By Zephyria 
“D-Did you not go to work?”
Eun-myeong stood up awkwardly. Seeing him like that, Eun-joo was utterly speechless.
“I decided to start at the company tomorrow. But what on earth is with your appearance….”
She had just stepped outside to take out the trash. But how was he in even worse shape than when she saw him at dawn? Had the kid really been jumped or something? His clothes were filthy, like rags, and there was a hole in his sock with a toe poking out.
“Exactly how long have you been here? Don’t tell me you walked all the way here?”
“…Yeah, just to clear my head.”
It was a distance that would take at least several dozen minutes by bus, and he had walked it. No wonder he looked like that. Eun-myeong looked pitiful and wretched, like a reddish raw chicken that had been stripped of all its feathers after enduring endless hardship.
Eun-joo quickly approached him, limping slightly.
“You wore slippers, so your feet are even bleeding.”
Eun-myeong hesitated.
“I’m sorry.”
His round eyes were so large that she could see transparent tears welling up and shimmering even from a distance.
“What do you mean, sorry? Am I a stranger to you?”
Eun-myeong cast his eyes downward, looking ashamed.
“Still….”
Right then, a loud rumble came from his stomach. Eun-myeong’s face flushed deep red as he clutched his lower abdomen.
Eun-joo was driven nearly crazy by the absurdity of it. Good grief, what am I going to do with this kid….
“Did that son of a bitch send you away without even feeding you?”
Whether he realized who the “son of a bitch” referred to, Eun-myeong’s expression darkened instantly. He stammered out an excuse.
“It’s not that, I… I was just out of it, so I forgot to eat.”
Eun-joo let out a deep sigh inwardly. She led Eun-myeong inside, telling him to hurry. She had a mountain of things she wanted to say, but her first priority was to get him washed and fed.
She walked, trying to recall what was in the refrigerator.
“This should roughly fit; the waistband on these pants is a bit stretched out….”
Eun-joo searched deep in the wardrobe and pulled out a loose short-sleeved T-shirt and shorts.
“Okay.”
Taking the clothes and clutching them tightly, Eun-myeong hurried into the bathroom.
The moment he looked in the mirror, he was absolutely startled. Wow, how could he look like this? He truly looked like a drowned rat that had been in the rain for a week. To think that this was the last image he had left with the man.
“Even the little bit of dignity I had left must be completely gone….”
His heart felt twice as bitter and painful as his stinging, bloodied, and chafed feet.
Then, he shook his head violently. His fine, downy hair fluttered about.
No, let’s not think about it. We’re strangers now anyway. I’ll never see him again, so stop thinking like this. Just hurry up and wash. Eun-myeong hardened his expression.
Soon, he picked up a round bar of soap and began scrubbing his body clean. Now that he had broken up with the man, he had to save water. He filled a basin and washed himself as frugally as possible. He moved briskly, utilizing the know-how he had accumulated over time.
Dirty water streamed off his body. Eun-myeong hoped that any lingering attachments left in every corner of his body would be washed away as well.
“…….”
When he cautiously opened the bathroom door and stepped out, a savory aroma wafted toward him.
“Come here, Eun-myeong.”
Noona called him. A small dining table was set up in the living room. Noona had placed a pot on a portable stove and was stir-frying kimchi and meat with a generous amount of sesame oil.
“Try this.”
Eun-myeong opened his mouth slightly and took a spoonful. A sweet and savory taste brushed across his tongue.
“Is it good?”
“Yeah, really….”
The umami was incredible. His starving stomach seemed to rumble, demanding more. When Eun-myeong nodded, Eun-joo looked very satisfied.
“I’m going to chop in plenty of chili peppers and make it really spicy, so all the stress flies away…. That fucking piece of shit.”
She added plenty of chopped green onions, onions, and tofu to the red broth flavored with kimchi. The pot was soon full.
As the broth boiled vigorously, she scooped out the rice she had prepared in the morning. She also fried some eggs and brought out a few side dishes. Zucchini pancakes, stir-fried anchovies, and even salted squid. It was a feast that completely filled the small table.
The kimchi stew boiled with plenty of meat was truly spicy and sweet. The taste was an absolute masterpiece. As he scooped a spoonful of broth and mixed it thoroughly with the rice, his insides warmed up.
“I remember us making kimchi stew at that house.”
Eun-myeong sniffled. He nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, I remember….”
Meat was too expensive, so they used ham instead, but even then, Spam was a real luxury for them. They used to chop up chunks of thousand-won gimbap ham and put it all in, eating it on their birthdays as a special treat with Noona.
Of course, Eun-myeong didn’t even know his own exact birthday. He was told he had been abandoned in front of the orphanage as a newborn, wrapped in a towel.
Since he didn’t even have a proper name, he shared a character from his name with Eun-joo noona, who had entered the orphanage around the same time. That was why Eun-myeong’s birthday was set as the day he and his noona left the orphanage and entered that first house together.
Thinking of the house made him indescribably depressed. So, he hurried to devour the kimchi stew. Sssup, haa. Eun-myeong gasped for air. It was so spicy that his tongue felt like it was on fire.
Noona said eating spicy food makes stress fly away, but instead of flying away, he felt like he was getting more stressed.
“On my way to your place, I got a call from the police.”
Eun-myeong muttered. The area around his lips was reddish, as if he had a honey-rash. He bit his plump lips.
“They said it looked like an electrical short circuit happened.”
Even as he spoke, he wondered if that made any sense. He had lived obsessively unplugging everything for fear that the electricity bill would be too high. And how long had that house been empty? What kind of short circuit could have happened?
“I’m sorry, because of me.”
Eun-myeong murmured softly. His nostrils were red from the spicy broth.
“What did you do wrong?”
Eun-joo glanced at his face. My poor, pitiful younger brother.
In truth, she had known the moment she saw him.
He had finally broken up with that man.
…Was Eun-myeong the one who was dumped, as expected?
Eun-joo thought that for a moment, but then she thought of the man and shook her head violently.
That guy is completely insane. That man, who had thrown his shame to the dogs, would have probably rolled Eun-myeong up like a gimbap in a straw mat and tied him to the front of a boat just to take him along to a deserted island.
‘Or else….’
Did Eun-myeong leave on his own and come here?
She was so curious she wanted to grab Eun-myeong and ask him right now, but her brother, whom she had met after half a day, looked too pitiful.
Eun-joo let out a word that might have been a self-deprecating complaint.
“If I hadn’t done those things in the first place, you wouldn’t have ended up entangled with a piece of trash like that.”
“Piece of trash….”
Eun-myeong licked his lips.
“That human wouldn’t even burn in a fire, even as a corpse.”
Eun-joo poured a glass of cold water. It was to push down the boiling emotions inside her. She drank it in great gulps without breathing and set the cup down with a thud.
“Now tell me. Why didn’t you bring a single piece of luggage?”
Only then did she start bringing out the questions she had been keeping inside.
“You left in a hurry, right? Did that man tell you to leave? Did he kick you out?”
If that were the case, she would never forgive him; she was prepared to smash the CEO’s office to pieces tomorrow.
“No, I left.”
However, Eun-myeong shook his head. Then, as if making a vow, he spoke firmly.
“I’m never going back.”
His pale face was unusually determined. His bright red lips were pressed tightly together. But why did his gaze look so hollow? It bothered her, as if he were pretending to be fine and putting on a front.
“I’ll get my things soon.”
Since he said that, she couldn’t ask any further. There would be private circumstances between the two of them. It was enough that he had come to his senses now. Whew, Eun-joo let out another deep sigh.
“Right, forget about a bastard like that. Once you go out, people are as common as pebbles on the road. Let’s pay off that guy’s debt together and get your things.”
The two of them ate their meal combatively. Normally, they were small eaters who pecked at their food, but they emptied their bowls as if they were fighting someone. Afterward, Eun-myeong took charge of the dishes, and Noona went in to wash.
After that, they spent a peaceful time watching TV. They shared small talk while watching variety shows or dramas and ate sliced apples. Noona also brewed warm mix coffee, saying she had brought it from the company.
“You need to drink something warm to calm down.”
Eun-myeong wrapped both hands around the coffee cup. He took a sip of the steaming coffee.
“It’s sweet.”
Haaam, Noona yawned. Looking at the time, it was already close to 10 PM.
“I should go to sleep. I have to go back to work tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
Noona pulled a thick blanket out of the wardrobe for him. With eyes full of drowsiness, he entered the room.
“Good night.”
“Yeah, you too, Noona.”
Eun-myeong sent a small greeting back.
Click, the lights in the house went out. Left alone, Eun-myeong lay down on the thick blanket. His eyelids felt stiff and heavy. He hadn’t slept a wink since dawn and had cried too much.
Then, perhaps falling into a light sleep, his consciousness faded away.
Eun-myeong tossed and turned. As he turned on his side, he instinctively reached out his arm, but instead of finding something to hold onto, it dropped empty.
He felt no warmth beside him.
He snapped awake in surprise. The surroundings were unfamiliar and dark. Where am I…? He blinked a few times, and then slowly accepted reality.
…Ah, right, I’m at Noona’s house.
And he looked at the empty spot beside him. Silence filled the surroundings. A pain that tightened his chest. He gripped his chest tightly at the unspeakable ache. The emotions he had been suppressing all this time rushed in late.
There was no way to handle it. His eyes immediately grew hot, and the bridge of his nose stung.
“…Hic.”
He desperately covered his mouth, fearing that the sound of his sobbing might leak out.
Tears just streamed down. Since snot was coming out disgustingly as well, he pulled down his sleeve and rubbed it away. He couldn’t bring himself to stain Noona’s blanket.
‘I’ll only cry today. Really… I’m really, just, only crying today.’
And then I’ll love someone else, get married, move into a new house, and all that….
He made that vow, but why did the tears continue to flow without stopping?
The saddest part was the fact that even while he was sobbing like an idiot, the man wouldn’t be thinking of him for a single second.