Chapter 121 – A Brief Respite (3)
“Yes. Senior. What can I buy I came to the mart right in front of here.”
“Ah, then could you buy some makgeolli and a drink? What do you want to eat in Ichi? Cola? Ah yes. Please buy me a Coke.”
“Yes. All right.”
I pressed end the call and bought makgeolli and cola. I was planning to roll around in my room all night, so after buying snacks to eat, the bag was thick. If I lowered my arm a little, I was dragged to the floor, carrying an envelope that was about to burst, and caught a taxi.
It was not good to walk because it was a long distance. The Almighty whispered in my head.
[How about running while training?]
“I can’t because I’m carrying Coke.”
[Sorry.]
To her regret, I appropriately agreed with her and caught a taxi. I stopped a taxi at the end of the one-room village and headed for the mansion with an envelope. Just in time, Ichie texted me the password for the house and the front door. When I entered the password as written and opened the front door, a delicious smell was already spreading through the room with the sound of boiling.
“Oh, are you here? Did you come sooner than expected?”
“I came by taxi.”
“You can walk, but I’m not ready yet.”
“Ah, more than that, what if you leave me alone and start first? I have to help.”
“What can I help you with? It’ll be over soon. I just wanted to bring you makgeolli and coke.”
“That’s right.”
“It makes sense. Have you tried makgeolli?”
“Korean alcohol. I only had soju and beer.”
“Then you should try makgeolli. I prefer makgeolli to soju. Mr. Suhyun, come quickly. It just happened to be a kimchi battle.”
The savory smell of oil wafted through the sweet smell of ribs. Salty and greasy pancake powder ripened in a frying pan. The smooth surface and slightly darkened finish made it a perfect accompaniment to alcohol.
I quickly washed my hands and sat down at the table. The three of them sat huddled together and started pouring makgeolli into a bowl. Originally, it was said to be a bowl used as a rice bowl, but makgeolli had to be served in a wide bowl like this to make it taste better. Ichie awkwardly took a drink from his senior and sniffed it.
“The smell is unique. I thought it would taste like milk from the color.”
“I used to think that way too when I was little.”
She said that while Senior Yu-jeong laughed. I also nodded. When I was young, when I watched TV, there were always old people drinking makgeolli. After pouring makgeolli in a brass kettle, the milky texture felt like milk. So when I became an adult, I thought that I would definitely want to eat makgeolli.
When I brought up such a story, Yu-jeong sunbae also smiled and nodded as if she was right. And lifted her bowl. Makgeolli slid in a bowl that was raised to shoulder height. Senior Yoo-jeong cleared her throat once, and then she said a toast.
“Then, from now on, the three of us… Oh, what to say Mr. Suhyun. Mr. Suhyeon, give me a toast.”
Suddenly, the toast came over to me. I blinked my eyes and smiled awkwardly.
“Then the three of us uh… For eternal happiness!”
“It’s like an uncle.”
“It’s like an uncle.”
My heart ached. Since there was nothing to say toast, what came out was a thick greeting that only mountaineering men would do. I gulp down the makgeolli while laughing. Ichido and Yujeong-senpai also held bowls and drank makgeolli at the same time. Ichie, who took a sip and looked around, raised his head and drank as we did.
Sour and sweet aftertaste. I frowned and raised the corners of my mouth in a good mood. Ichie nodded and put down the bowl. Senior Yu-jeong asked Ichie.
“It is delicious?”
“Yes.”
As I nodded while answering the reason, me and senior Yoo-jeong giggled. Senior Yoojeong pointed to the kimchi pancake and said.
“Try this too. Ichie Yang. I said I hadn’t eaten. Kimchi pancake.”
Ichie nodded her head and moved her hand to the kimchi pancake. Her skin was cooked to a crisp, and when she pressed it with her chopsticks, her skin cracked open. She’s salivating just by hearing it. Ichie tore off a piece of vermilion paper that seemed to copy the color of old paper and carefully put it in his mouth.
It reminded me of a restaurant program on TV. If you look there, you feed foreigners kimchi or strange food and expect a reaction, but now I think I know why they do that. It was because both Yu-jeong and I were keeping our heads in front of her, expecting Ichie’s reaction. Ichie chewed with her mouth covered, then looked at the expressions on the two of us and said.
“It’s embarrassing.”
Haha!”
“Ahahahaha!”
No matter who said it first, the bread burst. It was because our eyes met each other. Thanks to that, we could see how stupidly we were keeping our eyes wide open. Ichie, too, was laughing and shaking her shoulders with her head turned. Senior Yoo-jeong asked.
“It makes sense. How did it taste?”
“It is delicious.”
“I was going to buy it at a mart, but I bought it at a nearby side dish shop, and they made kimchi very well there.”
I also cut the kimchi pancake into pieces and put it in one bite. The salty yet soft dough and the crispy kimchi flavor were excellent. When I came to my senses, I was pouring makgeolli myself. Ichie said while watching me drinking makgeolli.
“Supremacy. I eat shamefully alone. Follow me too.”
“Here you go.”
Ichie lifted her bowl with one hand, and I carefully poured Ichie a drink with both hands. As if he had waited, Yu-jeong said, holding out a glass of wine next to her.
“Me too. Follow me too.”
3 cups full again. It didn’t matter who first bumped the glasses and then emptied the glasses at the same time. When I looked up and faced him, there was white rice wine smeared on his forehead, like a child drinking milk for the first time. As I wiped my lips and smiled happily, an alarm went off in the rib stew pot boiling in the kitchen.
Senior Yoojeong got up from her seat and she said.
“It looks like the ribs are done. I will bring it.”
Even though I hadn’t opened the pot yet, a salty and sweet smell spread out. I asked Ichie.
“It makes sense. Where’s the side dish? Do you think we should take it out now?”
“Benny Shaw. It’s in the fridge.”
I nodded roughly at those words and opened the refrigerator. It was full of various side dishes, half of which were Japanese-style side dishes I didn’t know about. The only things I could recognize were the red ginger and brown pickled radish used in raw fish restaurants.
While I was picking out the side dishes, Ichie was cooking rice in the rice cooker. The white smoke from the freshly cooked rice stimulated my appetite. Senior Yoojeong looked at me and said.
“Mr. Suhyun. I have to work hard, so I put a lot into it.”
“That’s right. I have to persevere.”
Ichie nodded. I nodded and said.
“Thank you. I’ll do my best. Today.”
We met each other’s eyes and smiled. It was because I was planning to eat rice to conserve energy and then pour it out with excitement. If we were lewd, we sat around with steaming ribs in the middle, imagining a lustful future.
After saying hello, ‘I’ll eat well,’ without saying anything first, I eagerly pointed my chopsticks at the steamed ribs. The marinated carrots were mushy and spewed seasoning in your mouth, and the flesh that clung to the bones gently jumped off the bones and melted in your mouth.
I couldn’t come to my senses when I ate glass noodles marinated in sweet seasoning with meat and kimchi on top of rice. When I got up to go to the rice cooker after emptying a bowl of rice, Ichie held out a bowl of rice to me with her eyes twinkling.
Senior Yoojeong also held out a rice bowl to me, and we made eye contact again and smiled.
*****
Empty dishes were piled up in the sink. We were lying on the sofa overlapping each other, pounding our stomachs. I was leaning against the handle of the sofa, and Ichie was cutting my thigh. Senior Yoojeong leaned her head against the doorknob on the opposite side of mine and was touching the soles of her feet with me.
Lately, I’ve been hectic every day, but since I’m enjoying my free time like this, there really was no heaven. Ichie said, patting my chest with his fingers.
“Soo Hyun-sang. What are you doing now?”
“Well. Can I stay like this for a minute?”
Senior Yujeong nodded her head as if agreeing with me.
“That’s right. I’m just doing this. Ah, it’s so nice to not do anything for a long time.”
Senior Yoo-jung said that while stroking the handle of her sofa. Ichie was sitting on the bare floor, then got up and lay down on top of me. The smell of shampoo wafted from Ichie’s hair. She curled up on top of me like a cat and poked me on the cheek.
“Supremacy. You can’t lie down right after eating.”
“Hunter is fine.”
“That’s right.”
Senior Yoo-jeong shook her hand and agreed. Ichie glanced at senior Yu-jeong, and then she spoke to me again.
“Supremacy. I have a game console, would you like to play?”
“A game machine? Ichi, did you have a hobby in games?”
“It’s my uncle’s subordinates’ hobby. I just left it on the way up. Do you want to do this?”
At the word “Game,” Yoo-jeong slightly raised her head. I picked up the remote control that Ichie had given me and awkwardly waved it. It’s a game that moves with motion recognition, so the character on the screen moved as I moved. Senior Yoo-jeong also started moving her character sloppily while listening to Ichie’s explanation.
Ichie said with a smile.
“It’s fun to move the two of them.”
Ichie must have played this game a lot. Unlike us who operate the game console clumsily, she won points with leisurely and professional movements. Senior Yoo Jeong and I both laughed at first, but as the score gap gradually widened, she started playing the game with her teeth gritting.
*****
23:5:7
It was Ichie’s victory. Ichie said to us, stretching her cheerfully.
“I won.”
“It makes sense. Aren’t you too good at it?”
“I did it with my uncle sometimes.”
I wiped the sweat from my forehead and raised my head. Yu-jeong sunbaenim also had a little bit of sweat running down her face, no matter how hard she held on to it and manipulated it. Ichie stood up from her seat, she said.
“I have to wash now.”
And she started undressing her in front of us. Senior Yoo-jeong also smiled and began to take off her clothes. I, too, had to unfasten my trouser belt.
