Chapter 4

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According to his tone of speech, he heard him correctly. He is the omega who stayed with him for a night. After that, he pretended that something had happened and that he had been beaten up. He is currently working part-time at an unremarkable hangover soup restaurant.

……He can’t say such a thing.

Eun-Yul turned around swallowing his dry saliva. Eun-Yul, who faced Kang Ha-Joon, turned a blind eye to his heart which seemed to explode at any moment.

“Now…….”

His voice trembled and he shut up again. He can’t say ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’ because he was caught being agitated.

“Are you flirting with me?”

What is he talking about?

He felt like he brought up a banned word that was too obvious, ridiculous, and childish even if he said it himself. His fingers and toes were starting to curl but there was no turning back.

“I’ve only seen you twice, but the fact that you’re asking me if you have seen me somewhere…….”

Seeing Kang Ha-Joon’s eyebrows squint, he hurriedly added an excuse.

“I misunderstood because the word ‘Have I seen you before’ is used in such situations. I’m sorry.”

Eun-Yul quickly put water in a cup and handed it over and ran away to the kitchen.

He leaned his back against the wall and breathed in as if his chest were inflated to calm his heart, listening to the noise outside. As soon as he came in, he could hear the sound of belated steps and the sound of pulling the chair one after another.

“If I’m shaking like this when we’re only meeting a second time, I might faint next time.”

Eun-Yul tried to widen his distance from Kang Ha-Joon as much as possible.

***

Kang Ha-Joon, whose only conversation partner disappeared, held a spoon and looked down at the hangover soup. It was just a bowl last time, but today it’s an earthen pot.

Only the bowl had changed, but the smell was also different. Kang Ha-Joon, who was watching carefully, lifted a spoon and scooped up the soup.

A bad smell came into his mouth and he stirred it around. Now that he had a bite, the smell must have spread to him. Maybe he noticed it the moment he entered this restaurant.

“It’s not good.”

He disliked the warm soup that warmed his stomach. It was also difficult to unpack the rice, which was packed so high that it nearly collapsed.

He ate the side dishes with chopsticks. He doesn’t like kimchi because it’s crunchy and spicy, and he doesn’t like egg rolls because they’re soft. He just didn’t like everything, but he chewed it mechanically.

As Kang Ha-Joon was steadily emptying the side dish bowl, people began to come in one by one.

“There were customers?”

When someone saw Kang Ha-Joon, he naturally took off his shoes and climbed up to the sitting table. When the restaurant became noisy at once, the last person who came in shouted, “Where did you go as a group?”

“It’s so noisy it’s scary. If you don’t want to eat, just keep talking.”

Only a few coughs were heard in reaction to the restaurant owner’s threat, and the disturbance calmed. Kang Ha-Joon, who was still engrossed in his lunch, was passed by Lim Bong-Soon.

“Why did you put the side dish that I told you to eat here? That person deserves to be hit.”

After hearing what the restaurant owner said, Kang Ha-Joon scanned the empty side dish bowl with his eyes. It was hard to force himself to eat more than last time, but it seemed to have been the mistake of the young man earlier.

It was when Kang Ha-Joon, who finished eating, got up from his seat. Lim Bong-Soon opened her eyes fiercely and saw Kang Ha-Joon.

“Where are you going?”

“Is there a problem?”

“If you ate all the side dishes that weren’t sold, you should work.”

“I’ll pay for it.”

“Do I look like I’m crazy about money?”

Kang Ha-Joon did not answer, but it was said otherwise.

“Collect the empty plates and put them back.”

“Does the customer even do that?”

“Don’t make me say it twice. Put it back.”

Lim Bong-Soon pointed relentlessly at the kitchen with her finger. He had never seen such a rude restaurant owner.

Kang Ha-Joon looked at the bowl in front of him and thought about it. He had no intention of following the restaurant owner’s words. It would be a good idea to break these dishes by pushing them to the side so that they cannot be moved at all.

After consolidating his thoughts, Kang Ha-Joon placed his index finger on the earthen pot. Everyone’s attention, including Lim Bong-Soon, was focused on Kang Ha-Joon’s finger due to that insignificant action. He wasn’t particularly talkative or active, but he kept catching eyes.

Soon, Kang Ha-Joon’s hand moved. He picked up a side dish bowl, put it in an earthen pot, and put a rice bowl. After putting it one by one and putting the spoon and chopsticks in the space, a gap appeared for a moment.

At the restaurant owner’s words, Kang Ha-Joon headed to the kitchen with a stacked bowl. He didn’t know why he did what she said, but he knew one reason. There’s a person in the kitchen who doesn’t know what to do just by making eye contact.

Thinking that he could see the person who ran away under the pretext of work and other things while reacting so hard that his eyes were shaking…….

“What are you laughing at?”

Kang Ha-Joon hurriedly pursed his lips and entered the kitchen.

He put the tray down on one side and tried to see the reaction of the person inside…… There’s no one?

No matter how hectic it was, Kang Ha-Joon’s attention was focused towards the kitchen. No one has come out, but he can’t see him. If he hid somewhere, he would find him, but he has completely disappeared. He can only hear the sound of the wind instead of the sound of the noise.

The sound of the wind.

Kang Ha-Joon, who put the collected dishes down in one place, walked inside the kitchen. It’s a one-story building, but the kitchen is bigger than he thought.

Curiosity filled Kang Ha-Joon’s eyes when he found the half-open back door.

Is it a coincidence that he did not meet him again? Or not…….

***

“Did a strange wind suddenly blow? Why do you make me do things that I don’t usually do?”

Eun-Yul grumbled away from the restaurant. Originally, she doesn’t talk, but why is she suddenly telling Kang Ha-Joon to bring an empty bowl?

“This is all because of Kang Ha-Joon. Why did you come to this place? You just have to think of it as a place you came once and forget about it, but why would you come again?”

Eun-Yul sat down, ruffling his hair in frustration. He hates it. Why is the sculpture of the past touching him when he is living a life of ease after everything is over?

“·……It’s time to pick Ha-Neul.”

There was no time to worry, as a father raising a child.

***

“Ha-Neul.”

Eun-Yul spread his arms toward Ha-Neul, who came down from the yellow kindergarten bus. Ha-Neul quickly greeted the teacher and ran toward him with open arms.

“I missed you.”

“I missed my dad, too.”

“How much did you miss me?”

“When I was complimented by the teacher, I thought of my dad, and while I was eating, I thought of my dad. I missed you because I thought of my dad when I was drawing.”

Oh, my God…… Is there another angel who speaks this well?

Eun-Yul hugged Ha-Neul tightly and rubbed his face.

“You are a real angel. I’m worried you might grow wings. Let me see.”

Eun-Yul held the kindergarten bag in one hand and fiddled with the wing bone with the other hand.

“Huh? It looks like your wings are going to rise soon”

“Really?”

Ha-Neul turns his head to see his wingbone, but there is no way he can see it.

“Oh no. If I have wings and fly away, I can’t see my dad.”

“I need to hide my wings. Let’s eat a lot to prevent wings from forming.”

Ha-Neul took Eun-Yul’s hand. It seemed as if a soft atmosphere was blooming around the two father and son.

“Daddy.”

“What?”

“My grandmother must have hated me.”

“Grandmother?”

What Ha-Neul was talking about was Lim Bong-soon. She accepted him and helped him to raise Ha-Neul, and Ha-Neul followed him like a real grandmother.

“He said I’m a rice cake that was taken out of the pan.”

“Rice cake?”

“Yes. She called Bungeo-ppang. She keeps saying that my face is a mess. Am I that weird? Ugly or flat like a plate?”

[Bungeo-ppang is a fish-shaped pastry stuffed with sweetened red bean paste, which originated from the Japanese taiyaki.]

“Well.”

He doesn’t know how to explain this. No, it was hard to control his embarrassment before that. When it comes to Bungeo-ppang, it means that they look alike but Lim Bong-Soon has never said that to him as Ha-Neul has grown.

‘No way?’

“Ay, I’m sure not.”

As Eun-Yul shook his head, Ha-Neul stared.

“Your grandma is just teasing you. Why would she hate you? Did she give you a rolled omelette this morning, too?”

“She gave me.”

“Look. Grandma likes you. Egg rolls are grandmother’s affection.”

“I see.”

When Haneul nodded and looked elsewhere, Eun-Yul breathed out secretly.

“Do you want me to buy you ice cream? Do you want to eat and go?”

While he was already out, he seduced Ha-Neul to make him happy. If you want to eat ice cream, you should head straight to the supermarket.

“Dad, but what’s that car? Is it your car?”

Ha-Neul stretched out his finger with a pure face, and Eun-Yul’s gaze followed it. A luxury sedan parked openly in front of the restaurant. It is dark-tinted, so you can’t look inside, but Eun-Yul hugged Ha-Neul and pulled him into his arms. Eun-Yul replied, pushing the face of Ha-Neul into the back of his neck.

“I suppose so.”

Eun-Yul’s low voice was full of caution against the owner of the car. Eun-Yul grabbed the back of his head to hide Ha-Neul and looked at the car. Eun-Yul told Ha-Neul, who was struggling to get down.

“Ha-Neul, shall we play something fun with Dad?”

“What?”

“Covering the sky with the palm of your hand.”

At the same time, Eun-Yul’s big hand hid Ha-Neul’s face.

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