Chapter 27
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Episode 27. Discomfort Index
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Perhaps because I thought I had revealed too much about Ahn Yuna's home. The restaurant owner changed the subject.
“By the way, I heard the person in charge of Yuna’s land compensation is a bachelor?”
“Yes.”
“What are you going to do about it? That grandmother doesn’t seem willing to sell her land.”
“The rainy season is coming soon. The Village Head said he’d go with me to persuade her, since farm work is slow when it rains.”
This was an achievement made even while enduring frog liquor.
Perhaps proud of introducing the Village Head, the owner's husband forgot about his argument with his wife and returned to the table.
“The Village Head is well-connected and a good person. Yuna’s grandmother will likely listen to what the Village Head has to say.”
“After all, she’ll at least pretend to listen to the Village Head’s words rather than mine, an outsider. Thanks to your help, I’m seeing some progress.”
“Oh my. Not only are you good-looking, but you’re also polite. I’m in a good mood, want to have a shot of soju? I’ll treat you.”
Hearing that, the restaurant lady slammed her hand on the table.
“That damn scoundrel, every time a customer comes in, he tries to sit down and drink with them.”
Anyone with a bit of sense would know that siding with the owner’s wife here would yield more benefits.
Taeseo, who was second to none when it came to reading the room, immediately refused the owner's husband's offer.
“I drove here, so I can’t drink.”
“Ah, that expensive car?”
“Yes. And I have to go to work tomorrow.”
“Haha, right. Working a job isn’t easy. I understand. Let’s have a proper drink another time.”
Do you need a liver made of steel to live in this town?
Taeseo also liked drinking, but he didn’t drink every time he met people like these folks did.
Oblivious to Taeseo’s thoughts, the owner's husband mimed drinking from a soju glass with his index finger, making a gulping sound.
Taeseo awkwardly chuckled and chugged the barley tea in his glass.
\ \ \
It was Monday. The sky outside looked gloomy, as if the rainy season was about to begin.
When Taeseo opened the window to smoke his morning cigarette, he saw a group of loafers gathered under a parasol below.
For some reason, all of them were dressed up.
‘Where are those guys going now?’
As he thought this and exhaled smoke out the window, one of the loafers sitting at the parasol table said,
“Ugh, how long will it take to walk back to town?”
Although there was a bus service to town, it only ran once every two to three hours, so Yuna usually walked when she went to the village.
However, the loafers each owned a motorcycle they used around town.
“Ah, I feel like I’m going to die from this hangover… An Yunho, do you have any spare rooms?”
Only then did Taeseo understand why the loafers were dressed up and gathered in front of the convenience store. It seemed they had partied all night and were having a second round in front of the store.
“Yunho. If you have a spare room, let us crash here. We’ll get yelled at if we go home drunk.”
“What spare room? That car-poor bastard rented both of them.”
“Ah, damn it, that guy is useless in everything.”
Taeseo clicked his tongue. He couldn’t believe they called a tenant who rented out two rooms that were never used, paying 600,000 won a month in rent, useless.
They were hardly in a position to say that, considering they couldn’t earn ten thousand won with their own hands.
“Wait a minute. I’ll go get Ahn Yuna’s room key. Let’s sleep in Ahn Yuna’s room.”
“Ooh. I’m tired, this is great.”
“Hurry and get it. I feel like I’m going to puke if I take even one step right now…”
Hearing them say they would borrow a girl’s room to sleep in, Taeseo thought, ‘What kind of inconsiderate people are these?’
It was an unreasonable request, so Ahn Yuna would surely refuse.
Taeseo put out his finished cigarette in a paper cup and went into the bathroom.
\ \ \
Taeseo stepped outside the building and looked up at the sky. The low-hanging clouds were dark gray. On a windless day, the stagnant clouds seemed ready to drop raindrops at any moment.
The air, heavy with humidity, felt oppressive. Even after just showering, his skin quickly became sticky. It was clearly going to be a day with a high discomfort index.
As he opened the convenience store door, a bell chimed. Ahn Yuna, who had been organizing items behind the counter, straightened up. Yuna’s upper body emerged over the counter, and their eyes met.
“Aren’t you working today?”
“I’m on the night shift starting today. We have a lot of production at our factory, so we’re on a two-shift system.”
“Night shift must be tiring.”
“No. I actually prefer the night shift because the working hours are shorter. We don’t have enough volume to run the full night shift, though.”
“Really? Then what time do you get home?”
“Around midnight.”
“The bus will be gone by then.”
“It’s only 3 kilometers, so I walk.”
“Aren’t you scared?”
“Everyone in the neighborhood knows each other. What is there to be scared of?”
He considered offering to call her if it was too far to walk, but decided against it.
By that time, An Yunho would likely be at the convenience store. There was no need to give that guy, who was always looking for an excuse to pick a fight, any reason to do so.
Taeseo picked up a kimchi cup noodle from the display, paid for it, added water, and took it outside.
The table where the loafers had been was neatly cleaned. When An Yunho was around, the area was often messy with cigarette butts and trash, but Ahn Yuna always diligently cleaned up.
Taeseo placed the cup noodle on the table and sat down. The sky was still gloomy.
About two minutes later, Taeseo opened the lid of the cup noodle and stirred the noodles with wooden chopsticks.
Behind him, the bell chimed again, and Ahn Yuna came out carrying various items and placed them on the table. It was the same kimchi cup noodle as Taeseo’s, along with kimbap and pickled radish.
She unwrapped the pickled radish and pushed it towards Taeseo. Seeing her unwrap the kimbap and place it in front of him, it seemed she wanted him to eat it with the noodles.
“For me to eat?”
“Yes. Kimchi ramen and tuna kimbap are really delicious together. And eat the pickled radish with it too.”
“I don’t eat things like pickled radish. I stopped after seeing a TV show about how they’re made in factories.”
“After a broadcast like that, factories tend to pay more attention to hygiene. So, these are probably made cleanly.”
Feeling it would be rude to refuse her offer, Taeseo picked up a piece of pickled radish and ate it with his noodles.
Yuna opened the lid of her own ramen and stirred the noodles.
Taeseo watched Yuna’s actions with a sense of bewilderment. They had eaten together a few times before, but that was in private, not in such an open space.
Would it be alright to eat outside like this, with the grandmother who detested outsiders?
Perhaps his unfounded worry stemmed from the story he heard yesterday about Ahn Yuna’s mother.
Even though he wasn’t the type to care about what others thought, he felt it wouldn’t be good for them to be seen together.
Taeseo, intending to eat quickly and leave, reached for the tuna kimbap in front of him while eating his noodles.
He picked up the end of a kimbap with his chopsticks, but it was stuck to the others and wouldn’t separate.
Ahn Yuna picked up her chopsticks and grabbed another piece of kimbap. If others saw them, they might think they were close.
With quick movements, Taeseo grabbed the end piece of kimbap he had picked up and put it in his mouth, chewing.
He was choking, so he picked up his cup noodle and drank some broth. As soon as he put the cup noodle back on the table, Yuna asked,
“How is it?”
“What?”
“Kimchi ramen and tuna kimbap together, it’s really delicious, right?”
Why was she being so affectionate today? Was it okay to show this side of herself in public?
Regardless of his worry and slight aversion, the combination of tuna kimbap and kimchi ramen was quite good.
Taeseo nodded his head while chewing. Ahn Yuna smiled brightly.
“By the way, I heard your room is being used by An Yunho’s friends tonight.”
“Ah, yes…”
Seeing her expression darken, it seemed her room had been taken over.
“You must have it tough.”
“Yes. Well…”
Yuna tore her gaze away from Taeseo and opened the lid of the cup noodle in front of her.
Taeseo quietly watched Yuna eat her ramen.
With her small, white hands gripping the chopsticks, Yuna put noodles into her mouth and took a sip of broth. Then, she wiped the beads of sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand.
He was so engrossed in watching Yuna eat a simple cup noodle so deliciously that he unknowingly lost himself in the moment. Then, he missed a sound from the building.
Taeseo’s gaze shifted away from Yuna after a large man appeared at the entrance of the building.
“Ahn Yuna.”
The one who called her was Jaeseop, a guy who looked like a cattle thief.
Yuna dropped the noodles she had picked up with her chopsticks and looked towards the source of the sound with surprised eyes.
“Are you close with that person?”
“Huh?”
He was likely referring to Taeseo. Yuna couldn’t answer readily and just blinked at Jaeseop.
“Hmph, whatever.”
The guy roughly ran his hand through his hair as if annoyed and walked towards the convenience store’s glass door.
“Please ring up a pack of cigarettes for me.”
“Ah, yes.”
Yuna stood up, leaving her half-eaten ramen. Taeseo watched her with a frown.
He thought it was ridiculous that this guy, who seemed to hang around there all day, didn’t just put the cigarettes on credit, but instead called out the girl who was eating her meal to ring them up.
A moment later, Jaeseop came out of the convenience store. He stood next to the table where Taeseo was sitting, tore open the cigarette pack, and put a cigarette in his mouth.
What a rude person. Taeseo frowned at the sight of him lighting up a cigarette next to someone else’s meal.
After lighting his cigarette and exhaling smoke, Jaeseop called out to Taeseo.
“Excuse me.”
Taeseo looked up at him.
“Me?”
“Is there anyone else here besides you?”
“Right, it’s just me?”
At that moment, unexpected words came out of Jaeseop’s mouth.
“Let’s not flirt with other people’s women.”
