I Became the Lousy Side Top - Chap 102
“Four times your salary.”
Mujin casually named a sum that would have made other people blanch. However, Jaewoo’s reaction was different than he expected. He tapped Mujin’s lips as if he’d said something foul again and then shook his head.
“I’m not doing that.”
Why not? The amount he was offering wasn’t something that just anyone could earn. The simple way he was acting reminded Mujin of someone: Seo Jaewoo. Both of them had refused Mujin’s advances and chose to stay by Hyunjin’s side, even though he had nothing. Mujin’s stomach twisted inside of him.
“I’ll even make you an ID card, too.”
This time, Mujin tried to think of something that might shake Jaewoo’s resolve.
“An ID card?”
For a moment, doubt appeared in Jaewoo’s eyes. Of course he wavered – creating a fake ID wasn’t an easy task. For a moment Mujin thought that he’d succeeded, but when Jaewoo finally responded, the answer was different from what he’d expected.
“No, that’s alright.”
“…You can’t be serious.”
In Korea, there were numerous things you couldn’t do without a resident registration number. Was Jaewoo really refusing his offer to make him an ID card? Mujin’s emotions fluctuated wildly, and his expression turned dark.
‘Why?’
What was so different between Hyunjin and himself? Unconsciously, Mujin’s hand stretched out towards Jaewoo’s neck.
“Please stop.”
Hyunjin stepped forward, blocking his hand. One of them kept refusing him, and the other kept getting in his way, all while the two of them clung to each other and made a life together. Mujin was tired of showing restraint towards them. After all, that’d never been his strong suit.
“You’re the one who needs to stop. It’s only been a year since Jaewoo died, and you’re already hanging around someone else?”
Despite the blatant criticism, Hyunjin’s expression didn’t change. He looked at Mujin with the same calm expression, but something in his gaze made shame well up inside of him.
“Have you forgotten why Jaewoo died?! Wasn’t it all the fault of your amazing father?”
Mujin targeted Hyunjin’s weak points mercilessly. Finally, Hyunjin’s expression wobbled, becoming full of guilt. When he saw that, Mujin felt relief well up inside of him, but it only lasted for a moment. His face twisted as Jaewoo stepped closer to Hyunjin and reached out to hold his hand.
“It’s okay. You weren’t to blame.”
No. It was all Hyunjin’s fault. Even if that wasn’t true, Mujin needed to tell himself that. That way, he could continue to keep Jaewoo’s memory alive for as long as the two of them lasted.
Mujin’s fierce gaze shifted towards Jaewoo.
“Outsiders have no place here.”
“I’m not leaving.”
Jaewoo spoke firmly and shifted closer to Hyunjin. Now that he had a new love, he’d forgotten his old one, was that how it was? Mujin was shocked. It had only been a year, just one year. Was that all it took for Hyunjin to change his mind? Had he misjudged him? A thousand thoughts ran through his brain.
He refused to leave either of them alone. He wanted to force them apart in the cruelest manner possible and leave them to suffer.
Resolved, Mujin stood up and left the restaurant. The next time he saw them, he wouldn’t let things go their way.
Jaewoo stared after Mujin’s retreating back, looking worried. Mujin’s behavior had been strange. He was a man that was capable of anything in order to get his way. Maybe he should have claimed to be a friend of the old Jaewoo’s, like he had told Hyunjin at first. As Jaewoo stood there, full of worry and regrets, Hyunjin squeezed his hand tightly in comfort.
“It’ll be okay.”
Would it? Jaewoo smiled bitterly.
“I’ll protect you somehow.”
Hyunjin spoke firmly, resting his forehead against Jaewoo’s. The feel of Hyunjin’s body gently pressing against his made Jaewoo feel better. He stroked Hyunjin’s hair and glanced around the restaurant. He’d been working here since he first arrived in this world, and over time, he’d come to love it. But now it seemed like it was time for him to go.
‘If this keeps up, I’ll be inconveniencing the owner.’
Jaewoo leaned closer to Hyunjin and whispered to him.
“Do you remember the promise we made before?”
“I remember everything you said to me.”
“Then shall we open our own restaurant?”
“A restaurant?”
“Yeah, remember? We’d decided to open a restaurant together.”
“That’s a great idea.”
Hyunjin answered without even thinking. Jaewoo hadn’t worked out all the details yet, but he felt like anything would be possible, as long as he was with Hyunjin.
“You’re quitting?”
The old woman didn’t seem surprised by his sudden change in plans. Her voice was calm, and her expression seemed as though she already knew his answer.
“Yes.”
“If it’s because of that gangster that just left, I’ll be fine.”
“I’m not willing to risk that. Besides, I would have needed to move on someday, even if he hadn’t shown up.”
“Well, alright then. To tell the truth, I had a feeling you wouldn’t be working here for long. What are you planning on doing now?”
“I’m thinking about opening a restaurant.”
“Your own restaurant? It won’t be easy.”
“Even if it’s not easy, I’m still going to try. I made a promise.”
The old woman glanced over at Hyunjin, who was standing quietly next to Jaewoo.
“I see. Are you two planning on working together?”
“Yes.”
“I wish you the best.”
Just like that, the old woman gave Jaewoo her blessing. Of course, just because he wasn’t going to be working there anymore didn’t mean that Jaewoo would forget her. He already considered her an honorary family member, and was making plans to come visit her whenever he could.
“I’ll come see you as often as I can.”
“You can stop by occasionally.”
“No, that’s not good enough.”
The two of them smiled at each other as they said their goodbyes. After, Jaewoo and Hyunjin returned home, and sat down together to discuss things.
“First of all, do we have enough money to open a restaurant?”
The two of them decided to use the money that Seo Jaewoo had left behind. It wasn’t an outrageous amount, but it would be enough to let them open a small restaurant.
“What type of restaurant should we open?”
Korean, Western, Chinese – Jaewoo could cook all of them. The difficulty was in narrowing it down to just one.
“Aren’t you best at Korean food?”
Hyunjin asked, having barely tried any of Jaewoo’s other recipes.
“I’m good at other types of cuisine, too. I even had a certificate. Now that I think about it, you’ve never tried any of my other dishes. Give me a little while; I’ll cook them up one by one and you can rate them.”
As soon as the sun came up, Jaewoo went to the supermarket and bought a bunch of different ingredients before getting down to business. The kids were still on vacation, so they got to watch along with Hyunjin as Jaewoo skillfully wielded a frying pan, cooking up a dish of vongole pasta1.
“This is my first time eating something like this!”
Woohee shouted excitedly. Next to him, Hyeonu was eyeing the pasta with a dubious look.
“Have you tried it before, Hyeonu?”
“No, they only have spaghetti with tomato sauce at school.”
“Then what about you, Hyunjin?”
This time Jaewoo turned to the oldest brother.
“It’s the same for me.”
“So none of you have tried this before?”
Woohee was the first to pick up his fork. They hadn’t owned any bowls or forks suitable for pasta, so Jaewoo had needed to buy everything new at the store. He hadn’t even had time to make any side dishes; those had come from the store as well.
Still, Woohee seemed to know exactly what to do, rolling the pasta up with his fork and popping it into his mouth. As Woohee began to eat, Hyeonu and Hyunjin picked up their forks as well.
“It’s delicious!”
Woohee was the first to express his appreciation.
“It’s really, really good.”
Hyeonu spoke up next, and Hyunjin nodded along.
“It’s the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten. I think food with a little kick to it really hits the spot.”
“I can make you some more anytime. Eat up!”
The vongole pasta was gone in a flash.
“Can you cook other types of pasta?”
“Of course. I can do tomato sauces, cream-based sauces, and everything in between.”
Before they could say anything, Jaewoo hurried back into the kitchen. Originally, he’d only made a small amount of vongole pasta, just enough for a taste. While he was gone, Woohee carefully drew a scorecard in his notebook. Each time Jaewoo came back out with a new dish, he’d carefully write down his score.
“I liked the spaghetti with meatballs the best.”
“I really liked the pasta vongole. The pasta alfredo was good too, though.”
“I liked everything.”
After the tastings, the three brothers tallied up their impressions.
“You’re really good at cooking, Jaewoo.”
“Of course. I’ll even make you some risotto2 for dinner, too.”
“Risotto! What’s risotto?”
“It’s a dish made by boiling short-grain rice in broth.”
At the simple explanation, Woohee’s mouth went wide.
“I’ve never had that either!”
Woohee was so excited his feet were tapping on the floor. Hyeonu poked him in the side, but he didn’t seem capable of relaxing.
Jaewoo re-entered the kitchen and started prepping the ingredients for the risotto. He prepared the broth and left some butter out on the countertop to warm up. He was thinking of making two types of risotto, one with cream and one with tomatoes.
First, he added the butter to a pan and fried the rice. Then he added white wine and broth and began simmering everything together. For risotto, a chef could make it even tastier by adding various ingredients to the rice, according to their tastes.
When Jaewoo brought out the risotto, the kids looked at it and said.
“It looks like porridge.”
“Does it?”
On the surface, it might look similar to porridge, but once they tasted it, Jaewoo was certain they’d be able to tell the difference. Besides the flavor, the rice used in the risotto also had a firmer texture.
The kids took a bite and seemed to enjoy it. Their spoons started moving faster and faster.
“How is it?”
Woohee had finished his bowl. He smiled and gave Jaewoo a thumbs up, while Hyeonu and Hyunjin also voiced their approval.
“I had no idea you were this good at cooking, Jaewoo.”
“I told you. I can even make pork cutlets3.”
“Pork cutlets!”
Woohee and Hyeonu’s eyes sparkled.
“Would you like me to make some pork cutlets tomorrow?”
“Yes please!”
The children answered immediately. For the next several days, the children and Hyunjin lived in the lap of luxury. Foods that they’d never even dreamed of were placed in front of them, each more delicious than the last.
The problem was that they were all so amazing that it was difficult for them to choose which ones to focus on.
“We should serve pork cutlets!”
Woohee spoke up.
“An Italian restaurant would be good, too. Or a Chinese restaurant.”
“All of them were delicious, but maybe we should leave out Chinese food to start? You need to have a delivery person for that if you want to succeed.”
The plan had been for the two of them to open a small restaurant to start with. If they ran a restaurant serving Chinese-style food, they’d have to hire more people. Theoretically Hyunjin could get a driver’s license and handle the deliveries himself, but he didn’t want to take any risks now that they were finally together.
Footnotes
바지락 오일 스파게티 – bajilag oil seupageti – Clam oil spaghetti. I searched, but the only clam oils I could find were supplements not suitable for cooking. I think this is a reference to vongole pasta, which is pasta cooked in oil with vongole clams, a specialty of the Campania region of Italy. Wikipedia, Recipe
리조또 – lijotto – Risotto. Risotto is an Italian dish traditionally made by cooking short-grain rice at a low temperature for a long period of time, adding in small amounts of broth periodically. This helps release the starches from the rice grains, which leads to a creamy texture. Wikipedia, Recipe
돈가스 – dongaseu – Pork cutlets. I thought this was referring to schnitzel at first, to go with the Western theme of the dishes, but although there are some similarities, the Korean dish actually more closely resembles the Japanese tonkatsu. In the dish, minced pork is coated with tempura batter and then fried. Wikipedia, Wikipedia 2, Recipe
