quantity.”

The logistics team manager tilted his head to one side, unable to continue speaking. In fact, Joo Seung-ha had also been internally surprised when he saw the proposal yesterday. The quantity they were requesting was substantial.

“Can you really release all of this at once? Does it sell that well?”

The logistics team manager turned to Joo Seung-ha in disbelief. Joo Seung-ha calmly relayed what he had heard.

“They said this is a conservative estimate since it’s their first item.”

“Conservative!” Everyone’s eyes widened simultaneously as they exclaimed in amazement.

“Then this means it could sell more than this…We’d need to clear out all our current stock at this rate.”

In response to the logistics team manager’s comment, the director in charge of trade checked the schedule on his laptop and announced.

“We’re getting a shipment in two weeks, so we can meet their quantity requirements.”

“But if we give all our stock to Company N, we’ll have nothing left to sell.”

“We’ll have to request the next shipment from Australia headquarters earlier. And if possible, it would be better to go with two or three items instead of a single item for the broadcast.”

“They preferred single items for limited-time sales. Or at most adding options to a single item.”

When the online team leader reported the requested requirements, the director shook his head.

“Still, we can’t handle all the quantity right now. It’s not an amount we can air freight either. Isn’t the concept about visiting customers one by one anyway?”

When Joo Seung-ha nodded at the director’s question, the director added with a “That’ll work then.”

“There are plenty of reasons to increase items since pets have different tastes. It’s an exaggeration to say all pets like the same food. They’ll probably prefer it being more realistic?”

Everyone agreed with the director’s words. When pet food appears as sponsorship on broadcasts and the caption says all dogs eat it well, it did seem staged. These days, pets have such Michelin-grade tastes.

“So rather than the quantity, I’m more worried about Team Leader Joo.”

“Me?”

When Joo Seung-ha pointed to himself, the director asked with concerned eyes.

“Will you really be okay? If you’re doing this unwillingly, it’s fine not to do it. Our company can do well without such things.”

“But if we take this opportunity, we could do even better.”

Above all, brand awareness would increase. No one could deny this. To rise among the major established companies, awareness was needed more than anything.

“I’ll do it. I’ll do well.”

At Joo Seung-ha’s answer, the other three’s faces brightened. Among them, the online team leader looked at Joo Seung-ha with particularly pleased eyes and praised him.

“I always knew our Team Leader Joo would someday become a pillar of the company with his handsome face.”

“Pillar? What…”

As Joo Seung-ha protested in alarm, waving his hands, the director joined in, agreeing with the online team leader.

“While it’s not good to count chickens before they hatch, the online team leader is right.”

The logistics team manager chimed in at the director’s words.

“Just counting chickens? I’m already spinning plates!”

No one laughed at his outdated joke.

Entering the office after receiving nothing but praise in the conference room, Joo Seung-ha sat at his desk with a stiff expression, feeling awkward. But it seemed the news had already spread, as everyone was looking at him with curious eyes. Planning to stay quiet until the director made the official announcement, he pretended to look at his monitor, but someone couldn’t hold back from speaking up.

“So, Team Leader Joo, you’re appearing on Company N’s shopping broadcast?”

The speaker was Manager Park with her crooked question.

“Nothing’s certain yet.”

When Joo Seung-ha deliberately avoided a definite answer, Manager Park said “Ah” and forced out a leisurely smile.

“While Team Leader Joo has a great face, it’s better not to expect too much even if it goes well. As far as I know, N company’s shopping broadcasts deal with different sizes of products. Pet food? Ah, that’ll be tough.”

“But I heard that the broadcast actually chooses shopping content to fit their planning. They pick products that match their concept after planning first. People say it’s so popular because the planning is central. So they probably contacted us because this concept fits with pet food.”

One employee quickly explained, seeming knowledgeable about the broadcast. Manager Park’s expression stiffened slightly, but conscious of others’ gazes, she forced a smile.

“Well that’s good then, but broadcasts sometimes get canceled right before they start. And it’s just a shopping broadcast, nothing special…”

“It is special. It gets over a million views during the broadcast!”

Even Joo Seung-ha was internally surprised, not knowing it was that significant. He’d only heard it was popular. He felt slightly pressured. Then his eyes met Manager Park’s wavering gaze.

“Congratulations, Team Leader Joo. Hope it goes well.”

Unlike her words, her expression didn’t seem to wish for that.

“Thank you.”

“But that’s how life is. Sometimes things seem like they’ll work out perfectly, but unexpected problems arise and good things turn into poison. You know, like that Chinese old man story? His lost horse returned which seemed lucky, but soon his son broke his leg riding it—something like that. You know?”

When no one responded to Manager Park’s rambling, she stood up and immediately disappeared. In the quiet office, only the knowledgeable employee’s small grumble remained.

“Who does she think she is, quoting parables?”

Whether it was Talmud or ancient proverbs, Joo Seung-ha always thought life was unpredictable like the old man and the horse story. While appearing on the shopping broadcast was good news, it could lead to bad things. So he shouldn’t get too caught up in the current joy. A phone call he received while going to pick up Cookie after work reminded him of this caution.

– Team Leader Hong Chanwoo 

After seeing the caller ID on the screen, he pulled over to the shoulder and answered on speaker.

“Yes, Team Leader.”

There was no sound. Wondering if the call had dropped, Joo Seung-ha checked the screen and called out again.

“Team Leader Hong?”

—Ah, yes.

Then silence fell again. Is something wrong? By now he was worried.

“Are you okay?”

—I was just appreciative for a moment. Your phone voice is nice.

It’s not nice enough to be speechless though?

—Actually.

He spoke one word and added,

—When I first met Team Leader Joo, I was so surprised by your voice that I froze for a moment, unable to speak.

While he didn’t remember that moment well, it wasn’t important. A shy laugh mixed into his voice coming through the speaker. Suddenly, he remembered seeing him turn his head with reddened ears. Joo Seung-ha had to revive his suspicions that had tried to surface several times before but were buried. Could he have fallen for me? But it was difficult to ask that now. The barrier of him being Assistant Manager Shim’s boyfriend was still significant, and Hong Chanwoo’s next words also held back the suspicion.

—I can’t wait to hear your voice on broadcast.

Maybe he’s just evaluating my voice out of a creator’s desire. But even after hanging up, Joo Seung-ha stared at his smartphone with a frozen expression for a while. Now that he had become an important business partner, confirming these suspicions wasn’t easy. Thinking about the possibility of being wrong, he didn’t want to cause offense.

The company people’s expectations also weighed on his mind. So he wanted to maintain a good relationship with Hong Chanwoo if possible. Even if they weren’t connected through work, he was someone whose presence gave off good energy so that added to his feelings. But if there were feelings beyond mere goodwill toward him…

Joo Seung-ha suddenly realized he was only thinking about how to reject someone and laughed at himself. I’m single. It wouldn’t matter if I dated. But behind this reality stood Seo Ahn-jae, like an enormous wall. Until he settled his debt with him, he couldn’t have a normal relationship with anyone. He shouldn’t.

“I’m just getting my hopes up when he hasn’t even confessed to me.”

Joo Seung-ha scolded himself as he started driving again, but the TV shopping appearance wasn’t as purely joyful as it had been yesterday.

[Take Cookie home first. I’ll go straight home around 7:30.]

At first Seo Ahn-jae’s text seemed ridiculous, but because Joo Seung-ha was weak-hearted in front of Cookie, he decided to follow his instructions without complaint. He thought there wouldn’t be a big problem because his second visit to pick up Cookie. But life was unpredictable. An unexpected obstacle was waiting for Joo Seung-ha.