“I’ll buy you dinner every day. You and your hyung.”
“What’s the menu?”
“Whatever you want to eat every day.”
“Then can I eat samgyeopsal, tteokbokki, donkatsu, spaghetti, pizza, stuff like that every day?”
“Of course. But.”
At the beginning of attaching a condition, Samyukshippal swallowed with a serious expression. His obsession with food seemed to resemble Kkotmoa. Still, Kkotmoa had endured what he wanted to eat and fed it all to Deonggeori.
“I don’t want to be your hyung’s friend like Kang Junwoo.”
“Then?”
“You think about it. If I like it, I’ll buy you whatever you want to eat every day.”
“……Okay. Then I’ll think about whether there’s something better than being my hyung’s friend. For now, let’s go eat meat today.”
“I’ll buy you meat even more delicious than samgyeopsal.”
We became comrades-in-arms. Samyukshippal, tempted by food, soon affectionately held my hand and swung it back and forth. The small hand filling my palm tickled. I had the futile thought of how nice it would be if this hand were Kkotmoa’s.
The spring breeze that had only been cold was warm and cozy. Samyukshippal and I were extremely serious and even sincere, but only Kkotmoa, who was shaking his head, was treating it as a joke. I won’t back down now. If Kkotmoa refuses, I just need to bribe Samyukshippal. The money-wasting I thought I’d never have to do in my life was right before my eyes.
Starting today, I decided to become a voluntary sucker limited to my flower.
I took Kkotmoa and Samyukshippal to the upscale restaurant where my family usually ate out. It was a place where they did everything including grilling, so we could eat comfortably.
While taking a taxi, I hammered in the nail beforehand in case Kkotmoa tried to mention going Dutch. This was a big deal between me and Samyukshippal, so don’t even think about interfering. Kkotmoa, who looked like he was about to say something, just giggled.
When we arrived at the restaurant, we took off our shoes and were guided to a private room. Compared to Kkotmoa’s clean but worn sneakers that he’d been wearing even at nineteen, Samyukshippal’s sneakers were shiny new ones. Naturally a brand name. Even without asking, I could tell Kkotmoa had bought them for him. Somehow I wanted to make an excuse to buy Kkotmoa sneakers first.
First, I ordered a little bit of each cut of beef. After letting Kkotmoa and Samyukshippal taste everything, I planned to add more of whichever cut they found most delicious or wanted to eat more of.
“Wow, awesome. I can’t believe there’s meat more delicious than samgyeopsal. Hyung, what is this? It’s really delicious!”
In handsome Samyukshippal’s face, only his eyes sparkled brightly. No matter how young, he was a kid who knew how to eat. The staff member who was grilling gave the explanation about the meat instead of me. Samyukshippal began demolishing the meat at a terrifying speed, and Kkotmoa was slow because he was busy wiping up what Samyukshippal spilled or getting him drinks.
Actually, I came to feed Kkotmoa, and Samyukshippal was like a bonus appendix, but this made it meaningless. Then and now, Samyukshippal was Kkotmoa’s priority. I felt hurt even though it wasn’t something to feel hurt about. No, if Samyukshippal hadn’t been here, we might not be sitting across from each other eating right now. I had to think of the big deal and draw the big picture. I had no intention of being satisfied with just this fresh restart.
“Samyukshippal, what was most delicious? What more do you want to eat?”
“Samyuk……shippal? Hyung, are you doing multiplication tables right now? I can do up to the 10 times table too, you know?”
“Hah, do you know that famous Math God? If you don’t know Math God, shut your mouth, Samyukshippal.”
Kkotmoa, who had been quietly eating meat, giggled. I was happy that I wasn’t the only one who remembered Math God. Actually, I had known since he first mentioned the God of Study to some kid whose name I didn’t know at the freshman welcome, but now it felt different. How should I say it, maybe it was because the air surrounding us was cozy, but it felt like we’d returned to being nineteen.
“What are you saying? Why do you keep calling me Samyukshippal?”
“3rd grade, class 6, number 18 is too long.”
“That’s my grade, class, and number, but I’m Shin Jae-a, you know?”
“I know. But you’re still Samyukshippal.”
“Why?”
“Because I feel like it. If you want to eat more, it’d be better not to talk back. Samyukshippal, pick whatever you want to eat more of to your heart’s content.”
Samyukshippal smartly picked out what he wanted to eat more of, saying the one he ate however many times, the one he ate however many times. Perhaps because he resembled his hyung, he seemed quite capable. The staff member looked at me, and I immediately requested additional orders.
“You.”
“Hm?”
“I’m asking what more you want to eat.”
“Whatever Jae-a wants to eat.”
Hah. Right, let’s not talk.
After ordering additional servings twice, Samyukshippal was sitting almost lying down, patting his protruding belly. No lie, his belly stuck out like a tadpole, so it was seriously funny. Kkotmoa told Samyukshippal that just in case, he should take digestive medicine before sleeping today. He was so devoted even to his younger sibling, so later with his own child, I didn’t even need to see how he’d be…….
Ah, damn it. I was overlooking a very important fact. I like Kkotmoa. I can’t bear to see Kkotmoa marry another woman. I definitely can’t see a child born between them. When my thoughts reached that far, my heart became needlessly impatient. Kkotmoa had only said I was his first love, calling it something already past, and never said whether those feelings continued even now, which made me anxious. My target of conquest was first Samyukshippal, who was extremely easy to win over compared to Kkotmoa.
“Samyukshippal, is there anything you want?”
“Are you going to buy it for me if there is?”
“Yeah. Just say it.”
“……Why would you buy it? My hyung said I shouldn’t follow strange people who say they’ll buy me stuff like that.”
“Hey, your hyung is right here with us now, you know? And I’m not a strange person. Is this you being done with eating now?”
“Thank you for the meal.”
He corrected his posture properly and suddenly bowed his head, greeting politely, which flustered me more. It was probably something Kkotmoa had taught him. Not knowing what to do, I changed the subject.
“Uh, right. But we made an alliance earlier, didn’t we?”
“Not yet. An alliance over just one meal would be a scam, wouldn’t it? Since Junwoo hyung bought for me three times, if you buy for me more than three times, then we become allies.”
Whether I had thought of it too easily, he was truly a formidable shrewd kid. He’s a kid who could become anything when he grows up. I don’t know where the cute and lovable Deonggeori went, who was so slow compared to his peers that he couldn’t even speak properly and was always called Gamsan. Unable to lose to Samyukshippal like this, I proposed with a voice full of determination.
“Fine. Right away tomorrow, and Wednesday, Thursday, through Friday—think about what you want to eat all this week. Then we’ll be allies.”
“Of course. I’ll have pizza, tteokbokki, samgyeopsal, and tuna gimbap.”
“Have tuna gimbap together with tteokbokki day, and eat something else on Friday.”
“If that’s okay…… Hyung, what do you want to eat?”
Samyukshippal, who had been tilting his head in thought, asked Kkotmoa. Probably his menu knowledge had run out. Kkotmoa, who had been drinking cider, just shrugged his shoulders. If possible, I wanted to buy what Kkotmoa wanted to eat, but it was frustrating when he avoided answering. No, wasn’t it something that he wasn’t blocking me from buying? Wasn’t it something that he wasn’t refusing? I’m a positive person, and through successor training all this time, I’ve learned how to turn crises into opportunities.
“Then on Friday, I’ll take care of it. It’ll probably be something you’ve never eaten in your life.”
“Yes! Hyung, we get to eat out for free all this week! Great, right?”
Kkotmoa stroked the head of Samyukshippal, who was purely excited. If you looked closely at Samyukshippal, he seemed willful, but I could feel that underlying it was a heart given for Kkotmoa. That’s why even though the kid was keen on freebies, he didn’t look hateful or cheap.
“But Samyukshippal, you still haven’t answered.”
“What?”
“I asked what you want. I’m not a strange person, and I’m trying to trick you because I want to look good to get your approval.”
“Hmm…… Then buy me a laptop. When my hyung studies, he doesn’t have a laptop so he goes to PC rooms, but aunt says there are lots of bad hyungs at PC rooms. Because it’s dangerous, a laptop……”
“Shin Jae-a!”
Kkotmoa called Samyukshippal with a scary expression he’d never shown before. Samyukshippal flinched and immediately shut his mouth tight. If until now it had been cute enough to let slide as aegyo, now it seemed to be something deserving of being scolded by Kkotmoa. However, I had escaped from between the brothers and was thinking something completely different.
Laptop, you mean a laptop…….
We left the restaurant and took a taxi again. Despite my restraint, Kkotmoa paid the taxi fare. If I had known it would be like this, we should have gone near the villa—I hated Kkotmoa spending even ten won. But knowing what feelings he was paying the taxi fare with, I had to endure it even though I hated it.
“Let’s get off around here and walk. To digest Jae-a’s food, we need to walk a bit.”
Right in front of the villa, we got off the taxi. It was about a 20-minute walk. The problem was that after walking for about 5 minutes, Samyukshippal started whining that his stomach was too full to walk, his legs hurt, and if he couldn’t teleport he wouldn’t go. In the end, Kkotmoa, the sibling fool, raised the white flag.
“Should I give you a piggyback, Jae-a?”
“Yeah!”
How could I watch full-grown Samyukshippal get on those frail shoulders? When he was Deonggeori, I let it be, but even though the kid was a bit thin, Samyukshippal, who had taken on human form, would definitely not be light. I quickly crouched down in front of Samyukshippal.
“Samyukshippal, get on my back.”
“I’m going to get on my hyung’s back though?”
“Stop talking and get on. I’m trying to earn bonus points from you.”
“Hmm…… Then if you give me a piggyback comfortably and well like my hyung, I’ll give you bonus points!”
As if he’d been waiting, the kid wickedly jumped and quickly got on, almost making me fall forward. Samyukshippal weighed quite a bit as expected. I was upset that Kkotmoa had tried to carry this. I should probably call him out separately in secret and threaten him that I won’t buy him delicious food if he gets on Kkotmoa’s back.
Samyukshippal (삼육십팔 – literally “3-6-18”, Do Hyeondo’s nickname for Shin Jaea based on his grade, class, and number)
