There’s no way such a young man could have children… … .
“No, is there one?”
I thought he would be in his mid-20s at most, but it might be possible if he was older than that.
It was pathetic to have to point out and question every single thing like this because I couldn’t pay attention to a young man I had only seen a few times until now, but I felt like this frustration wouldn’t go away if I didn’t solve it.
Even if you stay still like this, you will keep trying to think about where you saw that child and who that child is. In that case, it would be better to investigate him and get rid of him quickly.
“I brought it.”
The secretary left the tablet PC on the desk and left. I don’t know when 30 minutes had passed, but the corners of Kang Ha-jun’s mouth were crooked and then back.
As he sat down and was about to pick up his tablet, his cell phone rang. After checking the sender, Kang Ha-jun picked up his cell phone.
– I’m busy?
“no.”
– My father called. After hearing why we had postponed our engagement, he asked to see us.
Kang Ha-jun’s eyebrows rose. What shook his mood was not ‘engagement’ but ‘father’.
Hyun Je-ha’s father, the current prosecutor, and my father, a politician. Kang Ha-jun’s father hoped more than anyone else that their relationship would continue through their children’s marriages.
He doesn’t care what he thinks of Hyun Je-ha. I just want to get married quickly and get my political career on track, but there is no way.
“okay. “I will go and tell you in person.”
– I asked him to come with me. When can I go?
Kang Ha-jun, who felt disoriented for a moment, regained his composure and tapped the screen of his tablet.
“I will call first and let you know…” … .”
The moment the screen turned on and he saw the photo the secretary had uploaded, Kang Ha-jun’s words disappeared.
– hello? Hajun?
Kang Ha-jun could not take his eyes off the photo without hearing Hyun Je-ha calling him. Before he knew it, he put down his phone and picked up his tablet. In that brief moment, when the sound of the call being disconnected was faintly heard and then disappeared, the surprise disappeared from Kang Ha-jun’s face, and a breath that seemed to be astonished came out.
As soon as I saw the photo, a memory that had been sleeping beneath the abyss came to me. The memories gathered together formed a large lake.
There was also something that Rep. Han Cheol-seung said about the lake.
〈Find out the results of what the managing director has done. The answer will be there.〉
“Was this what it was?”
Kang Ha-jun covered his face with one hand. A laugh escaped through the hand covering his face. There was a reason I didn’t recognize it.
Kang Ha-jun looked at the photo again. The photo showed Seong Eun-yul suffering from grief and despair, as if everything was over after being beaten up. However, the Seong Eun-yul I saw had an innocent smiling face.
“It was you.”
Hajun Kang called his secretary over the intercom.
“I’m going to Suni’s hangover soup.”
A happy expression appeared on his face.
“I think you recognize me. How would you act if I told you I knew you?”
I was already looking forward to imagining the expression Seong Eun-yul would make when she faced that moment.
“Wait quietly.”
I’m going now.
* * *
At the moment when Kang Ha-jun left for the restaurant, Eun-yul flexed her hands like a rake and licked her lips.
“It’s orange! “Let’s eat oranges.”
“Hey. Dad, it’s me. It’s the sky. “I’m not an orange.”
“It’s so round, why isn’t it orange? “I need to eat.”
“Hahaha. “Try me.”
Haneul, dressed in orange, ran away to avoid being eaten by Eunyul.
“Things like that colt.”
Even though I was told not to run in the restaurant, Lim Bong-soon muttered that and stood up holding a ladle.
Aside from the sound of the wind in the ladle, it was a peaceful hangover soup at Suni’s.
Grandma Lim Bong-soon took Haneul to wash up, and Eun-yul diligently cleaned up the restaurant. The floor was pushed with a rolling pin and the table was wiped with a warm dishtowel. He checked the seasoning container and cutlery container for any burn marks before heading to the next table.
“Shall we chop up the ingredients today to make the broth tomorrow?”
Then, I think I’ll have some free time in the morning, so I won’t have to wake Haneul up earlier. Once the sleep rhythm was disrupted, Haneul was unable to fall asleep on time these days.
“I need to tell my grandmother and go to the nearby mountains soon.”
After you move around a lot, you’ll be able to sleep at the same time you normally sleep, right? By the way, Haneul will also like it if this is their first outing in a while.
While she was wiping down the last table, she heard a rattle on the restaurant door and Eunyul said without turning around.
“Business is closed today. There was no leftover rice and no hangover soup. If you come early tomorrow morning… … .”
I spoke word for word, but there was no response from the other person.
Eunyul raised her head with a sense of déjà vu, as if something like this had happened again.
‘You said that last time… … .’
It wasn’t an illusion. She had encountered Kang Ha-jun like this before.
Eun-yul, who saw Kang Ha-jun coming inside and was about to ask him why he came again, closed his mouth when their eyes met. Kang Ha-jun had an expressionless face as usual. But he was somehow subtly different.
‘what?’
As I was looking at him without knowing why, Kang Ha-jun came inside and approached me.
“If you came to eat, you should sit down. Why are you telling me…” … .”
The question, “Please come,” disappeared in my throat as I stood close to him.
Eunyul said with a very embarrassed look on her face as the man was so close that she couldn’t clearly see his face even if she moved her upper body backwards.
“Why are you doing this? Is it because you said there was no food? It’s not a lie. “Last time, I said I couldn’t eat because my grandmother wasn’t there, and today there’s no food.”
“Stupid is the same.”
“… … .”
same?
I didn’t know who I was the same as. You might think I’m comparing myself to someone I don’t know, but Eun-yul couldn’t shake off her anxiety as it stung.
“I’m sorry, but could you please go back? “I don’t know why we have to be so close.”
“reason?”
Kang Ha-jun was clearly not smiling. However, his voice seemed to be curved at the end as if he was happy.
‘Did you ever notice?’
If I had realized that I was the same Seong Eun-yul from the past, then all of this would make sense now.
As Eun-yul swallowed and stayed still, Kang Ha-jun cried meaningfully and then turned around.
“Give me food.”
As he walked away, Eunyul, who had been sighing, became angry at his shameless request. Come to think of it, he had been talking for some time.
Ah, it was like that from the garden. At that time, people didn’t look at me well because I asked for money… … . Still, you can’t talk freely!
“Did you leave it to me?”
“hungry.”
“Just because this is a restaurant doesn’t mean food is always available. “I’ve sold all of today’s fish, so I don’t have any?”
“I haven’t eaten all day today.”
“There are restaurants nearby and delivery is also available. “But why do you come here like this?”
Eunyul was openly annoyed. He was dumbfounded when he asked for food, but felt bad when he said he hadn’t eaten all day. If you starved like that when you were young, shouldn’t you eat better?
“I have a lot of work to do… … . “I also had no appetite because I was worried.”
“It’s amazing how much food you don’t have can be created by saying things like that.”
Eunyul, who realized that her voice was getting louder, forced herself to stop speaking. Why am I so upset over the relationship that has now been cut off?
“Wait.”
Thinking that it would be better to just feed him roughly and send him away, Eunyul went into the kitchen. Kang Ha-jun’s mouth widened at the sound of him nervously handling kitchen utensils.
“Seongyul has changed like that.”
In the past, Seong Eun-yul was like a fox who pretended to be innocent when he tempted her, acted harshly when he bullied others, and was gloomy when he lost everything.
But now, even though I was irritated and exhaled harshly to cool off, I couldn’t feel any dark energy.
Originally, I was planning to reveal that I noticed it as soon as I arrived at the restaurant. At that time, I was expecting Seong Eun-yul’s reaction, but then I changed my mind.
Seong Eun-yul recognized him but pretended not to notice him. So, Kang Ha-jun also planned to observe Seong Eun-yul for a very short time.
“He must be a person who doesn’t know the word nuisance.” Why are you letting go of words? “Are you proud of being old?”
Kang Ha-jun couldn’t hide his laughter at the words he heard as if he was being told to listen.
Eunyul came out less than 10 minutes after entering and put down a bowl big enough to hold noodles on a tray and a piece of kimchi to go with it. And judging from the way he sat down across from me, it looked like he wasn’t going to run away to the kitchen like last time. It was clear that since I didn’t know, I thought I could just leave it alone.
I felt sorry for myself for not realizing that simple thought. I raised my hand to hide my laughter for a moment. If you think that the reason I let my guard down was because I didn’t recognize it at first, the current situation wasn’t that bad.
“I have food, but it’s not that I don’t give it because I don’t have it, it’s that I really don’t have it. So I cooked ramen in a hurry, so eat that and go. “It’s worth the money.”
“Why are you just giving it to me?”
“If you pay money, the food is sold. “I’m refusing in advance because I’m afraid people will say I’ll buy it again next time because it’s delicious.”
It was a firm refusal that he would not give anything next time.
While listening to Eun-yul, Kang Ha-jun looked at the food in front of him. It was quite a strong ramen from the moment the spicy smell wafted out.
Not only was there ramen, but it also included green onions, bean sprouts, and eggs, so it looked quite delicious.
“what are you doing? “Blow on ramen.”
Eunyul urged him to eat quickly.
Kang Ha-jun picked up the chopsticks and picked up the ramen. I watched the steam rise and slurped it into his mouth. The inside of my mouth was so hot it felt like it was burning, but the heat went away with each breath I took. I closed my mouth as the temperature was just right for chewing.
It didn’t taste like the ramen I was used to. It felt spicy yet refreshing, and the bean sprouts were chewy between the noodles, so it had a good texture.
When I put down my chopsticks and drank the soup with a spoon, I realized that another ingredient had been added. The finish was so clean that I could just continue drinking the soup.
“I boiled it with leftover broth.”
Eun-yul noticed why Kang Ha-jun was drinking the soup and came back with a bit of condescension.
“Ramen, which is delicious even when boiled in plain water, is delicious when boiled in broth.”
Plus, it was a fantastic combination of green onions, bean sprouts, and eggs.
“The kimchi is the finishing touch, so let’s eat it together.”
As Kang Ha-jun was eating kimchi with kimchi as instructed, Eun-yul kept her mouth shut.
‘You starve even if you have no money, and you starve even if you have a lot of money.’
Applying my theory that eating delicious food makes you happy, Kang Ha-jun was a very unhappy person.
