TSG 22

The conversation with Jeong Mi-jung served as an opportunity for Shin Tae-oh to bring out a deeply buried secret.

The world had always been slightly distant for Shin Tae-oh. He was born into a good family, but his parents were busy.

There were many people who took care of him, but they all waited for the end of working hours.

The friend he thought was his best friend sided with another guy.

His life has always been like this. Regardless of what he did or who he was with, someone else was always the protagonist. At first, it felt strange and unfair. He was frustrated and questioned why he couldn’t be the main character. However, realizing that it meant nothing unless someone listened, he gave up.

Just one step. With that one step difference, the world became centered around someone else, and Shin Tae-oh eventually stopped thinking that he was the first in everything. Accepting that there would always be someone better than him, he acknowledged that the world revolved around someone else, not him.

From the moment he accepted it, Shin Tae-oh stopped expecting anything. He kept a reasonable distance from people and wasn’t disappointed at being pushed to the back.

It was easier to give up. With that mindset, a life of giving up started to become familiar. Instead, there were things he would never know. Being loved by someone. Becoming the only existence for that person. He didn’t exactly know what love was because he had never experienced it, but it didn’t matter. He would live his whole life without knowing.

After understanding his condition too late, his parents rushed him to the hospital and sought separate counseling. However, it had no effect. Shin Tae-oh seemed perfectly normal outwardly, and he didn’t have any unusual delusions, so the diagnosis they managed to get was just something common that any modern person might have. In the end, Shin Tae-oh’s parents couldn’t undo his condition.

The unfairness of always being by someone’s side but having them go when the most wanted moment arrives, or the boredom that comes from knowing you can keep them by your side even if you don’t want to. It was an ordinary day when these two things coexisted and eroded Shin Tae-oh’s heart little by little.

‘What about Yoo Jin-hyun?’

‘Someone called him so he left.’

Yoo Jin-hyun asked him to come, so he went, but when he found out that Yoo Jin-hyun had already left, Shin Tae-oh nodded and turned around.

‘I’ll go.’

‘Already?’

Without Yoo Jin-hyun, there was no need to stay at his place any longer. Despite the sweat on his back from walking all the way here, he didn’t mind. It’d always

‘Tae-oh hyung.’

Shin Tae-oh turned around and looked at Yoo Jin-ha when he heard a voice urgently calling him.

‘Are not you hungry? Do you want to eat ramyun?’

‘Ramyun?’

‘I thought it would be a lot to eat alone.’

Come to think of it, he didn’t eat anything because Yoo Jin-hyun asked him to come over right away. But eating ramyun with Yoo Jin-ha… He was about to refuse since the two of them had never been alone together before, but Yoo Jin-ha spoke up.

“Come and sit. I’ll turn on the air conditioner.”

Yoo Jin-ha, who was still in his prime for growth but was smaller than his colleagues, rushed into the kitchen. Shin Tae-oh considered helping but decided against it. Yoo Jin-ha could probably cook ramyun on his own since he was already sixteen.

Instead, he sat in front of the dining table attached to the kitchen, while Yoo Jin-ha wandered around diligently. It wasn’t boring to see him find a bowl, fill it with water, boil it, and then take the ramyun out of the sink. Rather, it felt strange that there was only Yoo Jin-ha and himself in this place.

Even though it wasn’t a big deal to cook ramyun for him, it felt strange. He wasn’t someone responsible for his meals, and they had just met by chance when he came to see Yoo Jin-hyun. But now he was offering to make ramyun for him?

‘Hyung.’

Yoo Jin-ha, who had already finished cooking the ramyun, sat down across from him and handed him chopsticks.

‘It’s hot, so blow it before eating. Hurry up and eat!’

Then, he scooped ramyun into a bowl and handed it to Shin Tae-oh, who appeared to look at it blankly.

‘Hyung?’

When he heard Yoo Jin-ha’s voice calling, he raised his head to look at him. Seeing his eyes focused solely on him, he thought:

Wouldn’t it be nice to have Jin-ha as a partner to live together for a lifetime?

“Sir!”

“Uh…”

“The ramyun is done. Please eat now.”

Shin Tae-oh, who was lost in his thoughts about the past, awkwardly raised his hand and took the chopsticks.

He wondered how he had ended up eating ramyun with Secretary Ahn. He met Se-hyun shortly after separating from his mother and told him that he wanted to eat ramyun. As a result, he arrived at his residence and prepared and served ramyun to him.

In the meantime, he was thinking about the past.

“You said you wanted to eat ramyun. Have you changed your mind?”

“No, no.”

Shin Tae-oh held the chopsticks properly and picked up the ramyun. The hot steam rising from the ramyun also blurred the pair of eyes looking at his ramyun.

“Why don’t you stop looking at me like that and eat together?”

“I’m sorry.”

Shin Tae-oh didn’t feel good when Se-hyun immediately rejected him. He didn’t know why memories of that day ten years ago suddenly came to mind, but once again, it felt like he was being pushed into the background. He seemed to prefer leaving for home rather than eating ramyun together.

“What’s wrong with eating just one ramyun…”

“The amount is small.”

“…What?”

Was the amount small?

“If I had known we would eat them together, I would have boiled four of them.”

“How many is this?”

“Two.”

“Oh, I see. Two. Two isn’t enough for us.”

Shin Tae-oh nodded dumbly and looked at Se-hyun then himself. Since the two of them add up to 370 centimeters, two bowls of ramyun were definitely not enough.

“So, it doesn’t mean you don’t want to eat with me.”

That was enough. So, just as Shin Tae-oh was thinking that he wouldn’t be lonely even if he ate alone, Se-hyun got up from the chair and brought something.

“Let’s eat together.”

He said and poured the ramyun into his bowl. Shin Tae-oh looked at the bowl and compared the amount with his own.

“More than mine?”

“The noodles were too long, so I couldn’t help it.”

Shin Tae-oh couldn’t tell the truth since Se-hyun’s expression didn’t change, but it seemed like he just poured a lot. When he saw him take a big bite and slurp it in, he took a bite of his own. It was a little soggy, but not bad.

At some point, each person focused on their own bowl. After emptying and refilling, there was only broth left in the ramyun.

“Really… It’s not enough.”

He felt this way when they ate king crab together before, but Secretary Ahn ate it really well. And with someone who enjoyed eating well by his side, Shin Tae-oh himself seemed to eat heartily.

Feeling a bit disappointed, Shin Tae-oh was about to put down his chopsticks when Se-hyun brought something and put it in the pot.

“I’ll put rice in.”

“When did you get it?”

“I brought the chopsticks with me when I brought them.”

Shin Tae-oh laughed as if Se-hyun knew it would be insufficient. He’s a really interesting person…

Shin Tae-oh impulsively said what came to mind instead of taking the spoon Se-hyun offered.

“What is love?”

At that question, Se-hyun dropped the spoon he was holding.

⍣⍣⍣

Se-hyun inwardly grumbled with all sorts of annoyances at the sudden question for love.

‘I didn’t boil the ramyun with alcohol, so why are you asking such a thing? And why are you asking me?’

He didn’t know either.

In an extremely satisfying work life, receiving such a stupid question inevitably lowered his satisfaction.

“I don’t know love.”

‘I don’t know you either. I thought I did, but now I’m not sure.’

“I just thought that if I date and get married the way other people do, I might be able to live a similar life even if I don’t know love.”

As Shin Tae-oh’s depth increased, Se-hyun’s mouth colsed even more tightly. There was nothing he could say to Shin Tae-oh’s question.

Se-hyun didn’t understand exactly what he was talking about.

Shin Tae-oh likes Yoo Jin-ha. Since he liked him, he gave him a gift and looked for an opportunity to confess.

‘Oh, he confessed to me.’

Shin Tae-oh said he fell in love with something about him.

So what is love? Why does Shin Tae-oh consider love to be something separate?

It was a question that would complicate all he had observed so far, so Se-hyun’s mind became even more confused.

‘Is there a side of Shin Tae-oh that I don’t know about?’

Was the Shin Tae-oh seen in the original not enough?

“I feel like everything is tangled up these days. I wonder if I really liked Jin-ha? Why do I remember my first meeting with someone so clearly? What is my true feeling?”

Shin Tae-oh’s words sounded quite spicy as the smell of ramyun wafted in. What does spicy mean? He didn’t know.

“Maybe it was just momentum?”

Se-hyun has been thinking… whether he should become philosophical right now.

At that moment when Se-hyun couldn’t grasp how to accept it, Shin Tae-oh spoke.

“I’ve been thinking about it all day.”

Se-hyun lifted his head as he realized he was finally at the main point.

“I apologize for saying I seemed to have fallen for you lightly. I’m sorry.”

Se-hyun couldn’t hide his embarrassment as he noticed Shin Tae-oh bowing his head. When interacting with Yoo Jin-ha, Shin Tae-oh was quite straightforward, but Se-hyun couldn’t figure him out now.

Se-hyun waved his hand to stop Shin Tae-oh and grasped his shoulder to pull him.

“It’s okay. Our situation might be a misunderstanding caused by pheromones, so just act as usual.”

Stick to your attitude of liking Yoo Jin-ha.

“No, my light-hearted attitude was wrong, and I should acknowledge that.”

“Wrong? No, it’s not. I’m really okay.”

“If I have to kneel to apologize…”

“Sir! I’m really fine. What’s so difficult about falling in love? Just like earlier today my heart skipped a beat when you complimented me… ”

“…”

“…”

“Can you say that again?”

No, that’s not it…

No, that’s not it!!!