Chapter Text
Who thought that turning forty-one would lead In-Ho to a place like this one?
His eyes glance around the room he is currently residing in, the chair feels uncomfortable underneath his body as he shifts just a little bit; and he can feel a sigh getting ready to slip past his lips as well. It’s been a minute since he’s ever stood foot inside a restaurant as high quality and tailored as this one is, and the suit he picked out from the back of his closet doesn’t match the attire the others around him are wearing. The air feels thick with richness and seduction, all here for one thing or the other – and his mind plays a loop of the words that his friends had told him, the syllables of encouragement that get squashed down to the pits of his stomach, when his glass of champagne refills once more.
They told him it was time to stop moping around the apartment of dread, get out and see what the world could offer to a man like himself. Not to be scared of what the night could bring, and to definitely not go back home empty handed either. They filled his ears, mind and heart with false words of comfort and security, enough to make his thoughts twist just a little bit with the possibility that maybe he should see what this world could offer. Time was moving faster in his life than it ever had before, and it wasn’t like the years were rewinding on him to make him younger once again.
He passed the age of forty already, and his apartment was growing cobwebs with the amount of life that lacks inside of it. The worst that could happen to him tonight, is he leaves with a box of leftover food and maybe, he could convince the waiter to let him take home the half empty bottle of champagne as well. There was meant to be another one to accompany him tonight, solid words from his friends promised him that the one who would show up would be just his type. Someone who could make him laugh, or crack a smile that hasn’t shown for a bit – a man who could match the energy that In-Ho brought with himself, and maybe, just maybe, someone who could crack some light inside of his apartment.
But the clock on the wall across from him ticks around even more, the time slowly moves from twenty minutes late, to an hour. And how long is one meant to stay sitting eating breadsticks in a suit, until they realize that they’re just being stood up?
A hefty sigh makes its way out of In-Ho’s mouth when he bites down on his fifth breadstick this evening, and he chews it like he’s annoyed at the world before swallowing it down with the sparkling champagne. It tastes bitter now that his mood has soured, and he flags down the waiter for the check of the champagne, ready to argue that breadsticks are complimentary even if you’re stood up or not. But the waiter doesn’t argue with him over this one, it could be done out of pity for seeing a man in his forties be stood up; or it could be due to the fact that the waiter just didn’t feel like arguing at all with customers tonight. Either way, In-Ho stood himself up from the table with a stomach running on breadsticks and champagne, as he dusted off the crumbs and paid his bill.
He had half a mind to call his friends, cuss them out for wasting his time as badly as they did tonight, but he knows in the long haul getting angry at them for something like this wouldn’t make anything better. It’s not their fault that his date didn’t show up, even if they swore up and down to the skies and the heavens above that the man would show up no matter what. It wasn’t their fault that things like this, love, or whatever you want to call it, never had a way of working out for In-Ho in this life.
He was either too much or too little for those who came into his life, and the ones that stuck around for more than a couple of months soon got bored of his melodramatic life. It wasn’t his fault that he enjoyed the comfort of his own home, didn’t mind the noise of laughter on the television while curled up with his favourite brand of snacks. He worked hard during the day at his nine to five job that broke him down to the bones, and was it so wrong to just want to relax in the comfort of your own home? He took them out on dates as well, treated them nice, dined them right, and he wasn’t lacking in the bedroom either… But they all just seemed to be bored with him in the long run, and it’s a mystery as old as time, a riddle that no one can ever solve – as to why In-Ho just has no luck when it comes to the love department.
The air is cool around his skin when he walks out of the overpriced restaurant, and his wallet silently thanks him as well that his date was a no-show, meaning he had more money to spend on things that made himself happy instead of trying to impress a person who didn’t bother to show up. He pulls his suit jacket tighter around his body as his feet start to walk down the wavering pathway, he didn’t feel like going home just yet. The night still felt a bit young on his shoulders, and his favorite show didn’t even start for another couple of hours either, so he had time to kill and what’s the worst that could come out of taking a stroll?
It seems one thing could put a crack into his oh so ‘perfectly’ structured night, and it’s when he’s made his way into the central park to watch the fairy lights in the trees illuminate the branches; a bird must’ve gotten spooked by the kids playing with rocks, because a white drop of shit lands on the shoulder pad of his jacket, and he thinks his eye may twitch for just a moment. He has to take a deep breath in as well, release it calmly and gently and not try to kick the pebbles that are down by his feet as his mind all but screams at him to just crash out. They always say things come in threes, and right now In-Ho was onto his second strike of the night and the thought of what the third could be, amuses him just as much as it makes him dread the remaining time left of this evening. His jacket comes off, tied around his waist so he’s left in just the white button up shirt that was worn underneath it, as he sticks his hands into his pants pockets and makes his move down the pathway once more.
It’s coming close to him just maybe calling it a night completely, just head back to his own apartment and wallow on the couch with a stomach that grumbles from free breadsticks and champagne. Ignore the mess around that’s happened to him, and wait for morning to come and start a new day of misfortune and misery that pisses him off down to the bone. His sighs are more heavy when they slip past his lips this time, shaking his head he continues the walk on the crooked path to a deeper part of this park. He passes by the kids throwing stones, the couples sitting on benches and laughing about god knows what – as his mind goes into autopilot for his feet, and he’s walking towards the small pojangmacha’s that are lined up for the late night crawlers.
He’s come here a couple of times in the past, and by the past, he means at least three nights a week. There’s one food cart that makes tteokbokki just right for his late night cravings, something about the way it’s presented and the sauces that mix inside of it just hit better than anything made at a fancy five star restaurant ever could. His stomach grumbles at just the mere thought of it alone, and he knows the breadsticks were not a good meal anyway, that he’d get hungry later on in the night – so why not stop the mess around that’s waiting to happen, and just dive head first into the food right now?
He can feel a small smile of satisfaction creep up on his face the more he thinks of the food, and he wonders if the elderly owner will be here tonight to serve him the way he loves it the most. They never really have to exchange any words whenever In-Ho would come by, he’s there enough that his face should be placed on the side of the cart with ‘Number One Customer’ printed on the picture as well. Even the thought of something like that makes him laugh to himself as he walks closer to the cart, he can see it in the distance tucked behind the one that serves odengs and his pace quickens up just a little bit more as his hand already fishes for his wallet in his pocket.
The ₩ 10,000 note is already halfway out of his wallet when he stands in front of the cart, a smile on his face ready to greet the elder who works here.
“We’re closed.” Comes a voice he’s never heard before, and it’s like someone just took a knife and stabbed it directly into his heart – twisted it as well with a bard, so it could permanently be lodged inside of him.
This seemed to have been his third strike of the night, and his fingers curl around the note in his hand automatically as his lips twitch a little bit out of annoyance and frustration. He just wanted one good thing to come his way tonight; and why was nothing ever working out for him right now? Was turning forty-one really a curse all along? A little jab to tell him in nine years he’ll be fifty and life will just suck even more? Why couldn’t he just enjoy the food he loves the most, and wallow quietly at home?
His eyes glance up from the note in his hand, ready to just let the annoyance and arrogance shine freely on his features to the unknown person. Being completely over the way this afternoon has played out for him, In-Ho knew he was only mere seconds away from a total breakdown soon and the twitch in his eye would be the deadest give away to all. Because when his sights finally glance on the man behind the cart, he doesn’t have a chance to take in the way the other looks towards him before words are tumbling out the stranger's mouth and directly into his ears.
“You look like shit,” The man says with no sympathy at all, instead it sounds like a laugh wants to bubble between the syllables as well, and In-Ho’s own eyebrows widen in surprise, “Rough night?”
“Ah, uhm,” In-Ho feels like he’s at a loss for words right now, unsure on how to apprehend the conversation properly like this, his eyebrows switching between raising and furrowing as he looks at the man, “What?”
“I said you look like shit,” The man says again this time, bringing one hand up to push the loose strands of hair back away from his eyes, “Like the night just handed you a series of unfortunate events on a silver platter, even though your stomach was full from earlier.”
“What?” Is all In-Ho is able to say right now, his brain short circuiting making him feel like a robot whose wires are going a bit frizzled right now.
“I’m guessing this cart was your last chance at trying to regain a decently good night? And now that you’ve heard the devastating news that we’re closed, it’s like the world is just saying a big fuck you to you. Am I right?” The smile on this man never falters, and as offended as In-Ho feels right now to be spoken to in a manner like this… There’s something oddly refreshing about the aura that this brings to his mind.
Maybe he’s just done with the night that's planned out for him, and he’s gotten to the point where he’ll just accept anything that comes his way right now.
“I guess you could say that,” In-Ho finally manages a sentence this time, tucking the note back into his wallet before shoving it back into his pocket, “I just wanted some tteokbokki that I could take home, and sit on my couch wallowing about how shitty the world is right now.”
“I understand where you’re coming from,” The man speaks once more, and that smile never seems to fall from his face, “But my mother was feeling under the weather tonight, and asked me to close up the cart for her. So even if I wanted to serve you some food, unfortunately I can’t. Her rules, I just follow them.”
“Oh,” In-Ho says this time with a small frown, tilting his head back just a little bit to look at the son of the owner, “Is she okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, nothing bad or anything like that, just the common bug that’s going around,” And for the first time now his smile falters just a little bit, nothing to be concerned about, just a smile that’s presented more softly as he looks at In-Ho, “She’ll be okay in a couple of days. So you’ll be able to return back when she’s better.”
“Well, please, give her my best wishes. Just tell her, her number one customer stopped by and was harassed out of a good meal by her son.” In-Ho jokes softly, his own smile now mirrors the man in front of him as he goes to take his leave from the cart.
“Oh, you’re In-Ho? Hwang In-Ho?” The man's eyes seem to light up just a little bit from that, his smile stretching so wide it could blind a poor kid who looked too close to the sun, “Mother talks about you all the time, I probably shouldn’t have spoken to you so casually like that before. She really adores you.”
“Well I do hope she does talk about me, I’m her favorite customer, she tells me all the time,” In-Ho laughs just a little bit from their conversation, a genuine laugh that he hasn’t heard escape from his own lips in a little while, “But it’s okay, as… Strange as it was to be greeted so, yeah, from you. It felt refreshing, almost nice like one could say.”
“I don’t even know why I spoke like that to you,” The man says shaking his own head, and he closes down the rest of the cart as he continues on towards In-Ho, “I think I just saw the way your shoulders were hunched when you approached, the stain that you tried to hide on your jacket as well, and the frustrated look on your face just screamed that you needed to be cheered up.”
“Should I give you a brownie point for hitting all of the marks with an A?” In-Ho grins wider this time, his body starting to feel just a little bit less tense around him as they speak, the worries he had of this night soon fade – and his shoulders release the tension that dug deep into his bones, as his eyes cast a small look onto the other man, “So what is your name then? You know mine, it’s only fair that I know yours.”
“It’s Gi-Hun, Seong Gi-Hun,” The man – Gi-Hun – says with that smile on his face once more, a hand towel thrown over his shoulder as he cocks his head to the side a little bit, “I know I couldn’t offer you up the one dish you came out to eat tonight, but what if I made up for it with something a little bit more sweeter?”
“And what could you have in mind for something like that? Maybe, I’m not a man of sweets.” In-Ho challenges with a light, airy tone in his voice; a trace of amusement can be found if one listens close enough.
“Every man is a man of sweets,” Gi-Hun says, raising an eyebrow as he gives In-Ho a small pointed look, “If the price is right.”
❣❣❣❣
“First I just want to say happy belated birthday to you, turning forty-one must feel amazing on your bones,” Gi-Hun says with a laugh, the noise sounds like a bird that sings first thing in the morning. To some it’s annoying, one that rings in their ears; but to others like In-Ho, it’s a soft melody that bangs lightly on his drums, “And also, I apologize that the one you were meant to go on a date with tonight, didn’t show up. But hey, at least you got to eat as many complimentary breadsticks as you could.”
“Firstly, I should be offended that you would wish me a happy birthday like that with an insult,” In-Ho says with his own laugh to match the one that fell from Gi-Hun, a calmness in the air surrounds them as they sit on a bench, illuminated by the fair lights in the trees, “And I ate about, five, or was it six breadsticks? I’m not sure, but by the third one I just started eating them out of boredom. Eventually I knew it was time to leave when the champagne started to taste like patheticness.”
“You even got on what I’m going to assume is to be your best suit,” Gi-Hun has a teasing linger in his voice as he speaks this time, but it’s not enough to be a proper insult, just a passing tease to make In-Ho’s smile crack a bit wider on his face, “But if it wasn’t for your date not showing up, then you wouldn’t be here on this bench with me, and with… This,” He trails off once more, finally handing over the sweets he was telling In-Ho about just earlier.
It’s only small, and it’s simple, but it’s been a long time since In-Ho has allowed himself to eat something like bingsu before. He wasn’t really lying when he said he’s not a man of sweets, but the thought is what counts in something like this; and he didn’t feel like being non appreciative to the man who wants to try and make him feel better for the night. So he accepts it easily when it’s handed to him, along with the spoon to scoop the layers and slowly mix as he eats it.
“Thank you Gi-Hun, you didn’t really need to do this for me,” He leans back on the bench a little bit more, his jacket with bird poop rests beside his thigh, as his other one is millimeters away from brushing against the leg of the other man, “You don’t even know me that well.”
“If you wanted to kill me, I feel you might’ve already done it by now,” Gi-Hun shrugs so easily, so carefree with it, as he dips the spoon into his own small bowl of bingsu, “Plus, if you did that, then my mother would have to close down her cart, and then how would you get your tteokbokki again?”
“You might have gotten me with that one,” He laughs, eyes glancing around the dimly lit park, “Still, you don’t know me.”
“I know some of you through my mother,” Gi-Hun hums, taking a scoop of his bingsu this time, swallowing it down without a care in the world, “Plus, you don’t know me either and you just accepted this sweet from a strange man. How do you know if I wasn’t going to kill you?”
“I think you wouldn’t want to break your mothers heart like that,” In-Ho grins, his eyes casting back towards the silhouette of this mans face, seeing the way the fairy lights in the trees shine a certain glow on this mans face, “She would definitely complain if her number one customer stopped showing up.”
“True,” Gi-Hun whispers with a laugh, shaking his own head softly as he continues on with his sweet, “Well I might not know you as much as you think I do, my mother only tells me about the ‘handsome’ man who always comes for her food. Nothing really about your personality, or what you’re actually like.”
“Oh, so your mother thinks I’m handsome?” In-Ho grins wider this time, the bingsu melting slowly in his cup as his eyes stay locked on the features of this man, “Maybe I should come around a bit more often then, is your father still in the picture?”
“Oh…” Gi-Hun’s smile fades just a little bit, a saddened look plastered on his face as he turns to look completely at In-Ho this time, “No, he actually died… Six months ago.”
“Ah,” In-Ho’s eyebrows shoot up automatically, guilt seeping into his bones as the regret of his last sentence hangs heavy in the air – and he brings one hand up to place it gently on the other man’s shoulder, in a small comforting touch, “I’m sorry, I really didn’t know.”
“It’s okay,” Gi-Hun says with a small smile, a slight twinkle in his eyes before he’s shaking his head, “I’m just fucking with you In-Ho, he’s not dead. He’s still alive and kicking with his cane.” The man says with a loud laugh this time, nudging his shoulder gently against In-Ho’s own to solidify the joke even more.
“Oh my god,” In-Ho says when his own smile spreads across his face, and he’s letting his own laugh out as he shakes his head. Bewildered and amused all in one as he looks down to the sweet in his hand, before back at Gi-Hun, “I should just throw this bingsu at you for pulling that crap.”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Gi-Hun laughs once more, ducking his head away from In-Ho playfully, “I get my sense of humor from him, trust me, if he heard that I was saying that he’d be laughing as well. And then probably smacking me with his cane.”
“He needs to hit you harder with it, I swear,” In-Ho laughs once more, before he’s leaning back on the bench again, the ice-cream forgotten in his lap as he looks towards the small field in front of them, “You’re an interesting one, that’s for sure. I’m surprised I’ve never seen you at your mothers cart before.”
“I only help her out every now and then,” Gi-Hun says with a small shrug, bringing the bowl up to his mouth to slurp down the rest of his own sweet, “I actually just work a normal boring office job down the road, so I’m usually passed out when she has her cart open. I only came down tonight to close it up for her.”
“Such a good son you are,” In-Ho laughs once more, the noise just falling freely from his mouth the more he spends with this man – and it’s strange, it’s unusual as well – he can’t remember the last time he just felt this, free with someone else. Someone that wasn’t already a friend to him, or something more, “You eat like a kid as well.”
“So?” Gi-Hun grins, turning his sights back onto In-Ho, “You think I’m just going to let it go to waste like you did? Please, I actually enjoy my sweets.”
“You know what,” In-Ho says with a small, soft smile this time on his face, “I really thought tonight was going to be a shit storm from start to finish. Things really weren’t going my way today, but since I met you, and in this small time frame of just… Talking with you, it felt so, nice, does that make sense?”
“You just haven’t been around great company like my own,” Gi-Hun jokes, his voice teasing, light, and it makes a warm feeling of comfort spread through In-Ho’s body, “But on a serious note I understand what you mean, it feels like we’ve just, clicked in a way?”
“I’m kind of glad now that my date didn’t show up at the restaurant tonight,” In-Ho watches the way a flock of birds land on the grass in front of them, their beaks digging into the ground to find a trace of something to eat, “I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed it as much as I am now with you.”
“Second best options usually turn out to be the greatest ones,” Gi-Hun says with a simple shrug of his shoulders, but even without needing to look over at him, In-Ho just knows that he’s most likely smiling as he talks, “I’m kind of glad my ma got sick as well tonight, I mean, if she didn’t, then we wouldn’t of met either.”
“So, should we give her flowers that say ‘ Get well soon, but also thank you for getting sick, so we could meet,’ or is that too long?” In-Ho says with his own joking manner this time, tilting his head to the side so he can look back towards Gi-Hun.
“It’s too long, maybe next time you should tell me when you’re coming down to the cart, and I can meet you there once more,” He says turning his own sights so his eyes can lock with In-Ho’s own as well, “I think it might be better than thanking my ma for getting sick.”
“Next time I show up?” In-Ho questions with a small smile, his eyes searching for the unknown answers to the unknown questions hiding behind the other man's eyes, “What if I don't?”
“Something tells me you will, you won't be able to stay away from your favorite dish for too long,” Gi-Hun’s eyes are searching right back in his own as well, and it makes In-Ho’s heart beat one extra beat for a mysterious reason he doesn’t look too far into right now, “And I think, a part of you wants to see me again as well?”
“But how will I tell you when I’m coming next when we part ways tonight?” In-Ho says with his voice just a tone lower, curiosity swirling in the words as they leave his mouth to dance around the head of the other.
“Then maybe, you should ask for my number.” There’s a smirk resting on Gi-Hun’s face this time, like the opportunity to deliver that line had been playing around in his mind for awhile – and it makes In-Ho frown for just a moment, captivated by the way this man is, before his smile breaks through once more.
“That was smooth I’ll give you that one,” In-Ho says with a nod, his cheeks tinting just one shade darker as he moves to lean back against the bench again, “Well, can I have your number then?”
“Depends,” Gi-Hun grins wider this time, pressing his shoulder just lightly against In-Ho’s own, “Are you using it just so you can get close to my mother for her tteokbokki, or do you want to see me again?”
“And what would you say, if I said it was for both?” In-Ho challenges with his own smile.
“Then I would say I’m not surprised, everyone wants to know her recipe.” He laughs lightly, and it floats in the air before it goes directly to the beatings of In-Ho’s heart.
“I want to see you again.” In-Ho says after a moment, putting it clear in the air once more for Gi-Hun to understand his intentions completely.
“And I want to see you again as well,” Gi-Hun says with his own small smile, eyes on the flock of birds that were still sitting on the grass in front of them, “But the night is still young, so we don’t have to say goodbye just yet. Plus we’re adults anyway. Want to sit together for a moment longer?”
“I could stay for a moment longer, yeah.” In-Ho agrees with his shoulder pressing back against Gi-Hun’s own one softly as well.
“Hey, do you think one of those birds is the one that shit on your jacket? Should we chase it?”
And yeah, maybe the night didn’t start out the way that In-Ho had thought it was going to, but fate likes to play games with their strings they’ve attached to the fingers of the unknown. And for a moment like this, for a still beating heart breath of something as simple, funny, and warming like the presence of Gi-Hun next to him. Then In-Ho wouldn’t mind being a puppet for fate to pull along with for a little while longer.
As long as it meant that Gi-Hun would stick around for a heartbeat longer as well.