Jjangmyeon & Mandu
Downing Today, Drowning TomorrowThey came back to Kwang Soo's home, a little apartment but with a really good view. It's not as if he needed so much space anyways - just a two-bedroom apartment he just bought and made his. He has always wanted a place of his own, and he feels blessed that he could at young age. Song Ji Hyo sat on the sofa, telling him how hungry she was. 'Why won't we just order in, let's just get jjajangmyeon.' She says. He nodded, obliging, getting a menu from the nearest Chinese restaurant. They ordered some sweet and sour pork, jjangmyeon, extra radish and some mandu as service.
It was as if Kwang Soo was afraid of her, standing a few metres from her and leaning on the kitchen counter. It's as if he couldn't believe that she's here, right there with him. It's almost sublime, like a fantasy.
'Why are you so far away, Kwang Soo-ya?' She asked, somehow irritated since she's the only one sitting down and how uselessly tall he is. Well not really useless since he got hired as a model because of it.
'I'm just, I don't know, antsy?' He says.
'Why? You don't want me to be here?' She asks.
He walks further towards her. 'Of course I want you to be here, noona.' He says. He finally sat down, but in front of her.
'I'm starting to really think that you don't really like me after all. Like you're afraid of me,' She says.
'Why would I be afraid of you?' He says, chuckling. 'No, I just get really nervous that I might do something out of the ordinary now it's just the two of us.'
'Like what?'
He could feel his hands becoming sweaty. It's always warm, of course, but he gets sweaty palms when he's with someone he likes. Don't we all? So he decided not to answer at all. Time passes by, and the situation became much more frigid. One thing he has noticed about Song Ji Hyo is that, she doesn't look at him in the way that she used to. Makes his heart feel much more tighter than this morning.
'Noona..' He says, then the doorbell rang. He abruptly stood and got the food, paid like the gentleman he is.
He laid out the food on the coffee table, the room was horribly lit but somehow it made it seem more romantic that it actually is. Probably what made it seem like that was the city lights from the outside. He couldn't help but think how attractive she was. Slender figure, her hair falling down her forehead and her thin-long fingers sweeping it back behind her ears. In his eyes, she looked magnificent. Her cheeks flushed, maybe from the cold, her dim eyelids covering her bright eyes. Everything that made Song Ji Hyo, Song Ji Hyo.
'Why aren't you eating?' She asked, she was ready to dig in. Kwang Soo found himself back to reality.
'Oh, yeah, I'm sorry, noona.' He says, finally splitting his chopsticks and ate. He liked how she enjoyed her food, heartily as if it was the only meal for the day. His noona ate a lot, but she was athletic and active, something he admired too. He used to be that way during his modelling days, but now his body was not in shape as it used to.
Out of the blue, Song Ji Hyo started to ask questions. 'What's your plan, Kwang Soo?' She asks, while chomping down sweet and sour pork.
'What do you mean?'
'Your gameplan, but in life, of course.'
He shrugs. 'Like anybody elses, I think. Work hard, get married, have kids - the whole shebang.' He says in all honesty.
'I never really thought of those things, you know,' She says. 'Until I met you.' Somehow that made Kwang Soo felt numb on his feet, like his legs were no longer there. 'When I asked you, to make me fall in love with you, I meant it, you know.' She says. She sighs slowly, 'Because at that time, I didn't know whether I liked you as a person. I thought of you from the way I know you, and what everybody knows you as - you are kind, and you are sweet, You are honest, and sometimes you lie for the other person's benefit. You take care of other people, you are good with kids.' She says. 'The idea of you, Kwang Soo-ya, is divine. In people's eyes, despite being the icon of betrayal, you were still the kind of person everyone wants to be with.' She continues.
'But what I want, Kwang Soo-ya, what I want, is to see the world in your eyes. To see why you are somehow uselessly kind, but you do it within reason also. What I want is to know what makes you, you. Why is your eyes so soft, and why is your speech so kind. That's what I meant by making me fall in love with you, with every part of you.' When her noona has her share of talking, she continued eating, slurping down the nice slippery noodles.
Abruptly, he leaned his body passing the coffee table, he places her bowl down, he lands his kiss on her lips.
Sharing their second non-drunk kiss, it tasted like jjangmyeon and mandu.
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