When I opened my eyes, the seat beside me was already empty.
I put my hand on the slightly rumpled blanket on the seat beside me.
I could still feel the warmth left behind.
After sliding my feet into the pair of slippers sprawled under the bed,
I headed for the living room.
The sound of the slippers dragging along echoed through the house.
Hwang Hyunjin seemed to hear it and lifted his head to look toward the stairs.
His puffy face and tousled hair
showed that he had only just gotten up.
On the marble dining table sat a modest spread of snacks and
a cup of tea.
“You’re up early.”
He sipped at the steaming tea, still looking half asleep.
I naturally took a seat across from him
and picked up a snack to bring to my mouth.
He said he’d slept poorly because of my sleep talking last night,
then rubbed his eyes
and wore a thoroughly flustered expression.
“You were snoring like crazy too.”
“Huh..?”
“I’m kidding. You surprisingly don’t have any sleep habits.”
He tossed out the joke with a serious face, then flashed a grin.
When I muttered that who jokes with a face like that,he stuffed a snack into my mouth to shut me up
and gave a mischievous eye-smile.
“You mean I’m being too loud?”
“No, no.”
Every word out of his mouth felt obnoxious,
but the way he brushed it off with that sly grin didn’t bother me all that much.
For lunch, we had Japanese food.
This place was one Hwang Hyunjin’s dad frequented.
On the shabby wooden wall
there was a sheet of paper hanging up
with a scrawled autograph and the name Hwang Gangwon on it.
Unlike the omakase place we’d visited before,
the bustling atmosphere
felt friendly.There was a long waiting line outside,
but Hwang Hyunjin and I went straight into the restaurant without lining up.
As soon as the staff saw Hwang Hyunjin, they were startled and bowed deeply.
“It’s been a while, young master.”
As always, Hwang Hyunjin acknowledged it with a nod.
We were shown to a room-style table and went inside.
A menu listing various dishes
was stuck to the table.
My belly had puffed up more than I expected from all the ramen, so I rubbed it.
Beside me as I patted my stomach, Hwang Hyunjin
was staring at his phone and exhaling cigarette smoke.
After taking one last deep drag from the cigarette between his lips,
he ground it out in the ashtray placed beside the entrance.
“Do I really have to wait for even this?”
With the call cut off in less than 10 seconds,
he frowned as if annoyed.
Inside the Carnival that had stopped right in front of us,
several butlers came out and bowed in front of Hwang Hyunjin’s face.
“I’m sorry, sir. The chairman called, so...”
“Aren’t you guys supposed to be handling me? What are you even doing?”
The Carnival boarded in the now-cold atmosphere
was filled with nothing but a sharp silence.
After getting out, Hwang Hyunjin, who always went ahead to open the front door,
just stood still in place.
When I turned back with a face full of questions,
he pointed at the front door with his finger and said,
“It’s all registered, so try opening it yourself.”
