Sunday is instant jajang ramen day!
Just in time, that ramen happened to be sitting on Han-woo’s ceiling shelf, so I grabbed two packs. Planning to have something like lunch for breakfast, I set the water to boil and opened the fridge to see what side dishes there were.
“Ah… Does this guy not eat at home or what? There’s nothing in here.”
I grumbled about how there wasn’t even any kimchi and, with no other choice, took out some stir-fried anchovies and placed them on the island table.
I’d wanted to move into a fully furnished officetel like Han-woo’s, but the maintenance fees weren’t cheap, and the rent itself was expensive. The household items in the apartment I was living in now had all been left behind by the previous tenant, so I’d been making good use of them—but since they were old appliances, they often acted up in unpredictable ways.
The washing machine would drain the water instead of spinning whenever I added fabric softener during the rinse cycle, so I had to pour it in several times. The refrigerator froze over on the inside while barely cooling on the outside, so side dishes either spoiled or turned rock-hard. I always had to check carefully before eating anything. And though I hadn’t used it yet, the wall-mounted air conditioner looked like it would give me pneumonia just by turning it on, so I hadn’t dared to try it.
I cooked the jajang ramen, set it on the table, and picked up a bite of anchovies with my chopsticks. Well, it was my first time eating it with something other than kimchi, but it wasn’t bad. The silence felt heavy, so I turned on the TV and fiddled with my phone.
After I left like that yesterday, Big Mouth had sent me a message. He was demanding that I log into the game. After turning him into a slime, I hadn’t run into ShutUp again. Technically, if I wanted to log in, I could’ve used Han-woo’s access device. But I didn’t want to go that far.
“Ah!”
I’d been chewing absentmindedly when a hard piece of anchovy jabbed the roof of my mouth. It stung so badly my eyes watered. I quickly swallowed the ramen and grabbed the small hand mirror beside me. It looked fine, but when I gently rubbed it with my tongue, it hurt like I’d cut it.
“Ha…”
Now even eating ramen felt like life was picking a fight with me. I was about to lift my chopsticks again when I heard the door lock click open, followed by a woman’s voice.
“Oppa! Mom said! This—oh? Du-seon Oppa?”
“Chaeyeon. Long time no see.”
“Where’s Oppa?”
“Han-woo? He’s probably still out of town.”
“…But what are you doing here? Did you come over just to eat ramen?”
It felt awkward and embarrassing to explain the details, so I vaguely said something had come up at home and I was crashing here for just one night.
“Why are you eating stir-fried anchovies with ramen?”
“It was the only side dish.”
“Mom told me to bring some side dishes anyway.”
Chaeyeon set the kimchi container she’d been about to put in the fridge onto the table instead. When she opened the lid, the scent of perfectly fermented kimchi wafted out. She took some out and placed it neatly on a small plate in front of me.
“You don’t have any kimchi at your place either, right? Take some of this.”
Apparently, Han-woo’s parents had recently moved to Seoul as well. Chaeyeon, who still lived with them, seemed to bring over side dishes like this from time to time. As an only child, there were moments I wished I had a sweet younger sibling like her.
While reheating some galbi, Chaeyeon glanced at me.
“Oppa, you don’t have a girlfriend either?”
“Me? Nope. Why? You gonna introduce me to one of your friends?”
“No.”
She rejected me flatly. I finished my ramen and carried the empty bowl to the sink, grabbing a sponge and lathering it up to wash the dishes.
“Smells good. Your parents are doing well, right?”
“Yeah. Why didn’t you contact us after you moved to Seoul?”
“Well… a lot happened.”
A lot really had happened. Worrying about financial struggles and an uncertain future. Wondering if I’d have to go back home and be harassed by Panty Guy again. Fearing rumors would spread and I’d never be able to get married.
And now… I didn’t even want to think about it. I sighed while rinsing the pot, and Chaeyeon lightly patted my shoulder.
“It’ll all work out. Don’t worry.”
“Yeah. I guess it will.”
After finishing the dishes, I went to the bathroom to wash my face. I hadn’t bothered earlier since I’d been alone, but it felt a bit embarrassing to show my friend’s younger sister a face crusted with sleep.
While I was washing my face and shampooing my hair, I thought I heard my phone ring faintly. It rang several times, and I even wondered if I was imagining it. When I came out, Chaeyeon was holding my phone with a troubled expression.
“What? Did someone call?”
“Yeah. It kept ringing, so I answered. It was some guy. He said he’d call back later and hung up kind of unpleasantly.”
I looked at the screen. The caller ID read “Juni.” When I’d said yesterday I was sleeping at a friend’s place, I hadn’t specified whether that friend was male or female. Did he think I’d stayed at a woman’s house?
Well, even if he did, so what?
I ignored it. Then my phone rang again. This time, it was Han-woo.
“Yeah. When are you getting back?”
[I’m on my way. I’m starving. Should we order something?]
“Chaeyeon came by and made galbi. Come eat that with rice.”
Han-woo sounded delighted and said he’d be there soon. After hanging up, I sat on the sofa in the living room. I’d just fixed my gaze on the TV when my phone rang again. This time, it really was Jun.
“Hello.”
[Was the place you stayed at yesterday your girlfriend’s? You said ‘friend,’ so I assumed it was a guy.]
Even though Jun had told me yesterday to drop the formalities, the moment I got on the phone, my usual real estate office tone slipped out.
“It was a male friend’s place. And whether I sleep at a woman’s house or a man’s house—what does that have to do with you?”
[Of course it has something to do with me. You almost had to take responsibility, Mr. Yoo Du.]
I lowered the volume on my phone as much as possible and moved farther away from Chaeyeon in case she overheard.
“So what does that have to do with me?”
[You should take responsibility.]
“What? Responsibility for what?!”
“Oppa? Why, what’s wrong?”
She must’ve been startled by me shouting as she stepped out of the room. I told her it was nothing and hurriedly slipped on my shoes and stepped outside.
“Juni-ssi, cut it out. I told you I’m not g—, nghk.”
Someone walked past holding a puppy, so I swallowed the word gay and forced the rest of the sentence out. You never knew which door someone might step out of, so I had to keep my voice down.
[After turning me on like that, how can you not take responsibility?]
“Th-those w-words, d-don’t s-say them.”
[We’ll talk about the details tomorrow.]
As I stammered in a whisper, Jun said that and immediately hung up.
There are no “details” to talk about. Why the hell should I take responsibility for his son standing at attention? Seriously, what the hell.
I let out a hollow laugh to myself, muttering under my breath, when a mother and child passing by glanced at me and moved as far away as possible.
How many crazy people were there in this world that even someone as innocent as me got misunderstood like this? Having experienced it firsthand, there really were too many lunatics out there. Maybe it was because Seoul’s population density was so high that you ran into them more often.
“What are you doing out here?”
Just then, Han-woo stepped off the elevator and approached me. Both his hands were full of snacks and dumplings he’d bought from his hometown.
“Did you buy those for me?”
I asked as he slipped off his shoes, but before he could answer, Chaeyeon came over and snatched the shopping bags. Han-woo looked at me helplessly with empty hands.
“Guess not.”
“If you want some, go ask her.”
“You want to see me begging?”
“You were pretty good at it in the game.”
On the first day, there’d been a screenshot posted on the forum of me in the village, wearing nothing but underwear while picking up items. I thought Han-woo hadn’t seen it since he hadn’t said anything, but apparently he had.
“Dinner’s ready.”
We sat around and ate the galbi. The ramen from earlier hadn’t fully digested, so instead of rice, I just picked at a few pieces of meat.
After the meal, Chaeyeon headed home, and Han-woo and I sat in the living room chatting. We’d just started talking about the game when my phone rang again. I glanced at the screen and hurriedly cut off the conversation.
“Hey, shh. ShutUp’s calling.”
“Won’t he recognize your voice? He still doesn’t know?”
“Yeah. If you look at it that way, maybe he’s kind of dense… Hello?”
[What time are you logging in?]
The moment I answered, ShutUp asked when I’d be connecting. Whether in real life or in the game, it seemed like that was all he had on his mind. After fooling around so casually, he told me to take responsibility—yet now he was busy flirting with Gentle.
I considered this a matter of conscience. A person should be consistent. Wasn’t Jun basically two-timing right now? Like holding a rice cake mallet, wondering which rice cake to pound next…
“I can’t today. I’m not home.”
[My PG is really high right now.]
“And I’m not taking Chitosan Extract anymore.”
[…You still need to drain my PG, don’t you?]
“Then you can take Chitosan yourself. And before, you kept going even after your PG dropped to zero.”
[Fine. Just until my PG goes down.]
I thought I’d won the argument with ShutUp, but I wasn’t the winner after all. In the end, linking with him was inevitable.
“I’m hanging up.”
Han-woo was right beside me, so I quickly ended the call. Even so, from what little he’d heard, it was obvious what the conversation had been about. There was no hiding how embarrassed I felt.
I went to the kitchen, made myself a cup of coffee, and sat down next to Han-woo on the sofa. Even though he’d clearly been listening to everything, he just kept sneaking glances at me while pretending to watch TV.
“Yoo Du. I’ve got something to ask—”
“Don’t.”
I wasn’t that kind of person, but everything happening around me was painting me as gay. After we each did our own thing and washed up, it was already past 10 p.m. The choice of where to sleep was between the bedroom or the living room floor.
“The bed’s big. Is it okay if I sleep next to you?”
Han-woo, who had just come out after brushing his teeth, hesitated with a quiet “Mm.” Normally, when we passed out after drinking together, we’d end up sleeping in the same bed all the time. Then I realized why he was acting like that—it was all because of the game.
Ah. Even if it made my stomach burn, I should’ve just kept it to myself. I regretted saying anything to anyone and causing this mess.
“I’ll just sleep on the floor. Looks like you don’t even have extra blankets.”
“I’ll give you something to cover up with. Just roll it up and sleep.”
I didn’t want to say anything to Han-woo. If I wanted to avoid that lunatic in the future, maybe I should just go to a bathhouse instead of staying at Han-woo’s place.
Curled up on the living room floor like a caterpillar, I looked utterly pathetic.
I didn’t come to Seoul for this.
It was a night when I missed home.
