“Try it first.”
“…Why?”
“In case there’s any weeds mixed in. Earlier you looked like you were just grabbing at things without checking.”
The nerve of this person, Nunbi thought involuntarily — but he immediately reminded himself that this was Assemblyman Go’s precious son, and bit it back. With no other choice, the boy settled himself at the edge of the meal tray and made a show of picking up a clump of water parsley with his chopsticks and putting it in his mouth. Whether he was genuinely worried about weeds being mixed in or not, Woonjeong stared intently at Nunbi chewing the greens, lips moving. It was almost unsettling how closely he watched.
“Is it good?”
“Yes.”
It was good. Of course it was. Because there were no weeds mixed in! Nunbi glared at Woonjeong as he chewed and swallowed the water parsley carefully. Even with a look that was hardly warm on his face, Woonjeong still didn’t take his eyes off Nunbi — he just tilted his head and smiled. Nunbi briefly wondered if Woonjeong had taken some kind of blow to the head the other day, but he sat up straight and quietly chewed through his portion without a word. If Woonjeong had come with the meal tray, he’d presumably leave once the meal was over.
“Then what’s this?”
But for some reason Woonjeong seemed deeply displeased by Nunbi sitting in silence and eating, and eventually began pointing at each side dish one by one and asking what they were.
“That’s pan-fried tofu.”
“And this?”
“That’s stir-fried eggplant….”
He’s acting like someone who’s never eaten a Korean seasonal dish in his life. Nunbi wondered if Woonjeong was deliberately doing this to wind him up. Rich people in Seoul must eat some very impressive things. How could you not know tofu and eggplant — but then again, if he’d been too busy eating meat up in Seoul, Nunbi could sort of see how it might be possible. So he swallowed his irritation and answered patiently.
“How do you survive eating only things like this.”
Then Woonjeong set his chopsticks down.
“….”
Woonjeong is Assemblyman Go’s precious son.
“Just fine, actually. Very healthily.”
Nunbi had eaten temple food his entire life and there wasn’t a thing wrong with him. The boy, pride now well and truly stung, picked up a generous amount of stir-fried eggplant with his chopsticks and dumped it squarely on top of Woonjeong’s barley rice.
“Try it before you say anything.”
But the moment he finished the gesture, Nunbi caught himself. He’d suddenly worried that Woonjeong might find it unclean, having had his chopsticks in his mouth.
“….”
Nunbi snuck a cautious glance at Woonjeong’s reaction — but his concern turned out to be unnecessary. Without much reaction at all, Woonjeong picked up what Nunbi had placed in his bowl and put it in his mouth. His grip on the chopsticks was refined and proper. He chewed quietly and swallowed without a sound.
“Hmm — not great.”
Of course, one bite of stir-fried eggplant didn’t work any kind of magic that made Woonjeong suddenly take to temple food.
“It’s all mushy…. Why do you even eat this?”
Utterly draining. How that pretty face could say things like that so casually — as if it cost him nothing — was a talent in its own right. Well, if mushy texture was the issue, maybe he should have offered braised burdock root instead of eggplant, Nunbi thought with a quiet little sigh.
Either way, Nunbi shoved the food into his mouth with a grateful heart. He would normally eat slowly, but the circumstances were different now, so he stacked two side dishes onto each bite. Woonjeong picked at his meal for a while longer and then gave up on that too. Looking at the bowl across from him — barely touched, maybe three or four bites taken — Nunbi felt a dull heaviness settle in his chest.
When Nunbi finished eating, Woonjeong rose immediately. That much was a relief. The boy rubbed his overly-full stomach slowly and watched. One moment he’d been staring at Nunbi’s chewing lips like a man possessed — and now Woonjeong was gathering up the tray without so much as a glance in his direction. What is he even doing, Nunbi thought, but figured it would be a bother to carry the tray out while opening the door at the same time, so he quietly got up and opened the room door for him.
“…Are you going to come again? You’re not, right?”
His uncertain question was met with a flat response.
“If you don’t want me to come again, just say so outright. Make it easy on yourself.”
“No, I was just asking —”
“Did eating with me ruin your mood?”
The air went cold.
“….”
Woonjeong was smiling again, eyes glinting. The boy faltered for a moment at that face. It seemed like the one whose mood had been ruined wasn’t Nunbi — but the tone of the question was sharp enough that Nunbi regretted saying anything at all. Should’ve just let him leave…. The wound would probably be fully healed by tonight anyway, so Nunbi would be going to meals at the proper time as he always did — meaning a food delivery from Woonjeong was never going to happen again regardless.
“It’s not like that….”
“Yes it is. It’s written all over your face.”
And he lies so smoothly too. Woonjeong added it with that easy smile of his, gave Nunbi what seemed like a brief glance, and then went expressionless in an instant and stepped out onto the wooden veranda. Nunbi quietly took stock of himself. Asking the question the way he had — as if he wanted to make sure Woonjeong didn’t come back with a meal tray a second time — had been a mistake. The boy hesitated for a moment. Should I just let him go? But that wasn’t the kind of person Nunbi was. With no other choice, he limped out quickly after him and called out to Woonjeong’s retreating back.
“Th — thank you. For looking out for me.”
He should have said it earlier. He’d been so thrown off by Woonjeong’s arrival that all he’d done was make it obvious he wasn’t pleased. From that precious young master’s perspective, carrying a meal tray up and down had been his way of looking after him…. Woonjeong turned to look at Nunbi. And then, as if he’d been waiting for exactly that, he smiled.
“If you’re grateful, come get your umbrella.”
Then Woonjeong picked up the rather large meal tray as though it weighed nothing and turned away without another word.
“…What?”
That threw him. Had the thank-you smoothed things over that quickly? And what did come get your umbrella if you’re grateful even mean….
“Oh, right!”
The Bosal devotee’s umbrella. He’d completely forgotten about it, not having had any reason to go out in the rain. The umbrella the Bosal devotee had handed him when she first asked him to carry dinner to the guest — the one Nunbi had dropped in front of the annex along with the meal tray. It was apparently still with Woonjeong. Nunbi let out a long, dazed breath. Maybe those long legs of his made for fast walking too, because Woonjeong had already turned the corner of the temple stone wall and disappeared entirely from view.
—
Right. He had to go get the umbrella.
The next day was Sunday, and worshippers had been filling the temple since early in the morning. There was a large communal meal after the dharma service today, so there was no morning offering meal. Nunbi had gotten up early, shut the windows, cleared the stepping stone of shoes, and was quietly waiting for nine o’clock. Outside was fairly lively with the sounds of the newly arrived worshippers greeting one another. Seongyeon hadn’t had time to stop by and check on the wound, so today Nunbi was finally free from being confined to his room.
But it wasn’t a good thing for Nunbi to be wandering around the temple in plain sight when it was crowded with worshippers. On ordinary Sundays, Nunbi made a point of not going near the inner temple at all. That was fine. He had a few secret spots in the mountain known only to him where he could quietly find himself a snack on his own. On nice days he usually played around near the waterfall, but today it was raining, so that was out. The reason he was waiting specifically for nine o’clock was because the dharma service with all the worshippers began at exactly nine. Around that time, no one would be coming or going anymore and the area near his room would quiet down — so his usual routine was to slip out of the temple without being noticed and come back again in the evening, once all the visitors had left.
“Ugh. Why does it have to be raining today of all days. Ugh. Ugh.”
He had to go see Woonjeong. If it weren’t raining, he could have gone later. Nunbi sighed, listening to the rain drumming down from the eaves. He glanced at the time — eight forty. Well, it wouldn’t take that long just to collect an umbrella. After that…. He’d gotten that far in his thinking and was just rising to his feet when his gaze dropped. There was something running down his right leg. The gauze tied over the shin wound was, for some reason, a little damp.
“Oh.”
Nunbi was quietly startled, and carefully peeled the gauze away. Looking at the wound, a brownish discharge was seeping along the edges of the gash. Hmm. It seemed like a scab was trying to form. It would take a little longer to thicken properly, but at least the bleeding had stopped — that was a relief. Nunbi let out a slow breath and brought a fresh piece of gauze to re-dress the wound. It still ached with a dull throb here and there, but compared to the first day, it was as good as healed.
