I Became the Lousy Side Top - Chap 6
Jaewoo woke up slowly. His light brown eyes squinted open as he stared blankly at Hyunjin, who was standing right in front of him. He frowned a little, as if he didn’t believe his eyes, before he seemed to come to his senses. He hurriedly tried to get up from his spot.
“Hold on, hold on!”
Jaewoo reached out, afraid that Hyunjin was going to run away again. In reality, Hyunjin had started to back off the second Jaewoo began to open his eyes. He would have successfully escaped if Jaewoo hadn’t tripped over his blanket in his hurry to stop him.
Even as he was falling, Jaewoo just hugged the item in his arms tighter and braced himself to hit the ground. But the impact he was expecting never came. Hyunjin caught him mid-fall and helped steady him on his feet.
“Thank you.”
Jaewoo bowed his head to Hyunjin. It just showed how kind Hyunjin was, to save someone that he hated.
Hyunjin didn’t respond to the thank you, just stood there awkwardly. Then Jaewoo handed over the item that he’d been holding in his arms.
“Here, as thanks for saving me.”
The fact that Jaewoo was trying to play it off as a thank you gift was almost enough to make Hyunjin laugh. Hadn’t he been waiting out in the hall before Hyunjin had even arrived? Hyunjin tried to pass the item back, but Jaewoo quickly avoided him and ran back to his room.
Bang!
The door slammed shut with a loud noise, and Hyunjin was left holding the heavy item in his arms. It was an insulated lunchbox.
‘Why are you giving this to me?’
His heart felt tight. Hyunjin hesitated, then started to put the insulated lunchbox down in front of Jaewoo’s door. Before he could, the door suddenly burst open again.
“Be sure to take it! Or I’ll throw it away!”
With that, Jaewoo shut the door once more.
‘So what if you throw it away?’
What did that have to do with him? Hyunjin set the lunchbox down and took a step away, then two. Then he stopped, unable to move another inch.
‘It’s such a waste…’
Wouldn’t it be a shame? Hyunjin hesitated. He walked forward a few more steps, then stopped again. At this rate, he wouldn’t be able to leave the house until after the sun was up.
Hyunjin bit his lip and turned around to pick up the lunchbox again. Whatever was inside was heavy. He didn’t want to be responsible for such a heavy weight, so he put it down a second time. He’d never gotten a lunchbox like this from either his father or his mother. His parents were always busy and never had time to pack a lunch for him. So the whole thing was unfamiliar.
‘I’ll be late for my part-time job like this.’
Hyunjin hesitated several more times before finally exiting through the gate. He ended up needing to run, and as a result was only barely late for his first part-time job.
“You’re late?”
The worker from the previous shift said with a gruff voice as he took off his vest with the convenience store logo on it.
“Then I’m off.”
“Okay.”
Hyunjin checked the aisles, cleaned up, and settled down inside the counter. This convenience store part-time job was really good. It wasn’t a lot of money, but occasionally items were damaged or close to expiring, and the boss didn’t care what they did with them after that. But sometimes there were days like today.
A day when there was nothing extra for him to take home. On those days, he’d have to work through the day without eating anything. Hyunjin was used to it by now. After all, that’s how it had always been.
‘But now…’
Hyunjin gave in to his sense of shame and buried his face in his hands.
‘Why did I bring that…’
On the small desk inside the counter sat the lunchbox that Jaewoo had packed for him.
He swore that he didn’t intend to bring it with him. However, as he was walking away, the lunchbox on the floor kept bothering him. He couldn’t just leave it there. How could he throw away such a precious thing? It was impossible.
But if he opened it and ate it, wouldn’t that be just as bad? How can he make his younger brothers eat instant ramen when he was eating stir-fried pork? His conscience wouldn’t allow it. He couldn’t throw it away, but he couldn’t eat it either.
He carried the lunchbox with him to his next part-time job at a restaurant. In the small breakroom, Hyunjin put the lunchbox aside and changed his clothes.
“What’s that?”
Just then a girl, Suyeon, who was working part-time, saw it and made a curious expression.
“It’s nothing.”
Hyunjin tried to cut off the conversation, but to no avail. Suyeon’s eyes were already shining with curiosity.
“No, what is it? Any way you look at it, it’s a lunchbox, right? Who packed it? Ooo, it’s enormous. Your girlfriend? Did your girlfriend pack it for you? Just tell this older sister.”
Suyeon was a very nice person, but a bit talkative. She was also insatiably curious.
“I don’t have a girlfriend.”
“Then who made it? Did you pack it yourself?”
“I didn’t.”
“Then was it your parents?”
“…Not them.”
Would his parents ever bother to pack a lunch for him? He didn’t even know where they were right now. Hyunjin swallowed back a sigh that wanted to burst out.
“Then who was it? It really was a girlfriend, wasn’t it!”
“Please stop.”
“You’re no fun.”
Hyunjin worked hard and Suyeon knew he was a good person. For that reason, Suyeon only grumbled and didn’t get angry. She just liked teasing him.
Hyunjin was very handsome, but the atmosphere around him was so heavy that it was hard for people to approach him. Suyeon had a bright and extroverted personality, so she was able to get closer than most people.
“Oh, my aunt cooked for me. Do you want to have some?”
Normally, Hyunjin would have accepted. It was hard to get enough time for a proper meal while working. Plus it’s free food. But Hyunjin hesitated. It felt like the lunchbox in the locker was staring at him.
“Oh right. You brought a packed lunch today? Let’s eat together then. Grab it and come on.”
Suyeon said calmly and walked away. Now, Hyunjin was left alone with the lunchbox.
“What should I do?”
Hyunjin muttered helplessly. No matter how well insulated the lunchbox was, it was clear that it would go bad if left unattended all day. That said, he still couldn’t bring himself to eat it. As he hesitated in front of the lunchbox, Suyeon came back and looked at him suspiciously.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you eating?”
“You go ahead.”
“Then c’mon. The food’s not gonna eat itself, what’re you waiting for1?”
Suyeon quickly grabbed his lunchbox and headed outside. Hyunjin panicked and followed after her, but Suyeon was faster. She set the lunchbox down on the table and unpacked it in an instant.
“Wow, stir-fried pork? It looks delicious. Can I try it too?”
Hyunjin desperately ran forward and grabbed her hand before she could finish raising it to her mouth.
“You can’t eat it.”
“Ah, okay. I won’t have any. Is it because your girlfriend gave it to you?”
Suyeon removed her hand and sat down at the table. She patted the seat next to her and motioned for Hyunjin to join her. It was only then that Hyunjin sat down and was able to see what was in the lunchbox.
There were two sections with side dishes on white rice, still warm. One side was stir-fried pork, while the other was stir-fried anchovies and seasoned spinach. Next to them was a thermos2. When he opened the lid, the liquid inside looked different, but it smelled similar to the soybean paste stew from the other day.
“Um, I thought your girlfriend made you lunch? It looks more like your parents packed it for you.”
Suyeon said.
It was a hearty lunch, with plenty of steamed rice, side dishes, and soybean paste stew served separately. It had an old-fashioned feel to it that seemed more like something a parent or a grandmother would make, rather than a girlfriend. No wonder Suyeon was confused.
Hyunjin smiled faintly and didn’t answer her. He’d always kept a certain distance from the people at his part-time jobs. He didn’t want them to know that he didn’t have parents, or how much he was struggling. He couldn’t afford to be vulnerable around other people. So Suyeon’s remarks were out of ignorance, rather than malice.
Suyeon and the others had already started eating. It would be strange for him to go out and ask one of the chefs for rice to eat instead. Hyunjin bit his lip and picked up the chopsticks that were included in the lunchbox. After hesitating for a moment, he picked up the pork stir-fry and tasted it.
The sweet yet spicy taste of fire on his tongue quickly whetted his appetite. The stir-fried anchovies were crispy and salty, and even the seasoned spinach was delicious. When he got thirsty, he drank some of the soybean paste soup. The taste was milder than the stew from the other day, as if Jaewoo had deliberately made it so.
While he was wrapped up in eating, he suddenly became aware of someone’s gaze on him. When he looked up, his coworkers were staring at him.
“Oh, you must be very hungry.”
The cook said that and served up another bowl of rice.
“I know, right. It’s the first time I’ve seen him eat like this. He usually acts like it’s all the same to him as long as he’s full.”
Suyeon was also surprised and opened her eyes wide to look at Hyunjin. Only then did he realize that he had emptied the entire rice bowl.
“Eat more.”
Hyunjin accepted the rice bowl the cook handed over. Later, once things had time to sink in, he’s sure he would feel ashamed. But since the chef had already served him, he should make sure to eat it all. He added it to his leftover side dishes and started eating again.
“Can I try some too?”
Suyeon asked again. Hyunjin didn’t know what to answer. He supposed that he could let her have some at this point, but he didn’t want to.
“Why are you pestering him now that he’s finally eating well?”
Another person stopped Suyeon with a smile.
“But aren’t you curious! Eating like this! The taste must be fantastic.”
“You think so? Then can we have a little too?”
Hyunjin couldn’t refuse at this point. He set aside a small amount for himself and let his coworkers have the rest.
“Woah, how is this so delicious?”
“I know, right. Who the hell made it?”
“Really! Can we hire them? If we had someone like this cooking here, we’d hit the jackpot!”
Voices of admiration drifted in his ears.
“Right? Who made this?”
Suyeon asked again. What could he say? Jaewoo had made the food for him, but he was just his landlord. Wasn’t it weird for landlords to pack lunches for their tenants? What sort of relationship did they really have? If he thought of the Jaewoo of the past, it was obvious what he should say.
But what about the Jaewoo of the present?
Footnotes
애완 도시락도 아니고 뭘 쳐다보고만 있니? – “It’s not a pet lunch box, what are you staring at?” I think Suyeon is basically saying it’s food, not a pet, so just hurry up and eat it already.
국 통 – MTL called this a ‘soup barrel’. It’s probably not an actual thermos, but rather a generic soup container
