I Became the Lousy Side Top - Chap 48
A few days had passed since the kids’ field trip. Jaewoo had been spending his weekend cleaning when he came across the suit, neatly placed in a corner of his closet. He couldn’t help but smile wryly.
‘I need to return this as well.’
It seemed far too expensive to just accept it. Jaewoo had intended to get it dry cleaned and then return it, but he hadn’t found time for it yet. One day he’d overslept and had to rush to get ready, another day he’d been too busy taking care of the kids, and so on. As a result, he hadn’t managed to return it yet. He hadn’t managed to return the shoes yet, either.
Even though it was obvious the suit wouldn’t fit Mujin, Jaewoo still felt he needed to return it in order to feel at ease.
“Is there anything else you need to clean?”
Jaewoo jumped at Hyunjin’s unexpected question, closing the closet door. The last he knew, Hyunjin had been out front, cleaning the yard.
“Huh? I think everything is just about done here.”
Jaewoo quickly adjusted his expression and turned around.
“Did I startle you?”
At Hyunjin’s question, Jaewoo realized that he had already seen everything.
“A little.”
If he tried to lie or dissemble, it would look even more suspicious. Instead he just laughed mischievously, pretending not to care1. Hyunjin smiled back at him, looking more relaxed than he usually was. Maybe it was because his workload had been reduced a little. Even if it was just one day off on the weekend, it gave Hyunjin a chance to catch his breath.
It was the same with the kids. After the incident, Jaewoo had been worried they might be ostracized, but instead they seemed to have made even more friends and been getting along well with the other children. Thanks to them, every day was peaceful.
“How are the sweet potatoes coming along?”
Jaewoo had turned on a portable gas stove in one corner of the yard, and placed a few sweet potatoes in a pot over the burners. After they promised that they would eat them once the cleaning was done, the children were excited to help clean.
“They’re done. I poked them with chopsticks and they went right in.”
“Really? Then it’s time to turn off the burner.”
The carefully selected pumpkins and sweet potatoes had turned a lovely dark brown on the outside.
“Alright guys, it’s time to eat!”
As soon as Jaewoo shouted, the children threw down their brooms and came running. Steam rose from the basket of roasted sweet potatoes. Although they were perfect with a dollop of kimchi on top, today Jaewoo had decided on something a little bit more involved. He’d taken a few of the sweet potatoes, cut them in half, then laid a spoonful of honey-butter in between them. The heat from the freshly cooked sweet potatoes had melted the butter down.
“This is a honey-butter sweet potato.”
Jaewoo pushed the plate in front of the children and handed them a spoon. Usually in restaurants you’d eat it with a fork, but spoons were cleaner.
“Thank you for the food!”
“I’ll eat all of it!”
The children were already digging their spoons in before they even finished speaking. When honey-butter was added to the already delicious sweet potatoes, what more could be said about the taste? The children forgot to talk as they hurriedly shoveled the sweet potatoes into their mouths. It was like they’d never had it before.
“Would you like to try one too?”
“Yes.”
Hyunjin also shyly accepted a honey-butter sweet potato. It was a bit heavy for a mid-afternoon snack, but they could worry about ruining their appetites later. Jaewoo had finished everything he’d needed to do for the day, so now he could just relax and kill time.
Jaewoo followed their lead, scooping up some honey-butter sweet potatoes and putting it in his mouth.
“It really is good.”
Hyunjin laughed at Jaewoo’s words. It was refreshing to see him smile.
‘Yes, this is happiness.’
Jaewoo decided to forget about the complexities of life for a while. He started tearing up the kimchi into strips by hand, then adding it on top of the roasted sweet potatoes. The flavor of the sour and spicy kimchi mixed with the sweetness of the sweet potatoes went together fantastically. It would be even better with some salted radish kimchi2. Jaewoo figured he should make some soon.
After Jaewoo finished tearing off pieces of the kimchi for the children’s sweet potatoes, another sweet potato suddenly appeared right in front of him. This time, Hyunjin was the one holding it out.
“Me too?”
Without hesitation, Jaewoo placed some freshly torn kimchi on top. The sight of Hyunjin taking a big bite was truly blessed.
“We decided to go buy a kid’s phone3 this afternoon, right?”
After the incident at the field trip, they’d decided that the children needed to have a way to reach them, and as a result, they needed to go purchase some kid’s phones.
“Yes.”
As soon as those words were said, the children’s eyes lit up. It seemed like they had high expectations for their first phones.
“Then I guess we’ll have to visit a few different places.”
With that, the afternoon seemed to be over with. After finishing all the sweet potatoes, Jaewoo quickly started cleaning up after everyone. Hyunjin and the kids also helped out. The preparations for going out were completed in an instant.
“Keep your coats zipped.”
After putting on the children’s jackets, Jaewoo stood up. He and Hyunjin led the children by their hands as they walked out the front door.
As they made their way down the hill to the supermarket, they came to a few familiar cell phone stores.
“Welcome!”
When they entered the first store, the four of them were greeted warmly by one of the employees.
“We’re thinking of buying some kid’s phones.”
“Ah, kid’s phones? Yes, they’re rather essential these days.”
The employee smiled brightly and took out several phones from the glass cabinet.
“This is the latest trend. We partnered with some of the most popular children’s characters. Once you set it up, the kids can connect to their parents with just the click of a button! It’s so convenient and easy to use.”
The four of them examined the kid’s phones while listening to the salesperson’s skillful explanation. The prices were reasonable, and the salesperson seemed friendly. Hyunjin and Jaewoo decided to buy the kid’s phones here, at the first store.
“Then I’ll help you get them set up!”
The employee got to work. Jaewoo and the kids sat at a table off to the side, but Hyunjin remained standing. He seemed to be looking at something intently.
“What are you looking at?”
Jaewoo followed Hyunjin’s gaze and found he was staring at an endcap with several different cellphones displayed in it. Did Hyunjin want to get a new phone? Now that he thought about it, Hyunjin’s current model was very old. He was lucky it was still working.
“Do you want to get a new phone?”
Jaewoo was pretty sure he would say no. Just getting the phones for his younger siblings was probably stretching his finances. Was there any way Jaewoo could convince him to let him pay for them? As Jaewoo looked at Hyunjin with those thoughts in mind, an unexpected response came back.
“…I’m thinking about it, yes.”
Jaewoo stared at him, his eyes wide with surprise. Hyunjin’s ears were red as he continued.
“Doesn’t this look just like yours, hyung?”
“That one? Oh, right. It’s the same model.”
The only difference was the one on the endcap was black, but the model was the same.
“Ah! You have an excellent eye.”
Another employee spotted them and hurried over, continuing their spiel.
“It’s a popular model. The new series just released, so the price has dropped! What phone are you currently using? Woah, that’s a really old model! Here.”
He tapped some figures into a calculator and held it out in front of Hyunjin.
“The rate is supposed to be this much, but since you’re also purchasing some children’s cell phones… How about this much instead? I’ll leave out the additional services.”
The price was still too much. Hyunjin mentally calculated how much it would cost him today. He already had the cell phones for his younger brothers, was there really a need to replace his own? After all, it still worked. But even as he was thinking that, his eyes couldn’t leave the new phone. It was the same model as Jaewoo’s. That thought grabbed hold of Hyunjin’s heart and refused to let go.
‘Do I have any room in the budget this month?’
Hyunjin kept running the calculations over and over. Next to him, Jaewoo was watching with a pained expression. It looked as though he had something he wanted to say, but Hyunjin didn’t want to give him a chance to speak. The help he’d given them already was more than enough.
“This is the best time to purchase it! It’ll be discontinued soon.”
The employee next to him whispered in a seductive voice.
‘This might be my only chance. I can have the same phone as hyung…’
He’d told himself he wouldn’t be greedy, but wouldn’t this much be okay? That was what Hyunjin thought.
“I’ll take it.”
If he picked up more shifts, he could pay for the cell phone in just a few days, Hyunjin decided.
“You’ve made a wise choice!”
“Are you sure you want to get a new one?”
“My current one is so old, sometimes it doesn’t even work. It’s time for a change.”
That was a lie. It made Hyunjin’s heart thump to lie to Jaewoo, but he couldn’t bear to tell him the truth. He just wanted to have one thing in common with him. If he told him the truth, what kind of expression would Jaewoo make? Would he hate him? Would he freak out? Or, was there a chance that he’d like it? Even though he knew that wasn’t possible, his thoughts continued racing.
In only a few short minutes, the new phone was placed in Hyunjin’s hand. The only difference from Jaewoo’s was the color. Hyunjin examined it for a moment, then held it out to Jaewoo.
“Please give me your number.”
“Didn’t you move your data over?”
“My phone was so old, I guess they couldn’t transfer it. I’ll have to move it by hand. So, can I get your number first?”
“The first one….”
Jaewoo took Hyunjin’s phone with a shy expression. There wasn’t any data yet, so he entered his number digit by digit into the empty phone. When Hyunjin saw that, he smiled helplessly.
“Why are you smiling?”
“I like that hyung was my first.”
Jaewoo’s heart pounded as he heard Hyunjin say those words. No, calm down. He was probably just saying it as a courtesy. Jaewoo concealed his agitation and returned the phone to Hyunjin.
“Jaewoo-hyung.”
Hyunjin read the name he’d entered.
“It’s good.”
How could he smile like an angel? Jaewoo resisted the urge to clutch his chest. As the two were talking, the children joined in, demanding Jaewoo do the same.
“Ours too!”
“Yes, please add it!”
After entering his number into both phones, their business was concluded. Today’s outing seemed to have gone well. That was what Jaewoo thought until his phone suddenly buzzed.
Brrrrrrrrrrrr.
His cell phone was vibrating away inside his pocket.
‘Who could be calling me? Everyone’s here.’
No, that wasn’t true. There was one more person who might be calling him. It had to be Mujin. Jaewoo glanced at Hyunjin and reached into his pocket for his cell phone. Luckily, the vibration stopped quickly. But then another short rumble occurred. He’d received a text message.
Jaewoo quickly took out his cell phone and saw the alert that said he’d received a text. KakaoTalk would have been simpler and more convenient. As he was thinking that, Jaewoo had an epiphany.
‘It’d be too strange for a crazy main top to use KakaoTalk.’
He could barely imagine Mujin typing in a text message, let alone using a messenger app. Jaewoo put his phone back in his pocket.
“Aren’t you going to check your texts?”
Jaewoo was momentarily surprised by Hyunjin’s question as Hyunjin continued talking.
“It’s okay. You can check it if you need to.”
“I know who it is.”
It’s from Mujin, your future partner. The main top. Jaewoo smiled awkwardly as he responded.
“It’s just a friend, that’s all.”
“Uncle, do you really have friends?”
Woohee asked with a surprised expression. Did it seem like he was friendless? Jaewoo considered it for a moment. It’s true, he really didn’t have any friends. Since he’d become Jaewoo, he hadn’t had any contact from anyone. If he actually had a friend, they’d have been in touch long ago. But there was no need to tell them that now.
Footnotes
재우는 태연을 가장하며 장난스럽게 웃었다. – “Jaewoo laughed mischievously, pretending to be Taeyeon.” I’m taking a shot in the dark here, but I think the Taeyeon Jaewoo is referencing might be a k-pop idol, Kim Taeyeon? I tried researching her to see if I could figure out what this line meant, but wasn’t able to figure it out. If anyone knows what the author was referencing here, please hit me up. I will say, Kim Taeyeon has a great voice. Wikipedia, Fan Page, MV.
동치미 – dongchimi – A type of radish kimchi made by soaking radish in salt water before cooking it. Korean Wikipedia, Recipe
키즈폰 – kijeu pon – A low-performance type of phone marketed specifically towards kids. They’re meant to help parents and kids keep in touch, and often come with various safety features, like GPS monitoring or one-button emergency calls. Namu Wiki
