Chapter 12
Ultimately I was able to finish in the five minutes and was now sitting across from Lee JiHan to eat dinner. Even though there were plentiful dishes awaiting me on the table, I wasn’t very hungry due to the anxiety brought on by Lim DaeChul. I poked un-appetizingly at the cheese lasagna eating only the tiniest of pieces.
“What is this? Are you on strike or something?”
I lifted my head at Lee Johan’s sharp criticism.
“No. It’s just I don’t have much of an appetite.”
“If you are going to eat like that then don’t bother. It’s disrespectful to the person who made it.”
“Okay...” I put down my spoon, drained of all energy and got up from my seat.
Lee JiHan glared at me in disbelief. “Where are you going while in the middle of eating?”
“You said if I’m going to pick at the food then to not eat.”
“No, I meant stop picking at it and eat it like you mean it. That’s the only way you can rate it.”
“Rate it?” I asked, not sure of what he meant.
“That thing you always do. It tastes like this and that,” he explained.
“Oh...but I really don’t have an appetite today,” I said apologetically.
“You have no appetite because you are picking at it. This dish has three types of cheeses that you must taste together, you have to scoop out a bite in its entirety. After you try it like that, you can check if you do or do not have an appetite. This will drag back your lost appetite by the hair.”
“....I know.” Unable to beat his retort, I sat my butt back down. And I scooped up a hearty bite of lasagna. “It’s delicious.....”I forced myself to nod.
It was definitely delicious. It was really good. I just couldn’t think of anything else to say because my head was too full of other thoughts. At this, Lee JiHan slammed down his fork.
“Are you like this because you got in trouble from my brother? You’re doing this because I upset you?”
“Huh?”
“Are you upset at me for telling my brother what happened? Is this your idea of revenge?”
Revenge? How does this even constitute as revenge? Not eating because I don’t have an appetite is revenge? What is he, my stomach?
He was nagging at me about the stupidest things.
“It’s not like that. It’s just because I feel kind of down. If I felt better, I wouldn’t be like this. It’s just how I feel...”
“Well feel better then.” Lee JiHan commanded me.
“What?” I thought I’d misheard him, but Lee JiHan answered in all seriousness.
“Whether it’s because you got in trouble from my brother, or if it’s because you met that man, just feel better.”
“Are you actually...worrying about me?” I asked in awe, but Lee JiHan flat out denied it.
“I am worried about the cooling cheese. Before it gets any colder, hurry up and feel better so you can review it.”
What’s so important about me reviewing his cooking. Why is he so obsessed with it?
Unable to understand it at all, I opened my eyes wide and stared at Lee JiHan.
“What do I have to do to immediately feel better?”
“What?” he looked back at me, confused.
“What, are you going to give me a day off?”
“A day off? I’ll give you a day off tomorrow if you feel better now and eat well.”
“Really? Then you won’t blow your whistle at all tomorrow?” I asked, blinking excitedly.
“We’ll do that. If you eat well now, tomorrow will be a day without the whistle. I will release you.” Lee JiHan showed me the whistle hung around his neck and promised.
Seeing that, I swallowed hard. For a month, I had been miserable because of that whistle, even hearing it in my dreams. To be granted just one day without the incessant noise would be heaven. As if a fish bone stuck in my throat was being washed down, I felt relieved.
“Hurry and eat it before it cools down.” Lee JiHan insisted.
I immediately scooped up the cheese lasagna with my fork and put a hearty bite into my mouth. Just the thought of escape erased the nervous thoughts of Lim DaeChul out of my mind and no longer affected my appetite. With the return of my appetite, I chewed the three types of cheese, and my hardened brain broke free so that the compliments were able to spill out of my lips like a waterfall. Lee JiHan sat next to me with his mouth shut and watched me with unmoving eyes. As always, after a few moments, he ran out of the room.
***
Lee JiHan
The whistle-less day had arrived. Na AhJung was sleeping on the living room floor, sprawled out like a sloth. This was a very different picture from the state of high alert she had been in for the last month.
Yep. This is the girl’s real identity. In reality, she was just a lazy girl putting up an act for my benefit. When I saw Na AhJung like that, I tsked tsked. Today, like every other day, I looked down at Na AhJung’s arm. I fed her so much! How come she didn’t gain any weight? If I am to get the rose colored glasses off of my brother, I have to make this girl gain weight. I need to make my menu more fattening.
Like the witch from Hansel and Gretel who was fattening the children to eat them, I was dreaming up a menu to fatten Na AhJung. After deciding on the breakfast menu, I put the whistle in my mouth. I suddenly remembered my promise to her, and removed the whistle from my mouth.
Oh, today is a day without the whistle.
A promise is a promise.I put the whistle in my pocket. It was easier when I didn’t have to say a word and just blow the whistle to make her wake up. Today was going to be a bit bothersome. I coughed and woke her up with my voice.
“Are you really sleeping right now?” To keep my gentlemanlike calm, I spoke serenely, but Na AhJung didn’t even flinch. So with no other choice, I shouted. “Are you really sleeping right now?!”
Na AhJung bolted upright, still unable to open her eyes. With her eyes still closed, she looked around.
“Open your eyes and get up immediately,” I commanded.
“Huh? What? Ah, Yes!” Na AhJung stood up without knowing the reason and rubbed her eyes. With her eyes finally open, she looked at me and blinked.
“Today...is my day off, isn’t it?” Na AhJung asked me with a perplexed look.
“That’s correct. Your day off. I said I was giving you a day off, but that doesn’t mean it’s my day off,” I explained.
“Huh?”
“Today, you don’t have to do what you usually do. However, my judgement of you will still continue. As always. With the same intensity. I’m still going to keep score on you. I’m not going to give you any chores today. Do as you please on your day off.”
“What, what kind of day off is that?” she asked.
“What, did you think we would hold hands and go play or something?” Was she kidding?
“Ugh. I have never thought anything like that?!” she said, as if the very thought disgusted her.
Na AhJung jumped up and down in denial. It was strangely unpleasant and my eyes naturally narrowed.
“Is us going on a trip such a horrible thing to you? To you? You have to realize how horrible it would be for me!” I exclaimed.
“What?”
“Me going on a trip with you, even if you beg me to, it is one miracle that will never happen, so don’t even get upset about it!” At my criticism, Na AhJung sported a blank look, and soon nodded.
“It’s not that it offends me. I...How could I possibly even dream that? Trust me, I was only proving my innocence in ever thinking of such a thing. I was not offended by it at all! If that kind of miracle happened, it would be the best surprise ever. If there was a day that happened, I would write about it in my diary. I would mark it as an anniversary and every year remember it. How could you forget a dream? That kind of day?” Na AhJung, now fully awake, responded with bright eyes.
She sure could talk. I wanted to keep hearing it.
“Anyways. I’m going to make breakfast,” I said. “Go wash up and get ready to eat. If the food is ready and you’re not waiting here, I will be displeased. You know that right?”
“Of course I know. I will be back before the meal gets cold,” Na AhJung responded, then ran to the bathroom.
***
Maybe she’d had a dream about a long journey or something, because Na AhJung devoured the french toast like a starving animal. Even with a small mouth, like a squirrel, the space behind her lips was enormous. Na AhJung ate the entire piece of toast the size of a hand and stuffed it all into her mouth, chewing with all the muscles in her face.
I handed her the milk and scolded her. “You’re supposed to drink this while you eat. If you eat everything at once, it might taste greasy.”
Na AhJung quickly nodded and inhaled the milk. Then Nshe bounced her feet and exclaimed,
“Mmm! Mister, what was this called again?”
“French Toast.”
“No, it can’t be? This must be Swiss toast or Florence toast, because the french toast I’ve eaten never tasted like this. It melts on my tongue!”
This girl is just sprinkling sugar onto my ears.
I puffed up my chest in pride but pretended to think nothing of it.
“What are you planning to do today?” I asked.
“I want to go outside,” Na AhJung answered, stabbing another piece of french toast onto her fork.
She seemed to be ecstatic at the mere thought of going outside. Well, going outside without me means she can avoid my evaluation of her. Then she will really enjoy her day off.
“Let’s go together,” I suggested.
Na AhJung dropped her fork. “What, why?”
“I want to know how you utilize your free time, and rate you on it.”
Na Ahjung’s face fell, as if the world had crumbled around her. It didn’t matter, I’d already got my share of positive feedback on my cooking.
***
After leaving the house, Na AhJung headed for the large bookstore. Upon entering the bookstore, she stood at the register. She turned and smiled at me like an info desk person and spoke softly, “Whenever I have time, I visit the bookstore. My hobby is reading.”
“It’s obvious to me that this hobby was just fabricated as a show just now.”
“Oh my, it isn’t so. I adore books,” she insisted.
As if to prove a point, Na AhJung lifted a book off the shelf and opened it. Acting like an intellectual, she gazed at its pages in a contemplative manner.
“Do you live in the living room at home?” I asked.
“What?”
“Last time I went to your house, you were sleeping in the living room. I’m asking if the living room is your bedroom.”
“Ah, yes. But why do you ask that all of a sudden?”
“For someone who likes books that much, it doesn’t really make sense that there is not a single book in your room. I mean, it looked like you didn’t even have a desk? And you’re still going to tell me your hobby is reading?”
Na AhJung flinched at my observant telling. But she laughed and responded.
“Oh, when did I say I read at home? I read at the bookstore like this and return home with a full mind and heart.”
“What? They say in every book there is a teacher, and I guess for you, you treat your teachers like this! How do you sleep at night knowing that you stole from these teachers without payment for their gift to you? Look, when you enjoy someone else’s creative art, you need to give it the proper respect. You have no shame.” I scolded.
Na AhJung slowly put down the book and hung her head. “I am embarrassed by my past self.”
“Books are meant to be bought and read at home.”
“I understand. Starting today, I will do that.”
Na AhJung nodded her head forlornly and picked up a book. With a sad expression on her face, she went to the register. Why is that sad look so uncomfortable for me to watch? Have I gotten used to the excitement I came to expect while she sat eating my three meals a day? A bit bothered by the situation, I followed Na AhJung with a strange feeling bubbling in my gut.