— Squeak.
“I’ll pay by card….”
— Beep. Beep. Beep.
— Ding.
“Thank you.”
“Students, be careful on your way in.”
— Vroom.
“Haah… Is it really right to blow ten thousand won just to shave ten minutes off a thirty-minute trip?”
Over the past two days, yesterday and today, Ha Gangin had already spent nearly seventy thousand won.
“Still… it’s better than taking the subway looking like this, right?”
“That is true.”
Ha Gangin looked at Lee Hoeseo, who was still wearing his jacket.
Unlike before, when he had to look up to some degree to meet his eyes, now he had to look down quite a bit to match Lee Hoeseo’s gaze; it felt a little awkward.
“So, how does it feel?”
“What feel.”
“You’re walking around outside with a physical body right now.”
Lee Hoeseo reacted as if struck right in a sore spot.
“Ah… that.”
“For starters, it’s winter, so I’m not even sure if it’s warm.”
— Swish.
“Ugh… Looking at it directly, my eyes just hurt like hell. Hm. If I had to describe the impression, my eyes are just fucking bright?”
“Is that so….”
“Ah, right.”
Ha Gangin opened the taxi reservation app again, captured the screen, zoomed in, and held it out to Lee Hoeseo.
“Look at this.”
“What? No… chatting?”
“Is this seriously an option?”
“Yeah, these days there are options like this when you book a taxi.”
“If it were the old me, I wouldn’t have bothered setting it….”
“I turned it on just in case something annoying happened, and the driver really didn’t say a word.”
Lee Hoeseo squinted his eyes as if he couldn’t see the screen well and spoke.
“Hmm… So this is why the news goes on about social disconnection and how the younger generation lacks conversation….”
“You don’t even have a TV at home.”
“It’s all over the community forums, punk.”
“That is true….”
Lee Hoeseo suddenly reached out as if something had come to mind.
“Hey, let me see your phone for a sec.”
“What for?”
“Besides, I can barely hold this with one hand; can you even hold it right now?”
‘…That’s true.’
“Then just hold it like that for a second.”
“Here.”
Lee Hoeseo pressed the screen once.
The moment his finger touched and lifted off, a popup floated up and down.
‘This bastard went out of his way to take a screenshot…’
Lee Hoeseo couldn’t get angry, nor was he pleased, so he just pressed the screen once more.
“No. I just pressed it for no reason.”
‘You should’ve just taken credit for it, seriously…’
“Wow, so now that you’ve overcome the sunlight, you’re spending all this time outside.”
“Shut up and open the lobby door.”
“Can’t you reach that much?”
“Sigh… that thing’s old and doesn’t open well.”
“Aha, if you tried to open that now, your wrist would snap.”
“Shut up!”
Ha Gangin looked at Lee Hoeseo, who was glaring at him, with a displeased expression.
‘He seems to be snapping more often than before…’
— Creak.
“I didn’t know yesterday since it was already open, but this thing really is stiff.”
“Right? I wasn’t making a fuss over nothing, was I?”
— Clop. Clop.
Perhaps because his body weight was light, Lee Hoeseo walked with a fresh, springy sound, and Ha Gangin followed behind him.
‘I think I see some stray hair swaying.’
“It must be the wind….”
“What?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Don’t tell me this bastard is holding a grudge because I glossed over something earlier?”
“Hey, do I look like you? Ah, my hamburger. Someone really took it….”
“Pathetic….”
“There he goes again, since it’s not his money. You open the door lock.”
“You know the password? You open it.”
“Now, now, I am clearly a guest right now.”
“Bullshitter….”
— Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
— Ding.
— Clunk.
As the door opened, a fishy, unpleasant smell wafted out from inside.
“Hey, this couldn’t be….”
“Is this… what I’m thinking it is…?”
— Squeak.
When Ha Gangin fully opened the door, pus and blood were tangled together on the floor, hardened in place.
“Eeek!”
“Why are you screaming? You can’t even see properly.”
“B-but there’s still the smell and the atmosphere, you know?”
“I suppose you would know.”
— Smack.
“Ow!”
Lee Hoeseo clutched the hand he had struck with.
“Haven’t you learned anything since yesterday? It doesn’t hurt when you hit me.”
“Ugh….”
Lee Hoeseo imagined the horrific sight he would have seen if his eyes were working properly right now.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“What now.”
Lee Hoeseo pointed at the floor.
“That… even if I’m fine with it, you’re seeing it as is, aren’t you?”
“Ah, that?”
“It’s no big deal? It’s just dried blood. It’s way better than a pigeon crushed to death.”
It was an immediate answer, as if it were no trouble at all.
‘If it were summer, it would’ve been horrific.’
“Is that so…?”
‘I worried for nothing. That fucking bastard.’
*
After sitting inside and talking for a few more minutes, Ha Gangin stood up.
“Then I’m off? Uh, clean up well.”
— Rustle.
“Hey, where the hell are you going?”
“Uh… home?”
At Ha Gangin’s exceedingly calm voice and attitude, as if he had just finished hanging out and was leaving, Lee Hoeseo was bewildered.
“Then, I-I have to clean that up by myself?”
“Right? You have a phone now, too. Mm, clean it well. Call me when you need me later.”
“Well then….”
— Grab.
Lee Hoeseo caught the strap of Ha Gangin’s waist bag.
“Hey, wait, wait a minute.”
“What, am I supposed to clean that up? You got a conscience?”
‘I was going to help anyway, but go ahead and beg.’
“Th-that….”
‘Does he really have nothing? No, this is the guy who would’ve already started cleaning if it were any other day, so why is he like this?’
“Th-there is something.”
After hesitating for a long while, Ha Gangin spoke first to Lee Hoeseo.
“Then, I’ll mark it as a debt. I’ll help you this time. Got it?”
“Y-yeah.”
“Sign here, in the notebook. I’ll keep it as proof.”
“Next time, when I want it, you’ll do one thing for me that’s possible for you.”
“Shit, fine.”
‘So fucking petty.’
“Shit? Shiiit…? Do you know how much money I’ve spent on you over the past two days?”
“Even just the examination fee and medicine, plus hospital bills, clothes, shoes, taxi fare….”
“Ah, got it!”
— Scritch. Scritch.
“Done?”
— Pat.
“Okay. Now, let’s start with the rag….”
“Don’t have one.”
“Huh?”
“No rag. We need to buy one.”
Then he stared blankly at Ha Gangin.
“You really are….”
“That’s added to the debt. Got it?”
“Yeah….”
An hour after buying rubber gloves and a rag from the nearby supermarket, the entryway-cum-living room had regained its cleanliness.
“Whew… But at this point, I basically did it all myself.”
“You only wet the rag; you didn’t do anything else.”
“Cut me some slack, punk….”
‘I worked hard in my own way, you know?’
“Yeah. Well… let’s say that’s true.”
That was when it happened.
— Gurgle.
“Hm? What was that sound?”
Once more, the sound rang out louder.
— Grooowl.
— Whoosh.
“I-I haven’t eaten anything all day, so of course it would be!”
With the tension releasing, it seemed his bodily functions were returning to their proper orbit too.
“No wonder you hadn’t gone to the bathroom….”
Ha Gangin glared at Lee Hoeseo’s stomach as if seeing right through him.
“Did all your insides flow out when your body changed? No wonder the smell earlier….”
He cut his words off appropriately before Lee Hoeseo could make a fuss again.
“So now you want me to feed you too, is that it?”
“Th-that….”
“You don’t have to buy me food. I still have the rice I got.”
“And you can cook rice in that body?”
“That’s….”
‘It’d be tough.’
“I don’t plan on racking up any more debt either.”
“…Sit and wait. I’ll at least make you a meal.”
Ha Gangin had enough skill to make a basic home-cooked meal; he even used to brag to Lee Hoeseo whenever his daily cooking turned out well.
‘This is basically the first thing that bastard will eat since his body changed… If I feed him just anything, he’ll get sick right away.’
“You said you had rice?”
“Yeah.”
“Wait.”
— Squeak.
‘How many times do I have to go to the supermarket in one day, seriously.’
Ha Gangin picked up this and that at the supermarket and placed them on the counter.
“Here, I’d like to check out.”
*
— Sizzle.
A pan, which had been gathering dust ever since Lee Hoeseo had bought it on a whim after seeing an internet video thinking it looked cool, was finally serving its purpose for the first time.
“Whoa… What is that?”
“Something roughly like risotto, made by eyeballing it.”
By the book, he should have sautéed aromatic vegetables like onions or garlic in the heated pan first, but considering Lee Hoeseo’s physical condition, he skipped that and started with the broth.
“Bring me one of these. These days broth comes in coin form too.”
“It’s not expensive, just leave it. It was five thousand won.”
Since there was no pot, after boiling the broth in the pan and transferring it to a bowl, he tore open individually portioned packets of sesame oil bought from the supermarket and added them.
“And now the flame, really low….”
He adjusted the burner lever to the lowest heat possible.
— Chop. Chop.
With the one awkwardly sized knife and no cutting board, he cut off the tough stem parts of the broccoli.
‘Vegetables, just broccoli. But maybe I shouldn’t have bothered cutting it with a knife and just separated the florets.’
— Sizzle.
“You’re not really supposed to sauté in sesame oil, but there were no individual cooking oil packets.”
“Really?”
‘As if I would understand that.’
‘Broccoli doesn’t need me to worry about whether it’s cooked, so straight to the rice.’
“Just a little broth….”
— Sss. Sssss.
With the sharp sound of oil and water meeting, the smell spread throughout the house.
“Wow….”
‘This bastard, he’s better than I thought?’
Slowly, with the broth he had roughly measured by eye, he added the milk he had bought earlier too.
‘This should be fine.’
— Slosh.
“Now it’s finally taking shape.”
— Click.
“Is it done?”
“Yeah, porridge felt too boring, so I tried this instead.”
“I only added a tiny bit of salt for seasoning, and the milk is lactose-free, so just eat it.”
‘They have that kind too…?’
At the type of milk he was hearing about for the first time, Lee Hoeseo nodded, thinking, ‘He’s not an idiot, so he must’ve done his research…’
“Here, eat.”
Ha Gangin unfolded the folding table and placed on it a bowl of food that smelled savory, though whether it was stew or porridge was unclear.
“Aren’t you eating?”
“I don’t eat unseasoned food. I bought myself a premium cream bun.”
‘While he eats a four-thousand-won cream bun, I get this pale mush.’
‘Would that bastard even know that what’s in front of him cost over ten thousand won to make.’
‘Well, if he’s human, he should be grateful.’
“Here, use this.”
Ha Gangin handed over a disposable wooden spoon.
“We have spoons at home, why did you buy this?”
“You don’t say?”
— Rattle. Rattle.
— Clack.
“Here, try lifting it.”
“Come on, as if I couldn’t lift something like this.”
Lee Hoeseo grabbed the spoon and put strength into it.
“Eeeek!”
“See… Look. You lifted it, right?”
“Yeah, now try scooping the porridge with it.”
“Something like that….”
— Clunk.
“Ah.”
“Kahaha, I knew it would happen.”
“Less talking. I should use the wooden one, right?”
Reluctantly, Lee Hoeseo picked up the wooden spoon and took a bite.
‘Why wood when it’s not even plastic?’
— Slurp.
“….”
He took another bite.
— Slurp.
“Well, it’s not completely tasteless, right? I did season it, but I made it extremely bland since I was worried your tongue might have reset.”
‘It’s… delicious.’
It had been a long time.
Since he had eaten a meal someone else had made for him.
Since middle school, after his maternal grandmother passed away, this was the first home-cooked meal made by someone else that Lee Hoeseo had eaten.
Setting that aside, while Lee Hoeseo was struggling with the spoon, the surface had cooled enough not to hurt his delicate oral cavity, and objectively, it tasted good.
“Well, it’s edible. A bit salty, though.”
For some reason, Lee Hoeseo felt a churning sensation in his chest.
“Is that so…? I almost didn’t need to add salt.”
“Next time, I should just use broth.”
“…Sniff.”
‘Ah.’
“Huuuaaang….”
Once the crying started, it wouldn’t stop.
“Hey, a-are you crying?”
“You, you’re rich too… hic, but you still… huuuk.”
“It hurts… hic, you said those fake things to me….”
“But, the food was go-ood. Uwaaaah.”
Ha Gangin was flustered at first, but soon listened quietly from beside him.
To begin with, even when Lee Hoeseo was male, his mentality had snapped once or twice a year, so it wasn’t a particularly strange occurrence.
‘But I’ve never seen him sob like this… and two days in a row, at that.’
“Sniff.”
A short while later, the calmed Lee Hoeseo quietly finished the mostly cooled porridge.
As he was almost done, tissues had been placed out—whether brought by Ha Gangin or not.
“Hmph—!”
After cleaning his face, Lee Hoeseo spoke.
“Hey, are you on break right now?”
“…I am?”
“There’s no need to go to academies or school until spring….”
“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
“No, just… it’s nothing much….”
Lee Hoeseo then lowered his head and said,
“Just until I get used to it… make me some meals….”
“I-if it’s hard, you can… refuse….”
‘Sigh.’
‘This bastard is trying to suck my backbone dry…’