DrinkyL C11

Chapter 11

 

Upon leaving Ban Dayeong’s office, the journey home was made in the company of another secretary. The secretary, who introduced herself as Yang Hyeonji, stated she worked under Ban Haeyoung.

Seolgu was curious for a moment if she might be related to Secretary Yang, but refrained from asking and simply nodded.

“You can just call me Hyeonji.”

“Yes—I’m Baek Seolgu.”

“I’ll be taking public transport home with you. Did you bring your card?”

At her question, Seolgu pulled a card from his pants pocket. Afraid it would be damaged, he had wrapped it in layers and layers of tissue.

Watching him unravel the mystery bundle, Hyeonji’s eyebrows twitched upward.

What on earth is this?

Unaware of her thoughts, Seolgu patiently unwound the tissue, and after about the fifteenth layer, finally revealed a purple card.

He carefully placed the card atop the tissue, holding it reverently with both hands.

“I brought my card.”

He holds it not like a card, but like some precious heirloom.

Wondering where to begin in correcting Seolgu’s awkward ways, Hyeonji sighed deeply. Her orders had merely been to make sure Seolgu could commute alone, but just showing him the route clearly wouldn’t suffice. With a resigned sigh at her ruined workday, she threw away the tissue and closed Seolgu’s fingers around the card, ensuring he gripped it tightly.

“Wow.”

Inside the moving bus, Seolgu uttered a small exclamation. Having a television and automated stop announcements was a wonder to him compared to the one country bus of his childhood.

“Mr. Seolgu, did you memorize the stop names?”

As Seolgu turned his head in wonder, she asked.

“Yes, yes! My work is at Exit 23 of Jongnoipgu Station, my home is VAN Officetel Complex 23, and the bus routes are 2345, 2153, 398, and 386.”

She had pointed this out only once while waiting for the bus, yet he had memorized it so quickly. Maybe he’s not quite such a fool after all. Satisfied, she nodded in approval.

“That’s right. As long as you arrive by 8:30 a.m., you’re on time. Leaving is at 5:30 p.m. Sometimes, you might need to work late or early, but that should only happen a few times a year.”

“Yes, yes! Ban Dayeong explained it to me already.”

Her eyebrows rose at his answer.

“Mr. Baek Seolgu?”

There was something about his address that kept bothering her.

“Why do you call the boss—or the vice president—just by name?”

“Huh?”

“You just called him by all three syllables, as if he were a friend.”

Turning cold eyes upon him, she waited.

Startled, Seolgu hurried to explain, “I used to call him Ban Dayeong-nim, but he got upset about the formalities and told me just to use his name, so I did…”

“That doesn’t mean you should drop everything and speak so bluntly.”

“Then what should I use? Oh! He told me not to call him ‘vice president,’ either.”

He was genuinely upset—he hardly felt comfortable saying just the name. Compared to his position, he was the lowest of the low, hardly worthy to even look the man in the eye.

“Just use ‘ssi,’ as you do with me.”

“Ah…?”

“He calls you ‘Seolgu-ssi,’ so you should use that with him.”

Of course, as a vampire, she herself would never dare address her clan’s leader that way, but she explained it at length so Seolgu could grasp it.

As he worked through the titles in his mind, his mouth dropped open. “Ah…!” He bounced in his seat, so surprised his hips nearly left the cushion.

“What a good idea! Thank you! I’ll be sure to use it from now on!”

His eyes sparkled as if he’d solved a fiendish riddle, and Hyeonji still couldn’t decide if he was smart or hopeless.

The next day, Seolgu woke at 4:30 a.m., heart racing. He hadn’t fallen asleep until past midnight because of nerves, so he’d had less than three hours of sleep, but he couldn’t have felt more refreshed.

“To work…!”

What would the elves in his hometown say if they found out the half-elf who’d been sold for bloodletting was working at a grand hotel in Seoul? Not that they’d pay any attention even if they knew…

Feeling a sudden pang of loneliness, Seolgu slapped his cheeks. He had no time for melancholy on his first, historic day of work.

He folded his blanket back on the sofa and stepped onto the terrace. Since being discovered by Ban Dayeong, he was no longer growing corn or other crops, but still performed morning spirit magic for the plants outside.

“Hm hm, grow strong… Oh? There’s a flower!”

The alocasia had bloomed. It could be mistaken for a fresh leaf, but he recognized the shy flower bud perfectly. It gave off a unique vanilla fragrance that made him smile with delight.

“Maybe today’s going to be a good day!”

After checking every plant, he turned to get ready in earnest. Since Ban Dayeong’s last visit, Seolgu had gratefully received all his daily necessities—plenty of clothes, shoes, even underwear.

These comforts brought a new guilt that he wasn’t fulfilling his main duty—supplying blood. Still, if he could be of use in other ways, that was some consolation.

He dressed in the neatest shirt and trousers he owned and put on pristine sneakers he’d never worn.

Before leaving, he checked the mirror for stray hairs and sleepy eyes. Satisfied, he tapped his pocket to make sure his card was secure, then left the apartment.

It was the first time he’d ever left the officetel alone. Hyeonji had given clear directions yesterday, but his nerves wouldn’t settle.

At 6 a.m.—enough time to reach the hotel after a twenty-minute bus ride—he stepped out the door.

It took exactly thirty minutes, including the time he spent struggling with his card wrapped in tissue, for him to disembark at Exit 23 of Jongnoipgu Station and gaze in awe at the massive hotel.

VAN Construction, VAN Group’s main building, VAN Hotel—the size of them all was overwhelming.

He remembered Ban Haeyoung saying he’d care for all the hotel’s plants. With something this big, he might collapse from exhaustion just using magic all day.

He swallowed nervously, looking up until he could finally glimpse the building’s top. He thought: vampires are truly a terrifying race, powerful enough to work a half-blood elf to death in a single day.

Still, he’d signed the contract. There was no turning back, so he clenched his fists and strode in confidently.

And exactly five minutes later, he returned to the bus stop he’d just left.

“Uh, how do you get in?”

Even Seolgu, green as he was, knew staff shouldn’t enter through the main door. There must be an employee entrance, but search as he might, he couldn’t find it.

He regretted not asking for more details yesterday as his eyebrows drooped in dismay.

“Hey, I have the morning shift today, so I need to be at the hotel by 7. Yeah. You’d better hurry and get ready!”

Seolgu, sitting in gloom at the bus stop, heard the words “work” and “hotel” float by.

He leaped up and quietly followed the man talking on the phone—he seemed like a hotel employee.

The man hurried toward the hotel while still on the call, oblivious to being trailed. Seolgu’s guess was spot on. The man turned down a side path beside the main entrance and, after a short brisk walk, arrived at a door marked “Employees Only.”

So this was it.

Seolgu looked back over his route to confirm his bearings, breathing a sigh of relief that he hadn’t tried to use the front entrance.