MIM 97

“This looks good too. What do you think?”

The restaurant they entered when they got hungry naturally didn’t have any tourist-friendly menus. Though nowadays translation apps work quite well and can even show pictures of the food on phones, Shin-woo let Ma Jae-seung take his time examining the menu and even explained each item to him.

“This is braised beef. For a long time…ah, it says it’s braised for a long time.”

“Good. I eat all kinds of meat well.”

“Then let’s get this, and a steak, and one pizza…you said you wanted escargot, right? Let’s order that too. Wait, I’m sure it’s on the menu.”

Seeming to give up on struggling with the menu word by word, Ma Jaes-eung called over the waiter. When their eyes met, his polite smile and refined appearance was every bit that of a wealthy young master, but his unfamiliarity with other cultures showed, having grown up in isolation.

{Hello. My name is Ma Jae-seung. I want to eat snails.}

{Hello! Are you having a pleasant evening? Speaking of snails, I have just the menu to recommend.}

{Fantastic. My friend likes snails too. We would also like some wine.}

Well, at least his confidence rivals any local’s. Shin-woo watched with amusement as Ma Jae-seung earnestly asked questions and received answers while holding out the menu. Though it was somewhat puzzling that he seemed to mention the name “Ma Jae-seung” every time he spoke French, he sounded fluent nonetheless. Since the waiter smiled brightly as soon as Ma Jae-seung spoke, there seemed to be no problem.

Actually, the food didn’t matter either way. Shin-woo glanced at the unidentifiable dishes on nearby tables. Perhaps due to his years living on the streets, he cared less about taste and quality and more about just being able to fill his stomach. When he was younger, he used to watch the back doors of restaurants like this during their busiest hours, stealing food as it was being thrown out.

“Escargot. That’s what they call the snail dish. They said it’s baked with butter and garlic.”

Ma Jae-seung explained after ordering the food. Judging by his changed expression compared to when talking about the steak, he didn’t seem particularly interested in the snail dish. Nevertheless, Ma Jae-seung had gone out of his way to ask the waiter about it and had ordered the escargot. Shin-woo kept that fact close to his heart.

“We used to speak informally to each other, right?”

When the table was full of their ordered food, Ma Jae-seung asked. Shin-woo, who had been sipping the wine they ordered together, furrowed his brows. Ma Jae-seung seemed to be piecing together a puzzle based on his reactions after throwing out guesses.

“Speaking informally would mean we were quite close.”

He decided he would test the waters bit by bit.

Shin-woo pressed down on an escargot that was larger than expected with the tongs and picked up his fork. What should he answer? Now that they had uncovered almost all the terrible things that he had wanted to forget and bury, perhaps there was no need to hide the good memories. He didn’t need to go into detail about what happened, but just enough so that Ma Jae-seung wouldn’t be too sad when looking back on his past.

“Yeah.”

Ma Jae-seung looked up from his plate, seemingly anxious at the too-brief answer. His steak-cutting showed a hint of irritation.

“Does that mean we were friends?”

“You could say that. But I can’t speak for how you felt about it.”

“Why so complicated? Either we were friends or we weren’t. Would you speak informally to someone who wasn’t a friend?”

“If we were friends, then we were friends.”

Shin-woo popped the escargot into his mouth and chewed. He savored the unremarkable taste and washed it down with wine.

Apparently not getting the answer he wanted, Ma Jae-seung glumly cut his meat. Then, before even tasting it himself, he pushed the plate toward Shin-woo. Only after the hesitant Shin-woo put a piece of meat in his mouth did Ma Jae-seung pick up his fork. The one who had been giving cold looks to the escargot visibly brightened upon tasting the slightly undercooked steak. Though he excitedly cut and ate the remaining steak, he left half untouched for Shin-woo. They could simply order another when they finished, but he didn’t.

“I liked you.”

Shin-woo said while popping a piece of steak into his mouth. As expected, Ma Jae-seung, who had been unable to resist poking at the escargot with his fork, suddenly looked up. He gaped for a while with wide eyes as if a bomb had dropped in front of him. It took quite some time for Ma Jae-seung to find his voice again, after watching Shin-woo empty his wine glass.

“W-What do you mean?”

“I liked you. Nothing more to it. You were cute when you were young.”

“…And?”

“That’s all. I enjoyed playing with you because you were funny. Asking to play hide-and-seek despite being as big as a mountain.”

The open mouth slowly closed. Eyes that had widened in shock gradually regained their focus. Ma Jae-seung swallowed a hollow laugh and chewed on his lower lip. Shin-woo finished his steak while outrightly watching him act distinctly displeased about something.

“How old are you?”

About to calm down and attack the escargot again, Ma Jae-seung suddenly asked, unable to contain himself. He was still as fun to tease as ever.

“Why?”

“I’m curious why you treat me like such a child when you’re probably not that much older.”

“I’m older than you.”

“Be honest. I looked up your resident registration, but I don’t think that’s your real birth date. Same with your name.”

Name. As soon as the word ended, Shin-woo looked up. Ma Jae-seung held his gaze and added sharply.

“What parents would use such characters for their child’s name? He gave it to you, right? What’s your real name? Your age?”

“Don’t know. Forgot.”

Shin-woo replied as calmly as possible. It wasn’t an evasive answer—he truly couldn’t remember his exact age or birth date. If he’d wanted to know, he could have gone to the orphanage to search the records, but he had no attachment to that identity. Things like birth dates and age changed every time he switched identities.

“I lived without counting years.”

“Then from now on, let’s make you the same age as me.”

Ma Jae-seung shrugged his shoulders as if it couldn’t be helped. His attitude suggested he was stating something as obvious as one plus two equals three.

“…What are you saying?”

“I’m saying start fresh. Change your name too.”

“…”

“I’m starting fresh too, so think of it as starting from the same starting line. Make your age the same as mine, and create a birthday using your favorite number combinations. As for the name, change the characters…no, change it completely.”

Can’t treat me like a kid if we’re the same age. Ma Jae-seung smirked and seriously considered giving him a handsome name. They spent dozens of minutes in a foolish back-and-forth where Ma Jae-seung would suggest celebrity names he’d heard somewhere and Shin-woo would reject them with a grimace. Meanwhile, they ordered and drank two more glasses of wine each.

“How about Byungjae? I think it suits you.”

“Horrible.”

“Why? Isn’t it good? Rolls right off the tongue.”

“I’d rather keep what I have.”

“Then, at least change the characters. There are so many good ones.”

“You change yours.”

The rapid conversation paused briefly. Flushed with wine, Ma Jae-seung rolled his eyes around, lost in thought. Shin-woo swallowed a sigh and put down his fork. Perhaps he’d had too much wine when not feeling well, but ever since the name characters became the topic, something had been weighing on his chest. Under the table, his right foot tapped up and down against the floor.

Like that summer day long ago, the playfulness gradually left his face as he looked at Shin-woo. His gaze slid away awkwardly before meeting Shin-woo’s eyes again.

“Then keep ‘Shin-woo,’ but how about using the character for ‘friend’ in ‘woo’ instead?”

Ma Jae-seung raised his wine glass and lifted his eyebrows. With the same face from back then, when he had gradually given his heart until it was completely taken, he spoke the same words.

After spending countless days worrying whether he had been irreparably broken while traversing a path of no return, finally confirming his wholeness made the tightly wound tension in Shinwoo’s chest release.

“Weren’t we friends?”

When no answer came, Ma Jae-seung, starting to feel awkward, narrowed his eyes and prodded. Still immature yet simultaneously mature eyes sparkled with beautiful green hues under the dim lighting of the restaurant.

“Yes.”

Shin-woo raised his glass to gently clink against Ma Jae-seung’s. As Ma Jae-seung’s eyes curved into a smile, the clear ring traveled from his fingertips down to his heart.