“Oh, right. Why don’t you try contacting the restaurant where you used to work?”
“The hotel? Well… positions don’t open up there very often, and even if they did, commuting would be difficult because of the distance.”
“No, not there. The place where you worked part-time in high school.”
“Ah, Hwanggeumseong?”
Hwanggeumseong was the Chinese restaurant where Kang Siwon had worked part-time throughout his three years of high school. Just the fact that they’d hired him when it was hard to find work as a student was something to be grateful for, but on top of that, he’d learned cooking and Chinese there.
Thanks to that, he’d started dreaming of becoming a chef, and for a while, he’d even managed to survive in Macau, so that restaurant had been a turning point in Kang Siwon’s life in many ways.
“The owner of that place won some kind of cooking competition about half a year ago, and after that, the business exploded. People from other regions even make special trips to this neighborhood that doesn’t have a single tourist attraction, you know? So they opened a second location, but it seems they’re short-staffed.”
“Really?”
“That’s what I’m saying. That owner used to say you were admirable for being so diligent even though you were young. If you contact them again, won’t they be happy to hear from you?”
It seemed there really was no law that said a person would starve to death. Even though the job wasn’t confirmed yet, his worries had already lessened a bit. Kang Siwon let out a sigh of relief.
* * *
The next day, Kang Siwon bought a box of vitamin drinks and visited the restaurant in time for opening. Thanks to that, his entire fortune dropped to the 70,000 won range, but it was worth it. The owner, who remembered Kang Siwon, readily offered him a job.
It was even six days a week. The pay wasn’t bad either, so now as long as he worked hard, he’d be able to manage his life properly.
Of course, just thinking about having to diligently repay a portion of what he earned made his stomach churn. But he’d decided to think of the debt as part of his fate now. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to live with a sound mind. If he endured without running from reality, a way forward would open up eventually.
From that day on, Kang Siwon devoted himself solely to work. Sometimes the debt, the future, and an indescribable hopelessness would choke him, but the more that happened, the harder he pushed his body. That way, though his body was exhausted, his mind was actually more at peace.
On the day he’d been living like that for three months.
Kang Siwon moved out of Uncle Gyucheol’s house. Even though Uncle Gyucheol had said he could stay as long as he wanted, he couldn’t help but feel like a burden. He wasn’t a child anymore, so it felt awkward for a full-grown adult to be living off someone else. He was just grateful for having been allowed to stay there until now.
After insisting on giving Uncle Gyucheol a token of thanks despite his refusal saying it wasn’t necessary, Kang Siwon moved into a studio apartment near Hwanggeumseong.
Though the studio was somewhat old, it was spacious and seemed comfortable to live in. Compared to the cramped studio he’d lived in in Seoul, it was no different from a palace. On his one day off per week, Kang Siwon swept and wiped the room clean to organize it neatly.
On his first night sleeping in his own comfortable home.
“……”
For some reason, he felt a hollow, desolate feeling and couldn’t fall asleep. Even when he’d first lived independently at barely twenty, it hadn’t been this bad, but something felt unsettled.
Was it because the wind was cold? Well, the late summer heat had broken, and the season was heading toward winter, so it made sense.
Kang Siwon pulled the blanket up to his chin and tossed and turned. But still, a bleak chill seeped in, making his shoulders shrink.
Maybe it was because sleeping alone had been a while. He’d lived with Uncle Gyucheol for the past three months. And before that…
‘Siwon, let’s sleep together.’
Ray Jun came to mind, who used to paw at him like a large dog that didn’t listen but had plenty of strength. Especially when they lived in the dorms, he’d been endlessly annoying, insisting on sleeping pressed together on a bed that wasn’t even big.
“……”
Back then, he’d only thought Ray Jun was being bothersome, and even now, that thought hadn’t changed. Yet a feeling similar to longing brushed across his chest.
“……Crazy bastard.”
That insane bastard. Just because life had become a bit more livable, here he was thinking foolish thoughts again.
Kang Siwon cursed himself harshly. No matter how much breathing room he had, how could he possibly miss that bastard who had locked him up and treated him like a hole?
They said bad memories fade with time, but it had only been three months. He felt utterly pathetic for acting as if he’d forgotten Ray Jun’s true nature in that short time.
On the other hand, he also had the weak thought that ‘it can’t be helped.’ Even if he was used to living alone, as a human being, he couldn’t help but feel loneliness. That’s why it might be natural for Ray Jun to come to mind—the person with whom he’d been most intimate, both physically and mentally.
……Was he doing well?
For the past three months, he’d been anxious that Ray Jun might chase after him, but that never happened. Perhaps he didn’t have enough interest in him to bother looking.
Ray Jun had always been too busy with his own work to pay attention to trivial things anyway. If he was being reinvestigated about the Zhang Weiren matter, it wouldn’t be easy for him to leave Macau either.
Even though they were people who had nothing to do with each other anymore, he was still a bit concerned about that Zhang Weiren matter. So one day, he’d pointlessly typed search terms like ‘Sovereign Resort’ or ‘Sovereign death incident’ into a portal. But no significant articles came up.
“……He’s probably doing well.”
That resourceful bastard surely would be.
He sighed at the same time as muttering to himself. Now wasn’t the time to worry about Ray Jun—he needed to sort out his own life first.
He’d found both work and a place to live, so all that remained was to get his head straight. He needed to forget about what happened at Sovereign Resort, the Baeksa Faction’s threats, and the small everyday moments he’d shared with Ray Jun, but that wasn’t easy. When bad memories came to mind, his mood sank. And when good memories came to mind, he felt even more lost.
“……”
He needed to forget quickly. As if nothing had ever happened in the first place.
Kang Siwon curled up tightly under the blanket. With only colder days ahead, if he was already like this, he wouldn’t be able to endure winter. It seemed he’d need to get an electric blanket soon.
* * *
Flames leaped from the wok, and the knife blade fell onto the cutting board. The kitchen during lunch rush resembled hell.
“Ugh, the orders keep flooding in without a break. Good thing we finished prep yesterday.”
“I know, right? Must be because it’s Friday.”
The chef stir-frying fried rice behind him grumbled. Kang Siwon answered without even glancing in that direction. To handle the pouring orders, they had to move without rest.
“Still, the lunch peak will pass soon. I don’t think there are any more tables that will order…”
Before the chef could even finish speaking, a new order slip printed from the printer. The chef who checked it let out a scream.
“Argh, only the labor-intensive ones came in. My mouth is such a jinx!”
“What’s wrong?”
Kang Siwon smiled bitterly. Wasn’t it the law of the kitchen that the moment someone said it was slow or that customers probably wouldn’t come, things got busy?
“I’ll take the noodles and fried dishes. Siwon, you handle the yusanseul.”
“Will do.”
Yusanseul was a dish he was confident in, so it was actually welcome. Kang Siwon placed the wok on the burner where gas flames roared up and poured in the ingredients.
The chef might call him a pervert if he knew, but in truth, Kang Siwon liked working busily. When he moved his body frantically, his idle thoughts disappeared. Only at times like this could he be free from useless ruminations.
Working hard like that, time flew by. Before he knew it, it was 3:20, and break time was just around the corner. Kang Siwon cleaned up the messy kitchen together with the chef.
“How many tables are left in the hall?”
When the chef asked, the part-timer in charge of hall service answered.
“Two tables. But one group seems like they’ll leave soon.”
“What about the other table?”
“They’ve almost finished eating, but strangely, they don’t seem to have any intention of leaving.”
“We have our break in 10 minutes.”
“I did inform them…”
The part-timer glanced back toward the hall, then whispered in a hushed voice.
“But you know what? At that table, the male customer is really handsome. There’s no way someone with that face isn’t a celebrity—shouldn’t we get an autograph and hang it at the entrance?”
“Hey, I’ve told you over and over. Raise your standards. You made a fuss saying Siwon was handsome as soon as you saw him too.”
“Siwon-ssi is actually handsome! If we had an open kitchen, we’d really have so many customers coming just to see Siwon-ssi.”
“Come on. If we get more customers, we’ll die.”
Kang Siwon half-listened to the chef and part-timer’s banter as he finished cleaning the kitchen. Then, the call bell rang.
“I’ll go!”
The part-timer rushed out of the kitchen. But they quickly came back and looked between the two of them, asking.
“Um, who made the yusanseul for table 8?”
“That? Siwon handled that order.”
“Yes, I made it… Is there a problem?”
When he asked with a bit of tension, the part-timer shook their head.
“No, they said the yusanseul was so delicious that they want to see the face of the person who made it. Could you come out for a moment?”
