My Wonderland 4

Chapter 4

As usual, when customers entered, he should ask how many people there were and guide them to seats, but Yuwon just stood there dumbly like an idiot. Then Taeju, who couldn’t wait any longer, spoke first.

“Two people.”

He snapped to attention at the low voice.

Ah, the dragon tattoo. Yuwon belatedly noticed Taeju. Since all his nerves had been focused on Jeonghyeok, Taeju, who was right next to him, had only now entered his field of vision.

“Ah, two people? You can sit over there.”

Acting as nonchalantly as possible, Yuwon pointed to the innermost table. Then he quickly grabbed a water pitcher and two cups from the refrigerator.

Fortunately, Boss Park wasn’t there today. He would leave the restaurant about twice a week, and they couldn’t even contact him to know where he was or what he was doing. Then he would show up just as closing time approached, quite drunk.

Anyway, it worked out well for Yuwon. If Boss Park had been there, he would have been glued to that table by now.

Yuwon went to Jeonghyeok’s table with the water pitcher and cups in both hands.

“What would you like to order?”

“Four servings of pork belly, and one bowl of rice and one doenjang-jjigae each.”

Though he deliberately looked at Jeonghyeok when asking, as expected, Taeju answered. Yuwon, who had wanted to hear Jeonghyeok’s voice, swallowed his disappointment and replied, “Yes.”

Suddenly the doenjang-jjigae bothered him. Last time Boss Park had given the doenjang-jjigae as a service. Should he do the same this time?

Boss Park usually extremely disliked giving away service items without his knowledge, but somehow these people seemed to be an exception. Rather, if he didn’t give them service, he might throw a fit asking why he didn’t.

He should ask the kitchen to make two doenjang-jjigae separately without putting it in the order. Just as he was thinking this, something lightly touched his arm.

“Give us one bottle of soju too.”

Jeonghyeok reached out toward Yuwon, who was about to take a step. Naturally, Jeonghyeok’s fingertips brushed over Yuwon’s wrist.

It was a meaningless action. It was simply an intention to briefly stop someone who was about to pass by. Yuwon knew this too. He definitely knew, yet both his legs stiffened. It felt like his feet were stuck to the ground.

“…Yes. I’ll bring it right away.”

Yuwon, who barely answered in a crawling voice, hurriedly walked to the register. While entering the order into the POS machine, his wrist where the man’s hand had touched felt hot.

Am I crazy? Why am I acting like this? Did I eat something wrong?

His heart raced like right after running competitions at school when he was young. It was similar to the trembling he felt late at night when secretly cooking ramen with the kids in the kitchen without the director knowing.

Yuwon bit his lower lip tightly and headed to the kitchen. He neatly arranged pork belly and side dishes, tongs and scissors on a tray, and finally added soju and two glasses.

Carrying the tray with the most composed face possible, he headed to Jeonghyeok’s table. Just seeing the man’s profile from afar made his heartbeat, which had calmed down, start pounding again.

Pull yourself together, get a grip. Yuwon repeated to himself and gripped the tray tightly.

“I’ll grill the meat for you.”

Speaking in a calm voice, Yuwon first handed over the soju, then set out all the side dishes. Then with skilled hand movements, he placed meat on the grill.

Sizzle—meat oil splattered onto his white wrist, but he didn’t even feel the sting. He was just preoccupied with stealing glances at Jeonghyeok.

He filled empty glasses with soju, and when Taeju proposed a toast, Jeonghyeok lightly raised his glass and poured it straight into his mouth. Using the dongchimi that came out as a side dish as an accompaniment, the two men emptied one bottle of soju at a frightening speed.

Yuwon, who had been silently watching this scene, soon placed a piece of nicely grilled meat on Jeonghyeok’s plate with a thud. Instantly, both men’s gazes focused on Yuwon.

Regardless, Yuwon added a little jeotgal and wasabi on top of Jeonghyeok’s meat.

Then Jeonghyeok hesitated and raised his head. He looked up at Yuwon intently, with an expression that seemed to ask what the hell he was doing.

Yuwon silently grilled the remaining meat and said,

“It tastes better if you eat it like this.”

“……”

“I’m specially… taking care of just you, customer.”

After his demure words, the loud sizzling sound of grilling meat echoed.

Silence flowed for a while. Unable to bear it any longer, Taeju finally burst out laughing. Jeonghyeok’s cold gaze turned to Taeju.

“What are you laughing at?”

“Ahem, it’s nothing.”

Though he said it was nothing, Taeju’s face was still full of laughter. The sight of this young, green boy provoking his dark superior was quite amusing.

On the other hand, Jeonghyeok was dumbfounded. He thought, is this little thing mocking me right now? His already fierce expression became even more frightening.

But Yuwon’s movements didn’t stop there. He continued to grill meat only for Jeonghyeok and serve him side dishes.

“How is it? It’s delicious, isn’t it?”

Even without Jeonghyeok’s answer, even though Taeju kept giggling as if it was funny, Yuwon didn’t care. He just acted as if it was his duty to continuously fill Jeonghyeok’s plate so it would never be empty.

Unable to bear it any longer, Jeonghyeok told him to stop, that he would eat by himself, but it was useless. Until the two men emptied four bottles of soju, Yuwon stubbornly held his ground.

In the end, it was Jeonghyeok who raised the white flag. Considering his usual drinking capacity, they should have opened one more bottle of soju, but he suggested to Taeju that they call it quits.

Taeju looked at Jeonghyeok’s disgruntled face and held back the laughter that was about to burst out. He was definitely avoiding the situation because that audacious part-timer was burdensome, even though he probably hadn’t had enough alcohol yet.

While Taeju was paying, Yuwon asked Sohyeon to handle the payment and followed Jeonghyeok outside.

“Customer!”

He had worried that he might pretend not to hear, but fortunately that didn’t happen. Jeonghyeok stopped walking and spat out the cigarette he was about to light.

Yuwon strode forward and stood in front of Jeonghyeok. The cold wind sharply brushed past his nose, but he didn’t care. He clenched his fists tightly and raised his head high to meet the man’s eyes.

If he could follow his heart, he wanted to ask his name. He wanted to ask when he would come to eat at their restaurant again, how much longer he had to wait to see him. But the only thing he could say to the man right now was just this.

“The coat, is it really okay if I don’t return it to you?”

At Yuwon’s question, Jeonghyeok opened his mouth with an indifferent face.

“I think I told you that last time. That you could just throw it away.”

At the expected lukewarm reaction, Yuwon began to feel anxious. He didn’t know why he wanted to hold onto this man so much. It was a feeling he had never experienced in his life, so he couldn’t explain it.

The one thing that was certain was that if he just let the man go here and now, his heart would skip a beat every time he saw a black suit for the next few days.

Yuwon grabbed onto Jeonghyeok’s arm as he was about to leave.

“Then, then I’d like to treat you to a meal next time. That would be okay, right?”

“……”

Eyes with clear desires, gradually reddening cheeks, and the anxious movement of his tongue licking his parched lips.

Since he wasn’t the type to crudely discriminate by gender when it came to romance, by this point Jeonghyeok couldn’t help but understand Yuwon’s true feelings.

“How old are you?”

“Pardon?”

“I asked how old you are.”

Though somewhat surprised by the man’s attitude of suddenly dropping formal speech after using it, Yuwon answered steadfastly.

“I’m twenty-two.”

Well, well. As soon as he heard Yuwon’s age, Jeonghyeok snorted.

He had looked young at first glance, but this was even younger than he had thought. A whole fifteen-year difference. The year he held his father’s funeral, this kid had just seen the light of day. Jeonghyeok clicked his tongue briefly and said,

“I’m thirty-seven.”

So get a grip. That was the hidden meaning in Jeonghyeok’s words.

Sometimes people judged him to be five or six years younger based on appearance alone. This part-timer was probably the same. Since ten years was a manageable number to overcome, he probably wanted to try making a move somehow.

Thinking Yuwon would take a step back, Jeonghyeok put the cigarette he had spat out back in his mouth. However, Yuwon tilted his head and said,

“…So what?”

“What?”

“If you’re thirty-seven, you can’t accept a meal from someone who’s twenty-two?”

At the audacious retort, Jeonghyeok’s brow furrowed slightly. He looked well-behaved, but contrary to his appearance, he seemed to be quite cheeky. At times like this, it was necessary to speak somewhat firmly.

Jeonghyeok bent down and brought his face right up to Yuwon’s nose.

“Yeah. You can’t.”

It was a frustratingly concise rejection. Having finished what he had to say, Jeonghyeok moved away without giving him a chance to grab onto him. He was so cold that Yuwon couldn’t even dare to hold onto him.

Yuwon pouted his lips and looked at Jeonghyeok’s retreating figure. His broad back and straight legs were annoyingly tall and handsome.