After the convenience store shift ended, Heewoo, heading to his next part-time job at a soup restaurant, stopped by a park along the way. Since the soup restaurant shift started at noon, he had a bit of time before going. He planned to eat lunch in between.
The lakeside park, located slightly away from the downtown area, had a large site with many places to sit. Heewoo headed to the pavilion where he could eat most comfortably. Perhaps because it was a weekday lunchtime, there were few people in the park.
Walking while holding the paper bag Heichi had given him, his heart felt so full he didn’t know what to do. A day like this when he could eat heartily all day while working was truly a blessed day. And it was free, too.
“…Still, I should pay him back.”
Though he hadn’t sensed such signs from Heichi, Heewoo knew. What happens when you owe someone a debt. Having suffered from debt his whole life, Heewoo shuddered just thinking that he owed Heichi.
Arriving at the pavilion, Heewoo took off his shoes, climbed up, and sat cross-legged. Then he took out the lunch box he’d left over from breakfast. Since he’d eaten all the vegetables at breakfast, what he’d eat now was all meat side dishes. Even normally, meat was more precious than vegetables, so he was excited.
“Eating lunch?”
Just then, a voice was heard. Heewoo, who had been tearing open the wooden chopsticks he’d brought from the convenience store, naturally turned his head. Unsurprisingly now, it was Heichi.
…Was he really following him around? At this point, Heewoo couldn’t help but be suspicious. It was a natural thought since he appeared as if waiting every time Heewoo wasn’t working his part-time jobs.
“Um…”
“Yes, please speak.”
“…What do you do while I’m working my part-time jobs?”
Unable to ask outright if he was following him around, he barely managed to ask the question roundabout. He couldn’t ask accusingly of someone who had bought him dinner yesterday evening, breakfast this morning, and now even lunch.
“I work.”
“W-work? You have a job?”
“Yes. Like you do part-time work, Heewoo-ssi.”
Then was it really coincidence? Since he said he worked while Heewoo was doing part-time work, whatever that work was, he couldn’t be following him around while doing it. In fact, Heewoo’s part-time job places weren’t far from each other, so if he worked in this vicinity, they could run into each other by chance plenty.
“I see…”
“Were you eating? Please continue.”
“Ah, yes.”
Heewoo awkwardly split the wooden chopsticks in half. Then he suddenly realized that he was standing blankly in front of the pavilion, looking at him. Heewoo hurriedly took out one of the still-new lunch boxes from the paper bag he’d set aside and held it out to Heichi.
“W-would you like to eat together?”
“Is that alright?”
“Yes, since you bought it…”
It was a lunch box Heichi had bought in the first place, so what reason could there be not to eat together? Heichi, receiving the lunch box, stretched out his legs and took a seat in the pavilion. He sat down without taking off his shoes, and while he opened the lunch box lid, Heewoo split a new pair of wooden chopsticks and handed them to him.
“It’s gotten a bit… cold…”
For himself, as long as his stomach could be filled, it didn’t matter whether he ate it cold or not, but Heichi, being a foreigner, might dislike it. Heichi looked blankly at Heewoo murmuring apologetically.
He seemed more interested in the wooden chopsticks Heewoo had split for him than the cold lunch box. Heichi, who had been scanning the wooden chopsticks with curious eyes, began using the chopsticks. His lunch box, unlike the one Heewoo had opened, was a lunch box with pork cutlet as the main dish.
Heewoo also continued his meal with the leftover lunch box, then suddenly realized. Come to think of it, Heichi hadn’t been able to use chopsticks. At the belatedly remembered fact, Heewoo raised his head to look at Heichi.
“Huh?”
“What is it?”
“Y-you’re good with chopsticks?”
“Ah. Yes.”
Heichi was using chopsticks very skillfully, and in almost exactly the same way as Heewoo. Heewoo’s face flushed red as he realized that he actually was good with chopsticks.
Then what he’d done at the udon restaurant was completely useless. He felt embarrassed.
With nothing more to say, Heewoo kept his head deeply lowered and quickly continued eating. Among the side dishes, what he focused on attacking was the braised short ribs. Heewoo, who ate only half of the remaining half portion of rice, glanced at Heichi then stealthily covered the lid again.
“Not eating more?”
Heichi’s perception was faster than expected. Heichi’s gaze as he asked was fixed on Heewoo’s lunch box that still had side dishes remaining.
At that gaze, Heewoo’s heart grew anxious, worried that Heichi might misunderstand. He worried he might think Heewoo was leaving the precious lunch box he’d bought because he was complaining about the side dishes. Heewoo hastily added:
“I-I’m going to eat what’s left for dinner later.”
“Why is that?”
“What? Uh, well…”
Rationing food was actually something so natural to Heewoo that when asked to give a reason, he didn’t know what to answer. When Heewoo hesitated, Heichi asked again.
“Did you eat the other lunch boxes too?”
“Oh, uh, th-those were mine too…?”
“That’s right.”
So he really bought them all for him to eat. Heewoo let out a deflated breath. This was the first time someone else had taken care of his breakfast, so he hadn’t even imagined it.
“Then please eat more.”
“Ah…”
If it were up to him, he wanted to leave it like this, take it home, then finish dinner with the spicy stir-fried pork and remaining rice. The one more lunch box was precious food that could take care of three meals tomorrow, so even more so.
Since childhood, Heewoo had frequently gone hungry, and the food he barely obtained, he saved and saved again, dividing it to eat for as long as possible. In Heewoo’s view, one of these lunch boxes could honestly last three days.
But he also knew that wasn’t the courtesy to show in front of someone who bought him breakfast. In the end, Heewoo reopened the lid he’d closed. And he started putting the spicy stir-fried pork he’d liked and saved so carefully into his mouth.
“It’s really delicious…”
An exclamation flowed out without him knowing. Spicy stir-fried pork was Heewoo’s favorite side dish, but after graduating school, it had become really hard to eat. Even expired lunch boxes rarely had spicy stir-fried pork lunch boxes left. Heewoo continued eating with a smile blooming without him knowing.
“Is it delicious?”
“Yes. …Incredibly so.”
“I see.”
The conversation was somehow strange, but the meal continued peacefully. After eating like that for a while, it was already approaching 12 o’clock. Heewoo hurriedly cleaned up and stood up.
“I have to go to my next part-time job… So I’ll be going…”
“Yes. Please go.”
“S-see you again next time.”
At the last greeting Heewoo delivered shyly, Heichi also smiled faintly. When he smiled with that handsome face, flowers truly bloomed brilliantly. Heewoo, who had been staring blankly at his face, hurriedly grabbed the paper bag and left for the restaurant.
Heichi, left alone, watched Heewoo’s retreating figure, then suddenly changed his expression. Heichi brought his hand behind his ear, pressed down on that spot, then opened his mouth.
“AJ, where are you?”
* * *
After the busy lunch hour passed, some leisure finally came to Heewoo as well. If he just finished the table cleanup he was doing now, he could catch his breath for a moment. It was when Heewoo was vigorously wiping the food-stained table with a wet cloth.
On the TV that was always on, news was flowing as always—it was the owner’s preference. While Heewoo cleaned tables, the owner who hadn’t budged from the kitchen came outside. The anchor’s stiff voice was heard inside the shop that had only the two of them.
-President Shin Minsu, who had maintained silence, finally announced his first official position on the Esper situation today.
-The Presidential Office conveyed through a government statement that they ‘want peaceful exchange in relations with the Espers who suddenly appeared.’ Additionally, regarding the ‘Guides’ they are looking for, the policy is to respond in the most peaceful and reasonable way possible.
While the owner focused on the news, Heewoo also perked up his ears while wiping tables. This was because he recalled what the Esper he met at the convenience store today had said to him.
-Meanwhile, public concerns are growing. The problem is that the Espers’ ‘Guide search,’ the so-called ‘pair search’ process, is being carried out indiscriminately without specific criteria.
-At the appearance of Espers searching for targets without distinction of gender or age, voices of anxiety are growing among some citizens that they might lose their children or spouses.
-Regarding this, President Shin Minsu stated that ‘what Espers want is closer to a spiritual connection, not a sexual relationship or personal possession,’ taking the position that such concerns may be exaggerated interpretations. This statement from the President suggests that the government is taking a relatively friendly stance toward the Espers…
“Crazy. The whole world has gone crazy.”
The owner poured out a stream of curses toward the TV. He seemed very displeased with the ‘Espers.’
“Anyway, calling him an economic president and whatnot, I knew it from when he ruined the country’s economy. Knowing the Espers are rich, he’s trying to make something of it somehow. Right?”
“Th-the Espers are rich…?”
“Of course. Incredibly rich, I heard. These days, real estate and stocks are in complete chaos. Heewoo-gun, you’re still young so you don’t know much about this stuff, right?”
Heewoo nodded slightly. So Espers are rich. The moment he learned that, Heewoo thought, then could being a ‘Guide’ also make money? Heewoo flinched and hunched his shoulders at the thought that came up without him knowing.
“What does it matter if they’re rich? Those things only spend money on their Guides.”
“Why…?”
“Why? Why else? When it’s confirmed as their ‘pair,’ going crazy is a characteristic of those folks.”
The owner’s words continued at length.
“You know that person I mentioned before? The one who got an Esper attached. They already received about the value of a car.”
“Wow…”
“Divorce is coming soon, too.”
