The Guests Arrive at Once
The day before the holiday.
All the members have gone down to their hometowns, most likely to set out their ancestral rite tables for the holiday. But I remain alone at the dorm. My hometown is simply too far away to reach.
...Truthfully, being alone is not lonely. It has not even been two hours yet. It is only that the thought of the rite table leaves my heart tangled in knots. The members will come back with their long-shriveled stomachs stretched wide open. But I will be spending the holiday eating salad out of the refrigerator.
It is sad. With this many people in the world, not one single soul will set a rite table for me...
I am filming a video diary to settle my restless heart, but talking about it only makes me more restless.
I attempted to boil ramyun in the manner Jungseo taught me, but the gas stove would not light. He said most clearly that the flame comes if you turn the dial firmly... All I receive is a rattle of clicks and a spurt of sparks that dies on the spot. Is it broken?
I do not want salad. I am so hungry it hurts.
Something strange occurred over the past four hours. Two strangers came and went. One said he had been sent by "CEO Shin Jo-woon" and left me every manner of dish in glass containers. A letter was tucked inside — apparently he cooked far too much food and had leftovers. The other said she had been sent by "CEO Jang Tae-ri" and left me two thermoses, one filled with sweet and sour pork, the other with seaweed soup. Another letter tucked within — apparently she bought far too much food and had leftovers.
As far as I know, the two of them had arranged to eat the holiday meal together...
So why does one claim she bought hers, while the other claims he made his?
One of them is lying, is he not? My money is on Myeolchi. In matters of cooking, there are those who lie that store-bought food is homemade — but no one lies that homemade food is store-bought.
That lying wretch Myeolchi, honestly.
Having eaten the food that Shin Jo-woon and Jang Tae-ri sent, I find myself thinking: made or bought, what does it matter? It is delicious. I am grateful to them both.
But I do not understand. Why did Shin Jo-woon lie about having cooked it himself? I would be every bit as grateful had he simply bought it. Does he wish to appear skilled in the kitchen?
I call that a form of bluffing. What is wrong with being bad at cooking?
But I am good at cooking.. Very few things are beyond me — cooking included. And that is no bluff, but simple truth.
When I cook for people, they all eat with tears streaming down their faces.
There are so many cooking programs these days; perhaps I ought to appear on one and demonstrate my skill.
But I will never cook for Shin Jo-woon. For I like eating more than cooking!
And I shall say it once more — this is absolutely not a bluff.
It was Chuseok. It was also the day Rembrary had promised to meet Hwanshin — or, to be precise, Labrum.
Rembrary hurried into a comfortable cable-knit sweater and black slacks, then rummaged through the desk and the drawers until he dug out a notepad and two pencils. He set them on top of the shoe cabinet by the front door and passed the time photographing the arrangement — and before he knew it, the appointed hour was nearly upon him.
He hurried out through the front door, put on his shoes, and gathered up the notepad and pencils. And just as his hand closed on the door handle—
Ding-dong.
The doorbell rang from directly in front of him.
Is that Hwanshin? But would that man know which unit I live in?
Bewildered, Rembrary opened the door. The people standing behind it were not Hwanshin.
"Hey there."
Beaming ear to ear — Shin Jo-woon and Jang Tae-ri.
When the door swung open and Rembrary only stared at them in disbelief, Shin Jo-woon held up the shopping bag he was carrying and gave it a shake.
"And who said anything about being bad at cooking?"
The thick shopping bag was stuffed, at a glance, with every manner of cooking ingredient.
Jang Tae-ri, standing a step behind Shin Jo-woon, ducked slightly and slipped neatly around him while he was busy hoisting his proudly gathered prey, waving her hand as she emerged.
"Hi, Yeon-woo."
Flustered, Rembrary asked, "What is this about, all of a sudden?"
Ordinarily a visit from the two of them would have been welcome — but the timing just now was awkward. Hwanshin would be arriving any minute with a demon in tow. Wasn't the meeting spot supposed to be right out front?
Shin Jo-woon lowered the shopping bag and answered placidly, "Came to persuade you. Still no interest in joining my company?"
"Really?"
"No. Just visiting. The offer to scout you still stands, but that can wait."
Jang Tae-ri picked up in an excited voice. "We came straight over to surprise you! You said you'd be lonely today, didn't you?"
He had nowhere to go, but he did have people to meet. A demon to meet, at that. While Rembrary stood there hesitating, Jang Tae-ri raised a hand to her mouth and, as if sharing a precious secret, whispered in an enormous voice:
"Shin Jo-woon's a great cook! We'll go inside and sit there drooling while we wait!"
"Should we, now?"
Rembrary answered reflexively, swept up in the excitement — then, realizing his mistake, clapped a hand over his mouth.
But at that answer, Jang Tae-ri and Shin Jo-woon were already kicking off their shoes and stepping inside.
"Cozy little place."
"Whoa, there's a Yeon-woo photo spread hanging on the wall! I have that exact one!"
"You hung a Woo Yeon-woo photoshoot on your wall? There was nothing like that when I went to film at your place."
"Obviously you take everything down before a broadcast. I put it all back up after. Whoa, there's even one of the whole group shooting together?"
While the two of them busily toured the dorm, Rembrary checked the time on his phone.
3:16 PM.
What do I do. He said to come down by 3:15.
"Not coming in?"
The tour seemed to be over — the dorm was small, after all. Shin Jo-woon asked as he set the shopping bag down on the table.
"Why are you just standing there?"
Jang Tae-ri had gone over to the table to help unpack the bag; she tilted her head for a moment, then asked, sharp as ever:
"Yeon-woo. Are you maybe expecting someone else?"
Before Rembrary could answer, his phone buzzed with a long trill.
He pressed the button on its side. The black screen snapped bright, and a square message preview floated up.
✉ I have arrived. I am in front of your building.
Over the crackle of the shopping bag's plastic crinkling, Rembrary wiggled his toes in anxious torment.
What now. What on earth do I do now.
Jang Tae-ri said Shin Jo-woon could cook. Jang Tae-ri has never once told a lie. Therefore Shin Jo-woon can cook.
If Shin Jo-woon cooks, he can eat his fill. He will not have to touch that interminable salad. Shin Jo-woon is, unexpectedly, something of a pushover; if he pleaded his case well, the man might even bring pizza before leaving. Or perhaps Jang Tae-ri would.
But meeting Hwanshin or Labrum held not the slightest prospect of food. Not the slightest... and yet he had made that promise first. Besides, there were things he needed to confirm in person.
Caught between reality and profit, Rembrary at last made the rational choice.
"Actually, I have a brief appointment."
Jang Tae-ri came over, startled. "Oh — sorry. We came without checking your schedule, right? Shall we head out, then?"
"Absolutely not!"
"...?"
"It's just a quick errand nearby. Thirty minutes... no, fifteen will be plenty. We're meeting close by."
"Oh, really?"
"So could you wait here for me?"
Shin Jo-woon rolled the emptied shopping bag into a bundle, staring fixedly at Rembrary all the while.
"We really don't have to," Jang Tae-ri murmured awkwardly.
It seemed they had taken Rembrary's lie for consideration on their behalf.
"No, truly, it is a very short appointment."
Rembrary hastily waved his hands, then made his request of Shin Jo-woon.
"Please cook. Take your time, and make it something delicious. I shall return before it is done."
Picky wretch — but even as he muttered coolly, Shin Jo-woon peeled the plastic wrap from a styrofoam tray and walked to the sink to run the water.
The sound of water filling the washing basin rang out, followed by the opening and shutting of drawers here and there as he took stock of the cooking tools.
Rembrary asked Jang Tae-ri to keep a close watch so that Shin Jo-woon would not abandon the cooking, then hurried outside and raced down the stairs.
Outside the apartment building stood a single car, tinted so black it was doubtful anyone inside could see the road.
The moment Rembrary appeared at the building entrance, the driver's window lowered to reveal Hwanshin's face. At the man's jerk of his chin, the rear door swung open at once.
He assumed it was automatic — but when he went around to the back seat, he found that Labrum had opened it by hand.
"Slide in, if you would."
Labrum shifted deeper into the car; Rembrary took the seat the demon had just vacated and, pulling the door shut behind him, cautioned Hwanshin:
"Know that I can spare no more than fifteen minutes."
"...Were you not the one who asked to meet?"
"Which is precisely why I am the one setting the hour."
"According to what Seongwoo told me, when I was the one who asked to meet, it was still you who set the time."
"Because I granted the time — therefore I set it."
The demon fiddled with the chain around its own neck and let out a thin, cackling giggle.
Hwanshin started the car without a word and clicked his tongue inwardly. Even the ordinary members of the circles he moved in were greedier and more self-serving than most. Naturally so — these were people who joined hands with demons, with demon beasts, with every brand of world-loathed evil for the sake of success.
And yet even they felt their skin crawl at the sight of a demon, at the sight of a demon beast.
And now a demon had looked upon that lunatic and marveled: lunatic.
In all his life, Hwanshin had never once heard a demon call a human being a lunatic.
Clicking his tongue inward a second time, Hwanshin belatedly recalled the purpose for which Yeon-woo had asked to see Labrum — and slammed the car to a screeching halt.
"Did you not say you intended to draw?"
"Fifteen minutes."
Rembrary laid the notepad he had carried tucked under his arm across his knees and declared, with full charisma:
"A masterpiece is completed in fifteen minutes."
"!"
— End of Chapter 140. Guests Arrive All at Once —