Chapter 105
Meeting my old friend Kim Dong-san was a coincidence. I ran into him in the middle of LA after years of losing touch.
Kim Dong-san had liked me since before. It was because I helped him achieve grades good enough to get into medical school with my unique study methods. Of course, the arrogant guy only half-admitted it, but that’s not true. I was the one who got him in. I chose to think of it my way. After all, he did receive actual help. Anyway, Dong-san seemed to acknowledge my contribution and treated me with respect.
He called me Mr. Bae, Geon-woo God, and even “Straight Bae” because I straightened out his failing grades.
Straight Bae… what a ridiculous guy.
We bickered daily and played pranks on each other every time we met because he liked to tease me with strange nicknames. Anyway, we were the closest of friends.
After Kim Dong-san passed the national medical exam, went through internship, became a military doctor, and then a resident, we naturally lost touch. A doctor’s life was as busy and tough as mine in the entertainment industry.
I was also preoccupied with my brother Junman at that time and neglected everything else.
I was a selfish person who only cared about what I wanted and didn’t look after anyone around me.
As a result, I ended up alone.
I had no friends left by my side, including Kim Dong-san. For me, who didn’t even want to contact anyone now, meeting Kim Dong-san by chance was truly a surprising and pleasant event.
“Oh my God! Geon-woo God! Straight Bae!”
Of course, that loud mouth wasn’t pleasant at all, but still.
“Dong-san! You bastard! What are you doing here? Were you in America?”
I greeted him enthusiastically, hitting his head hard as he came in for a hug.
“I came to meet someone briefly. I’ve been looking for you!”
The story of my altercation with some Koreans at “Milky Way” had spread to Korea. Kim Dong-san, who came to the US, had been trying to meet me. He even went to the “Milky Way” cafe where I was rumored to frequent. But after all that searching, we ended up meeting by chance on the street.
“Have you been well?”
At Dong-san’s question, I briefly thought about my situation. I had a new obsession target, but officially I was unemployed. I gave a vague answer.
“Well, you know… Who did you come to meet?”
“A senior I’m close with. They work here.”
Kim Dong-san pointed to the building right next door. It was the largest general hospital in LA.
“It’s a woman, right? Not your girlfriend, but someone you’re interested in?”
I figured out his intentions from just one conversation. Of course, I was right.
“How did you know? You bastard, your intuition is still sharp, huh?”
“Understanding you is as easy as getting you into medical school. Hahaha.”
“Thanks to you, my crush is a doctor at LA General Hospital. Hahaha.”
We laughed loudly on the street, not caring about embarrassment. Meeting an old friend made us feel like we were back in our youth, making us a bit excited.
We exchanged various greetings and I heard about Kim Dong-san’s lost luggage incident. He was still as talkative as ever.
“Alright, you should get going. You said you had an appointment.”
Mitchell’s car was parked right next to us. Although I wanted to continue chatting, we both had people waiting for us, so I wrapped up the conversation first.
Moreover, Mitchell, who had been sitting in the driver’s seat, was watching us from right next to us since I ran into Kim Dong-san as soon as I got out of the car.
Fortunately, Mitchell couldn’t understand the frivolous Korean we were speaking. The car’s interior was shadowed so I couldn’t see Mitchell’s face, but the window was slightly open. The playful atmosphere was probably reaching Mitchell’s ears as well.
“Hey, are you going to leave without even giving me your phone number? That’s disappointing.”
“Ah.”
Kim Dong-san didn’t even know my old number that I had changed when coming to America. My current number was also a special one given to me by Mitchell, so it was a bit awkward to share it. Kim Dong-san, reading my momentary hesitation, grinned and said,
“I’ll tell you my number. Enter it.”
“Huh? Oh, okay.”
I fumbled to take out my phone from my pocket and typed in the number Kim Dong-san dictated. Even though I didn’t press the call button, he didn’t try to get my number.
“I’m off! It was great to see you. Contact me or don’t, up to you.”
With that, he laughed heartily, waved his hand, and went into the hospital.
The ball was now in my court for future contact. If I wanted to keep in touch, I could, and if not, this was the end. What a considerate bastard.
After hesitating for a moment, I glanced at the car window where Mitchell was watching, then headed to the food truck near the hospital I was originally going to. A little later, I returned to the car with steaming hot dumplings.
“A friend?”
Mitchell asked as soon as I got in the car. These were precious dumplings I encountered on the way to Mitchell’s filming location. Despite the appetizing food in front of him, Mitchell was only curious about the identity of the stranger.
That’s our Mitchell.
“Yeah, a friend from middle school. We lost touch while I was working as an actor. He’s a doctor too, even busier than me, so we couldn’t keep in contact. But we met here. Isn’t that amazing?”
“I guess… You got his contact?”
“Yeah. Is it okay if I contact him?”
Mitchell grinned at my question.
“It’s okay.”
“That’s good.”
I smiled as I unwrapped the dumplings. The dumplings in front of me were good, Mitchell beside me was good, and meeting an old friend after a long time was good too.
“But Geon-woo.”
I picked up a large dumpling and held it to Mitchell’s mouth. When Mitchell shook his head, I brought it to my own mouth. As I took a bite, the meat juice burst in my mouth.
“I’ve been taking Korean lessons lately, right?”
“Yeah. Why?”
I listened attentively to Mitchell’s story while chewing. I wanted to quickly let Mitchell taste this flavor too, but it seemed Mitchell had something urgent to say.
“I think your friend just said ‘gochu’. Did I hear ‘gochu’ correctly? Did he just call you ‘Gochu Bae’? Why?”
“…”
“The Korean word ‘gochu’ I know can mean the vegetable pepper, but it also means a man’s thing, right? Why did he call you that? It’s strange even if he meant the edible pepper.”
“Ah, no…”
“Explain it in detail. I didn’t mishear it.”
Suddenly, the dumpling I was chewing tasted like pepper. I briefly regretted not hitting Kim Dong-san’s head harder.
“What on earth is your Korean teacher teaching you?”
“I specifically asked Alex to teach me sexual terms clearly. I need to know at least that much to have dirty talk with you in Korean.”
“Sigh…”
I put down the dumpling I was holding and explained in detail why my nickname was “Gochu Bae,” or rather “Straight Bae.” Only after confirming it was wordplay did Mitchell start the car.
Anyway, Kim Dong-san’s mouth was the problem.
“Mitchell, did you understand our conversation just now?”
“About half?”
“Huh? Really?”
“I just grasped the context. I didn’t hear it properly. I can only understand a little and barely speak.”
“That’s still impressive. Wow, you’re really smart. You haven’t even learned for that long. You memorize scripts so well too.”
As expected of my Mitchell, he was intelligent too. I felt proud for no reason.
“Can you think of any Korean words now?”
I asked, thinking it would be nice if I could help occasionally, even though Alex probably teaches him properly. If you have a native Korean by your side, you should make good use of it, right?
“I always have some in mind.”
“Oh, what are they?”
Then a string of vulgar words came out of Mitchell’s mouth. Maybe because I heard them in Korean, my face turned bright red.
“Stop your lessons right now!”
It seems he had been learning such low-grade words from Alex under the guise of studying. To think he was already experiencing the dirty talk he said he wanted to do with me, with Alex instead.
“Why are you so angry?”
Mitchell seems to think it’s just a joke. But I’m feeling an unprecedented sense of crisis.
More than being jealous of Mitchell having fun with someone else… Yeah, I didn’t like sharing Mitchell’s lewd side, which should be mine, with Alex.
I should be the only one who knows Mitchell’s dark side. Whether it’s perverse, vulgar, or dark desires, I should have it all, but Alex has taken a part of it.
“Stop the lessons.”
Mitchell just laughed, probably thinking it was still part of the joke.
“That’s not possible.”
The person who usually accommodated all my wishes didn’t help this time. Momentarily angered by his voice mixed with laughter, I threw my phone onto his thigh.
“Delete the app that tracks my location.”
Why am I so angry?
I wanted to ask myself the question Mitchell had asked me. Why am I so angry?
“If you’re going to keep studying with Alex, delete the location tracking too.”
Mitchell was silent. He stared straight ahead without looking at me. Just as I was about to open my mouth, unable to bear the frustration, the car moved to the side lane.
Mitchell parked the car on the shoulder, picked up my phone, manipulated it for a while, and then handed it back to me.
“I deleted it.”
The atmosphere had reached its worst. Mitchell’s face was expressionless, and I couldn’t think of any words to comfort him.
It was probably just a joke from Mitchell, but I had acted excessively and sensitively. But no matter how much I thought about it, I didn’t know how to salvage this already ruined atmosphere.
Ah, of course, that was just me.
Mitchell was thinking something completely different from my fretting.
“You’re cute when you’re angry.”
Smooch.
After leaving a ticklish kiss on my cheek, the car started moving again.
“Ah, is it jealousy rather than anger?”
Leaving me dumbfounded, Mitchell’s lips curved into an even deeper smile.
