I Became the Lousy Side Top - Chap 37
Mujin’s muscles twitched when the towel touched him. He seemed surprised.
Jaewoo had made a mistake. He clicked his tongue silently and pulled his hand back. Now that he thought about it, Mujin was said to be sensitive to the presence and touch of others. He shouldn’t have allowed Jaewoo to get that close, but it seemed like he had let his guard down the more time they spent together.
“Sorry.”
When Jaewoo apologized, Mujin turned around and stared at him blankly. His face looked as if he was thinking deeply about something. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it without speaking. Time to go! Jaewoo spoke naturally.
“I’m going to go prepare breakfast.”
He tried to make his getaway, but before he could, Mujin called him over.
“Jaewoo-ssi.”
Had he failed to escape? Jaewoo looked at Mujin nervously. What would he say? Would he get angry? Would he give him a warning? With Mujin’s personality, he could just imagine the sort of things he might say. Jaewoo was anxiously awaiting his next words, but what followed was different from what he expected.
“You should finish what you were doing.”
“Okay? Wait, what?”
Jaewoo asked back, unable to comprehend what Mujin had just said.
“Weren’t you just trying to dry my hair?”
No, that wasn’t it! Who would dry a grown man’s hair? Jaewoo waved his hand and tried to deny it, but Mujin just turned his head again without saying a word. The towel was still placed over his head.
‘At least I know how to do this from my own hair.’
Jaewoo sighed and reluctantly stretched out his hand. He grabbed the towel and gently rubbed it against Mujin’s head. With each stroke, the wet hair slowly became drier. As the two of them continued in silence, Jaewoo found the whole thing rather strange. He didn’t think that Mujin had this sort of personality in the book. For some reason, it made Jaewoo feel closer to him.
‘That’s probably just an illusion.’
Mujin was a person who was incapable of opening up to others, so all of this must just be in Jaewoo’s mind. Jaewoo was well aware of that.
“It’s done.”
He took the towel away and spoke, but there was no answer from Mujin. After hesitating for a moment, Jaewoo leaned forward slightly. Mujin was leaning on the sofa, breathing quietly with his eyes closed.
‘Is he asleep?’
Jaewoo looked at the straight bridge of Mujin’s nose and waved his hand in front of his eyes to check. If Mujin was really asleep, he was thinking about covering him up with a blanket.
“Director Choi?”
Mujin’s eyes, which had been tightly closed the whole time, slowly lifted at the sound of Jaewoo’s quiet voice. His strangely dark eyes were revealed. Without realizing it, Jaewoo shifted back a bit in surprise at those eyes.
“Just call me by my name.”
Mujin lifted the corners of his mouth and smiled. It was a smile that was somehow reminiscent of a predator.
“How could I do that?”
“‘Director’ is a position in a company, but you’re not my subordinate, are you?”
That was true. Jaewoo cleared his throat and called his name again.
“Mujin-ssi?”
“Better.”
“Then I’ll finish preparing breakfast.”
“Go ahead.”
Jaewoo went back to the kitchen, heated up the hangover soup, added several side dishes, and set the table.
“Come and eat!”
Mujin sat at the table, still shirtless. His practical, well-toned muscles were exposed to Jaewoo’s gaze without anything to get in the way. Would he ever have muscles like that? Jaewoo swallowed his sigh and massaged his forearm.
‘No, let’s not get greedy.’
Mujin’s muscles hadn’t been created naturally. They were the result of someone struggling to survive with great difficulty. The scars engraved here and there proved that. It wasn’t something Jaewoo would be able to emulate. Seeing the look on Jaewoo’s face, Mujin opened his mouth.
“Are you jealous?”
“What?”
When Jaewoo responded in surprise, Mujin said with a small smile.
“Of my muscles?”
“No, that’s… I’m not jealous of them at all.”
“Is that so?”
Jaewoo had been studying them too closely for that to be believable. Jaewoo’s face blushed at Mujin’s words.
“It’s not like that.”
“It’s not?”
“No, not at all.”
“Ah, well, in that case…”
Mujin raised his head in an arrogant manner and started eating. He sipped the bean sprout soup with kimchi first. The cool and spicy soup, made with fresh pollack, felt like it was soothing his stomach that had been burned by the liquor. Next, he followed it with a spoonful of rice. The food seemed to be particularly good today, as if it was melting gently in his mouth.
It wasn’t just the soup and rice. The side dishes were all delicious. The egg rolls that Jaewoo often served were moderately salty and savory, and the pickled sesame leaves that he must have brought from home were not only salty but fragrant. It was perfect for Mujin’s tastes. He had a generous helping of rice to go with the rest.
When Mujin’s bowl of rice was empty, Jaewoo scooped up more with an expression that said he knew this would happen. First one bowl, then the second bowl – Mujin devoured them both with a huge appetite before taking a third.
“Is it delicious?”
Jaewoo, who had performed his job well, asked Mujin in a probing tone. Mujin nodded slowly. Jaewoo felt inordinately proud when he saw that. He loved to see people eating well.
“Are you going to work today?”
“Mmhm.”
“What time do you get off work?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“I want to make sure dinner will be ready on time.”
Mujin’s voice softened at Jaewoo’s words.
“I’ll be back late today.”
That meant all Jaewoo needed to do was make dinner and put it in the refrigerator. Mujin had irregular commuting times, probably because of his job. Sometimes he arrived home early in the morning, and sometimes he went to work late in the evening.
“All right. Be sure to warm up dinner before eating it.”
“I’ll remember that.”
After finishing his meal, Mujin quickly got ready and went outside. As soon as Mujin left, Jaewoo washed the dishes and hung the laundry on the drying rack. Afterwards, he checked the pickled garlic jars and added a few side dishes to the fridge. After that, there was nothing to do.
Mujin had said he’d be back later today, so Jaewoo ended up spending the remaining time in a daze.
‘It’s half past 11 now.’
Jaewoo must have worked too diligently. He was half-lying on the sofa, fiddling with his new phone. He tried installing some games, but quickly got tired of them. He didn’t even have anyone he could contact. Hyunjin was the only one who had his number, but he was at work. Or was it his lunch time now?
‘Where does Hyunjin work?’
Jaewoo jumped up from the sofa and opened the Internet window on his phone. Hyunjin didn’t like to talk about his workplace, but he had been asking about it recently and knew where it was.
“It’s nearby?”
It was located closer than he thought. ‘Let’s see…’ Jaewoo sent a message to Hyunjin.
[What time is lunch time?]
The answer came back 30 minutes later.
[12 o’clock.]
Jaewoo had a great idea. He smiled and stood up.
Hyunjin, who had stopped working during lunch time, was surprised when he checked his phone later. Jaewoo had never contacted him before, but today he sent him a message.
‘He knows how to use messaging apps1.’
Hyunjin had thought that the only things Jaewoo knew how to do were call and send text messages. For some reason, he didn’t seem to fit the image of someone familiar with new technology. It looked like Hyunjin had been prejudiced. He shouldn’t act that way; he knew better than most how scary prejudices can be. Hyunjin responded to Jaewoo’s message as naturally as possible.
“What are you so busy with during the lunch hour?”
As Hyunjin was waiting for a reply, a worker he had become friendly with at the construction site tapped his shoulder. Because his last name was Oh, everyone at work called him Oh-ssi. His expression turned mischievous when he spotted the phone in Hyunjin’s hand.
“Who is it, your lover?”
“No.”
“It’s really not? When your expression looks like that?”
“My expression?”
“Yeah! Why are you looking like that, then? I’ve never seen you look so excited.”
“Do I really look like that?”
“You do! It’s the same as the lunch box from last time. You must have a lover, right?”
“There’s no such person.”
A lover. It was someone who’d never existed in the past and never would exist in the future. Even though Hyunjin knew that, the idea made his appetite go bitter for no reason.
“What? You’re so handsome, but you don’t have a lover? Are you in a ‘situationship’2, then?
“Situationship?”
“Why play hard to get? Either you want to date them or you don’t.”
As Oh-ssi spoke loudly, other workers decided to join in.
“What? Our youngest is in a relationship?”
In an instant, the surroundings became noisy. Although it was a bit annoying, strangely enough, Hyunjin didn’t hate it. In the past, he just worked without paying attention to the people and things around him. But at some point, he started to look around little by little and realized that other people weren’t always out to get you.
Hyunjin felt complicated emotions as he looked at the workers making a fuss. Then he looked down at his phone and smiled faintly. A reply came from Jaewoo.
[Can I come visit you next lunchtime?]
[Yes.]
Of course there was only one answer.
“This guy texts just like he talks.”
Jaewoo laughed as he read the response that Hyunjin sent. He’d given a clear and concise answer without using any of the common emoticons. Well, Jaewoo wasn’t that different either.
‘Alright then, I guess permission has been granted.’
What would be good for a lunch box? Jaewoo rolled his neck. First, reserve the largest section for rice. He’d need to prepare a lot of meat. Since Hyunjin’d eaten a lot of bulgogi last time, Jaewoo decided to make grilled beef short rib patties3 this time.
First, he needed to buy some beef ribs and chop them with a knife. Since he wasn’t mincing the meat but rather chopping it directly, it would taste even better. It might take more work, but the person eating it would love it. Then, he’d add various vegetables and fruits, season it, pour it, knead it, and bake it. Then the delicious short rib patties would be complete, and could be placed on a bed of rice. If someone tried to serve the patties by themselves, Jaewoo wouldn’t approve of it.
“What else should I add?”
He couldn’t leave out the kimchi either. It was a bit boring by itself, so he’d stir-fry it this time. And on the other side of the lunch box, maybe some herbs and pickled vegetables to whet his appetite? It would be nice if the garlic had finished pickling already.
Jaewoo found himself getting hungry.
“Ah, dessert!”
He couldn’t forget the fruit at the end. With this plan in mind, he was already looking forward to the next day. It would be nice if Mujin went to work early and came home late again. Jaewoo was hoping for it.
Footnotes
톡 사용할 줄 아셨구나 – You know how to use Tok. ‘Tok’ is short for KakaoTalk, a messaging app similar to WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. Wikipedia
그럼 썸이야? – So, is it ‘some?’ ‘Some’ is Korean slang that refers to the uncertain stage between just friends or acquaintances to lovers. I chose to use the slang term ‘situationship,’ meaning a relationship that is less than boyfriend/girlfriend, but more than a casual encounter or booty call. Urban Dictionary
떡갈비 – Tteokgalbi. Grilled short rib patties. Marinated short rib meat is minced and mixed with various seasonings before being grilled. Wikipedia, Recipe