Chapter 28: I’ve never liked anyone as a person of the opposite gender

“Are you really an idiot? No, you’re right. You’re a fool. The biggest fool among fools.”

Han Yeoreum’s sharp voice echoed through the caravan.

“No, I…”
“You? What happened to you? More importantly, how can you say that in front of someone who’s clearly showing, ‘I’m sulking right now,’ you idiot!”

As if frightened by her booming voice, the dishes on the shelf rattled. Glancing at her, I cautiously spoke.

“I said that because I was afraid it would lead to another misunderstanding if I didn’t explain properly.”

Han Yeoreum frowned and spread her arms wide.

“There’s something called mood, atmosphere. If you just say ‘Sorry, let’s talk,’ out of the blue, like a robot, without any preparation, who’s going to say, ‘Yes, okay. Let’s talk,’ huh?”
“…Ahem.”

I lowered my head.

At first, I thought I was somewhat unfairly accused and tried to actively refute her, but I was completely outmatched and at some point, I found myself meekly kneeling and listening to her lecture.

“It was the same with that woman, Lee Dasom, last time. Just stop with the sudden outbursts. It only makes the other person angrier.”
“…I’m sorry.”

I had been trying to speak my mind without reservation this time, thinking that I had let misunderstandings grow by worrying too much about saving face or what others thought. But looking back, perhaps it was too much, and the other person might have felt flustered.

I should have brought it up more naturally. This was no different from picking a fight.

“Hey, what are you doing?”
“Reflecting on my actions…”

Han Yeoreum grabbed my hand as I knelt, deeply regretting my immaturity.
Of course, she wouldn’t be able to lift me up with her strength, so it became a strange posture with only my arm raised.

“Ah, seriously. It’s not funny, so get up quickly. Before I kill you.”
“Okay.”

As I stood up abruptly with those words, Han Yeoreum, who had been struggling to hold my hand, let out a deflated sound and fell backward.

“Hey!”

Yes, I never intended to sit down in the first place. If I make a mistake, I can fix it, and if I fall, I can get back up.

I helped Han Yeoreum, who was rubbing her backside and glaring at me with an annoyed expression, to her feet and took out the groceries from the plastic bag.

“…So you’re trying to lure them with food? What are you going to make?”
“Inarizushi. Let’s put the rest of the ingredients in the fridge.”
“Isn’t it better to grill some meat or something? This doesn’t seem like it’ll even whet our appetite.”
“Garyeon used to like it. When I made it for her as a late-night snack during all-nighters, she would rush over with wide eyes. It was quite a sight.”

Han Yeoreum sighed disappointedly at my words and put down the pork belly.

“Let’s cook the rice first.”

I took out some rice from a plastic bottle and put it in the electric rice cooker in the kitchen.
I could have used instant rice, but what I was trying to create wasn’t just food, but our memories. I couldn’t make it carelessly, even to convey my sincerity.

“Can you heat up some instant rice?”
“Yeah.”

The instant rice was just for practice.
I mixed the pre-made sushi vinegar with the instant rice. Then, I added stir-fried carrots, mushrooms, and sesame seeds and mixed it again to complete the rice for inarizushi.

“Like this?”
“A little smaller. It won’t fit if it’s too big.”

While I simmered the seasoned tofu pockets, Han Yeoreum, wearing plastic gloves, shaped the rice.
I planned to do this myself in the actual cooking, but since this was a test, I asked her to do it to save time.

“Isn’t it done?”
“One more thing. This is the most important part.”

Finally, I topped the rice with tuna mayo, made by mixing mayonnaise, canned tuna, and sugar, and then drizzled more mayonnaise on top.

“Try it.”
“It looks incredibly greasy… Anyway, well.”

Han Yeoreum, with a somewhat reluctant expression, greedily swallowed the inarizushi.

“…It’s surprisingly edible?”
“If it’s too greasy, you can reduce the amount of mayonnaise or not add it at all. This is for Garyeon anyway.”
“Hmm, I can’t tell with just one.”

The inarizushi on the plate rapidly dwindled in number.

“Hey.”
“Mmph, why, is there something, gulp, you want to say?”

Han Yeoreum, with rice sticking to her lips, stared blankly at me.

“I have to try it too.”
“Huh?”

It seemed this greedy girl was planning to eat it all by herself without sharing.

“Ah, hahaha. Um. Well. You should try it too. It’s delicious…”

Han Yeoreum scratched her nose awkwardly and handed me the plate of inarizushi. A single piece of inarizushi trembled in the center of the plate.

****

…The practice was over, and only the cooking remained, but the campground was still quiet. I took out my phone and sent a message to Oh Minseo.

[When do you think you’ll arrive?]>
<[We just left, but oppa said there’s traffic, so it might take a little longer lol. Eat dinner first. Oh, but definitely don’t go into the lodging lol. We absolutely have to go in there together~~~ Okay?]

It was so natural that I almost didn’t notice, but communication was working perfectly fine. I vaguely understood why Oh Cheongmyeong had clicked his tongue while looking at the island.

Han Yeoreum, glancing at my phone, spoke.

“Are they still far away?”
“They just left, but there’s traffic.”
“Really? Ugh, when are we going to eat dinner? I’m getting hungry…”

Han Yeoreum whined, rubbing her stomach.

“If you’re like that, imagine how I feel, I only had one piece of inarizushi.”
“Are you going to keep being petty like that?”

I turned away from the pouting Han Yeoreum, opened the rice cooker, and scooped out some rice.

“What are you doing? We were going to use that later.”
“Let’s just make it for ourselves. It’ll be too late if we wait.”
“Still, we prepared it so diligently…”
“We can make it again next time. There are still plenty of ingredients left.”

Inarizushi wasn’t the only food that held our memories.
The miscellaneous budae jjigae we used to cook on a gas burner whenever there was something to celebrate, the spicy chili udon we ate when our stomachs felt heavy.
During the remaining time, I planned to cook those dishes one by one. I thought food was the best canvas to express all my longing and desires.

“Eat up.”

I took the inarizushi from the cutting board and placed it on a plate. Han Yeoreum, watching me with a puzzled expression, stopped eating her inarizushi and spoke.

“What, aren’t you eating?”
“I’m going to check on Garyeon for a moment. She must be starving too.”
“…Why do you care so much about a b*tch like that?”

Han Yeoreum seemed to mutter something towards me, but I couldn’t hear it clearly.

“Sorry, what did you say?”
“Nothing. I just said okay.”
“Okay.”

Carrying the plate of inarizushi, I slowly approached the tent with its closed entrance.

“Garyeon.”

Instead of an answer, I heard faint breathing.

“Garyeon, as you know, the others are running very late, so I made something simple to eat in the meantime.”
“…”
“Garyeon, can I come in?”
“No.”

A woman’s voice, cold as ice, came from beyond the tent.

“Okay. Then I’ll leave it here in front. Eat it if you get hungry. And I’m sorry about earlier. I got anxious and only thought about myself, not your situation.”

Trying to force a conversation with someone who was stubbornly refusing would only backfire.
What I needed to do now was to be patient and wait slowly. I just wouldn’t give up.

Just as I was about to leave the plate in front of the tent,

“It’s because of you, isn’t it?”

A voice, drifting out, stopped me in my tracks.

“What is?”
“…”
“I won’t know unless you tell me, Garyeon.”
“That Seolha rejected your confession.”
“So you knew.”

As Yu Garyeon said, I had confessed my feelings again through a letter a few days ago. I was rejected.

“It’s obvious you did something weird to make that happen. Like unnecessarily bringing up other women.”
“No, I only wrote about Seolha.”
“There must have been some mistake. Maybe you accidentally spilled water on the letter, smudging the words and changing the meaning.”
“No.”

I calmly thought about what happened that day.

“Not only in the letter, but I also confessed again face-to-face, and I was properly rejected.”

At the end of the reply I received that day, there was a disposable email address.
It meant something like, We can’t understand each other just by writing like this, so let’s meet in person.

We used that email to arrange a meeting place and finally met at a cafe downtown.

“…Lies.”

A low groan escaped from beyond the tent.

Anyway, I confessed my feelings to Chae Seolha again. My raw, unadulterated sincerity.
And she rejected it.

I thought her feelings might stem from guilt, so I repeatedly told her it was okay, trying to change her mind, but,
“I’m sorry. Really, really sorry, Dojin. But I don’t have feelings for you. What can I do if I don’t feel anything, even though I want to reciprocate?”
“I’ll try harder.”
“Dojin, I…”

I’ve never liked you as a romantic partner.
When I looked up, Chae Seolha’s face was incredibly calm.

There was no anger, no resentment, no sadness, no joy, only a bitter expression that conveyed she couldn’t accept my feelings.

“Don’t lie.”
“What would I gain by making something like this up?”
“…Shut up.”

The air in the campground grew heavy.

“It’s your fault. Absolutely, it can’t be like that, and it shouldn’t be like that.”
“No, it’s the conclusion we reached after talking face-to-face.”
“Shut up. Just do as I say when unni comes. I’ll make it work somehow.”
“Garyeon.”
“Get lost. I have nothing more to say to you.”
“I’ll wait. Always.”

I left only those words and quietly departed.

****

“Still not here…? It’s almost 9 o’clock.”

Several hours had passed since the sun set, but there was still no sign of anyone here.

“My messages aren’t going through either… Yours too?”
“Yeah.”

To make matters worse, the communication that had been working fine just a few hours ago was now down, so we couldn’t even check the situation outside.

“Ah, whatever. Since it’s like this, let’s just go see the ocean. It doesn’t seem like they’ll be here anytime soon anyway.”

Just as Han Yeoreum, tired of waiting, stood up and opened the caravan door,

Whoooosh—!

Startled by the sudden gust of wind, Han Yeoreum quickly closed the door.

“No, what is this…”

Han Yeoreum’s expression turned to horror as she checked the scenery outside through the window by the door.

“What’s wrong?”

Trees and grass swaying violently, that’s what met my eyes as I rushed out. Unbelievably so.

“…Why didn’t we know?”
“There’s no sound. And it’s not shaking.”

As Han Yeoreum said, unlike the chaotic situation outside, the inside of the caravan was still quiet. No, that wasn’t important right now.

“Stay here. I’ll go out.”
“What? Why? Are you crazy? Where are you going in this situation—”
“Garyeon.”

Because Garyeon was still in the tent. Alone in that flimsy piece of cloth, without proper windproofing.

“…Didn’t you hear what that person said earlier? She told you to get lost.”

Han Yeoreum grabbed my hand as I tried to twist the doorknob.

“So what?”
“You still want to go after hearing that? She’ll come crawling in if she’s having a hard time, why do you have to go?”
“I’ll be back.”
“Hey!”

I threw open the caravan door and rushed outside.

“Ugh…!”

A gale, sharp as a knife, raged, and stones and dust swirled in all directions. Just a few hours ago, the weather had been perfectly sunny.
So this is what they meant by “blue frog.” That’s why there are windproof facilities.

“Garyeon!”

I hurried towards Yu Garyeon’s tent. A broken plate and muddy inarizushi lay scattered on the grass in front of the tent.

It’s okay, I can make inarizushi again.

“Garyeon!”

Yu Garyeon was desperately holding onto the tent pole.

“Come out! It’s dangerous to stay here. Let’s go inside.”
“Shut up! I’d rather die than be in the same space as you.”
“Okay, okay, just—”
“What do you mean, okay!”

A sharp voice pierced through the fierce gale.

“What are you trying to talk about? What do you want to say so badly that you can’t leave me alone? I told you I’m fine. I told you to leave me alone. But why do you keep doing this…”
“Garyeon?”
“Worry about unni instead of someone like me!”

Yu Garyeon squeezed her eyes shut and screamed.

I couldn’t hear clearly because of the increasingly strong wind, but I could vaguely sense that her anger was directed at me.
But right now…

“Sorry, I’ll listen inside.”

No matter what, I had to go now. I squeezed into the tent and wrapped my arms around Yu Garyeon’s waist.

“Let go, let go…! I told you to let go!”

Yu Garyeon’s small fists pounded relentlessly against my chest.
While we were struggling inside the tent, the gale had grown even stronger. It wasn’t a typhoon, but it was strong enough to be just below that level.

“Don’t touch me! Don’t touch my body! You pervert! When we get out, when we get out, I’ll report—”
“Report me or whatever, do as you please. For now—”

As I moved forward, holding onto the struggling Yu Garyeon, something flew through the air and grazed my arm.

“Ugh!”
“Huh…?”

What remained where it grazed was a long, stab-like wound and flowing blood.
It seemed a piece of the plate Yu Garyeon had thrown earlier had been carried by the wind.

“Ah, ugh…!”

Several branches and stones flew towards us after that, but thanks to covering my whole body to defend myself, Yu Garyeon, in my arms, was not injured.

“W-Wait, wait a minute. I’ll walk. I’ll walk, so just stop…!”
“It’s dangerous if you get down now. Just stay still.”
“Still!”

However, when a fist-sized stone hit my thigh directly, I couldn’t bear it and almost fell.

“Oppa!”
“It’s okay, just open the door.”

I squeezed out all my remaining strength, ran to the caravan, and opened the door.