The first time I saw Kwon Sungha was at a Japanese restaurant I’d been to a few times before.
A famous teppanyaki restaurant in Korea—there was a staff member there that my father particularly liked. That staff member became a proper owner and opened a large-scale restaurant in Chicago, and I’d gone along when my father came to Chicago on a business trip. After that, I’d gone with my mother when she came too, but that was already several years ago, so I’d completely forgotten about it.
Then, at my girlfriend’s request to eat something different, that place happened to come to mind, and at first I tried to make a normal reservation. But for my girlfriend, who’d always received special treatment, sharing a table with others couldn’t be satisfactory.
‘Then let’s go somewhere else.’
‘No. I want to try there. It’s supposed to be really delicious. That’s what Auntie said last time.’
I suggested going to a different restaurant, but having somehow met and heard from my mother when, she wanted to go there no matter what. After hearing complaints for two days about how I couldn’t even do that much when she came all the way from New York to Chicago, I reluctantly called the owner directly to ask.
Teppanyaki after 10 PM. I thought it was insane. Moreover, that day we couldn’t even make the reservation time because she dawdled, so it was truly an enormous imposition.
Naturally though, the owner greeted us warmly without showing any sign of displeasure. And the person quietly smiling behind him was Kwon Sungha.
Killer first impression.
That was Kwon Sungha’s first impression.
An excessively pale face even though it was midsummer, with clear eyes. His drooping eye corners wrinkled whenever he smiled. Perhaps because of his young-looking appearance, he was like a high school student who still hadn’t lost his baby fat.
It wasn’t an outstandingly handsome face, but it was a face my eyes kept going to. The kind that would make you fall head over heels with just one smile from those gentle eyes.
Kwon Sungha had that kind of appearance plus sense. Whether he’d been well-trained beforehand or not, besides bringing things we needed in advance, he knew how to clean up the table while appropriately reading the situation. I, who absolutely can’t stand looking at dirty things, didn’t need to step in myself.
‘The staff member does his work well.’
‘Right? But he’s a student who just started part-time a few days ago.’
I thought he must have been there at least half a year, but it was only a few days.
‘Do you know him?’
‘Who.’
‘That staff member who was serving earlier.’
‘No, why.’
‘You seemed to pay attention to him. It’s rare for you to do that. Didn’t you ask if he was staying alone? You don’t usually say things like that.’
I didn’t know, but I realized belatedly after hearing my girlfriend’s words. That I’d taken quite a liking to a mere restaurant part-time worker.
It really wasn’t like me.
And that staff member was right before my eyes. Having become my friend in a place I didn’t know about.
“Because you didn’t come out, Sungha hasn’t even sat down yet. He said he couldn’t greet you.”
I wasn’t the one who invited him, and if he knew all the hyungs well enough that even without me as the house owner, he could just sit on the sofa and play games together while I was gone—but he deliberately waited for me. Not only that, usually people who come for the first time wander around the house looking around or make a fuss saying there are many interesting things, but he didn’t do that either. Surprisingly, what Kwon Sungha was most interested in was the small ice maker I’d set up recently.
“You have something like this too?”
“Yeah. I bought it because I eat it so much.”
“It really doesn’t suit you.”
He seemed entirely cautious yet was also honest. He wasn’t the type to speak first like me, but judging by how well he answered questions, he wasn’t shy either. He just didn’t ramble on about trivial things or bring up unnecessary talk.
“You came to our store, right?”
Kwon Sungha asked a question much later that he could have asked as soon as he saw me. He could have acknowledged me as soon as he saw me.
“You mean the Japanese restaurant in Glenview? Yeah. Right.”
Naturally I thought he’d ask about the relationship with the owner or the reason for making a reservation outside business hours. But the question that came from Kwon Sungha’s mouth was completely different.
“Was the person who came with you then your girlfriend?”
“Yeah.”
“She was pretty. You suit each other well.”
Does he deliberately not talk about things that would make the other person uncomfortable?
Meeting Kwon Sungha again was interesting.
He was definitely different somewhere from the people I’d met so far.
I don’t want to admit it, but just as Kihyun hyung said, he was polite, a bit mature, and the words about his speech and personality being upright were accurate. Not cursing, not drinking, not imposing on others. Not simply not doing wrong things, but his way of thinking itself being correct was right.
Kwon Sungha didn’t deviate from my expectations at all. Everyone must have unexpected aspects, but he had no surprising points whatsoever. Expectations and predictions about people usually crumble very easily, but he was exactly as he appeared, enough to shake what I’d believed until now.
His face is upright. His personality is upright.
The conclusion is,
Kwon Sungha is strange.
Just everything, all of it.
At first I was curious about the face hidden behind his indifferent expression, but as time passed I gave up early, thinking I probably wouldn’t be able to see it. Actions that seemed too ingrained as habits to just be pretending to be good. Kwon Sungha who only speaks right words and only does right actions.
I still hate bothersome human relationships.
But there were exceptions.
A comfortable friendship relationship that requires no waste of emotions or time.
I wanted to add one more to my only human relationship.
* * *
Sunday morning before exams.
Kwon Sungha, who I thought would come in the late afternoon, arrived at my house around 1 PM, earlier than expected.
“You came early. Didn’t you sleep at dawn yesterday?”
His white face looked particularly haggard with dark circles under his eyes from fatigue.
“I slept after the sun came up. So I thought I could sleep until 2, but after 10 I couldn’t fall asleep.”
“You don’t look like someone who can’t sleep.”
I got a text asking if it was okay to leave a bit early, so I said okay. I thought I should have stopped him—he looked bad enough that I was surprised he drove all the way here.
“It’s Sunday, sleep more. Didn’t you work several days in a row?”
“I worked but couldn’t study, so I got worried and couldn’t sleep.”
“What were you doing until the sun came up?”
“I did look at books a bit, but there’s still so much to do. Less than a day left.”
“Right, you said it’s tomorrow.”
“Ah, this.”
A snow-white hand held out a paper bag. On the outside of the bag was a familiar business name.
“Did you go there on purpose?”
“It was on the way anyway. I didn’t know what you liked, so I asked them to give me what I like. At our store, the rolls are actually better than the sushi. Rolls are okay too, right?”
“Yeah.”
I immediately took it to the dining table and took out the food in the bag. In a large bento box were rolls topped with colorful flying fish roe and flashy rolls with tempura crumbs sprinkled all over the top. I thought that would be all, but there was another identical bento box below.
“Why did you buy so much?”
“The bottom one, I asked them to recommend something with tuna and the chef gave it to me to try. And this, the one with avocado on top is delicious too.”
“I’ll eat well. Thank you.”
At my casually tossed out words, Kwon Sungha’s eyes widened.
“Why.”
“Because it’s unexpected.”
“What is?”
“I didn’t think you’d say thank you.”
This time I was the one surprised. It was natural to say I’d eat well since he brought lunch, and it was natural to say thank you, so I didn’t understand why he said it was unexpected.
“Then what should I say?”
“Rather than what you should say, I just thought you weren’t the type of personality to easily give such greetings.”
Just how did he see me?
When I looked at him with an absurd expression in disbelief, Kwon Sungha deliberately changed the subject as if embarrassed.
“Let’s eat quickly before the tempura crumbs get soggy.”
I’d only had a simple shake for breakfast and even exercised, so it was just when I was getting hungry. I didn’t feel like arguing in front of hunger, so I immediately picked up chopsticks.
All the food was delicious. Honestly, it was surprisingly better than expected. The sushi I’d eaten at the restaurant last time was ordinary enough to be neither good nor bad, but the rolls were quite good. Kwon Sungha, who’d been watching my reaction, only seemed satisfied after seeing me eat well.
“You’re not saying this repays the debt, are you?”
I didn’t think there would actually be someone our age who used the expression “imposing,” so I laughed to myself when Kwon Sungha first said he’d repay the imposition. Actually, I didn’t seriously intend to accept it, so I kept deflecting, but Kwon Sungha stubbornly said he’d repay the imposition.
“That’s right though.”
“Then what about drinks?”
“I’ll repay that when the time comes too. I think I’ll have to impose on you again today anyway.”
Last night, I was the one who texted first suggesting he come today. So there was no need to think of it as an imposition, but he seemed to think he was indebted again.
“Did you work here as soon as you came to Chicago?”
“Yeah.”
“Then it really hasn’t been long.”
“Just over two months now.”
“Is your house near there?”
“Right.”
“Your school is downtown but you got a place pretty far away.”
At my words said without much meaning, his clear eyes wavered. But soon he casually tossed out words as if indifferent.
“I don’t like complicated things.”
I learned a new fact.
Kwon Sungha is good at lying.
I’d finally found the unexpected part I hadn’t discovered until now.
