#41

Finally, the truck came to a stop. The area was so vast that it seemed impossible for just one man to handle it. It looked like at least three strong men would be needed. The person who would assign such a task to one individual or the one who would accept it seemed equally absurd.

“How many pyeong is this?”

“It should be about 8,000 pyeong. Not that much.”

The man said nonchalantly.

Tae-heun, taken aback and speechless, watched as the man thoroughly prepared for work. He tightly secured a wide-brimmed hat, put on arm sleeves over his long-sleeved shirt, and wrapped a towel around his neck. He handed a hat to Tae-heun, saying in his characteristic gentle tone, “Take it easy.”

“Are you really going to do all the weeding here by yourself, Mr. Ki-beom?”

“It’s not as wide as it looks. And once you start, it goes quickly.”

“This isn’t wide?”

“It goes quickly once you start.”

The man mumbled as he strapped a weed trimmer to his back.

“What about the pay? Do they pay well?”

“Of course.”

Before long, the man was holding gasoline and oil cans in both hands.

“Give me the gasoline can. Why are you carrying the heavy stuff alone?”

“It’s not that heavy.”

When pressed, the man reluctantly handed over the lighter oil can to Tae-heun.

At the entrance of the rice paddy, the man filled two weed trimmers with a proper mix of gasoline and oil before strapping his own trimmer to his back.

“I’ll start from over there, so you start from here, Tae-heun. Watch out for flying stones, and if the blade breaks, call me.”

The faded red rubber boots walked out confidently, holding the oil cans in both hands.

The man became so distant that he looked like a dot. It was a bit of an exaggeration, but he walked very far away. Even so, it was only about the midpoint of the work area that needed to be done.

“Damn it, this is frustrating.”

Tae-heun kicked a stone that got in his way.

In the distance, the sound of the weed trimmer could be heard. Complaining wouldn’t reduce the work that needed to be done. Since he had come to work anyway, he might as well do it. Tae-heun resigned himself to the task.

He tucked his cargo pants into the socks he had bought at the market. From a good perspective, he looked like a pitcher standing on a mound, but in reality, it was quite rustic. Still, the pants were comfortable and didn’t get in the way.

The motor of the weed trimmer roared to life. It definitely had power. The weeds quickly flew away from the blade. He walked forward, silently focusing on the weeds. As he carefully avoided flying stones and made sure the blade didn’t break while cutting the grass, his stray thoughts disappeared. Each time the grass was neatly sliced off by the blade, a sense of exhilaration washed over him.

Occasionally, he looked up to see the man. Before he knew it, the man had truly become a dot. The grass lay flat where the man had passed, confirming that he had been there, that he existed, but no matter how loudly he called, it seemed the man wouldn’t hear him.

Suddenly, he felt anxious. Tae-heun hurriedly turned off the weed trimmer and moved forward to get closer to the man. But he couldn’t seem to get any closer.

A mirage.

Tae-heun thought that perhaps the man was a mirage.

When the distance that felt impossible to bridge finally closed in due to the man, the sun was high in the sky. The sun was hot, and sweat poured down like rain. Both the man and Tae-heun were soaked, like mice that had fallen into water.

“Let’s shower at the community center first and then go for lunch,” the man said.

“Yeah. I wonder if I’ll even have an appetite.”

Tae-heun grumbled. He had just finished drinking the two cucumbers and ice water that the man had prepared for him, and perhaps due to the heat, he really didn’t feel hungry.

Without responding, the man strode toward the place where the truck was parked. The sight of his short hair pressed down by the hat was amusing. If it came to being funny, Tae-heun, with slightly longer hair, would be even more so. The two of them, without a word, dried their hair with towels and got into the car. They drove with the windows down until the air conditioning kicked in.

“Do you want to eat kongguksu?” the man asked.

“Do as you like.”

“It’s delicious.”

“Yeah.”

Tae-heun didn’t have the energy to respond.

Tae-heun had overexerted himself trying to catch up with the man, and as a result, he felt tired. It was a distance that could have been easily closed, so why was he so anxious? No matter how he thought about it, it felt strange.

The feelings he had for the man in front of him, the fear that he might disappear, didn’t feel like his own. It felt awkward and uncomfortable, as if someone had forcibly shoved it into his mind. Yet, the fear was real.

He looked back at the man. As always, the man appeared solid and calm. He looked like someone who had never experienced any emotional ups and downs. Tae-heun felt a mix of envy and irritation. Damn it. He cursed inwardly.

The man casually threw off his clothes in front of Tae-heun. He first took off his red rubber boots, then his socks, and finally stripped off his shirt, pants, and even his underwear. Standing naked, he limped over to the shower.

In contrast to his nicely tanned face and upper body, his buttocks and the upper thighs were excessively pale. From the middle of his thighs down to his slender calves, the color was slightly lighter than his upper body, but darker than his buttocks. The color difference on the man’s body, which could be seen as amusing, was attractive in its own way. It made Tae-heun’s own pale skin seem plain.

Tae-heun also took off his clothes. He stood naked next to the man. The man was washing his hair. Taking advantage of the moment, Tae-heun glanced at the man’s private parts. As a man, he was naturally curious about the size of the other. The man’s black pubic hair, even though wet, wasn’t very long and looked rather neat, as if it had been groomed. The size was impressive enough to be presentable anywhere. If it were to become erect, it would likely be quite substantial.

A chuckle escaped him. He wasn’t a pervert, yet he had been staring at the man’s private parts for too long.

After finishing washing his hair, the man reached for the soap. As he soaped his entire body and washed his pubic area and genitals, Tae-heun finally began to wash his own hair. Afterward, he rubbed his body with the soap the man had used.

The man, who finished showering before Tae-heun, didn’t dry off but instead went to get his boots. He sprayed water inside and outside the boots with the shower and carefully scrubbed the inside with soap bubbles. The sight of the man washing his boots while still naked looked somewhat ridiculous. However, his expression was so serious that Tae-heun couldn’t laugh.

The man dried off the moisture from the boots before drying his own body. Even after Tae-heun had dried off and put on his clothes, the man was still preoccupied with drying his boots. Tae-heun looked down at the man, who was still naked but wearing beach sandals.

“When are you going to stop drying your boots?”

“If they’re wet, they’ll smell later.”

“So what if they smell a bit?”

“I don’t like it.”

The man replied bluntly.

Even after being told to go out first, Tae-heun stood stubbornly in front of the man, watching what he was doing. Had he forgotten he was naked? The man didn’t seem embarrassed at all.

After taking his time to dry the boots thoroughly, the man finally dried off his body. Having seen the man wash his boots so diligently, Tae-heun felt it was time to step out first, so he did.

A text arrived.

「Chicken coop, work completed」

Tae-heun turned off his phone.

The man came out after changing his clothes and put on slippers. He wobbled while holding a black bag filled with his sweaty clothes and boots in both hands. Tae-heun took the bag from the man’s hands. He put his phone inside the bag. A black object slipped in among the wet clothes.

He opened the door to the youth association office. The president of the youth association, sitting at the desk like a built-in cabinet, had his nose buried in the monitor, indifferent to anyone entering.

The man placed his boots next to the sofa and asked, “Aren’t you going to eat, hyung?”

“I should.”

“We’re having kongguksu. Do you want to join?”

“No, I don’t like beans.”

The president of the youth association replied casually. Perhaps used to such matters, the man didn’t ask again, and Tae-heun didn’t say a word either.

The two of them left the office side by side.

“But why didn’t you give us a snack? How am I supposed to last six hours on just two cucumbers?”

Tae-heun complained, even though he wasn’t really hungry.

“I told you not to give it to you since it’s work while moving. In the past, we used to set a place and serve food, but getting there was no easy task.”

“Then at least pack some rice balls.”

“Take a break.”

“What about bread?”

When Tae-heun persistently pressed, the man hesitated, “Bread….” and then fell silent. He looked as if he hadn’t thought that far, with a sudden realization on his face.

“Next time, ask for bread. Something without cream or red bean paste.”

“…Okay.”

This was Tae-heun’s second visit to the kongguksu place. On the first day he officially stayed at the man’s house, he had lunch here with the village chief and Kwon Yong-jun’s group. At that time, he had no appetite and pretended to eat by stirring the food with chopsticks a few times before putting it down and only drinking makgeolli.

The structure was similar to the duck soup place, so it wouldn’t be strange if they served duck soup right away. The man and Tae-heun stepped barefoot onto the floor. An older lady guided them to a table with an empty setting, and before they could even settle down, the kongguksu was served.

“This place has only one menu item,” the man said, not knowing that Tae-heun had eaten here before, as he placed the chopsticks down.

The only side dish was kimchi. It was no different from the meals at the man’s house.

As always, the man ate deliciously. Tae-heun, who had no appetite at all, suddenly felt hungry when he saw the man start eating. The kongguksu and kimchi going into his mouth looked so appetizing. Swallowing hard, he finally picked up the chopsticks. His mouth felt rough, and he wondered if he could even swallow, but it went down smoothly.

What had felt thick and heavy before now tasted rich and nutty. The noodles were so chewy that the texture was incredible. Tae-heun found himself smiling without realizing it, and the man shot him a knowing smile, as if to say, “Isn’t it delicious?”