Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Catching Up

“Bon appétit.”

Presented before us was a fragrant mushroom dish, a scrumptious-looking steak, and a white ragù pasta. We’d been snacking on a cheese platter that came with the wine Jaemin had been drinking, and when it became a bit late and bothersome to change locations for dinner, we simply moved to a table in the back and ordered dinner there.

“Dig in.”

“Thanks, hyung. You too.”

We both waited for the other to take the first bite. When we realized we were doing the same thing, we burst out laughing and took a sip of our drinks—him, his wine, and me, my grapefruit soda. Finally, Jaemin conceded first and reached for the mushroom dish with his fork.

“Is your drink okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, it’s great. Want to try?”

I immediately pulled my glass away from my mouth and offered it to him. He took a sip without bothering to check where on the rim I had drank from. I watched a bit nervously. Then…

After savoring the drink in his mouth, Jaemin picked up his wine glass and turned to call for a server nearby to put in another order.

“Excuse me? Could I get another glass of this, please?”

For some reason, I felt a bit disappointed. I felt my shoulders slump a bit.

“Maybe I should’ve ordered a bottle from the start,” he joked.

Seeing that his lighthearted jab had me sulking a bit, he stole a few wary glances.

Tch… I pouted and changed the topic. “So, are you going to make me your personal shuttle again tonight?”

After sliding the plate of pasta closer to me for me to eat, he began slicing the steak into pieces, but my question caused him to tilt his head in confusion. “‘Again?’”

Revived by my own mischievous comeback, I twirled some pasta around my fork and put it in my mouth as I pondered memories of old.

“Back in college, I would always carry you on my back all the way to your place whenever you got plastered.”

“Hey, hold on now.” Looking surprised, Jaemin put down his steak knife. “First of all, I never got ‘plastered.’ Second of all, were you so traumatized by helping your drunk hyung get home that you’re holding a grudge?”

I chuckled, amused by his aggrieved expression. Teasingly, I stuck my fork in a mushroom and popped it in my mouth.

“Can’t believe this,” he muttered, rolling his eyes at me, but it was all in good fun. The smile lingered on his face as he picked up the steak knife again. In the meantime, his glass was refilled with wine.

After swallowing what I’d been chewing, I grinned as I watched him slice his steak, then said with an air of triumph, “You can get hammered tonight if you want. I’m happy to be your designated driver.”

“Hmm?”

Jaemin’s eyebrows shot upward with intrigue. After slicing more than half the steak into pieces, he finally slid the plate toward me. At this point, my hand was already in my bag like I’d been scheming something.

“Ta-da!” I said as I whipped out my car keys and placed them on the table. “I got a car!”

“Heeeey, a nice one at that!” He leaned in for a better look while twirling pasta from the plate I’d eaten from first.

His genuine admiration made me feel a bit sheepish, and so I continued in a smaller voice, “I remembered you recommending this model to me. You said it’s safe and reliable, so…”

“You’re right, I did. You remembered!” Jaemin beamed. He looked genuinely proud.

Feeling encouraged, I babbled on. “So feel free to use me as your taxi whenever you need. And when the weather’s nice, we can go for a drive, get some good food…”

“Mmm…” he murmured with a mouthful of pasta in his mouth. His eyes were deeply curved with mischief.

“Oh, come on, what is it?” I whined upon catching his playful tone.

Jaemin picked up his wine glass and continued his teasing in a slow, taunting manner, “Kinda scary… Daon driving a car? I don’t know…”

“Tch…”

Annoyed at how offended I actually felt, I gave up on a retort and went back to poking the mushrooms with my fork.

“Steak first,” he urged gently.

“Oh.” Like a habit, I immediately moved my fork as he suggested. “Anyway, tonight is my treat,” I said, brusquely expressing my resolve as I stuck my fork into the steak he had sliced for me.

Only for him to say, “Buy me something nicer when you’re older.” He spoke in a lighthearted manner as he happily sipped his wine.

I happened to be chewing on a tough bit of meat, which I forced down my throat so I could retort, “Hyung… You’ve been saying that for the past ten years.”

“Have I?”

“I’m thirty now… and you still treat me like a kid…” I couldn’t hide how disappointed I was at him playing dumb with me.

“Sorry. Then I’ll treat you like an adult starting next year.” He tried to placate me with a smile. “How’s the steak?” he asked as he went for a piece himself.

I pushed the plate back to the middle of the table and stole a few glances at him as he chewed quietly.

I then helped myself to another piece of the mushroom dish and asked, “So how’s life as an educator been, hyung?”

“I’m still getting used to teaching… but it’s fun. I’m still writing my research papers too,” Jaemin answered with a fresh smile, as if to welcome the conversation about everyday life. Lately, he’d been effortlessly balancing lecturing with research, two longtime goals he was simultaneously ticking off his list. He looked content.

“That’s impressive,” I said, my head lowered as I twirled a forkful of pasta. My voice inevitably lacked a bit of energy. “If only I’d been able to continue my studies…”

Getting through college at all was something I had to be eternally grateful for, but perhaps that was also why I just couldn’t shake this lingering regret.

Jaemin stopped in the middle of grabbing some mushrooms when he heard my lament and tried to console me. “But you’re doing great even now. And your job’s going well.”

“Yeah, you’re right…”

I had no complaints. My job was directly related to what I’d studied in school, and anyone would envy working at the company I worked for. Apart from the workload keeping me constantly busy, like Jaemin said, work was going well.

I mean, there was one thing that did nag at me. The face that popped into my mind made me tighten my lips.

“I guess if you’d continued your studies, we would be attached at the hip even now, like we were back in college. So in that sense, I guess I’m a little sad about it. Then I could’ve really used you as my shuttle.”

Perhaps I looked glum. It was rare to see such a mischievous grin on Jaemin’s face, and yet he was using just that to try and pick up my spirits.

I quickly pulled myself together and said, “I do think things are good the way they are now, though.”

Jaemin shrugged and smiled at me as if to say, What did I tell you?

Finally, I was able to muster a smile, and I put the forkful of pasta in my mouth.

We continued our dinner, enjoying the soft jazz in the background. After a while…

In the middle of slicing up the rest of the steak, Jaemin looked up as if he’d remembered something. “Oh, speaking of college… I got a call yesterday,” he said.

“From who? Do you have some kind of news?” I asked with a mouthful of food.

I assumed it would be something about a university alumnus. After glancing at me, he dropped his gaze back to the steak and gave me the news.

“Soohyun’s coming back to Korea.”

I stopped chewing and stared at the face before me. The sound of the knife scraping on the dark ceramic plate was razor-sharp as it dug into my ears.

“Eat your steak. Drink up.”

He pushed the plate with the rest of the steak toward me with a slightly wistful smile on his face.

Maybe they’d used meat of lesser quality. The steak was still tough to me. I chewed and chewed in a daze before finally swallowing.

“D.J.—”

Just then, I thought I heard that languid, teasing voice calling out that nickname he’d given me, the way he did sometimes. I reached for my glass and took a sip of my grapefruit soda. The strong fizz burned the inside of my throat.