29.
“Just eat.”
After saying that, he took charge of ordering instead of Haseo, who was checking the plate prices.
‘Is this 5,000 won for one plate?’
It was a shocking price, but despite everything, it was delicious. After emptying several plates, Haseo looked at Mujin and saw that there weren’t many plates stacked in front of him. Even in that moment, he placed a newly arrived sushi plate in front of Haseo.
‘Is he actually someone who enjoys taking care of people?’
Haseo looked at the sushi on the new plate and then pushed it toward Mujin.
“Choi Mujin-ssi should eat too.”
“Not Choi Mujin-ssi, but hyung.”
Mujin apparently liked it when Haseo had called him hyung before. Haseo hesitated briefly before speaking. Since he was being treated like a cousin anyway, it would be better to call him hyung here.
“Hyung, you should eat too.”
“I’d prefer if you fed me.”
“What?”
“My hands are busy.”
Mujin held up the menu and lifted the corner of his mouth. He could simply put down the menu, so his behavior didn’t make sense. But since he had received so much today… Haseo picked up a piece of sushi with awkward chopsticks and dipped it in soy sauce. When he held it up to Mujin’s lips, he swallowed it in one bite despite its considerable size.
“Delicious.”
After that, Mujin continued to be fed sushi by Haseo. Initially careful about delivering the sushi, Haseo eventually snatched the menu from Mujin.
“I’ll order, so please eat.”
Though he didn’t know much about fish specifically, the menu had pictures, so ordering wasn’t difficult. Thus, Haseo kept increasing the number of Mujin’s sushi plates. By the time both of them had eaten until their stomachs were full, the amount on the bill was astonishing.
So this is what it costs when two healthy adult men eat until they’re stuffed. Haseo thought he would never be able to visit a sushi restaurant alone again. As he was walking while patting his full stomach, a dessert shop caught his eye.
“Come to think of it, I bought clothes for your birthday celebration today, but we didn’t buy a cake.”
With that, Mujin strode into the dessert shop.
“What kind of cake do you like?”
“I don’t really have a preference. No, wait, that’s not it. Today isn’t my birthday.”
Wasn’t the birthday just an excuse to buy him clothes? While Haseo was flustered, Mujin had already chosen a cake. It was white with strawberries dotted throughout, and it looked delicious just by looking at it. This, too, had a fantastic price.
“How would you like the candles? If you tell me the age, I can help you.”
“24 years old.”
“Then I’ll give you 2 large candles and 4 small ones. Or we also have number candles, would you like to see those?”
“Lee Haseo, which do you prefer?”
Mujin asked familiarly, as if he really were an older brother.
“The number candles are pretty.”
“That’s what we’ll take.”
“I’ll package it right away.”
And so, Haseo’s hands held a freshly packaged cake box and champagne. He thought they would only buy cake, but after seeing the champagne next to it, Mujin added that too. In Haseo’s entire life, this was the first time he had received a birthday cake.
His grandmother had tried to celebrate his birthday in her own way, but she never bought cake. She would either buy a bread from the neighborhood grocery store or prepare meat side dishes. Since their household was so poor, Haseo was very happy with just that.
‘And yet.’
He never expected to receive something like this from someone else. Perhaps because his heart was fluttering, it beat faster than usual.
“Let’s go home now.”
“Yes.”
Haseo’s response had become more docile. Fortunately, the department store wasn’t far from home, so the cake arrived without any damage. As soon as they arrived, they washed their hands, and Haseo carefully placed the cake on the dining table first. When he put the leftover food from the theater next to it, it created a strange feeling.
“Let’s change the plates.”
Haseo took out dishes and placed the popcorn, buttered squid, and nachos on them. There was still something not quite right about the setup, but it was still good. Similarly, Mujin, who had also briefly washed up, sat across from him at the table.
“Where are the champagne glasses?”
“I’ll get them!”
“They should be in the cabinet on the right.”
“Yes!”
When he poured champagne into the long-stemmed glasses, bubbles rose round and plump. The golden beverage caught the light and sparkled, looking almost like melted gold.
After taking the cake out of the box, inserting the candles, and lighting them, Mujin sang.
“Happy birthday to you~”
It didn’t suit him, but perhaps that made it even better. There was mischief in Mujin’s expression as he clapped. Although it might be just a passing joke for him, Haseo felt like he would remember this forever.
“Happy birthday to our beloved Haseo!”
Haseo, who had enthusiastically sung along, blew out the candles. The time was just past 9 PM, but he didn’t think about returning to his room.
‘One day should be fine, right?’
He hoped it would be. The cake, after the candles were removed, was sweet and delicious. The taste melting in his mouth made him smile without realizing it. After finishing a slice of cake, Mujin picked up his champagne glass. Seeing him extend his glass, Haseo quickly picked up his own.
Clink!
The sound of glasses touching was clear.
It was like a dream.
10 PM.
Mujin returned to his room. Haseo could have tried to stop him, but he didn’t. Today, he was already so happy that if anything more happened, he felt like his heart might stop. He put the leftover cake back in the box and into the refrigerator, and properly cleared away the rest of the food.
Finally, after washing the champagne glasses and placing them on the drying rack, all the tasks were finished. Haseo looked at the glasses, no longer sparkling, before entering his room. And at that moment, like Cinderella awakening from a spell, his heart sank coldly.
The phone he took out from under the sheet had several missed calls. Since he hadn’t been answering, they had left a message at the end.
[Aren’t you worried about your grandmother?]
Haseo’s heart plummeted.
‘What have I done?’
He should have found an excuse to answer the phone secretly. What if something happened to his grandmother? Haseo urgently picked up the phone and pressed redial, but it didn’t connect. So, as he was reluctantly typing a message, the phone rang belatedly. As he hastily answered, a familiar voice came through.
— Lee Haseo.
“Yes, yes.”
— Don’t you take what people say seriously? I told you to answer the phone at 9 o’clock.
“I-I had circumstances.”
— What circumstances?
“I was with Choi Mujin until now.”
— What were you doing?
We were having a birthday party. He could have just said that. But strangely, he didn’t want to tell him that. It felt like a happy moment he wanted to keep would be tainted.
“We just went to the department store.”
— Liar. You returned earlier than that.
Where is this person watching me from? Haseo tightly closed his eyes and opened them again. Lying seemed futile.
“…We ate cake together at the table.”
— He probably doesn’t like sweet things. Is it some kind of anniversary?
“It’s my birthday.”
— Your birthday is in summer.
Haseo firmly closed his mouth.
— Ah, I understand. It’s fine if you don’t want to talk about it. If that’s the case, it’s good. Mujin celebrated your past birthday? That’s unusual. Really unusual. He’s not that kind of person. Alright. That’s all for today. Don’t worry about your grandmother.
The call ended abruptly without warning. As Haseo was blankly putting down the phone, he was surprised by tears suddenly falling. But once the tears started, they wouldn’t stop, so he hugged his pillow and cried silently.
‘I need to do something.’
But there was nothing Haseo could do. That was both sad and frightening.
The next day, all the clothes they had bought at the department store arrived. Some came by delivery service, others by quick courier. When he stacked all the received clothes in the living room, the amount was quite substantial. As he was wondering what to do with them, Mujin intervened.
“Why leave these here? You should take them to your room.”
Then he picked up the boxes and placed them in Haseo’s room. Belatedly, Haseo also carried the remaining boxes.
“Do I need to help you organize them too?”
At Mujin’s question, Haseo shook his head.
“No. I’ll do this myself.”
And he began filling the closet with clothes, one by one. The closet, which his original clothes couldn’t even fill a quarter of, was now half full. He considered putting his original clothes in the closet too, but decided against it. They didn’t match the newly purchased clothes, and he was afraid of unnecessary attachment.
Someday, in some form, he would leave this place. He decided to keep his original clothes in the box. It would be easier to carry them out, and easier to throw away if something happened.
Haseo closed the closet door and stood in front of it for a moment. Even amid all this, time continued to flow. 9 PM came every day to torment Haseo.
“Time to work now.”
Even as he muttered to himself while leaving the room, 9 PM tenaciously clung to his mind. And the cake left over from the birthday party remained in the refrigerator for days before being thrown away. Although it had been delicious, he didn’t feel like eating it again.
‘That’s strange.’
Haseo looked at the remaining cake box with lingering attachment before folding it for recycling.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
