By Zephyria 
He must have been staring at Yoon Jun-young without realizing it. Seo Chi-young, who had been lost in thought for a moment, suddenly realized he was locked in a gaze with Yoon Jun-young, who had already finished the gopchang in an instant and was staring back at him from across the empty plate.
Shouldering inward, Seo Chi-young scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment, stammering, “Uh, um…” before blurting out the first thing that came to mind.
“Would… would you like some beer?”
“No.”
Yoon Jun-young shook his head, casting a strange look at Seo Chi-young for suddenly offering him alcohol.
“Um… the friend who usually comes with you, I guess they aren’t coming today.”
Even though it was clearly past midnight and far too late to be meeting a friend, Seo Chi-young continued to stammer, not even knowing what he was saying. Unlike the visibly flustered Seo Chi-young, Yoon Jun-young remained perfectly composed, staring at him as he replied, “Yes, they aren’t coming.”
A brief silence fell. Though it was only a few words of a conversation that wasn’t much of a conversation to begin with, the peculiar silence was uncomfortable. As Seo Chi-young stood there awkwardly, breaking into a cold sweat, Yoon Jun-young watched him intently, wondering what was going through his head. Without breaking eye contact, Yoon Jun-young suddenly spoke.
“…By the way, perhaps.”
At the subtle drop in his voice, Seo Chi-young’s heart thudded for reasons he couldn’t explain. Just as he whispered, “Yes?” in response, a phone rang in Yoon Jun-young’s pocket. Yoon Jun-young, who had been about to say something, frowned slightly as he pulled out his phone, checked the screen, and grumbled, “This guy is hopeless…”
“Yeah, what. ….Uh. I’m on my way back. Yeah, that’s right. …Uh. Give it to me tomorrow. We agreed to meet during the day. ….Yeah, you too, get some rest. …Why would I dream about you? Hang up.”
Yoon Jun-young clicked the phone shut with a click of his tongue. Checking the time on the screen, he saw it was well past midnight and let out a long sigh, as if the fatigue was suddenly hitting him.
Seo Chi-young remained frozen in the same posture he had been in while talking to Yoon Jun-young. Yoon Jun-young glanced at Seo Chi-young, who was just watching him in silence, and seemed to grimace slightly. He looked as if he were debating whether to say something, but soon stood up as if it didn’t matter.
“How much is it?”
Asking formally, he held out the amount he already knew. Seo Chi-young hesitated for a moment, “Uh,” and took only half of the money.
“Just take this. …The ingredients were leftovers anyway…”
Yoon Jun-young stared at Seo Chi-young again. Under that indifferent and direct gaze, Seo Chi-young became fidgety, as if he had overcharged him despite taking less.
Ah. Is it that? He said he didn’t like receiving kindness without a reason because it felt like owing a debt. Or maybe he thinks even half-price is too expensive…
In front of Seo Chi-young, who was at a loss with the money in one hand, Yoon Jun-young eventually put the remaining money back in his pocket without a word.
“Even if they were leftovers, it was delicious. ….Thank you for the meal. I’ll see you again tomorrow at lunch.”
“Ah, yes, get home safe—”
Mid-sentence, Seo Chi-young looked at him curiously. Yoon Jun-young, who was just about to turn around, added casually:
“I’ve agreed to meet a friend here tomorrow at lunch. Though even if I say lunch, we’ll probably meet around two or three in the afternoon.”
“….At my shop?”
“Yes.”
He must have really come to like gopchang. That thought came first, but Seo Chi-young blinked and said, “I don’t do business during the day because I’m preparing; I only start around four or five in the afternoon.”
Yoon Jun-young, who had always visited only at night, stared at Seo Chi-young as if this were news to him, then clicked his tongue and asked, “Is that so?” He pulled out his phone to push back the time, but frowned when the other person didn’t answer. Muttering, “I’ll just send a text,” he turned to leave, saying, “Then I’ll see you tomorrow evening.”
Seo Chi-young watched his retreating figure, which seemed worn out, walking with a slight drag of his feet, just as he had said he’d been trapped in the lab since yesterday.
That exhausted back, which he had always thought of as an ice wall, somehow looked full of gaps. He suddenly wondered if that was actually the case. It felt like he had seen the soft belly of an armadillo clad in iron armor.
That man probably likes someone, cares for someone, and in doing so, gets his heart broken and hurts… Even though it would be easier to just like someone who likes you.
“……”
Seo Chi-young sighed. Just then, a passerby poked their head into the tent and asked, “Are you still open?” Only then did Seo Chi-young quickly pull his mind back from the distant memories.
“I’m sorry, we’re closed.”
Marking the end of the day for real this time, Seo Chi-young began finishing the cleanup of the shop, which he had paused earlier when Yoon Jun-young arrived.
Seo Chi-young’s days are busy.
Except for Sundays, which are holidays, the same days repeat throughout the week. He has developed a knack for the work now, but there is still no time to relax.
He wakes up around 9 AM, tidies the house, finishes his personal errands, and heads to the shop by noon. Since the broker might arrive anytime between 12 and 1 PM, he had to open the shop before then. He was busier until last year because he had to go to the livestock market himself, but fortunately, he was introduced to a good broker through word-of-mouth, and things became much easier after that.
Before the broker arrives, he sweeps the shop once, boils the herbal water to soak the gopchang in, and then puts the raw gopchang he received—after only basic trimming—into the water. That marks the start of the early afternoon. Then, after a simple lunch, he begins the full-scale preparation. “Preparation” mostly means spending the majority of the afternoon trimming the gopchang. Even though he is used to it, trimming a large tub full of gopchang one by one is no easy task.
Then, around 4 or 5 PM, the market begins to bustle as the number of people passing by increases. By the time he finishes tasks that seem simple but are surprisingly labor-intensive, such as trimming vegetables and making the seasoning sauce, it is dinner time. Then, the people who came out for evening groceries leave, and their places are filled by people coming from nearby offices to have dinner. Once dinner time passes and it’s time for drinks, Seo Chi-young’s cramped shop usually becomes full.
Whether it’s around midnight at the earliest or deep into the night at the latest, Seo Chi-young busily moves around the shop until he closes the doors and sees off the last customer to end his day.
Today was the same.
He lifted his heavy eyelids at the usual time, tidied the house roughly, and left a bit earlier than usual. This was because it was the end of the month and he had to go to the bank. After finishing miscellaneous errands in the morning, he went to the bank to transfer this month’s interest, came back to the shop to finish the preliminary prep for the ingredients, and was about to have lunch before starting his full day.
Scooping freshly steamed pot rice into a bowl, Seo Chi-young thought of his bank account, where the balance had plummeted immediately after paying this month’s debt, and calculated next month’s budget in his head. As long as nothing unusual happened, he would manage to survive, however tight it might be.
He didn’t know when he would be able to pay off the debt, which still remained a daunting amount. The sum that an average person would have to work their bones away for decades to pay off had been reduced by nearly half over the last ten-some years, during which Seo Chi-young had gritted his teeth and worked day and night without time to shed tears. However, that was only possible at a young age when one can digest even stones; he worked while neglecting his body and skipping meals, eventually collapsing and spending a long time in the hospital. After that, he reduced his workload, and the pace of debt repayment slowed down.
Still, while running this small and shabby shop and aging without realizing it, he had gained the mental leeway to pay it back step by step while taking proper care of his body.
Since the house was lost and his family scattered, he had never spent leisurely time gathered in one place with his parents. They only exchanged occasional check-in calls or saw each other’s faces when he happened to visit the nearby province once or twice. He only found out the year before last that his parents, whom he thought had simply taken refuge separately, had divorced on paper. Since they rarely met, they were practically divorced in reality as well.
“……..”
Seo Chi-young let out a silent sigh. I should call them later. Come to think of it, it seemed his father’s birthday was at the end of next month; wondering how much leeway he had in his bank account, Seo Chi-young pulled his rice bowl closer.
Lunch was, as always, simple. He had to fill his stomach quickly to start the afternoon work, and he didn’t have the mental space to spread things out and eat in the shop. Today, too, it was just rice topped with a raw egg and a couple of side dishes.
However, remembering a few years ago when there were days he couldn’t even have one proper meal a day, he picked up his spoon with a grateful heart.
“I’ll eat well,” Seo Chi-young muttered to himself. Just as he mixed in the seasoning and stirred the raw egg and was about to put a spoonful of rice in his mouth—
“Hello…”
Someone lifted the plastic tent, greeting him with a cheerful voice. Seo Chi-young froze with the spoon still poised to enter his mouth, staring at the person who stepped inside with a brisk stride. The person, who had entered with a smile, also paused and momentarily wiped the smile from his face.
The person who visited at this completely unexpected time on a weekday afternoon was the man he had seen at least once a week recently, Jang Ui-geon.
Just by that large frame stepping inside, the narrow plastic tent felt completely filled. Yet, the reason it didn’t feel stifling or suffocating was likely due to that pleasant and bright smile he almost always wore. Although that smile had vanished for a moment now.
“Uh..”
“….I haven’t started business yet..”
Setting down his spoon and rising awkwardly from the plastic chair, Seo Chi-young spoke while habitually wiping his dry hands on his apron. Jang Ui-geon looked around the shop, moving only his eyes. The empty tables with chairs neatly pushed aside, the large rubber basin on the floor containing pale raw gopchang, and the rubber gloves draped over the basin as if taken off during work—all clearly revealed that it was far too early to start business.
“When do you start?”
“Not until around four or five in the afternoon..”
Jang Ui-geon frowned slightly and checked his watch. It would be another three or four hours before the time Seo Chi-young mentioned.
“I agreed to meet Jun-young here during the day..”
Only after hearing Jang Ui-geon mutter ambiguously to himself did Seo Chi-young remember the man who had stopped by late last night. He had said the two of them were meeting today during the day. But he thought he had called to push the time back; perhaps he hadn’t been reached.
Jang Ui-geon pulled out his phone and pressed a button, but since the other party didn’t answer, he held the phone to his ear for a while before hanging up.
“Is this guy sleeping with his phone on silent again… I rushed out without even eating because I was afraid he’d be late.”
Jang Ui-geon muttered with a click of his tongue. Then, as if considering what to do, he stood there blankly. Seo Chi-young, who had been about to eat lunch, couldn’t even sit back down and just faced him. Jang Ui-geon looked around the shop once more and asked.
“Are you not doing business at all right now?”
“Yes..”
“….What is this?”
Jang Ui-geon asked, looking down at the rice Seo Chi-young had been about to eat. Seo Chi-young followed that gaze and looked down at his own lunch. Freshly cooked pot rice with a raw egg and seasoning, seasoned vegetables, and a bit of gopchang left over from yesterday.
Since there was no dish there that he couldn’t identify by sight, Seo Chi-young pondered for a moment what he was referring to and answered, “It’s my lunch.”
“Do you sell it stir-fried white like that here too? I thought you only had spicy seasoning.”
Only after seeing the gopchang the man was pointing to with his chin did Seo Chi-young realize what he meant. Since the gopchang sold at the shop was stir-fried spicy, it would be different from what he usually ate.
“Ah.., this is just stir-fried with perilla powder and a bit of salt and pepper.”
“Hmm.”
“…….., It doesn’t taste like much.. I’m just eating the leftovers without seasoning…”
Seo Chi-young muttered like an excuse to Jang Ui-geon, who was staring intently at the side dish. Still, Jang Ui-geon did not avert his gaze and kept looking at the white stir-fried gopchang, and Seo Chi-young hesitantly spoke.
“Would you… like to try some..?”
He wasn’t keen on offering a meager side dish made to roughly get through a meal, but since the man was staring so intently, he asked out of politeness. To this, Jang Ui-geon answered without hesitation, “Oh, is that okay?” with a bright smile, and pulled up a chair to sit.
Seo Chi-young quickly handed him chopsticks, and Jang Ui-geon gave a short “Thank you” before he began eating Seo Chi-young’s side dish. He didn’t even show the virtue of politely declining after a piece or two. Seo Chi-young sat before him, watching the chopsticks move diligently, and slowly resumed his meal. He had thought this before, but he found his gaze occasionally stolen by the precise and clean way the man handled the chopsticks.
Giving up on the one side dish that had practically become Jang Ui-geon’s portion, he just chewed on the rice with the raw egg and vegetables. A period of silence followed.
What should I do. I think I’m getting nervous. He began to doubt if he was using his chopsticks correctly. Come to think of it, he had never sat face-to-face with this man alone, spending the same time together.
“This way of stir-frying is delicious too.”
Jang Ui-geon, who had quickly emptied the small side dish plate, spoke as he set down the chopsticks. However, seeing that he still seemed unsatisfied, Seo Chi-young felt a bit embarrassed by his own spoon, which had only taken three or four bites.
“…If you haven’t eaten, would you like some? I don’t have gopchang, but..”
“Do you sell meals here too?”
Jang Ui-geon asked in a tone of ignorance, looking at the menu which had almost no “menu-like” items other than gopchang, and Seo Chi-young shook his head, feeling awkward as if he shouldn’t have mentioned it.
“Not exactly, but I have rice I cooked for myself, so, I just thought if you’re hungry, you could eat with me… There aren’t many side dishes, but if that’s okay.”
His voice grew smaller as he spoke. He had opened his mouth without thinking, but once the words were out, he realized it wasn’t a meal worth offering to someone else. Rice with just a raw egg and a bit of vegetables. Even in the poorest home, they would rather not serve anything than treat a guest like this. Moreover, come to think of it, hadn’t Jang Ui-geon grown up in a family that owned several expensive restaurants that Seo Chi-young didn’t even know?
Sure enough, as if he had no desire to accept that meager rice and side dish, Jang Ui-geon smiled and waved his hand.
“No, it’s okay. Please finish your meal.”
Seo Chi-young hesitantly began using his chopsticks again. Thinking it was quite awkward to be the only one eating while facing each other, he silently chewed his food when Jang Ui-geon’s phone rang. Seeing him mutter “This guy,” it seemed to be Yoon Jun-young.
“Hello. …..Why are you asking why I called, we agreed to meet today during the day. …A text? What text? I didn’t get one. Yeah, I’m telling you, I didn’t. ….I’m at the gopchang shop. …Yeah, so I’m just sitting here. ..Yeah. Hurry up.”
It seemed their communication had crossed. As he hung up, Jang Ui-geon met the eyes of Seo Chi-young, who had been watching him while silently chewing, and gave a bitter smile.
“He says he sent a text to push back the appointment time, but it didn’t arrive properly…Oh. It was here.”
Jang Ui-geon, who had been about to put the phone in his pocket, paused and muttered. Opening the phone again to check the text, Jang Ui-geon frowned. Seo Chi-young, thinking he roughly understood how the situation had unfolded, smiled to himself and stood up, taking his empty rice bowl.
“If it’s him, I think his place is close to here, so he’ll be here soon.”
“Ah, yes, in terms of walking distance, it’s only 10 minutes. But since he sounded like he just woke up, after washing up and all that…”