Goldfish Fishing (2)
Goldfish Fishing (2)
"Haa... Every time I see it, I'm struck by just how absurdly huge this place is."
"How much do you think this place costs?"
"Well... didn't Mapo-gu go for about 40 million won per pyeong?"
"Just at a glance, this looks like it easily exceeds a thousand pyeong, right?"
There was no ground floor; the fishery center was designed with a semi-basement structure, giving the ceiling a slightly elevated feel.
Inside, they handled everything from seafood to meat sales.
The person running this place was Jeong Hwan-yi's parent.
If you considered these businesses as companies, she was effectively no different from a company president.
There was a reason she was close friends with the president of a construction company.
The wealthy tended to keep company with the wealthy.
"Isn't your company building absurdly huge too?"
"It's big, but not on this level."
"You'll manage just fine. What are we doing, let's head inside already."
We walked down a staircase that was only about four steps long and entered the building.
Just as the ground floor was semi-basement level, the high ceilings created a sense of openness on the first floor,
where a giant king crab model was hanging.
That was the signature icon of this fishery center.
I heard it was more expensive than the one hanging in Dotonbori, Japan...
"Whew, it's so huge I can't tell where anything is."
Lee Min-ho acted the same way every time he came.
From what I'd heard, Lee Min-ho had gotten lost in this fishery center once when he followed his mother here as a child.
That was where he first met Jeong Hwan-yi, and they became close after that.
"Stop talking nonsense and follow me. We've got a long way to go."
"Well, it's not that long."
No matter how large the fishery center was, the place where Jeong Hwan-yi's parents were located was right ahead.
It wouldn't even take two minutes.
"Anyway, was this here before?"
A shop with a cute shrimp illustration caught my eye.
I didn't think a place like this had been here before.
I remembered it being an empty space.
"No, that just opened recently. I heard it's a place that makes soy-marinated shrimp."
"Should I buy some on the way out..."
Put one shrimp on a bowl of rice, sprinkle on some chopped green onion, and then add a little sesame oil and the soy sauce from the marinated shrimp—it would be a one-bowl meal in an instant.
You could call it the ultimate combination of flavor and cost-effectiveness.
"No, wait. On top of that, you should add a sunny-side-up egg where only the white is lightly fried without any salt seasoning."
"That would make breakfast pretty heavy."
"Hea...heavy, my foot! That's exactly why you can't build any stamina or muscle!"
Hearing Lee Min-ho's scolding, I had no choice but to nod.
It was no different from what A-ra had told me before.
"Whatever the case, you're dead meat to us until your wife gets back."
"Hey, you don't take things that far over a meal."
"Just imagine, A-ra-nim comes back and finds you collapsed. How do you think she'd feel?"
"Hmm..."
She went abroad, and when she came back, her husband had collapsed from malnutrition.
I couldn't even begin to grasp what would happen then.
The only thing I felt like I knew was
that my future would unfurl into a hell resembling a dietary torture chamber.
"Alright. I promise I'll eat at least one full bowl per meal."
"Haa... If I had my way, I'd be shoving two bowls down your throat, though."
"Then I'd die of indigestion."
Engaged in skit-like banter, we arrived at the main shop before we knew it.
The main shop was a place frequently visited by the wealthy, complete with establishments like an omakase sushi restaurant inside.
And it was also the place that sold king crabs.
"Mom, I'm here."
"Hm? You said Seong-hwan was just coming over to the house to hang out today....."
The person who came out with a puzzled expression was Jeong Hwan-yi's mother.
She was the person running this unbelievable fishery center.
The moment I saw Jeong Hwan-yi's mother, Lee Min-ho and I bowed our heads in greeting.
"Oh my, Seong-hwan and Lee Min-ho came in person? Finally decided to become this lady's sons?"
"Hello, Mother. The thing is, I came to buy king crab again today."
"King crab? It seems A-ra-ssi must like crustaceans more than I thought."
Today's plan wasn't for A-ra to eat it, but for the three of us to eat it together.
Still, if they found out we made a bet, I might get scolded, so I just smiled.
"Haha... So I was thinking of buying about two crabs today."
"Alright. Mom will steam them up deliciously for you. You'll make fried rice in the shell too, right?"
Picking the meat out of the king crab's body and frying it in hot oil with rice was what you might call crab shell fried rice.
Just imagining it made my mouth water.
"I'd appreciate that."
"Okay, Jeong-jae-ssi! Two extra-large king crabs!"
"Yes, ma'am."
"I-hwa-ssi, please prepare some shrimp and uni!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Everything was dealt with in one swift motion.
The main shop, where staff began preparing the moment an order was placed, relied on their strong teamwork.
But I didn't see Jeong Hwan-yi's father, who should have been there.
Where had he gone?
Jeong Hwan-yi seemed to notice too, as he glanced around before opening his mouth.
"Where did father go?"
"He went shopping with the uncles. He's meeting his old school friends for the first time in a while."
"Shopping? Isn't today a busy day?"
"Dad needs to rest, too. Instead, Mom decided to take tomorrow off."
It seemed they had agreed to take turns resting in a friendly rotation.
Anyway, Jeong Hwan-yi's father went shopping, huh...
Having witnessed how much real wealthy people spent each time they visited a place like a department store,
I felt a chill down my spine.
Come to think of it, I once saw an expensive watch in the room further in...
"What's wrong?"
"No, it's just a bit cold."
"Yeah? It is a fishery center, so it's a bit chilly."
Since freshness was paramount here, the baseline temperature was kept low,
and Jeong Hwan-yi rubbed his own shoulders a little, too.
It really was colder in here.
Maybe it was because we were still in May, but the indoor temperature felt like it was around 20 degrees Celsius.
"We're going to go look around some other places."
"Sure. Jeong-hwan-a, Mom will pack you lots of tasty things."
"Thank you."
"Mom! You're embarrassing me, so please stop."
"You little rascal? Your mom just wants a son who will come running into my arms a bit mor....."
While his mother was in the middle of speaking, Jeong Hwan-yi suddenly claimed he remembered something urgent and quickly pushed Lee Min-ho and me on the back, putting distance between us and the main shop.
And once we were outside, Jeong Hwan-yi's face was, for some reason, intensely red.
If I didn't tease him at a time like this, when else would I ever get to tease Jeong Hwan-yi?
I dove right in, like a fish to water.
"Are you embarrassed?"
"Cough... what are you talking about?"
Denying it and looking away, pretending nothing was wrong, that was Jeong Hwan-yi.
Anyone could see he had grown up showered in love, but the way he got shy in front of us was oddly endearing.
"Your mom seemed really happy you brought friends over."
"Ugh... It's just that she likes you and Lee Min-ho. She never acts like that when my sisters bring friends over."
"Really? That's unexpected."
I had assumed she was the type of person who would be simply delighted anytime her child brought friends over,
but that didn't seem to be the case.
Seeing how she asked me to become her son, though,
the only thought I had was that she was a really wonderful person, playful and kind.
"So? Where do you want to go?"
Seeing him change the subject so quickly, I figured he'd get angry if I teased him further, so I chuckled
and pointed a finger toward a place we had passed earlier.
"Let's check out that shop selling soy-marinated shrimp and the one selling sashimi-grade fish."
"Won't Mom take care of the sashimi?"
"You two eat enough for a small army, you think that would be enough......."
"Well, that's true."
Lee Min-ho nodded his head.
He probably was well aware of just how much he ate.
Because these two ate as much as women did.
*
"Mother, then please take care."
When I tried to carry the king crab, she said it was heavy and told Jeong Hwan-yi to carry it for me, so he ended up laden with bags in both hands.
Each hand looked like it was carrying at least 5 kg; it seemed pretty heavy.
"Okay, both Seong-hwan and Lee Min-ho, be careful on your way home."
"Yes, Mother."
"And Jeong Hwan-yi, don't bother Seong-hwan too much when you get to his place."
"I won't. I'm not a kid."
Only after his mother had finished warning him about this and that were we finally released, and Jeong Hwan-yi and I walked slowly.
"Ah, I need to remember the sliced raw fish and the soy-marinated shrimp."
"I already took care of it."
Only then did I notice a black paper bag in the same hand that was carrying the king crab.
It was the special paper bag used by the shop selling the soy-marinated shrimp.
"Huh? When?"
"Earlier, when you two were checking out the fish tank display."
Earlier, there was a tank full of Nemos that we had been checking out, and it seemed he had taken care of it in advance back then.
So all we had to do now was head straight home.
"No, wait. Before we go, we should stop by a mart and buy some alcohol."
"Planning to drink?"
"Well, I'm sleeping over at your place anyway, so who cares."
He shrugged his shoulders, asking what was the problem since we weren't going out to drink.
Now that I thought about it, I hadn't seen Lee Min-ho drink lately, so maybe it wouldn't hurt to join him just for today.
"Next time, let's try visiting Lee Min-ho's place."
"My place? You mean my rented studio, or my family home?"
"Both."
"There's nothing to see at my studio. I was going for the minimalist thing or whatever, so the room just has a desk and a bed, and that's it."
"A guy with all that money, what's this about being a minimalist..."
"No, it's not that. I just kept it empty because moving stuff is a pain. I only really use it for sleeping, anyway."
Basically, he handled most of his daily life at his family home, but he said he slept over at his studio once in a while.
Don't tell me...the reason he sleeps at his studio sometimes...
"It's because if I spend time out late drinking, it's hard to go back to the family home, so I just sleep at the studio."
"Good grief......"
"What! That's why I haven't even been going to the studio much lately."
"Then where are you going? You said you don't go to the family home?"
"Hmm....well....that's....."
He glanced at us to gauge our reactions, then grinned before speaking.
For some reason, it looked like he had something he wanted to tell Jeong Hwan-yi but was deliberately holding back.
"It's a secret."
"....."
I think I have a general idea what it was.