The place Choi Seol led me to was a shabby snack bar. Inside, there were only two tables for two. One table was already occupied by a middle-aged man. We took the remaining table in the corner.
“What do you want to eat?”
I glanced over the menu Choi Seol pointed to and said,
“Tteokbokki.”
“Again?”
“Sundae?”
At my timid answer, Choi Seol smiled faintly.
“Gimbap?”
“Yeah, I like that.”
“Wait here.”
Choi Seol got up from his seat and went over to the grandmother who was stirring the tteokbokki broth. Meanwhile, I glanced at the empty seat across from me. My bag was hanging on Choi Seol’s chair. I’d kept looking at it slung over Choi Seol’s shoulder the whole walk here, but strangely it felt unfamiliar. As if it had never really been mine, as if Choi Seol were its true owner. Even though it had only been a day, it felt like that bag was already steeped in Choi Seol’s scent.
“I ordered extra. Felt like this wouldn’t be enough.”
A glass of water was set in front of me. Choi Seol got up and came back again, and by then tteokbokki, sundae, and gimbap were laid out on the table. All I’d done the whole time was shift my hips in my seat.
“Sorry. I should’ve gone with you.”
“Normally the owner brings it out, but I just brought it myself. Her knees haven’t been good lately.”
Choi Seol sat down and naturally pulled chopsticks out of the utensil holder, holding them out to me.
“Want a fork too?”
“No, thanks.”
“Then let’s eat.”
Choi Seol picked up a piece of sundae first. It was an odd combination. Still, from the way he handled his chopsticks to the way he ate, every motion was so clean and effortless that I found myself watching him without meaning to.
“You can keep the book as long as you want and give it back whenever.”
“…….”
“Wasn’t that what you wanted to ask, and that’s why you’ve been staring instead of eating?”
Choi Seol, who’d been quietly using his chopsticks this whole time, met my eyes. So that was how he’d read my staring. What a fortunate misunderstanding. Now that things had gone this way, I felt like I had to say something, so I opened my mouth.
“The book looked new.”
“It’s true I haven’t read it, but it’s not a new book. I’ve had it for over a year. Someone bought me the whole set, saying it’s what kids read the most these days.”
I’d expected as much, but hearing it said out loud made something warm rise in my chest. It was a strange feeling, having guessed it from the smell.
“Can I read it first, since you haven’t?”
“Doesn’t matter to me. I have zero interest in some childish novel like that.”
What did I just hear? I blinked slowly.
“Childish?”
“Isn’t it?”
“You don’t know anything about what’s in it?”
“From the cover, looked like some kid wizard’s grand adventure.”
“That’s… not wrong, but……”
I thought for a moment about how to explain it, but Choi Seol didn’t seem like he’d have much interest in this book. Still, there was something I really wanted to say.
“The one you lent me, it was actually published a really long time ago. They say it’s almost done now.”
“You wrote that much and it’s still not finished?”
Seeing his shocked expression, I figured it was just as well I hadn’t gone into more detail.
“I didn’t know either, until recently. I just happened to find it at the library and got hooked. I bought all of the earlier series with my own allowance, but I couldn’t afford this one, so I borrowed it from the library for now.”
My parents didn’t mind paying for workbooks, but they couldn’t understand spending money on fantasy novels. To buy the next series, I’d had to scrape together what little allowance I had. Not long ago, I happened to stop by the library and was so happy to see the first volume sitting on the shelf. Even so, the book was so popular that if Choi Seol hadn’t lent it to me, there was no telling when I’d have saved up enough for the next volume.
“Anyway, it’s not childish at all. It’s hugely popular with adults all over the world. Like, five hundred… no, not quite five hundred million, but still, a ton of people have read it.”
“Isn’t five hundred million kind of small, worldwide?”
“Five hundred million was my mistake. I mean ten, no, a hundred, a thousand……”
What was the biggest number unit again? No, wait, I should match it to the world’s population, right? I was sure I’d read it somewhere, but the problem was my brain went fuzzy the moment numbers got involved.
“I’ve heard enough, you don’t need to explain more.”
When I lifted my head, which had drooped slightly while I was thinking, Choi Seol was resting his chin on his hand, staring straight at me. He looked oddly amused.
“You seem to have plenty to say once you get going, but you’re shy, and yet you never forget your manners.”
“……I’m not shy.”
“Who was it that didn’t want the attention, so they tried to say thanks with a note instead?”
So he’d known. Whether he was just sharp or I’d been that obvious, the fact that he’d seen through me made heat rise to my face. There was no air conditioning here, same as the classroom. The one old fan they had clattered overhead, blowing out nothing but warm, sticky air.
“You’re exactly the type our grandma would like.”
I had no way of telling if that was a compliment or a jab.
“Adults do seem to like me.”
“Then I’ll have to introduce you to her sometime.”
I pushed myself to act unfazed, and Choi Seol let out a light laugh. Now that I thought about it, he seemed to laugh easily too.
“That’s not your grandmother over there?”
Given that Choi Seol himself was serving tables because of her bad knees, they seemed close.
“That’s my grandma’s friend. Not from the neighborhood or school days or anything like that, she just said the tteokbokki here was so good they became friends.”
So tteokbokki was the grandmother’s favorite. The fact that she’d said it was delicious herself but hadn’t touched it at all kind of confirmed it.
“By the way, grandma’s on my mom’s side, not my dad’s. I never felt the need to add anything in front of ‘grandma’ for family, so I just call her that.”
“Do you live together?”
“She raised me.”
Were his parents both working? I’d been the same way, often left at my maternal grandmother’s house as a kid. Choi Seol’s family situation had always been a mystery, and today I felt like I’d gotten a small glimpse into it. I was curious to know more, but it felt like something I shouldn’t dig into unless he brought it up himself.
“Anyway, thanks for letting me read it properly. Thank you.”
When I thanked him again, Choi Seol murmured, looking faintly troubled now.
“Why don’t you stop thanking me? I just wanted to do it, that’s all.”
Just then, the owner grandmother appeared, carrying the tray herself. Freshly fried tempura, fish cakes still steaming, even a soup with egg in it, once it was all set on the cramped table, it looked as lavish as a feast. I swallowed without meaning to.
“Seems like this is the first time Seol’s brought a friend, what could he be so thankful for?”
The grandmother asked, smiling warmly. Before I could even open my mouth, Choi Seol answered.
“I just lent him a few books. He had the best expression on his face when he was reading them.”
I looked at Choi Seol.
“You… saw that?”
“I saw it, that’s how I know.”
Wait, hadn’t he lent me the books because he happened to see them in my bag yesterday?
Right, there was the bag too.
“Oh, this.”
I quickly held out the paper bag before I forgot. Choi Seol looked at his own bag inside it and frowned slightly.
“You didn’t use it?”
“……It’s yours.”
“I used yours, though?”
“That’s because I’m holding onto yours……”
The moment I said it, I realized the contradiction. Choi Seol smirked and pushed the paper bag back toward me.
“Then you use mine too.”
“What?”
“This works out. Put the book in there when you return it. We’ll trade then. Deal?”
I was stunned by Choi Seol’s proposal.
“So you’re saying you’ll use my school bag?”
“Yeah.”
“There’s nothing in there but……”
“Just one book, right?”
Since carrying a heavy bag on top of the sweltering heat felt unbearable, I kept everything I needed for school in my locker. Just as Choi Seol said, yesterday there had only been the one novel in my bag. If that was a problem, well, it was a problem.
“That’s borrowed from the library.”
“When’s it due?”
“About two weeks left, I think?”
“Then you can return it in two weeks. Or just renew it.”
In other words, he had no intention of returning it now. Even so, was this really okay? I couldn’t understand why he’d bother going through such trouble in the first place.
“Don’t you need anything from your bag?”
“No.”
His answer was short and simple. He seemed so unattached to it that I felt awkward asking further. Did I really need to swap bags? Though I supposed I could just use the middle school bag I had on me today.
“You’re definitely going to need this.”
Just then, Choi Seol held out a fork. When I just stared at it blankly instead of taking it, another line followed.
“At this rate you’ll be eating until next year.”
Come to think of it, I’d been so absorbed in talking with Choi Seol that I hadn’t taken a single bite. I considered saying chopsticks were enough, but ended up just taking the fork. Maybe because the handle was shorter than chopsticks, our hands brushed as he passed it over, body heat touching and pulling away. My chest tightened.
“Eat. From now on, every time you talk, I’m adding another plate.”
“What? That’s……”
“Excuse me, one more ramyeon here, please.”
I shut my mouth immediately. Choi Seol smiled with satisfaction, like watching an obedient kid, and said, wickedly,
“By the way, you’re not leaving until everything here is finished. Wouldn’t want you collapsing somewhere before you make it home, right?”
I could tell for certain now that I was being toyed with. It was so hot yesterday, I wanted to protest, and it’s your fault anyway, but my body just obediently adjusted its grip on the fork.
I dipped a piece of tteokbokki first and took a bite. Just as Choi Seol said, it was delicious. The sweet, salty sauce hit my tongue with quite a kick. I think I’d once heard that eating too much of this kind of food wasn’t good for the heart. Maybe that’s why my heart kept pounding harder and faster.
I had a feeling I’d keep thinking about this.
*
“Ugh… tteokbokki, sundae……”
“What’s he saying?”
“……Sounds like he’s hungry.”
The sounds that had grown distant were gradually becoming clear again. The last thing I’d heard was the cicadas, or was it a person’s voice? Anyway, one thing was certain, it had been much quieter than this.
“Ha! Look at this. Worked the poor thing half to death and now it’s tteokbokki? Sundae? Though it does sound good.”
Right? Tteokbokki and sundae together, that’s just the truth. Add some tempura to dip in the tteokbokki sauce and it’s perfection. Just imagining it made my mouth water. This wouldn’t do. The moment I got up, I needed to call a taxi straight to that snack bar.
“He’s only eaten breakfast. After that it was just cleaning, nonstop.”
Hey, you can’t just tell her that. I clicked my tongue inwardly at the shameless way his tone didn’t shift at all, even after he’d sent away the older sister who’d come to help clean using a made-up excuse.
