“Hm, or would you like a cola or soda, Kang-woo?”
Since it looked like he wanted to order something for him, Kang-woo thought for a moment before answering carefully.
“Cola, please.”
Young-wan added a cola and a bottle of soju to the order with the employee who was flipping the meat on the grill. The employee stepped away briefly, then returned to the table carrying the drinks.
“Thank you.”
After politely thanking him, Kang-woo opened the cola and poured it into his cup.
“Here.”
Kang-woo accepted the glass of cola and took a sip. The sharp, prickling carbonation slid down his throat, leaving a tingling sensation behind.
“Ah, I’ll pour your drink for you.”
“It’s okay. I’m perfectly fine drinking on my own.”
When Kang-woo reached out toward the soju bottle that Young-wan had tilted to pour for himself, Young-wan blocked him with his arm and laughed. Kang-woo quietly placed his hands, now with nowhere to go, back on top of his thighs. His gaze drifted toward the meat sizzling on the grill. The delicious smell stimulated his sense of smell.
“But why are you wearing a hat?”
“Huh?”
He hadn’t heard the question properly because he’d been focused on the meat cooking. When he asked back, Young-wan pointed at Kang-woo’s head with his fingertip.
“The hat.”
“Ah, this?”
Kang-woo grabbed the brim of the black cap for no real reason before letting it go, answering a little awkwardly.
“I didn’t wash my hair.”
In truth, he had washed his hair that morning. The hat had partly been because he was worried he might run into someone he knew—but it was also something like a talisman. For some reason, wearing it made him feel at ease. Perhaps it was because Seok-ho had given it to him.
“I see,” Young-wan said, nodding without much interest.
“The meat is ready. Please enjoy.”
“Thank you.”
Once the meat had grilled to a proper color, the employee replaced the grill plate and left for another table. Young-wan immediately picked up the tongs and placed a piece of meat onto Kang-woo’s bowl of rice.
“Here. Kang-woo, eat a lot. I’m paying today.”
“Yes. Thank you for the meal. You should eat a lot too, hyung.”
Kang-woo didn’t refuse and picked up his utensils. It had been a very long time since he’d eaten pork ribs. The sweet, savory flavor made the meat keep disappearing into his mouth.
Young-wan watched the scene with satisfaction as he continued eating. He didn’t forget to occasionally sip his soju as well.
To be honest, Kang-woo had worried that an awkward atmosphere might linger throughout the meal with Young-wan, but that concern proved unnecessary. Young-wan was an excellent conversationalist. Thanks to the way he smoothly brought up this and that in a gentle tone, there was never a dull moment.
At the same time, Kang-woo quietly used this opportunity to satisfy some of his personal curiosity. He gradually asked Young-wan things he’d been wondering about regarding Seok-ho. For example—how the two of them had first met.
“Seok-ho and I… hmm. How did we meet at first?”
Young-wan rolled his eyes as though searching through his memories. Then he let out a soft exclamation.
“Ah, if I put it simply, we met through a mutual acquaintance.”
“A mutual acquaintance?”
Young-wan nodded with a faint smile.
“Did you know Seok-ho has an older brother?”
So he had a brother too, not just an older sister. This was the first time Kang-woo had heard that. Before meeting Jung-yeon, Kang-woo had actually assumed Seok-ho was an only child.
That had simply been the impression he gave—something about the feeling people who grow up without siblings often had. Since Kang-woo himself was an only child, he’d been even more convinced. But it seemed Seok-ho’s family was bigger than he’d expected.
After the joy of discovering a new fact naturally came curiosity. Did Seok-ho’s brother resemble him? Kang-woo shook his head, his eyes shining.
“No. I didn’t know.”
“I figured. Seok-ho doesn’t really talk about his family.”
Kang-woo nodded at the look asking for agreement.
“Well, it’s not just family stories—he just doesn’t talk much about himself in general. He’s so blunt that even I, as his friend, often wonder what he’s thinking.”
Young-wan smiled lightly. Kang-woo nodded again.
Seok-ho really was a mysterious man. It had already been nearly two months since Kang-woo started living with him, yet he still didn’t really understand what kind of person Seok-ho was.
“Anyway, there’s an older brother named Cheol-ho. That hyung graduated from the same university as me. We were in different departments, but somehow we ended up continuing the connection. Then one day Cheol-ho hyung said his younger brother needed a personal doctor and introduced me to Seok-ho.”
The face of Kang-woo, who had been listening with sparkling eyes, suddenly filled with worry. A personal doctor? For what reason?
“Does hyung have some kind of chronic illness?”
“Ah, it’s not exactly like that… but don’t ask me about it. You should ask Seok-ho. If I go around telling everything, I might get scolded for having a loose mouth.”
Young-wan tipped his soju glass and brushed past the topic. Kang-woo remembered hearing somewhere that doctors had a duty to protect their patients’ secrets. Since Young-wan was a doctor before he was a friend, he probably couldn’t casually talk about Seok-ho.
A shadow fell across Kang-woo’s face. Could Seok-ho have some serious illness?
He wanted to keep asking until he got an answer, but questions like this would only make Young-wan more uncomfortable. In the end, Kang-woo decided to set aside his curiosity for the moment.
“By the way.”
When Kang-woo cautiously started speaking, Young-wan—who had been pouring himself another drink—looked up. After hesitating, Kang-woo brought up something that had been bothering him.
“You don’t have to use honorific speech with me.”
“Ah.”
“You’re older than me, hyung. Please speak comfortably.”
He appreciated that Young-wan used polite speech out of respect, but hearing formal speech from someone older was honestly a little burdensome.
“Hm, then I guess I’ll do that.”
Young-wan immediately switched to casual speech with playful ease. Kang-woo smiled faintly and nodded.
“Please be comfortable.”
“Come to think of it, how old are you, Kang-woo?”
“I’m nineteen.”
Young-wan, who had just put a piece of meat into his mouth, widened his eyes.
“What? Nineteen? You’re that young? I thought you were at least over twenty.”
“Do I look old for my age?”
When Kang-woo asked seriously, Young-wan choked mid-swallow. Kang-woo quickly pulled out a few tissues and handed them to him. Covering his mouth, Young-wan calmed his coughing before explaining.
“No. It’s not that—it’s just that you seem very free-spirited for a high school student.”
Though he phrased it indirectly, what he really meant was: If you’re that young, why aren’t you living with your parents instead of staying at Seok-ho’s house?
Judging by Young-wan’s reaction, he seemed to have had no idea that Kang-woo was a runaway youth. Seok-ho must have intentionally chosen not to mention it.
“I have some personal circumstances, so I’m relying on hyung for a while.”
Since he couldn’t explain his entire situation, Kang-woo summarized it briefly. Young-wan let out a low “Hmm,” clearing his throat.
“Kwon Seok-ho, that bastard. So there was a reason he dodged every question I asked.”
After muttering that, he met Kang-woo’s eyes and flashed a grin.
“Still, wow—you’re really young. I’m jealous. Let’s see… if you’re nineteen, that’s ten years ago for me now. Man, time really flies.”
Shaking his head slowly, Young-wan downed a shot of soju. Then he stared at Kang-woo for a moment before folding his arms and leaning his upper body forward.
“Kang-woo, is there anything you want to do? You’re about to turn twenty soon.”
“Something I want to do?”
“Like something you want to do when you become an adult. Or maybe a dream job you’ve always imagined. Stuff like that.”
Eyes filled with gentle warmth looked at him quietly. Kang-woo found it difficult to open his mouth right away. It was the first time anyone had asked him such a question.
Something he wanted to do.
If he became an adult, the thing he wanted most—there had only ever been one.
He wanted independence. He wanted to escape his father’s shadow and try living on his own, with his own strength. He never imagined that wish would come true like this, though.
As for a job, he had never thought deeply about it. No one had ever asked him that kind of question before. On the forms at school asking for his future dream, he always wrote businessman, exactly as his father wanted.
Come to think of it, he had once asked Seok-ho a similar question.
“Hyung, why did you become a tattooist?”
Even when asking that, he hadn’t thought about it—what he himself would become in the future.
To be honest, aside from cooking, Kang-woo didn’t really know what he liked. He had never had the luxury of thinking about what he enjoyed.
His father had raised him strictly—ever since he was very young. The person who used to moderate that strictness was his mother. But after she passed away following her battle with cancer, his father pushed Kang-woo even harder.
As a child, Kang-woo wanted to be loved. It was a time when children desperately needed their parents’ attention and affection.
So he focused entirely on satisfying his father. He did things that would earn praise and avoided anything that wouldn’t.
As long as he diligently followed what his father wanted and did exactly as he said, that was enough.
After entering high school, he had even less room to reflect on himself. Just surviving while walking on eggshells around Baek Kyung-wook and his group was exhausting enough.
Kyung-wook bullied Kang-woo both physically and mentally.
With nowhere to release the emotions festering inside him, Kang-woo clung to his studies even more desperately. He needed something—anything—to concentrate on in order to escape reality.
Every single day felt like living in hell.
But he couldn’t tell his father the truth. He knew his father was desperately trying to curry favor with Kyung-wook’s father.
On top of that, his father constantly told him the same thing.
“Conduct yourself properly.”
It was an indirect expression, but the warning was clear—don’t create problems that would inconvenience him.
Kang-woo didn’t want to put his father in a difficult position. And he didn’t want to disappoint him.
So he gritted his teeth and endured. He complied with everything his father demanded.
Yet deep down, there had always been a faint hope that perhaps his father would notice first and ask him.
Are things going well at school? How are your relationships with your classmates?
Simple, ordinary questions like that.
“…I’m not sure.”
After a long silence, Kang-woo murmured the answer.
“Well, that’s understandable. You’re still young. It’s okay. You’ll have plenty of time to figure it out later.”
Sensing the dejection in his voice, Young-wan comforted him. Kang-woo only nodded quietly.
“When you figure out something you want to do later, tell me too. Don’t just tell Seok-ho.”
Grinning playfully, Young-wan poured another shot of soju and held up his glass toward Kang-woo.
“Cheers.”
Kang-woo lifted his cola glass and clinked it against his.
Clink. The two glasses touched with a clear sound.
After finishing their meal, the two chose a café for their second stop. Young-wan ordered a café mocha, while Kang-woo chose hot chocolate. They also ordered a slice of sweet cake.
It was a cake topped with a vivid blue flower on Earl Grey whipped cream, and inside the cream were tiny black specks scattered throughout. When he cut off a piece and put it in his mouth, it melted softly, releasing the delicate aroma of sweet yet slightly bitter black tea across the tip of his tongue.
