Place to Be Chapter 23

“He says he wants to kick me out,” grumbled Jang Wigeon, before suddenly smiling at Yoon Junyoung, who was nonchalantly chewing on intestines right beside him.

“It would be really great if you just gave me one room in your house. Looking for a new shop is within walking distance from here anyway, so it’s perfect.”

“Your aunt knows you’re gay; try rolling into my house and see what happens. I don’t want to be misunderstood by her.”

“I’m telling you, my mother would love it if it were you—and I’m bi, not gay—.”

“I hate the idea. I shall remain my aunt’s clever and kind Junyoung.”

The words coming from such a nonchalant face were so funny that Seo Chiyoung, who was stir-frying intestines for the customers inside while listening to the conversation of the two men who always sat in front of the prep table, gave a broad smile. Even though he hadn’t made a sound, Jang Wigeon noticed his laughter and shifted his gaze. To Seo Chiyoung, whose smile faded in embarrassment, Jang Wigeon spoke in a feigned tone of disbelief.

“My mother really says this guy is kind and gentle. I don’t know why she’s like that, especially since it’s not like he comes over to our house and acts fake.”

“Well… he is kind and gentle.”

As Seo Chiyoung smiled while roughly chopping perilla leaves to add in, Jang Wigeon fell silent. Yoon Junyoung, who had picked out about half the intestines and was starting to pick at the vegetables, glanced at Seo Chiyoung.

“Hearing the boss say that, it somehow feels like he’s teasing me…”

At the slightly disgruntled murmur, Seo Chiyoung’s eyes widened.

“Pardon? Not at all…”

Seeing Seo Chiyoung shake his head while quickly revealing a flustered look, Jang Wigeon suddenly burst into laughter as if it were amusing.

“This guy, back in high school, rumors were rampant that he was a block of ice who wouldn’t bleed a drop even if you poked him. Why else would he have even made a teacher cry? The kids were absolutely trembling in fear. That’s right; there were probably kids who were more scared of you than Kanghee.”

Jang Wigeon nudged Yoon Junyoung with his elbow. Yoon Junyoung frowned but didn’t specifically deny it, only chewing with his mouth full.

Seo Chiyoung smiled silently. Yes, come to think of it, there had been such an incident. Seo Chiyoung had also witnessed Yoon Junyoung using his sharp tongue to butcher a teacher who had come poorly prepared for class, stated incorrect information, tried to gloss over it, and then even insisted they were roughly right. Well, they were in the same class, after all. In that sense, there were many students and teachers who shook their heads, saying they’d rather not deal with Yoon Junyoung even more than Kwon Kanghee—who was famous in the neighborhood for his fists. It would be more accurate to say they kept their distance rather than being afraid.

Back then, Seo Chiyoung also felt Yoon Junyoung was distant. At the very least, he didn’t know he would be the kind of person to seriously ponder, “Why doesn’t it taste like this when I stir-fry it at home?” while chewing intestines until his cheeks were bulging.

Yoon Junyoung glared briefly at his friend for exposing his intimidating past and spoke as if it were nothing.

“There were probably more kids scared of you than me. Especially the ones with girlfriends. Since you went around touching everyone you could get your hands on.”

The smile vanished from Jang Wigeon’s face instantly.

“Why do you have to put it like that, making me sound like some guy obsessed with women…”

“It’s a good thing you went around touching women more back then; if you had gone around touching men more like you do now, you would have had to spend those days as a loner without any friends.”

“Why? Who knows, maybe there were more guys who liked it than you’d expect…. Oh. Now that I think about it, I think I received something like a confession, but I don’t remember it very well…”

Jang Wigeon rubbed his chin and cast his gaze into the air. Seo Chiyoung’s lips twitched as they pulled back, but he silently stared only at the iron plate.

“When those rumors were going around, there was this one guy who said he liked men too.”

When was that? Jang Wigeon muttered to himself.

Thump, his heart hammered. Seo Chiyoung poked at the intestines as they turned a golden brown, not knowing what he was doing as he recalled a memory from long ago. That shaded afternoon on a day when the sunlight was brilliant. The wind blowing coolly.

He hadn’t expected him to remember. He thought the man would have forgotten such a thing completely.

“So, did you touch him?”

When Yoon Junyoung asked indifferently, Jang Wigeon, who was lost in thought, frowned slightly.

“Well… I don’t remember. I heard someone say that, but I don’t know when it was or where I heard it… Was it perhaps at a club and not school?”

Seo Chiyoung, who cast a brief glance at Jang Wigeon as he tilted his head dubiously and pressed his temple, quietly gave a bitter smile and poured a bit of water onto the iron plate where the intestines were finishing cooking. Sizzle, steam rose up.

“Why are you smiling so subtly? Did you think of your own flamboyant past? I bet you were popular too, boss.”

Jang Wigeon asked abruptly, having somehow seen Seo Chiyoung’s smile again. Seo Chiyoung, who hadn’t expected the topic to turn back to him, was startled and looked at Jang Wigeon with wide eyes.

“No… not at all. I wasn’t popular in the least. I just spent my time quietly with a few friends.”

As Seo Chiyoung shook his head, Jang Wigeon smiled while knitting his brows.

“Well, kids that age don’t have much of an eye for people. They tend to like the guys who stand out by pretending to be something more than the quiet, substantial types.”

“You?” To Yoon Junyoung’s retort, Jang Wigeon burst out laughing and answered, “Yeah, exactly.”

Seo Chiyoung watched them for a moment before dropping his gaze. The memory of long ago hovered around him with a sense of longing and regret.

“It’s probably not that they like them because they stand out, but rather they stand out because they like them. Because the person you like seems to shine… so much that only that person looks bright enough to make everything else disappear.”

Just as he had.

In those days, only Jang Wigeon looked vivid among the children. Even if he stayed silent after only exchanging a word or two, even if he was turning the pages of a book as if bored, or even if he was sitting on a window frame doing nothing, eyes closed while soaking up the sunlight.

So that now, even encountering him again after more than ten years, he could recognize him at a glance.

Because he was reminiscing about the past, Seo Chiyoung didn’t realize that they had fallen silent and were looking at him. Only after a few seconds passed did he notice the two pairs of eyes staring at him intently, and with an “Oh,” he looked back and forth between them in embarrassment. Suddenly, Jang Wigeon gave a broad smile.

“Did you have someone you liked? In high school?”

“—…Yes…”

He must have been very flustered. He felt his face grow hot in an instant. Seo Chiyoung blinked with a face that didn’t know what to do before eventually bowing his head. “Aha,” Jang Wigeon’s voice, murmuring slowly as if amused, dug into his ears with exceptional clarity.

Then, Seo Chiyoung suddenly made eye contact with Yoon Junyoung, who was staring at him fixedly. Seo Chiyoung looked at him curiously as he stared intently with his chopsticks in his mouth.

“Would you like some more?”

“No, it’s not that…… Yes.”

Yoon Junyoung seemed lost in thought, but that thought seemed to change instantly upon seeing the intestines Seo Chiyoung was stir-frying. To Yoon Junyoung, who was holding out a plate that had only vegetables left, Seo Chiyoung said with a smile, “This is for the customers inside, so I’ll stir-fry yours again right away. Please wait a moment,” and then he put the freshly stir-fried intestines on a plate and delivered them to the table inside.

Jang Wigeon, who had been watching Seo Chiyoung with a somewhat interested look as he poured alcohol onto the wiped iron plate and began stir-frying a generous portion of intestines from the side dish container, asked out of curiosity.

“So did you break up with that person after graduating school?”

Seo Chiyoung, who was dazed for a moment wondering what he meant, soon realized those words were an extension of the earlier conversation and looked at him in embarrassment. He thought the topic had changed appropriately, but apparently not.

Seo Chiyoung muttered as he looked down at the intestines cooking in the alcohol that was quickly evaporating away.

“…No… we hardly even spoke. I just looked at him by myself… that person probably doesn’t even know I was in the same class.”

As Seo Chiyoung muttered in a voice that was barely audible and laughed sheepishly, Jang Wigeon watched him for a moment in silence before letting out a short laugh.

“You don’t seem like it, but sometimes you seem surprisingly good at reading people… I guess you didn’t have an eye for people back then.”

Seo Chiyoung only gave an ambiguous smile and said, “That’s not it…” before falling silent.