“Can I leave now?”
“Are you going alone? It’ll be difficult to get out of here without a car.”
Should I ask him to leave together?
Whenever they met until now, they naturally had sex. Perhaps they could have done so this time too. But Yeonwoo, not wanting to reveal his current facial condition, took a deep breath and raised his head.
“Could you lower your mask?”
“…”
“Or may I do it myself?”
Ho Munbeom’s face showed that he already knew everything Yeonwoo was trying hard to hide. Of course, how could he not know? Yeonwoo was covering his face awkwardly and uncomfortably enough to be obvious.
He wasn’t the type to forcibly look if Yeonwoo said no or that he was uncomfortable showing his face. If Yeonwoo continued to be uncomfortable and said again that he wanted to leave, Ho Munbeom would probably get up and accompany him. He might even escort him to his front door. Then, when would he be able to meet this person again?
Ho Munbeom approached Yeonwoo, who was holding his breath. Standing beside him, he first removed Yeonwoo’s hat and then placed his hand on the mask. Yeonwoo flinched but didn’t avoid it. As the long, thick fingers lowered the mask, Yeonwoo’s bruised cheek and scabbed lips were fully revealed.
Feeling Ho Munbeom’s gaze on the side of his face, Yeonwoo nervously moved his lips.
“I fell while working. So…”
“You were properly beaten up. This must have hurt.”
“…”
“Did they throw the hospital bill in your face like a noose and then resort to violence when things went wrong?”
“…It wasn’t my father who did this.”
“Oh, it wasn’t?”
Yeonwoo responded by nodding his head. Ho Munbeom, watching as Yeonwoo slowly moved his head up and down as if unaware he was continuously nodding, placed his hand on Yeonwoo’s slender neck.
“Would you like to go eat?”
Only then did Yeonwoo stop nodding and looked not at Ho Munbeom but at the desserts and sandwiches laid out on the table. His expression seemed puzzled about where they would go to eat with all this food already present, and Ho Munbeom’s hand moved down to Yeonwoo’s back.
“We can pack these up, so let’s go eat. There’s a delicious soup restaurant nearby.”
“…”
His large hand patted Yeonwoo’s thin back, urging him to get up quickly.
The place Ho Munbeom took Yeonwoo to was a shabby single-story building along the roadside. Besides the large sign that read “Seolleongtang” (ox bone soup), there was nothing else, but when they opened the door and entered, nearly half the seats were occupied. An old TV was broadcasting a baduk (Go) match, and people were focused solely on eating, heads bowed toward their earthenware bowls.
Only after seeing this familiar restaurant scene did Yeonwoo’s mind begin to clear a bit. Ever since Ho Munbeom had discovered his bruised cheek, he had felt dazed and withdrawn for some reason. Just then, an elderly person sitting at the counter near the entrance recognized Ho Munbeom and spoke first.
“It’s been a while since you came. Is that your partner?”
At the term “partner,” Yeonwoo reflexively pulled his mask up higher. Ho Munbeom, standing beside him, placed his hand on Yeonwoo’s waist and said:
“The person I’m seeing.”
Surprised, Yeonwoo looked up at Ho Munbeom, but quickly lowered his head again when he noticed the elderly person’s gaze, which seemed to have been on him for a while. Clicking their tongue, the elder pointed inside with a fan they were holding.
“You’ll be punished if you play with a child. You should test the waters appropriately and settle down.”
At the gesture to go to the private room, Ho Munbeom took care of Yeonwoo and headed there.
Though Ho Munbeom was quite noticeable, the customers in the restaurant were all focused on their own meals. There was no one staring or recognizing Ho Munbeom, yet Yeonwoo’s head drooped lower and lower.
Only after sitting down in what was called a “room” but was merely a partitioned space could Yeonwoo raise his head. When he saw Ho Munbeom pouring water into cups, he realized his mistake. He reached out saying he would do it, but Ho Munbeom had already poured the water and even placed utensils in front of Yeonwoo.
“My grandfather liked this place, so I’ve been coming here since I was young. I forget about it when I’m not eating here, but strangely, since returning to Korea, I find myself coming once every couple of months.”
He seemed to be speaking to help ease Yeonwoo’s awkwardness.
If he had been coming since childhood, it was practically his regular place. Perhaps others didn’t know that Ho Munbeom enjoyed the food here. Feeling a thrill at learning a secret that only he knew, Yeonwoo carefully removed his hat. Seeing this, Ho Munbeom drank water and said:
“Eat comfortably. It’s fine.”
“…Yes.”
As soon as he answered, the food arrived immediately.
Although they hadn’t seemed to order anything specific, what came out were two very generous bowls of seolleongtang. The rice was heaped high, and there was plenty of side dishes like lettuce salad, seokbakji (radish kimchi), and bean sprouts.
Yeonwoo was taken aback by the amount of food placed before him, but the elderly server who brought the food only said, “Eat it all,” before quickly leaving.
“Let’s eat.”
Ho Munbeom put all his rice into the bowl full of seolleongtang. He roughly mixed it by cutting through the middle with his spoon, then immediately took a large spoonful into his mouth and reached for the lettuce salad. Seeing him eat efficiently, just as he had with the sandwich earlier, Yeonwoo’s mouth watered.
Removing his mask and setting it aside, he first tasted the broth. It was rich yet refreshing. Impressed by the taste that definitely awakened his appetite, Yeonwoo took a few more spoonfuls of the broth before eating some rice.
As the warm rice entered his mouth, his attention turned to the seokbakji. Yeonwoo diligently ate rice, side dishes, and the meat and glass noodles from the soup. Then, like Ho Munbeom, he put all his rice into the soup, mixed it with his spoon, and started eating with concentration.
There was a reason the restaurant’s customers focused only on eating. With food this delicious, there was no time to worry about anything else. As Yeonwoo moved his spoon busily, he looked up and hesitated. Ho Munbeom was watching him.
“…”
Had he been eating too ravenously?
Just then, Ho Munbeom placed a bite-sized portion of seokbakji on Yeonwoo’s spoon.
“Did you apply medicine?”
“…Yes.”
Yeonwoo, answering softly, put the seokbakji in his mouth and chewed slowly. Then Ho Munbeom picked a thick piece of meat from Yeonwoo’s bowl and placed it on his spoon.
“Since Yeonwoo’s skin is delicate and prone to bruising or marking…”
“…”
“Don’t just take the hits—fight back equally. You know where a man’s weak spot is, right? No matter the size difference, once you kick there, it’s all over.”
Yeonwoo hadn’t just passively taken Seongho’s beatings. The first time Seongho appeared, Yeonwoo had slapped his face, and the second time, Seongho had fallen while Yeonwoo was dodging. And this time, thanks to someone in the neighborhood making a loud noise, a startled Seongho had run away.
Yeonwoo put the meat from the spoon into his mouth. Munching and chewing thoroughly, he looked at Ho Munbeom and said:
“I’ll do that next time.”
Though his pronunciation was a bit slurred due to the food in his mouth, it must have been conveyed properly. Otherwise, Ho Munbeom wouldn’t have smiled like that. Finding his slightly upturned lips pleasant to look at, Yeonwoo lowered his head and took another spoonful of broth.
Though he wanted to finish it all because it was delicious, he left about half. In contrast, Ho Munbeom completely cleaned his bowl, including the broth. After assessing Yeonwoo’s state, Ho Munbeom suggested they leave if he was finished and began tidying up.
Yeonwoo worried he might be scolded for leaving food, but that didn’t happen. The elderly person who saw Ho Munbeom coming to pay started chatting, and feeling like he shouldn’t listen in, Yeonwoo said he would wait outside and headed out.
Though he felt Ho Munbeom’s gaze, Yeonwoo pretended not to notice and sat on a wooden platform at the back of the building. Seeing that there was no one around, he quietly lowered his mask and exhaled a long breath.
“…I’m full.”
He had really enjoyed the meal.
Recently, even eating at the mart had been uncomfortable, consuming food without knowing whether it was going through his nose or mouth. So he always left food, and even what he ate didn’t seem to digest properly, leaving his stomach feeling bloated. But today, he had eaten really well and enjoyed it.
Suddenly recalling Ho Munbeom, who had eaten the soup rice so heartily in front of him, Yeonwoo’s mood improved and he curled up the corners of his lips. As he was slowly moving his legs up and down while keeping his thighs together, Ho Munbeom opened the door and came out.
“Sorry for the delay. It took some time to order something to send to my grandfather’s house.”
What Ho Munbeom offered was a popsicle.
Since it was already unwrapped when he handed it over, Yeonwoo had no choice but to accept it, and Ho Munbeom sat down beside him while putting his own popsicle in his mouth.
“It’s nothing special, but sometimes these things taste good.”
Half the popsicle disappeared in one bite. Ho Munbeom furrowed his brow at the coldness in his mouth and moved his jaw slowly. Seeing this, Yeonwoo also brought the popsicle to his mouth. It was red bean flavor—the very same that elderly women at the supermarket would occasionally give him to eat.
Before he knew it, Yeonwoo was sucking on the popsicle, munching with it in his mouth. He normally liked to slowly melt it from the end, and without thinking, he ate it that way. Ho Munbeom’s eyes narrowed as he watched Yeonwoo while holding his half-eaten popsicle.
“I thought Yeonwoo would be uncomfortable in places like this, but you don’t show any signs of discomfort.”
Yeonwoo, taking the popsicle out of his mouth, looked as if he had heard something strange.
“I lived in a place that was practically the countryside. A place where all you could see outside the window was mountains and fields. Stores there close around 7 PM. Even convenience stores don’t operate 24 hours.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
