Fortunately, the meat hadn’t burned too badly, so I just cut off the black parts with scissors. As I placed the well-cooked meat on the plate, Jiwoo muttered annoyingly again.
“Why does it feel like there’s barely any meat on my plate? Am I imagining things?”
“Grandfather, please eat plenty.”
“Thank you. It tastes even better because you grilled it for me.”
“If you need anything else, just let me know. Oh, would you like some soda? I’ll give it to you as a service.”
The one who answered wasn’t Grandfather but Jiwoo.
“I want hot green tea.”
My temples throbbed as soon as I heard it, but Grandfather scolded Jiwoo instead of me.
“Why are you asking for green tea at a meat restaurant?”
“Can’t I ask for it?”
“Just give us cola.”
“Yes, I’ll bring you cola.”
Ugh, frustrating. I was going to give just one glass, but if I did that and he asked where mine was, the conversation would drag on again, so I just gave them two glasses.
After that, customers suddenly came in waves, and I couldn’t stay glued to that table anymore. I tried to refill side dishes as I passed by and eavesdrop on what they were saying, but I failed. No matter how hard I listened, all I could hear was some foreign language.
Around the time the rush of customers poured in and then ebbed out like the tide, Minjun answered a phone call to the shop. After finishing the short call, Minjun called me over.
“The boss said he’s coming soon, so hyung can leave work. We’re almost done cleaning up, so I’ll finish up.”
“Ah, okay. Than—”
I stopped mid-response and hesitated. I’d been so busy I forgot, but Minjun might be misunderstanding that I’m gay. This was tricky—it would look weird to suddenly explain “Actually, I’m not gay” when he didn’t even ask first.
But if I just let it go, it would be leaving this huge misunderstanding alone…
For now, Jiwoo was still in the shop, so it was too late to correct things today. I smiled awkwardly and said,
“Thanks.”
At my words, Minjun smiled and resumed cleaning up. I took off my apron, let out a sigh, and looked over at the table where Jiwoo and Grandfather were sitting.
“Seoun, are you leaving work now?”
I’d already thought they were eating incredibly leisurely, but as soon as I heard that question, I realized Jiwoo had been waiting for me.
“Yes, I’m leaving work now.”
“Good, let’s go quickly.”
“……”
Go? Go where quickly? Did you make some kind of promise with me without me knowing? I was dumbfounded, but I was too tired, and with Grandfather there, I couldn’t argue with Jiwoo, so I just kept quiet.
For now, with Minjun here too, the important thing was to get out of here quickly.
“Minjun, I have something urgent today, so I’m leaving first. Good work.”
“Yes, good work. Have a safe trip.”
Normally I would’ve waited until the boss came to at least show my face, but I couldn’t do it.
Jiwoo and Grandfather, who had been getting ready to leave, also stood up. I saw Grandfather pick up the bill and stand, so I quickly went to the counter.
“Thanks for grilling the meat so deliciously. We ate well.”
“I’m glad it suited your taste. If you want to eat here again, please come anytime. I’ll grill it deliciously for you again.”
“Good, I’ll come again.”
I said it to Grandfather, but Jiwoo answered. In the meantime, Grandfather took out his wallet and handed me some bills.
“Keep the change as spending money.”
“Pardon?”
“Since you two are going on a date, I should get out of the way.”
Date? What date? Before I could even respond, Grandfather opened the door and left. I came to my senses belatedly and followed, but Grandfather was already getting into a black sedan.
“Wait…!”
Before I could finish, the door closed and the car smoothly pulled away. Jiwoo, who had come out slowly, stuck close behind me and rested his chin on my shoulder.
“Don’t you need to eat?”
I stared blankly at the departing car, then checked the bills clenched tightly in my hand. Wait, they weren’t just bills…
“Cashier’s checks…”
“I deliberately only ate a little so I could eat with you.”
“One million won each…”
Not just one, but five. If there are five checks worth a million won each, how much is that? Five million won.
“Five million won.”
“And we need to buy phones too. Matching couple phones.”
Every time Jiwoo spoke, his hard chin pressed firmly into my shoulder. I twisted my waist to avoid it and said with a flustered expression,
“Grandfather left me checks.”
“Let’s use that to buy something delicious.”
“No, it’s five million won. Didn’t he give it by mistake? Try calling him once.”
“He didn’t give it by mistake. Let’s go quickly.”
After continuing to argue, I went back inside the shop and finished the payment. Then as soon as I came back outside, Jiwoo grabbed my hand and went to a phone store.
In a daze, I ended up buying the phone Jiwoo picked out for me. Actually, I didn’t buy it—Jiwoo chose one identical to mine and bought both of them.
The next place Jiwoo dragged me to was a department store. Jiwoo impulse-bought various things from T-shirts to pants, padding jackets, coats, and so on, handing me shopping bags one by one. Like a chaebol heir’s secretary, I just waddled after him carrying armfuls of bags.
“Wait, I thought we were going on a date?”
“Let’s take a taxi. I can’t do this, I’m getting motion sickness.”
“What?”
After finishing shopping and going outside, Jiwoo muttered tiredly. At his mention of motion sickness, I looked at Jiwoo’s face with a puzzled expression.
I’d been so distracted during the entire shopping trip that I hadn’t looked at him once, and his face was excessively pale compared to when we left the meat restaurant.
As soon as we got in the taxi, Jiwoo called out my home address, and I just blinked while clutching the bags, not understanding, then asked,
“Why are we going to my house?”
“You can’t walk around carrying all that.”
Is my house some kind of subway storage locker? I was fucking absurd, but Jiwoo’s condition didn’t look too good, so I didn’t say more.
The distance wasn’t far, so we arrived home quickly, and after getting out of the taxi, Jiwoo wobbled into my house as if it were his own. Then he pulled out a key from under the flowerpot filled only with dirt next to the front door, opened it, and went inside.
“……”
Wait, how did he know I hide a key there? Did he see me when I left today? No, but Jiwoo had already gone outside the gate then, hadn’t he?
I followed Jiwoo inside with a dubious expression and asked, remembering something I’d forgotten,
“How did you even come to the shop where I work?”
“I took Grandfather’s car. Ah, I can breathe now.”
Jiwoo spread out the blanket that had been neatly folded in the corner of the living room and collapsed onto it. I put down all the shopping bags and went to his side.
“No, I’m asking how you knew I work there.”
“Didn’t you tell me?”
“What? I…”
It was a strange question. When I answered quietly in confusion, Jiwoo, who had been burying his face in the soft blanket, looked at me.
“You introduced me to the owner lady today. And the oil ajeossi.”
“…I did?”
I never introduced you. You just came out from sleeping, didn’t you?
The words that didn’t come out of my mouth lingered in my throat. Jiwoo blinked sleepily and mumbled,
“So I wanted to introduce you to an adult I’m close with too, so I went with Grandfather. Because that’s fair.”
Is ‘fair’ the right word to use in this situation? Looking closely, Jiwoo’s outfit was also different from when he left here. Did he stop by home in the meantime to change clothes and contact Grandfather before coming to our shop?
It was truly incomprehensible behavior.
“And I wanted to see Minjun’s face too. You know, kill two birds with one stone.”
“Do you two know each other?”
I asked in surprise at the suddenly mentioned name. Then Jiwoo shook his head.
“No.”
“Then why did you want to see Minjun’s face?”
“Didn’t he show interest in you?”
“What are you talking about?”
Words I should’ve kept to myself slipped out. That’s how bewildered I was right now.
“You said there were many people who showed interest in you, even casually. So I thought the person you work with might be like that too. Isn’t he?”
“No, not at all. And how do you know Minjun’s name?”
“I heard you call him.”
He suddenly got up and went toward the scattered shopping bags. He rummaged through a bag and pulled out a soft-looking gray scarf and a black padding jacket.
Without even removing the tags, Jiwoo draped the padding jacket over my shoulders and wrapped the scarf around my neck. With a satisfied face, he nodded.
“Now let’s go to the mart.”
“Why the mart all of a sudden?”
“You need to eat.”
Jiwoo grabbed my hand as if telling me to hurry up.
