I Became the Lousy Side Top - Chap 40
A golden-brown, whole rotisserie chicken was rotating on a spit, in an oven attached to the back of a truck. Every time the dim orange light illuminated the chicken, Hyunjin could see the juices boiling. When was the last time he’d eaten something like that? He couldn’t remember when precisely, but the taste remained on the tip of his tongue.
‘Would they like it?’
Hyunjin searched his pockets and found some money. 7,000 won per chicken, or 10,000 won for two. The price was cheap, too.
“Please give me two.”
Hyunjin held out a bill and spoke to the owner.
“Coming right up! The chicken is fresh and delicious!”
The owner shouted cheerfully, took out two chickens, and served them to him. The chickens felt heavy in his hands, and he realized as he held them that it was already past dinner time. For a moment he almost regretted buying them, but it was too late to go back now. Still, it should be okay since there were several people who might want some. With that in mind, he headed home.
Hyunjin walked faster, since he didn’t want the chickens to get cold. He’d rush back, give Jaewoo the chickens, then go to his next job. Thanks to his hurry, he actually arrived home earlier than he usually did.
“I’m here.”
As Hyunjin cleared his throat and spoke, the door opened.
“Come in.”
The welcoming voice made him smile without even realizing it. However, as he got closer to Jaewoo, Hyunjin’s smile died. When he saw him during their lunch earlier that day, his expression had been bright, but now his face looked somber, as if he was worried about something.
“What’s going on?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Jaewoo chuckled awkwardly and shook his head.
“You look tired.”
“Work was just a little rough today, that’s all.”
The moment Jaewoo said those words, Hyunjin understood. He’s been through so many shitty things since he started working when he was young. The question of whether Jaewoo should just quit his job welled up in his throat, but he swallowed it down.
Jaewoo had told him that he had enough money to live on for the rest of his life, so if he was working, then there must be a reason. So instead of asking him to stop, Hyunjin focused on comforting him.
“If you’re having a hard time, you can tell me. I’ll listen.”
“Nah, how can I say I’m having a hard time? You have it much worse. By the way, what’s that?”
Jaewoo asked, looking at the black plastic bag in Hyunjin’s hand.
Whoops. Only now did Hyunjin remember that he had bought two chickens.
“It’s some rotisserie chickens.”
“There’s a place selling that around here?”
“It’s down the hill.”
“Really? I don’t remember seeing it.”
Jaewoo tilted his head and took the chickens from Hyunjin.
“Hyeonu, Woohee! Your brother brought us some rotisserie chickens!”
When the words “rotisserie chickens” were heard, two chicks wearing their pajamas came running out.
“Chicken?”
“Did you buy a whole chicken?”
“Yep. Whole rotisserie chickens.”
Even though they’d already eaten, the kids were excited. The table was soon set and one of the chickens was placed on top.
“Actually, this is my first time trying this.”
Jaewoo muttered as he looked at the rotisserie chicken that had suddenly appeared.
“What!”
“But it’s so good!”
The children’s eyes went wide, and they looked surprised, like they were thinking, ‘Oh my God. I can’t believe he hasn’t tried this delicious food.’ Was it because he was good at cooking chicken himself? They looked amazed.
“Really?”
The children weren’t the only ones who were surprised.
“It just kind of turned out that way?”
Hyunjin, who had originally only planned to drop off the chickens and then leave, sat at the front of the table. Jaewoo’s fried chicken had been amazingly delicious, but the rotisserie chicken sold at the food truck was also really good.
A large hand tore the chicken into pieces.
“Which part do you like best?”
Jaewoo answered Hyunjin’s question without thinking.
“The leg.”
“Oh good.”
After saying that, Hyunjin twisted off one of the legs and placed it on Jaewoo’s plate, then did the same to the second leg and placed it on Hyeonu’s. The well-separated breast meat was placed onto Woohee’s plate.
“What part do you like?”
“The wings.”
“Really?”
For a moment, Jaewoo doubted Hyunjin’s words. He wondered if Hyunjin, who always gave in to the wishes of his younger siblings, might have lied about his tastes. But he couldn’t see the slightest hint of deceit in his body language.
“Really.”
Hyunjin put the wings on his plate. After disassembling it, the glutinous rice that had been stuffed inside the chicken was revealed.
“There’s rice in there too?”
“It’s been there since the beginning. Try it.”
As soon as those words were out, Hyeonu and Woohee started in on the chicken. Although the meat was still very hot, the flavor was delicious. The skin was crisp and savory, and the meat was juicy and tender. The children shoveled the chicken into their mouths frantically.
Jaewoo watched the children eat for a moment before raising the leg to his mouth and taking a bite. It wasn’t as good as his homemade fried chicken, but the unique taste of the rotisserie chicken was appetizing. The person who baked and sold it had good cooking skills.
“It’s delicious!”
Jaewoo’s expression, which had been depressed the whole time, got a little better.
‘I’m so glad I bought the chickens.’
Just seeing that alone made Hyunjin satisfied.
The first chicken disappeared in an instant. At about that time, Jaewoo brought out some kimchi to marinate the second one in. The rotisserie chicken served with kimchi instead of radish was also a delicacy1. Hyeonu and Woohee grinned, their mouths stained with oil.
“By the way, a letter from the boys’ school arrived today.”
“What is it?”
Jaewoo passed Hyunjin the letter. As the boys were about to go on a field trip soon, the school had written that they should prepare a packed lunch.
A homemade boxed lunch. Hyunjin slowly blinked his eyes. In the past, whenever he needed to pack a lunch box for them, he’d just bought gimbap from a local snack bar. This time, he wanted to do it himself. He checked the date on the letter again.
It was a few days later.
“So, I figured I’d pack the two of them a lunch box.”
Jaewoo was the first to speak.
“No, I’ll try to skip work that day, somehow.”
“Is that okay?”
Hyunjin nodded. Even if it wasn’t okay, he still needed to make it happen. For once, he wanted to feel like a proper older brother to his younger siblings.
“Then shall we team up?”
As Jaewoo spoke, he took out a piece of paper from seemingly midair and placed it on the table. On it were scribbled several poorly drawn lunch box designs.
“I’m thinking of making a character lunch box.”
Suddenly, the difficulty level of the lunch box had increased significantly. But rather than being discouraged, Hyunjin’s motivation flared up again.
“That’s good. I’ll buy the necessary ingredients.”
“Okay! Then I’ll buy the boxes.”
Hyunjin paused at those words.
“I’ll buy those too.”
“No, let me do this much. I want to do something nice for Hyeonu and Woohee.”
Despite Hyunjin’s words, Jaewoo didn’t back down.
“I already picked out a lunch box!”
“Still…”
“C’mon, listen to your older brother! Hyeonu, Woohee, would you boys like some new lunch boxes?”
Jaewoo cheekily dragged the children into their discussion. The kids hesitated, looking back and forth between the two of them. Hyunjin saw that, and had no choice but to give in to Jaewoo’s urging. Eventually he sighed and told the kids.
“Say ‘thank you,’ boys.”
“Thank you!”
“Thanks!”
The two wiggled with excitement as they said their thanks. Finally, Hyunjin joined in as well.
“Thank you.”
“No need to thank me! It’s a small thing.”
Jaewoo waved his hand and laughed. That’s how the lunch box party was formed!
First, they asked Hyeonu and Woohee what characters kids like these days.
“Harold2!”
“Harold?”
“Yes, that’s it!”
Hyeonu drew a picture on the piece of paper and showed it to Jaewoo.
‘Your skills at drawing are worse than mine…’
Jaewoo examined the picture in detail. Eventually he had no choice but to take out his phone and search for ‘Harold.’ Then, a weird-looking, fat teddy bear appeared on his screen.
“A bear?”
“Yes, Harold’s a bear!”
Jaewoo couldn’t believe this was popular. Actually, no, if he thought back to when he was young, didn’t he grow up with a talking bus, a dolphin that sang like a galloping horse, and long-nosed penguins, among others3? Kids these days were probably just as attached to their favorite characters as he was then. Jaewoo smiled faintly.
After being forced into that promise with Mujin, Jaewoo had felt frustrated the rest of the day. He was scared of what might happen, and angry at himself for not being able to properly confront it. But as he talked about lunch boxes with the kids, his worries slowly eased.
“Then we’ll make a Harold for you.”
“Can you really make Harold for the lunch box?”
Woohee’s eyes sparkled. His expression was full of anticipation.
“Of course. We can make anything in a lunch box.”
“Can you make a lion too?”
“Woohee, do you like lions?”
“Yes, they’re cool!”
“Great! Then we’ll add a lion as well.”
An excited Woohee stood up with both hands raised.
“Hurray!”
“What sort of character would you like, Hyeonu?”
“I’m fine.”
Hyeonu gave a fairly mature answer, but Jaewoo refused to accept it.
“If you don’t tell me, we’ll make Hyeonu a teddy bear too.”
Then, as Jaewoo smiled evilly, Hyeonu’s mouth opened.
“A chick. A yellow chick, please.”
“A chick, huh?”
Well, a chick lunch box would be adorable. Now that the kids had given their opinions, Jaewoo started devising the lunch box arrangement. Since Harold was a bear, he could use a bit of fried tofu to make a face, along with cheese and seaweed. He could make the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears from sausages, and attach a mascot ribbon to the neck. As he was planning it all out, the time passed quickly. Before he knew it, it was time for bed.
Now that he’d sorted it out to some extent, he’d let Hyunjin know the plan when it was time. With that in mind, Jaewoo lay the children down on the blanket.
“Now let’s get some sleep.”
“Yes!”
The boys answered cheerfully, but they seemed to be having trouble falling asleep due to excitement. The two of them lay down and whispered for a while before eventually closing their eyes.
‘I don’t want to go to work tomorrow.’
When he went back to work, he’d need to see Mujin’s face again. He’d thought that he would be able to handle it, but now it felt like it was becoming more difficult. He should have stuck to his guns at the beginning. Jaewoo sighed deeply.
He was so worried he couldn’t sleep well. Eventually he gave up on sleeping and turned on his phone flashlight to study the notes he had made about the lunch box.
Focus only on the essentials, and remove anything unnecessary4. By the time he finished writing down various menu items that the children would like, it was already early morning. It was time for Hyunjin to return. Jaewoo gathered up his note papers and turned off his phone, then lay down on the bed with his eyes closed and pretended to be asleep. Not long after, the sound of the front door was heard, and Hyunjin entered the house.
The door to the room opened, and Jaewoo felt a presence near him. The figure stayed by Jaewoo’s side for a moment, then headed towards the bathroom. Why had Hyunjin come to stand by his side? Jaewoo couldn’t figure it out.
Footnotes
Pickled radish, or ‘chicken radish’ / 치킨무, was traditionally served with roasted or fried chicken as a side dish. Jaewoo doesn’t specify the type of radish, but I’m guessing this is what he was referencing. Wikipedia, roasted chicken recipe, radish recipe
뽀동 – Ppodong. Seems to be a made up character. I couldn’t find any references to any cartoon bears with this name, and the manwha went with ‘Pinnie-the-Wooh’ instead. However, I did find out that “Harold and the Purple Crayon” was called “Ppodong and the Magic Crayon” in Korea, so I’ve chosen to use the name “Harold” instead. If anyone knows if the author was referencing something specific here, please let me know.
Please leave me a comment if you know what characters there are referencing. Here are my best guesses:
A talking bus – I thought at first this might be Catbus from My Neighbor Totoro, but I don’t think Catbus ever spoke? There’s a popular Korean cartoon about a talking bus called Tayo the Little Bus, but it only came out in 2010, which seems a bit late for Jaewoo to have watched. (The novel came out in 2021, and Jaewoo is about 25 years old, making him ~15 years old when this first aired.)
Singing dolphins – No idea. Some possibilities are Zoom the White Dolphin (1971), or Marine Boy (1966). There’s also an Australian series called Flipper and Lopaka from 1999, but I can’t find any reference to it being translated into Korean.
Long-nosed penguins – Maybe Pororo the Little Penguin? It aired in 2003 and ran for 8 seasons.
추가할 건 추가하고, 뺄 건 빼고. – Add what needs to be added, and subtract what needs to be removed.
