HYUNG 13

“Wha—what? Do I look strange?”

“No. I asked because you don’t look strange. You’re really dressed up.”

I shook my head at Ham Dowon, who tucked his head down as if embarrassed to hide his face and fidgeted with his hair for no reason. In contrast, I just brushed back my slightly messy hair to tidy it and pulled my hoodie over my head.

“Um… do I look okay?”

“Yeah. You look fine. Are you going somewhere later?”

Ham Dowon peeked up at me, the area under his eyes flushed red. He seemed happy just thinking about his date. I became a little curious about what kind of woman a guy like him would meet. Who could handle that bloated ego and confidence? Still, since he was a decent-looking kid, he might be quite popular.

“I didn’t make time for anyone but you today, hyung.”

But why the suddenly disappointed look? If there’s no date, there’s no date; what do you mean “making time”? He only came here because he took my laptop.

“Then why are you dressed like that?”

“I always dress like this!”

“Right. Got it.”

Boy, he’s prickly.

“But hyung… you wearing that hood… it’s really… cute.”

Now what is he on about all of a sudden? He was a guy I simply couldn’t pin down.

After eating a hearty meal of gamjatang with extra hand-pulled dough and bones—a meal that didn’t suit Ham Dowon’s dressed-up appearance at all—I finally felt like I had actually eaten something.

“Hyung, do you want to drink coffee? …No, I want to drink coffee. You aren’t allowed to interfere, hyung.”

Before I could even answer, Ham Dowon walked quickly to a nearby cafe and immediately ordered two of the largest-sized iced americanos. Even though I had firmly told him I wouldn’t let him treat me, he seemed determined to buy it himself. Between the ice cream and snacks he bought yesterday and this, he’s really like a child. Forcing things on others just because he wants to give them. And his method is exactly the same as yesterday.

“I don’t drink americanos, because they’re bitter. But since you ordered two big ones like that, you must really like them. Americanos.”

“…Hyung, you don’t drink americanos?”

Actually, I drank them just fine and liked them. But because he was being so stubborn about buying one even when I said I wouldn’t accept it, I acted a bit childishly myself. However, his face looked like he was about to cry, so I just gave up.

“No. I drink them fine.”

“Then… I think I ordered too much and won’t be able to finish it, so could you just drink one for me?”

“Fine. I’ll gladly do that much. But just so you know, I won’t fall for this kind of thing next time.”

It wasn’t like he spent tens of thousands of won at a convenience store like yesterday; I could probably accept a single coffee. It wasn’t something I felt inclined to do, but I had paid for the meal today, so. I didn’t know exactly what kind of person Ham Dowon was, but one thing was certain: he was quite childlike and had some immature sides.

From now on, I should just treat him the way I treat the students at the academy. It’ll feel like I’m working even outside the academy. While I thought it would be most comfortable not to run into him often, we had many overlapping classes and even a group project together, so I felt I’d have to endure for a while. Thinking that he was similar to a young child made his bloated ego seem almost cute. Isn’t that how kids are? They think everyone will like them and the world revolves around them.

“But what did you leave behind?”

“What?”

“You said earlier that you left something else at my house besides the laptop.”

Ham Dowon, who was about to take a sip of his americano, blinked his wide eyes once. Then his lips moved as if he were fish-mouthing, and he answered after drawing out the end of his words.

“…Ah. That. That… Oh, candy.”

“Candy?”

“There’s a mint candy I eat often, but it wasn’t in my bag. I think I left it at your house, hyung. It’s in a tin case… It’s from abroad, so it’s expensive. That’s why I absolutely have to find it.”

“…Sure. It’s expensive, so make sure you find it.”

Ham Dowon even nodded firmly, saying he had to find it. No matter how expensive a peppermint candy is, isn’t it only a few thousand won? It was a bit strange that someone who had essentially looted a convenience store at his own whim yesterday was saying a single candy was expensive because it was foreign. But Ham Dowon had been strange since the moment I first saw him. I just brushed it off, figured it was something important to him.

On the way back to the studio apartment near the gamjatang restaurant, Ham Dowon asked me to wait a moment and brought something out of his car. It was a white paper bag. I didn’t know what it was, but I didn’t want to ask, so I silently got into the elevator. As we were about to enter the house, the moment I opened the front door, Ham Dowon said out of the blue:

“Hyung, I couldn’t say this yesterday, but your home is really nice!”

“This place?”

“Yes!”

The way he nodded confidently was absurd. Being a studio apartment, it was a fair bit more expensive than the average one-room in the area, but it wasn’t a place you could call a “nice home.” Just like most one-room student apartments. It was clean because it was a new building and good because it was close to school, but it was so small I planned to move out after living here for just a year—yet he says it’s nice. This, coming from a guy who drives a fairly expensive car. Well, I guess it looks nice to his eyes. It was certainly better than a gosiwon or other one-rooms. I just brushed it off. I kicked off my slippers and headed inside.

“Since you’re here, let’s do the assignment. Sit down. What to drink… Ah, we have the americanos. Want some ice cream? Actually, make sure you eat plenty before you go. The freezer is packed because of the mountain of stuff you bought.”

I opened the freezer and showed him the packed interior. Between the compartments full of ice cream, the leftover pizza was barely squeezed in. If the pizza hadn’t been there, you would have thought it was an ice cream shop. Ham Dowon, who had set his bag and the paper bag down on the table and stood beside me, looked inside.

“Did you eat some too, hyung?”

“You said I could.”

“Which one did you eat, hyung?”

“I scooped some of this out?”

Is he seriously interrogating me for eating his food? You said I could eat it. Feeling slightly wronged, I pointed to the pint-sized ice cream I had left over from this morning. Ham Dowon suddenly pulled it out and hugged it.

“Then I’ll eat this one.”

“I was already eating that. Just eat a new one.”

“I don’t want to. I want to eat this. It’s a waste to open a new one. And I like this flavor too. Belgian Chocolate Almond.”

“Well… fine.”

He sure likes a lot of ice cream flavors. I took out a spoon and handed it to him.

“Aren’t you eating, hyung?”

“No. I ate it this morning.”

“Even if it’s eating together with me now? You still don’t want to?”

“I told you I ate it this morning. The americano is enough for me.”

Why on earth was eating a bit of ice cream with him so important? I just gave a slight smile toward that face that looked a bit like it was about to pout. Because he’s a kid. A kid can be like that. You shouldn’t try to understand children one by one from an adult’s perspective. Perhaps his mental age is even younger than Ye Hwanyoung’s or my students at the academy.

“Ah, since I bought the americano too! Okay. I’ll eat it alone.”

Ham Dowon smiled brightly. Suddenly, I thought of Soyoon. My five-year-old second cousin. Thinking of him as a Soyoon who was a bit—no, a lot—bigger and more willful, I found Ham Dowon quite cute. I tend to be weak toward children. When I let out an involuntary “Pfft!”, he blinked as if he didn’t know why, then smiled back beamishly just like Soyoon.

“But you did finish your military service, right?”

“Of course I did. So you don’t have to worry about being away from me for a long time.”

“Right, right.”

I sent my sympathies to whoever had to serve in the military with this Ham Dowon. It must have been quite hard to handle such a massive “troublemaker.”

“Hyung, this is a gift. My parents strictly told me that you shouldn’t visit someone else’s house empty-handed, and they didn’t raise their child that way, so I brought it. Please don’t feel pressured at all. It’s a cake my dad likes… I don’t know if you’ll like it too, hyung.”