Deal Breaker - Chapter 48
“Drive slowly.”
As the driver followed his instructions and slowed the car, the ride to drop his classmate off at the subway station took longer.
“Hyung, if you’re not seeing anyone these days, would you like me to set you up on a blind date?”
Kanghyeon shook his head.
“You’re at that age where you should start thinking about marriage.”
“I’m not interested.”
“Come on, the ones who say that are always the ones suddenly showing up with invitations saying, ‘I’m getting married.’ Like Joohwan-hyung today. Honestly, don’t you feel jealous watching them?”
“Not at all. I’m happy for him, but I don’t envy him. Other people probably have their reasons, but I don’t. I just have a lot of reasons not to do it.”
Marriage was a business deal with little benefit and massive costs. Kanghyeon repeated the line he used every time someone brought up marriage, and added,
“To me, it’s irrational.”
“But having a child who looks like you makes up for all of that, doesn’t it?”
“Children are environmental destruction.”
“……”
“Did you know that in developed countries, having one child adds about sixty metric tons of carbon emissions annually?”
In other words, decades of effort from dozens of people to protect the environment would be undone the moment a single child was born.
“The population is already high. Should I add to environmental destruction and resource competition by having kids, too?”
“That’s… a little lofty as a reason for not marrying or having kids. But, you know, the next generation has to be born for this generation to be sustained.”
From there, their conversation drifted into socioeconomic discussions about aging populations and demographic collapse. But by the time the subway station came into view, the topic had circled back to him.
“Seriously, you’re not open to blind dates? No pressure about marriage, just meeting someone casually.”
The classmate was already pulling out his phone to show him someone’s photo, but Kanghyeon had no curiosity at all.
“I like things the way they are.”
“Fair enough. You’ve got everything anyway.”
As soon as the classmate got out and the car started moving again, Kanghyeon asked Hyeji,
“Secretary Noh, are you feeling that bad? Want to leave early? I could drop you off at home…”
“No, I’m fine now.”
She lifted her head from the window frame, showing her face at last. She looked refreshed, though only for a moment.
“No, actually, I’m not fine.”
“Then I’ll take you home…”
“Stop the car!”
The urgency in her voice made him think she was about to throw up, but as soon as the car stopped, Hyeji jumped out and marched straight toward a naengmyeon restaurant. She even looked determined.
“I’ll eat before I come back. You go on ahead.”
“I thought you couldn’t eat because you felt sick?”
Startled by the deep voice behind her, Hyeji turned around. The car was already gone, but why was he standing there? She asked her boss, who had now sat down across from her,
“Why are you following me?”
“For me to leave Secretary Noh alone? If you get kidnapped, I’m bankrupt.”
That was a bit of an exaggeration. Acton Security wasn’t so fragile that it would collapse if its Director’s Guide disappeared.
“Are you going to eat too?”
“No, I already had lunch.”
“I was just asking to be polite.”
True fast food must be naengmyeon because it arrived almost as soon as she ordered. She twisted the hair that had been draped over her shoulder into a bun on top of her head. She buttoned her light gray cardigan all the way up and tucked her blouse collar inside. She rolled up her sleeves to her elbows.
Only after carefully completing all preparations for eating noodles did Hyeji pick up her chopsticks. Kanghyeon watched her eat naengmyeon like someone who hadn’t eaten in days and asked,
“You drank last night, didn’t you? Why mul-naengmyeon?”
She was someone who only ever ordered bibim-naengmyeon. So when she said she wanted mul-naengmyeon earlier, he’d assumed it was a flimsy excuse. Who would’ve thought she was serious?
“I told you, I’m on a diet. I don’t drink anymore.”
She even lifted the bowl to drink the broth. When she put it down again, all that remained was a few short noodle strands, some julienned cucumber, and ice.
“Ah, refreshing.”
“Monk Noh.”
She shot him a look for teasing her like she was an old monk. Just then, he set down a yogurt drink in front of her, the foil cap neatly peeled back.
“You have to have dessert too.”
On the way back to the office in a taxi, he suddenly said,
“Noh Hyeji-ssi, you’ve grown a lot.”
Why say that out of nowhere? Did I just commit insubordination? I was literally just breathing quietly.
Apparently, her thoughts were written all over her face. Kanghyeon, resting his temple on his knuckles as he leaned against the window ledge, chuckled.
“Not teasing. Just… sentimental.”
“You didn’t raise me, so why do you look so pleased?”
“Pleased? When did I look pleased?”
Then what was that smile on his face? Disappointment? Regret? Lament?
