Seo Kangwoo dropped Heewoon off right in front of the café before rushing off. He must have been really busy. Heewoon opened the café door and looked at the cake box in his hand.
’It’s Christmas Eve today.’
Kangwoo had handed it to him when he got out of the car. Winter was always cold and dreary, so for the past few years, Heewoon hadn’t given much attention to Christmas or New Year’s.
The café was almost empty, as everyone seemed to be out downtown. Heewoon ordered a warm latte and settled down to study. His gaze occasionally drifted toward the cake box.
After about three hours of studying, he left the café. He was cautious in his steps because the cake in his hand felt unusually heavy.
“I’m back.”
“What’s with the cake?”
His mother’s eyes widened.
“It’s Christmas.”
Until high school, they used to celebrate it quite often. That was, when all four members of his family were still together.
They had even made a Christmas tree once. His older brother would grumble about why they were doing such things and wanted to leave, but at the time, the family was still whole.
Heewoon and his mother sat facing each other and took out the cake. The floor was warm, and the cake, decorated with chocolate in the shape of Rudolph, looked beautiful.
“The cake is so pretty, I don’t know how to cut it.”
His mother looked at the cake with a knife in her hand. Her lips moved slowly.
“It reminds me of the old times. Your father loved celebrating anniversaries.”
His mother’s eyes did not waver. Heewoon suddenly became curious. Did his mother cry sometimes when he was not around?
Heewoon had cried a lot ever since he got entangled with Seo Kangwoo. His tears easily flowed, even over minor fears. Perhaps it was because he had always wanted to cry.
Did his mother want to cry as much as he did?
These days, Heewoon didn’t feel like crying much, but did his mother still always want to cry?
“Coff. Oh, did I catch a cold? Why is my throat so scratchy?”
His mother turned her head away from Heewoon and cleared her throat. Her eyes glistened with tears. Then, she got up cheerfully and said in a bright voice.
“I forgot to get something to drink. What would you like, Heewoon?”
“I want milk.”
Heewoon looked at the Christmas cake and glanced briefly at the calendar.
In a few days, it would be the new year. His brother said he would come back within three years. It was hard to be sure of that because they didn’t always stay in touch, but…
If his brother kept his promise, he would be back soon.
***
It was the New Year.
Yesterday, Heewoon and his mother had listened to the New Year’s bell on TV. His mother had gone to bed before the bell stopped ringing, so Heewoon had to lower the volume.
He would already be turning twenty-seven years old.
Could he pay off his debt within ten years? Would they wait for him? Had his brother made a lot of money? But even if he did, paying off the debt before Heewoon turned thirty would be unrealistic.
While watching TV, Heewoon found himself lost in thought.
[Let’s eat dinner tomorrow.]
When Heewoon received a message from Seo Kangwoo, he suddenly realized something. Thinking about the future now, it wasn’t as bleak as before.
“Heewoon, you need to turn it over. It will get burnt.”
“Oh!”
Heewoon stood dazed for a moment before hastily flipping the egg. He was making rice cake soup with his mother. His mother seemed to have more energy today, just like most people are when the new year began, perhaps making new resolutions.
The egg, slight browned and not particularly pretty, was done. While Heewoon carefully worked on the egg, his mother was busy serving the rice cake soup.
She placed the white egg she made on top, sprinkled some green onions, and it looked quite presentable. Heewoon took a picture of the rice cake soup and enjoyed it with his mother while watching a drama.
On that day, many photos of rice cake soup were posted on social media. Heewoon didn’t upload any pictures, but he often glanced at the ones he took.
[Happy New Year!]
A KakaoTalk message arrived from Jihwan. Heewoon replied before going in to take a shower. He was about to get ready for his dinner appointment with Seo Kangwoo after spending the whole day at home.
After he showered and came out, he noticed several more messages from Jihwan.
[Let’s meet at the academy tomorrow!]
What academy? Heewoon replied, and a quick response arrived.
[I also registered for the TOEIC test, haha. Let’s study together.]
While replying, another message came in.
[I’m in front of your house, so come out when you’re ready.]
It was from Seo Kangwoo. Heewoon’s eyes widened. They planned to go to the hotel rooftop they had visited before, so Heewoon thought they would be meeting in front of the place. Furthermore, there were still 30 more minutes left until the appointed time.
Heewoon dried his hair a bit with the towel hanging around his neck, applied lotion roughly, and put on some clothes. He grabbed his padded coat and bag, then rushed outside.
As soon as he left the front door, he spotted Kangwoo’s car.
He checked his phone and realized that it hadn’t even been five minutes since he received Kangwoo’s message. Heewoon felt relieved and got into the car.
However, Kangwoo was frowning.
“You didn’t even dry your hair.”
He reached out and tousled Heewoon’s hair. Heewoon placed his phone on his thigh and shook his head to roughly dry his hair. Kangwoo didn’t seem pleased with that, taking out a handkerchief from his pocket and handing it to Heewoon.
“You can use this to wipe your hair.”
Heewoon hesitated to use the handkerchief, knowing that it was surely an expensive item. When Heewoon hesitated, Kangwoo deftly took it and started wringing out the moisture from Heewoon’s hair.
Heewoon sat still, entrusting Kangwoo with his hair.
“What is that?”
Heewoon wasn’t sure what the low-voiced question referred to, so he fumbled around. Kangwoo pointed to the phone on Heewoon’s thigh.
The gallery app was still open, displaying an enlarged photo.
“Oh… I made rice cake soup with my mom.”
Heewoon shrunk the picture and showed it to Kangwoo. Kangwoo leaned closer and examined the picture closely.
“What did you do, Sunbae?”
“I made this one.”
Heewoon pointed to the yellow egg rice cake soup, even though it wasn’t exactly yellow. Kangwoo’s hand, which had been wrapped in the handkerchief and squeezing out the moisture, stopped. After a moment, Kangwoo moved his hand again and said.
“You made it really well.”
“Yeah.”
Heewoon nodded.
“You said, ‘yeah’?”
Kangwoo looked at Heewoon as if bewildered, and then he smiled at Heewoon’s seemingly perplexed expression. He then leaned his forehead on Heewoon’s shoulder and chuckled.
Just a few months ago, Heewoon would have been nervous when he couldn’t understand Kangwoo, but now, he wasn’t. Seo Kangwoo was in a good mood now anyway, and Kangwoo didn’t mind Heewoon’s rambling. On the day he got drunk, Heewoon had become quite sure of this.
While on their way to the hotel, Heewoon messaged Jihwan. Because he had hurriedly left home earlier, he unintentionally didn’t send his reply right away. They exchanged a few more messages and ended the conversation, agreeing to meet tomorrow.
“Who’s that?”
“Ah…It’s Jihwan, he’s also starting at the TOEIC academy tomorrow. The same place as mine.”
Kangwoo lightly tapped the steering wheel with his fingers.
“Who’s Jihwan?”
“Park Jihwan. He’s the guy who sat next to me during the year-end gathering.”
“Ah…”
Kangwoo nodded, as if understanding. Then, without saying anything else, he turned his head as the traffic light changed. His gaze felt a bit scarier.
“You better study hard.”
There was something off, and it wasn’t easy to pinpoint what it was, but Kangwoo’s tone was profound.
***
In the TOEIC classes, everything progressed quickly. If Heewoon hadn’t finished a workbook before the start of a class, it would have been challenging for him to keep up.
“Shit, what’s that?”
Jihwan muttered beside Heewoon. Heewoon gave a short side glance at him and continued to quickly take notes. Jihwan was probably going to bombard him with questions during self-study time today. Heewoon didn’t mind it, teaching Jihwan helped him review, which was beneficial.
It had been two weeks since they started going to the academy. Heewoon thought Jihwan would lose his determination quickly, but he was surprisingly diligent. Heewoon was relieved. Studying together was more motivating than studying alone.
“Alright, homework- Pages 60 to 63, and 112 to 117. Make sure to memorize those words. That concludes today’s class.”
The classroom buzzed as soon as the teacher finished speaking.
“Hey. Do you want to grab coffee before our study group?”
Jihwan asked as he packed his books. Heewoon nodded. The takeaway café next to the academy was their daily stop, once in the morning for class and again in the afternoon.
The hallway was bustling with people, and Heewoon checked his phone as he walked. There were no new messages.
The elevator was crowded with people, and since the classroom was inside, Heewoon always ended up in the last row. Today was no different. He and Jihwan could only get a spot after two elevators had already gone down.
“Ah, I’m dying. How about having a beer after today’s class?”
Jihwan turned his head back and asked in a low voice.
“No, I already have plans.”
And I quit drinking, Heewoon added.
“I’ve never seen anyone who says they quit actually quit.”
Heewoon chuckled a bit.
Outside the academy, they stood in line in front of the café. Heewoon had grown used to waiting in line ever since he started attending the academy.
Yesterday, Jihwan had bought coffee, so today Heewoon paid for them. Heewoon held the warm drinks and re-entered the academy building. He waited for a while in the study room, and the other group members started to arrive.
There were a total of six members in the study group, three men and three women. At first, they only focused on studying and didn’t chat much. However, after seeing each other for over two weeks, they became friends and started joking around.
It seemed like they had gone out to dinner a few times together, but Heewoon hadn’t joined them yet.
“Heewoon-ssi, would you like to have dinner with us tonight?”
“Oh, I have a prior plan today.”
The gentle team leader, with a slightly disappointed expression, sighed as if regretting that.
“Then, after taking the TOEIC test next week, let’s all definitely have dinner together. We have to spend the fine we collected, right?”
“Sure, that sounds good.”
He could just tell Seo Kangwoo in advance, it would be alright. Seo Kangwoo was still busy, so Heewoon thought there was no reason for him to deny it.
Thus, while having dinner together that day, Heewoon asked Kangwoo.
“With your study group members?”
“Yeah.”
Sure, do that, Heewoon thought Seo Kangwoo would say something like that right away, but he only sipped his wine slowly. Heewoon looked at Kangwoo’s lowered eyes and asked cautiously.
“Can I, Kangwoo?”
Become a member in my ko-fi to get early releases!
Make me feel happy and supported by leaving a comment!
