#71

“No, what do you mean half a sack? Do you have any conscience? Hah, damn it.”

Tae-heun had been cursing for five minutes straight.

It was fine that they did the work. They covered the wide field with plastic, buried it with soil, made holes, and then planted seeds. Up to that point, it was good. But the beans he received instead of his wages were only half a sack. To have two strong men work and give him that as payment was a significant loss.

“Ki-beom, I’m not usually someone who complains this much. But really, I can’t help but curse at that guy. I hope it rains heavily and washes away all the red beans and soybeans!”

The man neither comforted him nor scolded him for complaining. He silently, really silently, listened to Tae-heun’s grievances while driving.

“Hey, do you want to go out for lunch in town?”

After a long while, he finally spoke to Tae-heun, who had been talking to himself. When Tae-heun looked at him, the man, who had been focused on driving, glanced back.

“Ki-beom.”

“Yes?”

“I mean, if you like it, I’m fine with everything.”

His sudden response made the man glance back again, as if to say, “What are you talking about?”

“I’m saying let’s go to town. Let’s go.”

“Ah, yes.”

The man looked troubled. He might have been wondering if Tae-heun had gone crazy from heatstroke.

The truck entered the village hall parking lot. Tae-heun waited until the man turned off the engine before getting out of the car. The sky was so dark it looked ominous. It was strange that it hadn’t rained with such heavy clouds.

Before heading to town, he followed the man up the stairs to wash off the sweat.

“What should we eat in town?”

Tae-heun asked.

“We’ll have rice. A set meal!”

The man replied energetically. After having noodles for both breakfast and lunch, it seemed he was craving rice.

“Sure. A set meal sounds good. Oh, while we’re at it, let’s stop by the market too.”

“Yes.”

He waited for a follow-up question, but the man was done with that. He was consistent.

“Aren’t you going to ask what I’m going to buy?”

“What are you going to buy?”

The man asked reluctantly.

“Mackerel.”

At Tae-heun’s answer, the man turned around sharply. His eyes lit up as if he had forgotten something important.

“I’ll ask them to clean it, and then we’ll grill it and stew it.”

“Yes!”

The man smiled brightly. Wow, he was really handsome. Thinking that, Tae-heun also raised the corners of his mouth.

“I was just thinking about grilled fish, so I was going to the set meal place.”

The man said shyly.

“We’ll have the set meal and buy mackerel. Oh, I also want to drink an Americano.”

“Sure. We’ll do everything.”

“Yes. Let’s do it all!”

The atmosphere was so lively it felt like they could high-five, so he raised his hand, but the man turned away indifferently after finishing his words. Tae-heun lowered his hand, shaking his head in dismay.

As soon as they entered the shower room, the man, as usual, took off his clothes. He stripped down completely, even throwing off his underwear, and with his sweaty, glistening body, he passed by Tae-heun and stood in front of the shower.

Damn it. Tae-heun squeezed his eyes shut.

Just a few days ago, he had been indifferent to seeing the man’s body. But now, he felt dizzy. His breath was caught in his throat, and heat surged through his body. It felt like he was breaking out in a cold sweat. What to do? No, what was there to do? He opened his eyes wide again.

For a moment, he felt relieved that the man was unaware of him, but then he got angry. If he liked him, why wasn’t he aware of him? He wanted to protest. He roughly took off his clothes and confidently stood next to the man in front of the shower.

The man was already wet. The well-shaped penis and dark pubic hair caught his eye first. Naturally, his gaze moved to the small, tight buttocks, then scanned down to the muscular thighs and smooth calves.

As the man washed his hair, the soap bubbles flowed down his solid chest muscles to his abs, and soon reached his flat lower belly and pubic area. The bubbles were so abundant that it was impossible not to have lewd thoughts.

Tae-heun swallowed hard. His lower belly felt heavy, and blood began to flow to his member. With indomitable will, he grabbed the faucet and turned on the water. Splash! With the sound, cold water poured down mercilessly.

Ugh. Damn it. It’s freezing.

A curse slipped out. He felt numb from head to toe. Thanks to that, the heat cooled down, and his growing member quickly returned to its original state. If he finished showering like this, nothing would happen. But his eyes kept wandering toward the man, regardless of Tae-heun’s will.

The oblivious man meticulously washed his body as usual. After finishing washing his hair, he awkwardly spread his legs and brought his soapy hand to his buttocks and groin. His rough, dark hand scrubbed the unusually white genitals compared to the rest of his body. It took his breath away. He felt dizzy again.

Close your eyes, you crazy bastard.

He shouted at himself. If he closed his eyes and didn’t look, it would be fine, but he couldn’t manage to do that. Eventually, he gasped and banged his head against the wall. The thud startled the man, who turned around.

“Are you okay?”

The soapy hand grabbed Tae-heun’s shoulder. In that moment, his mind went blank. Not just his mind, but he didn’t even want to think about what had just happened right behind him.

Instead of the man who had drunk makgeolli, Tae-heun took the wheel. He turned the radio volume up to the max. Both of them coughed awkwardly, embarrassed, and headed to town without a word. Even when they got out of the car and walked to the restaurant, they didn’t say a single word.

Fortunately, at the dining table, both the man and Tae-heun regained their composure.

“Is this grilled fish?”

Tae-heun asked as he picked at the flesh with his chopsticks.

“Yes.”

He immediately put a piece of flesh in his mouth. It was quite savory and salty.

“It’s delicious, right?”

“Yes.”

The man replied while awkwardly picking at the fish bones.

He thought he could do anything, but it turned out he couldn’t.

He chuckled.

“Ki-beom, you don’t know how to pick fish bones, do you? I’ll do it for you.”

Tae-heun felt happy to have something he could do better than the man. It was even more special because it was the fish bones that would go into the man’s mouth, making him feel like a great person. As he smoothly removed the bones, the man silently exclaimed, “Wow.” It was clear that the child resembled his father. Feeling proud for no reason, he placed the flesh directly on the man’s rice.

“Thank you.”

“Ah, it’s nothing. Why are you getting emotional over something like this?”

He waved his hand, overreacting.

The man smiled. He took a big spoonful of rice topped with fish flesh and, watching the spoon go into the man’s mouth, Tae-heun smiled contentedly. Now he understood why people said they felt full just by watching someone eat.

If the man felt this way, why did his mother treat him like that? Again and again. Tae-heun shook his head vigorously. He didn’t want to think about his mother during this precious time.

“It’s delicious.”

“Of course it’s delicious. Who picked it for you?”

Tae-heun teased, winking at the man.

Just a moment ago, the rice that had been going down smoothly got stuck in his throat. It was because of that damn mother. He wanted to go confront her right away and ask why she treated him like that. He also wanted to grab his father’s collar and ask why he had been so unkind to him, who resembled her.

Tears welled up in his eyes without him realizing it. Through his blurry vision, he saw the man’s chopsticks. Fish flesh was placed on Tae-heun’s bowl. The man had put his share of flesh on Tae-heun’s rice.

“Eat.”

The man said kindly.

His nose tinged. He felt like he would burst into tears. Tae-heun hurriedly took a big spoonful, just like the man had done, and put it in his mouth.

“It’s delicious. Really.”

He gave a thumbs up and quickly lowered his head.

Why was he like this since morning?

Was he getting emotional while eating ramen, not being able to hold it in front of the man, and now getting teary-eyed in front of grilled fish? It seemed he had hit puberty late. There was no other way to explain his current self.

Only after calming down did he look up at the man. The fish that Tae-heun had picked was being savored by the man as if it were something precious. He was always like that. No matter how trivial or insignificant the item was, even if it was someone he didn’t like, he treated it with care. He put his heart into it. If there was someone who practiced altruism in real life, it would be that man.

Tae-heun kept smiling as he ate lunch. His previously blocked throat was now wide open, and he ate two bowls of rice. He ordered an extra grilled fish and shared it amicably with the man. The man paid the bill.

“Let’s go for dessert. I really want to drink some cold coffee.”

“Yes.”

The man rarely refused.

They walked side by side. Both of them smelled the same soap. Wearing the same black t-shirt bought from the market and being of similar height, they looked like twins.

The only differences were their pants and slippers. One wore jeans, while the other wore cargo pants with many pockets; one wore three-stripe slippers, and the other wore beach sandals.

Ah, their skin colors were different too.

“If we mixed together, we’d be milk coffee, right?”

Tae-heun joked. After saying it, he felt it was a bit lewd. The man seemed unfazed, not understanding the underlying meaning, while Tae-heun scratched his eyebrows, feeling shy.

Because of the slippers, the man leaned to the left with every step he took. Tae-heun intentionally stood to the man’s left. The man widened the gap, worried they might bump into each other, but every time he did, Tae-heun closed the distance.

It wasn’t an act done in hopes of accidental skinship. It was a way to show that if he stumbled, he could grab onto him, using him as a support. The man might have misunderstood it, but he didn’t care.

Tae-heun stopped in front of a bakery on the way to the coffee shop.

Happy Bakery.

“Is this the place? The one Ji-hye bought bread from before.”

The man stopped as well.

“Yes. This is the only bakery in town.”

“Let’s see. They sell coffee here too. Let’s go here. I suddenly want to eat bread.”

“Yes.”

Once again, the man obediently followed Tae-heun.

As they opened the store door, a little bell rang. The smell of fresh bread filled the air. The usually stoic man’s face brightened instantly.

“I’ll have iced coffee. What about you, Ki-beom?”

“I’ll have….”

The man looked up at the menu and said, “Milkshake.”

“One iced coffee and one milkshake, please.”

Tae-heun quickly pulled out cash. The man, a moment too late, looked disappointed.

“Oh, Ki-beom, don’t sit down right away. Let’s look at the bread. It’s been a while since I’ve seen bread, and I’m excited.”

He pulled the man’s arm, leading him to the displayed bread. The man pretended to give in and stood in front of the bread.

“You like red bean bread, right?”

He asked confidently. The man shook his head. Instead, he pointed to the soboro bread.

“I like bread that doesn’t have anything inside.”

“Really? Didn’t you say you liked this before? Ji-hye brought some back when she went to town with So-jin last time.”

“Oh. That, Ji-hye likes it. She thinks I would like it too since it’s her favorite, so she brings it. I’m still a kid.”

He confessed that even though he didn’t like it, he pretended to like it because it was given by a child. If he were a man, that would be understandable.

The man smiled happily, perhaps thinking of the child. When he said, “I’m still a kid,” it even gave off a sense of nostalgia. Just as Tae-heun looked at the man with longing, the man did the same for the child.

Tae-heun placed a palm-sized soboro bread on the tray.

“What about you, Tae-heun? What do you like?”

The man asked with an excited face. It was a face that looked just like a boy.

What kind of bread did I like?

Thinking about it, I realized I had no particular taste. If someone bought it for me, I would just pick at it and leave it. Red bean bread, cream bread, and even the cake from the hotel bakery were just okay. It wasn’t that I didn’t like bread. Tae-heun ate anything like that. If it was there, he would eat it; if it wasn’t, he wouldn’t. The only thing he showed any dislike for was food with a dark, rich broth.

“Red bean bread.”

Tae-heun replied this way, hoping to score some points with the man.

As expected, the man smiled brightly.

“Your taste is just like Ji-hye’s.”

The man happily picked up the red bean bread.