After hanging up the phone, I walked back to where everyone was gathered to return the cell phone to Dad, when I heard Sojin noona’s dumbfounded cry.
“What is this!!!”
Jongsik ajeossi was cackling and slapping his knee, roaring with laughter, while Sojin noona fluttered a check in front of him. Just from that one scene, I could tell something had gone wrong.
“Why? What is it?”
Gangjin hyung also stopped eating meat and got up to snatch the check Sojin noona was fluttering. At first, Gangjin hyung looked at it casually, but then he suddenly said “Ah! We’ve been tricked!” and immediately crumpled the check like a ball before hurling it away.
It rolled and tumbled, falling at my feet. I saw the check that had been the driving force of my happiness circuit until just moments ago now ruthlessly crumpled, and urgently picked it up.
“No! Why would you do this to something so important!”
I carefully unfolded it while holding it. Then Sojin noona said “That’s right, Daeyoung, you take it all,” so I almost let out a cheer, but only then did I see the check in detail.
Below the amount, the paying bank was ‘Lucky Bank,’ and next to the bank president’s name ‘Kim Lucky,’ there was a cute smiley stamp. Could it be fake? Since I rarely had occasion to see checks in my life, I turned it back and forth to look at it.
“Jongsik-ah, where did you get something like that?”
“They were selling them at the elementary school stationery store? Hehehe. Seongheon told me to put it in the prizes this time and bought it.”
Ah! What the!
I got tricked by Seongheon hyung again. This time, Sojin noona and the hyungs all got tricked together. I was completely fooled. Does that mean even that image of him protecting me earlier was all an act!
Sojin noona, holding the check, looked around furiously for Seongheon hyung, saying she would have been treated like a crazy woman if she’d gone to the bank with it.
“By the way, where is that kid Seongheon?”
“Seongheon went to buy alcohol for a moment.”
“Just wait until he gets back.”
Everyone seemed to want to make a fool of Seongheon hyung, as they put their heads together and started discussing something. I wanted to listen too, so I sneakily approached, but was blocked. Daesu hyung told me to go eat meat.
“Daeyoung, you’re too clueless, so no.”
“I’ll just watch!”
“No. First, you’re out.”
They could at least include me. Grumbling, I just wrapped some meat in lettuce and ate it. Actually, there wasn’t much they could do right away anyway. At most, I figured they could only mess around with food.
I had almost filled my stomach with meat and when they were boiling naengmyeon for dessert, they started to move, and just seeing Sojin noona holding wasabi, I could tell that was a weapon to make Seongheon hyung cry tears and snot.
I had never once seen Seongheon hyung cry. So my expectations were secretly high. When I was young, I often cried miserably after being teased in front of the hyungs… Should I say I finally feel a bit compensated?
“Oh? Seongheon’s here!”
Around the time everyone was getting a bowl of naengmyeon each, I could see Seongheon hyung’s vehicle entering the parking lot below and parking. Without the car’s headlights, you wouldn’t be able to see anything because hyung’s car was pitch black. Seeing that, Sojin noona criticized him, saying “He drives something as black as his insides.”
Seongheon hyung got out of the car, then slowly climbed up to where we were, carrying the groceries he’d bought.
Holding my naengmyeon bowl, I couldn’t eat and just stared at what the hyungs and noona were doing. Jongheon hyung was also across from them, but he glanced at what they were doing and seemed to tacitly approve, enjoying his naengmyeon deliciously.
I thought I was the biggest victim here, but it seems everyone had been tricked by Seongheon hyung knowingly or unknowingly. Finally, Sojin noona dissolved a broth full of wasabi and rolled the noodles into it in a circle. As if nothing had been added.
“I’m back. Should I put the alcohol here?”
“Yeah, good work.”
Even though empty bottles were piled up around Dad and the ajeossis, as if it still wasn’t enough, they opened more bottles. Even though the alcohol had run out, seeing they didn’t open the Mansumugang infused liquor… as expected, that stuff was undrinkable.
“Seongheon-ah. Want mul naengmyeon?”
“Yes.”
Sojin noona put toppings on it as if it were freshly made naengmyeon and handed it to hyung. Gangjin hyung next to her also chimed in saying “Me too!” I also stopped mid-way through sticking chopsticks into the naengmyeon bowl placed on the side table and looked at Seongheon hyung.
After Seongheon hyung sat down and unzipped his jacket, when he pulled it back slightly over his shoulders, his pure white neck was fully revealed. If he exposed his neck like that even in the cool weather, he must have had a bit of a hard time shopping.
I could see Seongheon hyung’s long fingers pick up chopsticks and stir the naengmyeon noodles. But the amount he picked up in one chopstick-full was too much. Thinking about how much wasabi must be coating that, I became all anxious.
‘Ah, hyung. If you eat that much, it’ll be incredibly spicy… You can’t just eat it like that!!!’
More than anyone, I wanted to see Seongheon hyung get tricked, but now that I was actually watching him about to fall for it, I just couldn’t stand by and watch. Unaware of what was going on inside me, hyung was tilting his head to put the naengmyeon in his mouth.
“S-Seongheon hyung!”
At my call, Seongheon hyung stopped mid-way through putting the naengmyeon in his mouth and stared at me blankly. The other hyung and noona who were watching expectantly from the side glared at me with fierce eyes as if to say ‘shut up and stay squashed.’
“Why, Daeyoung-ah?”
“H-hyung. You know.”
I dragged my chair over and sat next to Seongheon hyung.
Even though I had come to stop this situation, I couldn’t bring myself to tattle. Because Sojin noona was the noona who had helped me… So I used my own method of sacrifice so that no one would be harmed.
“Wow, haha. L-looks delicious!”
I first stuck my chopsticks deep in and put hyung’s naengmyeon in my mouth.
“Daeyoung-ah! Like that—!”
More than anyone, Seongheon hyung’s eyes widened as he grabbed my forearm to stop me. But by then, my mouth was already full of naengmyeon.
“Kkeok, kkeok. Eok!”
I don’t know how much wasabi they put in, but even though I hadn’t swallowed even a few strands, I coughed and spat it out. And in the process, the naengmyeon meant to trick Seongheon hyung… became a disaster because of me, and noona and the hyungs’ expressions also soured.
“Daeyoung-ah, come here. Rinse over there!”
Seongheon hyung took me to a nearby faucet. Even in front of it, I coughed and sniffled.
Really, this was too deadly. Turns out they didn’t just put wasabi in it, but some kind of spicy sauce too. Even after rinsing my tingling mouth several times, tears and snot kept flowing.
“Keuhup, keung. A, ook…”
“That’s why, why did you eat so much.”
“Huh? Sniffle.”
“I knew everything that was put in that naengmyeon. I was surprised because you ate it.”
“H-hyung, you kn-knew? Sniffle.”
“Of course. Would Sojin noona be someone who’d prepare food for just anyone?”
As expected of someone skilled at teasing others, Seongheon hyung was also quick to notice.
“I, I thought you’d sniffle, eat it.”
“I was just going to pretend to fall for it appropriately.”
As I rinsed my mouth, I also blew my nose—ppaeng—and eventually even washed my face on this winter night. Since it was outdoors and only cold water came out, my hands turned red from the cold.
When I turned off the faucet, Seongheon hyung took off his jacket completely and wiped my face with the long-sleeved t-shirt he was wearing underneath. The t-shirt lifted up and I could see hyung’s stomach, which unlike his back, had defined abs with no tattoos, very clean.
“Hyung, sniffle. Your clothes will get dirty. I’ll wipe with my clothes.”
“It’s okay.”
“But my snot is getting on it…”
“Daeyoung-ah.”
“Mm?”
“Whatever you do, it’s all okay with hyung.”
“Still…”
“Because it’s you, Daeyoung, I can understand everything.”
Even so, it’s snot…
As I sniffled timidly, hyung focused on wiping around my nose. My snot must have gotten on hyung’s clothes, but it was dark so I couldn’t see well.
When I looked worriedly at the wet part, Seongheon hyung said “I can just change clothes,” reassuring me. Anyway, he said I’d catch a cold if I stayed wet, and then took me inside the tent. He also turned on the heater for me to warm up by the fire, and hyung went out to change clothes.
As expected, Seongheon hyung is so kind to me. Sure, he teases sometimes, but at times like this, the tower I’d carefully built up from feeling hurt all this time comes crumbling down. While I let my guard down, he’ll tease me again but…
‘Seongheon hyung’s girlfriend must be lucky.’
If he treats me this well even though I’m just his friend’s little brother, how much better must he treat his girlfriend?
Nodding my head, I stared blankly at the pomegranate-red heater fire. My face and hands that had been stinging from the cold water gently relaxed and I became drowsy.
The glamping site tent might be called a tent, but inside it was cozy like a house. There was even a bed, and a bathroom inside.
“I could just live here.”
As I sat looking around, Dad, who had been about to go to the bathroom, suddenly called me when he saw me and handed me his phone.
“Isn’t this your friend’s number?”
Inside the phone were 7 missed calls.
“Right. Oh? He called a lot.”
“It was on vibrate so Dad didn’t know either. Call him back.”
“Okay.”
As I pressed the call button, I glanced around, wondering if someone might come in. After the signal went about 5 times, Dongwoo answered the phone.
“Dongwoo-ya, was there something wrong? Why did you call so much?”
—…No, just because.
“Did the transaction go well?”
—Yeah.
“But why does your voice sound like that?”
—Huh? Like what?
“I just thought you might be feeling down.”
—Ah, no. I’m good. Really good. My mood is great. Haha.
“Really? That’s a relief.”
—Tell me your account number. I’ll send you 1 million won.
“Just send 800,000 won. You had a hard time with the transaction.”
—No, let’s split it equally. I think that’ll make me feel more comfortable.
“Really? Okay.”
I was taking the phone away from my ear to hang up when Dongwoo suddenly called out “Daeyoung!!”
“Why?”
—Are you, okay?
“About what?”
—No… you’re there with the hyungs, right.
“Yeah.”
—Are they maybe bullying you or anything?
“No. They’re not even interested in me?”
—Aha… I-is that so? Anyway, then have fun, and let’s meet when we’re both alive later.
“Ah! If you’re going to take the driver’s license written test, go with me.”
—Okay. Let’s talk again later.
“Okay.”
Even after saying let’s hang up, just in case, I kept it against my ear. But this time, Dongwoo hung up first.
It’s not like it’s once or twice that I’ve been teased by the hyungs, why is he suddenly worrying about me like this? And I was an adult now. I even drank alcohol earlier, and the hyungs won’t carelessly tease me anymore.
