By Zephyria 
170
“…….”
Startled, Ho-eun raised his upper body and looked at Tae-muk. He was sitting on the porch in front of the room. Judging by the pile of cigarette butts in the ashtray next to him, it seemed he had been sitting there for quite some time. That meant he had heard Ho-eun’s crying in its entirety.
Even in the midst of this, Ho-eun, who had to maintain decorum, staggered to his feet. Then, he knelt down and stared at Tae-muk with eyes reddened as if scratched by fingernails.
“General…….”
“How long are you going to cry? You stopped eating halfway through your meal. Either eat or cry.”
Tae-muk said irritably. He had heard that to heal from mouth ulcers or canker sores, one had to eat well and sleep well, but Ho-eun was crying as if trying to die, which was quite bothersome. What if his mouth sores got worse? What if he started having nosebleeds, fever, and catching colds?
However, even with Tae-muk’s command, Ho-eun couldn’t stop crying. Rather, his lips twitched.
“Sniffle, sob, sniffle…….”
He shed tears even more forcefully than before. The tears were so round and heavy that they made a dripping sound each time they fell to the floor. Unable to bear it any longer, Tae-muk jumped up as if propelled and entered the room. His massive shadow, with his back to the paper door, covered Ho-eun.
“I told you to stop crying. If you don’t stop, I’ll tear all of that up.”
Tae-muk gestured with his chin toward the unfolded letter. He even ground his teeth as if he meant it. His jawbone protruded sharply above his skin.
Ho-eun stared up at Tae-muk blankly. He was going to tear up his father’s letter. It was a truly heartless and fierce thing to say, but for some reason, he wasn’t scared. He hiccuped and his shoulders trembled intermittently as he pleaded with a desperate face.
“C-Can’t I…… cry a little more?”
“What?”
“Just a little…… I’ll cry a little more…… really just a little…….”
His pronunciation was slurred from his lips, swollen with tears. The way he mumbled, “Jusht a widdle……” made him sound like a naive child.
“Ha…….”
Tae-muk scoffed at the absurd request. It wasn’t that he was asking not to tear up the letter, or to leave him alone, but to let him cry more. It was such a Ho-eun-like request that he was speechless.
“…….”
Tae-muk scratched the back of his lower lip with his tongue. He didn’t want to grant the request, but he couldn’t ignore it either, so he was hesitant to answer. So he stood still, and Ho-eun crawled over and knelt in front of Tae-muk. Then.
Thump, thump.
He hit the floor. It meant to sit here.
Tae-muk scoffed again in disbelief, but he sat on the floor without complaint. Then Ho-eun, as if it were natural, crawled onto Tae-muk’s lap. He curled up in Tae-muk’s arms, and after catching his breath for a moment, he buried his face in his broad chest and began to cry again.
“Sniffle, sob, sniffle, hiccup, sniffle…….”
His small, thin body trembled in time with his sobs. Tae-muk felt his chest getting wet. He also felt Ho-eun’s body, heated by the crying, becoming as hot as a heated stone.
“Ha…….”
He looked up at the ceiling and sighed. Then, he twisted one side of his lip in displeasure, swept his bangs back, and scratched the back of his head. After that, he scolded Ho-eun with a still-annoyed expression.
“Cry a little…… less.”
Ho-eun, who was diligent in everything, was also crying very diligently. He could be lazy about this, but.
“Yes…….”
He, who always answered well, hiccuped. Tae-muk gently wiped the tears from Ho-eun’s temple with the back of his fingers. His already delicate skin was so thin from the tears and heat. If he touched it wrong, it felt like his skin would tear like the skin of a ripe persimmon.
Tae-muk frowned, withdrew his hand, and began to carefully dab away the tears with his sleeve. However, Ho-eun was shedding more tears than he could wipe away, so it was all for naught.
Tae-muk sighed, but he didn’t scold him.
Ho-eun said he would cry just a little more, but he cried until the sun went down and the sky turned from completely red to purple. During that long time, Tae-muk wiped away Ho-eun’s tears and patted his back.
Over a hundred bonfires blazed here and there. Soldiers gathered around the bonfires, in groups of a dozen or so to dozens, sharing a plentiful meal. The light from the bonfires was quite bright, but the walls were high and there were guards on duty, so there seemed to be no need to worry about Devouring Ghouls.
The soldiers were very excited about the rare feast. Laughter erupted from here and there without ceasing.
Ho-eun also took a seat in front of a bonfire. He slowly brought a spoonful of steaming hot scorched rice soup to his mouth. Then, he chewed on something that didn’t need to be chewed. The unique red light of the bonfire flickered over his face.
“Does your mouth hurt?”
Tae-muk, who was sitting close enough that their thighs were touching, asked. At the same time, he tucked Ho-eun’s stray hairs, which were swaying gently in the cold wind, behind his ear.
“Yes. It’s okay because I don’t have to chew much.”
Ho-eun replied in his characteristic neat tone. It was a positive answer, but Tae-muk’s twisted expression didn’t ease.
“What do you mean it’s okay? There’s so much food, and you’re only eating scorched rice soup…….”
He looked at the food that filled the table. Ribs, pan-fried beef slices dipped in egg batter, grilled fish, and other various precious foods and side dishes were lined up, but Ho-eun was holding and eating only a bowl of scorched rice soup.
“I can eat it tomorrow.”
Ho-eun smiled, crinkling his swollen eyes. Then, he carefully brought another spoonful of scorched rice soup to his mouth. He had to open his mouth wider than usual, in case the spoon touched his lower lip.
Tae-muk, seeing this, sighed through his nose. Still, he should be grateful that he was at least gulping down that much…….
Ho-eun, who had been crying non-stop, looked up at Tae-muk when he finally stopped crying and said, “I’m hungry.”
So Tae-muk went straight to find Chilbok, but the food storage was in complete chaos. Food that hadn’t found a place was left outside in the falling snow. There was so much food sent from Ho-eun’s house that they couldn’t store it all.
Chilbok was wringing his hands, wondering what to do with it, lamenting how wasteful it was, so he suggested they eat it to get rid of it, and that’s how the situation turned out. It was like a feast had been set up. Anyone would think there was something to celebrate. Or, was it a celebration because a feast was being held?
But Ho-eun, the owner of the food, couldn’t eat anything.
Tae-muk, with a troubled expression, clicked his tongue.
“Shit……. I can’t eat any more…….”
Dong-ja, who was sitting across from him, fell backward with her eyes rolled up. Her stomach was bulging as if it would burst. Man-soo, who was next to Dong-ja Noonim, sucked on a bottle of alcohol and then burped loudly with his mouth wide open.
“Burp……. Me too…….”
His face was as red as if he had been beaten with fire. His eyelids were loosely drooping, and his shoulders were slumped as if his bones had disappeared. Ho-eun smiled faintly at the sight. Tae-muk suddenly grabbed a handful of snow and scattered it at them.
“Stop eating so much. I don’t know if you guys are people or pigs…….”
He had never begrudged the soldiers eating, but now he felt it was a waste and a pity. In case Ho-eun had less to eat. It was a truly petty thought, but he couldn’t help but be annoyed that what Dong-ja and Man-soo had eaten for dinner could have fed Ho-eun for ten days, no, twenty days.
“Dong-ja, you seem to eat more than a Devouring Ghoul when I look at you.”
Tae-muk said, looking at Dong-ja with displeasure.
“Oh, Captain. How much did I eat……. I only ate a tiny bit…….”
Dong-ja Noonim wiped the snow from her face and grumbled. Tae-muk stared at her in disbelief. Byeonguk, who was removing fish bones nearby, lowered his head slightly and called out to him.
“Captain.”
“What.”
“Chilbok said he set aside what the young master would eat separately, and told Dong-ja Noonim to eat as much as she wanted.”
“……Is that so?”
“Yes. He said he chose only the prettiest and most tender pancakes and meat, so you don’t have to worry.”
At those words, Tae-muk’s eyebrows, which had been sharply honed, softened in an instant. He pulled down on his earlobes and gestured with his chin toward Dong-ja.
“Dong-ja, eat more.”
“Really?”
Dong-ja Noonim chuckled, got up, and took three stacked slices of pan-fried beef to her mouth. Man-soo also chuckled and tore off a piece of meat to eat. Then he put the bottle to his mouth again and tilted his head back. The sound of the alcohol going down his throat echoed loudly.
Ho-eun, who was fiddling with his scorched rice soup, watched the scene with a pleased expression. He felt good that they were enjoying the food that his parents had prepared. He looked around at the people sitting around him and soon realized that Tae-muk wasn’t eating.
“General, please eat. You haven’t had dinner.”
“Yeah.”
Tae-muk replied but didn’t pick up his chopsticks. Instead, he said things like, “Isn’t the bowl heavy? Should I hold it for you?” which made Ho-eun laugh. Ho-eun said it was okay, but he ended up taking the bowl and holding it up to his chin. Thanks to that, Ho-eun was able to eat the scorched rice soup comfortably.