That Face Is the Problem - vanish into fiction

Maybe he is not rude but just lacks conversation skills. Maybe he is someone with a level of introversion completely different from mine. Jae-gyeong even came to that conclusion.

On the fourth day, Jae-gyeong and Da-sol received messages from Hyeon Hee-ro to report to the conference room. This was their first official workday since the emergency raid of the S-rank snack dungeon.

Jae-gyeong wore a neat beige shirt with light-colored jeans. Since it was a meeting, he also wore a belt and a watch.

‘Since we live together, it makes sense to go to work together too, right?’

The conference room for Team 1 was on the seventeenth floor. It was a short commute if they just rode the elevator together.

Jae-gyeong lingered outside Da-sol’s room for a moment before sitting on the living room sofa. Soon, Da-sol came out of his room, wearing the usual plain T-shirt and loose pants.

‘Ah, now that I think about it, the T-shirt… the delivery must have arrived.’

He would stop by today to pick up the T-shirt and apologize while handing it to Da-sol. Jae-gyeong thought this to himself as he got up from the sofa.

“I thought… it would be nice to work together… so I waited…”

Jae-gyeong said cautiously. Da-sol glanced at him and gave his usual reply.

“Oh, really.”

He went straight to the entrance to put on his sneakers. Jae-gyeong hurried to follow, putting on his loafers, and they left the dorm together.

Da-sol pressed the elevator button first. There were four elevators, and it was impossible to know which would arrive first. During rush hour, all of them seemed busy, stopping at every floor.

For someone extremely introverted like Jae-gyeong, even this short wait for the elevator was very uncomfortable.

“Everyone seems very busy…”

Unable to bear the silence, Jae-gyeong awkwardly tried some small talk. Da-sol looked up at him.

“What did you say?”

“Ah….”

“I did not hear. What did you say?”

“Oh, it was nothing important….”

And then silence again.

Jae-gyeong tightly closed his eyes and prayed silently. Come quickly, come quickly. He wanted to teleport to the conference room or maybe go back to the dorm to get something he forgot.

Then Da-sol spoke.

“You do not have to try for no reason.”

“Huh…?”

Jae-gyeong opened his eyes in surprise. Da-sol was still staring at him. There was no doubt he had seen Jae-gyeong praying with his eyes closed!

“I do not do it either.”

“So… I thought I should…”

“Oh, really.”

Yes, really, really! Jae-gyeong almost replied that way. If he heard that “Oh, really” one more time, he felt he might scream. (Of course, he could not actually scream.)

Fortunately, before he could yell and blame himself, ding, one of the elevators opened. Jae-gyeong and Da-sol entered.

“Hello.”

“Good morning, Hunters.”

“Good morning.”

The employees already in the elevator greeted them politely and mechanically. Da-sol simply nodded at them, while Jae-gyeong bowed more noticeably and whispered, “Yes, good morning….”

And then, silence again.

This time, the silence was shared, which made it somewhat easier. Jae-gyeong kept his eyes on the elevator display, wishing for the seventeenth floor to arrive quickly. People got off at their respective floors, and soon, only Da-sol and Jae-gyeong remained.

Then Da-sol suddenly said,

“Then I will try too.”

“…Huh? Try what…?”

“Effort. I will try too.”

As soon as Da-sol finished speaking, the elevator doors opened. They had reached the seventeenth floor. Da-sol stepped out first. Jae-gyeong hurriedly pressed the ‘open’ button just as the doors were closing and rushed out. Somehow, his chest felt like it had dropped.

Jae-gyeong quietly watched Da-sol walk ahead. When Da-sol opened the conference room door, he could hear the team greeting him from inside. Da-sol did not enter immediately but opened the door wider and looked back at Jae-gyeong. It was a signal for him to come quickly. That was Da-sol’s effort.

Jae-gyeong stepped forward, one heartbeat-like step at a time, toward Da-sol. He could not tell if the pounding was from his footsteps or his heart, but he walked closer and closer to Da-sol.

Thump…

Thump…!

Standing directly in front of Da-sol, Jae-gyeong bit his lip. Something… was going wrong.