By Zephyria 
That day, he ended up being a bit late.
Just as he was about to leave the house, someone from the floor below came up saying there was a leak. Between contacting the landlord and calling a repairman, he lost track of time.
Left with no choice, he took the motorcycle—the one he had received from Jang Ui-geon a while back, which he rarely used these days unless he was in a hurry—but he was still later than usual. By the time he arrived at Jang Ui-geon’s house, the sun was already high in the sky. Since he had already contacted Jang Ui-geon, the man wouldn’t be wondering or waiting anxiously, but Seo Chi-young felt he should hurry if he wanted to stop by before heading to the shop.
Almost every morning, Seo Chi-young stopped by Jang Ui-geon’s house before going to the shop. It was to fill the bowl Jang Ui-geon had placed by the door of the main house with food for the stray cats.
Not long ago, due to an urgent matter, he hadn’t been able to stop by. He had assumed that Jang Ui-geon would have given them something instead, but as the man had previously stated, he truly gave them nothing. The poor cats—though they were strays—had gone without food that day. Since then, Seo Chi-young made it a point to stop by Jang Ui-geon’s house no matter what. Even if he couldn’t make it in the morning, he would rush over after receiving the tripe at lunchtime and soaking it in the medicinal broth. He felt that if he didn’t come, Jang Ui-geon would actually let the cats starve.
“It’s not like we’re keeping them as pets, so why bother? You don’t have to force yourself to come if it’s a struggle,” Jang Ui-geon would say, but he seemed well aware that Seo Chi-young would come regardless. That was why today, even though it was a time when he could have leisurely headed straight to the shop as lunch approached, Seo Chi-young hurried to Jang Ui-geon’s house.
As he parked the motorcycle, he encountered a staff member he had become familiar with and gave a polite nod. At first, the employee seemed puzzled to see Seo Chi-young entering and leaving the main house every day, but as it continued for a long time, they seemed to have grown used to it.
As Seo Chi-young pulled out the motorcycle key, he belatedly noticed an unfamiliar car parked right next to him and tilted his head. The cars he saw in the parking lot every morning were mostly the same. Since he arrived before the restaurant opened, there were only a few staff cars, so an unfamiliar vehicle stood out immediately.
Wondering if they had opened the doors already, Seo Chi-young checked his watch. Seeing that it wasn’t open yet, but the time was imminent, he hurried toward the main house.
Passing by the guest house, he caught a glimpse and saw that Jang Ui-geon wasn’t there. In that case, he was usually in the main house. Seo Chi-young practically jogged to the main house, opened the closed door, and stepped inside. However, he stopped just as he put one foot in, before the other could follow. He had spotted a stranger inside the main house.
A woman, who looked a few years younger than Seo Chi-young, was sitting on the wooden veranda of the main house. Beside her sat Jang Ui-geon, who was in the middle of tying his tie. Seo Chi-young stood there frozen for a moment, staring blankly at the two of them sitting side by side, chatting in a friendly and comfortable manner. The woman was the first to notice him.
“……Who are you? Do you work here?”
Looking down at her with wide, curious eyes, Seo Chi-young was momentarily flustered. However, as he blinked blankly for a few seconds, he realized who she was.
Her distinct and clear features had a resemblance to Jang Ui-geon, despite the difference between a man and a woman.
“Ah, Chi-young!”
Turning his head at the woman’s curious question, Jang Ui-geon spotted Seo Chi-young and, as always, wore a full smile on his face. He quickly finished tying the knot of his tie, put on his shoes, and stepped down from the veranda.
“Is everything okay with the leak in the apartment below?”
“Huh? Oh, yes. I called a repairman. It looks like they’ll have to tear up the floor near the boiler room, but they said it won’t take long. They’re coming back early tomorrow morning.”
“I see…… well, I’m glad it’s nothing serious.”
As Jang Ui-geon spoke nonchalantly with a nod, the woman, who had been watching Seo Chi-young with a curious expression, called out slightly louder.
“Is he your friend, Oppa?”
Ah, as I thought, Seo Chi-young thought, and only then did Jang Ui-geon seem to remember her presence and look back. However, rather than answering her first, he pointed to her while speaking to Seo Chi-young.
“Ah, right. This is the first time you’ve met her, right? This is my younger sister. She stopped by this morning saying she had something to pick up, but then she insisted on staying for a meal.”
“The nerve of her,” he said with a chuckle, his voice laced with affection for his sister. Seo Chi-young gave a polite nod to the woman who was staring at him and gave a shy greeting. She stepped down into the yard and stood beside Jang Ui-geon. As Seo Chi-young bowed, she bowed back and greeted him with a pretty smile.
“It’s my first time meeting you. ……You look far too gentle to be friends with my brother. How on earth did you become friends with someone like him? My brother might look like a good person, but he’s secretly quite picky.”
As if retaliating for being called nerve-bold, she poked Jang Ui-geon in the ribs. When Jang Ui-geon frowned, a mischievous glint appeared in her eyes. Jang Ui-geon sighed and ruffled her neatly styled hair. She let out a short scream.
“Stop it! I went to the salon this morning!”
“Then who told you to badmouth me in front of my lover?”
The moment Jang Ui-geon spoke casually, she froze, her face scrunched up as she tried to fix her hair. And Seo Chi-young froze even more than she did.
Seeing the flicker of awkward surprise on her face, Seo Chi-young became flustered, unable to speak properly as he looked back and forth between Jang Ui-geon and the woman in embarrassment.
Having rarely spoken about his sexual preferences to his friends or family, Seo Chi-young blinked in bewilderment, wondering if it was okay to say such a thing to a younger sister. He remembered hearing that Jang Ui-geon’s family already knew, which put him slightly at ease, but his flustered state didn’t completely subside.
Seeing Seo Chi-young’s helplessness, Jang Ui-geon gave a wry smile. He pulled Seo Chi-young closer, wrapping an arm around him and lightly patting his shoulder as if to say it was fine. Because of that intimate and casual touch, Seo Chi-young became even more flustered under her wide-eyed gaze.
“It’s okay. Why are you so flustered? My family knows all about my preferences. And she’s especially fine. Among the family members who cover their eyes and ears and pretend not to see or know, she’s the only one who takes my side.”
“……Uh……, yes…….”
“For the record, it’s not because she’s deeply understanding. Back in high school, when I was caught and the house was in an uproar, she was the one who brought a golf club to my father when he was screaming for a club to beat me with.”
“And then, after he got hit and was rushed to the hospital with a split head, he cried his eyes out saying he was sorry and that I should do whatever I wanted from then on,” Jang Ui-geon added. Suddenly, the woman, her face turning red, swung her fist at him. A loud thumping sound echoed on his back, and Jang Ui-geon groaned with an exaggerated expression of pain.
“Oppa, I told you I was sorry so many times, why are you still bringing that up?!”
“The scar in my heart remains as deep as the scar beneath my hair.”
The woman hit him two or three more times as Jang Ui-geon muttered miserably with a solemn face. “Ugh, ugh, the wounds are increasing,” he murmured, though a smile played on his lips.
Seo Chi-young watched the two of them bickering playfully, staring blankly.
Come to think of it, this was the first time he had seen Jang Ui-geon with his family. The way he treated his younger sister with natural, effortless affection and a loving gaze was different from how he treated his friends.
Perhaps his gaze was too direct, for Jang Ui-geon, who was rubbing his back where he’d been hit, raised an eyebrow as if asking why he was staring. Only then did Seo Chi-young snap out of it, shaking his head with an awkward smile.
“No……, I just thought it was nice. That you’re such close siblings.”
“Is that so? I think we’re just average.”
“We haven’t even met that often since we both left home,” Jang Ui-geon added, looking at her. She nodded in agreement, replying, “Yeah, just average.”
Watching the two of them nod in unison, Seo Chi-young couldn’t help but smile.
“You’re lucky to have such a cute sister.”
When Seo Chi-young said this with a smile, Jang Ui-geon looked at him with a strange expression. He looked into the air for a moment, thinking, then frowned and shook his head.
“I think there was a time when she was cute, but now she’s just an ajumma. Did I mention she’s married? She’s already a mother.”
Having said that, Jang Ui-geon closed his mouth and let out a sigh of admiration. “Has it already come to that?” he murmured, looking at his sister.
“Well, we are at an age where it wouldn’t be strange for either of us to have a child or two. ……You should start worrying about wrinkles too.”
As he said this, he was beaten by his sister again, bending his back in pain. Watching this, Seo Chi-young bowed his head with an ambiguous smile. A dark shadow flickered across his face for a moment, but he soon looked up as if nothing had happened.
A young lady who seemed to “transform” occasionally visited Seo Chi-young’s shop. She looked to be around twenty-two or twenty-three; it was hard to tell her exact age, but she was a young woman who hadn’t yet lost her youthful air. Visiting about once every month or two to eat tripe, she wasn’t a frequent visitor, but she came consistently enough to be a regular who could chat comfortably with Seo Chi-young while eating.
Her visiting hours were irregular; sometimes she came in the early evening, sometimes in the middle of the night, but usually, she arrived in the late evening. In Seo Chi-young’s mind, she was the “transforming lady.” Three out of four times, she arrived dressed as if she had just rolled out of bed at home, and the other time, she stopped by on her way back from an outing. The difference between the two looks was substantial. For a while, he hadn’t even realized they were the same person.
The day he first discovered that the girl who came in baggy sweatpants with a disheveled face and the girl who came in a short, cute dress with a face like an idol were the same person, the young lady burst into laughter at the sight of Seo Chi-young’s gaping mouth. “All girls are like this. Do you think girls sleep in mini-skirts with full makeup at home?” she had said, a claim that sounded dubious at best. Since Seo Chi-young had no other girls around him, he had no choice but to believe her and quietly nodded.
The young lady visited occasionally as if she had suddenly remembered the place, and on those occasions, Seo Chi-young enjoyed talking with her. She was cute. How to put it—she was cute in the way a young girl is, but also cute in the way “kids these days” are.
“I’m telling you, he was a total hunk! The odds of meeting someone like that on a blind date are lower than the odds of being killed by a satellite falling from the sky, I swear!”
“Haha, a satellite……. Well, you’re not wrong.”
Having stopped by after a long time on her way back from meeting a man introduced by a friend, she spent the entire time eating tripe and rambling about that story. It seemed she liked the man quite a bit.
Sitting beside her, resting his chin on his interlaced fingers, Jang Ui-geon smiled and chimed in. He hadn’t intentionally sat there, but it had just happened. To be precise, Jang Ui-geon had visited late at night as usual and was sitting at the counter talking to Seo Chi-young while waiting for the shop to close, and the young lady had entered and taken the empty seat next to him.
Neither Jang Ui-geon nor the young lady knew each other, but since neither was shy and they had Seo Chi-young between them, Jang Ui-geon was adding a word or two to her story without any awkwardness. She, too, nodded enthusiastically at Jang Ui-geon, chatting happily.
“He asked me what I wanted to eat, and there was a tripe stall right next to us. Honestly, that’s what I wanted most at the time, but I couldn’t bring myself to suggest tripe in front of a flower-boy I was meeting for the first time, so we went for spaghetti. But I kept thinking about it—the tripe!”
“So in the end, I ran here as soon as I parted ways with him,” she said with a cute smile, sticking her tongue out slightly at Seo Chi-young. Seo Chi-young smiled and asked, “Is that so?” With her eyes sparkling as she told the story, she looked several times more lovely than usual. He hoped things would work out with that boy.
“Here, a little extra for you,” Seo Chi-young said, generously scooping more stir-fried tripe onto her plate.
“Wow, you know I really like you, Mister?!”
As she gave a beaming smile and thanked him, Seo Chi-young replied with a smile, “Thank you,” and then caught the eye of Jang Ui-geon, who was silently watching him with the customary, polite smile he always wore. For a moment, Seo Chi-young tilted his head. Jang Ui-geon was smiling, but his face looked somewhat bored.
“Um…… would you like something else?”
When Seo Chi-young asked, Jang Ui-geon stared at him for a moment and then gave a beaming eye-smile. “Then shall I have a beer?” he said casually. His smiling eyes were so tender that Seo Chi-young wondered if it was just his imagination as he brought him a beer.
In the meantime, the young lady finished her plate and waved cheerfully. “I’ll come again, Mister. Good luck with your business!” Seo Chi-young smiled and waved back at her.
As he continued to wave until she disappeared from sight, Seo Chi-young suddenly noticed Jang Ui-geon staring intently at him and slowly lowered his hand in confusion.
“……?”
Wondering why he was staring like that, Seo Chi-young blinked and looked back at him. Jang Ui-geon smiled brightly.
“That young lady seems to come often.”
“Huh? Yes, not very often, but she’s a regular.”
“It’s not easy for such a young girl to become a regular at a tripe shop. She’s quite unique.”
“Right,” Seo Chi-young smiled, and Jang Ui-geon seemed lost in thought for a moment while drinking his beer. Then, he looked at Seo Chi-young and smiled broadly.
“I haven’t had much occasion to deal with young girls lately, so talking to one after a long time feels refreshing. I really feel that young people are full of energy. ……Haha, they say once you start talking like this, you’ve officially become an ‘ajusshi.’ Well, I guess I am an ajusshi now.”
Seo Chi-young gave an ambiguous smile. Having run a shop, he was used to being called ‘ajusshi,’ but hearing Jang Ui-geon call himself one felt strangely odd. This was because the nuance of the word ‘ajusshi’ felt disconnected from the pleasant and wonderful man sitting in front of him.
He wanted to say, You don’t look like an ajusshi, Ui-geon, but he felt too shy and kept his mouth shut.
“What do you think when you see a young girl, Chi-young?”
Jang Ui-geon asked abruptly. Seo Chi-young blinked, “Huh?” and tilted his head with a slightly troubled expression, “I don’t know…….” Since he had never specifically thought about young girls as a target of interest, he pondered for a moment.
“Just…… that they’re cute…… or they look lively…… or I hope they live a good life…….”
Hearing Seo Chi-young’s hesitant murmurs, Jang Ui-geon chuckled. When Seo Chi-young looked at him curiously, he waved his hand lightly with a smile.
“No, it’s just, it’s as expected, yet unexpected……. Men of our age usually have other thoughts when they see a young girl.”
“……W-what thoughts do you have, Ui-geon?”
When Seo Chi-young asked, Jang Ui-geon paused. For a very brief moment, even his smile vanished, and then he gave an ambiguous smile.
“Me? Just…… the usual thoughts.”
Seo Chi-young silently watched Jang Ui-geon as he vaguely glossed over the answer and moistened his lips with beer. Then, he simply nodded without a word.
The thoughts that men of their age usually have when they see a young girl.
Not everyone is the same, but Seo Chi-young knew intellectually what those kinds of thoughts usually entailed. Thoughts that some would call natural and others would call lewd—but Seo Chi-young didn’t have them. He couldn’t. From the beginning, women had existed outside the realm of sexual objects for him. If anything, it would be more likely for him to have such thoughts while looking at a young man. Though he had never actually done so.
Chi-young glanced at Jang Ui-geon, who seemed lost in thought. Kind and sociable to everyone, he was the type who could easily strike up a comfortable conversation with a stranger, and he had looked genuinely pleased while chatting with the young lady from a moment ago. It would have been the same regardless of who she was.
And yet.
“…….”
Chi-young lowered his gaze gloomily for a moment and scratched the back of his neck.
For some reason. How should he put it.
As Chi-young looked down at the counter with a subtly shadowed heart, the customers sitting in the back of the shop came forward and said, “Check, please.” Chi-young pulled himself together, shaking off the drifting mood, and turned toward them. After they left with the customary “Thank you for the meal,” only Chi-young and Jang Ui-geon remained in the shop.
Chi-young checked the clock. It was only just past eleven.
A weekday at the start of the week, and the start of the month.
While not a strict rule, customers weren’t usually numerous on days like this. At most, maybe two more teams would come in today. Or perhaps no one at all.
“Shall we start tidying up?”
Jang Ui-geon, who helped clean the shop every night, asked. However, even as he asked, he didn’t get up from his seat. He knew that Chi-young wouldn’t close the doors at this hour. When Chi-young replied apologetically, “In a little bit,” Jang Ui-geon nodded with a smile, as if it were fine. Then, he downed the rest of his nearly empty beer can in one go.
On weekends, Jang Ui-geon often seemed eager to close the shop as quickly as possible, but on weekdays, he didn’t rush him that much. Then again, lately, he had been waiting until midnight even on weekends. However, occasionally—not every day, but quite often—Jang Ui-geon would show signs of wanting to close the shop precisely at midnight even on weekdays.
Today seemed to be one of those days.
One more table of customers visited after that, but they didn’t stay long, eating only the gopchang before leaving quickly. Soon, it was time to close. Jang Ui-geon, who had been subtly quieter than usual, stood up after seeing the clock hit twelve. Then he asked Chi-young.
“Chi-young, is it okay if I lower the shutters first?”
Chi-young paused. He had started to stand up following Jang Ui-geon, but he stopped awkwardly, blinking for a few seconds as he looked at him. Jang Ui-geon quietly met his gaze, waiting for an answer.
“……Uh……, ……yes.”
Chi-young murmured, slowly lowering his head. At that, he could tell Jang Ui-geon was smiling. Unable to lift his face, which had grown hot up to the nape of his neck, Chi-young focused on moving the empty dishes into the sink. Behind him, the loud sound of the shutters descending echoed through the shop. One side was lowered completely, and then the other—the one that would normally only be lowered after the shop was fully tidied and closed. With only a gap about knee-high left, the interior of the shop was now almost invisible from the outside.
And then, behind Chi-young, who was still facing the sink with his shoulders stiff, he felt Jang Ui-geon approaching.
“Chi-young,” Jang Ui-geon whispered low, hugging Chi-young from behind and softly biting his earlobe with his lips. Chi-young flinched reflexively, shrugging his shoulders, but he hesitantly turned his head to kiss the lips that were tracing from his earlobe to his neck and cheek. Then, as Chi-young lowered his head, his face flushing on its own, he heard the sound of the other man laughing softly in his ear.
Jang Ui-geon and Seo Chi-young met almost every day. When Chi-young stopped by Jang Ui-geon’s house in the morning, and when Jang Ui-geon came to Chi-young’s shop at night—they usually saw each other twice. Even if they missed one of those times due to work, they still saw each other the other time, so they spent nearly every day together.
Not much had changed from before. They still met at night on weekdays, shared stories of their day, and walked together to Chi-young’s house before parting. On weekends, unless something came up, they spent the entire time together in intimate hours.
However, lately, they had begun to share the intimacy of lovers even on weekdays.
Sometimes, while sitting across from each other in the shop waiting for closing time, they would intertwine and stroke fingers beneath the counter. Other times, they would share a secret, brushing kiss just before coming out of the restroom where the other was waiting. Or there were times when they would suddenly pull each other into a tight embrace, gripping their arms firmly before parting in front of Chi-young’s house.
And occasionally, though less frequently.
“Chi-young. Your face is the color of a tomato right now.”
Jang Ui-geon laughed. Even though this had happened several times already, Chi-young couldn’t bring himself to face him, wondering when he would ever get used to it, and kept his head turned away. Still, he couldn’t hide the bright red hue of his face, and Jang Ui-geon lightly kissed his reddened cheek.
Those lips soon slid downward. From the cheek to the lips, grazing the neck, and further down.
“They’re already standing up……. It’s not even that cold out anymore. ……You didn’t get them this way because you’re cold, right?”
A low chuckle reached Chi-young’s ear as he struggled to avoid eye contact. Simultaneously, Chi-young let out a small moan and jumped, his body jolting.
“……!!”
He spotted his shirt thrown carelessly on the table. But he didn’t have the mental space to register the shirt. His mind went white from the sensation of lips sucking and pulling at one nipple, while fingers pinched and rubbed the other. Chi-young struggled to keep the moans from escaping, covering his own mouth with his hand, but he couldn’t stop the short, nasal sounds that leaked through. His mind melted from the persistent teasing of his chest and the sound of his own moans.
—In this way, occasionally, they would overlap their bodies in the shop.
They would lower the shutters, leaving only a tiny gap so they couldn’t be seen from the outside, and entwine themselves within. Usually, they stopped at intense foreplay to satisfy their desires, but on very rare occasions, it progressed to penetration. Since it was inconvenient to do so inside the shop, it rarely went that far.
Today, too, seeing how Jang Ui-geon was focusing on pleasuring Chi-young by merely pulling out his member through the open collar to rub against him, it seemed it would end with intense foreplay.
“Chi-young, you really love having your nipples sucked. Your reaction here is different from any other erogenous zone. ……I might even think you like this more than your genitals.”
Jang Ui-geon laughed, alternating between sucking and rolling his tongue over Chi-young’s nipples. Even while laughing as if amused, he didn’t pull his lips away from the chest until Chi-young became so sensitive that he trembled and his hips jerked noticeably.
Despite the chest shrinking away from the stimulation that had crossed the line from sensitivity to pain, Chi-young couldn’t tell Jang Ui-geon to stop. He felt that if he removed the hand covering his mouth, embarrassing sounds would burst from his lips, which were already leaking nasal moans.
When will he stop? Anywhere is fine, please just move somewhere else.
But even when Jang Ui-geon briefly pulled his lips away from the nipple, he would stare at it, rubbing it slowly with his finger as if admiring it, before nipping at it again.
“Your nipples have gotten bigger than when we first did this. The color has deepened, too. They’ve changed since then. ……Do you know that right now, both the size and the color are more erotic than a woman’s?”
Licking the erect nipple that looked swollen red with the tip of his tongue, Jang Ui-geon spoke in a low, rough voice laced with excitement. Simultaneously, the hand stroking his own member grew faster and faster.
“……That’s, ……you made, them…!”
He bit his lip and barely managed to swallow a moan, but Chi-young’s desperate plea didn’t come out properly. At the sensation of being sucked so violently as if to be devoured, he finally let out a moan that mixed crying with pleasure.
As they rubbed their genitals against each other, their crotches began to grow wet. Jang Ui-geon stopped talking. In place of words, rough and hurried breaths mingled with the wet sounds of rubbing.
“……!!”
Before long, Chi-young’s body jolted as he reached a climax. Shortly after, Jang Ui-geon also ejaculated, wetting Chi-young’s genitals. Supporting Chi-young’s body as he threatened to collapse to his knees from the loss of strength, Jang Ui-geon shook off the remaining desire in his lower half. Kissing Chi-young languidly as if in a good mood, he lifted him and placed him on the table. After moderately wiping his own crotch and roughly dressing himself, he wiped Chi-young’s body more meticulously.
“……I, I’ll do it….”
Chi-young, who had been sitting blankly as if drained, flinched and grabbed Jang Ui-geon’s wrist only when the other reached down to wipe his crotch thoroughly. However, Jang Ui-geon smiled, gently brushed Chi-young’s hand away, and kissed it.
“I’ll do it. I want to. Everything.”
Speaking softly yet firmly, he wiped Chi-young’s lower half, zipped him up, and then picked up the shirt from the table to dress him. After sliding the arms in and fastening the buttons from the bottom up, leaving the top three or four undone, he suddenly wore a mischievous smile and sucked Chi-young’s chest once more. Startled, Chi-young let out a strange moan and jumped, staring at Jang Ui-geon with wide eyes, while the other simply smiled calmly as if nothing had happened and finished the remaining buttons.
“There, all done.”
Only after fastening the collar button did Jang Ui-geon step back, and only then did Chi-young hesitantly climb down from the table. When he looked up awkwardly, Jang Ui-geon was wearing his usual smile. Chi-young lowered his head deeply. Looking down at him, Jang Ui-geon laughed like a sigh.
“How long has it been since we became like this…… how can you still be so shy.”
Jang Ui-geon gave a light kiss to the crown of Chi-young’s head and said brightly, “Then let’s finish tidying up and head back,” as he walked away. Chi-young stared silently at his feet for a moment before lifting his gaze to look at Jang Ui-geon’s back.
Watching him briskly lift the chairs onto the tables in a good mood, Chi-young let out a silent sigh.
It wasn’t so much that he was shy—well, he was shy too—but in truth, he felt a bit depressed.
Seo Chi-young looked curiously at the thin, long line drawn across Yoon Jun-young’s cheek. The scar, running horizontally across the center of the cheek and about the length of a pinky finger, wasn’t anything major. It was so thin, like a thread, that he wouldn’t have noticed if it hadn’t been a red streak in the middle of the cheek.
“Jun-young, did you get scratched somewhere?”
When Chi-young asked curiously but dismissively, Yoon Jun-young, who had just sat down and murmured “One plate of gopchang, please” with an expressionless face, immediately frowned. It was strange for someone who rarely showed any change in expression to scowl so suddenly, so Chi-young blinked at him, and Jun-young clicked his tongue, covering his cheek.
“Is it very noticeable?”
“Huh? ……Yes.”
Chi-young hesitated for a moment before answering honestly. Yoon-young clicked his tongue again, his face contorted in a grimace, and let out a pained sigh.
“…Maybe I shouldn’t go home today….”
Hearing Yoon Jun-young mutter this to himself as if contemplating, Chi-young’s eyes widened and he fell silent. Uh, no way, he thought, staring intently at Yoon Jun-young. His thoughts must have been plain to see, because as soon as their eyes met, Yoon Jun-young waved his hand and frowned.
“Kang-hee didn’t do it. Even if that guy and I fight severely, he doesn’t lay a hand on me. If anything, I’m the one who hits him. This wasn’t Kang-hee, but that woman…….”
However, as he spoke quickly as if making an excuse, Yoon Jun-young suddenly stopped, his face realizing he had said too much. Chi-young, who was placing the gopchang on the griddle and pouring the liquor, paused for a moment but silently added the seasoning on top.
He must have heard something problematic.
Seeing Yoon Jun-young frown with a face that regretted saying it, Chi-young felt troubled. What part of the statement was the problem? That he sometimes fought severely with Kwon Kang-hee, that Kwon Kang-hee sometimes got hit by him, and….
If he had just stayed silent, Chi-young wouldn’t have asked further and would have let it pass, but Yoon Jun-young glanced up at Chi-young, frowned, and after a long silence, spoke.
“When I was leaving school, that woman was waiting. I knew her because I’d seen her face once. She just approached me out of nowhere, slapped me once, and left. That’s all. A mark was left because of a ring. …Is it very noticeable?”
Yoon Jun-young asked worriedly, stroking his cheek. While tilting his head at the incomprehensible phrase—a woman who just slapped Yoon Jun-young and left—Chi-young looked at the cheek again. He wondered if saying “It’s not very noticeable” would put Yoon Jun-young’s mind at ease, but since a lie didn’t come easily, he hesitated before giving the best answer he could.
“……It’s just a bit noticeable…….”
“Not to the point that Kang-hee would miss it and pass by…….”
“……I don’t think that’s the case…….”
Of course, it wasn’t a major injury and would likely heal cleanly without a trace in a few days, but it was still a red line in the middle of his cheek. It was visible even under the yellow shop lights in the dark night; hoping that it wouldn’t be noticed by Kwon Kang-hee in a brighter place was simply unrealistic.
But as he blinked, thinking that people get minor injuries in life, so why should he care so much about Kwon Kang-hee, and who was that woman, Yoon Jun-young let out a bitter sigh. As if accepting that it couldn’t be helped.
“This is naturally my share to bear, so it can’t be helped. Technically, I stole someone else’s lover. Moreover, right before the wedding. …Since she was a relatively quiet woman, I should consider it a relief that it ended with one slap….”
“But Kang-hee will be upset if he finds out,” Yoon Jun-young clicked his tongue.
Only then did Chi-young realize who the woman was, and he was momentarily speechless. He didn’t know what to say. A woman whose lover had been stolen by Yoon Jun-young right before the wedding—though there were slight differences from the actual facts.
“…….”
Chi-young lowered his head gloomily.
There must have been someone suffering behind the two people whom Chi-young had looked upon with affection and sincerely blessed. A woman who might have lived a peaceful life with Kwon Kang-hee. And there was Yoon Jun-young, who, even after being slapped by her, couldn’t say a word and remained silent, only worrying about whether Kwon Kang-hee would be upset.
Noticing Chi-young’s quiet depression, Yoon Jun-young raised an eyebrow and frowned.
“You don’t have to make that face. Kang-hee won’t get angry at me. He’ll just be upset on his own, and that’s why I hate it….”
As if deciding to put his mind at ease, Yoon Jun-young looked at the gopchang Chi-young was frying with his usual calm face. Chi-young stared at the gopchang browning for Yoon Jun-young’s portion for a long time, then suddenly asked in a small voice.
“Kwon Kang-hee… uh, …before, he only dated women, right?”
“That’s right. I’d never heard a story about that guy doing anything with a man. ……Goodness, I actually confessed to a guy like that. I had some nerve. Though I spent over ten years suffering emotionally after that.”