I Became the Lousy Side Top - Chap 72
It might not be too late. Jaewoo took out the IV needle and ran past the nurse, heading outside. He heard the nurse shouting in a panicked tone behind him, but he didn’t stop.
It wasn’t until he stepped foot on the cold ground that he realized he wasn’t even wearing shoes. He also wasn’t wearing a jacket, and he instantly started shivering from the cold. Jaewoo looked wildly from his right to his left. It was early morning with only a few people around, and Hyunjin wasn’t one of them.
Jaewoo lost his strength and collapsed to the ground, tears welling up in his eyes. He wanted to speak with Hyunjin, to ask him how he was doing and to make sure he was okay, but instead he’d left without Jaewoo even seeing his face.
“Hyunjin.”
He tried calling out his name to see if he would hear him, but only strangers turned to look.
“Sir! You can’t do this.”
The nurse had followed him out. They placed a hand on Jaewoo’s shoulder at the same moment that Jaewoo went limp, falling down completely.
“Here, someone help me!”
The last thing he heard was the nurse’s panicked voice.
Each Christmas, the streets would be lit up with twinkling lights and overflowing with joyous people. It was a day of celebration, meant to be shared with family or loved ones. Since it was his birthday, he received a lot of well wishes, but no one came to visit.
Except for one. He was always grateful for his one friend who came to visit him every year on his birthday.
“Don’t you have a special someone?”
“If I did, would I be here? I picked up some wine and cake on my way over.”
The cake he presented obviously came from an expensive hotel. It would have been nearly impossible to buy it without a reservation, yet he’d claimed he’d just picked it up along the way. Jaewoo smiled and accepted the cake, then headed towards the table where he’d prepared the food.
Golden fried chicken legs, cioppino stew1, salmon salad2, and ham and cheese for snacks. His friend laughed when he saw how different the food was from what he normally prepared.
“You like Korean food so much, why do you always eat Western food on your birthday?”
“It just feels right?”
Jaewoo replied and added a finished gratin3 and a pilaf4.
“There’s a lot of food.”
“But you’re going to eat it all.”
“Of course.”
His friend took off his coat and sat down at the table. As he sat down across from Jaewoo, he was able to finally see his face clearly. He had neatly combed hair and slightly droopy eyes, with a tear-drop shaped mole below them. From there, Jaewoo looked down at his sharp nose and his light pink lips.
It was a strange face for a man, but his height and build were enough to keep him from looking feminine.
“Eunjoon.”
Jaewoo called his name.
“Huh.”
He remembered now. His best friend, Eunjoon. Memories of him came back to him one after another, to the point where he wondered how he could have possibly forgotten him until now. The torrent of memories was enough to make his head hurt.
Finally, Jaewoo opened his eyes.
‘I’m still in the hospital.’
Jaewoo took a deep breath. Some of his memories had come back, all of them about his best friend.
‘Eunjoon.’
He repeated the name in his head again before suddenly thinking of Jiheon. He’d claimed that he was Jaewoo’s friend. But compared to the Eunjoon he remembered, something about Jiheon felt wrong.
At the very least, he was confident that Eunjoon would never act the way that Jiheon had. So was he a different friend? But he hadn’t remembered anyone else.
Jaewoo’s head hurt.
First, he had to get discharged and go home. He was worried about the kids, who had been left alone for all this time.
The nurse looked concerned, but they let Jaewoo leave as he asked.
“Your bill has already been paid.”
Jaewoo had tried to settle what he owed on his way out, but it seemed like Hyunjin had already handled it. All that was left was to catch a taxi and head home.
Like usual, the taxi stopped at the bottom of the hill.
His body felt so much lighter, Jaewoo was able to climb the hill quickly. The sky began to grow bright as the sun started to rise. The moment he entered the courtyard, the door burst open and the kids rushed out.
“Uncle!”
Faces filled with joy looked past Jaewoo, wondering if Hyunjin was with him. But after a moment, the two of them realized that Jaewoo was alone. Their once-happy expressions slowly faded, like flowers withering in the fall. However, the two of them still checked on Jaewoo.
“Are you feeling okay now?”
“Yes, they gave me an IV. I’m feeling much better now.”
“What was wrong with you?”
“Just aches and pains, and a cold.”
“You got sick because you’ve been going out every day. Take a break today.”
Hyeonu tugged on Jaewoo’s hand, slowly dragging him into his room and making sure he lay down on his blanket. The wet towels from before had been removed, and the blanket was deliciously soft.
Jaewoo lay down obediently, but he quickly began to worry about the kids’ food. The rice cooker must have been nearly empty.
“I need to prepare breakfast.”
“I’ll do it!”
Hyeonu shouted, pressing Jaewoo back down.
“Do you know how to make rice?”
“Yes! All you have to do is wash the rice, add it to the rice cooker, then pour in cold water until it’s as deep as your knuckle.”
Hyeonu answered confidently, but Jaewoo was still nervous about leaving everything up to them. He gently grabbed Hyeonu’s hand and lifted it up.
“I’ll just make breakfast really fast and then lie down again.”
“I said I can do it.”
“Even so, you need to eat more than just rice.”
“There’re still a lot of side dishes left!”
Not true. Even if there were, the only things left would be kimchi and pickled vegetables. Jaewoo stood up and laid Hyeonu, who was clinging to him, back down in his place.
“You guys haven’t slept, right?”
Hyeonu’s eyes shifted at Jaewoo’s words.
“Woohee, come over here too.”
Jaewoo laid Woohee down next to Hyeonu, then headed to the kitchen. He’d always kept it neat, but today it was a bit disorganized. He’d been so busy running around he hadn’t had time to tidy up.
He cleaned the cooking utensils, then washed the rice and placed it in the rice cooker. He pressed the ‘Cook’ button and then searched through the refrigerator. As expected, there wasn’t much to eat.
‘I guess I need to go grocery shopping.’
For now, Jaewoo decided to prepare a meal with what little he had. All that he had left were eggs and a can of tuna. The rest were too old to be used.
He cracked the eggs into a bowl of rice and added the tuna with some oil, then seasoned it with a little salt and pepper and stirred it all together. Then he dropped a spoonful at a time into a heated frying pan to make a simple tuna pancake.
When he tried one of the pancakes, it was salty and savory, a perfect side dish for rice. After that, he fried some kimchi in the remaining oil. He added a little sugar and spices5, stir-fried it, and sprinkled sesame salt on it. Just like that, another side dish was completed.
For the soup, he decided on egg drop soup6. Fortunately, there were some green onions left. He sat down in the kitchen while he waited for the soup to cook, then peeked into the room and saw that the kids were asleep. Since there wasn’t any rush, he decided to let them sleep a bit longer. Luckily they were on vacation, so they didn’t need to go anywhere.
Jaewoo tilted his head back and slowly closed his eyes. He wanted to try and organize his chaotic mind.
‘First, I’ll contact Yoon Jiheon again.’
Although he didn’t think it was likely, he couldn’t rule out the possibility that he was Eunjoon. Maybe he had changed after transmigrating. After all, Jaewoo had also changed a bit.
Even if he wasn’t Eunjoon, Jiheon was the only one who could help Hyunjin, so Jaewoo could only rely on him. As the director of a construction company, and a third-generation corporate heir, he had the power to compete with Mujin.
Ssssssssssss!
In the meantime, the rice cooker had begun to emit steam. The time had flown by. Once the rice had finished cooking, Jaewoo woke up the sleeping children.
“Let’s eat!”
The kids still looked tired, but their hunger won out. As soon as they saw the table, their mouths dropped open.
Warm soup with tuna pancakes, stir-fried kimchi, and a little bit of pickled vegetables. That was all, but their metaphorical tails were wagging. It had been a long time since they’d had a full meal cooked by Jaewoo.
“Thank you for the food!”
“Same here!”
Hyeonu and Woohee started with the warm rice. They knew how to cook it themselves, but strangely the rice that Jaewoo made tasted better. Even though it was just plain rice, it was delicious. After that, they picked up the tuna pancakes and took a big bite. They even tried dipping them in the ketchup, off to the side.
The kimchi, gently stir-fried in oil, was delicious too. And the egg drop soup? The children ate it all frantically. Seeing them like that, Jaewoo also regained his appetite for the first time in a while.
‘In the afternoon, we should all go grocery shopping.’
He should refill the refrigerator and prepare some more side dishes. At the same time, he could also buy some snacks for the kids. Suddenly, Jaewoo remembered the chocolate snacks he’d bought for them a long time ago and then hidden in the closet. At the time, he hadn’t wanted to hurt Hyunjin’s pride by giving them to the children, but it should be okay now.
After all, Jaewoo was much closer with the kids these days.
After finishing an entire bowl of rice, the kids went back for a second helping. Jaewoo did the same. After they’d finished eating breakfast, they shared the chocolate snacks together.
The kids were excited about having dessert for the first time in a while, and ate eagerly.
“They’re delicious!”
It seemed like the energy was returning to their tired bodies finally.
“I wish Hyunjin could have some too.”
At Woohee’s words, Hyeonu’s expression turned a bit sad. He couldn’t help thinking about the last glimpse he’d gotten of his brother, before he’d left again.
“Your brother, Hyunjin… how did he look?”
Jaewoo asked the kids. There was so much he wanted to ask them, but that was all he could bring himself to say.
“He looked worn out.”
At Hyeonu’s words, Jaewoo started worrying his lip again. Based on his knowledge of the novel, he’d already guessed what Hyunjin was going through, but Hyeonu’s words made it feel more real.
Unnoticed, he let the chocolate snack in his hand fall back to the table.
Footnotes
해산물 토마토 스튜 – haesanmul tomato seutyu – seafood tomato stew. I’m guessing that this is referring to a type of cioppino dish, a fish stew with a tomato base that originated in San Francisco. Wikipedia, Recipe
연어 샐러드 – yeon-eo saelleodeu – salmon salad. This could either be a variation on the more classic tuna or chicken salad, or it could be a traditional green salad with salmon on top.
그라탱 – geulataeng – gratin. A gratin is any dish topped with a browned crust, usually made from breadcrumbs or cheese. Wikipedia
필래프를 – pillaepeuleul – pilaf. Any dish where rice or other grains are cooked in a stock or broth, before being seasoned and having vegetables or meat added to them. Wikipedia
다시다 – dasida – Dasida, a brand of spice mix popular in Korea. Web Page
계란국을 끓 – gyelangug-eul kkeulh – boil egg soup. Beaten eggs dropped into a hot soup base so they cook in the soup. Unlike Chinese versions of egg drop soup, the Korea recipes I found tended to keep the eggs more clumped together. Recipe
