Now and for the Last Time

20 장

If you'd asked me, it was only a matter of time before something like this happened. But of course, nobody had asked me.

"Is Sehun here?"

I looked up from my laptop, where I'd been studying the seating arrangements for that weekend's wedding. A pretty girl in shorts and button-down shirt, her bob hair pulled back in a headband, was standing just inside the main door of the office, a picnic basket over one arm.

"Um," I said, looking toward the back room. He wasn't there; he'd left a few minutes earlier with another girl, whom he'd introduced to me as Taeyeon. "He's actually at lunch."

"Oh." Her disappointment was fast and obvious. "Do you know where he went?"

I shook my head. "Sorry."

She twisted her mouth, either pouting or thinking or both. Then she set the basket down, pulling out her phone, and quickly typed in a message. A moment later, I heard a ding. "Oh," she said. "He says he's in a meeting?"

The fact this was phrased as a question suggested I was supposed to give an answer. Instead, I just shrugged, smiling, and went back to my tables.

I heard her typed something else. Then she said, "Well, I guess you can do sandwiches for dinner, too, right?"

I'm not sure why I was still involved in this exchange. Looking up, I saw she was watching me, again expecting a response. "Guess so."

At this, she smiled, like I'd said much more than two words. "Okay if leave a quick note?" she asked, picking up a Soojung Bae Weddings pad from the table between us. This time she didn't wait for an answer. She just started writing.

Too many tables at this wedding, I thought to myself as I went back to my work. At least it was a sit-down dinner, so we wouldn't be directing traffic at a buffet.

"If you could give this to him," the girl said, forcing me to look up again, "that would be great." She was holding out a piece of paper, folded into a neat square.

I put it on the table, above my own papers. "Sure thing."

"Thanks so much!" A clink, then a creak, as she lifted the basket again and walked to the door. Once outside, she slid on a pair of sunglasses before walking away.

I filled in another table with names, all the while aware of the folded note nearby, SEHUN written on the top in curling, girlish hand. I had the weirdest urge to open and read it, although I had no idea why. His love life was none of my concern. But it was annoying to have to run interference for him while he was off having lunch and I was still working.

That said, I had to admit (but would not have aloud, not to anyone) that having Sehun as a co-worker wasn't actually bad. Sure, there was his tendency to break things - a stapler and tape measure had suffered the same fate as the tape dispenser in his short employ - as well as the constant chatter that now filled the time I used to spend organizing place cards in silence. But in truth, he was funny, and I often had to bit back my own laughs as he talks about his various misadventures while we sat working side by side. Like, perhaps, scheduling two lunches at once. I couldn't wait to hear about that one.

About twenty minutes later, stomach grumbling, I took my own break, walking over to the coffee shop for an turkey sandwich. The line was long, and I ended up back by Phone Lady, who was set up at the window again.

". . . so I said, you don't have to tell me about health concerns," she was saying, her voice loud as always. "I'm a cancer survivor! Sicken cells in two years scraped off my shoulders and back. And I still managed to pay my rent and bills."