“Anyway, this school is a complete jungle. People talk so much and spread ridiculous rumors too. They’re already talking about you, Mr. Lee Sangho?”
“…What?”
“You’re not exactly the type who works very well either, right? Do well. Don’t try to stand out for no reason, and don’t let the cleaning supervisors push you around. As an employee, you should listen well to the Center Director.”
“Yes.”
Rumors. Sangho felt his mouth go dry at the Center Director’s meaningful words. Of course, the Center Director enjoyed establishing discipline by mentioning ‘rumors’ whenever a new employee came in and placing them under his feet, but Sangho, a fresh graduate, had no way of knowing that. Confirming that Sangho’s face had subtly stiffened, the Center Director smiled triumphantly and said:
“Speak well of me to actor Jang Wonha too. It would be nice if you could arrange a meal sometime?”
“Yes…”
Having finished all he had to say, the Center Director stood up from his seat first, leaving Sangho behind, saying he was busy. The Center Director, who’d grabbed the autograph book, left just like that—whoosh—without even a word of thanks.
***
The weekend promised with Wonha arrived in an instant.
During that time, Sangho had been under quite a bit of mental stress. He’d thought that if he stayed close with Wonha, the Center Director would bully him a little less, but instead he’d received an absurd request to arrange a meal. It was on a completely different level from just being asked to get an autograph.
Sangho was directly employed by Korea University anyway, and since the cleaning supervisors conducted the formal personnel evaluations, the Center Director practically couldn’t pose any real threat to Sangho. However, Sangho didn’t know this fact at all, and because he was very afraid of the Center Director who always harshly criticized him, he couldn’t even think of protesting his unfair treatment.
So until the weekend came, Sangho couldn’t sleep properly in his studio apartment and had to worry with all kinds of thoughts. He’d been supplementing his lack of sleep with naps, but since he couldn’t sleep, his appetite also decreased. When Sangho got hungry, he’d roughly smoke a cigarette and lie down listlessly, then head to Korea University when evening came. At least when he fell asleep in the sports storage room, the rustling sunlight smell from the sleeping bag calmed him down a bit.
By the time the weekend arrived, Sangho’s cheeks had become hollowed out. Wonha, who came out to the meeting place, showed an extremely surprised expression when he saw Sangho.
“…Did something happen?”
“No. I’m just… a bit tired.”
Suddenly Sangho realized that Wonha had dressed up with quite some care. On the other hand, no matter how carefully he chose, he himself wore a shirt and jeans that looked shabby. At least he’d lost so much weight these past few days that his pants were precariously hanging on his hips. Since Sangho didn’t have a belt, he’d roughly tied a piece of string as a belt and covered it by tucking in his shirt to hide it. Sangho felt something welling up inside, thinking he seemed very shabby.
“I wanted to rest on the weekend.”
Before he knew it, Sangho blurted out words in a resentful tone, then was startled at himself. Wonha made a slightly hurt expression after hearing Sangho’s words. In fact, Wonha hadn’t done anything wrong to him. It was Sangho himself who’d called Wonha out under the Center Director’s pressure, and it was also he who’d asked for the autograph. Wonha had just treated him well. It was also Wonha who’d been making efforts so he wouldn’t be uncomfortable or feel awkward. Sangho frowned, falling even deeper into self-loathing. Now even if Wonha treated him as a strange person and looked down on him, he had nothing to say.
“Ah. That’s not what I… I’m sorry.”
When Sangho apologized in an almost crawling voice, Wonha hid his disappointed feelings with effort and showed a smile.
“…I see. Let’s eat first anyway. Even if you want to rest, if you don’t eat anything, you’ll become even more lethargic.”
Wonha carefully took Sangho’s hand and massaged his palm, pressing firmly as he spoke.
“If you worked all week, it’s natural to want to rest on the weekend. Let’s go to my studio, eat something delicious. Take a nap too. Then you’ll feel better. It was like that last time too, wasn’t it?”
“…”
Instead of answering, Sangho quietly nodded. Wonha’s face showed he was quite happy that at least Sangho wasn’t rejecting him. Quickly pulling Sangho’s hand and putting him in his car, Wonha drove to his studio while rattling off trivial chatter. Sangho sat in the passenger seat, resting his head against the window, silently listening to Wonha’s words. Seeing how he brought his car, he probably planned to go out and play together. But… A mix of apologetic feelings and a strange desire to act spoiled churned inside him.
Wonha’s studio, which he was visiting after a few days, had a slightly different layout. Though it had seemed empty, a small kitchenette and refrigerator now stood on one side. There were still canvases Wonha had been painting scattered here and there, but now it felt more like a residential officetel rather than a studio.
“Well, let’s spend a lazy day for once.”
Wonha, who smiled broadly, held out a shopping bag. When Sangho looked at it as if asking what this was, Wonha said:
“I bought you pajamas so you can visit the studio often. This is a really comfortable brand, you know? Go change into them first.”
Inside the shopping bag were checkered cotton pajamas. When Sangho awkwardly received them, Wonha pushed Sangho into the room.
Hesitantly entering the room, Sangho took off his outdoor clothes and took out the pajamas from the shopping bag to put them on. As if they’d been washed once, he felt a soft and cozy texture along with a floral scent. Usually there were no pants that fit Sangho’s waist, but these pajamas were sized as if tailored perfectly for Sangho’s body. Only the sleeves were slightly long, covering half his palms, but even that felt cozy. Sangho kept touching the soft pajamas, feeling their texture.
When he came out of the room with an embarrassed expression, Wonha was making something in the kitchenette. Confirming that Sangho had come outside, Wonha busily moved the frying pan as he spoke:
“Sangho. There’s beer and beverages in the refrigerator, please take some out. I’m going to drink beer, but you can drink whatever you want.”
“Okay…”
Opening the refrigerator, it was full of beer and various types of beverages. Sangho looked around inside the refrigerator with curiosity, then took out two cans of beer. When he brought the beer and placed it on the table, Wonha came over with stir-fried spicy pork. On the table were freshly cooked rice and soybean paste soup.
“There aren’t many side dishes but… I made it in a hurry, so I’m not sure if it’ll be okay.”
“No, no. It smells… really delicious.”
Sangho, who always either bought food or filled his meals with cafeteria food, thought, So this is what ‘home-cooked food’ is. Taking a spoonful of warm rice, Sangho also scooped up the steaming soybean paste soup. As he chewed, he tasted the savory soybean paste and nutty rice flavor in his mouth. When Sangho took another scoop of rice and put the stir-fried spicy pork in his mouth, the spicy pork and sweet onions were chewed simultaneously. It wasn’t the intense taste that came from bought food, but it seemed to fill his stomach plainly yet heartily.
Sangho emptied a bowl of rice without even thinking about opening the beer can. As his empty stomach filled, the lethargy seemed to disappear a bit, just as Wonha had said. Sangho, who’d been fiddling with the beer can, opened it and gulped down a few mouthfuls. As the cool carbonation went down his throat, Sangho made a keu sound. With a bit of alcohol entering his body, he felt his body loosening up.
“Did you finish eating?”
After looking with satisfaction at Sangho’s cleanly emptied bowl, Wonha quickly stood up from his seat and pulled Sangho’s hand. When Sangho, who’d been somewhat embarrassed, stood up without saying anything, Wonha entered the room where he’d put Sangho to sleep last time. The bed in the room had changed from a single to a queen. Wonha, who quickly lay down, patted the spot next to him.
“Lie down here.”
“Ah…”
“Aren’t you sleepy? This is a deep sleep mattress. It’s on a different level from what you lay on last time?”
Just try lying down once. At Wonha’s suggestion in a subtly low voice, Sangho lay his body on the mattress as if entranced. The mattress that truly seemed to embrace his body was very comfortable. Wonha covered Sangho up to his neck with the blanket, then muttered in a slightly drowsy voice:
“If you sleep a little, you’ll feel better. Then when we wake up later, we can drink coffee too, and there’s a really fun game. Let’s play that together. At night it would be nice to order chicken too.”
“…Chicken.”
As Wonha whispered like a spell, Sangho, who’d been silently dejected, muttered along.
As he was full, warm, and lying comfortably on the mattress, rather than the worries that had been weighing down his mind until now, he began to wonder what the game Wonha said was fun might be. As Sangho, who’d been opening his eyes hazily, gradually began to breathe regularly and fell asleep, Wonha gently stroked Sangho’s curly hair.
“Sleep well. Tell me later what happened.”
Sangho, who’d fallen deeply asleep, only opened his eyes when the sun was about to set. As Sangho, who felt somewhat refreshed, stretched, he felt something touch him from the right side—thud. When he looked to the side in surprise, Wonha, who’d been sleeping, slightly opened his eyes and said in a husky voice:
“You’re awake?”
When Sangho, who’d finally come to his senses, sat up abruptly, Wonha yawned once and also sat up. Embarrassment belatedly rose up. We were supposed to hang out on the weekend, but as soon as we met, I snapped at Wonha and just slept all day without doing anything.
“Ah… I didn’t know I’d sleep until this late. I’m sorry.”
“Well. It wasn’t a date anyway. Don’t you usually just do what you feel like when you meet a friend?”
‘Friend?’
