NILWM - 7

Han Ju-hyeok, who had been walking while looking towards the entrance of the restaurant, turned his head. He smiled faintly, almost imperceptibly. Ye-seo’s heart, just about to approach him, pounded again. The idea of a meal just between the two of them felt surreal.

“You’re here?”

“Hello, Senior.”

But her excitement was short-lived; thinking about the pen in her bag made her heart heavy again. Ye-seo fidgeted nervously, looking around, until she entered and sat down at their reserved table. Perhaps because of the location, there were quite a few foreigners.

Their table was in a cozy corner at the very back, with a large plant serving as a partition. Yet, even so, glances kept cautiously sweeping over to their table while Han Ju-hyeok sat opposite her. The focused gazes had been there since they entered.

The looks of admiration and awe only receded one by one after he subtly scanned the restaurant, following Ye-seo’s gaze. There were no customers brazen enough to stare so openly when someone was accompanied.

“If you don’t have any preferences, can I just order for us?”

He asked Ye-seo without even looking at the menu. She nodded in a daze. Her fingertips trembled with tension as she opened her bag to take out the pen. Han Ju-hyeok ordered buttermilk and blueberry pancakes, an Italian omelet, French toast, and drinks, then handed the menu back to the server.

“Hey, Hyeok! What’s up?”

A group of foreigners approached Han Ju-hyeok, greeting him warmly. Their appropriately restrained gestures, neat attire, and slang-free speech exuded an atmosphere somewhat similar to Han Ju-hyeok’s. As Han Ju-hyeok replied indifferently in English, as if slightly annoyed, Ye-seo unconsciously swallowed hard.

They said he lived in America for a short time when he was young, his accent is really good. By the way, does he have foreign friends...?

“Neighborhood friends.”

He spoke calmly, as if reading Ye-seo’s mind. As Ye-seo nodded, “Ah,” one of his friends abruptly asked. He was uninhibited, as if he would just ask himself since Han Ju-hyeok wasn’t introducing her.

“Hi. How are you doing? You are... his girlfriend?”

“No. She’s not. Get off, now.”

At his command to “get off,” his friends waved to her as well and disappeared. Ye-seo was secretly flustered.

Of course, I’m not his girlfriend, so I just said no, but why does it feel so strange? It also felt like he denied it too bluntly. At that moment, her attention returned to the pen on the napkin, and her heart began to pound.

“Um, Senior... what should I do? I accidentally dropped the pen and it got scratched.”

She didn’t specifically mention the tutoring student. She attributed it to her own poor handling, after all. Ye-seo carefully lifted the lower part of the pen’s white gold body. Was it her imagination? The fine scratch seemed to have become clearer.

“I’m so sorry. I’ll pay for the meal today... And this too, I... If it’s possible to repair it, that would be great... I tried to inquire at the Korean branch for this product, but since it’s a holiday, I’ll have to wait until Monday to call...”

Her voice barely came out, as she kept swallowing. Ye-seo lowered her head and continued murmuring. She couldn’t bring herself to meet his gaze.

“It’s okay. Just give it to me.”

“What? But you said it was precious... that your grandfather’s friend specially ordered and gifted it to you, so you needed to take it to his birthday tomorrow...”

“I’ll just put it in my pocket, so that much of a scratch won’t even show. And it’s old anyway.”

Han Ju-hyeok casually extended his left hand, as if to take the pen. His face was indifferent, his eyes calm, as if he genuinely didn’t care. Ye-seo hesitated, then asked again,

“Are you really okay with it? It seemed like a very expensive item...”

“It’s not like I bought it. I told you, it was a gift.”

He raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

“Still...”

“If you don’t give it to me in 10 seconds, I might ask you to pay for it then.”

He said impatiently, with his hand extended. His face showed no hint of playfulness, and Ye-seo reflexively held out the pen to him. His large hand reached out further.

But instead of taking the pen, he gripped her wrist and turned her palm upwards. Ye-seo’s heart sank. It wasn’t violent or rough. Rather, it was a gentle and comforting touch, like a doctor examining a patient’s wound.

“Sen—”

“Here. How did this happen?”

Han Ju-hyeok stared intently at the scar on the inside of her wrist. His gaze seemed more concerned about the scratch on her skin than the one on his fountain pen.

“Oh, that’s...”

Ye-seo tried to pull her wrist away in embarrassment, but he didn’t budge. He didn’t seem to be exerting much force, yet she couldn’t move at all.

“Oh, it’s from when I was little.”

“Where?”

Han Ju-hyeok asked again. His gaze wasn’t interrogative, but he genuinely seemed curious.

“In the amusement park valley.”

“How?”

“There was a waterfall nearby, and suddenly it poured heavily, and there was a dam collapse. So, some kids and I were briefly stranded, and one child almost fell... I think I cut myself somewhere while trying to hold onto that child.”

Ye-seo answered dutifully amidst her confusion. Her slightly trembling eyes looked like a puppy’s. Ju-hyeok didn’t let go of her hand and smiled bitterly.

Fool.

“Senior...? My hand, please...”

A clueless know-it-all who can’t even remember.

Min Ye-seo’s pupils wavered slightly more. When she exerted force one more time, her wrist finally loosened. Han Ju-hyeok picked up the pen as if nothing had happened and placed it next to the napkin.

Just then, the server approached and placed their ordered dishes one by one. Han Ju-hyeok picked up his cutlery first and smiled faintly.

“Eat a lot.”

“Yes? Yes...”

“Eat a lot”—even though it was probably just a polite formality, her heart somehow fluttered. Was it because it was a phrase she had never once heard from her mother?

“Tell me if it’s not enough. I’m paying.”

“No, there’s more than enough now. And really, I should be paying...”

“Don’t worry about it because of the pen. I intended to pay from the beginning.”

Ye-seo blinked at his natural attitude.

Just now... what was that all about? He can ask how I got the scar. I didn’t even feel particularly uncomfortable from the sudden skinship.

But his gesture of holding her wrist and the sneer that lingered on his lips just before he let go were utterly incomprehensible. The discrepancy between his serious gaze when asking for the full story and his almost mocking smile was truly strange.

“Um, Senior.”

Ye-seo stared blankly at him as he poured syrup over her portion of the pancakes. He looked back at her, raising the syrup bottle as if asking, “Why?”

“No. Nothing.”

Fortunately or unfortunately, Han Ju-hyeok didn’t ask further. Ye-seo, with a bewildered expression, cut a piece of the pancake topped with blueberry compote and banana and put it in her mouth. Then, she unconsciously covered her mouth with one hand and looked at Han Ju-hyeok. He chuckled, seeing her widened eyes.

“Is it good?”

“Yes. It’s really delicious...!”

It was no exaggeration. She thought, this is what it means for something to melt in your mouth. The soft, rich flavor was on a different level from any pancake she had eaten before. Ye-seo forgot her earlier discomfort and focused solely on eating the pancake.

Then, perhaps embarrassed that she was too engrossed in eating, she looked up at him across the table. Han Ju-hyeok also served a fluffy-looking omelet onto her personal plate.

“The omelets here are famous too.”

Again, he smiled faintly. His earlier bitter smile seemed like a lie. Both her earlobes felt hot. Even though it wasn’t a date, her heart kept strangely fluttering as if it were.

Ye-seo silently chewed her lips, trying to regain her composure and focus her continuously wandering mind.

________________________________________

________________________________________

Tears suddenly welled up when she took a bite of a chicken drumstick.

Han Ju-hyeok had suddenly ordered chicken after seeing someone eating it at a nearby table. She was already full, but the glistening chicken made her mouth water.

The meal, which had been going smoothly as her tension completely dissipated, took an unexpected turn when he gathered only the drumsticks onto her plate.

“Senior. By any chance... do you dislike drumsticks?”

“No?”

Han Ju-hyeok picked up a piece of breast meat and cheerfully denied it. The thick, fried skin crumbled crispily in his mouth.

“Is there anyone who dislikes chicken drumsticks? Unless they dislike chicken itself.”

“Then why only for me...?”

“Just so you eat a lot. It’s the most delicious part.”

“What? The drumstick was the most delicious part?”

“Probably. Breast meat is tough, but it’s popular for diets because it has the highest protein content.”

“Oh, I see. I didn’t know that.”

This was the first time she had heard such a thing, as she had never ordered and eaten a whole chicken with anyone other than her family before. At the same time, she recalled a time two months ago when Jeong-woo was in Korea and her mother bought chicken. Mom gave all the drumsticks and wings to Jeong-woo, I think. Did I see it wrong...?

“The best parts should be given to your junior. So eat a lot.”

He probably said it without much thought. As were his subsequent warm words.

“You said you were sick. Your face still looks pale, so I thought you should replenish your energy.”

If it weren’t for that last comment, she wouldn’t have shed tears. She would have simply been touched and thought that he was, after all, a warm and kind person. But the moment she heard those words, something deep inside her chest suddenly began to well up.