episode_0116

In the dimly lit room on a vaguely late afternoon, the curtains drawn shut.

In the dark room, only the flickering light of the TV was pushing back the darkness.

-Swish! Swish!

The sound of something being vigorously ripped.

“Team Leader, I’m fine…”

The young man says, looking embarrassed.

“I’m fine.”

A calm female voice similar to his soothes him gently.

“But, still… Can we take it slow?”

“Ugh, hurry up! I’m in a rush.”

Their struggle continues back and forth.

“Fine, I understand. You keep rushing me, so what can I do…”

-Swish.

“Hurry up and take off your clothes.”

-Gulp!

The man swallows nervously and starts to undress layer by layer.

“Okay. Shall we begin?”

“Yes.”

-Click!

And even the light from the TV goes out, leaving the room in a state of visual and auditory nothingness for a moment.

“Sigh…”

The breath of the flushed woman escapes her lips.

-Gulp!

The man swallows again.

-Drrrrrrrrrrrrr.

And the sound of a film reel spinning somewhere.

On the TV screen.

-OX Film.

Followed by the investment company’s logo, director, cast, and the beginning of the movie intro.

-Parasite.

As the movie starts, I begin to finish the hard ice cream I was eating before the real drama begins.

-Swish, swish, swish!

“Hey, Taehyun, want some?”

“Oh, no, I’m good. Haha.”

For some reason, it feels like his face is extremely flushed, but I don’t know why. Probably because I suggested he take off his coat after coming back from outside feeling hot, and he finally decides to take off one layer. Just to clarify, it’s not my coat; I changed into comfortable clothes after going shopping before coming home.

“I’ll take the clothes to the dry cleaner and have them back soon.”

“It’s okay. I don’t need them anyway. I saw they fit you well, Taehyun, just take them. It’s better for someone to wear them than to throw them away, right?”

Kim Taehyun nods in agreement and quietly thanks me.

Anyway, let’s go back about 30 minutes to explain why we’re now in the living room watching a movie with the lights off.

After coming back from shopping, Kim Taehyun handed me painkillers. Taking them made me feel much better, so I lay comfortably in bed.

Although Kim Taehyun tried to take care of me by staying by my side and offering various remedies, I was feeling much better and was feeling awkward about it.

“Oh, right. Taehyun, you like movies, right? You seem to get along well with Davin, so I thought you might enjoy independent or niche genres.”

“Well… hobbies require time and financial resources, right? I don’t have either, so on my days off, I just watch TV absentmindedly. And, did you see me at the wedding before? My girlfriend liked movies, so I tried to study and ended up watching whatever movies came on TV. Before I knew it, I was hooked. So, I occasionally watch independent film channels and keep up with entertainment news, which led me to this.”

It felt a bit bitter yet admirable. Regardless of the circumstances, I’ve come to realize at this age that having a steady hobby and authentically pursuing it is not easy.

“Ah, I see… By the way, do you have any movies or directors that left a lasting impression on you?”

“Hmm… Well, among the mainstream movies that Chief would know, Parasite was impressive, right? I was amazed at how Bong Joon-ho mixed the uncomfortable truth with the concept of Underdogma (the belief that the weak are always good and the strong are always evil) so bluntly. Director Bong is quite a person. Haha.”

“Well, that part was a bit shocking to me too.”

So, it must have become a hot topic among many people and gained worldwide attention.

“Besides that, there are a few more, well… something more sentimental like ‘Architecture 101’, and I enjoyed Winter Soldier for the action.”

“Oh? You watch Marvel movies too? Among people who watch movies, there’s a lot of talk about it being too much entertainment.”

“Haha… It’s cool, like heroes. If you think it’s a bit childish, it can’t be helped.”

I shook my head in disagreement at that.

“Actually, I like Marvel too. I’ve been keeping up with all of them so far. Yeah.”

“Oh, really? That’s nice. Actually, I didn’t have anyone around me to watch Marvel movies with, so I used to go alone.”

“Oh, really? I’m the same. Dayoung doesn’t like superhero movies at all, and Davin… you know? The type who watches some movies. Ah, I hope they don’t view the world with such a narrow perspective.”

“Well… I’ll try to explain it well.”

“Oh, really? Thanks. Since we’re talking about it, want to watch a movie? I have a few movies on this OTT platform.”

As we searched through the OTT, about ten movies were listed that had been purchased.

Among them, the one that seemed somewhat watchable was…

“Hmm… How about watching Parasite?”

It’s not a comfortable movie to watch, but there seemed to be some dull moments in the parts with Kim Taehyun or Nana.

“Should we? I felt a bit intense about it, so I only watched it once.”

“Okay. Let’s go with that.”

So, we started the movie.

He took out the ice cream he bought, tore open the packaging, and took a bite. It was red bean shaved ice flavored hard ice cream.

-Crunch

“Ugh! This is so hard!”

The hard piece, frozen like an iceberg, roamed around in his mouth, ravaging every corner.

As the piece melted, the white, thick, sticky liquid inside coated his tongue, teeth, causing discomfort.

“Ah~”

An agonizing, full of suffering groan escaped without him realizing it.

-Gulp!

He carefully licked up the white liquid that had melted in his mouth, swallowing it down his throat.

“Heh, heh… I thought I was going to die. I bit into it too eagerly because I was so enthusiastic.”

His tongue almost got frostbite. He barely avoided the crisis and pulled his tongue out to cool it in the room temperature.

Then he turned his head to look at Kim Taehyun.

Sitting on the floor with a red face like a radish, he hadn’t even taken off his outer clothes yet.

“Taehyun, if you’re hot, come up to the bed. It’s cool here because of the air conditioner.”

I shifted my butt to the corner of the bed, patting the spot where I had been sitting.

“Oh, no, I’m fine. I’ll come up later.”

He seemed extremely flustered, stumbling over his words. He didn’t look too good.

“If you get heatstroke, it’s not good, you know? Come to a cool place.”

-Pat, pat!

“Oh, no! Really, I’m fine! I’ll go up on my own…!”

“Hey, listen to the adult when they speak. Men don’t listen whether they’re old or young. Even our Davin is like that. Oh… come to think of it, I was like that too. Anyway!”

As I continued to urge him, he reluctantly got up, sat on the edge of the bed, looking awkward.

“Stay closer. Sit comfortably. I feel uncomfortable watching you like that.”

Just now, I was defeated by a bear while biting into my ice cream, so this time I decided to just let it melt and eat it.

As I bit into the ice cream and gave a wink, he turned slightly towards me and slowly approached.

– Sigh!

“Take off your coat.”

“Excuse me?”

“Just the outer one. Ugh, look at all this sweat.”

I grabbed a few tissues from the bedside table and wiped away the sweat on Kim Taehyun’s forehead, scolding him.

“If you’re hot, take it off yourself. Turn on the air conditioner and everything. Do I have to tell you everything? So clingy.”

“That…! Ugh…no. Anyway…let’s start the movie.”

Although his tone was full of injustice, he pressed the play button on the remote, and the movie began.

We had both seen the movie before, so I wondered if there would be much excitement, but was it because it was a well-made movie? I quickly got immersed in the movie and started watching it attentively.

– “Sir Kim. Do you know a good place for galbijjim nearby? Not too far.”

“Oh, why do you suddenly want to eat galbijjim today?”

*Gulp*

Seriously.

Suddenly, I wanted to eat galbijjim.

Luckily, Su-yeon gave me frozen galbi as a gift last week.

Should I make galbijjim for dinner tonight…my pain has subsided quite a bit.

As I thought about it, I glanced at Kim Taehyun discreetly.

While I was lost in thought, he was quite sincere about the movie. Seeing his serious gaze, I was able to focus on the movie again.

-“Dasom’s mom has never been good at housework. Can’t clean, food tastes terrible.”

“But you still love her, right?”

There it was. The famous line from the movie. Dasom had been talking about it for a while, so it had stuck in my head.

The scene where Kim Gitaek crossed the line, causing Manager Park’s expression to freeze, indicating that he had crossed the line.

-“Oh~of course. I love her. You have to see it as love….”

Wittily, it was like saying ‘why are families like this.’ It was a scene that hinted that family is not just made up of love.

Watching that, I felt a sense of bitterness for some reason.

So, with a calm gaze, I stared blankly at the TV, and Kim Taehyun said.

“Chief, would you like to have galbijjim? I’ll buy it for you.”

“Hm!”

Well, people are the same everywhere.

“Alright. Since we have frozen galbi, let’s finish the movie and soak it in water.”

“Oh? I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay. Actually, I was thinking the same thing. I want to eat galbijjim.”

“Oh….”

The two who were seriously watching the movie just a moment ago suddenly started chatting comfortably and watching the movie…

– Squeak, thud!

-“Ouch! Ooh!”

-“Cough, cough!”

This time, it’s not a prank. The ice cream is already gone. So what’s this sound?

“Gasp!”

“Oh, right. There was a bed scene, wasn’t there?”

“Should I fast forward?”

“Leave it. He’s not a kid. Ah~Jo Yeo-jeong has a nice figure.”

“Um, I…!”

“Hm?”

“I, I’ll go to the bathroom!”

With a wobbly posture, Kim Taehyun rushed out.

“Tsk. He really is like a kid.”

I chuckled and silently watched his retreating figure.