Chapter 27

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Discomfort Index
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Perhaps thinking she had revealed too much about An Yuna's family, the restaurant owner changed the subject.

“By the way, I heard the person in charge of compensation for Yuna's land is a young man?”

“Yes.”

“What are you going to do about it? That grandmother doesn't seem to have any intention of selling her land.”

“The rainy season is starting soon. The village chief said that when it rains, farm work slows down, so he'll go with me to persuade her.”

It was an achievement earned by drinking even frog wine.

The owner's husband, perhaps proud of having introduced him to the village chief, forgot he was arguing with his wife and returned to the table.

“The chief is well-connected and a good man. Yuna's grandmother will at least try to listen to what he has to say.”

“She's more likely to at least pretend to listen to the village chief than to an outsider like me. Thanks to your help, I can finally see a way forward.”

“Well, I'll be. Not only are you handsome, but you're polite too. I'm in a good mood, how about a shot of soju? It's on me, let's have a drink.”

Hearing this, the restaurant owner's wife slammed her hand on the table.

“That damn fool. The moment a customer walks in, he's looking for an excuse to sit down and drink with them.”

Anyone with a bit of sense would know that siding with the owner's wife here would be more beneficial.

And Taeseo, who was second to none when it came to reading a room, immediately refused the husband's offer.

“I drove here, so I can't drink.”

“Ah, that expensive car?”

“Yes. Besides, I have to work tomorrow.”

“Haha, right. Having a job isn't easy. I get it. Let's have a proper drink some other time.”

Did you need a liver of steel to live in this neighborhood?

Taeseo enjoyed a drink himself, but not like the people here, who seemed to drink every time they saw each other.

Unaware of Taeseo's thoughts, the owner's husband mimed drinking a shot, holding an imaginary soju glass with his thumb and forefinger and making a gulping sound.

Taeseo gave an awkward laugh and chugged the barley tea in his glass.

* * *

Monday arrived. The rainy season was supposed to start, and the sky outside the window was gloomy.

As Taeseo opened the window for his morning cigarette, he caught sight of the loafers gathered under the parasol below.

For some reason, all the loafers were dressed to the nines.

‘Are those guys going out to party again?’

As he thought this and blew smoke out the window, one of the loafers at the parasol table spoke.

“Ugh, when are we gonna walk all the way back into the village?”

There was a bus to the village, but it only came once every two or three hours, so even Yuna usually walked.

The loafers, however, each had a scooter they used to get around town.

“Damn, I'm so hungover I could die... An Yunho, you got any spare rooms?”

Only then did Taeseo realize why the loafers were gathered in front of the convenience store, all dressed up. It seemed they had partied all night and were now having a second round in front of the store.

“Hey, Yunho. If you have a spare room, let us crash for a bit. We'll get chewed out if we go home drunk.”

“What room? That car-poor bastard rented them both.”

“Ah, fuck, that bastard is useless for everything.”

Taeseo clicked his tongue. To call a tenant who rented both rooms that had been sitting empty, paying 600,000 won a month in rent, useless.

That wasn't something he should have to hear from guys who couldn't earn ten thousand won on their own.

“Wait here. I'll go get the key to An Yuna's room. Let's crash in her room.”

“Ooh. I'm exhausted, that's perfect.”

“Hurry up and get it. I feel like I'm gonna puke if I take one more step...”

Hearing them talk about crashing in a girl's room, Taeseo wondered what kind of inconsiderate bastards they were.

It was an unreasonable request, so An Yuna would surely refuse on her own.

Taeseo stubbed out his finished cigarette in a paper cup and went into the bathroom.

* * *

Stepping out of the building, Taeseo looked up at the sky. The low-hanging clouds were the color of ink. With no wind, the stagnant clouds lingered as if ready to release raindrops at any moment.

The humid air was heavy. He had just showered, but his skin already felt sticky. It was bound to be a day with a high discomfort index.

As he opened the convenience store door, the bell chimed. An Yuna, who had been organizing things below the counter, straightened up. Her upper body appeared above the counter, and their eyes met.

“You're not working today?”

“I'm on the night shift starting today. Our factory has a lot of orders, so we're doing two shifts.”

“The night shift must be tiring.”

“No, the hours are actually shorter on the night shift, so it's better. It's not like we have enough orders to run night shifts full-time.”

“Really? What time do you get home then?”

“Around midnight.”

“The buses will have stopped running.”

“It's only three kilometers, so I walk.”

“Aren't you scared?”

“It's a small town where everyone knows each other. What's there to be scared of?”

He thought about telling her to call him if the walk was too hard, but decided against it.

An Yunho would be at the convenience store around that time. There was no need to give a guy who was looking for any excuse to pick a fight a reason to do so.

Taeseo grabbed a cup of kimchi ramen from the shelf, paid for it, added hot water, and took it outside.

The table where the loafers had been was now spotless. When An Yunho was watching the store, the area was a mess of cigarette butts and trash, but An Yuna always kept it tidy.

Taeseo set the cup of ramen on the table and sat down. The sky was still lingering ominously.

After about two minutes, Taeseo opened the lid of the ramen cup and stirred the noodles with wooden chopsticks.

Behind him, the bell chimed, and An Yuna came out carrying a few things, which she placed on the table. It was the same kimchi ramen as Taeseo's, along with kimbap and pickled radish.

She opened the package of pickled radish and pushed it toward Taeseo. She then unwrapped the kimbap and placed it in front of him as well, a clear invitation to eat it with his ramen.

“For me?”

“Yes. Tuna kimbap is really delicious with kimchi ramen. The pickled radish is for you to eat with it, too.”

“I don't eat stuff like pickled radish. I stopped after seeing a TV show about how they're made in factories.”

“They say factories pay more attention to hygiene after a show like that airs. So this one is probably clean.”

Finding it awkward to refuse her offer, Taeseo picked up a piece of pickled radish and put it in his mouth with some ramen.

Yuna opened the lid of her own ramen and stirred the noodles.

Taeseo watched her, puzzled. They had eaten together a few times, but always somewhere private, not in an open space like this.

With her grandmother who despised outsiders, was it really okay for her to be eating with him out here?

His needless worry might have stemmed from the story he'd heard yesterday about An Yuna's mother.

He wasn't the type to care what others thought, but he felt it wouldn't be good for Yuna to be seen with him.

Wanting to eat quickly and leave, Taeseo reached for the tuna kimbap in front of him while eating his ramen.

He tried to pick up an end piece of kimbap with his chopsticks, but it was stuck to the one next to it.

An Yuna lifted her chopsticks and picked up the other piece. To anyone watching, it would have looked like a friendly gesture.

With a quick movement, Taeseo picked up his end piece, popped it into his mouth, and chewed.

His throat felt tight, so he lifted his ramen cup and drank some of the broth. The moment he set the cup down, Yuna asked.

“How is it?”

“What?”

“Kimchi ramen with tuna kimbap, it's really good, right?”

Why was she being so friendly today? Was it okay for her to act like this out in the open?

Despite his concern and reluctance, the combination of tuna kimbap and kimchi ramen was quite good.

Taeseo nodded as he chewed. An Yuna beamed.

“By the way, it sounded like An Yunho's friends were going to sleep in your room.”

“Ah, yes...”

From her darkening expression, it seemed she had lost her room to them.

“That must be tough for you.”

“Yes. Well...”

Yuna looked away from Taeseo and opened the lid of the ramen cup in front of her.

Taeseo quietly watched as Yuna ate her ramen.

Gripping the chopsticks in her small, white hand, Yuna put some noodles in her mouth and took a sip of the broth. Then, she wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

He found it fascinating how she could eat a simple cup of ramen with such relish, and he watched her, lost in thought. In doing so, he failed to notice the presence approaching from the building.

Taeseo only tore his gaze away from Yuna when a large man appeared at the building's entrance.

“An Yuna.”

The one who called her was a guy named Jaeseop, who looked like a cattle thief.

Yuna dropped the noodles she had picked up with her chopsticks and looked toward the voice with startled eyes.

“Are you close with that guy?”

“What?”

‘That guy’ probably meant Taeseo. Yuna couldn't answer readily and just blinked at Jaeseop.

“Hmph, forget it.”

The guy irritably ran a hand through his hair and walked toward the convenience store's glass door.

“Just ring me up for a pack of cigarettes.”

“Ah, yes.”

Yuna left her half-eaten ramen and got up from her seat. Taeseo frowned as he watched.

A guy who practically lived out front like him could have just put the cigarettes on a tab, but forcing a girl who was in the middle of her meal to ring him up was pathetic.

A moment later, Jaeseop came out of the convenience store. He stood next to Taeseo's table, tore open the cigarette pack, and put a cigarette in his mouth.

What terrible manners. Taeseo scowled at the sight of him lighting up next to someone who was eating.

After lighting the cigarette and blowing out a puff of smoke, Jaeseop called out to Taeseo.

“Hey.”

Taeseo looked up at him.

“Me?”

“You see anyone else here?”

“Guess not, it's just me.”

At that moment, unexpected words came out of Jaeseop's mouth.

“Let's not go hitting on another man's girl.”