“Guys, guess what that means.”
Hyung turned right instead of going on the road where that sign was, changing direction. So it was ambiguous to figure out what that sign meant. Something should come out for me to guess it properly…
“Dongwoo-ya. You saw that too, right? There’s that kind of mark at the bottom of canned drinks too.”
“Right. It was a recycling mark.”
“If it’s on the road, could it mean… to recycle the car?”
“I think it means a junkyard.”
“Ah! Right. In our country where not a drop of oil comes out, we have to value resources.”
I came to a conclusion and boldly leaned toward the front seat to advise hyung.
“Seongheon hyung, it would’ve been a disaster if you’d gone that way. You almost got your car junked for no reason.”
Seongheon hyung heard our conversation and laughed heartily, even hitting the steering wheel at how funny it was.
“Haha, ah… Really. You two are way funnier than Gangjin.”
“Huh?”
“The sign did nothing wrong. You two are friends alright.”
It didn’t sound like a compliment. Hyung must have noticed we didn’t know anything. We became humble on our own and both Dongwoo and I shut our mouths tight.
After that, hyung was about to point at road signs to ask more questions, but when he glanced in the rearview mirror and saw my gloomy expression, he held back his laughter alone and didn’t ask any more questions.
Not long after that, we arrived at the steakhouse parking lot, and when we both tried to get out, hyung turned around and asked.
“By any chance, do you both not have study booklets? Should I buy them for you?”
At those words, Dongwoo and I timidly took out our study booklets from our respective bags and showed them.
“Give them here.”
Hyung took our study booklets, glanced through the past exam questions section, folded the corners of about 2 pages each, and returned them.
“If you just memorize the pages I folded, you’ll pass comfortably. And both of you, don’t even think about taking Class 1.”
After finishing those words, hyung opened the driver’s seat and got out. We stuffed the study booklets back into our bags and followed him out.
“Let’s go, Daeyoung-ah.”
Since Seongheon hyung reached out to put his arm around my shoulders, I quickly switched places with Dongwoo to create distance. When Dongwoo almost got hyung’s arm around his shoulders and flinched in surprise, hyung naturally folded his outstretched arm and took the lead.
Since there weren’t many customers, we were seated right away, and surprisingly, it was the same seat where I’d sat with Dongmi before. Just as I was about to sit next to Dongwoo who had sat by the window first, Seongheon hyung suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me.
“Sit here.”
Well, since both Dongwoo and I had bags right now, the seat next to Dongwoo should have been left empty. I thought the seat next to him where there was less chance of making eye contact would be better anyway.
“Would you like to order?”
When the server handed us the menu, Dongwoo was looking at the steak section while gauging hyung’s reaction. Thinking he must be hesitant to order because of the price range, I asked Dongwoo first.
“Should we get this couple set?”
“Should we?”
Dongwoo nodded with a much brighter expression, then looked at hyung’s face and lowered the corners of his mouth again.
“Daeyoung-ah, you should eat the couple set with me.”
“Ah. I thought you’d eat something different since you ate it before, hyung.”
Dongwoo, who had been listening to our conversation, turned the page saying “Then hyung, you have the couple set with Daeyoung. I originally like noodle dishes anyway. Haha,” and somehow I felt like I was looking at my past self.
“Dongwoo-ya, you like meat, like me. Hyung, can I order this?”
“Yeah. Order as much as you want.”
Dongwoo was gloomy for a moment, but when I pointed at the special set, color returned to his face. Not long after ordering the couple set and special set, brown bread came out.
“I’ll slice it.”
I was going to do it, but Dongwoo took the bread with quick movements. As he was neatly slicing it, hyung propped his chin with one arm and stared intently at Dongwoo.
“Gye Dongwoo.”
“…Yes? Yes!”
Hyung even remembers Dongwoo’s surname.
Dongwoo had run into the hyungs who came to play at my house a few times in middle school. He might have seen the name tag on the school uniform, and I thought he remembered because the surname ‘Gye’ isn’t common in this area, but…
“And your younger sister is Gye Dongmi.”
At the name hyung brought up next, Dongwoo and I froze in place.
Since this area is small enough that you know everyone through just one connection, I thought the day would come when he’d realize Dongmi was Dongwoo’s sister, but I didn’t know it would be this fast.
Seongheon hyung smoothly looked over the frozen Dongwoo and me in turn, then laughed lightly.
“Why are you so surprised? The place where Dongwoo’s father works on oak trees is our ancestral mountain. Dad said he gave permission for forest land conversion on his behalf, so I knew. But I also only recently found out that Dongwoo’s sister is Dongmi.”
“Hyung, that’s…”
Could it be that being a fake girlfriend is the problem? Then he could even deduce the fact that I stole the Goldmess egg… It wasn’t just me who was anxious at this table. Dongwoo, holding the knife, was also trembling and turning the bread into rags.
Hyung’s tone was leisurely, like someone standing on top of our heads.
“That’s when I understood. Daeyoung, you always only hang out with Dongwoo, so how did you get a girlfriend… It was strange.”
Thinking we were about to get caught, I clasped my hands together and prayed to any god. Please don’t let us get caught, from now on I won’t do things like revenge, I’ll live virtuously.
When hyung opened his mouth again, I prepared to spread my hands and rub them together to beg for forgiveness.
“But then I understood.”
“…Huh? What?”
“Since Dongmi is Dongwoo’s sister, I thought you must have hung out together often. Same school, so it’s easy to date too.”
“Ah, haha… hahaha. Right.”
Thank goodness. Right now my heart is pounding like crazy for a different reason. Being with hyung, my heart wouldn’t survive in many ways.
“Still, Daeyoung-ah, from now on don’t hastily date anyone. It’s not like making friends.”
“Yeah. I got it, hyung.”
Thinking I’d let out a sigh of relief, I tried to pick up my water cup, but hyung picked up my cup and was about to stand up. Then Dongwoo jumped up as if he’d been waiting.
“Daeyoung-ah, you need to drink lukewarm water, right? I’ll get it for you.”
While I was puzzled seeing the kid who’d never once gotten me a cup of water at the snack bar suddenly taking care of my water, Seongheon hyung looked at that Dongwoo and smiled contentedly.
“Here, drink up.”
“Than… ks. But why are you acting like this?”
“Huh? Like what?”
“Act normal.”
At my reproach, hyung instead praised Dongwoo saying “What a loyal friend.” At that, Dongwoo sat down pulling his chair closer with a relieved expression.
“The special set came out first.”
Dongwoo had a moved expression as steak and various foods were placed in front of him.
“Eat a lot.”
“Yes. Thank you, hyung.”
Since Seongheon hyung and I had the couple set, we deliberately didn’t touch Dongwoo’s food, but Dongwoo put salad on a small plate and reached out to hand it to me.
“Here, I left out the pineapple. Ah! There’s only a fork. Just a moment. Excuse me! Sorry, but could you give us chopsticks here? And could you also give us whole grain sauce?”
While receiving the plate Dongwoo handed me, I felt the atmosphere was quite different from when I ate with Dongmi.
‘How did he know I don’t eat pineapple?’
It’s rare for Dongwoo to take care of me like this, but even when pineapple came out in school lunch, I didn’t put it on my tray so there was no way he could know.
“Order more if there’s anything else you want to eat.”
And Seongheon hyung had acted like a test supervisor with Dongmi, scrutinizing every action and asking tons of questions, but now he was handing the menu to Dongwoo with a benevolent expression. Unlike Dongmi, he seems to quite like Dongwoo.
“By the way, Dongwoo, seems like there’s nothing you don’t know about Daeyoung?”
Right when I was having the same question, Dongwoo confessed first.
“Actually, when Dongmi talked about Daeyoung, I heard some things. She cries when watching robot movies so don’t watch them, order drinks without ice, also hates olives. And you have to peel shrimp for him to eat…”
Dongmi must have complained a lot when she went home, but why did Dongwoo memorize all of that? He should properly memorize road signs instead.
As Dongwoo rattled off my TMI, I felt complicated emotions like burden, sorry, and pity. Seeing him memorize things like that, Dongwoo seems like a kid with good memorization skills too, but like me, he only memorizes useless things well.
Unlike me who was dumbfounded, Seongheon hyung was even nodding his head and acknowledging Dongwoo.
“Dongwoo, you should stay good friends with Daeyoung for a long, long time.”
“Thank you, hyung.”
I don’t know why I need to get permission from Seongheon hyung for my friend, but Dongwoo looked happy. Seongheon hyung was also smiling much more and had a brighter expression than when he brought Dongmi.
“Um, let me make a phone call real quick.”
While Dongwoo stepped away, Seongheon hyung brought a peeled shrimp to my lips.
“Daeyoung-ah, ah—.”
“No, hyung, I’ll eat it myself.”
“I’ve always peeled shrimp for you.”
I couldn’t quite make eye contact and just timidly opened my mouth. Hyung put the shrimp right into my mouth and even wiped the sauce on my lips with a napkin.
“Daeyoung-ah, am I making you uncomfortable by any chance?”
It was awkward to say outright that I was uncomfortable. If I said I was uncomfortable, hyung would definitely ask why, and I’d have to talk about the sugar water incident that day. I was embarrassed because it seemed like only I was conscious of it.
Having lied that I even kissed Dongmi, if he questioned whether I’d been concerned about that, I’d have nothing to say. From the beginning, hyung and I grew up like brothers for over 10 years, so if I thought of it strangely, it felt like it would become awkward for no reason, so I hesitated to say it.
It’s like if a friend almost got hit by a car and you hugged them and fell to save them, but the friend came later and asked ‘Why did you hug me then? It wasn’t because you had other intentions, right?’ Even I would be flustered thinking ‘What’s with this kid, why are they thinking in that direction?’
And if it had been a meaningful kiss from the start, he wouldn’t be treating me like usual, and hyung would have mentioned that incident first, but there wasn’t a single word about it. So I couldn’t show it either.
“Huh? No. I’m not uncomfortable with you, hyung.”
“You haven’t even been making eye contact with me lately.”
“Haha, really? I’ll look at you properly now.”
“Daeyoung-ah.”
“Yeah?”
“Is it because of what happened at the glamping site by any chance? If that’s bothering you—”
“No! That was just you helping me out, hyung. I’m really completely fine.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah. Don’t worry. I don’t really care about things like that.”
“Then have you ever… thought about why I did that?”
