VDN Ch 43
by STAR“Then I don’t know.”
At Nam-woon’s response, Se-han ran to the wall and pointed at a piece of white paper stuck there.
“Ta-da!”
Nam-woon also got up and moved closer. It was an award.
“What, you got an award?”
“Yes!”
Se-han looked up at Nam-woon with flushed cheeks. Nam-woon ruffled Se-han’s hair and smiled brightly.
“That’s impressive. Let’s see.”
The award was taped at Se-han’s eye level with scotch tape. It seemed like Se-han had put it up himself. Nam-woon squatted down to read Se-han’s award.
“The Picasso Award. This student is awarded this award for his outstanding creativity in geometric style.”
Se-han, smiling proudly next to him, suddenly asked Nam-woon as if he just remembered something.
“But what does ‘geometric’ mean?”
“Uh…”
As Nam-woon was choosing his words, Seo-oh, who had been listening to their conversation, answered instead.
“It means creative painting.”
“That’s a really good meaning?”
“Of course.”
“Wow!”
Se-han beamed with pride. Nam-woon, smiling, stroked Se-han’s head and then looked at Seo-oh, troubled by something. Yesterday, Seo-oh had told him to come home early, but as Nam-woon was just moving his lips, Se-han spoke first.
“Did you know I got an award yesterday and we had a party? So, I ordered chicken with Hyung!”
“Did you?”
“Yes! It would have been nice if Wooni Hyung had joined us.”
“I ordered chicken and kept waiting for you.”
Seo-oh hesitated as he said those words. Nam-woon felt a surge of guilt.
In the meantime, Se-han ran to the corner, opened the refrigerator door wide, and took out a square chicken box with both hands.
“Yesterday, Hyung and I left some chicken for you, Wooni Hyung!”
Nam-woon stared at the chicken box Se-han handed him. Then he turned his gaze to the recycling box and trash can in the corner. There were no other boxes inside. There was only one chicken ordered. Seo-oh and Se-han had left some of that one chicken for Nam-woon without eating it all. He felt a tickling sensation near his heart.
“I’ll do it.”
Seo-oh took the chicken box from Se-han’s hand and began transferring the remaining chicken to a frying pan. Nam-woon glanced at Seo-oh and moved closer, saying,
“Why did you leave it? Just eat it all.”
“It wasn’t me who left it. Se-han wanted to leave it.”
Then Se-han’s eyes widened and said,
“What are you talking about?”
“Huh? Hyung, you were the one who said to leave it first?”
Seo-oh’s lips were tightly sealed, and he said nothing. I had better food yesterday. Nam-woon tried to take the chopsticks from Seo-oh’s hand.
“I’ll do it.”
“Just sit down and finish your meal.”
Seo-oh turned on the gas and started heating the chicken. Nam-woon snatched the chopsticks from him and grabbed the frying pan. Then Seo-oh took a plate from the drying rack and set it down next to him.
A little later, Nam-woon, who had transferred the heated chicken to a plate and set it on the table, began to tear off pieces of meat and feed them to Se-han. Se-han clung to Nam-woon’s thigh, opened his mouth wide, and gobbled up the meat like a baby bird. Meanwhile, Seo-oh, who had finished his rice, stood up with an empty bowl and said,
“Do you want soup?”
“Is there soup? If there is, I’ll have a little.”
Nam-woon picked up a soup bowl and stood right next to Seo-oh. Seo-oh, holding a ladle, scooped some soup from the pot and took the bowl from Nam-woon’s hand. Bean sprout soup with chili powder. Nam-woon suddenly turned his gaze to the black plastic bag on the side of the sink. Bean sprout heads were scattered around, so it seemed that Seo-oh, who had woken up in the morning, had bought them from the supermarket.
After such a fight yesterday, he got up early in the morning and made a spicy soup. He felt that tickling sensation in his heart again. Nam-woon ate with his spoon, then coughed and said,
“I’ll weed the garden today.”
“Just do it on the weekend.”
Seo-oh replied bluntly.
“The sooner it’s done, the better. I’ll finish it all today.”
“…Then do as you please.”
Then Se-han said from the side,
“I’m excused!”
“Why?”
Nam-woon paused and asked back, and Se-han proudly replied,
“Because of the painting! I worked hard to draw a nice picture, so Hyung said he’d excuse me.”
“So I have to do it alone?”
Nam-woon asked, pretending to be pitiful, and Se-han suddenly looked troubled and said,
“Uh.”
Nam-woon pressed on.
“I think I’d feel stronger if I did it with Se-han.”
Seo-oh sighed next to him. After a moment of hesitation, Se-han, looking at Nam-woon’s pitifully acting face, reluctantly opened his mouth.
“Um, then I’ll help you a little.”
“Thank you.”
Nam-woon quickly thanked him, and Se-han looked a bit regretful.
***
Wearing a pair of work gloves, Se-han and Nam-woon were busy pulling weeds. Nam-woon, holding a planting shovel, would dig up the weeds and hand them to Se-han, who would then throw them aside in a well-coordinated division of labor.
They both wore wide-brimmed hats, but as they crouched in the yard under the blazing sun, moving their hands, sweat poured down, and they felt drained. While Nam-woon was shoveling, Se-han, rummaging through the dirt beside him, picked something up and thrust it in front of Nam-woon’s face.
“A big, wiggly worm!”
“Ah!”
It was a huge earthworm.
“Se-han, let it go!”
Se-han, looking at Nam-woon’s terrified face with a giggling, joyful expression, flung the big wiggly worm far away.
“He’s surprisingly fearless.”
Nam-woon thought, looking at Se-han with newfound eyes, and then threw his shovel into the dirt.
“Oh, this is hard.”
Thump.
Nam-woon sat down on the dirt floor, and seeing that, Se-han also said, “Ah, this is tough,” and plopped down just like Nam-woon. Nam-woon grabbed Se-han’s forearm to help him up and asked,
“Se-han, isn’t there something like a chair in the yard?”
“There’s that one!”
Se-han pointed to a corner of the yard and ran to fetch a round farming chair, handing it to Nam-woon. Taking it, Nam-woon set it down next to him and tapped the seat. Se-han then sat down on the same chair with his little bottom.
The two then watched the clouds drift by in silence for a while. Nam-woon said,
“When will we finish pulling all these weeds?”
“You can go in after a little while. Hyung is nice.”
Nam-woon didn’t respond to that. After watching the clouds for a bit longer, he asked,
“Have you done this before?”
“Yes! Usually, Hyung and I do it together. He’s really fast. So it ends quickly.”
“Am I much slower?”
“Yes!”
Se-han answered sharply. Seeing Nam-woon’s embarrassed expression, Se-han added,
“But it’s okay. It’s fun doing it with Wooni Hyung.”
“Ha… really… Se-han, you are…”
Nam-woon suddenly hugged Se-han. Just then, the door opened.
“Eat this and then continue.”
Seo-oh came out with a tray in one hand. Se-han exclaimed, “Wow!” and jumped up from his seat, running towards Seo-oh. Nam-woon dusted off his bottom and quickly followed Se-han.
On the tray was a plate with delicious white tofu and red kimchi. Se-han stood in front of Seo-oh, staring at the tofu and smacking his lips. When Seo-oh picked up both tofu and kimchi with chopsticks and said “Ah,” Se-han opened his chubby beak, following his brother’s words.
“Is it good?”
“Uhm! It’s really tasty!”
Nam-woon, eager to eat the tofu and kimchi, stood behind Se-han and looked anxiously at Seo-oh. As soon as Se-han moved aside, still chewing, Nam-woon quickly stepped forward, fixed his gaze on the tofu and kimchi, and opened his mouth.
“Ah.”
But even after waiting for a while, the anticipated tofu and kimchi didn’t come. Looking up at Seo-oh, he turned away from Nam-woon’s gaze and said,
“Don’t you have hands? Eat by yourself.”
“My hands are dirty right now.”
Nam-woon showed his hands covered in dirt. Seo-oh, without even pretending to look at them, handed the chopsticks to Se-han.
“Se-han, you do it.”
“Uh, me?”
Se-han, with a puzzled expression, soon nodded in understanding and took the chopsticks to pick up the tofu. However, the tofu crumbled miserably off Se-han’s chopsticks, and the next piece fell to the ground before reaching Nam-woon’s mouth. Se-han looked upset and said,
“Hyung, I can’t do this well.”
Seo-oh, as if there was no other choice, took the chopsticks back from Se-han. Nam-woon quickly moved in front of Seo-oh and opened his mouth again.
“Ah.”
Seo-oh avoided Nam-woon’s gaze and put the tofu and kimchi into his mouth. The rough touch smeared red kimchi sauce all over Nam-woon’s mouth. Nam-woon quickly swallowed one piece and opened his mouth again.
“It’s delicious. Just give me one more. Ah.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Ah. Why not.”
Nam-woon playfully asked, “Do you find it a waste to give it to me?” and then smiled with his eyes. Suddenly, Seo-oh lowered his head deeply. Even though it wasn’t cold, his ears turned red.
Nam-woon, looking at Seo-oh holding the tofu and kimchi, suddenly asked,
“Should we make a table?”
Seo-oh frowned, and Nam-woon continued,
“It would be nice to have a place to sit and eat in the yard.”
“How can we make it here? The yard is too small.”
“There’s space over there. Let’s ask Mrs. Soon-i. She might like it.”
Nam-woon pointed with his chin to the space next to Seo-oh’s house. There was a small dirt yard between Seo-oh’s and Mrs. Soon-i’s houses. It was originally a space where the previous owner had built a chicken coop, but after tearing it all down, Mrs. Soon-i now had a small vegetable garden there. Seo-oh shook his head.
“Don’t create more work.”
“Why not? It would be nice to have it. Are you worried about the work? I’ll do it all, so don’t worry.
“Hyung, your helping by staying still is enough.”
“……”
Se-han, with wide eyes full of genuine curiosity, asked Nam-woon,
“How can you help by just staying still?”
“There are people like that in the world.”
Seo-oh gently patted Sehan’s forehead and answered instead.