NCBF Ch 6

Yuwon, who moved his steps following Hyun Gyujin walking naturally into the kitchen past him, opened the airtight container placed on the dining table. Inside was packed with braised short ribs. Until just a moment ago, he had nothing in particular he wanted to eat and wasn’t very hungry either, but the moment he saw the braised short ribs, he felt hungry.

“Mom said it was to give to you.”

“Auntie is the best.”

Yuwon, who immediately pulled out his phone and called Hyun Gyujin’s mom, quietly conveyed words of thanks along with saying he would enjoy the meal.

Hyun Gyujin, watching Yuwon like that, familiarly opened the bottom cabinet under the sink, pulled out a pot, and poured the braised short ribs into it. Jeong Yuwon, when talking with his parents—something he himself didn’t do—was always full of laughter and sweetness.

“Yees, Auntie. I’ll go over to play on the weekend.”

His mom, who liked affectionate behavior, would probably be melted into mush for Yuwon by now. Hyun Gyujin, who turned on the gas stove burner and placed the pot on it, naturally opened the door next to the refrigerator, went into the pantry room, and came out holding two microwave rice bowls.

“What did Mom say? Is she happy to death?”

“What do you mean happy to death. Auntie told me to come over on Saturday because we’re eating meat.”

“What, that’s something even I haven’t heard about yet.”

“I’m Auntie’s son after all.”

“Please, let’s swap houses and live.”

Hyun Gyujin, who put the microwave rice into the microwave, slowly stirred the braised short ribs that were starting to boil. Because a delicious smell wafted gently, he suddenly felt starved.

“It feels like this is your house. And like I’m the person who came over to play.”

“Hasn’t that distinction been gone for a long time?”

Just as Hyun Gyujin said, the two families were now almost no different from one family. When they were younger than now, they lived in the same area and went to school together, but they hadn’t lived in the same apartment building like this. However, around the time they entered middle school, they moved into a newly built apartment—and into the same building at that—causing the boundary between the two households to rapidly collapse even further.

When they had time, they gathered every weekend to spend time, and even if not, they took care of and looked out for each other, maintaining a relationship even more intimate than real family. Thanks to their mothers’ connection that started as high school classmates, Hyun Gyujin and Jeong Yuwon also became friends from the moment they were born and had been spending time together continuously until now.

“Ah, right. How did you know it was me without even asking when you rang the bell earlier? Wasn’t it just that you knew I was coming so you naturally thought it was me?”

“No. You raised the cap to press the passcode, closed it, and rang the bell. To test me.”

“What, you’re sharp?”

“I’m originally super good at knowing things like that. Quick-witted too.”

“Is that why you followed the flasher mister too?”

“That was! Seriously, at that time, that Mister looked like he needed help. Even when I explained directions, he couldn’t understand and pleaded with me to just go together as far as the intersection, so how could I refuse that….”

While Hyun Gyujin took out a large, deep bowl, filled it generously with braised short ribs, and placed it on the dining table, Yuwon, with an aggrieved face, transferred the microwave rice into rice bowls.

“It wasn’t strange that he was wearing a trench coat alone in the middle of summer?”

“…I actually asked him. If he wasn’t hot. But he said he caught a severe summer cold….”

“Cold, fuck, even at a glance his eyes looked out of it.”

“That’s why I’m careful from then on….”

“Be more careful, more. Even if you know it’s me, make sure to ask who it is before opening. Crazy bastards know all of that and copy it, I’m saying. Or at least check the face. Because no one can copy this face.”

Yuwon, who took out utensils and set them on the dining table, nodded his head while still pouting his lips a bit from feeling aggrieved. It was fortunate that Hyun Gyujin saw him going together with the man wearing a trench coat back then and followed them; if not, there was no telling what that pervert might have done to him, so in fact, when that story came up, he had nothing to say.

The sight of him coming up to him as soon as he entered the alley, suddenly pressing his body close, and unbuttoning his trench coat as if excited was still vivid before his eyes. Ugh, I really hate it. Yuwon quickly shook his head to shake off that afterimage.

“I’ll enjoy the food.”

Looking at Hyun Gyujin, who grinned wide instead of answering, Yuwon curled his toes. It was a face he saw every day, and a face he had seen all day today too, but he couldn’t tell why he looked even handsomer all of a sudden. Yuwon, who repeatedly curled and uncurled his toes because the sudden change was unfamiliar, put a piece of braised short ribs into his mouth.

“It’s really delicious…. The braised short ribs Auntie makes are truly the best.”

“Eat a lot.”

Yuwon emptied his portion of rice very deliciously, took out rock-hard frozen ice cream from the refrigerator, and set it on the dining table. If it melted appropriately while doing the dishes, it seemed they could share it half and half with Hyun Gyujin.

“The granola I newly bought is really delicious, you know? If you put it on ice cream and drizzle a bit of honey, it’s really, really delicious. I’ll do the dishes and make it for you. Sit down.”

Yuwon, who set the granola container and stick honey on the table, rolled up his sleeves. Thanks to Hyun Gyujin, he had eaten a delicious dinner, and also, since this was his house, he naturally intended to do the dishes himself.

“I’ll do the dishes.”

“No, you made dinner too.”

“Mom made it. I just heated it up. I’ll do it, just. I’m fast and good at doing dishes.”

“If Mom finds out, I’ll get yelled at. For bossing only you around.”

“We just shouldn’t let Auntie know. Come out, quickly.”

“No, I’ll just….”

Holding the dry scrubber, Yuwon reflexively turned his head at the warmth and unfamiliar yet subtle pressure felt behind his back suddenly. As he raised his head toward the black hoodie filling his field of vision, his eyes met Hyun Gyujin’s, who was looking down at him. Yuwon, unable to breathe for a moment, captured Hyun Gyujin in his eyes as Hyun Gyujin dropped his gaze frantically onto Yuwon’s face.

“Player Jeong Yuwon, failed to acquire scrubber. Scrubber qualification revoked. Expelled to the dining table.”

Hyun Gyujin, who spoke monotonously like an announcement text in a game, took away the scrubber held in Yuwon’s hand far too easily. And he lowered and shook the scrubber before the eyes of the dazed Yuwon.

“Wh-What…. Give it here.”

“What’s up with your ears?”

“…W-What about my ears?”

“They’re red as fuck. Are you hot again? It’s not hot inside the house.”

“Are my clothes too thick, I wonder….”

Yuwon escaped to the bathroom while covering his reddened ears with his hands. Locking the door and turning on cold water, Yuwon checked the condition of his ears in the mirror. Not only his ears, but his neck and face were all flushed red, looking to anyone like there was some kind of problem.

“…Sheesh….”

Why do they keep turning red…. It’s not like I’ve only seen Hyun Gyujin’s face for a day or two. Every time I touch him, every time I’m close to him, is it gonna be like this all the time? Yuwon quickly wetted his hands with water and brought them to his reddened ears. Even though he knew that doing this wouldn’t make his reddened ears cool down right away, he felt like he had to do something, so he repeatedly wrapped his cold hands around his hot ears over and over.

Yuwon, who wiped his ears that had gone numb from becoming too cold with a towel, didn’t go out right away but sat on the edge of the bathtub and let out a deep sigh. He was worried that if he went out and saw Hyun Gyujin again, he would act clumsily like a robot. Until noon today, he was clearly the most comfortable friend in the world, so he couldn’t believe it had suddenly turned out like this.

Let’s be calm. It’s Hyun Gyujin, of all people. Why am I acting like this right now toward a guy who has been my friend since before I can even remember. Yuwon, who patted both his cheeks with hands that still retained a chill, slowly let out a deep breath. Trying hard to ignore his heart, which was still pounding rebelliously contrary to his resolution.

∞ ∞ ∞

The tutor, Lee Junseo, was a man enrolled as a sophomore at Hanguk University, which was known as the most prestigious university in South Korea. Because he explained things in an easy-to-understand way and also shared fun stories about college life if there was time left over, Yuwon quite liked tutoring time.

“Since you guys have been friends since you were little, you even get the same things wrong when you get them wrong. Did you know you marked the incorrect answers identically? Both of you wrote number 2. What’s even crazier is the solution process…. Wow, you made mistakes in the exact same spot here.”

Perhaps because he had been conscious of Hyun Gyujin by himself the whole time since lunchtime, being linked like this over having the same wrong problems bothered him for no reason. Yuwon glanced at Hyun Gyujin’s expressionless face, then dropped his gaze back to the worksheet. His heart was pounding again.