A Unique Taste
The man dangling the cup from his middle finger hooked through the handle clicked his tongue the moment I failed to react.
“What, boring.”
“……”
“Hey?”
“Enough. Just get out there and do your job.”
I waved him off roughly and stood. To slip past the man blocking the way to the kitchen I started to circle around him, only for the rustle of fabric to sound as he suddenly stepped into my path. We were close enough that the smell of his sweat rolled over me in a wave.
Oddly, it wasn’t unpleasant. Mixed with earth and grass, the man’s sweat smelled closer to raw nature than anything refined. Save for the faintest trace of cigarette smoke.
Come to think of it, he’d had a cigarette between his lips the first time I saw him. Father loathed both drink and tobacco, so smoking was forbidden inside the house; I’d never caught him doing it in the yard, and the sight still felt strangely new.
In any case, it was better than Do Ha-jin’s cologne. The comparison was random, but true.
“You always look that blank?”
He tilted his head a little and peered down at me.
“Pretty face, sure, but you’re just like a doll.”
I ignored him and shifted sideways; he stuck to me again. What the hell was he after? I frowned up at him, and he waggled his eyebrows in open mockery.
“What’s your problem?”
“Nothing. Just curious.”
“……”
“A kid this vacant… hard to picture, but thinking about it… hmm. Not bad either.”
“You must be out of your mind.”
I shot the hard-to-follow muttering a listless retort and moved sideways once more. This time he didn’t follow—only turned his head—then, before I could fully pass, stretched the cup-holding hand toward me. In the instant I flinched, the hard bottom of the cup settled on the crown of my head.
“Return this for me.”
“……”
“Got a lot to do.”
I merely rolled my eyes in disbelief; the man carefully balanced the cup on my head and withdrew his hand.
“Keep your balance. It’ll fall.”
He twisted his mouth into a smile similar to the one he’d shown Heeyeon, yet different—less innocent, more mischievous. Either way he was handsome enough that I let it slide.
Both hands shoved into his pants pockets, he gave me a leisurely once-over, then abruptly leaned his upper body in close.
“You’ve got unique tastes.”
The voice that settled by my ear brushed my eardrum. The wild scent rising from his nearer nape pricked my nose, and the face filling my entire field of vision scraped along my optic nerves. Too busy registering the frantic pulse of every nerve to even ask what he meant.
“Still, be careful. Nothing good comes of getting caught.”
He left those equally opaque words behind and walked away. I turned after him in a daze; the weight on my head swayed heavily. Only then did I remember the cup and snatch it up.
“Oh, quick reflexes.”
With that light jab he headed for the front door.
“What are you talking about? Taste?”
I called at his retreating back; he merely twisted his head to look at me.
“Playing dumb? Or do you have so many secrets you can’t even tell which one I mean?”
“Neither. You’re the one talking so I can’t understand.”
“Whatever.”
“……”
“If you’re really dying to know what I’ve figured out, come ask me yourself.”
Unique tastes? What did that even mean? After only two exchanges, what taste could he possibly be talking about? I had no clue.
Soon he vanished around the corner. Only after the sound of the front door opening and closing reached me did I turn toward the kitchen. The peeping had already been mentioned, so it couldn’t be that… had he just said it for fun?
Still puzzled, I stepped into the kitchen. Heeyeon, who had been slicing watermelon, spotted me and looked startled.
“Oh my, I’m so sorry.”
“What?”
“I was so busy prepping the fruit I completely forgot to bring you water. I’ll get it right now.”
“……”
I glanced back and forth between her—hurriedly pulling out a glass and pouring mineral water—and the mug in my own hand. What was this?
“Hmm? That’s the one Seon-tae took earlier. Why do you have it, Miss?”
Handing me the water, she noticed the mug and tilted her head the same way I had. I swapped the cups for now, sipped the cool water, and asked casually,
“What was in that cup?”
“Ah, nothing. He just asked for an unused one.”
So the drinking had been for show. Incredulous, I glanced toward the kitchen doorway.
“Why an unused cup?”
“To put flowers in as thanks to Madam for the fruit. Why on earth did he return it?”
Turning the mug this way and that, she suddenly let out a small gasp.
“There’s a chip here.”
“……”
“Then he should’ve just brought it back himself. Why make the young lady do it? I understand, though. He’s a mischievous one.”
She shoved the cup into the corner of the sink and returned to cutting the watermelon. I watched her skillfully reduce it to neat cubes for a moment, then set my glass down beside the container.
“This one’s not quite ripe yet, so we’ll eat it. I’ll pick a perfectly ripe one for you, Miss.”
“……”
“I’ll put the Representative’s share in the fridge as well, and if you happen to run into him… um, I’ll speak to him separately.”
Knowing full well there was little conversation between Father and me, she quickly changed the subject. I gave a rough nod that meant she could handle it however she liked and left the kitchen.
Right before climbing to the second floor I absently glanced back toward the entrance.
What had that man meant? What did he know? I considered going out to ask, then decided to put it off for later.
Again.
Through the closed window my eyes met the man’s once more.
“……”
Seated on the ladder and pruning, he stared at me for a short while before turning his attention elsewhere. The glass shut out every outside sound, yet each dynamic flex of his thick forearms made me imagine a sharp thwack, thwack.
Both legs propped on the sill, knees hugged to my chest, I watched him. After being caught peeping I had felt awkward enough to stay away for a while, but the words he had left yesterday had pricked my curiosity and drawn me back to the window.
What unique taste would be troublesome if discovered?
I neither particularly liked nor disliked anything. More precisely, those things had disappeared. After witnessing that the end of extreme emotion was burning to death, even the mildest food preferences had vanished.
For someone whose strongest reaction to most things was “not bad” or “okay,” what taste could he possibly have found? We had barely spoken. An entire day of thinking produced nothing.
Apparently finished with the shears, the man tossed them onto the lawn with a dull thud and wiped his sweat with the towel around his neck. He even pulled the water bottle from his waistband and upended it over his head.
Every time he shook his head, droplets flew in every direction and glittered sparsely in the sunlight. Only after washing his face with the mineral water did he crush the PET bottle flat, toss it into the air, catch it again, and lift his gaze once more.
“……”
His left eyebrow sat a little higher; a faint look of displeasure sat on his face. As if to say, if you’re curious just come out—why keep peeping? Or simply that he found it irritating.
Maybe it had only been idle talk. How much could he even know about me? If anything, I knew more about him.
If word got out that the man was a former labor-service thug, he might well lose the gardener’s job. Father had left all garden affairs to the Director, so the Director handled the hiring; however good-natured he was, he wouldn’t want to work alongside a gangster.
Besides, the Director had been with our household so long that he possessed a certain sense of ownership. He would certainly not want a lowlife under the same roof.
Of course I had no intention of spreading the information. Not my business. And it was a hassle.
Haa. I let out an irritated sigh. That man, really. If he knew something he should have kept it to himself the way I did. Why bring it up and make me curious for no reason?
Still meeting his eyes, I looked at him with open displeasure and climbed down from the sill.
What was the point of endless solitary speculation? Staying curious was more tiring. I had nothing else to do anyway. Bored—might as well satisfy the curiosity. Thinking that, I started down the stairs and found Heeyeon and Madam cleaning them. Madam, who had been mopping, spoke gently.
“Do you need something?”
“No. Just going to get some air in the yard.”
“Oh my. Good idea.”
Apparently finding my constant seclusion stifling, she quickly made way. Heeyeon, wiping the handrail, also stared as if surprised, then offered a small smile. Feeling awkward, I left the staircase behind.
Outside, the sun stood at its highest. Shielding my eyes with one hand, I scanned the yard and spotted the man’s back some distance away, ladder balanced on his shoulder. The Director was watering the opposite flowerbed.
“Ji-yul.”
The moment my feet sank into the soft grass, the Director—still swinging the hose—noticed me and called out in recognition.
I merely dipped my head to him and walked straight past, heading for the man. Without so much as a glance at the stone statue I cut diagonally across the yard; the Director’s gaze followed briefly before he returned to his work. As the hum of his tuneless song faded, the distance to the man closed.
He walked on in silence, eyes fixed ahead. Even though my footsteps and presence should have been unmistakable, he remained unmoved. Pretending not to hear on purpose? His white T-shirt, soaked through with sweat and water, clung tightly, so that the muscles of his back flexed and shifted with every step.
I stared blankly at the groove of his spine for a moment, then poked the right-side muscle with a fingertip. Only then did he stop and turn.
“Huh? Who’s this.”
“……”
“What brings you all the way out here.”
The exaggerated surprise told me he had known I was following and had simply pretended otherwise. I stared at him, incredulous; he gave a short laugh and set the ladder down beside a tree.
“Come here a second.”
“……”
After spreading the legs and locking them in place he jerked his chin at me. When I stayed put, wondering what this was about, he nodded sharply again and again; water droplets flew from the ends of his hair each time. A few landed on my face. I frowned and wiped them away.
“It’ll only take a moment. Hurry up.”
I exhaled a heavy sigh and walked over—to the opposite side of the ladder he was holding.
“Hold the leg for me.”
“What?”
“The ground here is a goddamn mess. Hard to keep my balance.”
“You’re telling me to hold the ladder?”
“Doesn’t look like it’ll help much, but better than nothing, I guess.”