Spicy Fish Stew
Spicy Fish Stew
"It's sweet. This is heaven."
I looked around while shoveling spoonfuls of the red bean shaved ice into my mouth.
The place was packed with people who, like us, had fled here to escape the sweltering heat.
It was already full, but more people kept streaming in from outside,
and a line for seats had started to form.
Everyone from students in school uniforms
to working professionals in suits—men and women alike—had gathered here in a diverse mix.
As we took in the scene around us, we kept bringing our spoons to our mouths.
"By the way, isn't it way too hot today?"
"I heard it went up to 40 degrees... They said it was just as hot as back in '94."
"Haaah..."
I let out a sigh and stuck my spoon into the red bean shaved ice.
The ice cream—frozen rock-solid and clinging stubbornly to my spoon—
was my soul's one sanctuary right now.
Staring at it, I could almost believe my body and heart were cooling down too.
"Eating something cold is making my body suddenly feel chilly."
"Still, this kind of coolness feels good."
I also prefer things set cold enough
to be slightly chilly rather than lukewarm.
When I sleep, I'd like to set it just like this and pull the covers all the way up to my chin.
But A-ra wouldn't allow it, saying it wasn't good for my health.
Did she say the temperature difference between my head and body could cause a stroke?
Or did she say it could trigger a heart attack?
Ah, I didn't know anymore.
*
"I hear a vibrating sound somewhere."
"Isn't that a phone call?"
The two of them looked at me, telling me to check,
so I pulled my phone out of my bag.
These days, I carried everything important around in my bag,
so my worry about losing things had eased up a little.
Even though I looked like this, I had quite a few sloppy habits,
which meant there was a corner of myself that even I couldn't quite trust.
"It's A-ra noona?"
"Is something going on?"
Even if something was up, this wasn't the time she'd normally call me.
It was a bit too noisy in here to take a call, but I hated the idea of going outside even more,
so I decided to just answer it from my seat.
"Hello? Noona?"
- Yeah, Seong-hwan-a. Is it over?
A-ra answered, her voice softer than usual.
Maybe she was a little tired; she seemed like she was on the verge of falling asleep.
"It was the first day, so we just did orientation and that was it."
- That's a relief. It sounded a bit noisy in the background, so I thought you might still be at school.
"I came out to eat red bean shaved ice with Jeong Hwan-yi and Lee Min-ho."
- Noona's drinking coffee at a cafe too.
When she said cafe, she probably meant the cafe inside the agency building.
The iced Americano there was seriously nutty and delicious.
- Seong-hwan-a. There's something noona wants to eat. Can you make it for me?
"Of course. Just tell me what you want to eat."
- Spicy fish stew... I want to eat it. Would that be okay?
So she'd gotten a craving for spicy fish stew in this scorching weather.
I felt like I finally understood why she'd sounded a little apologetic since earlier.
"Why wouldn't it be okay? Should I use cod?"
- Is that okay? Aren't you hot?
"I can just eat something else. Is there anything else you want to eat?"
After that, I made A-ra tell me absolutely everything she wanted to eat,
and wrote it all down on the back of the receipt we'd gotten when we ordered the shaved ice earlier.
When the weather is hot, you have to eat well to keep your body strong.
Especially for an idol like A-ra, who was constantly on the move physically.
"Spicy fish stew, not clear fish stew, right?"
- Yeah...
"I'll pick up some roe and milt too. Look forward to dinner tonight."
- Thank you. See you at home later.
After ending the call, which had been full of both A-ra's apologies and affection,
I pulled out the spoon I'd stuck into the red bean shaved ice.
Maybe because a little time had passed, the hard ice cream had slightly melted
and taken on a creamy appearance.
"Cod? Dinner?"
"Yeah, noona said she wants to eat spicy fish stew."
"Fighting fire with fire, huh... I don't think I could ever eat spicy fish stew in this weather."
As if the mere thought made his body heat up, Lee Min-ho started stuffing his mouth with the shaved ice.
Soon, he was clutching his head as if a brain freeze was coming on,
but despite that, he kept eating the shaved ice at a rapid pace.
"That's a bit better."
"Hey, slow down a little. I'm telling you, when you get home you won't even be able to turn on the AC."
"You guys have a nice house and still don't turn on the AC."
Lee Min-ho smacked him on the back, telling him to spend some money and live a little,
but Jeong Hwan-yi just gave a bitter smile.
It looked like he wanted to do the same, but the choice wasn't his to make.
"What. I thought you said you lived alone?"
"Live alone? They absolutely won't let me, asking how a young guy could live by himself."
"This guy lives with his older sister and younger sister."
Listening to him, it seemed his parents were stationed overseas for work and not in Korea,
so he was living with a sister six years older and a sister two years younger.
"That's news to me. Lee Min-ho, I thought you said you often slept over at Jeong Hwan-yi's place."
"Maybe about once a week?"
"You really are something else in so many ways..."
So he'd been sleeping over at a friend's house where his friend's older and younger sisters also lived.
The more I got used to these flipped norms between men and women, the more Lee Min-ho's behavior just seemed astonishing.
"What are you talking about, subjectively speaking, you're way more of a crazy bastard than I am."
"That's true. That's not something a guy who registered his marriage to an idol at 19 should be saying."
Jeong Hwan-yi nodded his head and joined in on Lee Min-ho's attack.
Well, even before I started dating A-ra, I'd been going in and out of her house
and sleeping over and all that.
But part of that was because being alone in the house was just too lonely,
and another part was because A-ra was a woman I could trust.
It didn't mean just any woman would do, okay?
"Just 30 years ago, it was common to get married at twenty, you know?"
"Sure it was. Looks like you're living alone in the 90s over there."
Lee Min-ho rested his chin on his hand and started teasing me.
Honestly, bringing up that era was probably a mistake on my part.
"You guys wouldn't understand. The feeling of being at a loss when you first come out of the orphanage... being exhausted and having no one to lean on... the joy of finding the one person who held onto you in that kind of situation."
"...."
"Did that get too heavy?"
My past was so dark it bordered on a bleak genre,
so just bringing it up a little immediately dragged the mood down.
"Why are you making that face? The apologetic one?"
"Sorry..."
"Hey, stop it. It's not like you did something worth apologizing for."
I gave a bitter smile and started eating the red bean shaved ice with my spoon again.
Eating the shaved ice, which had melted to just the right texture to eat now,
I smiled faintly.
***
I placed the cod spicy fish stew, boiled with a generous handful of water parsley, onto the dining table.
The moment the sound of something being set on the table rang out,
A-ra came over, drawn by the smell. I made sure she was seated in her chair
and scooped a large amount of rice into a big bowl, setting it down in front of her.
"Please let me know if it's not enough."
"Thank you."
As soon as we'd gotten home, I'd set the system air conditioner to 18 degrees Celsius and left it running,
so it had gotten cool enough that we could easily eat even a boiling lava stew.
When I died and went to the afterlife, I probably wouldn't be able to lift my head before Carrier Seonsaengnim, the inventor of the air conditioner, for all eternity.
I scooped rice into a smaller bowl for myself and sat down.
And then, I opened the lid of the pot holding the spicy, pungent fish stew.
"Whoa..."
A-ra let out an exclamation as she looked inside the stew.
The spicy fish stew, packed full of meaty cod, roe, and milt,
boasted a visual that looked like it would easily cost a hundred thousand won if we'd ordered it from a restaurant.
"You have no idea how much I've been wanting to eat this..."
"Anytime you want it, just tell me. I'll make it for you anytime."
"Seong-hwan-a... I love you."
Hearing a confession of love that wasn't a joke, but one filled with sincerity,
I smiled bashfully.
And then, I picked up the large side plate I'd placed in front of A-ra.
With the ladle, I scooped up a generous amount of the cod's meaty body, plus roe, milt, and shrimp, and placed it onto the side plate.
The plump, springy roe and the milt, with its noodle-like appearance,
definitely looked delicious.
"Would you like some tofu too?"
"I'll eat the tofu later."
Saying that right now she just wanted to taste the flavor of the main ingredients,
she shook her head from side to side.
I set the side plate, radiating scorching heat, in front of A-ra,
then fetched the plastic bottle of cider I'd chilled in the freezer and cracked the cap open.
Cider was the thing to have when eating spicy fish stew.
I filled A-ra's pilsner glass—her favorite for drinking beverages—all the way to the top with cider,
poured a little into my small mug, and then sat down myself.
"Noona, go ahead and try it."
"Thank you for the meal."
And when A-ra picked up her chopsticks,
I picked up my chopsticks too.
*
"Seong-hwan-a... Want to open a spicy fish stew restaurant? Noona will sell it for you every day."
Looking at A-ra, who'd eaten three bowls of rice and was sitting on the sofa, I let out a soft laugh.
Even if I did open a restaurant, there was no way A-ra would ever pay money to eat there,
so hearing her say she'd sell it made me laugh for some reason.
"There's no need for that. I keep telling you to just tell me anytime."
"No, that's not it. It's just, when I think that I'm the only one who gets to eat something this good, I can't help but feel sorry for the rest of humanity."
"Ayy, you're joking again."
"Since when has noona ever lied to you?"
"Still, hearing you say that makes me feel really good."
I wiped down the dining table one last time, washed my hands, and came out of the kitchen into the living room.
The sight of A-ra, stroking her stomach and grinning from ear to ear,
looked even happier than when she'd been eating the spicy fish stew.
"I can't be the only one feeling good."
I was startled for a second.
It was because, in the brief span of barely a single second after A-ra said that,
I'd ended up having a tremendous wild fantasy.
Saying she couldn't be the only one feeling good, that she'd make me feel good too,
and then between my legs...
"Seong-hwan-a, is there anything you want to eat? Noona will make it for you on the weekend."
As expected, a fantasy was just a fantasy.
Maybe because she'd just eaten a ton of food, it seemed it was too early for dessert for her.
"You, noona? Hmm..."
A-ra making food, huh...
I thought I'd maybe seen A-ra making food before on a show called 'Leave the Kitchen to Me'...
Was she just average at it?
I couldn't quite remember.
"What are you confident in making, noona?"
"I may not know anything else, but I know how to make an absolutely killer pot of ramyeon."
"Ramyeon is... well... a little..."
For reference, I had issued a ramyeon ban on A-ra.
It wasn't like I couldn't cook, and it wasn't like I was never home,
so there was no need to eat a food that was all harm and no benefit.
"...Isn't that just something noona wants to eat?"
"Busted..."
A-ra, who had given an exaggerated shiver, let out a small laugh.
Seems like I'd hit the nail right on the head.