CH 11
“Something… these are all things you wouldn’t eat… What should I do… Hmm….”
I approached and snatched the booklet from Jukyung’s hands. Eating wasn’t the issue right now.
“Hey, how did you get here?”
“How did I get here? I drove my car.”
I glared at him.
“Don’t play word games. Did you put something on me? Like a tracking device or something?”
Jukyung snorted as if I was being ridiculous.
“What, are you making a movie? A tracking device… You used my card to pay for the room. I got a message about it…”
Ah… That’s right. I got a bit overexcited and overreacted. I felt embarrassed.
“Well, okay, but why did you come? I told you I was going out to hang with a friend and you said you understood, didn’t you?”
Jukyung frowned.
“Do you honestly think that makes sense? A kid who was acting all out of it from medicine because he was sick until this morning suddenly says he’s going out to play all weekend—how could I not be concerned? I thought you had… um… collapsed somewhere or… yeah, been kidnapped or something.”
This time it was my turn to frown.
“Kidnapped? What kidnapping all of a sudden? You’re the one making a movie.”
“Well, your father’s rich, right? Someone could have kidnapped you for ransom, or… your family could have sent people to drag you back. If that happened, I might not be able to get back the money I spent on you….”
“……”
Somehow I could both understand and not understand… I wanted to say he was the one making a movie, but considering my father’s personality, being forcibly dragged away someday was plausible. I tilted my head with my arms crossed and a frown on my face. I had expected my excuse to sound absurd and had been planning to make up a reasonable story to get through the weekend before returning.
But honestly, I thought Kwon Jukyung wouldn’t be very interested in what I had to say. I actually thought he’d be happy to finally have his house all to himself for once. Who knew he’d been worrying about me? No, correction. Not worrying about me, but about the money he’d get from me.
“Ah, so that’s why you came rushing over with such a pale face?”
As that conclusion formed, my words came out a bit sarcastic.
“Pale face, who?”
Jukyung said indifferently, propping his chin on his hand and gesturing with his eyes at the delivery booklet in my hand.
“Anyway, whatever the case, let’s eat first and then talk. You already ate a bunch?”
I sighed and looked down at the booklet. When I left Seoul, I’d roughly filled my stomach with pieces of bread, but a lot of time had already passed. It was already well past dinner time. Once I realized that, sudden intense hunger washed over me.
The booklet listing delivery restaurants had foods I’d heard of but never tried laid out in a row. Jokbal, bossam, chicken, gamjatang, spicy chicken feet, crispy bones….
I’d been in Korea until middle school and these foods were on Korean TV day and night, so I couldn’t not know about them. But honestly, they were unfamiliar tastes to me. My father called them undignified foods and wouldn’t let me even put them near my mouth, and they were hard to come across abroad. After getting used to that, I didn’t even think to seek them out and eat them.
One funny fact was that my father ate all these foods behind our backs. While disparaging them as food only common people ate, my father, who was actually from a common background, couldn’t give up those tastes. Like some king traveling incognito—though he wasn’t—he’d put on airs in front of us and eat small portions of expensive ingredients lightly seasoned, then slip out at night to buy things like sundae soup. I’d accidentally seen it while passing by, but even knowing everything, I just pretended not to know for my father’s dignity.
I felt like I’d tried at least one of these before, but the smell was strong, the appearance wasn’t great, and the taste was too stimulating, so after being disgusted I never looked at them again. I only became interested recently after running away from home—after starving, I could eat anything. Plus, by then my pockets were already empty, so these foods had become too expensive for me instead.
“Have you tried all of these?”
I looked at Jukyung with curious eyes. Actually, even while living at Jukyung’s house, I’d never ordered these kinds of foods. If I had to say, Jukyung’s tastes were originally closer to mine. He liked food that used good ingredients to maximize their natural flavors and aromas with minimal seasoning or sauce.
But at my question, Jukyung made a face like he’d heard the most ridiculous question.
“Of course. When you go out with friends a few times, you eat all of this… When you come to places like this, late-night snacks are a basic course. Is this your first time at a place like this?”
Somehow I felt like I was being treated like an idiot.
“When I was young, I wasn’t allowed to eat them at home, and from high school on I lived abroad constantly, so I didn’t have the chance. Even when I went out to play, would I order chicken feet at a European resort with foreign kids?”
When I answered sullenly, Jukyung seemed to think about something for a moment with an “I see,” then didn’t nitpick anymore. Instead, he took the booklet from my hand and spread it out on the table.
“Then try eating some this time. It probably won’t suit your taste, but this is also an experience, you know. What catches your eye?”
I sat down next to Jukyung. As my robe opened and my bare thigh was exposed, I saw out of the corner of my eye Jukyung’s gaze drop for a moment before looking away.
Ah, damn it. Why is this awkward and embarrassing when we’re both guys? No, is it because we’re both guys? If it were a woman, it might be more natural. If there were a woman with me in a place like this, we’d be lovers.
I adjusted my robe as naturally as possible and leaned forward a bit to sit close to the table. But as I looked at the food photos in the booklet, the useless thoughts naturally disappeared and before I knew it, I was just swallowing saliva. My gaze, which had been turning pages, stopped at buldak.
When I was sleeping at the jjimjilbang, I’d seen other people sitting around ordering it. Seeing that glossy red sauce made my stomach, which had been getting by on one triangle kimbap a day, churn. Even though I was lying in a corner with my back turned, the charcoal aroma drifting through the air felt so delicious. I’d vowed to eat it when I had money, but once I started living at Jukyung’s house with plenty of food, I’d forgotten about it.
“That’s a high difficulty level to try as your first late-night snack. Can you handle spicy food well?”
Seeing the page stopped in one place, Jukyung suddenly interjected. I tend to season lightly, but I can eat spicy food. Occasionally when stressed, I’d seek out spicy Mexican or Chinese food, and with Korean food too, I preferred the sharp taste that comes from using hot peppers. Plus, if I hadn’t seen it at all I might have been fine, but now that it caught my eye, the memory of wanting to eat it at the jjimjilbang became increasingly vivid, and I felt I absolutely had to try it.
“Yeah. Let me try it. You pick what you want to eat too.”
When I answered, Jukyung silently rummaged through the paper a bit more, then picked up his phone. About to dial the phone number, Jukyung glanced at me.
“But how’s your body? Are you really okay?”
I’d briefly forgotten because Kwon Jukyung suddenly appeared and completely distracted me, but since the medicine had properly circulated while I slept, nothing felt particularly wrong. There was a somewhat languid yet sensitive feeling, two contradictory sensations coexisting, but I didn’t feel sick anywhere or like I was going to pass out. But I should still be careful. If I was going to keep being like this, it seemed better to properly get dressed first.
“I’m fine. Perfectly fine. I guess I just had some fatigue built up.”
I got up and stretched ostentatiously to show him, but the robe opened so I awkwardly closed the collar again. Avoiding Jukyung’s gaze looking at me like I was pathetic, I quietly walked to the closet. While I changed into a t-shirt and shorts, I heard Jukyung ordering on the phone.
After ordering food, silence descended again. Since we weren’t in a relationship where we’d stare blankly at each other, I was looking for the remote to turn on the TV when Jukyung suddenly stood up.
“I’m going to shower too.”
“What? Why are you showering?”
Jukyung frowned like he’d heard something disgusting.
“Why am I showering? I just got off work, I need to eat and sleep, so of course I need to shower.”
The color must have clearly drained from my face. I even felt like I heard a “whoosh” sound effect.
“Wait, aren’t you going straight back to Seoul after eating? You’re sleeping here?”
Kwon Jukyung, if you sleep here, there’s no point in me running all the way here, is there? But at my words, Jukyung’s face crumpled even worse like he’d eaten rotten food.
“Why would I go to Seoul in the middle of the night? Do you think it’s like a 10-minute distance from here to home? You said your friend went home too, right? You’re alone. What’s the problem? Planning to call someone else over at night?”
The guy’s words got long again, rapid-fire. He seems quite displeased that I told him to go home.
“No, that’s not it… I thought you wouldn’t want to sleep here…. You don’t know what it’s like even if it looks clean on the outside. Aren’t you kind of particular about that stuff?”
At my quickly thought-up excuse, Jukyung’s expression softened a bit. And despite my observation which I thought hit the mark, Jukyung just shrugged his shoulders.
“What do you take me for? I told you I went out to play with friends a lot. Once I’m outside, I give up to some degree and get by. If I couldn’t stand this much, how would I eat out? I’m not so picky that it makes social life difficult.”
Jukyung spouted off such talk somewhat proudly, then briskly took off his clothes and strode into the bathroom. However, when he arrived at the bathroom entrance, he did hesitate for a moment, his expression showing him looking inside. When our eyes met as I stared at him, I clearly saw him flinch.
What do I take you for? I take you for a picky, neurotic clean freak.
In the end, he went in acting like it was nothing and lowered the blinds on the glass wall, but the last face he showed was slightly stiff. As expected, he didn’t like it. Using this kind of public lodging facility.
It’s your own fault. That’s what you get for being stubborn about weird things.
I snorted and leisurely lay down, focusing on the TV. The sound of rushing water poured for quite a long time.
