Chapter 7: Kind Neighbor

“Kind words beget kind words.”

It was a saying my grandfather always told me to engrave in my heart whenever relatives gathered during holidays.

Of course, the origin of the saying wasn’t my grandfather, but a pre-existing proverb, but anyway, I’ve always lived my life thinking about the words he told me when I was young.

If you were to ask if my grandfather’s earnest advice had become a life lesson, I could answer without hesitation that it had.

No matter how bleak the world is and how sharp people have become, they say praise makes even whales dance.

People are more vulnerable to a warm and kind word than you think. If you treat them with sincerity, not a fabricated attitude, there is no one who won’t open their heart.

…It might just be that it worked because I’m big, but well, the important thing is that it worked.

“Hello~.”

“You came to work early again…?”

A smile on my face, softness in my voice.

Polite and kind, as if addressing an elder.

A madman with clear eyes… or rather, a puppy… either way, the words sound strange.

“…?”

Anyway, perhaps sensing the awkwardness in my attitude, which had returned to what it once was, Team Leader’s eyes, which were always inorganic, flickered with a different light.

Since we broke up, I had never shown Team Leader this attitude, the attitude I showed to others.

Resentment and ill feelings about being dumped had a slight influence, but more than that, I thought that acting the same as before with someone I used to be in a relationship with might make them uncomfortable.

“What’s wrong?”

“You seem to be in a good mood today, Hanbyeol.”

But quite a bit of time has passed since we broke up, and when I think about it, I wonder if I really need to cater to the person who dumped me.

More than anything, I don’t know if it’s harassment or something, but since That person started approaching me first anyway, is there any need for me to back down?

“Is something good happening?”

“No, it’s the same as usual.”

Strictly speaking, this is my usual, my average.

“I woke up as usual and listened to the radio, washed up simply as usual, had a simple breakfast as usual, and arrived at the company as usual.”

A kind person. A comfortable person. A positive person.

“That’s all I did. Nothing has changed from usual.”

If it were other people who saw this side of me, not Team Leader, they wouldn’t say anything. Because I would have always seemed like this in their eyes.

But what about Team Leader, who has maintained an awkward relationship with me all this time? Team Leader, who has only ever seen me avoiding her and looking intimidated, will surely feel that this side of me is a change. Or will she try to think that I’ve returned to normal?

“Please take good care of me today.”

“…Yes.”

Anyway, the initial goal, to make Team Leader waver, that small goal has been achieved.

Now, next is to slowly, slowly tame her…

…Saying “tame” makes it sound too strange.

I’m just trying to get close again, that is, close in my standards. My ultimate goal is to return to the previous relationship of a boss and subordinate.

To do that, I have to go back first. To the me from that time.

If that happens, Team Leader will return to normal too. A meticulous and inhumane person who doesn’t unnecessarily steal other people’s precious lunch time.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, just a little…”

But… why is her reaction like that?

…Did she eat something wrong?

Smile.

A bright smile, more beautiful than any expression a person can make.

Seo Hanbyeol has always had a talent for resembling a sunflower or a golden retriever. Because he always maintained a pure, shadowless smile.

In the past, I didn’t think much even when I saw that smile. It just ended with thinking that the person’s impression was good.

Because Seo Hanbyeol is a man, and my taste isn’t men. “It’s nice to see him smiling so well,” or “I wonder what good things are happening that he’s always smiling like that,” that was the limit.

“……”

But now…

“..Bright.”

Too bright. So bright that it’s hard to even look at properly.

His impression hasn’t changed dramatically. Even when he was a man, Seo Hanbyeol’s impression itself was quite soft and handsome.

But somehow, the feeling is different.

A little more innocent, a little more sparkling.

And a little more… touching.

Looking back, he used to be too tall.

He was so tall that my neck would hurt when I looked at him, and naturally, there was a sense of intimidation that came from his large build.

But now he is… very petite.

Not at the level of a child, but smaller and more petite than most of the female employees I’ve seen at the company.

I like small things.

Animals, plants, accessories… and people too.

I like things that are smaller than me. Is it because it’s more comfortable to look down than to look up, or is it because they’re cute?

Either way, it’s certain that the current Seo Hanbyeol is more dangerous than the previous Seo Hanbyeol. In many ways.

Looking back, he doesn’t seem to have smiled in front of me for a while.

Even before he became a woman, maybe it had been like that ever since I told him I wanted to break up.

The reason is clear. Who could smile in front of their ex-girlfriend who dumped them unilaterally?

Especially since it’s not like they won’t see each other after breaking up, but they have to see each other’s faces every day as a boss at work.

So even after becoming a woman, he always showed a somewhat awkward and frightened expression in front of me.

I don’t know what other expression he could have made in front of his ex-lover and boss who unilaterally told him to break up, but his fearful and uncomfortable inner feelings were revealed in his expression…

…It wasn’t that bad, either.

But maybe it’s because positive emotions touch people’s hearts more than negative emotions.

The bright smile I encountered head-on for the first time felt different. That feeling, that destructive power…

“Hoo…”

After washing my face roughly as if peeling off my skin and lifting my head, my face was reflected in the mirror.

A poker face that still doesn’t show emotions, the same as always.

But if I continue to encounter that smile, again and again…

…This mask might break. I had a feeling like that.

“~♪”

It’s refreshing.

It’s been a long time since I felt this refreshed. I feel like I could even drink sweet coffee now.

“What, is something good happening? You seem to be in a good mood today?”

I don’t know how he noticed my mood, but the Assistant Manager spoke to me with a curious expression.

“Is it obvious?”

“It’s always obvious with Hanbyeol. It’s written all over your face that you’re excited. It’s hard to find someone like Hanbyeol who shows their emotions on their face like that.”

It seems I’m not very good at hiding my true feelings. Seeing that this notoriously oblivious person can read my emotions.

“So what’s going on? Let me know too.”

“Well.”

“Oh, now that you’ve got some experience, you’re ignoring your mentor? I didn’t think you were like that, is Hanbyeol also a member of the MZ generation?”

I laughed as I looked at the Assistant Manager, who was playfully acting like a꼰대 while uttering the TOP 1 phrase that the MZ generation hates to hear the most, according to Forbes. He’s an MZ himself.

“They say you’ll be called a 꼰대 if you say things like that these days.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. I’m the one who hears that the most.”

What’s okay, exactly?

“Anyway, so what’s going on? Are you not going to tell me?”

“It’s a personal matter, so it’s a bit difficult to say.”

“Is that so? Then there’s nothing I can do.”

He has mischievous side, but my Assistant Manager is a person who is flexible in his thinking but also thoroughly adheres to what he needs to protect. Saying this much means that he won’t pry any further.

“I’ll tell you later.”

“When?”

“Um… when I get promoted?”

What more can I explain to someone who doesn’t even know that I used to be in a relationship with Team Leader?

“By the way, does Team Leader have any schedule today? It seems like she’s been gone for quite a while.”

“Really? I don’t know. The live broadcast is tonight… Did she go to the bathroom?”

Using the bathroom for this long? It would be more realistic to slack off in the pantry instead.

Of course, Team Leader isn’t that kind of person. It’s hard to find a workaholic like That person.

She’s more suited to doing work at home that she wasn’t even asked to do than slacking off at work. For someone like that to be away from her seat for this long…

That’s when it happened. The office door opened with a thud, and Team Leader, who had been away for a long time, returned to her seat.

…With water dripping from her hair.

“…Team Leader, is something wrong?”

“..Well…?”

I don’t know the reason, but I feel like I know.

The reason why someone who was fine until this morning is suddenly acting like this… um…

…Did I change my attitude too quickly? Would it have been better to do it a little slower?

No, in the first place, does it make sense to act like that just because my attitude changed a little? Isn’t there another reason?

I don’t know everything about Team Leader, and she might be acting like that because of personal circumstances that I don’t know about.

If that’s not the case, and she’s really that shocked just because of the change in my attitude…

…That might be a little creepy.

“Instead of chatting, do your work properly first. Over there.”

Looking at Team Leader, who wiped the water from her hair and acted as usual, I felt a small sense of unease.

That day, I was able to be freed from lunch with Team Leader for the first time in a while.