Wow.
Without realizing it, I stared blankly at the person in a daze.
They resembled each other way too much. At this level, I’d recognize them even if I saw them on the street.
The whole family must be good-looking.
“Sungha.”
Not knowing it was rude, I stared openly until I came to my senses at the sudden call. The owner quickly pointed toward the kitchen.
“If you go to the kitchen, there’s something I told you to prepare. Bring that.”
“Yes.”
“Welcome! My goodness. How long has it been? You look the same.”
“You too, sir.”
Hearing the owner’s welcoming greeting, I moved toward the kitchen. Before turning around, my eyes met Kang Sehyun’s very briefly, but I had to leave without even having time to greet him with my eyes.
Since it was the busiest day of the week, the kitchen was naturally in chaos. All sides were open, so the sight of staff moving busily was clearly visible. The flashy show for people to see was done on the teppan grill, but the wide-open kitchen was also one of the restaurant’s secrets to popularity.
“Is table 3’s order ready?”
The imo, who had been pressing the call bell on the kitchen counter saying the food was done, brought out a wide stainless steel plate from inside.
“I made it on time. Here, take it.”
Unlike last time, food for two people was prepared. It looked a bit different from the steak meat that went out from the restaurant, so when I looked at it, she whispered in a small voice that the owner had prepared it separately.
“He also picked out the vegetables separately earlier. Who exactly is it that the owner would go this far?”
Right? I’m curious too. Just being a regular from Korea wouldn’t normally make someone go this far.
I just smiled to mean I didn’t know and went back to the table. In the meantime, the woman was sitting upright looking at the menu, and Kang Sehyun sitting next to her didn’t even open the menu right in front of him.
“Sungha. Start with this order.”
I handed the food to the owner and approached right away to take the order. Just like from far away, the face I saw up close also resembled Kang Sehyun too much. Especially the eyes and mouth were exactly the same, so I was secretly surprised inside.
“Um, first, I’ll have this for alcohol. By the glass, not the bottle.”
“You’re drinking wine?”
Kang Sehyun, who had been sitting indifferently, made a surprised expression.
“I’d like to drink sake if I could, but I’m trying to avoid strong alcohol because of tomorrow’s schedule.”
“You can just drink a little. Why wine when you don’t even like it?”
“Is that so…”
“We came all the way here, so get what noona likes. You just have to be there by 10 tomorrow anyway.”
So she was his noona after all.
They resembled each other so much that I’d vaguely expected that even without being told. I knew all of Kang Sehyun’s family was in Korea, but it seemed she came to Chicago briefly for work.
A noona for Kang Sehyun, who seemed like an only child. It was really unexpected, but watching the two of them talk like this, this sight also felt natural.
“There’s a pretty good sweet potato sake, please try it. It’s not sold much commercially, so I obtained it with difficulty.”
“Isn’t sweet potato a bit stronger?”
“The alcohol content itself doesn’t differ much. Rather, you’ll feel cleaner the next day and won’t have a hangover.”
“Oh my, really. When you put it that way, sir, I can’t not drink it, can I?”
In the end, Kang Sehyun’s noona ordered the sake the owner recommended and additionally ordered a sashimi set and one appetizer that went well with that sake.
“Ah, and… Sehyun, don’t you need to order anything else? Besides the dish the owner recommended.”
“Hmm…”
Kang Sehyun suddenly looked at me with an expressionless face. He looked like he had something to say but didn’t open his mouth right away.
Come to think of it, we haven’t even greeted each other.
It would be strange to acknowledge each other separately at this point, so I just silently stared at him. Then a blunt voice flowed from him.
“That time.”
Huh?
“What I ate that time.”
I recalled the time when Kang Sehyun first visited. What did he eat then? Tempura and… udon and… I think he ordered sushi. I vaguely remembered the types ordered, but I couldn’t quite remember exactly what he ordered.
“Ah, that day you ordered a mix of regular salmon and smoked salmon, and several types of tuna. One type of maki came out as service.”
Fortunately, the owner, who took the order directly that day, remembered exactly. I inwardly sighed in relief and waited for Kang Sehyun’s answer, but a completely different answer popped out.
“Not that time.”
Not that time?
That day was the first time I saw Kang Sehyun at the restaurant, but I knew he’d actually come here several times before then. If not that day, then was he talking about food he ate when he visited on another day? For a moment I thought that, but Kang Sehyun was clearly speaking to me, no matter who looked.
Since Kang Sehyun probably wouldn’t ask me about food he ate in a past we never met, I was thinking of something else when something from a while ago suddenly came to mind.
“Ah.”
I pointed to a few rolls in the Japanese menu below the menu board.
“These two were on top, and the one with asparagus is this. The one the chef made for you that time isn’t on the menu, so I’ll have to ask… But if I tell them, they’ll probably make it.”
“Okay. Then like this.”
“…All of them?”
“Yeah.”
“How about choosing about two first and ordering more if it’s not enough?”
“Hmm… Then the chef’s recommended menu and for the other one, this.”
Perhaps he liked all the rolls he ate that time, as Kang Sehyun hesitated until the end before choosing two. The owner and noona, who had been listening to our conversation, couldn’t understand this situation at all and were making bewildered expressions.
I pretended not to see their expressions and moved away holding the order slip I’d written down. I immediately went to get the alcohol, but suddenly realized I hadn’t asked an important question.
Ah. I should have asked whether they wanted it cold or hot.
When the weather gets chilly, requests sometimes come in to heat the sake, so I should have asked in advance when taking the order. Suddenly remembering, I turned back toward the table, and through the noisy commotion, a clear voice was heard.
“Who is he? A friend?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“Just someone I know a bit.”
A bland tone mixed with no emotion. It was a word truly tossed out casually, as if it was nothing.
Someone he knows a bit.
It had only been a month, no, not even a full month yet since Kang Sehyun and I got to know each other.
Strictly speaking, the number of times we’d met was few enough to count on one hand, and we were people who didn’t even know each other’s hobbies, so “someone he knows a bit” was correct.
But the moment I heard those words, my steps stopped without me realizing it.
A bit, just a bit. Really, really just a bit hurt.
After conveying the order to the Japanese chef and returning to the table, the remaining team that hadn’t arrived was there.
After taking orders in sequence and serving alcohol, there wasn’t much to do except move around very briefly. The teppanyaki was completed right before their eyes and the owner directly plated it, and the rest of the food was brought by the person in charge of the Japanese section, so there was no need for me to move separately.
While standing a few steps away, my eyes naturally went toward other tables. At table 4 where Jinho hyung was, two regular customers who came every Saturday and three walk-in customers were seated. Still, it was fewer compared to other tables. The other places had 8-person and 10-person teppan tables fully occupied.
While I kept looking that way out of unnecessary worry, my eyes met Jinho hyung’s. His already sullen face instantly contorted. I immediately turned my head away, but I kept feeling a gaze from somewhere.
I encountered Jinho hyung several times even when going back and forth to the kitchen. Each time he looked like he had something to say, but naturally there was no opportunity to talk, so he just glared at me as if he’d kill me. And when I didn’t react at all, the next time he deliberately bumped into me every time he passed by.
This is driving me crazy.
After taking charge of the owner’s table, I should have handled it well when hyung was being a bit conscious of me. I shouldn’t have just let it pass as if it was nothing back then; if I’d suggested eating a meal together once, it wouldn’t have gotten this bad. The emotion that arose from being just a bit upset wouldn’t have grown this big. I regretted it.
[Excuse me, could we have more salad?]
At a customer’s request, I stopped by the salad bar and ran into Jinho hyung again. “Fuck.” As soon as hyung saw me, he muttered a curse.
It was on one side of the hall, not where customers passed by, but I looked around worrying that someone might hear. Then this time, he openly sneered at me.
“Fuck, someone’s got it good. Making work so easy.”
I saved my words. Because I thought now wasn’t a good time to talk.
“Because the owner favors you, you think you’re really good at work? You think you did something great receiving just two teams and collecting a lot of tips, but don’t delude yourself too much.”
I’ve never been deluded. I picked out the wilted parts and picked up some fresh lettuce and a few cherry tomatoes. I just thought I should hurry and go back.
“Are you ignoring me right now?”
“No.”
“Then why aren’t you talking? You think I’m fucking ridiculous because I’m suffering taking tables I don’t want to take because of you?”
“It’s not like that, hyung.”
“Everyone takes your side, so you really think you’re something—”
“I said it’s not like that. We’re working right now, so let’s talk after. Really.”
As his voice got louder, I really thought this wouldn’t do. Rather than staying, I thought avoiding the situation was the way, so I picked up the dressing and turned around, but the most unwanted situation happened to occur.
“What’s going on?”
Kang Sehyun asked with his arms crossed. He was holding a cigarette pack in one hand.
“Uh… if you’re going to smoke, it’s that way.”
“I know that too, but what’s going on?”
Can’t you just pretend not to know at times like this?
Even though he could clearly see this wasn’t a very good situation, Kang Sehyun pretended not to see my eye signal telling him to just go.
“Are we the ones receiving just two teams?”
“……”
Please, let’s just go.
I silently tapped Kang Sehyun’s arm. Right now, I just wanted to escape this situation. Because it was embarrassingly mortifying to show even this side to someone I just knew a bit.
But Kang Sehyun walked in the exact opposite direction from where I pointed. Looking at his back, he seemed to be fumbling around for something, then suddenly held out his hand to Jinho hyung.
“Take this.”
“…What?”
Jinho hyung, who received the bill with a dumbfounded face, looked back and forth between Kang Sehyun and my face. To hyung’s question of what this was, Kang Sehyun answered with a calm expression.
“You just said he’s making work easy.”
What does that mean? I still didn’t understand.
Kang Sehyun turned his head toward me once, then met Jinho hyung’s eyes again.
“This way, you’re the one making work easier, right? If you don’t take tables and just receive tips. Looking at you, you seem to want to be a greater person, so this makes you a great person, right?”
I added one more thing.
Sixth. Kang Sehyun might just be a crazy bastard.
But I didn’t dislike it. To someone who didn’t know the situation, these actions might look arrogant, but when Kang Sehyun did things like this, there was always a reason. So I could understand him stepping up even in situations where I wished he’d just let it go. Rather, I felt it was courageous. I didn’t dislike it.
Jinho hyung’s face turned red, and a few seconds later, hyung returned to his spot. Of course, he didn’t take the money. Kang Sehyun, even seeing my dumbfounded expression, pretended not to notice and went outside to smoke as if nothing had happened.
And a few days later, Jinho hyung quit his job. I felt sorry thinking it was partly my fault, but the other people, including the manager, said it worked out well. They said the owner was too nice and had let things slide too much until now.
