‘Should I call Bang Minwook? Since we sang the yachae gopchang song together.’
After setting down the box, he immediately tried calling Minwook, but only a noisy ringtone kept repeating. Woojae hung up after calling until his ear felt hot, then put down his phone and swept and wiped the floor. After wringing out the rag to wipe away the dust and cleaning thoroughly, he felt much better.
He was listlessly organizing an excessive amount of groceries when the phone rang again. Woojae blankly reached out his empty hand, opened his phone, and brought it to his ear. Thinking it must be Minwook calling back after seeing the missed call, he answered and immediately launched into what he’d been holding back without any greeting.
“Hey, Bang Minwook. You wanna come hang out at my place?”
[Why Bang Minwook?]
“Shit, you scared me. What? Why are you calling?”
I should really get into the habit of checking who’s calling. Since his hands were busy, he answered carelessly, but this time it was Gye Sajun. Startled, the words tumbled out as they came, but there was no response.
“What is it?”
When the frustrated Woojae asked again,
[Why is Bang Minwook going to hang out at your place?]
A somehow disgruntled voice came through. At first, it was hard to read what he was thinking or feeling, but after hanging around him for a bit, it seemed like he could picture Sajun’s face just from his voice. The space between his thick eyebrows was probably narrowing slightly.
“Last time he made a fuss about how he didn’t get to eat yachae gopchang with you, so I’m trying to appease him. Why do you keep calling?”
[I want to go too.]
He expected a snarky comeback like ‘why can’t I come?’ but the answer that came was too docile. That made it feel even stranger. He was already feeling down and hurt, and then Gye Sajun had to go and say something kind of… too cute.
“……You can’t, you bastard.”
His heart started showing signs of arrhythmia again. He was already feeling restless, and now this crazy bastard. Feeling somehow ticklish, he quickly expressed his rejection and just hung up. Then he immediately sent a text to Minwook.
[Hey, what are you doing?]
[Roommate Bang Minwook: I’m drinking right now ^0^ Found friends staying in the dorm lol]
Unbelievable. He doesn’t answer calls but replies to texts this fast? It was Minwook who turned down the offer in the first place, so there was nothing to blame him for.
After finishing organizing the groceries, he was hungry. It would take too long to cook now and he had no motivation. After much deliberation, Woojae eventually headed to the yachae gopchang restaurant. He shouldn’t make unnecessary expenses, but couldn’t he consider it a birthday present to himself? It’s not that he was hung up on birthdays, but even Nari couldn’t come home, which made him feel lonely for no reason. It was a place with lots of drinking customers, so it would be open late—no worries there.
He trudged through the narrow alley and reached the main street. When he entered the restaurant, the smell of yachae gopchang grilled on briquettes filled the air. The scene was unchanged from when he’d been here recently.
As if enchanted, he sat in that same spot, and growl—an undignified stomach rumble sounded.
“Boss, yachae gopchang for two, please.”
“Yes, have a seat and wait!”
He placed his order in a weak voice and reached for a wet wipe. He blankly stared at the water bottle and side dishes being quickly set up. When he’d visited with Gye Sajun, watching that guy had been quite entertaining, but coming alone made him feel strangely lonely. And here he was, someone who used to chant the mantra that life is meant to be lived alone.
“Here, service!”
Along with the boss’s bright voice, a steamed egg dish was placed on the table.
“Ah, thank you……”
“That handsome friend didn’t come? Why’d you come alone?”
They’d only met once, but Gye Sajun seemed to have left an impression. Well, he does have an unforgettable face. Woojae just gave an awkward smile.
“Enjoy your meal! If you need more side dishes, just say so!”
The boss left only those words before hurrying back to the kitchen. The yachae gopchang on the foil looked delicious. Moreover, he picked up a spoon at the sight of the fluffy steamed egg, but at the end of his casual glance, there was neat handwriting.
‘Go Woojae, it was delicious. – Gye Sajun’
What the hell is this…? Among the numerous graffiti covering the wall, one particularly eye-catching line of graffiti instantly made him feel strange. Even the spoon he’d been about to use for the steamed egg stopped as he stared blankly at it.
“Student! The gopchang is burning!”
“Huh? Yes……”
The boss, who had spotted the situation on the table from afar, shouted loudly, and only then did Woojae come to his senses and turn down the heat. While flipping the slightly stuck gopchang, he impulsively picked up his phone.
<Next Door Pervert>
Woojae stared at the contact in his recent call log for about 3 seconds, then firmly pressed the call button with his thumb. The ringtone didn’t last long. But he didn’t hear the customary “hello” greeting either.
“……Hey. Um, so… are you busy?”
The words that came out after hesitation sounded awkward even to his own ears.
[Why?]
The slightly languid voice was tinged with drowsiness. Looking at the clock, it was already close to 10 PM. Too late. From what he’d observed, Gye Sajun was a twenty-year-old from a new world who went to bed early and woke up early. So it was obvious he’d be lying in bed right now.
“……Just because.”
He could barely bring himself to speak. Didn’t he just say he wanted to eat yachae gopchang? He wanted to say the stupid words “there’s too much, come and eat,” but he regretted having snapped that he couldn’t come.
[If you’re busy?]
Then hang up. No, why would I be busy? Unless I’m sleeping. Woojae bit his innocent lips, feeling inexplicably grumpy.
“If you’re busy, forget it. Fuck.”
[I’m not busy. I came to eat yagop.]
“What?”
What he saw when he unconsciously looked up was the handsome face he’d been imagining just moments ago.
“Can I sit?”
Screech—the sound of a plastic chair scraping against the cement floor rang out. Gye Sajun, wearing a black sports sweatshirt, plopped down in front of him. It was his second time, so he seemed quite familiar with it.
“How did you……”
“I came because I wanted to eat. Why? Is there a problem?”
There wasn’t a problem. Gye Sajun now knew about this place, so of course he could come.
“You came to eat this alone?”
“Yeah. I was craving it.”
A chaebol who drives his car to a gopchang restaurant late at night because he’s craving yachae gopchang. No matter how much he thought about it, it didn’t suit him, so it was hard to accept.
“You came to eat alone, so why are you sitting here?”
Moreover, he never said to sit down, so why was he settling in front of him? Just moments ago, he’d been agonizing over whether to call him out, yet the words came out sharply.
“We’re friends. I heard when you meet friends, you sit together.”
“Who said that?”
“In the drama Bang Minwook recommended.”
“He recommended a drama?”
He couldn’t imagine Gye Sajun watching dramas. And he didn’t quite understand when Bang Minwook had recommended such a thing.
“Were you two close……?”
“Since we’re neighbors. He’s better than you for asking about this and that. More cooperative.”
“So sorry for being a pain in the ass.”
There was something oddly funny about Gye Sajun cheekily pulling out chopsticks and picking up gopchang without being told to eat. He could see the boss, who’d been doing the initial grilling of gopchang on briquettes in the kitchen, spot Gye Sajun and walk over quickly again.
“Oh, the handsome friend is here! Will two servings be enough?”
“One more please. Al…… gopchang.”
His jaw dropped at Gye Sajun’s behavior, naturally placing an additional order. You’ve practically become a regular.
“Do you even know what algopchang is?”
“It must have eggs in it.”
“Wrong.”
The expression that seemed to be guessing while staring a hole through the menu was amusing. Woojae picked up his chopsticks, his appetite finally returning. Then he began explaining the difference between algopchang and yachae gopchang to the ignorant chaebol. The face that looked more serious than when listening to lectures kept catching his eye.
It was when Woojae, who had definitely paid for the gopchang today, was proudly puffing out his chest.
“I want to eat ice cream too.”
Gye Sajun muttered. Why does he keep acting cute today? The young master’s attitude, trailing off with an expressionless face, somehow made him feel soft too.
“……Follow me.”
The moment those words left his mouth, the sound of Gye Sajun’s footsteps obediently following behind was quite pleasant to hear.
“I’ll have Fang-Pa-Reh today.”
“You remember that.”
Enough to make him smile over nothing.
“Was it spicy?”
“My stomach hurt afterwards.”
He felt just slightly sorry for having committed capsaicin bomb terrorism on the precious young master.
“It shouldn’t have been spicy today.”
But today shouldn’t have been spicy. Since he was out of it, he hadn’t made a separate request to make it spicy.
“It was spicy.”
“Then how did you eat it that day?”
His slightly swollen lips caught his eye. His ears heating up, Woojae headed straight to the supermarket. And just like that night, they picked out ice cream side by side. Gye Sajun chose Fang-Pa-Reh, he chose Shark Bar. It seemed like nothing had changed from that time, but looking at it this way, it also seemed like a lot had. Was it because that guy had brought up ‘kissing’?
When he personally peeled off the lid and handed it over, Gye Sajun obediently received it. He could see him pressing the firmly frozen white soft-serve ice cream to his lips to cool the heat. Woojae crunched on the ice-cold shark-shaped hard ice cream. The tip of his tongue tasted strawberry.
“Go home now.”
He thought about accompanying him back to the dorm like this, but he had luggage left at home and groceries to put away, so he needed to go back. So it was just as he was about to send him off nicely.
“I’ll take you.”
He’d been acting cute all along, then makes him angry again. Woojae waved his hand, expressing his refusal.
