The First Step Toward Each Other
The dinner table was, as always, modest. Kimchi stew, rolled omelet, kimchi, and two bowls of freshly steamed rice. The two of them sat down and picked up their spoons with practiced ease. Sitting across from each other to share a meal had become a part of their daily routine. Unlike the beginning, when they were so nervous they were even cautious with their chopstick movements, this was now the most comfortable time of their day.
'When did things get so comfortable?'
Taking a sip of the soup, Ihyeon stole a glance at the person across from her. Taegon, who had been eating in silence, took a bite of the rolled omelet and nodded. "This rolled omelet is especially delicious today."
"Oh, really? I added some salted pollack roe to it. I'm glad it suits your taste."
"Ah, so that was it. No wonder."
Taegon looked at Ihyeon with a subtle smile. "The two of you really go well together. The egg and the salted pollack roe, I mean."
Because that sounded exactly like they were talking about us, she just stirred her soup unnecessarily. "I-it's fun to cook when you eat everything so well, Taegon-ssi."
At Ihyeon's words, Taegon wore a playful expression. "They say that eating is only truly enjoyable when you do it with someone else."
"Who says that? This is my first time hearing that..."
"I do. Just now."
His face was so calm it was almost shameless. Ihyeon burst into a laugh, "Pfft!" She did it because that expression of his looked somewhat cute.
Taegon wore a smile on his lips, as if he were satisfied by that laughter.
Just as she was about to do the dishes with a clatter, Taegon’s large hand blocked her way. "I'll do it."
"Pardon?"
"The dishes. You have to go to work soon, Ihyeon-ssi."
Taegon gently took the pot from her hands. "Since you cooked the meal, the dishes are my share."
"O-oh, no. The dishes won't take long—"
"I’d feel too embarrassed if I just got fed and didn't lift a finger."
He grabbed the plates and headed to the sink. Soon after, he turned the faucet, and the stream of water hit the sink with a cheerful sound. His hand movements as he scrubbed the dishes with the sponge looked quite practiced.
'At first, he poured so much detergent that he turned the sink into a mountain of bubbles...'
Ihyeon laughed to herself, remembering that time. She was about to grab her bag but stopped, watching Taegon’s back blankly. Because the sink was narrow, his back was slightly hunched, but even that looked dependable. Every time he moved, his back muscles stood out clearly beneath his black t-shirt. Droplets of water clung to his forearms as he rinsed the dishes.
'That back view... it's really nice.'
Ihyeon covered her flushed cheeks with both hands. Even though she saw him every day, it felt new every time. Watching that back made her chest feel tight, yet warm at the same time. Wishing for this moment to last forever, a sudden resolve formed in her mind.
'T-today, for sure!'
Ihyeon clenched both her fists. In fact, she had been planning this for a few days. Exchanging phone numbers. It was a constant source of regret that they ate together every day yet didn't even have each other's contact information. Whenever she wanted to hear his voice or had something she wanted to say, she had no way to reach him.
'If I don't do it now, I never will. A girl needs guts!!!'
Ihyeon parted her lips. She stopped the words from coming out once, clicked her mouth like a goldfish twice, and swallowed the words that had reached the tip of her tongue three times. She wanted to pull her hair out at her own timidity.
'Aughhhhh, why is this so hard? What’s so difficult about asking for a number!'
Closing her eyes tightly, feeling like she had nowhere left to retreat, she shouted with all her might.
"T-T-T-Taegon-ssi!!!!!!"
Her voice rang out through the kitchen, piercing the sound of the water. Taegon’s hands stopped dead. The water was still flowing from the faucet, but he turned his head to meet her gaze. Seeing Ihyeon’s expression, which was clearly flustered, Taegon grinned.
"My name isn't Ta-ta-ta-taegon, though?"
"...!"
Her face turned red in an instant. Ihyeon hung her head, ashamed of her own words. She stared intently at her own feet.
Taegon turned off the water and wiped his hands on his apron. "Why? What’s the matter?"
She lifted her head slightly at his softened voice, but making eye contact was still too much. Her gaze hovered around his chin. "W-well, you see..."
"Yes."
"So, um..."
"Yes, yes, I'm listening."
"Y-your... number..."
"My number?"
"Ah, I... give..."
That was as far as she got. Her tongue tied, her throat constricted, and her heartbeat echoed in her head. Ihyeon couldn't take it and turned away.
'Aaaaaah, I’m such a fool...!! Why can't I just ask for his number!!'
Taegon crossed his arms and leaned against the sink. Water droplets dripped from his wet fingers. Watching Ihyeon, who was stammering, he spoke in a low voice.
"Ihyeon-ssi."
"...Yes?"
"Shall we exchange phone numbers?"
Ihyeon’s head snapped around. Her eyes were wide open.
"Yes?!"
"The number. That’s what you were trying to ask for, wasn't it?"
"H-how did you..."
"After you said 'Y-your... number... I... give...', could it have meant anything else?"
Taegon let out a dry laugh. Ihyeon pursed her lips and then nodded vigorously. Her hair moving up and down looked just like a toy doll.
"Yes! Yes, yes, yes! I want to exchange them!"
"Your neck is going to hurt if you keep nodding like that."
"It doesn't hurt! It doesn't hurt at all!"
In Taegon’s eyes, she was just incredibly cute.
"Type your number in here."
Ihyeon’s hands trembled as she took his phone. Her fingers kept fumbling; she tried to press 1 but pressed 2, deleted it, and pressed it again, repeating the process.
'What is so hard about typing eleven digits!!!! Ugh... stay calm, please.'
She barely managed to input the number and pressed the save button. By now, her palms were beaded with sweat.
Taegon took his phone back and checked the screen. "Should I save it as Seo Ihyeon?"
"Yes! Of course!"
"Then I'll give you a call, too."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Ihyeon felt a vibration in her pocket. Her heart felt like it was about to jump out of her mouth. She hurriedly checked her phone, and an unfamiliar number appeared on the screen.
'This number is... Taegon-ssi’s number!!'
The contact screen began to fill with Ihyeon’s excitement. After carefully engraving 'Yoon Taegon' into the name field, she hesitated for a moment. She added a heart at the end after much deliberation, but then, as if she’d been caught, she was startled and hurriedly deleted it.
'Ah, a heart is still a bit... too much...'
In the end, she saved it as 'Yoon Taegon-ssi' and hugged the phone tightly to her chest.
"Hehehe, hehehe..."
She burst into laughter without realizing it and hurriedly covered her mouth, but it was impossible to suppress. Her body swaying, her eyes like crescent moons, her face flushed pink, and her feet dancing—Ihyeon couldn't control her joy.
Taegon was smiling as he watched her.
"Ihyeon-ssi."
"Hek, yes?!"
Ihyeon was startled and tried to stop laughing. But the corners of her mouth, which were rising on their own, had no intention of coming down.
"Call me anytime."
"...A-anytime?"
"Yes. Don't worry about whether it's day or night."
Ihyeon’s eyes widened. 'Anytime? Then, every 10 minutes? No, does that mean I can even call every second?!'
Her head was already filled with thousands of messages she wanted to send to Taegon.
"Call me if you're bored, or if you have something to say. It's all fine with me, so don't feel burdened."
"R-really, any time is okay?"
"Of course. Anytime is fine."
Taegon turned back to the sink and started doing the rest of the dishes. Ihyeon stood there for a long time, hugging her phone to her chest.
'He said I can call anytime. He said it doesn't matter if it's day or night!'
Feeling like she could fly, she tapped the tips of her toes.
"Then, I'll be going!"
"Yes. Take care on your way."
Ihyeon kept looking back even while putting on her shoes. Taegon was rinsing dishes in front of the sink. Just before stepping out the door, Ihyeon said in a voice that was barely audible.
"...Thank you, Taegon-ssi."
Taegon’s ears twitched slightly, but he didn't turn around. However, the corners of his mouth as he picked up a dish were relaxed to the fullest.
The door closed, and Ihyeon’s cheerful footsteps could be heard down the hallway. Taegon laughed softly while wiping a dish with a dishcloth.
"Can a single phone number really make someone that happy?"
For a monologue, his voice was quite gentle.
Arriving at the convenience store, Ihyeon put on her vest and stepped behind the counter. Once the part-timer who finished the shift left, she was left alone under the familiar fluorescent lights. It was the middle of the night, with not a single customer in sight.
Ihyeon’s gaze was fixed not on the window, but on her phone. She opened her contact list and found the name 'Yoon Taegon-ssi'. Her heart pounded just looking at the name. How many times had she opened the contact and canceled it?
Ihyeon mumbled softly. "He said I could call anytime... he definitely said that. Anytime..."
She hugged her phone with both hands and grinned. "Hehehe, ehehehe..."
Feeling good, she swayed her body from side to side and wiggled her hips. Her mouth was stretched wide, and her eyes were curved into slits. She barely managed to stop herself from rubbing her cheek against the phone.
'But... does "anytime" include right now? It’s only been 30 minutes since I started my shift?'
Her fingers were wandering aimlessly over the message window.
'What should I send? Hello? No, that’s too stiff. How are you? We just saw each other, why would I ask that! What are you doing? That’s too out of the blue!'
Dozens of messages were being deleted in Ihyeon’s head. Then, a sinister thought crossed her mind.
'What if I contact him first and he thinks I'm annoying?'
Her fingers, which had been moving busily, stopped dead. The word 'anytime' might have just been an empty, conventional greeting. Like an idiom promising a future that would never come.
Ihyeon’s expression darkened. 'What if Taegon-ssi frowns and finds me bothersome?'
Her imagination ran wild. A situation where she sent a message, but there was no reply. One hour, two hours, three hours. Even after a day, it remained 'read' or 'unread'.
'And then the atmosphere will be awkward when we eat together the next day...'
Ihyeon’s face turned pale.
'A-and then we won't even eat together anymore?!'
Terrified, Ihyeon jumped up from her seat. 'If we stop eating together, there will be no reason to meet, and we'll become an awkward pair who don't even greet each other when we pass in the hallway—'
The worst-case scenarios followed one after another. The warm rice from the morning, the walk home in the rain side-by-side, the dinner where they sat across from each other and laughed. Scenes of everything disappearing played out before her eyes.
Ihyeon pulled at her hair in agony. "What do I do... I'm so scared!"
In the end, she flipped her phone over on the counter and stomped her feet. 'I won't contact him. Never! I'd rather stay still than ruin everything by reaching out first!!!'
She shook her head firmly, but her hand was quietly flipping the phone back over.
'But if I don't contact him at all, wouldn't he feel sad about that?'
Her resolve crumbled before it even lasted three seconds. Ihyeon fell into the swamp of her own worries. "Ah, I don't know! Let's just wait. If I wait, something will happen!"
She slapped both her cheeks to keep her wits about her. Just as she had resigned herself to waiting:
— *Ding*
A notification sound rang from the phone. Her whole body froze, and her heart sank with a jolt. Ihyeon picked up the phone very slowly. The name she had been waiting for was on the screen.
Six characters. It was only six characters, but the moment she read that sentence, the world brightened. She even had the illusion that all the lights in the world were shining only on her and this phone. The worries from just a moment ago were rendered meaningless; the world was entirely soft and pink.
'T-Taegon-ssi...!'
Ihyeon hugged the phone to her chest as if it were a treasure. "He contacted me first!!!!!!!"
Her voice trembled with joy, and her eyes were lost in ecstasy. She was proving with her entire body what it meant to be someone who couldn't help but be happy. Ihyeon sent a reply at the speed of light.
As soon as she pressed the send button, regret washed over her. Asking if someone was doing well when they had just parted ways? She wanted to kick her blanket, but there was only a counter instead of a blanket nearby. Ihyeon just kicked her feet frantically under the counter in frustration.
The reply came back quickly.
'Ah, he contacted me while he was resting.'
Just sharing a trivial daily life made a corner of her heart tickle. While she was agonizing over a reply, another message arrived.
Ihyeon’s hand stopped in mid-air. Her gaze was fixed on the screen. She read each and every character three times over.
'Together. Grocery. Shopping. Shall we go?'
The more she chewed on the words, the more her heart raced. 'Grocery shopping together?! Just the two of us?!'
Images of them pushing a cart side-by-side, picking out ingredients, and worrying about which side dishes would be good floated into her mind. That was like a newlywed—
“If I keep this up, I’m really going to go crazyyyyyyy!”
Ihyeon pressed the phone tightly to her chest. 'Ughhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!! Calm down. Calm down, Seo Ihyeon. It’s just grocery shopping, grocery shopping! We’re going because we need ingredients to eat. It means nothing, nothing at all... but stillllllllll———'
She barely managed to compose a reply while trying to settle her restless heart. Her heart beat ten times for every single character she typed.
After repeating the process of adding and deleting an exclamation mark several times, she finally sent it with one exclamation mark left.
— *Ding*
Ihyeon didn't look at the reply. No, she couldn't. She was too busy burying her forehead into the counter to calm her runaway heart.
'I don't think I can work today because of Taegon-ssi.'
After lying down for a long time to compose herself, she finally lifted her head. *'I'll look forward to it.'* Her face flushed again the moment she read that message. Ihyeon curled up, clutching her phone tightly. An uncontrollable smile spread across her lips.
After this night, morning would come. And when morning came, she could see him again. Now, there was no need to wait vaguely. Because she could contact him whenever she wanted to see him.
Ihyeon looked at the name 'Yoon Taegon-ssi' on her phone screen once more. Those three characters shone like the warmest words in the world. The fluorescent lights illuminated the convenience store, and beyond the window, there was nothing but darkness, as if someone had ground up ink, but tonight—tonight was a night that made even this darkness feel exciting.