#051
I had asked with rejection in mind, but the answer that came back was yes. So now, this incredibly awkward and uncomfortable situation had unfolded. Since it would be strange for three men to go cut steaks in the middle of the night, suggesting pork belly and soju was the root of the problem.
Woo Dohwan definitely seemed like he’d never eaten pork belly with soju… and it was true. I couldn’t hear properly because he mumbled his words, but Ban Hajoon also seemed like he’d never tried it either.
At a noisy barbecue restaurant not far from the flower shop, the three of us sat around a round table following the staff’s instruction to sit anywhere. Despite a stranger suddenly joining the dinner, Ban Hajoon didn’t show any sign of displeasure and even smiled, saying it was fine. Instead, he whispered in a voice so small that Woo Dohwan couldn’t hear, “We’ll eat together just the two of us later.” Only after repeatedly conveying my apologies and understanding could I somewhat put down my uncomfortable feelings.
Four servings of pork belly, one soybean paste stew, one bottle of soju. Having finished ordering as the one most familiar with barbecue restaurants, I sat there with a blank expression. Woo Dohwan looked at the side dishes and soybean paste stew appearing one by one with curious eyes. And Ban Hajoon picked up and ate the food filling the table one by one, then picked up his spoon with a determined expression when the soybean paste stew came out.
“You know what that stew is before eating it, right?”
“I am Korean, you know.”
“You looked so serious I thought maybe not.”
To my playful question, he also responded playfully. Then he put his spoon into the bubbling stew and scooped up plenty of ingredients. Ban Hajoon’s eyes lit up after tasting a spoonful of the ingredients and broth piled up generously.
“Is it delicious?”
“This place makes good stew.”
With sparkling eyes, he kept spooning the stew, seemingly unbothered by any saltiness. How much water was he planning to drink eating only soybean paste stew like that? He should eat the meat. I pressed the call bell to add one bowl of rice and quickly placed it in front of Ban Hajoon. He finished a bowl of rice and the soybean paste stew before the meat was even cooked. Thinking he ate better than expected, I poured water and placed it in front of him.
“It’s really delicious.”
“Didn’t you eat lunch?”
“I was too busy to eat.”
Ban Hajoon nodded vigorously as he answered and kept exclaiming how really delicious it was. Barbecue restaurant soybean paste stew is particularly tasty, but… wasn’t he going to get too full to eat meat?
Sizzle- I flipped the moderately cooked meat. On the grill, Jeju five-layer pork belly with properly mixed fat and lean meat was sizzling as it cooked, but surprisingly, none of them asked for tongs or scissors. Was it the atmosphere that the person who suggested eating should naturally do the grilling? Then it was right for me to grill, but… I flipped the meat with tongs and voiced the question I’d been thinking about to lighten the awkward atmosphere.
“Neither of you have grilled anything like this before, right?”
“This kind of place is my first time.”
I figured as much with Woo Dohwan.
“I’ve only been to a galbi restaurant once. Raw galbi. They grilled everything there.”
Of course they grilled it since it was expensive.
My mouth fell open slightly. I knew they were from well-off families, but it was quite a fresh shock that this was their first pork belly restaurant. I ordered four servings of Jeju black pork five-layer belly, but I was the only one who knew how to grill meat.
“Once you try it, you’ll want to eat pork belly and soju about three times a week.”
I held up the golden-brown cooked pork belly and cut it into bite-sized pieces with scissors, snip snip. I moved it to the edge rather than the center of the grill, put up the remaining meat, then picked up the soju bottle on the table.
“I’ll pour just the first glass of soju. From the next glass on, everyone drinks on their own.”
“Is that black thing hair by any chance?”
“…You can eat it, so just try it.”
After pouring soju into the glasses of the suspicious Woo Dohwan and the purely cheerful Ban Hajoon with a glug, I also placed a piece of well-cooked meat on each of their plates. Before drinking soju, I explained to the two who probably hadn’t tried pork belly how to eat it deliciously.
“Lettuce, pickled radish, oil sauce, meat, scallions, garlic, pepper, ssamjang.”
I placed appropriately sized lettuce on my palm, then added each item in order to make a wrap. Woo Dohwan and Ban Hajoon watched me make the wrap with almost meerkat-like faces and followed along. When I firmly held my wrap and raised my glass, the two who had clumsily made their wraps raised their soju glasses just like me.
“Cheers.”
“Cheers?”
“Cheers.”
Woo Dohwan didn’t seem to understand the meaning of “cheers” well, but he sensibly reached out his hand to follow the glasses gathered in the center. Three soju glasses clinked together over the grill. The soju that seemed about to spill over the rim fortunately didn’t overflow, and went down my throat leaving a sharp taste in my mouth.
“Ahh. It feels like it’s been really long since I’ve had pork belly and soju.”
When I popped the wrap I’d been holding into my mouth, the greasy flavor filled my mouth enough to make me completely forget the day’s fatigue. Both of them seemed to find the taste of their first wrap not bad.
I pressed the call bell to add two more bottles of soju and placed them in front of each person. From the second glass on, they filled their glasses according to their drinking capacity. Woo Dohwan drank better than expected. Without his complexion changing at all, he emptied his glasses smoothly. It seemed like his first time drinking soju too…
“Should I order more meat if there’s not enough?”
“Not for me.”
“Me neither. This is just right.”
I divided the remaining meat on the grill and placed it on both their plates, then turned off the fire.
“Should I order more alcohol?”
“No.”
“Not for me either.”
Both shook their heads at my question. Well, if it was already awkward for me, how much more awkward would it be for two people seeing each other for the first time? I understood not wanting to eat more. Pork belly and soju for a first meeting. I was completely wrong. After each emptying two bottles of soju without exchanging a word, the drinking session finally ended. While Woo Dohwan and Ban Hajoon both took out their wallets saying they’d pay, I easily finished the payment having come out with just my card.
“Sh-shall we just go home…?”
“I heard people go for a second round after eating this kind of thing.”
“…What?”
At Woo Dohwan’s quietly resonating voice, Ban Hajoon’s eyes, slightly glazed with alcohol, lit up. No, you’ve probably never even been to a second round, so why are you suggesting a second round with a complete stranger?
“Chimaek?”
“Sure.”
“Wait, you don’t even know what chimaek is.”
Quite different from their awkward appearance at the pork belly restaurant, the two facing each other were in good sync. I stepped back half a step behind those two and asked in a voice so quiet it was barely audible.
“Then can I go home?”
“No?”
“No?”
Of course that wouldn’t work. Ban Hajoon and Woo Dohwan gave the same answer as if they’d coordinated. I was dragged to a pub not far from the pork belly restaurant with both my wrists held by the two of them.
We ordered chicken and beer and again each emptied their glasses on their own. Ah, drinking beer after soju makes you drunk. Should I just mix somaek instead? I glanced at the two who were steadily emptying their beers sip by sip, then pressed the call bell to order a bottle of soju.
“I want to mix and drink.”
“You drink really well?”
“I don’t drink that well…”
I was mumbling when Ban Hajoon, his cheeks flushed red, giggled and interjected into the conversation.
“Ranho-ssi really drinks well.”
I wanted to tell Ban Hajoon that he was the one who couldn’t drink, but since he was a man who became particularly tearful when drunk, I swallowed my words.
“Last time too, he drank makgeolli and mixed somaek, you know? I was completely drunk and fell asleep right there, but Ranho-ssi cleaned up everything and even went to work properly the next day. I roughly washed up and hurried down, but I was so surprised that Ranho-ssi was so fine.”
So he had roughly washed that day. That was more surprising. It looked like he’d washed carefully.
“You two drank together too?”
“At Ranho-ssi’s place. We drank makgeolli with kimchi jeon on a rainy day. Ranho-ssi cooks well too.”
A rainy day. Woo Dohwan, who muttered this, smiled with a strange curl of his lips as if he’d remembered something. What, why is he smiling like that? I felt an inexplicable anxiety and emptied the somaek I’d mixed, then picked up a piece of pickled radish. Only the sound of me crunching on the radish echoed through the quiet table.
“Um… it seems like everyone doesn’t have anything special tomorrow.”
“Why? Are you tired, Ranho-ssi?”
Ban Hajoon’s eyes were full of worry. It would be natural to worry about going to work tomorrow after drinking this much, but neither of them showed any such sign. These golden spoon bastards. For Woo Dohwan, who was unemployed and didn’t go to work, and Ban Hajoon, who had separate opening staff for his cafe, drinking too much was just one night’s entertainment. I had to open the door myself.
“A little. I have to open the shop tomorrow too.”
“Then shall we get up and leave?”
“Should we?”
Since we’d almost finished drinking, there wasn’t much regret left at the table. As Ban Hajoon and I gathered our belongings, Woo Dohwan silently picked up the bill. I was about to stop him, but since it wasn’t much money, I just let it be and took care of Ban Hajoon. I thought he wasn’t very drunk when sitting, but it seemed otherwise.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, yes. I’m fine. I’m a little drunk. Ranho-ssi, be careful of your waist.”
Why my waist that I’d forgotten about again… Ban Hajoon grabbed and covered the corner with his hand in case I’d hit my waist on the table edge again.
“I’m fine, so walk properly. I’ll catch a taxi in front, so take it home.”
“What about Ranho-ssi?”
Ban Hajoon worried about me while completely drunk from head to toe.
“It’s nearby. I can walk. These flowers.”
These were the flowers Ban Hajoon had worried about all evening. Even at the barbecue restaurant, he showed extreme behavior, worrying that the flowers would wilt from the smoke and temporarily putting them on the terrace during the meal as a temporary measure.
As soon as he suggested leaving the barbecue restaurant, he took care of the flowers first, so his current behavior of holding them preciously wasn’t incomprehensible. Thanks to being put on the terrace, the bouquet held tightly in Ban Hajoon’s arms was as fresh as when it was first made.
“The flowers are really pretty. I’ve never seen roses like this before.”
“They’re unique.”
“They’re special. Everything Ranho-ssi gives me.”
Ban Hajoon unhesitatingly embraced my body in his drunken state. A whispered “thank you” flowed into my ear as I was lightly held. I stiffened slightly at the too-natural action. I patted his back saying no and pulled away. Since he was indeed drunk, his large body couldn’t maintain balance even from the small reaction. Just then, Woo Dohwan, who was coming out of the pub, saw this and frowned as he caught Ban Hajoon.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
