The biggest reason was actually that there were no other options. If he stayed by the man’s side, it seemed he’d stop them even if Sangmin and Hongdo came looking again.
“Yeah.”
The silently smiling face looked less scary than at first, making the inside of his chest tickle. The emotion he’d felt when Ganghyuk stroked his head revived.
Though it was still too faint an emotion to name, it was planted like a seed in one corner of his heart. Some emotions were bound to bloom in moments of crisis.
“I-I’ll be in your care.”
Feeling he should greet him like this, when he bowed his head, a laugh like wind was heard. In his pupils lifted in a glance, the face of the man smiling handsomely reflected.
The tips of Ian’s ears heated red like a natural progression. Thus began the two people’s strange cohabitation.
3.
“Grandfather…”
Ian stroked the two large boxes containing Cheolho’s belongings with a wistful touch. He realized while organizing the room. Just how much his grandfather hadn’t cared about his own clothes all this time.
Every single one had worn and frayed cuffs, making him tear up several times. There wasn’t even one name-brand product. They were all just things bought cheaply at the market.
When he’d always wanted his only grandson to wear only good things.
Some underwear even had traces of mending, so Ian couldn’t raise his head. Why were things he hadn’t seen all this time only now clearly entering his eyes?
Thinking of his grandfather whom he’d sent off without being filial even once, his heart caved in. The only luxuries his grandfather had indulged in were the camellia oil he applied to his hair daily and books.
It was so sad that no matter how much he regretted, he couldn’t turn back time. The sudden parting left Ian only with bone-deep regret. What he’d received from his grandfather was so much, but what he’d repaid was few enough to count on one hand, so tears kept coming.
“What are you doing? Come out and eat.”
When he was pathetically sniffling, a knocking sound came. Before he could answer, the door opened and Ganghyuk appeared wearing comfortable clothes.
Wearing a cotton t-shirt and black slacks, with his slicked-back bangs let down, his face looked three or four years younger than usual.
Ian rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and stood up. He was embarrassed at the fact he’d shown himself crying like a child in front of Ganghyuk.
Ganghyuk pretended not to see Ian’s tears. Following out while looking at his broad back, a delicious smell came from the living room. The source of the smell was jajangmyeon and sweet and sour pork placed on the living room table.
The name written on the wooden chopstick wrapper looked familiar. It was the Chinese restaurant nearby that he’d sometimes ordered from with his grandfather.
“You ordered jajangmyeon?”
“Yeah. You’re supposed to eat jajangmyeon on moving day.”
It was something everyone commonly said, but coming from Ganghyuk it was somehow awkward. Ian sniffled and sat across from Ganghyuk. Ganghyuk was holding one jajangmyeon and peeling the wrap from the bottom of the bowl.
“Give it to me. If you do it like this, peeling the wrap is easy. You don’t need to tear from the bottom.”
Ian, who had been watching that, brought over the bowl in Ganghyuk’s hands and scraped the edges thoroughly with chopsticks.
When he peeled off only the plastic wrap on top and handed it to Ganghyuk, a look of fascination came back. With his nose tip still flushed red, Ian gave an awkward smile.
“Is this your first time seeing something like this?”
“Yeah.”
Ganghyuk chuckled and tore open the chopsticks. In fact, it had been a long time since he’d ordered delivery food. At some point, Ganghyuk had become accustomed to eating food that Jaehyun bought for him.
This was his first time eating delivery jajangmyeon in several years too. To begin with, Ganghyuk had no great interest in food. Though there were foods he preferred, he mostly ate meals out of obligation.
“This place is delicious. The owner makes the chunjang sauce himself too. He’s incredibly proud that not many restaurants do that these days. He also puts in plenty of meat.”
Unlike Ganghyuk, who mixed the noodles and sauce with one hand, Ian held chopsticks in both hands to mix. The noodles and sauce blended appetizingly.
Ian, who had finished mixing the jajangmyeon, looked at the tangsuyuk with shining eyes. The slight golden tint made it look freshly fried. As he was tearing off only the top of the plastic wrap on the bowl containing sauce, a curious question suddenly arose.
“Executive Director-nim, do you like bumeok or jjikmeok?”
It was a question that had to be asked if they were going to eat tangsuyuk together. Personally, Ian preferred pouring sauce over the fried meat.
This was because he liked the texture of the batter soaked with sauce melting richly in his mouth. Since his taste matched his grandfather’s, when the grandfather and grandson ordered tangsuyuk, they always poured sauce on the meat.
“What’s that.”
At the appearance of an unfamiliar term, Ganghyuk’s brow furrowed minutely. What was bumeok, and what was jjikmeok? Was it a term popular among kids these days?
He remembered Sucheol grumbling in passing that kids these days shortened everything when they spoke, and that sometimes talking with his nephew felt like talking to an alien.
“Ah, people who like pouring sauce over fried tangsuyuk are called the bumeok faction, and conversely, people who like dipping it separately are called the jjikmeok faction.”
While explaining to Ganghyuk, Ian became newly curious about his age. When he swept his hair back, he looked to be in his early 30s because of his imposing atmosphere, but now he looked to be around mid-20s.
He didn’t think they were similar ages. What with him being an executive director of a large company, and his overwhelming atmosphere. Besides, he’d never seen anyone his own age who didn’t know about bumeok and jjikmeok.
But since even Soyeon, who was in her 40s, knew about jjikmeok and bumeok, it was difficult to infer Ganghyuk’s age from just this. Even Okjeong knew, and his grandfather had known too.
As he carefully examined Ganghyuk’s face while gauging his age, an indifferent voice was heard.
“What do you like?”
Happy that Ganghyuk was asking him, Ian smiled brightly and answered.
“I like bumeok.”
“Then eat it that way. I don’t care either way.”
“So you’re a moderate. Thank you.”
Ganghyuk, who had been lifting jajangmyeon with chopsticks, chuckled. He felt anew that Ian was comfortable with him.
At first he couldn’t even make eye contact properly, but now the sight of him chattering in front of him was like a fearless newborn puppy. His adaptability was exceptional.
He knew it instinctively. That he had to get on his good side to live comfortably in this harsh world. It was probably a survival instinct developed only in the weak.
The back of his head, bowing over something trivial while saying thank you, was as small as a chestnut.
The jajangmyeon was quite delicious, as Ian had said. It wasn’t greasy, had an appropriate sweetness, and the meat pieces were quite large, so the texture was good too.
“Wow, I’m full. I ate well. Thank you for buying me jajangmyeon.”
Ganghyuk sent Ian a look of surprise. That made sense, because Ganghyuk had a small appetite, so he was full from just the jajangmyeon and had only picked at two or three pieces of tangsuyuk.
They’d ordered a large size, so the quantity was quite substantial, but only a little sauce remained on the plate. It was thanks to Ian eating it all without leaving anything. Despite having ordered jajangmyeon in a large portion too.
Watching him eat well with a body less than half the size of his own torso made him want to buy him other food besides jajangmyeon. If he fed him this and that, would his cheeks get a bit plump? The current Ian was too thin, as if he’d fall over if the wind blew hard, in Ganghyuk’s view.
“I’ll clean this up. Executive Director-nim, go into your room and rest. You still have a lot of unpacking left to do, don’t you?”
Ian said while rubbing his belly that bulged out more than before eating. As Ian said, Ganghyuk’s room was in a slightly messy state.
“Alright.”
Ganghyuk didn’t refuse Ian’s suggestion. This was because his brightly shining eyes said he wanted to repay him somehow.
Watching Ganghyuk’s back as he got up and entered the room his grandfather had used, Ian made a complicated face.
He realized anew the fact that he’d come to live in the same house as Ganghyuk. Originally it had been his grandfather’s house, but now this house had become Ganghyuk’s property, so he was no different from a freeloader.
