Life, Once Again!

Chapter 962. Crank Up 7

So vapes do not have any taste no matter what? — Team leader Won put the device he had in his mouth into its case. He paid no small amount for it, so he had ripped open the packaging with quite a lot of expectation. This was a week ago. He had tried three different e-liquids that came with the vape throughout the past week, but none of them could compare to a real cigarette. A non-smoker colleague of his laughed at him, saying that there is no real or fake smoking, but this was a serious problem for team leader Won. How was this smoking? It was more like a humidifier with artificial cigarette flavoring. The reason he couldn’t take his eyes off the convenience store right next to him was also because of smoking. He felt it would be great if he could smoke one right now.

Imagining putting a soft filter inside his lips and turning on the lighter, team leader Won licked his lips as he saw the man approaching from the distance. The source of the trouble was coming. He had an incredibly good nose and would point out the smells from smoking even after an hour. If it just ended with a scolding, then team leader Won would have just prepared for it and fulfilled his duties as a smoker, but that person wouldn’t end it with just words.

“The weather’s pretty chilly.”

“It really is. You should watch out to not catch a cold, head manager.”

“You should look after yourself, not me. Get on.”

Team leader Won inwardly sighed in relief as he grabbed the driving wheel. It seemed that he was in a good mood today. People who didn’t know called the man sitting behind him the Prince of Smiles. Apparently, he looked like he would laugh it off even if someone pointed fingers at him. To team leader Won’s ears though, it was the greatest joke of this era. It wasn’t just him, the numerous managers that went through him probably thought the same.

“Head manager.”

“Yes?”

“You should smoke before we depart.”

“Forget it. I vaped.”

Team leader Won took out the vape case he put in his pocket and waved it in the air. It was also to show that he bought something like this for him.

“But you don’t like it that much.”

The thing in Giwoo’s hand was a pack of cigarettes. It was also the one he liked to smoke usually. Team leader Won wasn’t able to accept it so readily. There were several bad rumors about Kang Giwoo circulating inside the company. It would instead be better if he outright bullied people. However, he only pressured and threatened that person discreetly to exhaustion, and ultimately made them quit the company or quit working entirely. Thanks to that, the departments that never directly worked with Kang Giwoo sometimes said that men’s jealousy can sometimes be scary, that they were badmouthing Giwoo out of envy, or how it was unsightly. It was a frustrating assumption, but if anyone retorted and it entered the ears of Kang Giwoo, then they might end up getting fired, so everyone just stayed quiet.

Team leader Won looked at Giwoo in detail before accepting the pack of cigarettes. He didn’t know what would happen if he refused, and more than that, he wanted to drive nicotine deep into his lungs.

“If you’re okay with it.”

He got off the van and lit a cigarette. He puffed a deep one. Although the flavor and smell was the thing he wanted, he didn’t feel any better. Maybe it was because Kang Giwoo was the one who gave it to him with a smile. He threw away the cigarette after puffing about halfway before stepping on it to extinguish it. He felt like Kang Giwoo was observing him intently behind the window, so he didn’t feel at ease either. He felt like he should just drive the guy to Ulsan and smoke in comfort.

“Shall we go?”

Giwoo nodded with a smile. Team leader Won wished that Giwoo didn’t whimsically start doing something bad. He wished that he would stay quiet until they arrived at Ulsan. Giwoo did not say anything and stared at his phone until they got on the highway. He was probably checking his Instagram. Recently, Giwoo had been overly absorbed in his phone. Was he really that concerned about people’s reactions? Team leader Won couldn’t tell.

“Head manager, do you have a dog?”

“Dog? I do have one. Though, my wife is the one who looks after it, and at most, I just take it on walks during the weekend.”

“Is it big?”

“No, it’s small. It’s a Shih Tzu. It’s pretty old. We brought it when we got married.”

“How does it feel to raise a dog?”

“It feels like raising one more child, one that’s more affectionate. There are times when I find that one cuter than my own daughter who just entered puberty.”

Giwoo asked something strange today. From what he knew, Giwoo didn’t have any interest in pets.

Giwoo nodded before looking into his phone for a while and asking what the dog on the screen was. He slightly turned around and checked the screen. There was one vicious-looking dog and one cute dog with round eyes.

“The cute brown one with round eyes is a Shiba Inu, and the vicious-looking one looks like a Pit Bull, but I’m not too sure.”

Team leader Won looked at the content beneath the dog photos: Sometimes disobedient, but still precious family. He also saw the ID of the poster. It said ‘Black Swan’ in English letters.

“The one you called Shiba Inu is pretty cute.”

After that, Giwoo continued to look at his phone while smiling. Perhaps he was feeling good because he was going to raise a dog? In any case, it was great that his smile wasn’t the evil kind.

“You’re going to raise a dog?”

“A girl I know raises dogs, so I also wanted to try raising one. I sometimes feel lonely since I live by myself. Also, if I raise one, I’ll have something to talk about with her.”

If team leader Won’s wife heard that, she would’ve snapped out, saying that he had the wrong intentions. She, who even attended pet owner meetings, would always say that getting a dog to act as a doll for loneliness was not just foolish, but a form of violence as well. Team leader Won agreed with her whenever he heard those words. He once talked about how pointless it was to fuss up over a dog when they were newlyweds, and she didn’t cook for him for days. Though now, he understood what she meant after spending over a dozen years together with a dog.

“What is it?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to tell you that you should buy one from a trusted place. There are places that lie about dog breeds.”

There was probably no need to talk about what kind of mindset a pet owner should have since that would be overstepping his boundaries. He did feel pity for the dog that would end up in his hands, but what could he do? That was just fate.

“Do you have to train them or something like that?”

“My wife is usually in charge of that, so I’m not entirely sure. But from looking at her, interaction seems more important than teaching. It might sound funny, but if you can get through to them, the dogs should act obedient.”

He just responded adequately and focused on driving. There should be no nitpicking since he responded well and didn’t do anything that might get on his nerves. Giwoo shouldn’t complain as long as he could bring him to Ulsan safely like this.

Just then, he changed lanes for a brief moment, avoiding a truck that suddenly tried to cut in, before returning to his original lane. Giwoo called out to him. Team leader Won looked in the rearview mirror. Did he perhaps not like the way the van moved? The car moved for a bit, but it was nothing worth complaining about.

“I was a bit rough, wasn’t I? A truck suddenly cut in, sorry.”

When in doubt, it was better to mention it first. Giwoo took his eyes off the phone in puzzlement.

“Nothing. Why did you call me?”

“Who proposed when you got married, head manager?”

What was this all of a sudden? Giwoo was acting very strange today. He asked about the personal history of a manager. This was something he never heard of. Team leader Won rolled his eyes and thought about what Giwoo was thinking, but he eventually gave up. Finding out what it was about wouldn’t change things anyway. He only answered as kindly as possible.

“I did. The man usually does it after all.”

“Did you prepare a ring?”

“Back then, I wasn’t that well-off, so I didn’t prepare a ring, but I proposed after taking her to a restaurant that’s more expensive than the usual kind. My wife isn’t the type to be hung up on those kinds of things either.”

“I guess it’s similar in that way then.”

He was about to ask what was so similar before swallowing his words. Giwoo was the last person he wanted to get involved with. He just had to reply to whatever he was asked.

“Did you two ever get into a fight?”

“Are there lovers who don’t fight? Everyone fights, then they warm up and fight again, and then get married.”

It was a rather obvious answer, but Giwoo’s reaction was rather strange. He looked strangely happy like he found a solution to a difficult problem. He even asked back, saying ‘that’s how it is after all, right?’

Team leader Won was pretty sure that he got rejected by a girl he liked. The strange thing was that he was probably more knowledgeable regarding women than most men around his age, yet still asked such obvious questions. Team leader Won couldn’t even grasp what this guy was on to. He himself had never heard that other people managed to get married without fighting even once. Two people who have lived completely different lives were getting married, so it would be strange if there wasn’t a quarrel between them. Giwoo should know that the best since he had met numerous women in his life.

“There can be a fight, but that doesn’t mean detest. It’s just a process of getting to know each other.”

This time, it wasn’t a question that desired an answer. Giwoo was just muttering to himself and convincing himself. Team leader Won won felt weirded out for some reason. Just looking at the young man smiling while on his phone gave him goosebumps. He intentionally no longer looked at the rearview mirror when he drove, dearly wishing for Giwoo to stay quiet.