“Why have you been tormenting me with lettuce since earlier?”
“Don’t talk about that stuff in front of Daeyoung.”
“Why not?”
“Don’t talk about that in front of a kid who just broke up.”
“Ah…”
Only then did I understand why Seongheon hyung had told the hyungs to watch their mouths. They didn’t need to hide things because of me, but Seongheon hyung was excessively conscious of me and warned the hyungs.
“The character ‘yeo’ (女/woman) is confiscated.”
As soon as those words fell, Daesu hyung teased, “I mean your electronic friend who called earlier. Your cyber lover electronic friend,” finding it amusing, but being janatkoe, that joy didn’t last long.
“Should I confiscate the Goldmess egg too?”
“……”
At Seongheon hyung’s single word, Daesu hyung shut his mouth completely. In the suddenly quiet space, Gangjin hyung’s phone suddenly rang.
Gangjin hyung put the phone to his ear and answered “Hello!” and since the person calling happened to be Sojin noona, a voice coldly retorting ‘What do you mean hello?’ could be heard from the receiver.
“Sorry, noona.”
At Sojin noona’s serious tone, Gangjin hyung suddenly straightened his posture and continued the call seriously, avoiding the situation.
After that, Seongheon hyung sitting across from me confiscated the character ‘sa’ (사) too whenever the hyungs said words like ‘dating—’ or ‘love—’, saying it grated on him, and the hyungs gradually became less talkative.
As a result, they started drinking rather than conversing, and since I’d eaten satisfyingly full, I quietly slipped away so my hyungs could eat comfortably. That way they could freely use the confiscated characters too. Being at the very end seat, there was no difficulty sneaking out.
I should clean up what we ate today too, but as Seongheon hyung said earlier, since Daesu hyung would get the Goldmess egg, shouldn’t he clean up that much alone? That thought eased my guilty conscience.
“Ah, right. The ring.”
Only when I returned to my room and took off my padding did Seongheon hyung’s ring come to mind.
Since my hyungs would sleep here tonight, I placed it on the desk so I wouldn’t forget to return it tomorrow morning. It sparkled and shone so much that I understood what hyung meant about cherishing it preciously.
‘Who did hyung keep this ring to give to?’
It was already 10 PM even though I’d only eaten meat with my hyungs. After washing up and lying in bed, my hyungs’ voices leaked in through the window.
Even though they meet so often, do they have that much to talk about? I’d never envied Daesu hyung until now, but I envied him for just one thing—his relationship with the hyungs.
I have a few close friends like Dongwoo too, but we don’t stick together like brothers like that. My hyungs seemed just like Dad and the ajeossis’ relationship, so I could picture them sticking together even after marriage.
‘Anyway, they should drink moderately.’
Surely if I go down to the first floor tomorrow, my hyungs will be sprawled out sleeping anywhere in the living room. Thinking such thoughts, perhaps because I was tired, I fell asleep as soon as I closed my eyes.
* * *
How long did I sleep?
I suddenly woke up and checked my phone for the time—it was 3 AM.
Maybe because I’d eaten 3 pieces of meat wrapped each at dinner, my stomach felt greasy. I tried to go back to sleep but my stomach churned and my head was full of thoughts of spicy ramen.
“Let’s eat one packet and sleep.”
I quietly closed the door and carefully came down the dark stairs heading to the kitchen. Because of the stairway sensor light, the living room was faintly visible—my hyungs had all spread out blankets in the living room and were lying side by side.
I tiptoed to the kitchen as much as possible, put water on, and carefully lit the gas stove. I was being as covert as possible when coincidentally someone went “Hmm” and got up at that clicking ignition sound.
It was Gangjin hyung. Hyung stretched as if his body was stiff and approached the table.
“…What is it. What are you… eating?”
“I only ate meat so my stomach feels greasy. At times like this, eating spicy ramen clears it up.”
“Ah… Really? My stomach is churning a bit too.”
Gangjin hyung fumbled to sit in a chair, then rested his chin on the brightly lit table and closed his eyes.
“Then, do you want to eat too, hyung?”
“…Mm.”
“Got it.”
I poured more cold water into the pot that was about to boil vigorously. Right, eating together is better than eating alone. Thinking that, I took out another packet of ramen from the cupboard and tore it open.
I might not have if eating alone, but since Gangjin hyung was there too, I was taking out kimchi from the fridge to put on the table when someone else suddenly got up from the darkness and approached this way.
“Hmm… What are you two… doing?”
This time Seongheon hyung came and sat limply in a table chair. Perhaps because of the bright light, Seongheon hyung also rested his chin like Gangjin hyung and closed his eyes.
“Why are you eating ramen at this hour…”
“I only ate meat so my stomach feels greasy. At times like this, eating spicy ramen clears up the stomach.”
Saying the same thing for the second time, I became a bit annoyed—why should I have to explain to my hyungs even about eating ramen?
“Ah…”
“You too, hyung?”
“Mm.”
I didn’t know secretly cooking ramen at 3 AM was this hard. The situation of them gathering like zombies as if they’d made a promise was absurd.
Gangjin hyung and Seongheon hyung just blinked their eyes and stared at the gas stove flame. Ah… now I have to pour more cold water. I poured more water into the pot again and took out another packet of ramen.
*Rustle. Rustle.*
I was tearing open the packet as quietly as possible when I saw the black silhouette remaining in the living room suddenly get up groggily.
‘Ah, please. Daesu, just sleep.’
Unlike the other hyungs, Daesu hyung held his forehead with both hands as if his head hurt while barely crawling over and struggling to climb onto a chair. If he’s going to be like that, just sleep—why crawl all the way here?
“What… at this hour… ramen…”
“I only ate meat so my stomach… never mind, whether I eat or not.”
This time I didn’t kindly explain the reason like to the other hyungs. But Daesu hyung, perhaps having no strength to argue back because his head hurt, just said what he wanted to say and collapsed face-down on the table.
“…Me too, raaamen.”
In the end, I had to replace the pot with a bigger one because it was too small, pour more water, and cook ramen. Why did they all sleep well then wake up like ghosts when cooking ramen?
How could they unite in solidarity over one ramen at 3 AM?
The hyungs were all spacing out, but when I finished cooking all the ramen and placed it in the center of the table, they wielded their chopsticks diligently like starving people. Then, perhaps because the spiciness woke them up, everyone’s eyes became clearer than before.
After eating, everyone crawled back to the living room to sleep again. Seongheon hyung went to the bathroom saying he’d brush his teeth, and Gangjin hyung did push-ups saying his face would swell if he slept like this.
Daesu hyung lay back down clutching his head, and I was about to go back up to my room when it was obvious my hyungs would suffer from hangovers tomorrow, so I took out the sikhye Mom made from the kimchi refrigerator.
For Seongheon hyung who dislikes rice grains, I filtered it through a strainer and put it in the refrigerator water bottle, and only then could I return to my room.
* * *
The next morning.
When I woke up, as expected, the empty bottles and food from yesterday were still on the outdoor table.
“Oh my fate. There’s no way that Daesu bastard would clean up.”
I was cleaning everything up alone wearing rubber gloves when Ddanji wagged his tail and looked at me as if asking if I had anything to throw to him.
“No. If you eat this, you’ll get an upset stomach.”
When I said a word as if admonishing him, Ddanji stopped wagging his tail and went coolly to his house. When he’s like that, he seems to understand words well, but sometimes he seems to ignore my words, so it was ambiguous.
After finishing cleaning up the outdoor table outside, what I didn’t forget to do was put that ring back on Seongheon hyung’s finger as he slept on the sofa. Since it’s a precious ring to hyung, I thought it was right to return it, so I didn’t think it was a waste.
Even as I picked up Seongheon hyung’s finger and put on the ring, there wasn’t even a toss or turn. Well, he woke up at 3 AM and even ate ramen, so he deserves to sleep in.
I was about to leave first since I had plans, but feeling bad about only feeding them ramen yesterday, I made bean sprout soup.
“Hyung! I have plans so I’m going out! I made bean sprout soup!”
I announced to Seongheon hyung sleeping on the living room sofa and the hyungs sleeping on the floor, then left the house. Even though I suddenly yelled, none of them moved at all.
“Oh! The bus!”
If you leave our house’s path, there’s a village bus stop at a three-way intersection, but only one bus passes per hour, so if you miss it, you have to go back home.
Seeing the village bus running along the winding road in the distance, I quickly ran and stood in front of the stop.
“Hello.”
“It’s Daeyoung.”
They say the village bus driver is also Dad’s classmate—he operates the bus in the morning and drives a tractor in the afternoon. When I sat behind the driver’s seat to deliberately keep him company, the ajeossi asked me this and that as if he’d been waiting.
“Did you finish pruning?”
“Yes. I helped.”
“Oh my, what a filial son. Going to play downtown?”
“I’m meeting up with school friends. After graduation, many friends are going to Seoul or other regions.”
“I heard Dongwoo is preparing to be a civil servant or something.”
“Yes.”
“What about you, Daeyoung? Are you going to college?”
“No. I haven’t decided yet.”
My answering voice crawled in.
Usually when I answer like this, adults comfort me with two kinds of responses. One is to learn orchard work following my father, and one is to learn work under the ajeossi.
In the end, either way, they say there’s a shortage of young people in rural areas these days and tell me to farm or raise livestock. At this rate, I’m wondering if I’ll become the village head of our village, so I’m starting to get interested in politics.
The village bus is just called a bus but was at the level of a large van. So when elderly people with lots of luggage got on, I’d get off too and help carry their luggage up.
It’s nice to meet people from the neighborhood all around, but since only one bus runs per hour, it was awkward when there were urgent appointments. So I thought of the first thing I’d do after graduation.
‘I should get my driver’s license first.’
Even if I don’t have a car right away, since we have 3 cars at home, won’t there be many opportunities to touch the steering wheel?
My dream is to drive a cool SUV like Seongheon hyung, but if I drive such a big car, I might fall into a rice paddy ridge, so I was eyeing Mom’s compact car.
