I Became the Lousy Side Top - Chap 21
“You told me before not to sell my body.”
“Mmhm.”
“But now, you’re offering to buy it?”
Hyunjin leaned further into Jaewoo’s arms, letting him carry some of his weight. Was this person also after him? Had he been acting kindly just for this purpose? If so, it would be better to cut him off entirely right now.
Hyunjin laughed bitterly.
‘I can’t do that.’
When Jaewoo said he wanted to buy his body, Hyunjin wanted to say yes.
“Do you actually want a body like this?”
“Huh? It’s a good body.”
“Great. Then it’s yours.”
Hyunjin said that and slowly closed his eyes. If he was going to be forced into this hell anyway, better to have it happen on his own terms. That was what he thought, anyway, but then the silence began to stretch. Then, suddenly, a hand struck his back with bruising force. Jaewoo’s hands were small, but he was quite fierce.
“You-! What! Perverted! Thoughts! Are you thinking!”
Hyunjin leaned back to look at Jaewoo’s face. His cheeks were red and he looked a bit embarrassed as he spoke.
“What did you think I was talking about?”
“You wanted my body…?”
“I meant for labor! How can someone so young have such lewd thoughts!”
Oh, was it like that? Even in this situation, Hyunjin felt embarrassed.
“But there’s a limit to how much I can earn through manual labor.”
Hyunjin was still working night and day, but the money he got was barely enough to pay the interest. Even if he gave everything he earned to Jaewoo, he’d never be able to repay him.
“I have faith that you’ll pay it back eventually.”
“Won’t that be too burdensome?”
“Not at all. I’ll charge you a really high interest rate.”
“Are you a loan shark now?”
“Yes, exactly! I’m a loan shark.”
After shouting that, Jaewoo walked behind Hyunjin and started pushing against his back.
“C’mon, let’s go home right away. What are we doing just standing on the sidewalk? I’ve got a delicious dinner waiting for us.”
It was fun to feel Jaewoo pushing against his back, trying vainly to move him, but eventually Hyunjin took a step forward. Even then, Jaewoo didn’t stop and continued to push Hyunjin from behind. But what if he tired himself out doing this? Concerned, Hyunjin started walking forward of his own accord at a normal pace.
As they approached the house, a delicious smell wafted through the gate. It was a rather familiar smell.
“What’s for dinner?”
Jaewoo smiled proudly and said.
“Chicken!”
Hyunjin cleaned up the traces of tears and stepped through the gate. It was late, but Hyeonu and Woohee were still awake.
“Brother!”
“Brother’s home?”
Woohee ran up to Hyunjin and wrapped his arms around him. He shouted.
“Guess what? We made chicken today, and it turned out delicious! It’s really good! I’ve never had something so yummy before in my life!”
“We made fried chicken, marinated chicken, and soy sauce chicken.”
Hyeonu was also excited and pulled on the sleeve of Hyunjin’s jacket.
“Is it that tasty?”
When Hyunjin asked that, Jaewoo also spoke up.
“It’s better than tasty. I am a master of fried chicken.”
As Jaewoo pushed his chest out in pride, Hyunjin took one look and burst out laughing before he realized. Still laughing, Hyunjin was pushed into the room by his brothers and Jaewoo.
“Wait just a moment, the next batch will be done frying soon.”
The two kids continued chattering back and forth to each other, while Jaewoo went into the kitchen. After a while, he returned with a platter piled high with chicken. There was marinated chicken, fried chicken, and soy sauce fried chicken, and for the adults, some of the fried chicken and soy sauce chicken had cheonyang pepper1 added to the seasoning. All told, there were five different varieties of chicken.
Steam was still rising off of the freshly-fried chicken, and the deep yellow breading looked crispy even to the naked eye. Woohee was practically vibrating as he watched his brother look the chicken over. The chicken had been so good earlier, he could barely contain his excitement as he waited for his brother to try it.
“Brother!”
“Eat it! Eat it!”
The two boys urged their older brother. Hyunjin nodded as if he understood and picked up his chopsticks. Then he selected the nearest piece of fried chicken and grabbed it between his chopsticks. Even holding it like that, he could tell that it was crispy.
Hyunjin opened his mouth and took a bite of the chicken.
Crunch.
When he bit into the crispy outside, the moist interior was exposed and the juices burst out. The chicken was impeccable, deliciously tender while still maintaining the unique savory taste of chicken. Hyunjin tried to savor it, but before he knew it the piece that he’d been chewing had disappeared down his throat.
It’s not like he’d never eaten chicken before, but this was the first time he’d eaten chicken like this. From the freshly-fried warmth to the crispy breading, tender flesh, and juicy meat, all of it was delicious. Hyunjin wanted to let Jaewoo know how much, but to his sorrow he didn’t seem able to find the words. His throat was sore from swallowing down his saliva.
Feeling regretful that he’d finished the piece of chicken so quickly, Hyunjin reached out for the next one. The second piece was just as delicious as the first one. Hyunjin wasn’t normally a fan of white meat, but just this once he felt grateful for his brothers not eating it. It was truly spectacular.
‘Is this how chicken is meant to taste?’
What sort of chicken had he been eating up until now? Never mind, there was no time for wondering. There was more chicken left to consume. As he was busy selecting his next bite, Jaewoo let out a noise like he had suddenly remembered something and went back into the kitchen. When he came out again, he had a can of beer in his hand.
“You need to have beer when you’re eating fried chicken.”
And then he smiled. Hyunjin pondered for a moment. It wasn’t like he never drank. When he was working at the bar, he’d drink a bit to try to numb the pain of dealing with certain customers. But he wasn’t sure how someone could call it delicious. It was just a liquid with a bitter taste, wasn’t that all?
“Alcohol is a bit…”
So he said, but Jaewoo’s triumphant attitude persuaded him.
“It’s delicious, trust me.”
Hyunjin accepted the beer doubtfully. He popped open the can and listened to the hissing sound of the carbonation. A few bubbles spilled over onto the top.
“Take a bite of chicken first and then follow it with a sip of beer.”
‘Might as well do as he says’, Hyunjin thought, and this time he picked up a piece of marinated chicken with spicy cheonyang pepper sauce and took a bite.
A little sour, a little sweet. The flesh was slightly softened from the marinade, and the harmonious seasoning amplified the taste of the chicken. With that taste in his mouth, Hyunjin took a sip of beer.
Hyunjin blinked quietly, then repeated the same action once more.
“Look, doesn’t it make it taste even better? Kids, would you like a Coke too?”
“Yes!”
Jaewoo smiled and poured two glasses of Coke for the children. The kids were excited, laughing with each other as they drank their soda. But Hyunjin only just noticed that none of them had touched the chicken.
“You guys should eat, too.”
To Hyunjin’s words, Hyeonu replied with a dignified attitude.
“No. We already ate a lot earlier.”
“That’s right! You eat it all, Hyunjin!”
Woohee backed Hyeonu up. His attitude was admirable, but on Hyunjin’s part, he didn’t like it. His heart was pounding.
“I think there’s plenty for all of us.”
It really was quite a lot of chicken, thanks to Jaewoo, who had bought three whole packs for frying. When Hyunjin said that, Woohee quietly reached for the seasoned chicken. Hyeonu tried to stop him, but then he caught a glimpse of Hyunjin’s expression and held his tongue. For a moment, Hyunjin’s face had looked so sad that Hyeonu couldn’t bear to say no to him.
“I love fried chicken!”
Smiling like a regular child, Hyeonu picked up the food and brought it up to his mouth.
Crunch.
Even though he’d already eaten a lot earlier, it was still delicious. Hyunjin’s expression brightened as he saw his brothers enjoying the food. Hyeonu ate eagerly, trying to erase the expression he’d seen earlier, but he couldn’t seem to forget it. Woohee mainly ate the marinated chicken, but occasionally he’d eat the soy sauce chicken. The lines for which brother preferred which chicken were clearly drawn.
After finishing off two-thirds of the chicken, the kids started to doze off. They were warm and their bellies were full, so sleepiness was to be expected. Jaewoo left for a moment to spread out the bedding and then woke the children to brush their teeth and wash their faces. After that, he got them settled in and then came back out to sit on the floor with Hyunjin.
The air outside was cold, and the chicken was cooling, but the beer that Hyunjin tasted as he looked up at the black night sky was amazing. Before he knew it the first can was gone, and he started on the second. In the meantime, Jaewoo also came out with a beer to drink.
If he was being honest, Jaewoo didn’t really like beer. He didn’t care for the carbonation, but there were times when he made an exception. Beer with fried chicken was one of those times.
“Would you like a toast?”
Jaewoo held up his can with a questioning look. Hyunjin looked over and followed along, lifting up his can from the other side. The two of them touched the cans together lightly, then took a sip of beer.
“Ugh.”
The carbonation was strong. Jaewoo frowned and endured the tickling sensation before picking up a piece of chicken and bringing it up to his mouth. He took a bite large enough that his cheeks popped out, then swallowed it with a gulp,
“I drink beer just for this taste.”
He’d done an excellent job on the frying, if he said so himself.
“You’re really good at frying chicken.”
“Before, my friends used to beg me to open a fried chicken restaurant.”
He hadn’t done it because honestly, frying chicken is annoying. It takes a lot of oil, which isn’t easy to dispose of afterward, and if you tried to do a big batch it was hard to eat it all in one sitting. Then he used to end up calling a friend to help him eat it all, only for him to end up bringing more chicken with him!
When he asked his friend what he expected Jaewoo to do with it, he said that if he brought it back home, it would just end up being thrown out, since he didn’t know how to cook. Then he sat down and ate an incredible amount of fried chicken. He liked to call himself a foodie, but he always seemed to end up eating at Jaewoo’s house.
‘That’s right, that’s how it was.’
Jaewoo was getting used to his memories returning here and there. This one was a little sad, though. He’d had such a close friend, but he couldn’t remember his name or face.
Jaewoo sat side by side with Hyunjin, drinking beer and eating chicken. They were still in Seoul, so the stars were barely visible, but just looking at the dark blue night sky made him feel a bit lonely.
Footnotes
청양고추 – cheonyang pepper. One of the hottest peppers grown in Korea, the spice level ranges from 4,000 to 12,000 Scoville. (For reference, Cayenne pepper has a range of 30k-50k Scoville, while Jalapeno peppers are 2.5k-8k).
