I Became the Lousy Side Top - Chap 1

Notes: This is an edited MTL novel. I’ve done my best to stay faithful to the story, but I don’t speak a word of Korean and have altered the text when needed to make it flow better or when there’s an English phrase which suits the situation. The original MTL was a weird mix of first person, third person present, and third person past tenses, so I’ve tried to harmonize those together into third person past tense, with the exception of the very first paragraph, which just worked better in first.

I really love this story, and I hope the readers will love it too.

One day, I was possessed by a story. My memory of that part wasn’t clear. I couldn’t even remember the title of the novel. I think it had something to do with old-fashioned floor stones1? Maybe? But right now, what does that matter?

‘How do I get out of here?’

After looking around for a while, nothing came to mind. If you put someone into a story, shouldn’t you also tell them how to get out of it? He sighed, resenting the unknown existence that had brought him here.

‘Why did this happen?’

He didn’t know. Apart from the fact that he’d woken up inside of a BL novel, why did he also have to possess such a sleazy side top? No, can he even be called a side top? He’s more like a passing villain. He might not remember the title, but he remembered the contents quite well.

Seo Jaewoo. An unemployed man living off of rent in a house that he inherited from his grandmother. He once dreamed of becoming an idol, but gave up because he had zero talent, and was now living idly with the remaining wealth of his parents and grandmother. There was only one thing that such a man was interested in.

Yoo Hyunjin. A young man who rented a room in a slum because he could no longer afford a house with the debts his father had left him.

He was a responsible person who took care of his two younger siblings and struggled with numerous part-time jobs. While harassing such a nice young man, Jaewoo made it even more difficult by subtly demanding his body. He insults and berates Hyunjin whenever the rent was late. Eventually, he escalated to insisting that Hyunjin pay the rest with his body. He charged Hyunjin and his brothers 200,000 won a month in rent.

Yep. And then eventually, the main top arrived and took Jaewoo out in one blow. That’s not okay! He didn’t know what would happen if he died, but he didn’t want to find out. He valued his life very much. So he decided-

‘I will not be hated by Hyunjin from now on, and I will survive by avoiding the male lead! I’m absolutely determined! Isn’t it possible to solve this situation by gathering information?’ Jaewoo thought so.

He’d made up his mind. Right now, this was a matter of survival!

‘Let’s eat and think for now!’

Early in the morning, after staying up all night, Jaewoo woke up yawning. As a side top, he was pretty tall. He also had a great face. But he wasn’t good at singing, dancing, or acting, so he spent a lot of time at his talent agency only to get kicked out without accomplishing anything.

Even if he dressed like a slob, with his face and money, he could still have a good life. But that wasn’t what’s important right now. Jaewoo, who was scratching his head, went to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth. Then he went to the kitchen and put some rice in the rice cooker.

‘Should I make one serving? Two servings?’

After thinking about it, he settled on four servings.

‘Freshly cooked rice is delicious.’

After confirming that the rice cooker was working, he searched through the refrigerator. Nearly all the shelves and drawers were empty. Originally, Jaewoo wasn’t the type to make a home-cooked meal for himself. However, he, who was not Jaewoo, enjoyed cooking whenever he had the chance.

Dried green onions, and a little bit of yellow onion right before it goes bad. Deep-fried kimchi. Pork that was who knows how old, and some nearly-rotten eggs. That was all he found.

‘Is this enough?’

Jaewoo laughed and poured sesame oil into the pot. Then, the cut kimchi was stir-fried with the meat. The combination of the sour smell of kimchi and the savory smell of the meat went well together. Even just smelling it made his mouth water.

Do you know this? If the kimchi is good, you can make a delicious stew without using any broth. Jaewoo’s grandmother, now deceased, was really good at making kimchi, so her kimchi was delicious. The kimchi stew that she used to make always turned out fantastic.

While the kimchi stew was boiling, he cracked an egg to make egg rolls. It was an old frying pan, but a fairly good egg roll was born. The yellow, chubby body looked very appetizing.

At about that time, the door of the house on the other side of the yard opened. Out came two children who seemed to be about twelve and eight years old. They were Yoo Hyunjin’s younger brothers.

Hyunjin had been working part-time since early in the morning, so the two of them washed their faces by themselves at the faucet in the yard. Then, shivering, they ran back into their room. Their eyes briefly went to the open kitchen, but it was literally just for a moment.

‘Come to think of it, what do they have to eat?’

Jaewoo, who was worried, looked at the freshly prepared kimchi stew, egg rolls, and rice in turn. It was too much to eat alone. But could he ask them to eat with him? He’d been harassing their brother for some time now. It was obvious that the children would be wary of him.

After thinking for a while, Jaewoo stretched out his long legs and went to the closed door. After all, they were Hyunjin’s younger brothers. There’s nothing wrong with buying some goodwill in advance. He knocked on the wall instead of the ramshackle door, and a voice came from inside.

“Who are you?”

“Me? I’m the house owner. Have you eaten?”

Then, after a moment of hesitation, the voice came again from inside.

“We’ve eaten.”

They may have eaten, but it wouldn’t have been a proper meal. A room with a monthly rent of 200,000 won doesn’t have a kitchen and bathroom attached. You have to rent the kitchen of the owner’s house or use a portable gas burner to cook, but the only people at home are two kids. Hyunjin wouldn’t let his little brothers do such a dangerous thing.

The most they could have eaten was bread.

“Come on out.”

“Why?”

“Because I asked you to. Aren’t I the landlord?”

Jaewoo added a light threat. The door slowly cracked open. The children looked out at him.

“I’ll give you some food.”

It was a suspicious look. In particular, the older child was staring at him like he was ready to call the cops on him in a heartbeat. He seemed to have been well educated by his brother.

“Really. I made too much by mistake.”

The door closed, and even after tens of minutes of whispered arguing, the children did not come out. Then there’s nothing to be done – he’ll need to try a different way. Jaewoo pursed his lips and poured the kimchi stew into another bowl. Then he set a table and put it by the children’s door.

“Eat up, kids.”

After that, he went back to the kitchen and took a sneak peek, watching as the door cracked open again and the children peered out. Then, after seeing the rice, they hesitated and slowly dragged the whole table inside.

“All right.”

Jaewoo smirked and began to continue his meal. Sour and spicy kimchi stew. He put white rice in it and chewed on the egg rolls.

It’s good. As expected, even if his body was different, his original skill didn’t go anywhere. After eating the rice, he was full. After that, he missed his warm room, so he went back to his bedroom and crawled under the covers. They say it’s not good to lie down right after eating, but he was so happy.

For a while, he forgot his worries.

Late afternoon, he woke up and opened the door, only for something to catch his eye. Looking down, he saw that the dishes he had prepared for the children this morning were neatly washed and piled up in front of the door.

Even though it’s not winter yet, the water from the faucet must be freezing, yet they still took the time to wash them properly. The kids had done a better job than he would have. Jaewoo scratched the back of his head and picked up the bowls that were lined up neatly in rows.

They’re so young, but it seemed like they’ve had to grow up fast. Jaewoo felt sorry for that. Their father was garbage, and their mother abandoned them, leaving the three of them to move to a slum with all their debts. How hard of a life do these little ones lead?

He’s glad they had a good meal. Children need to eat well.

Jaewoo went into the kitchen holding the clean bowls. After he put them back, he went through the refrigerator and wrote down what he needed to buy on a notepad.

“There’s so much I’m going to need…”

What the hell had this kid been surviving on? Jaewoo clicked his tongue and left the house wearing a jacket and holding a bank card. There was a supermarket in the neighborhood, but it was small, and cards weren’t accepted there. So he went a little farther.

Just how little did the original Jaewoo exercise? He was out of breath before he even arrived at the mart.

‘So, what should I get?’

Eggs, leeks, onions, potatoes, etc. He was picking up the essentials, when suddenly a supermarket flier caught his eye. Pork belly was on the list of today’s sales.

“Two pounds of pork belly, please.”

He ended up buying two pounds of it. He’d almost only bought enough for one, but on second thought, there were four people living in the same house. He didn’t know if the others would eat it or not, but he decided to buy two pounds and hope. He could always freeze the leftovers and use them in stews later. After splurging like that, both hands were full of grocery bags.

Jaewoo asked about delivery, but the truck couldn’t make it because the roads in the neighborhood were so steep.

‘They’re so stingy!’

Jaewoo muttered to himself, carting his groceries up the narrow slope. As he gasped and climbed, the sky was getting darker, and before he knew it the street lights flickered on. The days were getting shorter as winter approached.

“Oh god, I’m dying…”

As Jaewoo climbed up, griping and groaning to himself2, he spotted a shadowy figure walking slowly down the other side. The man, clad in an old coat and trudging along wearily, was a familiar face to Jaewoo.

‘Hyunjin!’

Jaewoo looked around to see if he could hide, but there wasn’t any place to go. Should he pretend he didn’t see him? But that would be weird too. In the end, he decided to say hello to Hyunjin.

“Hi-hi3!”

Jaewoo panicked and let out a noise that could barely be called a greeting. Hearing his voice, Hyunjin raised his head and turned to look at Jaewoo. Then, his expression slightly distorted. Since Jaewoo was his landlord, he couldn’t openly show his dissatisfaction.

In the novel, Hyunjin was the bottom. Even when haggard and run down, his beauty shone through. It was clear that Jaewoo had been transported into a fantasy world. Working himself to the bone with that face! Even if he wasn’t famous, he could live off of that face alone! Jaewoo took a deep breath and tried again, more calmly.

“Hello.”

“Uh, hello.”

After greeting him, Jaewoo didn’t know what else to say. Hyunjin nodded and tried to pass him by.

Notes from Apple: I’m really curious about what the original novel title actually was. It never gets mentioned throughout the rest of the novel.

Footnotes
구들장 – Gudeuljang is a type of floor tile that was used in traditional Korean heating systems to pass the heat from a oven up through the floor. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ondol
오만 불평불만 – I think the Korean raw was using the phrase ‘arrogant complaints’ for Jaewoo’s bitching. I went with the English phrase ‘gripes and groans’ instead.
영어 – In the Korean raw, Jaewoo uses this phrase, which seems to be an informal way of saying ‘Hi there!” However, the context implies that he meant to greet Hyunjin more formally and just messed up by either not saying the word properly, or by just blurting out the first thing that came to mind.