Chapter 11
The days were getting shorter and shorter, and now the sky was dark even in the early evening. However, thanks to the countless lights pouring out from numerous buildings, the city center sometimes felt brighter at night than during the day, just like now.
“Hyung-nim, let’s have dinner before you go.”
At Taeju’s words from the driver’s seat, Jeonghyeok, who had been looking out the car window, turned his head forward. The two men’s gazes met through the rearview mirror.
“Don’t you have a girlfriend either?”
It was a sudden question. It was an obvious fact that Taeju didn’t have a girlfriend, so asking about it was meaningless.
Taeju laughed and answered:
“You know there are no women around me.”
“How long are you going to be without one?”
“Who would date someone who does this kind of work?”
Right. Jeonghyeok clicked his tongue briefly and looked out the car window again.
That’s how the work in this field was. Lending money, receiving excessive interest, and rolling that money again. Sometimes they got paid to beat people up or sell them somewhere. Literally, they did anything that made money.
There was no distinction between weekdays and weekends. Even today was Sunday, but that didn’t matter. They actually moved busier on holidays. It was easier to catch debtors who were hiding like rats on holidays when they let their guard down.
It was familiar work for him since he’d been doing it from a very young age, but it wasn’t something decent in ordinary people’s eyes.
Inevitably, his human relationships became limited. Jeonghyeok too, aside from Taeju whom he’d kept by his side for a long time, didn’t have anyone particularly close.
Romance was the same. He didn’t refuse those who approached and didn’t hold onto those who left. That was Jeonghyeok’s creed.
Many people approached him because of his naturally handsome appearance, but many also left because they couldn’t endure his characteristic indifference. Thanks to that, the seat next to Jeonghyeok changed constantly. Naturally, he became accustomed to a life of not settling down with anyone.
“But why are you suddenly saying that? Are you going to introduce someone to me?”
At Taeju’s playful question, Jeonghyeok fell into thought for a moment.
Why had he said that?
“I don’t know.”
He really didn’t know. At Taeju’s suggestion to have dinner together, Yuwon’s face had just come to mind.
‘See you tomorrow evening.’
A day had already passed, and yesterday’s tomorrow had become today. He had resolved to roughly forget about it, but he kept thinking about Yuwon’s round eyes as he said he would cook and clean. More precisely, it bothered him.
“You’ll have dinner, right? How about sushi after a long time?”
Taeju asked once more while observing Jeonghyeok through the rearview mirror. He was staring somewhere with his usual indifferent expression.
“Do you remember that place that made amazing eel sushi? It’s been quite a while since we went there.”
“……”
“Hyung-nim?”
“Forget dinner. I’m tired.”
“What?”
Taeju tilted his head. Since both of them obviously wouldn’t eat a proper meal once they got home, it was routine to have dinner together before getting off work. Especially on exhausting days like today when they went around debtors’ houses one by one, it was natural to have a hearty dinner and late-night snack with drinks.
“Go home.”
“……Understood.”
At the firm words, Taeju turned the steering wheel with a puzzled face. Before long, the car arrived in front of the officetel and stopped with its hazard lights on.
“Go in.”
Jeonghyeok’s retreating figure, casually waving his hand, somehow looked anxious. Since Jeonghyeok was always leisurely and relaxed, that appearance was quite unfamiliar.
What urgent business could the great Moon Jeonghyeok possibly have?
I must have seen wrong. Taeju muttered and turned the car around. He planned to eat eel sushi by himself.
***
The moment Jeonghyeok got on the elevator, he regretted his actions.
Why am I here? Am I really going to have dinner with that guy? Just because those eyes bothered me a little?
Should I go back down to the first floor now? Should I get a room somewhere and not come home tonight? Jeonghyeok agonized over it several times.
Meanwhile, the elevator arrived with a ding. As the doors opened smoothly without giving him time to do anything, Jeonghyeok finally came to his senses and reached toward where the first-floor button was.
Let’s go down now. I’ll just call Taeju again. I should go eat eel sushi or eel rice bowl together and drink heavily. I don’t seem to be in my right mind right now.
Jeonghyeok pressed the first-floor button without hesitation and was about to press the close button next. Until he spotted the small body crouched in front of the entrance door.
“Oh? Ajeossi!”
Lifting his deeply bowed head, Yuwon greeted him happily. His slightly tired expression brightened instantly upon discovering Jeonghyeok. The action of dusting off his bottom and standing up was even spirited.
“I was waiting.”
He could tell without being told. Even though it was inside the building, he had been sitting on the ice-cold bare floor like an idiot, waiting in front of a house not knowing when the owner would return.
Jeonghyeok got off the elevator and approached Yuwon. His steps naturally headed in that direction without him realizing it. Because he had pressed the first floor, the elevator immediately began operating.
The elevator doors closed behind him, and Jeonghyeok stood facing Yuwon. Up close, he could clearly see his nose tip that had turned red from the cold weather. His eyes and earlobes were the same.
“How did you know when I’d come to wait like this?”
Jeonghyeok spoke deliberately coldly. Not knowing his phone number and having no way to contact him, what did he plan to do by waiting so crudely like this? But Yuwon answered brightly:
“It would have been fine even if you came late. Tomorrow is my day off.”
He had come to see Jeonghyeok on his only day off per week. So he thought it would be okay no matter how long he had to wait for him. Even if he came late at night, even if he returned at dawn, he was confident he could wait.
Yuwon lifted the black plastic bag in his hand and said:
“I marinated bulgogi and brought it.”
“……”
“Can’t we go in now? I’m cold, ajeossi.”
Yuwon deliberately shivered more. He was saying with his body, “I’m this cold.”
Jeonghyeok didn’t want to continue the conversation here either. He had a strong premonition that he was definitely getting entangled with this guy, but there was nothing he could do about it. There was no reason to suffer needlessly with a perfectly good house in front of him, and he had no hobby of watching someone shivering in the cold.
Jeonghyeok silently pressed the door lock password. When the entrance door opened, Yuwon said “Excuse me” quietly and entered the house first. Despite having been guarding the door like a ruffian just moments ago, his attitude was quite modest.
Since he had been here once before, Yuwon skillfully headed to the kitchen. After taking off his coat and briefly washing his hands at the sink, he placed the bag he brought on the counter. Whether it was because he worked at a restaurant, or maybe he went around enthusiastically cooking for people everywhere, he looked very natural.
Jeonghyeok left his coat on the sofa and unbuttoned one button of his stuffy shirt. When he turned on both the living room and kitchen lights simultaneously, the inside of the house became bright. Had he ever turned the lights on this brightly while living in this house? Usually, he was too lazy to even turn on the lights, so he was busy washing in the bathroom and immediately going into his room to lie down.
Having someone in his space at this time of night was awkward in the first place. Jeonghyeok quietly followed Yuwon’s actions with his eyes.
“You have rice at home, right?”
It was a tone that assumed there obviously would be. Surely a house where people live wouldn’t be without rice. However, no matter how much he searched around the kitchen, no rice was visible. Yuwon’s expression gradually turned to bewilderment as he opened the cabinets around the sink.
“Don’t tell me you don’t have any?”
“……Probably not.”
The only things he ate at home were water and coffee. He didn’t even boil ramen, so there was no way there would be rice. At Jeonghyeok’s irresponsible answer, Yuwon asked in surprise:
“You don’t have rice? What on earth do you eat at home, ajeossi?”
“I don’t eat anything.”
At the deflating words, Yuwon’s shoulders also completely lost their strength.
“How can I set the table like this? I only brought side dishes.”
“We can just order something appropriate.”
“Then what about the side dishes I made!”
“Eat them later.”
Yuwon’s sullen eyes suddenly sparkled.
Though it was the usual indifferent tone, it was the most pleasing thing he’d heard so far. “Eat them later” – wasn’t this the first time Jeonghyeok had made an appointment on his own? From Yuwon’s perspective, who had always clung to continue their next meetings, those words were very welcome.
“When later?”
Strike while the iron is hot – since the topic came up, he wanted to set a date right away. Yuwon threw down the bag and approached Jeonghyeok cheerfully.
“I like Sundays or Mondays like today. Oh, but of course other days are fine too.”
At Yuwon’s excited voice, even Jeonghyeok’s eyebrows twitched.
His cheeks had already flushed. He knew that his inner thoughts showed directly on his face, but he hadn’t known that his facial color changed moment by moment like this.
The more he looked, the more fascinating this guy was. He had fair skin and chubby cheeks, yet there was something melancholy in his eyes like someone who had lived through everything in the world. So when he thought he might be somewhat mature, he would show a damn innocent side again. He couldn’t tell at all what was the real Kim Yuwon’s appearance.
Was it pure curiosity, or did he really like him? Or was he some kind of new scammer? Jeonghyeok observed Yuwon considering various possibilities. But no matter how much he looked, he couldn’t tell. Why you’re doing this – I really don’t know.
Looking alternately at his flushed cheeks, Jeonghyeok quietly opened his mouth:
“What exactly do you want?”
“What?”
“What do you want from me?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
