Time Together
The rice cooker’s completion chime rang from the kitchen. Jung Na-yeon finished folding the last of the laundry, rose, tied on her apron, and opened the refrigerator. Today she had decided on beef seaweed soup. She still remembered the offhand remark Hyun-soo had dropped a few days earlier—that he was craving miyeok-guk. As she sautéed the beef in sesame oil, added the seaweed, and poured in the water, she glanced at the smartphone lying on the dining table.
A full week had passed without a single word from her husband. Once that silence had clenched her heart; now it felt almost comfortable.
While the soup simmered she made steamed egg, set it on the table, and plated some cubed radish kimchi.
Laying out two rice bowls and two pairs of chopsticks side by side, her hands suddenly stilled.
For ten years of marriage she had set the table for two in exactly the same way, yet never had her hands felt this light. She looked toward the master bedroom. She already knew Hyun-soo’s habit of sleeping late on Saturday mornings.
The fact that this man was her tenant, the fact that she was a married woman—both were growing fainter by the day.
The soup bubbled and filled the kitchen; she raised her voice toward the bedroom.
“Hyun-soo, breakfast is ready. Get up.”
At the sound of her call, Hyun-soo stirred awake on the master-bedroom bed, rumpled and half-asleep.
“Mmm… already set?”
Hearing the husky voice from the bedroom, Na-yeon let out a soft laugh, ladle still in hand.
Casual speech had become natural for both of them without either of them noticing. At first he had called her Na-yeon-ssi; then it became Na-yeon-ah; now, whether under the covers or at the table, they mixed words without any boundary left between them.
“Yeah, everything’s ready, so wash your face and come out. The soup’s getting cold.”
She heard his footsteps heading for the bathroom, then the faucet turning on. In the meantime she ladled the seaweed soup into bowls and set them on the table. She filled the rice bowls, heaping extra into Hyun-soo’s.
She had learned this man’s appetite by heart. One and a half bowls was standard; if the broth was good, he went for two.
She pushed the kimchi plate closer to his side and smiled.
Looking down at the two place settings side by side, she paused. Beef seaweed soup, steamed egg, cubed radish kimchi, white rice. An ordinary breakfast with nothing special about it. Yet setting this simple table warmed her chest because the person who would eat it was yawning and washing his face right now. When her husband had been around, half the time she ate alone even after setting the table—excuses of business trips, excuses of company dinners. She shook her head and pushed the thought away.
She sat in a chair and waited for him to come out.
His clothes hanging in the closet. The Air Maxes by the entrance. Underwear washed together in the machine. Her eyes reddened as she looked back and forth between the two rice bowls on the table.
If this wasn’t cohabitation, what was it?
She rolled the word around in her mind, then composed her expression at the sound of the bathroom door opening and spoke.
“It’s seaweed soup today. You said you wanted it.”
“Oh, really?”
Hyun-soo smiled.
“That’s my Na-yeon for you. Always so thoughtful.”
“Thoughtful, nothing. You keep saying you want this and that, so of course I remember.”
She spoke gruffly, but she couldn’t hide the upward curve of her lips. She stirred her own soup once, picked out pieces of beef, and transferred them into his bowl.
“I wanted seaweed soup, and now I’m living large.”
“Living large, my foot. It’s just a meal. Try it. I’m not sure about the seasoning.”
She picked up her spoon and watched him. Her eyes were quietly tense as she followed the spoonful of soup to his mouth. She had put in plenty of beef and circled the sesame oil one more time than usual. Every time he showed a reaction that it was delicious, she casually picked up a piece of kimchi, put it in her mouth, and looked away.
“Try the steamed egg too. It’s no good once it cools.”
She scooped her own rice, then glanced at his bowl. Already half gone. She had watched him eat every day, yet it still amazed her.
“Eat slowly. No one’s going to take it from you.”
“It’s just that good.”
“Tch…”
Even as she scolded him, she already nodded toward the rice cooker—meaning she knew he would have another bowl.
“It’s Saturday—what are you going to do today?”
She asked, blowing on her seaweed soup. On weekdays he spent time on the living-room sofa watching television or fiddling with his phone; she shared the same space beside him, folding laundry or doing the dishes. On weekends the expectation that they ought to do something together rose in her, and even she found it a little funny.
“If the weather’s nice we could go out. Or just rest at home.”
She spoke as if indifferent, but the way she waited for his answer was already full of anticipation. Warm steam from the soup rose between them over the table.
“Let’s go out after we eat.”
She watched his mouth as he ate the soup.
“Take a walk, check out the downtown area…”
Walk. Downtown.
As those words reached her ears, her heart raced. Last time at the mall she had introduced him as her younger brother. Back then she had thought it fit well enough, but two weeks later she was no longer sure that lie would come out of her mouth naturally.
“Downtown? Got somewhere in mind?”
She asked while eating the steamed egg. Her voice was calm, but already she was rifling through her closet in her mind for what to wear.
“How about Hongdae?”
“Hongdae would be crowded.”
She muttered while chewing rice. Crowded meant lots of eyes. What would people think if they saw the two of them walking side by side?
“The weather’s nice, though.”
“You’re right, the weather is nice. I opened the curtains earlier and the sun was blazing.”
She finished her rice, set down her spoon, and looked straight at him.
“But if we go out, how are you going to introduce me? As your noona again?”
She asked, narrowing her eyes.
“No.”
At his single word she let out a soft laugh.
“You do the dishes. Give me some time to get ready.”
After finishing the meal she stood from the chair, left the dishes in the sink, and her steps toward the master bedroom were faster than usual. The sound of the closet opening reached the living room. The clatter of hangers followed one after another.
She took out a sky-blue blouse and an A-line skirt suited for spring, laid them on the bed, and stood before the mirror. Opening the vanity drawer, she confirmed that her face in the glass had brightened. The fingertips applying tint to her lips were full of excitement.
While the sounds of dishes clinking and the faucet running came from the kitchen, in the master bedroom Na-yeon sat at the vanity looking into the mirror. Her movements applying base and drawing her eyebrows were more careful than usual. She chose coral-toned eyeshadow, lifted her lashes, and applied mascara twice. Thinking her face in the mirror looked decent, she dabbed on the rose-colored tint once more and pursed her lips.
She couldn’t remember if she had ever put this much effort into makeup even when she was dating her husband.
She put on the sky-blue blouse and A-line skirt and stood before the full-length mirror. The blouse softly hugged the line of her chest; the A-line skirt elegantly covered her waist and hips. She turned to check her back view, then wore a satisfied expression.
She sprayed perfume on her wrists and behind her ears, took out a shoulder bag, and put in her wallet, tint, and sunglasses. From the shoe cabinet by the entrance she took out flat shoes, set them neatly, and glanced toward the kitchen.
She heard him finishing the dishes.
“All done washing?”
“Dishes are done.”
She went into the kitchen, checked the overturned bowls, and nodded.
“Good, pass. You dried them well.”
She spoke as if a mother praising a child, but her eyes were soft. She stood in front of him and turned once as if showing herself off.
“How is it? Okay?”
He nodded.
“Pure and clean—exactly my style.”
Feeling his gaze travel from her face down her body, she lifted the corner of her mouth.
“If you’re done looking, hurry and change too. I’ll hold the car key.”
She grabbed the Grandeur key hanging on the entrance wall and slipped it into her bag. She put on her shoes and waited for him to change. When she heard the closet opening and closing in the bedroom, she took out her phone and checked the weather. Seoul temperature fourteen degrees, clear. No wind—perfect weather for an outing. Scrolling the smartphone screen, she started searching for cafés and restaurants near Hongdae.
“If we go to Hongdae, there are lots of nice cafés in the alleys. Having a cup of coffee there would be good too.”
She spoke toward the bedroom. Until he came out she sat on the sofa browsing Hongdae restaurant tags. Pasta place, handmade burger place—since lunch had been handled with seaweed soup, they could eat something around dinner.
As she flipped through the screen, her hand stopped on a post with couple photos. A couple smiling inside a four-cut photo booth. She stared at that photo for a few seconds, then turned the screen off.