Chapter 59
After hearing Wooseok’s words, Beodeul laughed lightly.
“We already hang out together almost every day, don’t we?”
Wooseok had expected a more enthusiastic response, but Beodeul remained consistently nonchalant. He must have dismissed it as a joke.
But the next moment, as Beodeul tilted his head slightly and grinned, Wooseok blinked a beat late.
“I like quiet places too, so I should stick close to you, Wooseok.”
…Was this also a joke? Wooseok narrowed his eyes, trying to read Beodeul’s true intentions. But it wasn’t easy when Beodeul smiled with half-closed eyes and quickly turned away.
“We’ll miss our reservation time. Let’s hurry.”
Beodeul gently tugged at Wooseok’s arm. While the touch seemed casual to Beodeul, Wooseok’s heart raced up and down.
‘…I feel ridiculous every time this happens.’
It was funny how he was the only one conscious of these moments, but his body’s honest reactions made all his efforts to deny his feelings seem futile. Normally, someone briefly holding your arm wouldn’t trigger such a response.
After another moment of self-awareness, Wooseok soon arrived at the restaurant Beodeul had personally reserved. The place looked clean and shiny from the entrance, as if it had recently opened.
“Oh, this place…”
“Hm? Have you been here before?”
“No. I’ve just heard about it.”
Coincidentally, this was the place his sister Shin Yuri had been singing about to their family just yesterday, urging them to visit. A fusion restaurant that opened just two weeks ago. He had coldly refused when she suggested going with friends, but somehow he ended up coming here first.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’
Wooseok stood beside Beodeul as he confirmed their reservation with the staff and said:
“The main branch is famous, right?”
“Main branch? Yes, that’s right. You’ve never been?”
“No. I rarely have reason to go to that neighborhood. What about you, hyung?”
“Really? I should encourage you to do better then. My family home is in that area. The food here is delicious. I made the reservation because I heard you eat just about anything, but I hope it suits your taste.”
Encouragement… family home? Several words that couldn’t be taken lightly popped up, making Wooseok’s mind race.
“Hyung, so you’re living on your own right now?”
“That’s right.”
“Ah… I thought you were living with your parents since you said you’d always been in Seoul.”
“I’ve been living independently since starting university. I did move after coming back from military service… now I’m staying in an officetel.”
“That’s fascinating.”
“Hm? That I live alone?”
“Ah… no.”
It was just fascinating that he could casually have such deeply personal conversations with Beodeul. Not understanding Wooseok’s thoughts, Beodeul laughed as if the response was silly.
“This way please, I’ll show you to a window seat.”
After confirming the reservation, the two followed the staff’s guidance but suddenly paused. More precisely, Wooseok hesitated first, causing Beodeul to stop as well.
“Ugh, what the hell.”
“…Shin Yuri?”
Both Wooseok and Yuri’s faces contorted simultaneously at the unexpected encounter with a blood relative.
“Wooseok?”
It was only after hearing Beodeul call his name that Wooseok remembered what kind of situation he was in. The siblings, well-practiced in ignoring each other outside the home, exchanged brief glances before averting their eyes and pretending not to see each other.
“It’s nothing.”
Wooseok quickly recovered his composure and sat down with Beodeul, secretly swallowing a sigh. Of all places, they were seated where he would be clearly visible from Yuri’s position.
“Did something happen?”
Beodeul handed him a menu while casually asking, then after observing Wooseok’s expression, added:
“Was that your sister just now?”
It was too obvious to deny, as Shin Yuri also strongly inherited their mother’s features. Wooseok nodded dejectedly.
“…Yes.”
“I thought so. You look quite alike.”
Fortunately for Wooseok, the family-related conversation ended there. Beodeul must have read his discomfort and changed the subject. While Wooseok was relieved by Beodeul’s consideration, he also felt a strange sense that he’d missed something.
‘It feels like I overlooked something.’
What could he have missed? Wooseok continued pondering this while choosing his menu and waiting for the food to arrive. Then, after a while, he realized what it was when he saw a man approaching their table whose attire was noticeably different from the other waitstaff.
‘Ah, “encouragement.”‘
That was the word Beodeul had mentioned earlier when talking about the main branch of this restaurant. A word that had seemed too significant to simply brush off.
“Your order is ready.”
A man with bright dyed hair neatly swept back openly stared at Beodeul while setting plates on their table.
“Beodeul, you should at least let me know when you’re coming.”
“…I didn’t because I knew this would happen.”
“Were you planning to leave without seeing your hyung’s face?”
Surprisingly, the man and Beodeul knew each other. Wooseok looked back and forth between them, trying to understand the situation. The man’s face wasn’t entirely unfamiliar to him either.
Han Daon, a once-trending star chef. The main figure who had made this restaurant’s main branch famous. His appearance was as extravagant as the spectacular dishes he was known for creating that left viewers speechless. It wasn’t for nothing that his face frequently appeared in media.
‘He resembles Beodeul hyung.’
There was a similarity to Beodeul’s appearance, which often led to him being mistaken for an idol or trainee.
However, the two were clearly different. If Han Daon made no effort to hide his flamboyance and instead emphasized it, Han Beodeul was the opposite, suppressing that brilliance with a calm demeanor. Though it seemed that even with such efforts, it wasn’t easily concealed.
“Is it okay for you to leave the kitchen during such a busy time?”
“It’s just for a moment, what’s the problem?”
And even after watching them briefly, it was clear their personalities were complete opposites.
‘Similar yet different.’
Wooseok watched with curiosity as Daon tried to cling to Beodeul, who pushed him away with a smiling face.
“Ah. Wooseok, this is my cousin, Han Daon.”
“Hello?”
“Hello.”
Daon straightened up as if he’d been waiting for the introduction and offered his hand to Wooseok. As Wooseok reflexively shook it, Beodeul introduced Wooseok to Daon as well.
“This is Shin Wooseok, my junior from the department. But hyung… what are you doing?”
Wooseok also looked questioningly at the pen that had been placed on his hand after the handshake. Then a survey sheet was placed beside him.
Having never had good experiences with surveys during his university life, Wooseok’s eyes grew suspicious. Seeing this, Daon explained nonchalantly:
“Well, I heard that an acquaintance was visiting our restaurant for the first time?”
How and when did he hear that? Despite receiving incredulous looks from both Beodeul and Wooseok, Daon smiled immaculately, clearly trying to secure a business advantage.
“Today’s meal is on the house, so after you try it, would you mind writing your honest impressions on that survey?”
“…Daon hyung.”
“If you’d like, when you leave, I can also exchange that survey for my autograph—”
“Hyung, you should go back now. They’re looking for you in the kitchen.”
“I can’t resist my cousin’s nagging. I never intended to make you pay anyway, so forget about the survey and enjoy your meal. Well then.”
Wooseok chuckled as he watched Beodeul cover Daon’s mouth and send him away. It was also amusing to see Daon making a writing gesture as he crossed the dining area, sending a separate signal.
“I’m sorry. The food will get cold at this rate, let’s eat first.”
Beodeul picked up his chopsticks first, giving an embarrassed smile at Wooseok’s outburst of laughter. After finally calming down, Wooseok shrugged and said:
“He seems really different from you, hyung.”
“Daon hyung? He is.”
“Honestly, you look somewhat alike physically, but your personalities are completely different.”
“Haha… Daon hyung was like that even when we were young.”
That’s right, being cousins, they must have seen each other often as children. Just by looking, the age difference between them didn’t seem that great either.
Wooseok glanced at Beodeul quietly eating and muttered:
“But he still seems very mature.”
“…Cough! Daon hyung?”
“Was that surprising enough to make you choke?”
“No, after seeing how he just acted…”
Beodeul took a sip from the water glass Wooseok handed him, and after a brief pause, calmly reframed what had just happened.
“Wooseok, you see the world from a very broad perspective.”
“You can just say I’m wrong, you know.”
“Hm? No, no.”
Haha, Beodeul’s gentle laughter sounded unusually hollow. Wooseok realized his meaning had been somewhat distorted due to Han Daon’s image and belatedly added an explanation.
“It just seems like you and everyone around you are like that.”
“Hm?”
“Actually, the age difference between us isn’t that big, right? But still, your world and mine seem completely different, if that makes sense.”
“Hmm… I understand why you’d think that after seeing Daon hyung. I find it strange sometimes too. Despite being only two years older than me, he’s running a successful establishment.”
Beodeul glanced toward the kitchen area and continued.
“Plus, he gracefully accepts all the attention pouring in from various media and uses it as his influence. Sometimes he does seem like someone from a completely different world.”
“Yes.”
“But why me…? Is it because I mentioned living alone earlier? Don’t many students around you live independently too?”
That was a topic they’d briefly touched on earlier. It meant Beodeul had quickly traced back to what might have triggered this conversation. However, even he wasn’t confident about this explanation, as it seemed too weak to be the reason.
“You handle every situation calmly, hyung.”
“…Me?”
“Yes. And you guide situations in a way that somehow everyone can accept without major conflicts. I think that kind of approach seems mature.”
Beodeul didn’t readily agree, remaining silent for a moment. Wooseok, not noticing that his casual remark was developing a longer tail, continued speaking.
“And you worked until right before the semester started, and even in our regular conversations, you seem more like a working adult than a college stu—”
The strange silence from Beodeul coupled with the dissonance in the story he was unfolding made it impossible for Wooseok to continue.
‘Just now… didn’t I too casually mix talk about Beodeul hyung and Girmu-nim?’
Sure enough, Beodeul was looking at Wooseok with an ambiguous gaze.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
