“Is it good?”
Hyedam had been watching the gopchang sizzling and cooking well, placing the nicely browned pieces on Leo’s plate first before picking one up for himself. Instead of answering, he nodded. Since entering the restaurant, Leo hadn’t said a word and only ate the well-grilled gopchang and gopchang jeongol.
“You’re curious, right? Try a small one. It tastes completely different from regular meat.”
“Meat and soju?”
Seeing Luna holding a half-filled soju glass in her left hand while picking up gopchang with her right, Hyedam let out a small laugh. She was easygoing, sociable, laughed often, and conversation flowed well with her. Leo, who sat there like a borrowed sack of barley, was set aside along with a few glasses of soju.
“Oh! Oh?”
Luna put a piece of gopchang in her mouth and chewed thoroughly before emptying the soju in her glass in one go. When her eyes widened and she broke into a bright smile, Hyedam quickly placed another well-grilled piece of gopchang on her plate.
“Ish sho good.”
Her pronunciation was garbled since she was mumbling with food in her mouth, but Luna covered her mouth with one hand and laughed before quickly grabbing another piece of gopchang.
“Auntie! Three more servings of gopchang here, please. And one more bottle of soju.”
Now that they’d discovered the taste of gopchang, what was the point of galbitsal? Though he said nothing, Leo was also eating only gopchang instead of galbitsal, so Hyedam raised his hand high and spoke loudly.
“You’re really not drinking?”
“I don’t feel like it.”
Hyedam had been drinking back and forth with Luna when he noticed that Leo had at some point taken the tongs and scissors he’d been holding and was now grilling the gopchang. Leo was right beside him, but the conversation with Luna was so enjoyable that he’d momentarily forgotten he was there.
He had definitely been the one grilling and serving Luna and Leo, but at some point Leo had taken over that task. Seeing the nicely browned gopchang being placed on his plate made him feel strange.
“Are you going to take me home?”
Tsk…
Hearing the conversation between Luna and Leo—who was feeding her gopchang just like he was feeding him—Hyedam stared blankly at Leo’s face.
“Why! I don’t have a driver like you.”
“There are taxis.”
“You want me to take a taxi dangerously at this hour of the night?”
“Korea’s public safety is much better than you think, so don’t worry.”
Why was this so difficult? Since he was his workplace superior, he couldn’t become comfortable like Luna was with him. Still, he should be able to grumble about the weather like other coworkers, have conversations about current trending topics. Even like the conversation he’d just had with Luna, they could fill the gaps with memories from different childhoods.
But strangely, the things that came naturally with others didn’t work with Leo.
It was a lie to say he’d momentarily forgotten Leo was beside him. He’d actually focused more on his conversation with Luna because he wanted to push away Leo, who kept forcing his way into his thoughts.
He hadn’t drunk that much, but looking at Leo with a tipsy feeling made uncomfortable emotions surge up. He couldn’t tell at all what Leo was thinking.
Sometimes it seemed like he was flirting with him, but in cases like now, he wasn’t doing that at all. The appropriate distance between people who met in society. It felt like a relationship that was neither close nor distant—the kind where if one quit the company, they would naturally drift apart.
Just a few days ago.
His room. That narrow bed where they’d spent the night together—he wondered if it was even the same person. Whether it was all his fantasy or delusion. He’d never thought of himself as having an inferiority complex or low self-esteem. But the moment he placed Leo and himself side by side, he strangely felt small and insignificant.
“Are you sleepy?”
Hyedam had been staring blankly at Leo with unfocused eyes when he blinked slowly at the soft voice lingering by his ear.
“Should I take you home?”
Leo’s face, which had just been showing his profile while grilling meat and conversing while looking at the grill and Luna, was now turned toward him.
Hyedam slightly lowered his eyes to avoid meeting his gaze and shook his head while reaching for the soju glass in front of him. Seeing strange delusions unfold, he was definitely drunk. He would empty the remaining glass, put Luna in a taxi, and since Leo would manage fine on his own, he’d take a taxi home himself.
Organizing in his head what he needed to do, he emptied his glass.
“If everyone’s had enough, shall we get up? Which direction is your home, Luna-ssi? I’ll call a ride.”
Hyedam pulled out his phone and let out a small sigh when he saw it wouldn’t turn on. He’d forgotten to charge it until now. Scratching his forehead with his fingernail while wondering whether to borrow Leo’s phone or Luna’s to call a ride, Hyedam quickly raised his head at the hand firmly grasping his shoulder.
“Hey. When did you get here? If you came here, you should have said something. Hello. I’m Lee Hyedam’s friend, Choi Junseok.”
Having appeared out of nowhere, Junseok was introducing himself in his usual affable manner.
“Hello.”
“……”
Luna’s voice and silence were directed at Junseok. Meanwhile, Junseok’s large hand pressed down on Hyedam’s shoulder several times before moving to massage the back of his neck refreshingly.
“Team Leader, this is my friend I mentioned before… Hey, if you’re here, go eat. Why are you suddenly making such a fuss greeting people?”
Having awkwardly introduced Junseok along with him, Hyedam stood up from his seat and firmly pushed the stomach of Junseok right beside him to make space for himself to stand.
“I’m just happy to see you. Looks like you’ve had some drinks.”
“Yeah. Yeah. Please just wrap up the situation quickly and go to your own group.”
In the noisy restaurant, Hyedam muttered as quietly as possible while trying to push Junseok away further, but moving a guy as big as Leo by force was nearly impossible. Only after Junseok voluntarily stepped back a few paces, independent of his efforts, was Hyedam able to stand properly.
“Looks like you’ve already finished eating.”
Usually he wasn’t like this, but today for some reason he kept trying to talk to Luna and Leo, so interested in this table—Hyedam tapped the guy’s chest to convey that he should get lost.
“It’s been a while since we met… Well then. I’ll pay and call a ride.”
Since he was the one who needed to pay and clean up here, Hyedam forced a smile while trying to poke and push away Junseok, who wouldn’t budge, as discreetly as possible.
“Junseok-ssi?”
Why. Hyedam had been glaring hard at Junseok, who was mouthing “what’s wrong” while looking at him, conveying with his expression that he should scram, when he suddenly felt like a large tree had sprouted up beside him and quickly closed his mouth.
With two large guys blocking his front and side, he felt suffocated. The alcohol was rising, his movement wasn’t free, and in his frustration Hyedam swept his hair back.
“Hello. I’ve heard about you from Hyedam. You’re the Team Leader, right?”
“It seems Hyedam-ssi talks about me too.”
“What else would an office worker talk about when meeting friends? The topics are all obvious. How many rides should I call?”
Hyedam had been tensely listening to the conversation going on above him when he looked at Junseok, who was supporting his back while looking at him, and let out a small sigh. He’d been dizzy already, but with the guy supporting him solidly as usual, he felt some of the tension ease.
“For Luna-ssi and me. Team Leader didn’t drink, or we could call Robert-ssi, so just call two. My battery’s dead.”
Hyedam was speaking quietly enough for only Junseok to hear when he felt a force gently pull his wrist and his body was tugged along. Normally he would have balanced himself properly, but the staggering Hyedam ended up burying his face in Leo’s shoulder.
“I’ll take care of things here, so Hyedam-ssi’s friend should go back to his companions. Everyone seems to be waiting.”
Having ended up with his face buried in Leo’s shoulder and practically in his embrace, Hyedam covered his nose with one hand while steadying his balance by bracing his other hand against Leo’s body.
This was his regular spot, but it was also Junseok’s regular spot. On top of that, the place where Junseok worked out was nearby, so he often stopped by after exercising. Suddenly appearing in this situation, and then going out of his way to acknowledge them—wondering what was wrong with the guy, Hyedam’s head ached as he quickly gestured for Junseok to leave.
“Ah, I’m sorry. I was so happy to see Hyedam here without any prior arrangement that I was quite rude. Lee Hyedam, hangover soup tomorrow. Deal.”
Just as he’d appeared suddenly, Junseok seemed to exchange a few words with Leo before leaving a polite farewell, firmly grasping Hyedam’s shoulder once more before letting go. Only after watching his retreating figure did Hyedam lower the hand covering his nose.
“A close friend since childhood… Which direction did you say Luna-ssi’s house was?”
Having somehow sorted out the situation and watched the taxi Luna was in grow distant, Hyedam pulled his collar closed against the chilly winter wind brushing past his body and looked up at Leo standing beside him.
“Team Leader, you should get going too.”
“Are you always like that?”
“Pardon? I’m not sure what you’re referring to…”
“Are you always smiling that easily, talking that well, and being that kind to everyone?”
What was with all the smiling easily, talking well, being kind. This was all just social life, and human relationships were all like that. Unable to comprehend what the problem was or which part was at issue, Hyedam just stared up at Leo looking down at him.
Stop saying strange things and just get lost already. So I can take a taxi home too.
“Why aren’t you like that with me?”
At Leo’s unexpected words, Hyedam’s tightly closed lips slowly parted.
