The Shattered Watch
“If it feels dirty, just install a water purifier.”
“How do you even do that?”
“You just… call them.”
“Call who?”
Buying bottled water every time must have gotten on his nerves, because Kwon Hyun-jin showed interest in a water purifier. There was nothing to do while the pot of water came to a boil anyway, so I searched for the phone number of the most famous water-purifier brand.
Kwon Hyun-jin looked down at the screen with me as it transferred to customer service and muttered as if puzzled.
“You have a phone…?”
“…Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?”
What a ridiculous thing to say. While I waited for a counselor to connect, his low voice slipped out.
“What about a boyfriend.”
“…”
“Do you really have one?”
“…”
“You must, fuck. Of course you do.”
“Hello? Yes, I’d like to install a water purifier. The address here is… just a second. Take this.”
I handed the unfriendly homeowner over to the kind counselor. After listening with grave concentration to the long explanation, Kwon Hyun-jin looked at me.
“An ice water purifier?”
“Get that one.”
“…They’re coming tomorrow?”
“Tell them to come. It’s not like you’ve got anything better to do.”
“Three o’clock. Fine. Yes.”
Even after hanging up he kept fiddling with my phone as if there were still something he wanted to say.
Did they not have ice water purifiers in England?
It struck me all over again that the kid was a minor. He had lived at home only until he was eight; after that it had been nothing but school dormitories. Even during vacations.
So he knew nothing about ordinary life. And there was no adult beside him to teach him…
I dropped a lump of fresh noodles into the boiling water and stirred. Instantly the pot became a swirling mess. My own heart felt strangely restless for no good reason.
Who was I pitying here? That kid was a fourth-generation chaebol. He would eat well and live well just fine on his own.
“…Did Lee Chan-hee not tell you I asked for your number?”
“He didn’t. When the water’s boiling hard, add cold water to the pot a little at a time. Don’t let it overflow. Do it about three times and the noodles will be done.”
Helping Mom, I had become decent enough at cooking myself.
“But you—do you even eat this kind of thing?”
“You said it was food.”
“Well, yeah, but…”
“Suddenly don’t want me to make it?”
“…”
“You said you would. Hurry up.”
Would this even suit his palate? I remained doubtful even as I prepared the soybean noodle soup. There was no salt, so I decided to sprinkle in the sugar that happened to be in the cupboard.
“…!”
Suddenly the sugar poured out of the bag in a cascade. I barely managed to keep my expression steady, pretending this too was part of the recipe.
“Is this really cement?”
“I told you it isn’t.”
The thick soybean broth must have looked suspicious; Kwon Hyun-jin stared at the soybean noodle soup the way one might stare at a poisoned apple.
“You try it first.”
“Okay.”
Worried about the taste, I quickly took the chopsticks, mixed the noodles, and took a bite.
Oh…? It was actually pretty good. Being handmade noodles, the chewy, springy texture was perfect. I finally understood why Mom had groaned about her wrists aching from kneading the dough.
“See? It’s good. You try it too.”
While I looked for a clean pair of chopsticks, Kwon Hyun-jin had already started on the noodles.
Couldn’t even wait a second, and using someone else’s chopsticks… I was about to scold him when his eyebrows twitched as he chewed the strands with a doubtful look.
“Right? Better than you expected?”
“…”
“Don’t just eat the noodles. Eat them with the soybean broth.”
I scooped some of the savory, sweet broth onto a spoon along with the noodles and held it out for him.
“Food’s supposed to be moist. Eating it dry is no good.”
Afraid he would tire of it, I found young summer-radish kimchi in the green bundle in the fridge. The moment I opened the lid the sharp, tangy scent made my mouth water.
“Eat this with it too.”
I set it right under his nose, yet Kwon Hyun-jin didn’t even touch the kimchi. A sigh escaped me on its own.
This kid really had no idea how to eat soybean noodle soup.
When I laid the tender young radish over the white noodles, Kwon Hyun-jin paused.
“Try it. It’s made with summer radish, so it’s delicious. This one’s not even that spicy.”
“…”
Once again he chewed the young-radish kimchi with clear reluctance. Then, as if it had grown on him, he began picking up bits of it little by little.
Earlier he had dared to scorn it as cement dough, and now he had emptied an entire bowl of noodles. I felt oddly proud.
“The Chairman has a farm in Yesan. These are organic black soybeans grown there, so of course they taste good.”
“It’s edible.”
“Just boil the noodles the way I did. Don’t keep the soybean broth for long.”
I folded the gold wrapping cloth neatly and packed it away.
“I’ve seen you eat, so I’ll go now. Ask the helper to do the dishes.”
“Hey.”
Footsteps followed me as I headed for the front door.
“You never answered what I asked earlier.”
“What?”
“Whether you really have a boyfriend.”
Why would that even matter to you? I was about to snap back when a certain face flashed through my mind and I squinted.
Stuffing my feet into my sneakers, I asked,
“Did Chan-hee say that?”
“Just answer the question.”
Lee Chan-hee was my real little brother; for a boy he was sweet and cute, yet when he acted out of line it drove me crazy.
“I don’t have anything like a boyfriend. And since Chan-hee came up, I’ll return this.”
I took out what I had brought in my bag.
A watch with a silver strap and a dazzling navy dial. Afraid of even the slightest scratch, I had wrapped it carefully in a handkerchief to carry it here.
Kwon Hyun-jin looked at the watch in my hand, then lifted his gaze to my face.
“Why this?”
“You gave it to Chan-hee, didn’t you? As a high-school entrance gift…”
“So what.”
His eyes were murderous. The face that had softened for a moment hardened into stone.
A month ago Chan-hee had come to see Mom and run into Kwon Hyun-jin, who had come to greet the Chairman.
“Noona, Hyun-jin hyung gave me a watch!” Chan-hee had bragged, then after looking into it a little he had grown very serious.
The secondhand price of the watch Kwon Hyun-jin had taken off his own wrist was soaring past seventy million won.
To a chaebol one expensive watch was nothing—probably not even much money—but Chan-hee and I were ordinary people. The moment we learned the price, fear hit us hard.
“That thing is way too expensive for a high-school freshman. I thought it was right to return it.”
“Ha.”
Kwon Hyun-jin’s mouth twisted savagely.
“High schoolers can’t wear expensive watches? Who made that a law?”
“Kwon Hyun-jin. We’re… different from you.”
“What?”
For an instant his handsome face contorted. He took a step closer, both hands shoved into his pockets.
“Lee Na-hee.”
“…”
“Interesting way of talking.”
The voice that had turned terrifying made a chill run down my spine.
I had hated coming precisely because I was afraid something like this would happen… My lips went dry under Kwon Hyun-jin’s sharp, glittering gaze.
“I gave it to Lee Chan-hee. So what about it.”
“My brother doesn’t need something like this. You don’t have to give it.”
“If you don’t want it because it’s fucking disgusting, tell Lee Chan-hee to bring it himself. Is Lee Chan-hee a lawyer? Why the fuck are you making a fuss?”
“It’s not that I don’t want it. It’s that something like this is burdensome for our Chan-hee.”
“What’s burdensome. This isn’t even new. I used to wear it.”
“It’s not that kind of problem…”
“Fuck. Then throw it away!”
“…”
“I don’t take back things that other people’s hands have touched.”
A sigh escaped me. Still impossible to reason with. I carefully set the watch on the console table by the entrance.
“Anyway, I’m returning this. Then…”
I turned as if fleeing the wide entrance hall. Just as I was about to leave the apartment,
there was a dull thud.
I looked back. It was the watch. It had struck so hard that the crystal of the dial lay shattered across the entrance floor.
Staring at the broken watch, I looked up at Kwon Hyun-jin in shock. Our eyes met at once, as if he had been glaring only at me the entire time.
“What are you looking at.”
“…”
“Get out, Lee Na-hee.”
The rims of his eyes, flushed with anger, were reddish.
That fierce face recalled his childhood. The difference now that he had grown so tall was that even the air itself seemed to freeze under his savagery.
A gaze as sharp as an arrow buried itself in my back.
I did not look at him again until I had left the house.