# Chapter 30
“You.”
At the low voice that sounded like a casual question thrown out, Mo Eunje lifted his gaze that had been fixed on the white stick.
“What about me?”
“Have you decided on a gift?”
“Yeah. A printer, a paper shredder, and an initial necklace.”
The printer and paper shredder he had kept at Tae Igyeol’s house had died last year after being neglected and unused since the proofreading of his full-length novel. And though the initial necklace would be quite expensive to buy normally, thanks to the current family sale the brand was having, it could be purchased at more than 60% off, making it comparable in price to Tae Igyeol’s basic set and Ban Hajun’s wallet, so it seemed reasonable.
“I’m going to post mine now, so you claim yours first. Among my things, the one with the necklace is the worst. I hope Gye Minho gets stuck with it. I heard his royalties from ‘The Regressor’s Mnemonics’ are no joke.”
Muttering to himself, he posted a list of birthday gifts he wanted to receive in the group chat, along with the images he had captured. But while Ban Hajun chose the paper shredder and Gye Minho chose the printer, Tae Igyeol was just staring indifferently at the messages in the group chat.
“Hey, you idiot…! What are you just staring at? No matter what I give you, you can’t digest it?”
“…The world is truly going to hell. I try to do something nice and get called an idiot.”
“What nice thing! Do you think Gye Minho or Ban Hajun will thank you for getting stuck with the worst option? They’ll be celebrating with an ‘awesome!’ and cheering. Geez, you idiot.”
“Let’s go to the department store tomorrow. You can try them on directly and choose what you like. Accessories look different when you actually wear them compared to just seeing them.”
It was an unexpected windfall. This truly was a nice deed from Tae Igyeol. Mo Eunje wasn’t about to miss such an opportunity.
“Oh. I’m so touched. I take back calling you an idiot! The only one who thinks about Eunje is brother Igyeol~”
“Don’t do that. I’m still feeling low pressure because of the scandal.”
“Okay. Sorry.”
Having quickly apologized, Mo Eunje immediately dropped the baby talk and cute act. He also quickly released his hands that had been forming a flower cup to support his chin.
“While we’re there, let’s stop by the watch store and pick out a strap for you too.”
“If you want.”
“…I’m being generous here. I’ll buy you two straps to console you.”
“Get lost.”
He’s making a fuss even when offered consolation. Mo Eunje told Tae Igyeol to actually smoke the cigarette wedged between his fingers instead of just holding it, then went back inside the house first. Tomorrow, they needed to buy alcohol and meat for their birthday party after visiting the department store.
&
Once again, when he opened his eyes, the space beside him was empty. Mo Eunje stretched his arms and legs fully while still lying down. He checked his phone out of habit, but there were no special messages except in the group chat with his parents, asking when he would come down to Busan and telling him to come play with his friends soon since his birthday was on Monday. Still, he felt good since he’d woken up earlier than his average rising time.
After roughly brushing his teeth and washing his face, he left the bedroom and saw Tae Igyeol in the alpha room used as a study. Normally, he would trade stocks on his phone, but seeing how he was burying his nose in the laptop monitor with a serious expression, it seemed he was burning with determination to make a big gain today. It was like a superstition of Tae Igyeol’s that when he wanted to make a big gain, he had to watch on a big screen.
Mo Eunje lightly knocked on the glass door of the alpha room. Not missing the moment when Tae Igyeol glanced at him, he clenched his fists and struck a fighting pose with both arms. Awkwardly raising one leg was his aegyo. Tae Igyeol let out a hollow laugh, ignored him, and turned his attention back to the monitor.
Since I cheered him on, I’ll ask him to buy me something delicious if he makes a profit today.
Picturing several menu items in his head, he clasped his hands behind his back and slowly walked around the living room. To say he was walking would be an exaggeration; he was just circling around in circles.
“Ah. I woke up too early.”
I’m hungry, but if I ask for lunch now, will he tell me to get lost…?
“Then I can get lost and eat something delicious first.”
After having this futile conversation with himself, Mo Eunje grinned and went to the kitchen. The castella from the bakery he had specified yesterday was sitting right there on the table. Without asking, he knew it was Tae Igyeol’s doing.
It wasn’t that far from the house to the bakery, but they only made and sold a set amount each day before closing, causing Mo Eunje to come up empty-handed several times. He’d even gone at 10 AM only to find the castella sold out, or at 3 PM to find the shop already closed. Since it opened at 7 AM, Tae Igyeol must have gone before the stock market opened.
“Oh seriously, Tae Igyeol. You’re just too adorable.”
The corners of Mo Eunje’s mouth rose to their fullest. Tae Igyeol, who had accidentally stepped on the castella Shin Dael gave him while heavily drunk, was faithfully keeping his promise. Starting today, he wouldn’t have to worry about bread for the next year.
Mo Eunje tucked the packaged castella box under one arm and approached the glass door of the alpha room again to knock. This time too, not missing the moment when Tae Igyeol glanced at him, he wiggled his shoulders and hips while frantically throwing finger hearts. The alternating winks from both sides were a bonus.
Exhaling a low sigh and shaking his head, Tae Igyeol turned his attention back to the monitor and raised his middle finger. He did raise his finger, but seeing how he couldn’t form a heart, it seemed his thumb and index finger were broken.
Singing a happy tune, Mo Eunje returned to the kitchen and brewed an espresso from the coffee machine. He opened the sink cabinet and took out an insulated tumbler, added a little hot water from the water purifier, and put in four sticks of peach iced tea powder. After stirring well with chopsticks to dissolve it, he filled more than half of the cup with ice and added cold water from the purifier. Finally, he poured in the espresso he had brewed, mixed it all together, and took a taste—it was fantastic.
At home, he would just mix it in any cup, but in Tae Igyeol’s space, if you were going to add ice, you had to use an insulated tumbler. This was because the neat and noble homeowner suffered from a condition where he couldn’t stand the sight of moisture forming on the cup surface and water droplets dripping down.
“To commemorate waking up early, should I offer some service to our Igyeol?”
While he was at it, he brewed one more espresso. He took out another tumbler, filled it with ice and water, and poured in two shots of espresso to make an iced Americano at the strength Tae Igyeol preferred. He’d probably had a cup in the morning, but by now, Tae Igyeol would need a coffee transfusion, and he couldn’t come out of the alpha room because he was sitting in front of his laptop.
He entered the alpha room with the tumbler. Though he was in a good mood and was about to play a prank, Tae Igyeol’s expression was so serious that he closed his opening mouth. There was an empty mug to one side, suggesting he had drunk a warm Americano in the morning. Mo Eunje placed the tumbler where it could be reached but slightly away from the laptop.
“Thanks.”
“Yeah.”
As he picked up the empty cup, he glanced at the daily chart displayed on the monitor and saw that what had been a blue candle yesterday was now a red one standing tall, up by 27% and about to hit the upper limit. The numbers in the order window were changing at a crazy speed.
Mo Eunje squeezed Tae Igyeol’s shoulder once and let go, a gesture meaning “make a lot of money,” then left the alpha room. It was now time to enjoy the delicious castella and ashatteu (iced Americano with peach tea). He sat at the table with a reverent heart and unwrapped the castella.
“This is the taste… It melts, it just melts.”
As he tore off and ate the soft, moist castella with his hands, he found himself craving gumbo. He ate castella so often that he didn’t think of gumbo every time he ate it. Still, since gumbo was such a special treat for him, it occasionally came to mind with particular vividness.
Gumbo is a local dish from New Orleans, Louisiana, known as America’s most unique city—a stew-like dish with a thick consistency, with main ingredients including okra, tomatoes, onions, meat or clams, large crabs, shrimp, ham, and sausage. He had been introduced to it because Tae Igyeol’s grandmother Ila, who was from New Orleans, often made it, and she had said that gumbo was called the soul food of New Orleans.
Though it might seem like an incompatible combination with castella, they were surprisingly delicious together. Tae Igyeol, with his unique palate, would frown and ask what taste he was eating them together for, but to Mo Eunje’s taste, there was no more delicious combination in the world.
“Ah… I miss Grandmother.”
Come to think of it, it had been over five years since he’d seen Grandmother. The last time was when Mo Eunje, who had been dreaming of becoming a poet, decided to change his career path and began studying in earnest, and went to New Orleans with Tae Igyeol for about ten days. That meant it had been five years since he’d eaten gumbo made by Ila.
Because he had become busy after his literary debut, Tae Igyeol went alone to see his grandmother at least once a year, even if it was just for a short schedule, and each time, Mo Eunje wrote a handwritten letter to accompany a small gift for Ila. Though a foreigner with blonde hair and blue eyes might have seemed unfamiliar, perhaps because he had seen her since childhood, until the early elementary school years, he had thought that all people naturally got blonde hair and blue eyes when they became grandmothers.
Mo Eunje had heard that his maternal grandmother had died of pancreatic cancer after her divorce, and his paternal grandparents had died in a car accident. These were events that had happened before he was born, so he had no memories of them. That’s why, for Mo Eunje, Ila, who had taken care of him during his childhood, was like his own grandmother.
What time is it there now…?
As he chewed on the castella, he tried to calculate the time difference in his head, but as always, he gave up lightly. Such complicated calculations were for someone like Tae Igyeol.
