Weekend Date with Friends? Maybe I'm Popular Now?(3)
The three of us wandered through a café, a clothing store, and a photo booth. Before we knew it, the clock had struck noon. For growing adolescents in the middle of puberty, holding back hunger while roaming around was simply impossible. In the end, I took the kids to a local restaurant that had been my favorite spot for years. It was still open even after nine years had passed. We ordered the classic Korean-style pork cutlet. The price was reasonable, the portions generous, and the taste excellent—a hidden gem that only the locals knew about.
Recently, it seemed to have been featured on social media, because there were quite a few people waiting in line. It felt a little bittersweet, like my secret favorite spot had been taken away from me, but the flow of time was something no one could stop.
“So there really is a reason it went viral on SNS.”
“I-it’s so good!”
It was the kind of thing parents often said. Just watching their child eat was enough to make them feel full. That was exactly how I felt right now.
“Why are you making that face?”
“Hwaaam. What do you mean?”
“You look… really p-proud…”
“Of course I do. You guys like my old regular spot. How could I not feel proud?”
“Regular spot? Since when?”
The class president asked while stabbing a big forkful of salad.
“Probably… about seventeen years ago? I started coming here when I was in high school, so it’s roughly that long.”
“…Seventeen years?”
“Ah.”
I’d slipped up. Maybe I should have ordered another shot of that coffee earlier.
“Haaaam. I’m sleepy.”
“…There you go again, trying to cover it up with a yawn.”
“I-it’s… such an obvious pattern now… Jihye.”
“Ahem.”
Fair enough. I’d been brushing things off with yawns and sleep this whole time. The kids had learned the trick. It looked like I’d need to come up with a new strategy soon.
“Anyway, it’s been a famous restaurant for a really long time. My older sister Jiah used to come here back when she was in high school. Back then the interior wasn’t this stylish, and the plating was pretty rough. It had the exact vibe of a neighborhood diner.”
“Oh my, young lady. You remember that time?”
It seemed the middle-aged woman had been listening to our conversation. The owner auntie naturally approached me and spoke.
“Yes. I came here a few times with my sister back then, but I haven’t been back since.”
“So you haven’t come at all since the remodeling nine years ago? The whole city was in ruins back then, so we took the chance to remodel the interior too. After that, customers started pouring in for some reason. Guess the atmosphere really does matter.”
It was true. The change in interior made the food taste even better than before, even though the auntie’s cooking skills hadn’t changed at all. I put a piece of pork cutlet drenched in sauce into my mouth. Chew, chew. Even with my dull sense of taste, it was plenty delicious.
“It’s always been tasty.”
“Talking about the old days suddenly reminds me of a certain young man. He used to rave about how incredible my cutlet was. He stopped coming around nine years ago too, just like you, miss.”
“….”
“Since you came back after nine years, I’m sure that young man will show up smiling someday too. I don’t think he’s dead. If it’s him, I’m certain he survived. Even in this monster-filled world.”
Did the owner auntie know that the young lady standing right in front of her was the same person as that young man? Probably not. She would never know in her lifetime. Besides, that young man had died not long ago.
She must have read something from my expression, because the auntie quickly apologized.
“Oh dear, oh dear. What am I saying? Forget about that young man I just mentioned. You two have such similar vibes that I spoke without thinking.”
“It’s okay.”
“Want some more bread? I’ll give you extra as a service. This is a secret, but I’m actually more confident in my bread than the cutlet. Oh ho ho.”
“Yes. Just a little, please.”
“Got it. I’ll bring it right out, miss.”
The owner auntie soon brought over homemade bread and soup to our table. It was steaming hot, with wisps of fragrant vapor rising from it as if it had just come out of the oven.
“…Do you know her?”
“I suppose so. Though it looks like she doesn’t remember me.”
I stared at the bread and soup for a moment. Even though the interior had changed and there were more customers now, the bowls they used for the bread and soup were exactly the same as before.
“I’m full, so eat as much as you want. Class president, Mijeong. You’re still hungry, right?”
“Y-yeah, I am…”
After a brief hesitation, the class president and Mijeong finally dug into the bread, soup, and pork cutlets without restraint. I kept watching the two kids as they smiled and ate with gusto.
“Where should we go now?”
“Let’s skip the movie theater. I think I’d fall asleep.”
“T-then how about the a-arcade?”
“Arcade… that sounds good. What about you, class president?”
“I’m in. I’ve always wanted to go to an arcade.”
I quickly downed some extra caffeine before the food coma could hit, and it looked like I could hold out a little longer. I’d probably be fine until around five in the afternoon. While I was sucking down an Americano with four shots, the class president and Miju were enjoying sweet drinks. The president had a strawberry frappuccino loaded with whipped cream. Miju went for an iced caramel macchiato. Both were super sugary.
It seemed Mijeong had traumatized herself that morning by copying my Americano order, because this time she insisted on something sweet no matter what.
“Mijeong, did you really hate the Americano that much?”
“It… it was too b-bitter… I still can’t handle it…”
“I tried a sip earlier and thought I was drinking poison. How on earth do you drink something that bitter?”
Unlike Mijeong, who had stubbornly finished her cup somehow, the class president took one sip of mine and immediately spat it out. That’s kids for you. At this age, they still prefer sweet things over bitter ones. I spoke with the relaxed wisdom of an adult.
“When you grow up… you’ll understand. The true taste of coffee.”
“Old-man Jihye.”
Not old-man, just old lady. This time we finished our drinks completely before heading outside. Taking them to go like before might cause unnecessary trouble.
We headed toward the station. Since the station building had a department store and various facilities inside, I figured there would be an arcade too. As the three of us chatted and walked along, a stone monument I’d never seen before caught my eye right in front of the station. It was huge. Though narrow in width, its height easily surpassed a person’s stature, reaching almost to the second floor of the nearby commercial buildings. I had no memory of seeing something like this in my life. At least not until nine years ago.
“…What the heck is this?”
“It’s a monument. A memorial stele.”
“For what?”
“It’s a m-monument built for those who died in the m-monster disaster nine years ago…”
Ah. I walked closer to the memorial stele. Even though it was bathed in warm sunlight, the stone felt incredibly cold and chilling to the touch.
“List of the deceased… and list of the missing.”
The stele was divided into two main sections. The upper part listed the names of the deceased in long rows, while the lower part contained the names of the missing in the same format. The lower section took up very little space. Most people’s names were on the list of the deceased.
“Kim… Jihoon?”
The class president read aloud the name I was pointing at. Thanks to my smaller stature in this changed body, it was surprisingly easy to reach the name. It sat there prominently in the lower section of the stele. I gently ran my fingers over it for a moment.
The owner auntie knew my name. Of course she did. I used to visit wearing my school uniform with a name tag, and I’d even stopped by in military uniform once. She must have seen this stele. And she must have seen my name written on it. Only now did I understand why she had tried so hard to hide her expression while talking about the past.
I turned around. The kids were looking at me strangely as I kept rubbing one of the names on the memorial. I opened my mouth to explain.
“It’s the name of Jiah’s older brother.”
“Blossom-nim’s older brother?”
“Yeah. And he’s also the young man the owner auntie from the pork cutlet place mentioned earlier. He really loved that cutlet.”
“I see…”
I closed my eyes for a moment. Traces of my old self kept appearing in the most unexpected places. And those traces felt like they were fiercely scolding the person I was now.
“Huu…”
It was strange. I had simply invited my friends over to my neighborhood today. Yet these fragments of my past kept popping up and making me dizzy. I took a deep breath. Huu… haa…
“…Okay. This should be enough.”
With those words, I stepped away from the stele. A memorial monument. Seeing something like this really drove home that Earth hadn’t exactly enjoyed peaceful times either. Even though things seemed calm now, it was a fragile peace that could shatter at any moment.
That was when some figures approached us. They were magical girls. They were probably patrolling the city. The ones somehow holding up this fragile peace. They spoke.
“You shouldn’t touch the memorial like that, kids.”
“Girls. Didn’t you see the fence in front?”
Now that they mentioned it, there was a red fence surrounding the memorial stele. There was even a sign that read No Entry, No Touching.