Stranger

Not long after, the server placed our pizza and tteokbokki on the table. They both looked tasty. A slice of pizza went to Seo Jihee’s plate and another one went to my plate.

The pizza and tteokbokki were delicious. When I ate the tteokbokki when the sweet and savory pizza started to feel greasy, the spicy flavor of the tteokbokki brought back my appetite.

I thought about bringing Yeon Woojeong here one day, but this didn’t look like food he would like. I chewed on what was in my mouth, but then I felt a strange throbbing sensation, so I touched my cheek.

“Is something wrong?”

“No. Oh. I went to the exhibition with the ticket you gave me.”

“Oh, really? How was it?”

“It was fun.”

“Right! That’s a relief. Tell me if you want to see something like that again. I sometimes have excess tickets.”

Seo Jihee and I talked as we ate. Now that I entered a cram school and had visited Suncheon, I also had something to talk about.

I couldn’t say that I’m close to her, but I didn’t feel uncomfortable with her. Would it have been like this back in the day? I felt that I got better at communicating with people after I met Yeon Woojeong.

“Woah, I’m really full. We really emptied this.”

We completely emptied the plates. My stomach was full, just right. I got up first and went to the cashier.

“Ah, Jiho!”

Seo Jihee shook her hand, but she was late.

“I was going to pay for it…”

“It’s fine.”

Yeon Woojeong told me to buy her a delicious meal since he enjoyed the exhibition, and she even introduced me to a part-time job, so I thought I should buy her this much.

“Then I’ll make sure to pay for it next time.”

Seo Jihee told me to call her if I had a hard time studying and said she would buy me something tasty. I said okay to her, and then we parted ways.

.

.

.

By the time I got home, it was late afternoon. I really spent the time busily today. After washing myself and changing clothes, I sat on the sofa and took out the things in my bag.

I looked at the stiff new book, then I took a pen from my pencil case and wrote my name on the cover.

[Kim Jiho]

Somehow, I felt proud to write my name on all the books I received.

I flipped over the pages and took a look at the questions. I felt like I could handle the Korean language, but math and English were still a challenge. Especially English. I was worried that even if I learned it, I might not be able to do it well.

I had been looking at the books for a while. Suddenly, there was the sound of the door opening, so I stood up and walked to the front door.

“I’m home.”

Yeon Woojeong greeted me playfully and walked in. I took the bags he was holding. One of them was light, and the other one was heavy and big.

I went to the dining table and opened them. It was bossam with thick slices of meat. The other bag was a box, and when I opened it, it was labeled “bean sprouts cultivator.”

“What is this?”

There was no answer. I set out all the condiments and vegetables that came with the bossam and waited for him to come out of his room. Yeon Woojeong, having changed his clothes, opened the box.

“I heard that if you put beans in here and water them, they’ll grow.”

“Are you telling me to do that?”

“Grow them, and cook me something tasty with them.”

Yeon Woojeong hugged me from behind, rubbed my stomach, and walked away. Growing bean sprouts? That was so out of the blue.

“How was the cram school?”

Yeon Woojeong asked, putting the meat on my plate.

“I’m still not sure. There was barely any class today. I got paired up with a boy and a girl.”

My mouth was full as I took a bite of meat. Yeon Woojeong looked at me chewing the meat and waited for me to continue.

“It’s for studying together.”

“You’ll spend some time with them, then.”

“Yeah. I’ve talked with them a bit.”

I thought I had to get along with them because I needed something to tell to Yeon Woojeong. I looked forward to it because now I would have something new to talk about with Yeon Woojeong.

I opened the sprouts cultivator after eating the bossam. Yeon Woojeong put his chin on my shoulder as I sat on the sofa, reading the instructions.

“It said to soak the beans first.”

I poured water on the plate and put in the beans included in the package. Then I continued to read the next instructions. This might be more fun than I thought. Potted plants just need to be watered, but this was much better because they needed to be watched over and when they grew, they could be eaten. 

“Give them names and grow them with love.”

“Why a name for something to eat?”

“What’s wrong with that? You can use beans.”

“That’s weird.”

Yeon Woojeong poked my cheek with his finger. I grabbed his fingers and bent them. He then scratched my palm.

“Have you ever grown something like this?”

“No. Oh. There was a potted plant in my office.”

“Then?”

“I think it’s long since withered away.”

“You can’t even remember it?”

“Someone gifted it to me. I was told it would thrive without watering, but technically I was fooled.”

What would the one who gifted it said when they heard this? He was really a shameless man.

He flashed his brows, perhaps noticing my gaze. Our eyes met, and my eyes naturally traced down to Yeon Woojeong’s lips. He giggled and pecked my lips lightly.

The lips that quickly disappeared left me wistful. When I ran my tongue over my lips, Yeon Woojeong tapped my cheek lightly and said.

“Don’t worry. I’ll water you well.”

“Am I a plant?”

“How could a plant be so pretty like you?”

I looked at Yeon Woojeong, who acted snakily as if he said something obvious, and I grabbed his neck. He smiled and welcomed my lips that chased him.

***

The bean sprouts grew in a few days. What I put inside were just beans, but when I lifted the black cloth covering the bin, I found that the beans had stems. It was fascinating.

Actually, at first I was just doing it out of obligation because Yeon Woojeong gave it to me, but then I started checking the sprouts after waking up in the morning and as soon as I got back from school. Strangely, it seemed like the stems grew whenever I checked on them.

I scooped out some water and sprinkled it over the sprouts. If this grows, it will end up on my dinner plate with Yeon Woojeong. If I thought about it like that, this surely looked better than growing flowers or trees.

I put back the black cloth and I noticed a presence. It was Yeon Woojeong. It seemed he got home early today. As I walked to the front door, he glanced at me as he took off his shoes, then quickly tugged on my arm, kissed me on the cheek, and walked inside. Touching my cheek, I followed him.

“Did you have dinner?”

“No. How about you?”

“Me too. I’ve had a quick lunch and I’m hungry.”

Yeon Woojeong removed his coat and suit, put them on a chair, then took off his necktie and rolled up his sleeves. He seemed to be really hungry, seeing that he went right away to the kitchen.

“What did you have for lunch?”

“Gimbap.”

“Just one?”

“Yeah.”

You only ate one, so it’s only natural that you’re hungry. It seems the work environment for a prosecutor is not good.

While I took out side dishes from the refrigerator, he took out frozen meat and cooked it on a pan. The dinner was completed quickly as we two prepared it together.

“How was your part-time job? Today was your official first day, no?”

“I was just like a tree.”

“A tree?”

“I stood quietly. There were more people watching than buying.”

A tree. Yeon Woojeong repeated the words I said and laughed.

The new part-time job was easy but boring. I was the only employee, and the boss often left. But, even though it was boring, I was making money, so there was nothing bad about it to me.

“Today, the boss—”

Yeon Woojeong suddenly reached out his hand and pulled my jaw down. I was eating. How dirty…  I shook my head, swatted away Yeon Woojeong’s hand, and furrowed my brows. 

“What is it?”

“You kept chewing awkwardly.”

“Did I?”

My hand naturally went to one of my cheeks. It was the place that strangely felt throbbing recently. Come to think of it, I did feel uncomfortable when I chewed on food.

I tried pressing where the upper left gum is. It seemed like the pain was from here.

“Is it rotten?”

“If it hurts at all, say something.”

“It didn’t hurt.”

I would surely need to get it treated if it was rotten. The last time I had a dental checkup was in middle school. Back then, I was told that my teeth were naturally strong and clean.