If anyone were to ask Lee Heewoo what his favorite food was, Heewoo would shout “jjajangmyeon” without a moment’s hesitation. That’s because jjajangmyeon was the first meal Heewoo ever had eating out.
Heewoo’s paternal grandmother would let out deep sighs whenever she saw the grandson her son had abandoned, but even so, she never abandoned her sense of duty. On days when Grandmother—who wandered around collecting cardboard from dawn every day—had unusually good earnings, she would take her grandson’s hand and go to feed him jjajangmyeon.
Then Heewoo would grasp his grandmother’s wrinkled hand and enter the Chinese restaurant with a trembling heart. One bowl of jjajangmyeon. They would order just one bowl and split it in half to share, and for Heewoo, who was hungry and cold, there was no greater paradise.
Moreover, the kind owner of the Chinese restaurant didn’t just pass by the shabby old woman and the scrawny child. Even though the two would come in and eat only one bowl of jjajangmyeon, he would grill plenty of fried dumplings and serve them as a complimentary service.
So Heewoo invited Heichi to his greatest, happiest paradise. The million won in his pocket was carefully stored in his one and only crossbody bag.
<Hwanggung Sichuan Jjajang>.
Hwanggung Sichuan Jjajang, where the paint had peeled off the sign leaving only faint letters visible, hadn’t changed much from when Heewoo was young. Ding-a-ling—when he opened the door and entered, a voice with good projection came from inside.
“Welcome!”
“Ah, hello, sir…”
“Ah, Heewoo, is that you?”
The owner who spotted Heewoo sent him a warm smile instead of coming out from the kitchen. A few years ago, after Grandmother passed away and Heewoo was left alone, the owner would often tell him to come eat jjajangmyeon even without money. Of course, Heewoo, who had felt too ashamed to come often even when he came with Grandmother, would just say “yes, yes” but never actually came.
“You brought a friend today too!”
“Uh, ah… Yes…”
Heewoo glanced at Heichi standing beside him. Though he didn’t know his exact height, Heichi, who was about two hand-spans taller than him, didn’t look like someone his age no matter how you looked at him. But he had a very handsome face, so it was reasonable to think he was a peer.
“What’ll it be today? Two bowls of jjajangmyeon?”
“Ah, just a moment…”
“Alright, then call me when you’re ready to order. Don’t forget we’re only open until 1 AM!”
On the round table sat an old menu. Heewoo, who had taken a seat across from Heichi with the wide table between them, slowly reached for the menu and asked.
“What would you like to eat…?”
Though Heewoo boldly opened the menu and pushed it in front of Heichi, honestly his heart was pounding. Because today, all Heewoo could treat him to was jjajangmyeon, or at most jjamppong. He could go all out and get a large portion, but expensive dishes like sweet and sour pork or kanpunggi were out of the question.
Heichi’s two eyes carefully read down the menu. On the Chinese restaurant menu that had quite a variety, his golden eyes soon passed the ‘Noodles’ section where jjajangmyeon and jjamppong were located and entered the ‘Dishes’ section.
“What kind of food is sweet and sour pork?”
“Ah… Uh, it’s fried meat…”
Unable to bring himself to say he couldn’t order that because he didn’t have enough money, Heewoo stammered through an explanation of sweet and sour pork. While doing so, he subtly added this:
“B-but it’s too much for two people to eat…”
“What is nanjawansu?”
“That, I don’t really… I’ve never eaten it before.”
He had at least tasted sweet and sour pork somehow through school lunch, but anything beyond that was uncharted territory even for Heewoo. When Heewoo, unable to explain, could only scratch the back of his head, Heichi closed the menu and said.
“Then I’ll order ganjjajang and samseon jjamppong, sweet and sour pork, chili shrimp, and nanjawansu.”
Heewoo’s heart had already sunk when he ordered not just jjajang but ‘ganjjajang,’ and not just jjamppong but ‘samseon jjamppong,’ and at the various expensive dishes that continued to follow, he even stopped breathing. When Heichi showed signs of immediately calling the owner to order, Heewoo grabbed his sleeve in a rush.
“I-I… I’m sorry, I-I don’t have enough money for that much…”
“I will pay.”
“What?”
Heichi cut to the chase and called the owner to order everything he had just mentioned. The owner looked at Heewoo with a momentarily puzzled expression at the generous order so unlike Heewoo, then patted his shoulder saying he had a good friend before entering the kitchen. The owner hummed a tune at the large order that had come in after a long time.
“A-are you sure? This much, and expensive too…”
“I’m not short on funds.”
“Ah…”
Come to think of it, he was an alien. The owner of the soup restaurant had once said that Espers were all incredibly wealthy without exception. Of course, there must be poor people there too, but looking at the clothes Heichi wore, he didn’t seem that poor.
“Th-thank you. I’ll eat well.”
When Heewoo bowed his head as he expressed his gratitude, the food they ordered came out without much wait. The table filled completely with all kinds of dishes, to the point where Heewoo couldn’t even remember the times when he would pathetically decorate the wide table with just one bowl of jjajangmyeon.
At the feast of warm food laid out before his eyes, Heewoo suddenly felt extreme hunger. It was natural, since he had gone all day without eating anything, barely filling his stomach with tap water.
Heewoo, with spoon and chopsticks in hand, carefully rolled up some jjajangmyeon and pushed a mouthful into his mouth. From that moment on, Heewoo forgot that he was in front of Heichi and began devouring the food. It was when Heewoo had his nose buried in the jjajangmyeon, slurping up the noodles.
“Please have this too.”
Heichi scooped a piece of chili shrimp onto a small plate he’d gotten from somewhere and smoothly slid it next to Heewoo. Only then did Heewoo glance at Heichi, then like a small animal discovering prey, stealthily pulled the plate toward himself.
“Thank you…”
Heewoo, who had pushed aside his jjajangmyeon for a moment, tasted chili shrimp for the first time in his life. The sweet and sour sauce wrapping the plump shrimp was worthy of being called a heavenly taste. Heewoo, who shivered with joy after one bite, looked at Heichi with glistening eyes.
“It’s, it’s delicious. It’s really delicious.”
“…Is that so? Please have this too.”
From then on, Heewoo, nodding his head repeatedly like a duckling, brought to his mouth every dish Heichi scooped onto the small plate. At some point, Heichi was giving Heewoo food more times than he was eating himself. But neither of them noticed this.
“Haah, I’m happy…”
“You’re happy?”
“Yes, yes. It’s so delicious, I-I’ve never eaten anything like this before!”
At the sight of Heewoo rejoicing while even raising his voice, which was rare, Heichi unconsciously raised the corners of his mouth, then smoothly brought his hand to his face. The sensation of his facial muscles moving on their own without him controlling them felt very unfamiliar.
“Oh my, Heewoo, is it good? The owner’s cooking is great, right?”
“Yes! You’re the best, sir!”
Heewoo, delighted like a young child, gave a double thumbs up to the owner’s subtle boast from the kitchen. With his stomach full, his gloomy mood completely disappeared, and just for today, even the introverted Heewoo became extroverted.
Heewoo, who had been wolfing down the food, belatedly realized that Heichi had barely eaten anything. Heewoo’s shoulders twitched as he carefully picked up a piece of nanjawansu with his chopsticks and brought it in front of Heichi’s mouth.
“P-please try this, it’s really delicious…”
“…”
Heichi looked down at the chopsticks and nanjawansu that had come right up to his nose. Then he opened his large mouth and cleanly accepted it. Once, twice, three times. After chewing the food five times, he swallowed with a gulp.
“…It’s delicious.”
“R-right! Right! It’s really good, right! I-I’d only heard the name of this before, but I didn’t know it would be this delicious, ah…”
When Heichi even agreed with him, Heewoo rejoiced to the point of bouncing his bottom up and down. It was so unlike Heewoo, who had been ground down by part-time jobs and lived detachedly like a dead person all day. Only after eating his fill of warm food in a warm place did he become like someone his age—twenty years old.
“Does it make you that happy?”
“Of course, of course… To eat such delicious food, uh, I mean…”
Heewoo rolled his gentle eyes to look at Heichi. How should I say this? After pondering, Heewoo said.
“Because I’m eating with you, Heichi-ssi… I’m happy.”
Still, having met him several days in a row, Heewoo felt like he’d made a friend he’d never had in his life. His heart was excited. Wanting that feeling to reach Heichi too, he spoke honestly, and Heichi blinked.
“You’re happy because you’re eating with me?”
“Yes, that’s right… If I’d eaten alone, it wouldn’t have tasted good.”
Hadn’t there been a time before when he couldn’t eat much either because Heichi didn’t eat the tteokbokki and sundae with relish? Heewoo recalled that time and nodded his head.
“Earthling emotions… I understand them, yet I don’t.”
“What? Why, why?”
“I don’t quite understand your words about being happy because of me.”
“Uh, why…”
Heewoo hesitated for a moment. And wanting his feelings to somehow reach him despite his poor way with words, he spoke even more honestly.
“I… I like you, Heichi-ssi…”
And how Heewoo’s honest words would interact with Heichi, who was an alien, was a matter only Heichi would know.
