"Oh I'm being followed by a moonshadow, moonshadow, moonshadow"
Cat Stevens < Moonshadow >
»»————- ————-««
With clasped hands, Namjoon clenches his teeth as he watches the entire interview through the one-way mirror.
He hadn't realized he had been projecting his anxiety, until another voice reiterates the fact to him. "You're jumpy and your legs are twitching, Namjoon sunbaenim. Are you alright?"
The small flesh on his cheeks indents inward as he laughs to himself. He's acquired a talent in convincing himself. "I'm alright, bro. No worries."
A loud ding of his cellphone bids his junior goodbye.
Namjoon slides his finger across the screen of his phone to open the KakaoTalk chatroom.
Taehyung 🐯
How is he, Namjoon hyung? Was there anyone blinded during the interview? Did his handsome face hurt any of the ladies?
The corner of Namjoon's lips twitch at Taehyung's much needed spontaneity. Both his thumbs tap on the lower of his screen.
Seokjin 🐹
The ladies are just lucky that I'm not there
Taehyung 🐯
They really are lucky they didn't have to see an old grandpa
Seokjin 🐹
Ok that's it. You are officially barred from eating at my place
Taehyung 🐯
HYUNGNIM, you may be a grandpa but there's no denying that you are the most handsome among us three Kims
Seokjin 🐹
I'm keeping this screenshot
Namjoon 🐨
I'm watching him through the one-way mirror. He's dancing right now
Seokjin 🐹
I'm honestly curious, how did you get in with your superior dancing?
Taehyung 🐯
His IQ148 seems more doubtful, isn't it hyung?
Seokjin 🐹
I'm glad we have something we can both agree on, Taehyung-ah
Namjoon shakes his head in silence, but stays rooted in his topic.
Namjoon 🐨
If you ask me, I've never seen the kid danced so hard in his life
Seokjin 🐹
He always works hard, our Kookie
Taehyung 🐯
I miss him so much
Seokjin 🐹
Be honest. You just don't want to be the maknae of this chat group, don't you?
Gripping his fist tight, Namjoon's knuckles soon loses color. Putting his phone down, he focuses his attention back to the one-way mirror. The faces of the executives reminded him of his first interview at the company. Their words were direct and brutal, and they meant business. Stepping into the company was an equivalence to his mom's earful, who'd always told Namjoon that it is far better to be an engineer, a lawyer, or an office worker. She was always sure that he would excel in these fields.
Namjoon had attempted his voyage on the road less travelled, but his voice could not take him far enough. He hated the idea of being confined to a nine-to-five job, and he knows exactly what is going through Jungkook's mind in the middle of the big, cold interview room.
Jungkook lowers the upper half of his body for a deep bow, signalling the end of his interview. Namjoon stands up instinctively, sticking his eyes right at the woman sitting between the two male executives.
Her head bobs.
Her lips are curled upwards.
Namjoon fumbles with the unlocking of his phone.
Namjoon 🐨
Guys. I think we may have just found a reason to add him into this chatroom.
»»————- ————-««
"Psst! Did you hear about the handsome, young man at our second floor?"
"Which one?"
"The managers who saw him through the one-way mirror said he looked gorgeous, like an idol!"
"I just came up from the second floor, and damn, he looks fine!"
"Do you have a picture?"
"Yes, I took one secretly!"
At the copier-machine-cum-office-pantry, Mia and two other young ladies from the adjacent department are blatantly loud with their gossips. Standing by the high table, they make their conversations no secret, as though inviting others who bump into them in the desolate corner to join in.
It's unfortunate that one who walks in happens to be Yeseul.
Her brows twitches at the unrefined sum of giggling.
With a mug on her hands, Yeseul courses her way to the water dispenser. Her footsteps rumble like a crack of thunder against the clear blue sky.
"Oh shit, it's her." Mia's voice lowers at the sight of her team leader, and despicable gasps follow.
Pushing the red button on the dispenser, a cross-armed Yeseul waits for her hot cup of Earl Grey tea to be refilled. Behind her, the ladies who are mindlessly chattering away aren't exactly far apart from her age. From the outside looking in, they share similar interests in fashion and art.
Perhaps, in a different world, Yeseul would have been able to join in like a normal woman in her twenties. She could have indulged in their idle conversations.
In the world that she lives in, Yeseul draws an unnecessarily clear line between herself and her subordinate. As Mia's team leader, she shoulders the responsibility of ensuring that her quality work is completed on time, so that her already sub-par reputation could be salvaged.
She wouldn't have interrupted Mia's break if she had been doing a good job.
But she isn't.
Fearing that a quiet exit from the pantry may equate to the act of condoning Mia's behavior, Yeseul lets out a long breath as she turns towards the young ladies.
The soul from Yeseul's eyes dissipates. "Mia."
The other two young women scrambles their way out of the pantry, as culprits do in the presence of police patrol. Mia, left behind with her phone, huffs and puffs in indignation.
As the youngest of the team, Mia's usually bright-energy is jovial and admirable. Yeseul notes her inherent potential, but her slothful ways - heavily-induced by Jihye and Nari - are evidently eating her up. Aware of the above, Yeseul tries not to be too hard on her.
As she attempts to form a reasonable argument to win Mia over, an unexpected outburst from the younger startles her.
"Ms Lee?"
Yeseul nods her head. "Yes, Mia."
Leaving the tall table, Mia drags her feet across the pantry, standing eye-to-eye with Yeseul. The hot drink on Yeseul's hands keep their noses from touching. Yeseul's lack of expression fans the flames sitting in the pit of Mia's stomach and leaves the younger's pupils wavering.
Clenching her teeth, a layer of dew clings fast to the bottom of Mia's eyes. Her exuberant eyes tire. "I don't like you. Nobody likes you."
Blinking remotely, Yeseul watches as Mia walk away with the most dejected frown on her face.
»»————- ————-««
At exactly half past ten in the evening, Yeseul finally rides home on bus 613.
The bus carries a remnant of four passengers, with Yeseul picking the window seat on the last row. At the elevated seating area, she beholds the entirety of the bus in a glance. At the far front, a pair of husband and wives are leaning on each other's shoulders wordlessly, fast asleep. At the front row of the elevated seating area, a young campus couple are giggling, drunk at the sight of each other.
Retracting her eyes, Yeseul smirks to herself, finding herself yards apart from the people who are surrounded by love. Leaning the side of her head against the window, she puts her edgy mind to rest by focusing on the passing night skyscapes. She looks up at the yellow crescent moon radiating against the mysterious, dark backdrop. Her once soulless eyes ignites with curiosity. This is the picture she sees every night on her way home, and yet her lingering question never finds its answer.
We all live under the same night sky, but why doesn't the moon ever shine on me?
She reflects in solitude over the day's events, finding the most impressionable memory from the scene where she has barely spoken.
Mia's coldness towards her is an eerie resemblance to Yeseul's coolness towards the others. The cut of her words are short but deep. Thin red veins line the base of the white of her eyes. Her lower lip trembles as unpleasant words passed through.
Shutting her worn out lids, Yeseul pinches the skin between her brows with her thumb and index finger, kneading it upwards then downwards.
She has to think of a way to pull Mia out of her messy clique and into her lane.
But being the standoffish, prickly, and perceivably inhumane person that she is, she isn't exactly sure how she should approach this.
Yeseul desperately wants to pull all the ropes together, but fears that her bones will break at the unimaginable weight.
She feels utterly alone.
Letting out a low grunt, Yeseul's lament turns into a pool of stream.
Close to tears, an unforeseen halting of the bus at the next stop causes her body to jerk forward.
Her lids lift with alarm, only to find a young man in his fitted black suit walking onward on the moving bus after tagging his transportation card on the billing machine.
Yeseul likens the scenario to a cruel joke.
A never-ending saga of bumping into her next-door neighbor.
Almost immediately, Jungkook picks up on Yeseul's presence at the back of the bus, making no qualms about hiding his widening grin.
The grin, light and warm, matches nicely with the fine creases beneath his round eyes. The curves at the end of his lightly tinted lips pulls at his skin, exposing the front of his bunny tooth.
He is smiling at her.
The warm sensation is almost enough to melt the block of ice sheathing Yeseul's cage of affection.
"Hi, Yeseul noonim," Jungkook walks up to her in controlled pace, eyeing the vacant seats next to her. "Can I sit by the last row too?"
Yeseul nods with pursed lips, but doesn't immediately remove her belongings in the seat next to her.
Relenting to the adjacent seat, Jungkook slides his crossbodied bag and himself into the left section of the bus. Yeseul, taking advantage of his preoccupation, swipes the pool of water clouding her eyes.
Jungkook's voice is merry as he turns his face towards Yeseul. Upon noticing the redness of her eyes, his words get sucked into the back of his throat.
"I have a happy ne--"
Reading into the maze encrypting her once lowered eyes, he stops for a second, as though deciding on the gear in which he ought to switch into.
"What is that, Jungkook-sshi?"
Yeseul's voice falls lightly on Jungkook's ear, like a fallen petal from a cherry tree. Despite her own troubles, she has genuine interest in what he has to say.
Jungkook's face is written with strokes of worry. His voice, a little lower than usual, is gripped with maturity. "I... I am happy to see you."
Yeseul blinks back at his words, spoken as though he'd knew how much it would mean to her at that given moment. Her breath quivers. "It is good to see you too."
Turning his head away, Jungkook covers the tip of his ears in a moment of awkwardness. His eyes, lowered on the ground, trails the linoleum floor.
"Were you drinking, Jungkook-sshi?"
Yeseul's nose twitches at the faint whiff of barbecue smoke and alcohol, regardless of Jungkook's state of sobriety.
Pinching the material of his cotton shirt, Jungkook ventures into a sniffing spree. He is startled by the unmistakable odor which latches closely unto him. Straightening his back, his bunny teeth emerges against the crinkled lines below his tall nose.
"I had been celebrating with a hyung of mine," Jungkook readily admits, a slow dent forming on the base of his cheeks.
Yeseul nods, a obligatory smile gracing her lips.
She doesn't pry for details, but Jungkook is already a step ahead of her. His clear, radiant eyes light up his entire countenance. "I... I got the job, Yeseul noonim."
When Jungkook smiles, it is his eyes that cave first. The crinkled lines beneath the edge of his large eyes carry an exuberant warmth and unmistakable boyish energy. His lips pull upward naturally, lifting the full body of his cheeks. His nose follows the muscles of his cheeks, morphing his sharp and prominent nose into a cute, flatter, round button.
The recurring sight of Jungkook looking like an adorable bunny makes her clam up. Despite wanting to say much more, Yeseul's congratulations end up in less than three words. "That's great... really..."
Yeseul's lackluster reaction leaves Jungkook wanting, but he doesn't push the subject. Nodding his head slowly, he turns his head back and sinks his upper body to his seat dejectedly. He gnaws on the bottom of his lip without realizing, forming a heartbreaking yet cute pout.
"... I knew you could do it," Yeseul continues, her utterance as soft as a whisper.
Jungkook springs back to his bunny antics almost immediately. "You... You knew?"
Seoul is a place of many contradictions. It cares about the candidate's technical qualifications, curricular experiences and academic results. But at the end of the day, it also cares about the image that is portrayed. Jungkook, without a doubt, is blessed with good-looking features. A face that many Seoulites would pay for. His energy and attitude are even a more rare find to any employers.
She nods her head, but omits her reasons why. "I knew."
"Could I tell you something else, Yeseul noonim?"
"Hmm?"
The bus stops to drop off the elderly couple, and Jungkook's next utterances might have been designed to stop Yeseul's heart as well.
"Unlike the interviews in Busan, I think I passed this interview in Seoul... because I think I found a reason to stay in Seoul."