By Zephyria Lee Do-hyeon, watching Ryu Jeong carefully, gently grabbed his arm as he bowed his head in greeting and pulled him along. The manager, coming from behind the counter, led the way.
At first, his feet wouldn’t move as he wanted, making him seem to be dragged along, but thanks to Do Hwon slowing down to match his pace, Ryu Jeong was able to walk without falling. Feeling the warm air inside, which was unusual for a place open in the morning, Ryu Jeong looked around.
Wasn’t it supposed to be open in the morning? Unlike what Lee Do-hyeon had said, the inside was completely dark as they were being led in. Ryu Jeong, thinking something was strange, glanced at the empty hall, devoid of customers and even employees. But that was only for a moment. As they turned a corner, his view was blocked. The room the manager led them to was not an open hall but a private room.
“How would you like your meal? Shall I prepare a course?”
The two men, who had been standing close together with a rectangular table between them, moved apart. Ryu Jeong was careful even with the sound of pulling out the chair, sitting down in an awkward posture. On the other hand, Lee Do-hyeon sat down with movements that showed no awkwardness at all, shaking his head at the manager’s question.
“Just give us whatever you have. There’s nothing I can’t eat, so just pick some dishes that aren’t too polarizing.”
Lee Do-hyeon’s gaze was on Ryu Jeong as he said that. The manager, realizing that Lee Do-hyeon was talking about his companion, didn’t ask any further, simply bowed slightly, and disappeared, closing the door behind him.
As they were left alone in the completely isolated space, only awkwardness filled the air. Ryu Jeong, fidgeting with his hands clasped tightly together, shifted his gaze from side to side before subtly looking at Lee Do-hyeon. Their eyes met immediately. Ryu Jeong, feeling guilty for some reason, took a deep breath, as if Lee Do-hyeon had been waiting for their eyes to meet.
“Jeong-ssi.”
Lee Do-hyeon opened his mouth as if he had been waiting for their eyes to meet.
“Maybe it’s because your skin is so fair. But the dark circles under your eyes look really bad.”
“Ah…”
Ryu Jeong awkwardly touched his eyes. He looked in the mirror every morning when he washed his face, but he wasn’t particularly interested in grooming, so he hadn’t been paying much attention. Even if he took a day off now and then, he couldn’t get rid of all the accumulated fatigue, so he now took the dark circles under his eyes and the rough skin for granted. But being pointed out by someone else made him feel embarrassed for some reason.
“You must be tired from working all night. I wonder if I called you out too early in the morning.”
“It’s okay. We were supposed to meet today anyway…”
“Maybe it would have been better to let you sleep in and see you in the afternoon.”
“Even if I went straight home, I wouldn’t be able to sleep for long anyway.”
“Why? Do you have insomnia or something?”
“It’s not that, but I think it’s become a habit.”
A habit? Lee Do-hyeon tilted his head, wondering if that was possible, but soon understood. People had to sleep at night. No matter how tired he was, trying to sleep in the morning when everyone else was starting their day might not be easy. Besides, Ryu Jeong’s house had a flimsy piece of cloth pretending to be a curtain that didn’t block any light at all, let alone blackout curtains.
“Why don’t you try changing the curtains? If you can’t sleep deeply because it’s too bright.”
“Ah, no. It’s not because of the light. I have to go out again in two or three hours anyway…”
“Go out? Where to? Isn’t the cafe in the afternoon?”
“That’s true, but… I have to stop by somewhere else before going to the cafe…”
Knock, knock. As soon as the information he didn’t know was out of Ryu Jeong’s mouth, a knock was heard. Lee Do-hyeon, who was about to press him for more information, decided to back off for now. “Yes,” Do Hwon replied, and the door opened, and an employee pushing a large cart began to set the table with food.
Ryu Jeong’s eyes followed the employee’s hands busily. It seemed that what came out in response to the request to prepare something appropriate was a course meal. Unlike other restaurants where side dishes and main dishes came out at once, the food the employee set out had few items and the amount on the plate was disappointing. Moreover, the shapes were so unfamiliar that he couldn’t think of what kind of dish it was. Ryu Jeong stared intently at each plate as it was placed down, then bowed his head to the employee who bowed and left.
“Take your time eating. More will come out later anyway.”
“Yes… I will enjoy the meal.”
Ryu Jeong picked up his chopsticks, following Lee Do-hyeon’s lead. The plate in front of him had an unidentified food neatly arranged in a round flower shape. He was hesitant to put something he didn’t even know what it was made of into his mouth, so Ryu Jeong hesitated and put the salad in front of him into his mouth first. The vegetables drizzled with a refreshing and cool yuzu dressing crumbled with a crisp and cheerful sound.
“How many jobs do you have?”
As he was carefully picking out only the familiar ingredients to put in his mouth, Lee Do-hyeon, who had been quietly moving his chopsticks, suddenly spoke. Ryu Jeong looked up, but Lee Do-hyeon wasn’t looking at him. Ryu Jeong swallowed the food in his mouth and quickly replied.
“I do a short serving shift at a chicken rib restaurant at lunchtime and work the middle shift at the cafe. After that, I go to the convenience store…”
“Every day? What about weekends?”
“I usually rest on weekends or… I go to the logistics center if there’s work there.”
“So, when you say you can’t sleep much, you mean you take naps because you have to go to work somewhere else?”
Wrinkles had appeared on Lee Do-hyeon’s once smooth brow. Ryu Jeong, feeling as if he had done something wrong for some reason, cautiously watched him and nodded. Lee Do-hyeon, sighing softly, put down his chopsticks first. Ryu Jeong flinched at the sharp sound.
“Why?”
“Yes? What… is it?”
“Why do you work so hard? You can’t sleep, you can’t eat, and you can’t rest.”
At the accusing tone, Ryu Jeong carefully put down his chopsticks, following Lee Do-hyeon’s lead. Do Hwon, seeing him clasping his hands tightly and blinking, seemed to realize something and softened his voice.
“Aren’t you tired?”
“I am tired, but…”
It would be a lie to say he wasn’t tired. On days when he couldn’t sit down for a moment, his feet were so swollen that even walking home was a chore, and his hands often developed eczema because they were frequently exposed to water. It was natural to have a severe headache because he had never slept deeply, and he was even weak because he couldn’t eat properly.
But since he started paying off the debt his father left behind, it was a question he had never heard from anyone, so he didn’t know what to say. Wasn’t the reason for working so hard obvious?
“But I have to earn money…”
“What are you going to do with so much money? What, are you the type who believes in suffering when you’re young?”
“I need a lot of money.”
“How much?”
“Just… a lot…”
Instead of saying the exact amount, he vaguely glossed over it. Even the loan sharks who came to collect money every month subtly gave him pitiful looks, so how pitiful would he look to someone who was a respectable President? Ryu Jeong didn’t want Lee Do-hyeon to look at him that way.
Seeing Ryu Jeong clearly showing that he didn’t want to talk about it, Lee Do-hyeon swallowed a sigh. He wondered if he had asked about the money for nothing. He didn’t seem to have hurt his pride, and he didn’t seem angry, but Lee Do-hyeon guessed that there was an unusual reason why he was working so hard, so he was curious but decided not to ask any further. If he couldn’t hear it directly, he would have to find out.
“Excuse me, could you bring the dessert all at once?”
Knock, knock. The course meal that followed with the knock was the first time he didn’t like it as much as today. Setting the food was only a matter of seconds, but Lee Do-hyeon, who was annoyed that the conversation was interrupted during that time, asked the employee with a smile to bring all the food at once. It wasn’t a difficult request, and soon the table was full of food. Now that he felt a little better, Lee Do-hyeon smiled and gestured lightly with his chin as he asked.
“It’s quite a lot when you put it all together, right?”
“Yes? Ah… yes.”
“Let’s eat first. It’ll taste bad if it gets cold. The head chef here has a great touch. He studied abroad and even worked at the Blue House.”
Lee Do-hyeon, grabbing the chopsticks he had put down for a moment, gestured for him to eat quickly. However, he himself didn’t touch the food and only looked at Ryu Jeong. Ryu Jeong waited for Do Hwon to take a bite, wondering why, but he seemed like he would keep doing that unless he ate first, so Ryu Jeong hesitated and picked up something that looked like a Gangjeong and put it in his mouth. Unlike what it looked like, it was tofu that crumbled with a soft texture. It was a cooking method he had never seen before, but it went down smoothly without any resistance because it was a familiar ingredient.
Only after seeing the look of discomfort on his face gradually disappear did Lee Do-hyeon begin to eat.
Contrary to his worries about how to say it, Lee Do-hyeon didn’t ask about money until the end of the meal.