“Eat meat, meat.”
There’s no better sign of friendship than offering something to eat.
“So, you two came from the same village?”
“Ah hyung, your tone smells rotten. And then you tell me to speak informally.”
“I can get to my house from here by subway, you know? It only takes two hours, you know?”
“See that menu? We already ate 10 servings, so considering the n-way split, quickly fill your stomach. If you don’t have money, put it on credit with me and come to the club room later to play some FIFA.”
“Haha, I heard from Taesu. A club with no seniors and the advisor professor on sabbatical, a club with no connections.”
“Interested?”
“There’s a PlayStation in our club room.”
“I’ll go if I get curious later.”
“That’s his way of saying he’s not interested.”
“Yunsu, right? I heard this guy’s such a die-hard soccer fanatic? My friend told me.”
“This guy rattles off leagues and players like he’s a second grader collecting game cards at a stationery store.”
“Does he just watch? Doesn’t play?”
“He plays games too.”
“Didn’t he score the winning goal at the middle school sports festival?”
“Lee Jihoon…!”
“Really?”
Kwon Yunsu’s eyes sparkled.
“K-Kim Wonwoo said that?”
Kwon Yunsu took the tongs the bujang hyung was holding and put meat on Shin Jaewoo’s plate. Eat, eat lots.
“He remembers it because it was so amazing that a ground ball he could high-kick for 100 years became the winning goal.”
“Bwahahaha!”
“I thought so.”
Clinking his beer glass against Kwon Yunsu’s water glass that he’d received from Song Taesu, the guy mischievously added,
“And the fact that the kid who scored that ground ball collapsed on the field and wailed.”
“Bwahahaha! That fits, that fits!”
“I can picture it, really.”
“Looking at this guy, he seems like he just grew taller from that elementary schooler.”
“Look at him turning red.”
“N-no, I really didn’t have the skills and I even fractured my leg during practice…. But my friend set me up and I kicked the winning goal, and it went in. Of course I was happy. Ah, fuck. My heart still hurts thinking about it now.”
Kwon Yunsu drank water while pressing down on his pounding chest. He knew they were teasing him, but bringing up old stories he’d been too embarrassed to tell anyone made him so glad and amazed. The fact that as a second-year middle schooler he seriously wanted to be a soccer player—thinking about it now, it was a memory so distant it wasn’t even funny, but Kwon Yunsu still loved soccer more than anything in the world. Every memory related to it was precious without exception. Of course, the one who made the most poignant memory among them was Lee Euishin. …He suddenly missed his landlord.
Thanks to Kwon Yunsu’s endless black history and the perfectly grilled meat, the atmosphere gradually ripened. By the time they leisurely dispersed, it was 10 o’clock, and during that time his phone seemed to have rung several times.
“Let’s head out.”
“Bye.”
“I’ll go.”
“Thanks for having me!”
They were exchanging casual goodbyes and turning around when someone tapped him from behind. It was Shin Jaewoo.
“You’re not giving me your contact?”
Come to think of it,
“Let’s visit Kim Wonwoo’s school later.”
“Yeah.”
He nodded while firmly pressing numbers into Shin Jaewoo’s phone.
“Which direction are you headed?”
“Over there.”
Lee Euishin’s high-rise apartment was clearly visible from anywhere near campus. Since they were going the same direction, they walked there side by side. He’d barely drunk any alcohol, but his insides felt warm and he was in a good mood. As he was sniffing the meat smell that had permeated his coat, Shin Jaewoo suddenly put his arm around his shoulders.
“Were you upset earlier? Thinking about it, I was too much for a first meeting….”
And he tilted his head. He was a guy who was naturally comfortable with physical contact. Kwon Yunsu responded while pretending to have a disgruntled expression.
“Super upset.”
“Sorry. I went a bit overboard because I was worried about ruining the drinking atmosphere.”
“If you’re sorry, come to the dongbang next time and play games.”
“Haha, you’re so easy.”
As Shin Jaewoo lightly pushed him and he got pushed away, Kwon Yunsu also grinned.
“It was nice talking about old stories. …No, but Kim Wonwoo teased me like that back then too, and he tells his friend that story? That bastard. Just wait till I see him.”
Despite those words, there wasn’t a trace of venom in his tone, so Shin Jaewoo chuckled.
“…Kim Wonwoo is smart though. You, you’re exactly like what he said.”
“What did he say?”
“That you’re pretty, dumb, and gentle.”
“Handsome, sharp, and kind? Geez, that smart bastard.”
“That’s funny.”
Shin Jaewoo, whose shoulders were shaking with laughter, pointed to a building in a diagonal direction.
“I live there.”
Kwon Yunsu was staring at the bungeoppang machine at the commercial building next to it.
“Yeah. I need to buy that. You want some too?”
“You’ll buy me some?”
When the big guy smiled cutely, it was adorable. Wow, you must be popular. Kwon Yunsu praised him inwardly.
“Three thousand won worth of bungeoppang please. Two thousand won and one thousand won separately.”
Kwon Yunsu said seriously to Shin Jaewoo, who was looking at him questioningly.
“You’re the one thousand won.”
Shin Jaewoo laughed again. It’s been a while since I met someone who gets my jokes this well….
“You’re eating it all yourself? Who are you giving it to?”
“My landlord.”
“Why are you taking care of your landlord?”
“I don’t know. He’s probably sulking right now.”
After saying it out loud, he really thought Lee Euishin’s sulkiness must be filled up to his throat.
Lee Euishin, who rarely contacted his family, Lee Euishin who must have eaten dinner alone holed up at the top of the apartment during March when others were drinking and partying—thinking about it made him feel bad anew.
Suddenly in a hurry, Kwon Yunsu put the smaller bungeoppang bag in Shin Jaewoo’s hand and quickly turned around.
“I’m going. Bye!”
He heard shouting from behind but Kwon Yunsu was already running.
His own breathing filling his ears, the bungeoppang giving off a savory smell in his arms, the excited and unfamiliar air of the university district entering late March. The premonition of spring had come right up close. Beyond his swaying vision, he could see the apartment where Lee Euishin was waiting.
***
“…Huh?! ……, ……, what…? Ah, ……, ……”
Quiet on one hand, yet endless talking grazed his ears.
Probably beyond the wall, the living room where bright natural light would be coming in, unlike this place isolated from the world by blackout curtains. What’s Kwon Yunsu doing. Did you do laundry? TV? No, that’s not it. …This country bumpkin is on a call with some bastard from weekend morning, what the hell.
Lee Euishin bolted upright. When he put all his strength into his eyes and looked around, the room was just as he remembered. Without anything changed, all objects were submerged in darkness. The bare face of morning with nothing to wait for or expect, where only last night’s dregs had quietly settled. By temperament, Lee Euishin wasn’t the type to be enthusiastic about living.
Moving his languid body slowly, he headed to the bathroom attached to his room. He didn’t want it to become routine to show his puffy face still full of sleepiness. The point was dignity and tension.
When he washed up and came out to the living room, he saw Kwon Yunsu’s back crouched by the middle door leading to the veranda. At the sound of the door opening, he slightly turned his head and greeted with just his eyes. You’re up? Lee Euishin immediately understood what Kwon Yunsu’s eyes were saying, but the guy had no idea about the question from this side—who is it?
“…So I really have to study. Yeah, Euishin already started taking foundation courses for his major. I don’t know what that guy’s saying. Did you join that club you mentioned back then? What? You got a blind date? Why are you suddenly ahead of me?! Ah, shit…!”
Kwon Yunsu suddenly threw a sock and burst into laughter. So noisy that he collapsed backward, falling on his butt and cackling. His wet-grass-like hair scattered on the sunlit living room floor. Looking closely, the moisture was considerable. …What kind of puppy is this. What is that thing doing wandering around my house…. Lee Euishin quickly went to the kitchen and gulped down cold water.
