LCL 44

“…”

I scanned the dark interior of the restaurant. I thought we would just go to a nearby bar, but we came to a Western-style restaurant that served pasta and pizza. It was ambiguous to call it a restaurant.

It was a bit of an awkward atmosphere for two men to come to. I wiggled my back and tried to ease the awkwardness. The sofa instead of chairs made me feel comfortable.

It was a semi-circular sofa, so no matter how far apart we sat, we had to sit close to each other, which was annoying, but it wasn’t too bad.

This place is nice. Should I come here with Lim Dae-han later…? I evaluated it as a place that two men shouldn’t come to, but would it be weird if I came with Lim Dae-han? Or maybe with Jung Ji-pil.

No. How much would Jung Ji-pil nag again? This was my first time at this restaurant, and it was a decent place except for the fact that it was near the school.

Seeing how dark it was during the day, I wondered how dark it would be in the evening. The people I was close to in the department would never come here. They all drank and partied, and they didn’t eat in such atmospheric places.

“Pepperoni pizza, a french fry set, and vongole… what are you going to eat?”

“Uh, I’ll have… seafood cream risotto, please.”

“And two mango beers, please.”

Moon Ji-woo added an explanation. He said the mango beer here was really delicious. He even takes it out separately. The employee who received the menu stood near the table. He asked in a friendly tone.

“Customer, can I see your ID?”

“Ah, just a moment.”

I familiarly took out my ID from my wallet and handed it over. The employee compared my face to my ID and handed it back.

“…What?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re not older, you were even born later than me in the same year.”

“Ah…”

The man awkwardly laughed and quickly hid the ID he had snatched. What’s this? He was born in the same year as me, and even later? Yet he subtly dropped formalities, and even enjoyed the situation while I consistently – albeit a bit gruffly – called him senior and used polite speech?

“We’re the same age?”

“I entered university early…”

“Wow. And you still…”

“But it’s true that I have a higher student number.”

“We’re not even in the same department.”

“So, shall we drop formalities?”

Moon Ji-woo. Really…, annoying. I don’t know why I dislike him so much, but even being the same age is irritating. I know there are seniors in the Economics department who took the GED and entered early, given the various paths to university admission, but that’s when you’re in the same department.

We’re not even in the same department, so why did he accept being treated as a senior? I glared at Moon Ji-woo with all my might. Moon Ji-woo relaxed his shoulders and let out a long sigh.

“You can speak casually. I was… going to tell you anyway.”

“Don’t lie.”

“It’s true. I was planning to tell you we’re the same age after getting to know each other. Speak comfortably, you too.”

“…”

“Young-hyun?”

“Yeah. I’ll speak casually.”

Normally, I would have refused even if told to speak comfortably, but this time I nodded. I immediately dropped formalities.

After saying all sorts of things in my mind, speaking casually didn’t feel uncomfortable. Moon Ji-woo smiled and tried to appease me.

“I’ll buy you something delicious today, so forgive me for acting like an adult all this time. Okay?”

“…Okay.”

Ugh. I should have ordered the most expensive thing.

The not-so-large table was filled with food. The pizza and fries set consisted of half a pepperoni pizza and fries on a round board, and the pasta and risotto we each ordered also looked very appetizing.

The yellowish beer was also good for whetting the appetite. The amount of food was moderate. Of course, by my standards – if Lim Dae-han saw it, he might not be satisfied.

Still, it wasn’t so little that it would be gone in two or three forkfuls. Often, restaurants with a good atmosphere have prices inversely proportional to the ambiance, but this place wasn’t like that.

If there was just one more menu item, Lim Dae-han could fill his stomach without feeling lacking.

Because the meeting time was awkward, I had rushed through lunch and was hungry. Despite feeling uncomfortable with Moon Ji-woo, I wanted to eat quickly. Well… I’m quite something too.

I always said I felt comfortable with Lim Dae-han, but in fact, I wasn’t much different. I bowed my head, licking my lips.

“Thank you for the meal.”

“Are you trying to use polite speech?”

“No, um, I’ll eat well.”

I wonder when this habit of being overly cautious will disappear. As Moon Ji-woo picked up his fork, I hastily grabbed mine too. I lowered my eyes and focused on the meal.

It felt awkward to look around. In this restaurant clearly set up for dates, we were the only table with just men.

When I went out with Lim Dae-han, I never really cared about these things. Neither Lim Dae-han nor I particularly cared about the atmosphere, so we never went to places where we’d need to be conscious of others.

If we wanted a drink, we’d head to any nearby cafe, and even when eating out, we’d just look around a bit and enter anywhere that seemed okay.

It’s not that we’ve become insensitive to dating over time, we were always like this. I was especially bad. From the old days, I preferred ordering jajangmyeon and lounging around in Lim Dae-han’s studio apartment rather than going out.

Lim Dae-han said I was too casual, but I found it comfortable. There, we didn’t have to worry about anything we did.

But… so this is how it usually is. This is how conscious people usually feel. I ate silently. I moved my spoon more diligently to avoid feeling intimidated.

I scooped up a large spoonful of risotto and took a big bite. Delicious! The tense muscles in my face relaxed.

Although Lim Dae-han eats everything well, if I had to say, he prefers Korean food, but I think he would like this place without getting tired of it. The taste was stimulating but not overwhelming.

I decided to call this place a great restaurant. Not just Lim Dae-han, but my classmates would like it if I brought them here. The semester was ending, and it was about time to explore the good restaurants around the school, but we hadn’t done so yet.

There were so many restaurants, and even the ones that seemed good would suddenly disappear one day. Seniors say that if you hang out with them, they’ll show you long-standing, popular, and delicious restaurants here and there, but I wasn’t the outgoing type and didn’t have such seniors. Because of that, I often followed my classmates to cross the threshold of good restaurants.

Even the army stew place we often go to these days was thanks to Lim Dae-han. Did Senior Seong-hong tell him about it, or was it Senior Hyuna?

Anyway, I wanted to come to this place again ‘for sure’. I should take a picture.

“Let me use my phone for a moment.”

After telling Moon Ji-woo, I picked up my phone from the table and turned on the camera. It was a shame that there were already traces of eating on the table, but oh well…

I leaned back and captured the table in the screen. While adjusting the composition and moving around, I felt a lukewarm gaze.

Focused on my phone, I just raised my eyes. Moon Ji-woo, holding a beer glass, was looking alternately at me and my phone with one eyebrow furrowed. His gaze was blatant.

“Huh?”

At my reaction, Moon Ji-woo laughed as if he found it ridiculous.

“What are you doing?”

“…Taking a picture.”

“Do guys take pictures of things like this too?”

“People who take pictures, take pictures. Don’t your friends take pictures?”

What’s wrong with taking pictures of delicious things, good things, pretty things…? Moon Ji-woo drank his beer continuously.

“I don’t have friends.”

“…”

“I don’t eat out with anyone except the people I work with at my part-time job.”

I wondered if it was okay to say such things, but with that personality, it made sense that he didn’t have friends. Suddenly threatening people, constantly probing, and even pretending not to be the same age as me while he was! And there’s no need to embarrass someone for taking pictures like this.

Only a saint like me would just think, ‘I guess that’s how it is’. Other people would have avoided him, thinking he was gloomy. I couldn’t affirm or deny it, so I just pressed the shutter button.

Click! The picture was taken. Trying to ignore the persistent gaze, I sent a message to Lim Dae-han.

Me: [(Photo)]

Me: [Eating now, this place is super delicious, let’s come here together next time]

Me: [Is soccer over?]

While waiting for a reply, I belatedly raised my head. Moon Ji-woo was still looking at me. How about me, who has no friends? His eyes asked me. Hmm. I chose my words carefully.

“I don’t have many friends either. I made a few in college, but in high school… it was just, you know, ordinary.”

“I don’t have even one, though?”

“Well… in today’s world, not having friends isn’t really a flaw…”

“That’s right. Having lots of friends isn’t necessarily good, and not having friends isn’t necessarily bad.”

“Yeah. I think so too.”

Something… Moon Ji-woo’s image was a bit different from what I initially thought. I had imagined him as a mature person with lots of secrets, but he was far from that.

Rather… even this conversation felt somewhat off-focus. Do people usually start by saying they have no friends?

Of course, if he’s fine with it, that’s okay, but honestly, as the listener, I’m not sure how to react. After cautiously responding, I scooped up some rice from the risotto.

“What kind of part-time job… do you do?”

“At a bar. It’s near the main gate, come by sometime. I hear a lot of Economics students come there too.”

“Have you been doing it for long?”

“About three months. Not that long.”

As we continued our ordinary conversation, my phone screen lit up. Lim Dae-han had replied. Just seeing his name made me feel relieved. But…

Lim Dae-han: [Yeah soccer’s over]

Lim Dae-han: [Sounds fun]

What kind of reaction is that, seriously.

The restaurant’s atmosphere was so nice that we were already past our second beer each. The appropriate darkness and not unpleasant humidity naturally eased the tension. The discomfort I felt from the off-kilter conversation earlier was washed away with the slightly rising tipsiness.

“There’s someone from the Economics department working part-time with me.”

“Oh, really? Is it someone I know?”

“Aren’t there a lot of your classmates? I’m not close with them.”

“I might not know them either. To be honest, I don’t know everyone.”

I wasn’t extremely drunk. I’m one of those who can’t drink well but can handle it relatively better, so two beers… well, it just made me feel good.

As dinner time approached, an employee went around opening the folding glass doors. The ambiguous air between early summer and late spring poured in through the open doors. There was a fishy smell and humidity, but not enough to dampen the skin.

I looked out the window. The sun was slowly setting. The sky seemed more like a palette today than usual. I quietly gazed at the sky that changed from navy to purple to light pink.

It was a shame that the high-rise buildings blocked the view, but since the restaurant was on a high alley, it wasn’t too bad.

It feels like I just entered university yesterday, but the semester is about to end. After the festival and final exams, it’s the end of the semester. It doesn’t feel like I’ve done much, but already a semester has passed.

In high school, a semester felt so long… Ah- I don’t like this. I tilted my head back and then stroked the condensation on the glass with my fingers.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Just…”

“That time goes by too fast?”

Moon Ji-woo hit the nail on the head. He must be able to read minds too. How did he know? I stared at him sitting across from me, then lowered my gaze.

I nodded slowly. With one hand on my cheek, I soothed my mouth with beer. The cherry beer I drank after the mango beer tasted even better.

From now on, I think I’ll only drink signature beers at restaurants like this. I liked that it didn’t have the common beer smell. Should I say it’s like a slightly beer-flavored drink?