I Became the Lousy Side Top - Chap 11
“You like eating meals with other people?”
Hyunjin asked.
“Yes?”
“Like who?”
“Like Hyeonu and Woohee.”
Jaewoo steepled his fingers together and then spoke carefully.
“And with you too?”
“Isn’t that going to cost you too much?”
“It won’t.”
“You prefer feeding us to throwing it away?”
“Yes.”
Jaewoo’s lips hardened. His whole attitude was one that said he would never back down on this. It was an expression that Hyunjin would have hated before. But seeing it now, it felt like his heart trembled.
‘Is there something wrong with my body?’
It couldn’t be. Hyunjin couldn’t afford to be sick. He needed to be healthy in order to not burden his younger siblings with his debt. It was enough for him to go through this pain alone. He patted his chest.
“Are you okay?”
Jaewoo asked, looking at Hyunjin closely. He gestured for him to wait and then disappeared through the door to the kitchen. When he reappeared, he had a bottle of digestive medicine in his hand.
“Drink this.”
After drinking the medicine, Hyunjin felt a little better. It was probably just an upset stomach.
“Then you’ll pay 230,000 won starting from next month?”
Hyunjin nodded slowly. He still wasn’t sure about Jaewoo, but considering everything he’d done lately, it didn’t seem like he was causing any harm to his younger siblings. Since he’d been a child, he’d paid close attention to the people around them and had become a good judge of character. Jaewoo’s goal seemed to be Hyunjin. It would be fine.
It was nominally the same cost as buying their own food, and since Jaewoo was already cooking, it wouldn’t be too much of a nuisance to him. Hyunjin naively thought so.
If he could have seen inside of Jaewoo’s head, he might have thought differently.
The seal was broken!
Jaewoo danced around the kitchen in a frenzy. Then he rushed out to the market even though it was already late in the evening. Before, he’d been sneaking food to the three of them whenever he could, but now he could feed them openly.
“Huff, huff, huff…”
What can he eat to help build some muscle? Jaewoo swept his way through the food section of the market with a wolfish grin. It was lucky that the Jaewoo from the past hadn’t been extravagant. Thanks to that, Jaewoo had enough money in his bank account that he could afford to splurge.
He needed to get some beef to marinate, and some quail eggs. You can take a quail egg that is well-cooked in the stewed broth, put it in rice, mash it, pour a little broth on top of it, mix it well, and eat it with a piece of meat. It tastes so good, deliciously savory and salty, that the bowl of rice will be gone in no time.
He could make stir-fried fish cakes and roasted ham. Should he buy some fresh fish? The shopping cart quickly filled up. It was a lot of money, but Jaewoo was happy to spend it. Now he’d be able to cook and feed the boys without a fuss.
He left the market with both hands full of ingredients. He walked home excitedly, humming a song, not even feeling the weight of the grocery bags. As he walked, he glanced around without thinking. The place where his eyes finally landed was a gap between two buildings. It was a gap that was barely large enough for an adult to fit through.
The moment he unintentionally looked at the gap, he almost dropped the shopping bags in surprise.
‘Why are you here?’
It was Mujin, the main top, lying collapsed against the wall of the alleyway. Seeing him, his heart sank. How many more tribulations would Hyunjin need to go through? Originally, the two of them weren’t supposed to meet until later. The sudden appearance of Mujin made Jaewoo’s heart shake.
Let’s get out of this place for now. It was Hyunjin who had to save Mujin, not himself. Jaewoo turned, but couldn’t bring himself to take a step.
After his debts grew, Hyunjin’s job became more difficult. And around that time, he found Choi Mujin lying in an alleyway, injured. That’s how the two met in the story.
Hyunjin took Mujin to his house out of the kindness of his heart and helped him heal. After that, Mujin stayed in the house for a few days and observed Hyunjin, witnessing him slowly become more and more worn down. At that point, it was just curiosity, not love.
During this time, the reader could also see how Jaewoo treated Hyunjin. It’s a foreshadowing of Jaewoo’s death later.
After that, Hyunjin continued to suffer, while Mujin’s curiosity slowly developed into love. Eventually, Hyunjin would realize that he was in love with Mujin as well, but until then, his life was a series of tragedies.
It was a difficult situation for a young man who had only recently become an adult. Jaewoo had been hoping that there was more time until Mujin would appear. Why did he have to show up now?
Jaewoo continued his journey home, but his gait that had been happy and energetic up until that point had now become sluggish. He struggled to make it back to the house and then sat on the floor in a daze, not even thinking about putting away the groceries. Hyunjin appeared to have gone to work, and the children were doing their homework in their room.
Jaewoo, who had been lost in thought for a while, slapped his cheeks with his hands.
“Wake up!”
This was the natural progression of the story. All he had to do was think about surviving, regaining his memories, and returning to his original world. That’s all. That should be plenty, but why does it feel like he wants to do more? Jaewoo sighed and belatedly organized the ingredients he’d bought.
He didn’t have the energy to cook. Still, he stood in front of the oven thinking about Hyunjin, who must be working hard.
“I have to feed them well.”
He calmly prepared the side dishes while repeating that phrase to himself over and over again. Starting tomorrow, he was thinking about packing a lunchbox for Hyunjin. He heard they served food at the construction site, but it probably wasn’t very good. You’d save money, but at the cost of your body. That’s why Jaewoo needed to take action.
‘Since Mujin was there, when Hyunjin returns, he won’t be alone.’
So, for now, he cooked a little bit of plain rice as well. It may not suit Mujin’s palate, but food is food. Wait, since he’ll be hurt, should he boil some porridge? Jaewoo thought he probably should, but he couldn’t find the motivation for it.
‘I can just add extra water to the rice.’
If you pour hot barley tea over it, even a sick person will gulp it down.
‘They’ll be home soon.’
Still, if he’s the main top of the novel, would he like rice with only barley tea?
“Should I go buy some expensive Swiss water?”
In the end, he didn’t have the energy to go to the market again, so he dismissed the idea. Jaewoo knew he was a good cook. If Mujin didn’t like the food, it wouldn’t be his fault. Jaewoo finished cooking the braised beef, stir-fried fish cakes, and braised potatoes. He’d grill the fish fresh in the morning. He cleaned up, then trudged into his room.
Hyunjin’s room was narrow and cold, could they even fit four people in there? Jaewoo was especially worried about what Mujin would do to Hyunjin.
‘But it’s not my place to worry about them.’
Even after whispering that to himself, Jaewoo couldn’t completely suppress his concerns. The hour was late, but he still couldn’t bring himself to sleep. In the end, he spent a restless night tossing and turning on the futon.
Early the next morning, Jaewoo woke up to the sound of the door opening. He must have fallen asleep at some point. After rubbing his eyes, Jaewoo stood up and flung open the door. Hyunjin, who had just been about to open the door himself, stared back at him.
Tired eyes met Jaewoo’s.
“You’re back?”
While Jaewoo was speaking, he secretly looked behind Hyunjin. Nothing was visible.
“I’m back.”
The light returned to Hyunjin’s weary eyes. He said goodbye and turned to go back to his room to sleep. Jaewoo quickly grabbed his arm to stop him and asked again.
“Did you pick up anything?”
What kind of question was that? At those words, Hyunjin slowly tilted his head. He seemed to be asking what he was talking about.
“You know, um… Between alleys. Did you pick up anything there?”
Was he worried about bringing a strange man inside without Jaewoo’s permission, so he left Mujin outside the gate? But Hyunjin’s reaction to his question didn’t seem out of the ordinary.
“No.”
“You really didn’t?”
“No, there wasn’t anything. What was I supposed to pick up?”
“Um…”
Jaewoo swallowed hard. He didn’t want to keep Hyunjin from resting for long, so he decided to ask straight away.
“…a person…”
“Huh?”
“Did you bring home a person?”
At that, Hyunjin looked at Jaewoo with an unknown expression. Then he slowly opened his mouth.
“A person?”
“Yes, a man.”
To be specific, the main top. The person who will fall in love with you in the future.
“No.”
Hyunjin said that and carefully closed the door again. Then he walked closer to Jaewoo.
“Jaewoo-ssi.”
It’s been a while since Hyunjin addressed Jaewoo like that, and it felt a bit awkward.
“Mm-hm.”
“This neighborhood is rough, so you need to be careful in the alleyways. Don’t go picking up random strangers and bringing them home.”
He wasn’t wrong. In fact, he was 100 percent correct. But it felt a bit hypocritical since, in the novel, that’s exactly what Hyunjin did with the main top.
“You need to understand why it’s so dangerous.”
Hyunjin said that and rubbed Jaewoo’s head with his hand. It was a light touch, like he was scolding an immature child, although Jaewoo was a full-grown adult. Still, it wasn’t bad. It almost tickled.
“Sometimes I feel like you don’t have any common sense.”
With those parting words, Hyunjin left to go to sleep. Jaewoo smoothed down his hair where Hyunjin had touched him, then quickly threw on some clothes. He needed to see what had happened to Mujin with his own eyes. As a result, when he returned to the alleyway, he found:
Mujin was still collapsed on the very same spot.
He knew that the neighborhood was dangerous, and as a result, people were wary and didn’t stick their noses into anyone else’s business. But a person had been lying here for hours and no one had helped him! Even Hyunjin, the protagonist, had left him there.
‘No, maybe he just hasn’t seen him yet. When is Hyunjin going to work next?’
Jaewoo struggled and climbed the slope back to the house again.
He had to tell Hyunjin to keep a close eye on the alleyways. As he grilled up the fish, Jaewoo thought carefully about what was to come. Before Hyunjin left, he grabbed him and sat him down at the table.
“Eat up before you go.”
Hyunjin sat down at the table obediently. He hadn’t given much thought to breakfast, and only sat down because of Jaewoo’s urging, but his expression began to harden little by little at the side dishes that were placed in front of him.
