The Durian Surprise
It seemed like it might be right.
I watched Kang In-hyeok from the window as he headed somewhere. He turned toward the opposite side of the house and climbed the stairs to the rooftop.
‘The rooftop?’
No way. He must have hidden something up there.
I hadn’t thought about the rooftop because I’d only been keeping an eye on the house and yard.
At this point, I was certain the member with a mission to oppose me was Kang In-hyeok.
‘Good. For now, I’ll pretend I don’t know. After dinner, when everyone’s relaxed, I’ll sneak up to the rooftop and take it.’
***
The dinner party began.
They grilled meat on the fire plate in the yard, while side dishes and bowls were arranged on the terrace.
Strangely, a jjigae topped with oddly chopped pumpkin sat in one corner of the terrace, along with kongguksu made by Han I-jae.
“Oh, it looks pretty good like this?”
Lee Hyo-seop, who had brought washed ssam vegetables, looked at the spread on the terrace and spoke.
“But why does this jjigae look like that?”
It was a mishap. Earlier, Han I-jae had mixed up pumpkin and cucumber and chopped the pumpkin like cucumber garnish.
“Who put the pumpkin in like this?”
“Wow, I’ve never seen jjigae with pumpkin on top like this. It’s so weird.”
The members who didn’t know the full story just laughed at the strange jjigae. Among them, Han I-jae sat with an awkward expression.
At that moment, Kwon Hak-jin, who had been grilling meat in front of the fire plate, passed by and said,
“That’s what I-jae did.”
Upon hearing it, Han I-jae rolled his eyes and cleared his throat.
Soon, he reluctantly confessed everything.
“I thought the pumpkin was a cucumber and put it in the kongguksu.”
A brief silence fell.
Then everyone burst out laughing.
“What? Really?”
“Ah, so that’s why it looked weird. No wonder it seemed off.”
“How could you mix them up like that?”
The members pounced on Han I-jae like hyenas, waiting for the perfect moment to tease him.
Lee Hae-won, Na Jae-hyun, and Jeong Hui-min surrounded him in the center and shook his mental state.
“…Eat it.”
At that moment, Han I-jae slid the kongguksu toward me.
The kongguksu he had made. I was curious what it tasted like.
“I wanted to make it for you since I’ve never had kongguksu before.”
“Oh.”
A smile suddenly escaped me.
Han I-jae had only eaten it once in his life and had never made it, so this was the first time he was cooking it…
“But it seems really well made.”
The kongguksu Han I-jae made for the first time didn’t look different from store-bought photos at first glance.
“I told you. Making it is really easy. It wasn’t difficult.”
Behind Han I-jae casually saying that, Na Jae-hyun was fidgeting, probably wanting to tease him.
But sensing the moment, he just moved his mouth without saying anything.
“Salt and sugar in the kongguksu?”
“…Do you have that kind of debate?”
“There’s that kind of argument too. As long as it tastes good, it’s fine.”
At that moment, Kwon Hak-jin and Lee Hyo-seop, who had finished grilling the meat, moved it to bowls and came over.
When they placed the bowls, steam rose from the well-grilled meat, filling the air with a delicious aroma.
Hungry, the members fell silent while eating the meat.
‘It’s that different, huh?’
Unlike the noisy chatter earlier, silence flowed during the meal.
After silently picking up the meat, Han I-jae decided to try the kongguksu. He tossed a ladle into the bowl and decided to sip the broth first.
“…Oh.”
Han I-jae pretended not to look and glanced at me.
“It’s delicious.”
So this was what kongguksu tasted like.
‘I thought he’d just tease me since he said he’d never had it, but I didn’t know he’d actually make it.’
While thinking that, I noticed the meat piled on the bowl was almost gone.
“Wow…”
With a mouth having ten holes, no matter how much it was grilled, it disappeared at high speed.
“I need to grill more meat.”
This time, Hyeon Si-woo said he’d grill it himself and headed to the fire plate with Kang In-hyeok.
‘Hmm.’
Now that Kang In-hyeok had gone to grill the meat, was this the right time?
After lying that I was going to the bathroom, I headed up the stairs to the rooftop.
And when I reached the rooftop, sure enough, there was a jar with durian inside.
“I knew it.”
Peeking secretly outside the rooftop railing, I saw Kang In-hyeok still busy grilling meat, unaware.
After taking the durian out of the jar, I secretly brought a knife and cut it.
Slashed.
Then, after scooping out the flesh, I cut a piece and carefully put it into a bag.
It felt like I was performing some secret operation like a spy, but in reality, I was just a fool cutting durian.
“Mission accomplished.”
I successfully obtained the content by finding the durian Kang In-hyeok had hidden.
‘Phew, now…’
My gaze fixed on Han I-jae.
‘He’s eating it without knowing anything.’
The problem now was how to make him eat it…
‘There’s no need to only feed him durian, right?’
A good idea came to mind.
***
I casually came down from the rooftop and rejoined the meal.
The members were quietly staring at their plates as their stomachs filled up or chatting with the person next to them.
Among them, Han I-jae, who was slow at eating, was fortunately still in the middle of the meal.
‘Don’t rush. Let’s wait for the right time.’
While fiddling with the envelope in my pocket, I watched Han I-jae.
And while Han I-jae was distracted for a moment, I picked up a lettuce from the basket. Then, I stacked the meat, rice, and kimchi, and finally…
‘I’m sorry.’
While no one was looking, I put the durian into the ssam wrap.
At that moment, my eyes met Won Ji-an’s.
“……”
“……”
Won Ji-an didn’t say anything after seeing my appearance.
He just closed his eyes and nodded, as if to say he had suffered a lot.
“Th-this… big, I-jae hyung.”
My throat suddenly blocked, and I almost let out a squeak.
“Eh?”
Immediately, Han I-jae looked at me with a face full of ignorance.
“Why.”
For a moment, my mind raced.
‘Ha, this is the first time I’ve ever wrapped ssam for someone in my life, and I’m doing a crazy thing by putting durian in it…’
It was a reality check, but I had to feed it to him anyway. So, with a sincere expression and tone that didn’t show anything, I said,
“You cooked for me today. So, as a sign of gratitude, I’m wrapping ssam for you, hyung…”
“Um?”
Han I-jae, who heard my words, looked at me as if asking what that meant.
“I cooked for you?”
“Yeah?”
“No? I cooked for you.”
The ssam in my hand trembled.
‘What is he saying…?’
“I cooked it for my own self-satisfaction. It’s true that I cooked for you, but I didn’t do it for you.”
Won Ji-an, who was alternating between me and Han I-jae, was holding back laughter.
‘What is he saying… really…?’
Just eat it, right?
I knew his personality was weird, but now it seemed really strange.
It’s not that he doesn’t eat the ssam I wrapped for him.
“Hyung, you’re really funny. Then, why don’t you just accept it and stop?”
I don’t know how long I waited for this moment.
“If you say it like that, I have no choice. I’ll eat it for you.”
“Yes…”
Finally, I put the ssam I received into my mouth.
“Mm.”
“How is it, hyung.”
Even though I knew what was inside, I asked as if nothing was wrong.
“Uhm.”
Han I-jae chewed the contents in his mouth and tilted his head.
“Inside… there’s something weird that’s being chewed…”
Won Ji-an, who met my eyes, turned his head as if he couldn’t look.
“What is it?”
“It’s really sweet…”
“The meat is sweet, right?”
“No, it’s not a metaphor like that. It’s really sweet.”
I looked at the sky innocently as if I didn’t know anything.
“It’s sweet, and it’s mushy, and it smells strange?”
Then suddenly, Kang In-hyeok jumped up from his seat.
“?”
Kang In-hyeok ran to the rooftop as if his tail was on fire.
The members who didn’t know the exact cause-and-effect relationship of the current situation had expressions as if asking what this was.
“My Rian!”
A shout mixed with Kang In-hyeok’s voice came from the rooftop.
“Rian?”
“Who is Rian…?”
As expected. Kang In-hyeok’s mission was probably to prevent anyone from eating durian until the time limit ran out.
‘It’s a pity.’
While thinking that.
Han I-jae, who was chewing the contents in his mouth, looked at me as if he had realized something.
“You… put durian in here?”
So you finally noticed.
“It’s unique and good, isn’t it?”
After swallowing the contents in his mouth, Han I-jae smiled silently.
At that time, Kang In-hyeok came down from the rooftop. Kang In-hyeok was holding a halved durian and had a face as if he had lost everything in the world.
“Hah.”
Na Jae-hyun let out a sound while eating rice in surprise.
“Hyung In-hyeok. Is your mission to protect the durian?”
I felt like I had to leave the dinner table quickly because I was getting scared.
“Then I’ll go now…”
***
After finishing the dinner, they had the last time to read each other's letters.
The first trip with the members. It said to write a short impression and freely write what you want to say…
It seemed like I had to write an emotional story to match the mood, so I did.
‘Emotional…?’
I fiddled with the pen because I was embarrassed and started writing the letter.
‘I don’t know what emotional is, let’s just write honestly.’
After writing the letter, I waited for the members to finish.
“Have you all finished? Then, please stand up one by one and read.”
Unfortunately, I was sitting at the very end. I received the members' attention and became the first to read the letter.
After clearing my throat, I read the first sentence.
“Uh, well, I’m happy that we got to come on a trip with our members…”
When I tried to say it, my body wouldn’t stay still. There was something in me that couldn’t endure the emotional atmosphere that should be like this.
“The team was formed, and it’s the first trip. I hope we make many good memories from now on. Today, we seem to have made a very weird and fun memory…”
It was a childish time in a way, but I definitely enjoyed it. For the first time in a long time, I acted without calculation, played without thinking, and laughed.
“I hope we make many good memories from now on and have as many days of laughing as possible.”
Even though I said it as dryly as possible, it seemed like I was swept up in the atmosphere, and I felt like my mood was getting weird too.
The impression of the first trip with the members was exactly what I wrote in the letter.
It was a happy time because I could laugh without thinking for the first time in a long time.
It was definitely annoying to fight something in this noisy world full of troubles, but at least it was comforting to know that I wasn't alone.
I just hope there are more days like today where I can laugh.