/
The room was silent. Yoonshin recalled that, when he was younger, he couldn’t come up with questions when asked for them. He was watching the children fondly when one girl pushed up her glasses and asked somberly, “Do you have a girlfriend?”
Sehun’s face came to mind, causing a warm smile to form. Not too long ago, when he was asked the same by his sister, he had denied it since they weren’t going out back then. Now he was contemplating a different answer. He wasn’t hesitant anymore. “Yeah, well, I have something like that.”
“So do you have someone you’re going out with or not?”
“I have someone I like. I’m saying that I do have a significant other.” After answering more firmly, he checked his watch. The girls whose eyes were gleaming before looked somewhat disappointed, and they started whispering amongst themselves, which he ignored.
“All right, shall we head out for lunch now? I have a prior appointment, so I can’t accompany you, but I’ll pay for anything you want. You can eat however much you like.”
The youths acted their age. As if they had never been disappointed, the girls became excited, and the boys—who had looked bored of waiting for the lecture to end—simply showed their satisfaction and picked up their jackets. Yoonshin chuckled as he watched the students put on their unofficial uniform—the generic, black puffer coats—and then called over the president of their club, instructing him to contact Yoonshin after ordering their food at the restaurant.
The teen nodded, and Yoonshin ruffled his hair. Yoonshin then waved to each student as they left. The pitter-patter of their feet grew further. Yoonshin grabbed his coat and suitcase last and also left the room.
“It’s chilly.” He hunched his shoulders. Looking out the window in the hallway, he saw that the sun was still hanging high.
‘What was Sehun Kang doing right now?’ he wondered.
Sehun didn’t give Yoonshin time on Christmas Eve nor the day of, but Yoonshin wasn’t greatly frustrated by it. After all, Yoonshin knew what the other man was doing and where he was.
On the eve of the day, Sehun couldn’t leave the office due to a series of meetings starting in the morning and stretching out to the evening. On Christmas, despite it being a holiday, he met a client with a foreign-licensed lawyer at Mihee’s request. Yoonshin left a text message past midnight but fell asleep while waiting for a reply. He remembered waking up the next day to check for the older man’s reply.
Yoonshin had patiently overlooked these absences, but neglecting him even on this day made him quite frustrated.
‘Is there no concept of an anniversary in his head?’ Yoonshin sulked.
Yoonshin took out his phone and momentarily lapsed into thought. Just what was the significance of today? Sehun normally didn’t use vacation days and instead immersed himself in work. Yoonshin had never seen him resting other than on dedicated rest days such as the weekend. Sehun didn’t use additional vacation days other than the week that all the firm’s lawyers were given.
The curiosity that he was suppressing rose to the tip of his tongue. He ended up calling Sehun.
“This is Sehun of Doguk speaking
” Sehun said.
Fortunately, the other man picked up quickly. However, Yoonshin didn’t have high expectations, so he had yet to organize his thoughts. Thanks to that, he ended up asking the question that he had been holding in thus far. “What day is December 31?”
Sehun must have been astonished that he was cut off by such a direct question. After some silence, he laughed in incredulity. “Where’s your phone call etiquette gone? Tell me if you’ve been ripped off somewhere. You know our firm has an internal remedial service.”