Struggle Chapter 127

“Saying that kind of thing even as a joke, don’t. It’s scary because you’re exactly the kind of guy who’d really do it. Hello. You’re Mr. Nanyoung, right? I had no idea this guy had such a cute nephew.”

Wiping his hands with a warm towel, Taerok stared intently at Nanyoung.

To be precise, he was observing.

His gut feeling told him Lee Nanyoung liked men. Did he prefer older men, or younger men? What type of looks did he like? Before his observation could turn to more intimate matters, Mr. Kim Saon’s small laugh directed at Nanyoung roused him.

Mr. Kim Saon’s hobby was squash. As such, his shoulders were broad, and with his profession added to that, his forearms were well-developed. Taerok realized it the moment he saw him leaning his head in to greet Nanyoung kindly, his arm resting on the back of Nanyoung’s chair. Lee Nanyoung showed absolutely no awkwardness around men, especially older men with a good build. The awkwardness wasn’t the problem; it was that he looked far too obscene.

“What. You don’t like that I’m acting friendly with your nephew?”

Whatever Mr. Kim Saon was saying amiably, not a single word of it registered. Only when he spoke to Taerok, dumbfounded, did sound begin to filter back in. To a degree that surprised even himself, he had been focusing every nerve solely on Lee Nanyoung.

“Getting friendly would be good. We’ll be coming often.”

Taerok signaled the sommelier with his eyes and looked over the wine list.

“You drink, right?”

To the question posed with his gaze fixed on the menu, Nanyoung retorted in a dumbfounded voice.

“I’m a student.”

“So you can’t?”

“Right. I’ll look the other way. Drink when you’re with us.”

It wasn’t for nothing that Mr. Kim Saon and Lee Taerok were friends.

Nanyoung stared blankly, wondering if these adults were serious, and the sommelier approached and whispered that there were also non-alcoholic options.

“It’s sweet like a Moscato, has zero alcohol, and is honestly closer to a soft drink. The body is quite well-balanced, and it has a peach aroma, so it should be easy to drink. How about this one?”

“I’ll have that one.”

Lest Taerok order a glass for him, Nanyoung spoke up quickly.

Folding the menu, Taerok gave the name of a wine that was difficult even to pronounce and said to Nanyoung, “How rigid.”

“It’s common sense.”

“Sometimes, common sense is something you can break. As long as you’re not harming others.”

It was an improper lesson for an uncle to give a nephew. Before Nanyoung, who indeed had a rigid side just as Taerok said, could retort, Mr. Kim Saon cut in.

“The asparagus is good. I’ll put it on top of the steak. For the appetizer, scallops with a mix of béchamel cream and basil sauce, next truffle gnocchi, steak and asparagus for the main, and panna cotta with lemon foam for dessert. Sound good?”

“I like things that are common sense. And I’m not bored enough to need to break rules that much.”

“It’s not like I’m doing this because I’m bored either.”

“Then let’s say it’s fine.”

All three of them said only what they wanted to say.

Mr. Kim Saon clicked his tongue at Taerok.

“Why are you needling the kid, it’s not like you. Quit picking a fight.”

Picking a fight? Taerok hadn’t even realized he was needling Nanyoung. It was indeed behavior unlike himself. It was the first time he’d had this much conversation with a younger man, a boy at that.

Leaning back deeply in his chair, Taerok gazed at Nanyoung. Upset by the verbal sparring with Taerok, he was fuming.

Looking at him now, his school uniform buttons were done up all the way to the top. A glimpse of stubbornness.

‘He has an old-man-child side to him.’

Except for illegal violence including drugs, Taerok was someone who had little hesitation in pursuing pleasure and enjoyment. Breaking a few rules for it, well… he considered that a kind of garnish.

Nanyoung seemed to cheer up a little when the scallop dish came out. It was a reservation made in haste, so Mr. Kim Saon had said he couldn’t prepare as if for a main course, but true to form, he didn’t mess around when it came to taste, and it was excellent.

“Enjoy.”

At the plate pushed toward him with bread made from scratch and baked, Nanyoung gave a slight bow.

“Thank you for the meal….”

“Sure. Eat a lot and grow a lot.”

Chewing on the scallops for a while, Nanyoung suddenly asked.

“At my age, about how tall were you?”

“I think 185. I grew a bit more in the army.”

“185….”

He had wanted to say he wanted to grow tall like his uncle, but it seemed he couldn’t even hold a candle to him. It was a gap he couldn’t close. Nanyoung became a bit dejected. His older brother was tall, and his father was on the tall side too, but only he had a somewhat small build. Perhaps it was because he was born premature at seven months and had a weak constitution.

Everything about Taerok’s actions, wiping his lips and rinsing his mouth with white wine, was adult-like. Nanyoung unconsciously took in each and every one of those images. His fingertips, Adam’s apple, lips, even his eyelids. I want to become like that… I want to grow up to be a person like that. His heart raced.

“So what about the kid who confessed to you?”

However, contrary to his outward appearance, Taerok was a considerably twisted person on the inside. It was impossible to know what he was thinking. It didn’t mean he was twisted in a gloomy way; rather, it meant Nanyoung simply couldn’t understand him with his common sense. Saying such indifferent things like that….

“…”

Nanyoung didn’t answer. Taerok, too, was realizing that contrary to Nanyoung’s gentle and delicate appearance, his stubbornness was considerable.

“Don’t be alone with him. So he doesn’t try anything funny with you.”

“Don’t say that. He’s still a decent kid.”

“You shouldn’t trust people so blindly. Especially at your age, because self-control is weak.”

Next came fedelini with a non-fishy preparation of seared seaweed—torch-roasted like stir-frying—and similarly lightly seared pasta for added texture, stir-fried like pesto, topped with abalone and sprinkled with shallots. It was meant to whet the appetite.

Taerok dished out some of the pasta onto Nanyoung’s plate. He would be considerate like this, and then strangely indifferent. Nanyoung was confused, unsure whether Taerok was difficult because he was an adult, or whether the person named Lee Taerok was simply difficult. In an already sensitive time, at a sensitive age, Lee Taerok was far too stimulating a presence.

“If you do end up dating, bringing him home is forbidden. Staying out overnight is also not allowed.”

“I thought you didn’t care about things like that.”

“Why would you think that?”

“You said to break common sense.”

“Ah. I did say that.”

Taerok was unperturbed even when his sophistry was immediately pointed out.

“However, drinking is fine because you’re with me, your guardian. There’s no reason I would be involved in your love life, so that’s advice.”

He had thought the conversation would end there, but unexpectedly, it continued sporadically until the transition from the main dish to dessert. Fortunately, it wasn’t about dating issues. It was everyday conversation about things like school life, the distance from school to home, and whether he needed anything. In the meantime, Taerok’s glass had changed from a slender white wine glass to a glamorous red wine glass, and now to a port wine glass.

Having gulped down the sweet non-alcoholic drink, Nanyoung also ended up eating quite a bit more than usual. It was that delicious.

When the dessert came out, a sound of admiration escaped him. It was like the sun rising over a snowy mountain. Taerok took one spoonful to taste and set his spoon down, while Nanyoung savored each bite with his eyes sparkling.

Watching that sight with a steady gaze, Taerok abruptly asked. It was a question that had been floating in his head the entire time, in truth.

“Then what is Lee Nanyoung’s ideal type.”

“…All of a sudden?”

“I’m curious. From the looks of it, you don’t seem to have any aversion to being confessed to by the same gender. And according to what you said, the kid from the next class over has a good personality and is good at sports, yet you turned him down. It seems it must be that his looks aren’t your type, so I’d like to at least know how high my nephew’s standards are.”

“…Speaking of which, do you have friends, Uncle?”

“That’s quite a tone, as if you think I wouldn’t have any. You might find it surprising, but I have many.”

“You say you have friends, even though you talk like that?”

“Birds of a feather flock together.”

“Really….”

Nanyoung let out a sigh and scraped the bottom of the beautiful goblet glass. And without realizing it, he murmured.

“Only the looks are my ideal type, and the rest is….”

If Nanyoung had possessed superhuman strength, he would have shattered the glass to pieces. Startled by his own words, he snapped his head up. In that split second, he desperately thought, please, please, no way, he didn’t hear it, surely he couldn’t have heard it, but the moment his eyes met Lee Taerok’s, he was certain.

He heard.

“Ah.”

Taerok blinked.

If only he had boasted in his characteristic way. How nice it would have been if he had glossed over it like, “Well, I am quite something.”

But Taerok said nothing at all.

That was everything. Ah.

“…”