“Anyway, don’t answer my calls this week. If I have something to say, I’ll text you.”
“What’s the difference between texting and calling?”
“You can accumulate less dark history.”
“Whatever you do, it’s better than a recording. Of course, the text will remain, but at least the embarrassing whining won’t be visible.”
“Isn’t it about time you buy some new clothes? Summer is coming soon.”
“It’s still April, you know?”
“Summer comes quickly these days.”
“I’ll just get some clothes made at Hye-won’s place later.”
Somehow, it has become a habit for me to get my clothes custom-made at Gang Hwa-won’s shopping mall. I guess Hye-won definitely knows how to keep regular customers. By the way, she once got a model offer, and when she was told I would decline, she surprisingly coolly said she understood. Her neat refusal left me a bit more flustered.
“When did you even say that?”
“Last time. But she told me to call her ‘oppa,’ and he didn’t listen at all.”
“Take a good look in the mirror. Your face won’t pass for a kindergarten student.”
“Shut up.”
“But what does she call you?”
“I think she was going to call me ‘unni.'”
“Pfft.”
“Don’t laugh.”
“Still, she doesn’t treat you like a younger sister. How could that be? Haha.”
“I really want to hit you, Gang Hwa-won.”
“You always say you want to get hit, but it doesn’t hurt at all, so it’s pointless.”
“Then just hit me.”
I directly kicked Hwa-won’s shin under the table. No matter how it was, kicking the shin couldn’t be pain-free. Apparently, it did hurt a lot because Hwa-won screamed loudly.
“Ow! Hey, what if you really hit me?!”
“You said it doesn’t hurt, idiot.”
“Ah, hey, everyone’s looking at us.”
“What?”
Ah, it’s true. Hwa-won’s scream caught everyone’s attention. When I looked over, they immediately turned their eyes away, but since it was already seen, it didn’t matter much. Ugh, how embarrassing. This was all because of that bastard Gang Hwa-won.
“That girl is clearly a huge problem for your education.”
“Education, what the hell, crazy bastard. Do you want to get hit again?”
“Give up, give up.”
Are they saying I’m so young that I need education? After threatening Hwa-won with his nonsense again, he finally surrendered this time. Just then, our coffee order arrived. Hwa-won’s was some strangely named expensive coffee, while mine was affogato.
“But you don’t even drink bitter coffee. Isn’t affogato just like Americano?”
“It’s bearable when eaten with ice cream.”
I’m not really a coffee enthusiast. Still, if I ordered a chocolate latte at a café looking like this, I’d feel like a real kid, so lately, I’d just order slightly sweet coffee instead. Come to think of it, affogato was the first thing Hwa-won had when we visited a dessert café.
“The coffee isn’t going down, is it?”
“Shut up.”
Even pairing it with ice cream, it was still bitter. I furrowed my brow a bit, but it was not to an extent where I couldn’t handle it.
“Right, I should gradually graduate from a child’s taste.”
“The face value is still safe, so it’s alright.”
Inside, I was already out though. It was a self-deprecating joke, but now it didn’t particularly bother me. Hwa-won thought for a moment and pointed at her coffee.
“Want to try this then?”
Hmm, just by smelling it, it strongly gave off the impression of being extremely bitter. It was not a drink for humans.
“I’m not drinking that.”
“Graduation is still far off, huh? Haha.”
“Stop laughing and drink it.”
We kept exchanging useless and unnutritious nonsense, as always. It was just a typical ordinary day.
Actually, we hadn’t really planned to meet today.
During a casual stroll, I felt spontaneous and headed toward the shopping district, and I just happened to bump into Hwa-won there. He was with some girl, and they soon parted ways. I spoke to Hwa-won without any particular thoughts after the girl left, and I just suggested we grab a coffee together since we ran into each other.
“Who was that girl earlier?”
“Ah… she was someone I briefly dated in college, and she suddenly contacted me after a few years.”
I had already anticipated that. She was a woman with a noticeably large chest even from a distance. I couldn’t really see her face, though. By the way, he still has an ex-girlfriend who he keeps in touch with. But did he really need to meet her?
Well, Hye-won said she got a boyfriend, and Senior Su-young was quite clingy, so Hwa-won doesn’t meet her often either. Seems like that girl might be one of those kinds.
“Did she suggest meeting again?”
So this was just pure curiosity; that’s why I asked.
“No, it felt more like a pyramid scheme.”
“Ha.”
However, I could never have imagined such an answer. Wow, the day might come when Hwa-won gets caught in a pyramid scheme with a woman. That’s absurd.
“He wasn’t that foolish back in the day, but seeing him today made me almost feel sorry for him. He mentioned it felt like a pyramid scheme, but I doubt she listened. Anyway, even if he suggested meeting again, he wouldn’t be able to anyway, so that’s a relief.”
Can’t meet? Why? Is there a reason? Not because of engagement… right?
“Why can’t you meet? Is it because of the engagement?”
“That’s not it.”
I thought so. Then why not?
“The slots are already full.”
That’s truly beyond imagination, crazy bastard.
“We’re not in a relationship, so it’s okay.”
“What do you call that? A dabbler? A host? A playboy?”
“Hey, do you think I’d live off women’s money?”
“Yeah.”
“I got caught there.”
“Don’t confirm it, you fool.”
“Still, doesn’t that kind of talk not suit me? Call me Casanova instead.”
“What you love isn’t freedom, it’s indulgence.”
“Isn’t that just ridiculous?”
“If you know, then restrain yourself, a bit.”
Watching Hwa-won’s foolish antics, I teased him as usual. Honestly, it wasn’t a serious conversation. It felt like a scripted play, so to speak. It was a pattern of dialogue. You could say it was our little play, or perhaps a kind of Japanese manzai.
There were slight variations to the pattern. Sometimes the roles changed, and sometimes there were seasonings added. But the overall framework always remained the same. Even if it was a pointless conversation, I genuinely enjoyed this time because it was meaningless.
“I should get going.”
“Already?”
“I was only going to spare a bit of time and I have something else planned. You can take your time drinking.”
“Okay.”
Hwa-won said that and left the table. I was left with an almost empty bowl of ice cream and more than half a cup of coffee, watching outside the glass wall. Hwa-won’s outfit was… formal.
It wasn’t strange since he was learning and helping with my father’s work, but it felt a bit unfamiliar. Did he ultimately give up? Is he leaving for America? I know Hwa-won isn’t that kind of person, but the wall to success is high, and his frustration runs deep.
I don’t think Hwa-won is incapable of writing to the extent of not being able to win an award in a contest. But it’s too… radical. His writing walks the opposite path of recent trends, and there wasn’t any place for him to receive help through connections. Even if there were, Hwa-won would have rejected it.
In an era where even terrible trash can make a name in the literary world, it’s frustrating that Hwa-won is failing to produce any noteworthy results.
Moreover, Hwa-won’s father’s conditions weren’t just about results. There had to be achievements. Even if he successfully published a book, if it were buried without any recognition, would Hwa-won’s father truly acknowledge that as success?
I felt helpless as there was nothing I could do. All I could do was pray. Outside the glass wall, Hwa-won was no longer visible.
Sighing, I began to wrestle with the remaining coffee. The melting ice cream made it somewhat tolerable, but it was still bitter.
After finishing it all, I got up from my seat. I returned the coffee cup and left the café.
It was still lunchtime. The sky was a bit bright, and a cool breeze brushed past me. Although it was still somewhat chilly, there could be such nice weather days.
Since I was out, should I have lunch outside?
I walked through the shopping district while pondering about a place suitable for solitary dining. There were many restaurants, but surprisingly, there weren’t many places that seemed suitable for eating alone.
Should I eat kimbap or tteokbokki at a snack bar? The franchise tteokbokki, which women go crazy for, still didn’t appeal to me much, but the tteokbokki from the snack bar wasn’t that bad. Honestly, nothing beats the tteokbokki from the street vendors I had as a child, but such vendors are rare these days.
I wandered around for a while, unable to make a choice. Ultimately concluded that I would just go to a snack bar as I initially thought. The price was cheap, so that’s good. I turned around to head back toward the snack bar. And I,
I turned,
“…Ah, hello.”
I ran into someone.
It wasn’t a familiar face, but I recognized her. I never expected to meet her like this, nor could I imagine she would greet me there.
“Ah… um, hi.”
In the brief moment it took to return the greeting, I concluded that this encounter was at least not a coincidence. If it were a coincidence, she wouldn’t have greeted me like that. Our relationship wasn’t that close.
Right?
Yoon Sua.
