Chapter 6.20

“What was your last name, again?”

“Ryu.”

He saved her as ‘French Literature Ryu Jihye’ and put his phone back in his bag.

“Do you know my name?”

“It’s Jihye.”

“Oh… I thought you wouldn’t know.”

It sounded like Jihye was testing Sangwoo’s memory.

Sangwoo and Jihye were lined up in front of the restaurant a little after 6pm. Sangwoo had never wasted time waiting for something so futile as eating, but he thought he could endure it just this once.

“I think there’s a seat. Let’s enter.”

When the employee opened the huge door on the second floor, there was a rattling sound from the bell. As soon as he entered the expansive restaurant, Sangwoo looked around everywhere. All tables were occupied and there were three waiters walking around in black aprons.

Jang Jaeyoung was taking orders from a table far away from Sangwoo. The handwritten letters on the memo had to be so messy that nothing else could be recognized. Jaeyoung wrote everything down and put the memo in the pocket of his apron. When he turned towards Sangwoo’s direction, Sangwoo thought that they had made eye contact. However, he seemed to have been mistaken as Jaeyoung quickly walked into the kitchen.

“…”

He must have been naïve to have thought Jaeyoung would come so far just to take their order, like last time. An unknown man came to their table and asked to take their order. Jihye ordered pasta vongole, and Sangwoo ordered whatever was on the very top of the menu.

“Oppa, you seem to like seafood. You got lobster last time,” Jihye said while smiling after the part-time worker had left.

“What?”

“You ordered pasta with mussels…Isn’t that only for people who know what they’re doing? I noticed it again.”

‘What the hell is she talking about?’

Sangwoo was busy looking around for Jaeyoung, so he wasn’t paying attention. It was impossible to answer all Jihye’s questions at the same time. Then, he saw Jaeyoung leave the kitchen and head for the exit. If he left with an apron on, it meant that he was going to run a quick errand. Did he have something urgent come up? Had he seen them and was avoiding him?

The food was being served while he was wasting time worrying about a question that he wasn’t able to answer. Jihye got regular spaghetti, but Sangwoo’s entire plate was filled with red soup with mussels. Sangwoo wasn’t fussy about food, but he thought it was annoying to eat something he would have to deshell. He started eating after he was forced to pick the mussels out with a spoon and a fork.

“Is it delicious?” Jihye asked.

“No.”

“I’m sorry.”

Sangwoo kept glancing at the door throughout their meal. Jaeyoung still hadn’t returned even after Sangwoo had deshelled about half of the mussels and put them in his mouth, as if it were a task. Sangwoo was so bothered that he couldn’t stand it anymore. Jihye looked surprised when he got up.

“Where are you going, oppa?”

“I’ll just go outside for a minute.”

“You’re just gonna leave me behind again, aren’t you!”

“I’ll leave my wallet here.”

Jihye was a kind kid, but she was filled with suspicion. Sangwoo left his wallet as her hostage and got out of his seat. His steps got increasingly faster after he left through the door. He ran down the stairs, and as soon as he left the building, he stopped completely.

It was a dark place, but he could spot him in a second. Jaeyoung was leaning against the side of the building and smoking while talking to someone on the phone. Sangwoo’s chest started pounding as he saw him. This was the bad guy who had broken down his daily life and who had become an error that ate into his body.

How long had he been looking at him? The shadow fell, and only dark eyes were looked at Sangwoo. Jaeyoung narrowed his eyes as if he were in a single-frame scene of a Noir game.

“I’m planning on doing it for the time being… I’m on a quick break right now…”

For a moment, Sangwoo thought that he might hang up and maybe talk to him. That’s what the glance he gave him seemed like.

“No, I’m not busy right now so tell me.”

However, Jaeyoung took his eyes off Sangwoo, and he simply held the cigarette that was between his fingers and put it to his mouth. He looked at his wristwatch while holding the cell phone between his ear and shoulder.

“Jaeyoung sunbae,” Sangwoo spat out.

Jaeyoung’s eyes, which were gazing at the wall, slowly returned towards him. Sangwoo made eye contact with Jaeyoung.

“Tell them that you’re busy and hang up. I have something important to tell you.”