Place to Be Chapter 10

Seo Chiyoung took out the gopchang from the refrigerator, which he had set aside to make for his own side dishes. He pulled out half of it and placed it in a bowl, then brought back out the vegetables, seasonings, and glass noodles he had already put away.

In front of Seo Chiyoung, who poured alcohol onto the heated griddle and began stir-frying the gopchang, the man was staring intently at the griddle like a child watching a fire. Seo Chiyoung stole a glance at him.

Contrary to the impression given by his cold expression or blunt way of speaking, this man tended to reveal his thoughts and feelings quite honestly. Moreover, there were times when he was as stubborn as a child. Just like a moment ago, standing there vacantly without expressing his intentions.

Seo Chiyoung found himself smiling quietly without realizing it.

In the old days, I never imagined he would have this side to him.

“You’re late today.”

“Ah…, I’ve been stuck at school since yesterday and I’m just on my way back now. I was held in the lab the whole time because the professor caught me.”

“That old man acts like a total maverick,” the curse he muttered with a cold face hit Seo Chiyoung’s ears with a sense of extreme incongruity. Seo Chiyoung cast a curious look at the man who, although he had become somewhat used to it by now, still deviated greatly from the image in his past memories; when the man felt the gaze and looked up at him, Seo Chiyoung quickly lowered his head.

This man, who had been exceptionally intelligent even in the past, was now said to be attending a graduate school lab and working as a lecturer at a university. As if his lifestyle were relatively disciplined, the times he visited this shop were generally consistent. Among those days, the one he almost always visited was today, Tuesday.

He often visited on other days too, but he never missed a Tuesday. The time was consistent as well. Shortly before ten at night. And although the timeframe was different today and he came alone, whenever he visited on a Tuesday, he always had company. One or two people.

They were as close as ever. Unchanging feelings.

“…”

Seo Chiyoung realized anew that it wasn’t just them who remained the same. The feelings he thought he had completely forgotten over the course of ten years, buried at the bottom of his heart, remained exactly as they were.

Actually, he had been waiting for them to come for a while now. From the moment it passed nine o’clock, he had been constantly glancing at the clock, his head filled with the thoughts that it was time for them to arrive, that they should be here by now. It was only when midnight arrived, the customers were all gone, and it was time to close up that he realized he had been waiting for them until then and ended up giving a bitter smile.

And just as he had resigned himself and was preparing to close the shop, this man arrived alone. Even though the person Seo Chiyoung waited for most did not come with him, it would be a lie to say he didn’t feel a vague sense of gladness.

Yes. He was glad. It wasn’t so much that he was glad to see this man, with whom he hadn’t been close and toward whom he had no particular feelings of like or dislike; rather, the past he encountered again after ten years felt precious, as if he had obtained a projector playing back the old days.

He never intended to act as if he knew them. Just occasionally capturing their images in his eyes allowed him to chew over old memories and emotions, leaving his heart feeling nostalgic and bittersweet.

When Seo Chiyoung placed the bowl in front of him, the man, who hadn’t taken his eyes off Seo Chiyoung’s fingertips the entire time, quickly picked up his chopsticks. Eating so deliciously that it made the observer feel satisfied while moving his chopsticks diligently, he did not look at all like a person who, until not long ago, had said he didn’t really like gopchang. Furthermore, he ate all the vegetables and noodles accompanied with the gopchang so cleanly that he didn’t seem to have a picky or finicky palate as Seo Chiyoung had briefly heard.

However, that was merely the thought of Seo Chiyoung who didn’t know the circumstances; to the eyes of those who had known him for a long time, it seemed to be reflected differently.

“…”

Suddenly, Seo Chiyoung recalled a memory and smiled despite himself.

Not long after those two first started visiting this shop, there was a time they ran into each other here by chance. When this man, who had been stopping by consistently every two or three days since then, was eating gopchang alone, he—Jang Wigeon—had happened to come.

With his cheeks puffed out and his mouth chewing, his eyes met the man who had lost his words for a while and stared at him.

‘…Yoon Junyoung. What are you doing here?’

‘I’m a regular here.’

Even though he had come after being introduced by him, and even though it hadn’t been long since he started coming, the man—Yoon Junyoung—answered brazenly as if he had been attending for a hundred years, and Wigeon stared at him with even more surprised eyes.

‘A regular? You don’t really eat gopchang.’

‘I’ve come to eat it well. You saw me eating well that day. I found it delicious after trying it.’

‘…Right, that’s good then. There are many places near your school too, so it’s good that you can eat it often.’

‘Other places don’t taste good.’

Watching Yoon Junyoung, who spoke disapprovingly as if he had already tried other places, Jang Wigeon suddenly burst into laughter.

‘The guy who hated it, saying he didn’t even eat much meat… Ahaha. Boss, give us one more serving here. And a bottle of beer.’

Hearing him say he should become a regular from now on, Seo Chiyoung’s heart pounded. He had said that when he first came too, but the one who actually came as frequently as a regular was Yoon Junyoung, and this was the first time Wigeon had returned. But this time, just as he said, Jang Wigeon became a regular. Though he only stopped by on Tuesdays, the days the man always came.

He could see him once a week. He had missed him this week—today—but he would be able to see him next week. Of course, there was no telling when he might get tired of this taste, or when something might happen to stop his visits.

Jang Wigeon was the same as ever. His attitude of talking unreservedly even to strangers as if they were friends, his pleasant and relaxed gestures, and the way he looked at Yoon Junyoung.

‘Should I move into your house?’

When was it—it was approaching midnight when he suddenly said such a thing. They were the last customers occupying the shop, and their conversation reached even the ears of Seo Chiyoung, who was picking up and clearing away empty bottles on the floor.

Jang Wigeon spoke in a complaining tone, making it impossible to tell if it was a joke or in earnest. It was a remark that could be taken as a joke, but it was as if it could become earnest at any time depending on the answer.

‘Since you live alone anyway, you have a spare room. Give me just one.’

‘What nonsense are you talking about now? Did you get an earful from your aunt again?’

‘They say a son over thirty should move out whether he gets married or not, and lately the nagging has been getting severe.’

‘She knows you’re gay.’

The moment Yoon Junyoung replied indifferently, Seo Chiyoung, who was inserting empty bottles into a case, paused for an instant. However, Jang Wigeon replied calmly.

‘To be precise, she knows I’m bi—well, lately I mostly hang out with men—. But she just pretends not to know and is pestering me about when I’m going to get married. …Sniff, sniff, if I took you home and said we were dating, my mother would like it too. My mother likes you. Junyoung, how about it. Think it over again. Won’t you marry me?’

‘I like your mother too, but I refuse someone as promiscuous as you.’

Hmph, Yoon Junyoung, who replied with a snort, made eye contact with Seo Chiyoung. Seo Chiyoung, who had been staring at them without realizing it, only turned his head sheepishly after their eyes met.

‘The other person is getting startled because you’re saying useless things. …Please don’t be startled. He doesn’t look like it, but he’s a guy who makes these kinds of jokes often.’

When Yoon Junyoung, who severely rebuked Jang Wigeon, spoke to Seo Chiyoung, Seo Chiyoung shook his head as if it weren’t so and added his words slowly.

‘You’re… relatives who stay very close.’

He only knew them as friends and hadn’t known they were maternal cousins. However, when Seo Chiyoung spoke, both Yoon Junyoung and Jang Wigeon made strange faces.

‘Relatives? …? …Ah. No. We call each other’s mothers “aunt” because they’re close, but we’re completely unrelated strangers. Not a single drop of blood is shared.’

‘…Junyoung, for some reason, you say that as if it would be a very unpleasant thing if even a single drop of blood were shared with me…?’

‘I don’t want to be related to a notorious womanizer.’

‘What are you talking about? Despite appearances, I actually dream of a sublime love that only looks at one person for a lifetime.’

Jang Wigeon gave a playful smirk. That quiet and warm gaze was directed toward Yoon Junyoung, who was sipping his beer without even looking at him.