“I’m going. Take good care of the house, homeowner.”
What’s so pretty about that that he said he’d feed, clothe, and house him?
Kwon Yunsu, who had disappeared beyond the front door waving his hands, suddenly stuck his head out.
“Where should I wait after afternoon classes?”
“…?”
When he made a puzzled face, Kwon Yunsu retorted as if pathetic.
“We have to go grocery shopping together.”
“…Call me after class ends.”
He averted his gaze, answered, and turned around.
He heard the sound of the front door closing behind him. Ignoring the dining table with the dishes still there, he headed to the bedroom and flopped down, feeling bloated. ……Go grocery shopping together? He chuckled. Once every ten times he does something commendable like that, so that’s probably what makes it worthwhile to house him.
Bringing up the words lingering at the edge first.
Handing over full authority over dietary life to him was a big mistake, but excluding that, things have flowed relatively smoothly. Thinking of the effort put in so far, this level of result is natural, but Kwon Yunsu should be a bit more stubborn for things to make sense.
Lee Euishin had been worried all along about what to do if he insisted on entering the dormitory. It would be different from himself who receives an independent house as a gift upon entering university.
‘I still want to have some fun during freshman year though….’
Not just freshman year, you can play for the rest of your life from now on. The goal was only to get him admitted to the same university; everything else didn’t matter. Lee Euishin quietly kept his mouth shut.
‘But living alone costs a lot of money so I feel sorry to Father, and Mom and Noona also just tell me to enter the dorm. They say if I live alone I’ll become a huge piece of trash. I’m good at cleaning though.’
‘The dorm application period already passed. What are you going to do right away this semester?’
‘While waiting for additional applications, I’ll roughly stay in a goshiwon or something like that, and if that really doesn’t work, just get a short-term studio for this semester?’
Thinking of Kwon Yunsu moving around here and there with his bundle of luggage made him feel bad. That wretchedness suited him too well.
Lee Euishin casually started as if throwing it out.
‘Just come live here.’
‘Huh?’
It was February when they were idling around after safely receiving their acceptance notices, and Kwon Yunsu was at Lee Euishin’s house for the first time. Even after being carried on an intercity bus to the middle of Seoul, arriving at a high-rise apartment near the school they’d enter in March, Kwon Yunsu had a “what is this?” face, and only opened his mouth in surprise around the time Lee Euishin naturally pressed the entrance passcode. You’re really rich! Wow! Kwon Yunsu’s face losing his soul and getting dizzy is always fun.
‘Instead of living alone, they tell me to bring someone in to interact with. That’s the condition. They say I like living alone too much.’
Of course there was no such condition,
‘Hey… that’s a tremendous invasion of privacy by your standards. It’s more surprising that you accepted such a condition. You do become a bit good in front of your parents, Lee Euishin.’
Though still slow, it seems Kwon Yunsu now knows him quite well.
‘Come in.’
‘…It’s already yours so I don’t need to add to the deposit, but instead isn’t the rent going to rival any studio?’
‘Crazy… you’re thinking of paying rent while living with me? Just come live here. Just don’t mess up the room.’
How tacky.
‘Hey, then… no, then it’s too much of a burden, …Father will……’
‘I’ll talk to him.’
Picking up one of the snacks spread out on the table and putting it in Kwon Yunsu’s mouth, Lee Euishin said carefully.
‘No matter how I think about it, that seems like the way to reassure me, you, my house, your father, and mother all.’
‘…But still……’
Kwon Yunsu probably doesn’t even know what’s happening. He should pull off a quick attack and finish it quickly.
‘You’re the only person I can ask this favor of.’
No matter how much Kwon Yunsu nagged, Lee Euishin absolutely never made friends. Kwon Yunsu probably learned through himself that someone you comfortably exchange words with isn’t necessarily a friend.
‘There isn’t, really.’
When faced with someone’s deficiency, Kwon Yunsu doesn’t know what to do. From that troubled face, Lee Euishin easily gained the upper hand and the rest was smooth. Like a child from a family good at keeping up appearances, Lee Euishin could skillfully disguise an attitude that wins adults’ trust. Within 5 minutes of picking up the phone, Kwon Yunsu’s father gave permission.
‘So you really will feed me, clothe me, and house me.’
The day they unpacked at the apartment, Lee Euishin’s heart sank at what Kwon Yunsu muttered while looking around the room awkwardly.
‘…What are you talking about?’
‘A long time ago, when you were transferring schools. You told me to come visit and I asked if you’d feed me, clothe me, and house me, and you said, you’d see.’
‘…….’
How could he remember something like that? What expression should he make……? Being with Kwon Yunsu, this kind of thing happens sometimes. Because he’s such a bright child, there are no expectations at all.
‘Yesterday I finished packing and lay down to sleep, and it suddenly came to mind. …It’s amazing that it really turned out like that.’
‘Everything’s amazing to you.’
‘Ah, then….’
At that time…,
‘I’ll do the feeding.’
He should have taken those words at the right time.
‘You can’t cook at all, right? Even if I can’t pack lunches, I can cook meals a bit. I’ll cook for you. I’ll pay for all the food expenses too.’
He shouldn’t have been spacing out thinking “what the fuck is this newlywed atmosphere.”
He should have acted as unpleasant as possible saying that he’s been making this and that for quite a while because ordinary restaurants don’t satisfy him. If he had…,
“What kind of kimchi jjigae is that? It’s just kimchi with water added.”
It’s incomprehensible. What’s so good about it that he’s been eating the tasteless food Kwon Yunsu prepares for the second week?
He placed the cleanly washed dishes on the drying rack, organized the sink, and left the kitchen. In the living room were the TV left on at low volume, snacks Kwon Yunsu had eaten partway through yesterday, liberal arts textbooks borrowed from the library, a mask left behind. After returning from the freshmen orientation in Gangwon Province, Kwon Yunsu caught a cold and wore a mask for a while.
Lee Euishin cleaned up the messy living room as his hands went and ran the coffee machine. Thinking about what ingredients to give Kwon Yunsu to improve his cooking skills a bit.
***
University classes are kind of interesting.
Someone advanced in learning stands in front and lectures and taking notes is the same, but somehow there was an inexplicable stability and leisure. No matter what nonsense you do, it doesn’t seem like anyone will snitch, and the hoho old man standing at the lectern won’t come over here and grab your head either.
Is this the leisure of adulthood? The freedom of plain clothes? University culture? Kwon Yunsu, who had been rambling with idle thoughts, quickly straightened his posture. It was partly because he didn’t see anyone particularly dozing off except himself, but in this aspect his habits were well-formed.
‘You’re not the type to study alone. You absolutely have to do it when others are doing it.’
He will never forget the famous words of life’s truth, Teacher Lee Euishin, until he dies.
Lee Euishin started tutoring him from the winter vacation of his second year of high school. When Kwon Yunsu, who had a decent head for studying but lacked stamina and persistence, was slowly becoming lazy thinking ‘I’ll just do what I can and somehow just get into a Seoul university….’
‘Where are you going?’
Starting from following him all the way to the school gate and catching him when he habitually skipped supplementary classes,
‘Open your book.’
Calling him to sit in the seat next to him and checking his study time and progress became routine,
‘Look at that part. From here….’
Subtly coaching him on parts he was stuck on,
‘Hand over your mock exam report card.’
From the spring of senior year, he went so far as to analyze his mock exam score trends.
Lee Euishin, who had only ever spouted difficult and expensive-sounding words, became more generous than ever, even playing soccer together sometimes and acting friendly, so Kwon Yunsu had no reason to hesitate. Even when he shot hearts at Lee Euishin on his report card that was shooting up like a sprout receiving sunlight, the guy would just haughtily sniff. That Lee Euishin’s face looked cool. Kwon Yunsu learned then that no matter how sharp-edged a person acts, if they study well, a halo forms on their back.
Taking Teacher Lee Euishin as a role model, he studied hard and submitted applications wherever the guy told him to, and the results were fantastic. He got accepted to the same school as Lee Euishin, who was considered a prodigy. Since it’s a school that easily makes it into the top five in this country, Kwon Yunsu’s house was in chaos. His grades weren’t completely in the gutter, so it wasn’t a tree he could never climb even if he died, but it would have been absolutely impossible without that guy helping him.
