By Zephyria 
98
“…….”
Ho-eun tilted his head. Did he have the Hair Tie? Why didn’t he give it to me? Did he forget to give it to me? Various questions arose, but he thought it was enough that he received the Hair Tie.
“Thank you.”
Ho-eun received it with both hands and bowed. Then, with quite skillful hands, he began to braid his hair. After leaving home, he had been tying his hair alone every day, and now he was doing well on his own.
He carefully divided his long hair into several strands and braided them, but somehow he felt a gaze on one cheek. So he looked at Tae-muk, but Tae-muk was looking at a tree on one side of the yard.
Did I feel wrong?
Ho-eun dismissed it without much thought. After that, he pulled the Hair Tie tightly and tied it at the end of his hair. Only then did he feel complete. Now, even if he went outside, there would be nothing that would harm Tae-muk’s reputation.
As he stroked the Hair Tie with a satisfied face.
Growl.
“Oh…….”
His stomach vibrated. Ho-eun grabbed his stomach. For a moment, Ho-eun thought there was a frog in his stomach. He even had the foolish thought that he might have swallowed a frog while running through the rainy road last night.
Then he belatedly realized that this was ‘hunger.’
Hungry. Such an amazing thing.
Ho-eun had no memory of ever feeling hungry in his life. He had lived a life where he received meals before he was even hungry. His parents were particularly worried about his meals. So the hunger he felt now was unfamiliar and even amazing.
As Ho-eun stroked his stomach with his lips pursed, Tae-muk suddenly jumped up. Then he threw the cigarette he was holding and stomped it out with his foot.
“Where are you going?”
Ho-eun craned his neck and looked up at him. He was so tall that looking up at him while sitting made his neck feel like it would break.
Without answering, Tae-muk looked around the veranda and started to go somewhere. Ho-eun, who got up a beat late, did not go down to the yard, but walked on the veranda and followed him. Because it was a Korean-style house, he could move from room to room through the veranda without having to wear shoes.
Tae-muk’s destination was the kitchen with the black cauldron. The veranda did not extend to the inside of the kitchen, so Ho-eun leaned against the wall and poked only his head inside.
Tae-muk opened the lid of the cauldron. It was made of cast iron and was heavy enough to be used as a shield, but he lifted it very lightly with one hand.
Steam poured out of the cauldron. It was as if a whole cloud was contained inside.
Tae-muk grabbed and touched something in the cauldron with his hands, then put it in a basket nearby. What was rolling around in the basket was none other than potatoes.
After filling the basket with potatoes until it was heavy, Tae-muk headed back to the veranda. Ho-eun also trotted back to his place. Tae-muk put the basket down next to Ho-eun’s thigh and sat on the veranda as if nothing had happened.
Eight potatoes were huddled together in the basket. Ho-eun stared at them. He had an expression as if he was seeing potatoes for the first time in his life. After observing and studying the potatoes for a while, he carefully asked.
“Did you…… do it yourself?”
“…….”
Tae-muk answered with silence. Ho-eun interpreted it as affirmation. His eyebrows went up slightly. He had been half-doubting, but Tae-muk really did it.
“You know how to do this too?”
At that, Tae-muk frowned and immediately asked back.
“Do I look like an idiot to you?”
“……No?”
“Then why are you asking?”
“I…… I was asking because I don’t know how to do it…….”
“…….”
“Perhaps, in the battlefield, are you treated like an idiot if you can’t steam potatoes?”
Ho-eun looked at Tae-muk with an expression asking what he should do. At that, Tae-muk let out a ridiculous laugh as if he was dumbfounded. Ho-eun was, well, often ignorant in a way that was a little different from not knowing how to read or do math. The word ‘ignorance’ really didn’t suit his white and neat face, but there was no other way to explain it.
“I should learn from Chilbok as soon as I get back. I’ll do it for you next time.”
Ho-eun clenched his fist and made a promise. He also put strength on the ends of his lips. Then his fair cheeks swelled up like glutinous rice cakes, and at that sight, Tae-muk raised his hand without realizing it, then quickly lowered it again. He almost pinched Ho-eun’s cheek. He was unnecessarily childish…….
“Stop chattering and eat the potatoes.”
Tae-muk turned his gaze forward and said. At that, Ho-eun smiled and nodded.
“Yes. I will enjoy it.”
Then, without thinking, he grabbed a potato steaming with steam with his hand. He knew it was hot, but he didn’t know it was that hot because Tae-muk had picked it out of the pot with his bare hands.
“Ah, hot, hot…….”
Ho-eun’s wrist swayed. He wanted to throw the potato away right away, but that was not polite. The person who made the food, and even his superior, was right in front of him. So he tried to endure the heat by transferring it to his left hand and then to his right hand.
Tae-muk snatched it away. Then he broke the potato with his bare hands. White steam poured out fiercely from the flesh of the potato. It was hot steam that felt like it would burn his nostrils just by breathing it in. Ho-eun, terrified, widened his eyes.
“Aren’t, aren’t you hot?”
“…….”
But Tae-muk didn’t care and broke the potato in half again. Steam poured out from the potato, which was divided into four pieces. Tae-muk put it down in front of Ho-eun and immediately tried to pick up the next potato.
Unable to watch any longer, Ho-eun grabbed Tae-muk’s hand.
“Stop, stop it! What if you get burned!”
He examined his fingertips thoroughly. He must have been burned. He might have blisters.
But…… Tae-muk’s hand was fine. There was no burn, and it wasn’t even red. Ho-eun poked his fingertips as if he couldn’t believe it.
This isn’t cast iron, it’s the same as a normal hand, just a little harder, but how…….
As Ho-eun was examining Tae-muk’s hand with his eyes wide open, Tae-muk finally couldn’t stand it and poked Ho-eun’s cheek with his index finger. The soft flesh went in and out. At that, Ho-eun gasped and looked at Tae-muk. Tae-muk said in a monotone voice.
“Are you going to keep holding my hand? Well, I like it, but I can’t cut the potatoes.”
“Ah……, I’m, I’m sorry.”
Surprised, Ho-eun dropped Tae-muk’s hand. Tae-muk slightly bent and stretched the fingertips where Ho-eun’s warmth remained. The potato steaming with steam was not hot at all, but the place where Ho-eun’s hand touched was strangely hot.
He shook his hand in the air for no reason and started to divide the remaining potatoes into four pieces. He divided the particularly large pieces once more.
“Eat.”
Tae-muk gestured with his chin at the potatoes. Ho-eun swallowed hard and looked at the potatoes. The rising steam smelled delicious. His stomach was clamoring for him to put it in his mouth right away.
Ho-eun reached for the smallest of the cut potatoes, then picked up the largest one next to it. And he held it out to Tae-muk.
“You eat first.”
“…….”
Tae-muk stared at the potato held out to him. Then he looked at Ho-eun once, and then at the potato again, and took it as if snatching it away. Ho-eun smiled brightly as if it was nothing.
Ho-eun picked up the smallest potato and brought it to his mouth. And he bit it slightly with his front teeth. The fluffy potato crumbled on his tongue without even having to chew it.
Delicious. That was the first thought that came to mind. It was moderately sweet, chewy, and savory if you tasted it carefully.
“It’s delicious. Really.”
Ho-eun swallowed the food in his mouth and said, covering his mouth with his sleeve. Tae-muk just chewed and ate the potato without saying anything else.
Ho-eun, who quickly ate a piece of potato, immediately picked up the second potato. And as he bit into it, he coughed. His throat was blocked because he was trying to eat the potato on an empty stomach without any side dishes or water.
“Cough, cough…….”
As he closed his mouth tightly and patted his chest, Tae-muk stood up again. He headed to the kitchen at a speed that Ho-eun couldn’t keep up with, and came back with cold water in a bowl. Then he put it down in front of Ho-eun.
“…….”
Ho-eun stared blankly at the bowl with the water sloshing. This was something Deok-woo would do. It felt strange to receive such treatment from Tae-muk. It was even stranger because he had once swallowed rice balls that he couldn’t even eat until he vomited.
As Ho-eun only looked at the bowl, Tae-muk raised one eyebrow and asked.
“Why. Are you afraid I put poison in it?”
“No. It’s just…….”
“Just, what.”
“…….”
Ho-eun was about to talk about the rice balls, but stopped. He was curious why Tae-muk had been so harsh to him at that time, but he was afraid that he would lose the current Tae-muk if he brought it up. Ho-eun smiled slightly and picked up the bowl.
“I’m just too grateful.”
“…….”
Ho-eun sipped the cold water. Then he started eating the potatoes again. He was understanding for the first time in his life that hunger is a side dish, wondering what made the potatoes so delicious.
Soon, Ho-eun, who had eaten the second potato in a flash, picked up the third potato and looked around the yard.
The yard of the house with no owner was just the right size. On one side, there was a persimmon tree with persimmons hanging heavily, and on the other side, there was a platform that seemed to be just the right size for a family of four to eat, and the fence was low, but sharp iron bars were embedded in preparation for the invasion of Devouring Ghouls.
And the clothes hanging on the line were tangled messily, the drying peppers were scattered haphazardly on the ground, and various household items were rolling around on the dirt floor.