I Became the Lousy Side Top - Chap 28
Patpatpat.
Jaewoo piled up a mountain of rice into the bowl. He placed it in front of Hyunjin and Mujin, who were sitting around the table, and pulled apart the freshly-made kimchi with his bare hands. Then he scooped up a spoonful of rice, rolled it with kimchi, and held it up to Hyunjin’s mouth.
“Eat.”
Gulp.
A drooling sound was heard from somewhere. Hyunjin accepted it with a strange expression on his face. The wrap was so large that Hyunjin’s mouth was full, and he could barely chew it. Despite that, the taste was delicious. Hyunjin started smiling without realizing it.
Mujin had been watching Hyunjin, but now he turned his gaze to Jaewoo.
“What about me?”
“What about you? You can make a wrap yourself, right?”
“I can’t make it taste as good as you can.”
And then he smiled a beatific smile. It was a truly incredible sight.
“It’s just rice and boiled pork rolled up with kimchi?”
“Please make one for me as well.”
Did he have no hands or feet? Jaewoo sighed and eventually moved his hand. He spooned out some rice while thinking ‘Fuck you’ in his head, and topped it with boiled pork and kimchi. It was amazing the lengths he was willing to go to survive.
‘Will this even fit in his mouth?’
He held it out to Mujin with some hesitation, but he swallowed it with ease. Even though his cheeks were puffed out, he still looked attractive. It must be a perk of his overall good looks. Now that the ice had been broken, hopefully everyone would start eating on their own.
As Jaewoo was preparing his next wrap, with vegetables, ssamjang, garlic, and boiled pork, he became aware of eyes on him from somewhere. He turned around to see Hyunjin looking at him with an unusual expression. It was a look as if he wanted something. Without even thinking about it, he offered the wrap he’d just made to Hyunjin, who ate it up from his fingers.
‘So cute!’
Jaewoo made a second wrap as if he was possessed. Just as he was about to feed that one to Hyunjin as well, something touched his wrist. Surprised by the cold touch, he looked up and saw that it was Mujin.
“Isn’t it my turn?”
“Uh?”
What did he mean, his turn? No, more importantly, Mujin was perfectly capable of making his own wrap. Why was he trying to take Jaewoo’s?
“Just wrap it up yourself.”
“I’ve never done that before.”
What sort of person had never made a wrap before? Jaewoo was about to refute Mujin’s words when something occurred to him. Mujin was the main top of the novel, and conformed to the stereotypes of the genre. What sort of male lead would spend time eating at pork belly restaurants, making wraps? Alright, Jaewoo understood now. But this couldn’t stand.
“You can learn now. Take your gloves off first.”
Jaewoo grabbed the fingertips of the gloves and pulled them. The gloves that looked like they would stick together came off easier than expected.
“Wash your hands and come back.”
As Jaewoo placed the discarded gloves off to the side, he caught a glimpse of Mujin’s expression and saw that it had hardened. Only then did he realize, ‘Oops.’ Mujin rarely took off his leather gloves. Jaewoo looked at him with trepidation, but Mujin didn’t say anything and instead, simply got up and headed towards the tap. After thoroughly washing his hands with the soap, he returned to the table.
“There, I washed up.”
Mujin listened better than Jaewoo expected. Jaewoo wiped his own hand clean on a napkin and then reached out to help Mujin, placing a lettuce leaf in his large hand.
“First, put the vegetables on top. Then add garlic, pepper, and ssamjang, a little rice and boiled pork, and it’s done. You can add more meat if you prefer.”
Once again, a large wrap had been born. Now all he had to do was put it in his mouth, but Mujin just stared down at his hand and didn’t eat it. As Jaewoo was wondering why, he noticed the wrap coming closer and closer to his mouth.
“What are you doing?”
When he asked that in confusion, Mujin smirked at him and said.
“Jaewoo, you haven’t eaten yet, right?”
Before Jaewoo could excuse himself and say that he was fine, the wrap was already at his lips. If Jaewoo tried to force the issue, it might lead to a bad situation, so he reluctantly opened his mouth. As Mujin pushed the wrap in, Jaewoo’s mouth was quickly filled.
‘Next time I’ll have to make it a little smaller.’
Jaewoo hadn’t expected that he would be the one to eat it, though! The taste was excellent, but it was difficult to chew. He barely managed to swallow one wrap when another was suddenly approaching him from the other side.
‘Not you too!’
Jaewoo looked at Hyunjin with teary eyes.
“Please eat.”
Jaewoo wanted to refuse because he really didn’t need it. But seeing Mujin’s interesting expression on the other side, he thought that he really didn’t dare. Wouldn’t it be unfair to Hyunjin if he ate Mujin’s wrap but refused his? Jaewoo opened his mouth for a second time. As he was eating diligently, he saw Mujin preparing another wrap. He had an ominous feeling.
Jaewoo quickly swallowed what he was eating and waved his hand.
“I can eat by myself!”
He wasn’t a child so there was no need for both men to feed him. He looked at the size of the wrap in Mujin’s hand with pity. If Mujin could fit it all in his mouth, he’d be amazed.
“Is that so?”
“Yes! I’ll prepare my own wraps.”
“Still, I made this wrap specifically for Jaewoo. Why don’t you just eat this last one?”
Mujin held out the wrap. Even that small motion held a hint of threat, and a cold sweat broke out on Jaewoo’s back. There was no way such a giant wrap would fit in his mouth. It was absolutely impossible. As Jaewoo was desperately trying to think of an excuse, Hyunjin suddenly opened his mouth, leaned forward, and bit into the wrap himself.
“Hyunjin!”
Surprised, Jaewoo called Hyunjin’s name, but it was already too late. A wrap of an ignorant size went into his mouth. His jaw, was his jaw okay? Jaewoo was frightened for Hyunjin and his hands hovered next to his mouth as Hyunjin swallowed the food. Because of that, he wasn’t paying attention to Mujin.
Mujin shook his hands with an expressionless face, but then frowned.
“Disgusting.”
Mujin reacted sensitively to touching something with his bare hands. It was a type of compulsion for him. Before he had been strangely okay with Jaewoo touching him, but now his reaction was back to normal. Still, you shouldn’t say something like that to a person’s face. It just went to show, Mujin was truly a person with a broken personality.
Jaewoo rubbed Hyunjin’s back and whispered softly.
“Ignore it.”
Hyunjin nodded slowly. Then he swallowed all the food in his mouth and looked at Mujin calmly. It was an attitude that seemed somewhat triumphant.
“Let’s just each make our own wraps. No sharing.”
What were these grown adults doing? Jaewoo sighed. Originally, Hyunjin hated Mujin, and Mujin enjoyed torturing Hyunjin because he knew he hated him. Jaewoo knew their relationship started from there, but this sort of squabble was just childish. He didn’t think this ever happened originally. He didn’t know why Mujin was insisting on interfering with them making kimchi and causing such trouble.
Jaewoo demonstrated how to make a wrap again and ate it on his own. As expected, the size of his own wrap was just right. Hyunjin also followed his lead and started eating quietly. Although Mujin still had an expression on his face that Jaewoo couldn’t figure out, he stopped insisting and also focused on the food. Jaewoo was finally able to enjoy the fruits of his labor once more.
As they were eating, the door opened and the children stuck their heads out. It seemed like they had finished eating everything on their plates. Jaewoo got up to get them some more, but Hyunjin stopped him.
“I’ll take care of it and come back.”
“Oh? Alright.”
After agreeing without much thought, Jaewoo was then left alone with Mujin in front of the dinner table.
“Would you like some more food?”
Mujin had finished all the rice this time, just like last time. What was really going on with that? Still, Jaewoo couldn’t say no to someone who ate so well.
“Please give me more.”
Mujin held out his bowl. When Jaewoo entered the kitchen, he saw Hyunjin cutting up more of the boiled pork. Jaewoo watched him carefully for a moment, but saw that he was doing well, so he nodded, scooped up some more rice, and went back out. As he was putting the rice bowl down in front of Mujin, he spoke up in the tone of someone suddenly remembering something.
“When are you planning on coming by my house to cook for me?”
“The housekeeper’s job?”
“That’s the one.”
“I told you back then, I’m not interested.”
Jaewoo refused with a shocked expression.
“Please hear me out until the end.”
If he heard Muin out, would they end up talking about money? Jaewoo was about to refuse again when Mujin came closer and suddenly asked.
“Jaewoo, you’re not scared of me, are you?”
The chopsticks that were just carrying salted shrimp stopped in midair. Jaewoo slowly turned his head to face Mujin.
“Uh, um…”
While Jaewoo was thinking about what to answer, Mujin continued.
“I’m pretty sure you knew that I’m a gangster, but your reaction was so calm.”
No, Jaewoo hadn’t been calm. He’d been nervous in his own way. He was completely aware that Mujin was the person who killed Jaewoo, the side top, later on. He’d put a lot of effort into being careful, and trying to appear calm, when in fact he was trembling inside. Even now, he was still shaking in his heart.
“No, you’re terrifying.”
“Who acts like this to someone they’re terrified of?”
Mujin asked in a laughing voice.
“Isn’t this normal?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Oh.”
Just because other people hadn’t done something didn’t mean it wasn’t normal. Jaewoo was about to try to move on, when suddenly one corner of Mujin’s mouth turned up.
“So. Jaewoo-ssi…”
Jaewoo knew exactly how scary Mujin was. Thanks to him, countless people’s lives were ruined, injured, or killed. He didn’t even feel any guilt over them. That was the monster that was Mujin. That’s why Jaewoo’s heart was now pounding, wondering what he was going to say.
“I want someone like you to work for me.”
“Because I’m good at cooking?”
“Sure, that’s one of the reasons.”
Mujin didn’t mention any of the other reasons, but Jaewoo had a rough guess. Originally, the relationship between Hyunjin and Mujin didn’t start normally. Even though Hyunjin had saved his life, Mujin tormented him terribly, just because he was curious about how long he would last.
So him offering this now must be to make Hyunjin suffer more, because it was obvious that Hyunjin hated the people around him being harmed thanks to him.
“But I’ve never worked as a housekeeper.”
Mujin patted his chest pocket before dropping back down to the table. It seemed like he’d been looking for a cigarette before he stopped himself. At least it looked like he was planning to continue not smoking here.
“First, you should listen to my conditions.”
Jaewoo didn’t want to hear them.
“And of course, I’ll listen to your conditions as well.”
Mujin’s eyes were round. The pitch-black eyes were shiny and sunken gloomily. He whispered like a devil.
“If you do what I want, I’ll reduce that upright young man’s debt.”
It was a condition without the slightest immediate benefit to Jaewoo. Willingly crawling into a dangerous place for the sake of someone else went against all common sense. Anyone would agree with that.
And yet Jaewoo couldn’t take his eye off Mujin. His goal had been to let them resolve their issues together, to survive until the end, and then return to his original body. Despite that, Jaewoo’s mind was thrown into disarray by this ridiculous proposal.
Jaewoo took a deep breath.
