“Do you think you can pierce it by staring?”
“Pardon?”
“You were staring so intently.”
“Ah, was I?”
“You’re not someone who can’t eat scallions or crab sticks, are you?”
Another name for san-jeok skewers was three-colored skewers. As the name suggests, it was made of three different colors, hence the name.
And the recipe for these three-colored skewers varied from house to house.
But what they all had in common was the inclusion of scallions and crab sticks.
However, there were surprisingly many who couldn't eat the scallions in san-jeok skewers. Especially children, who often picked out only the scallions and ate the rest.
Yeon-jun figured that Chul-jun, who was just blankly staring at the san-jeok skewer, might be one of those cases.
Even someone called the Demon King, Kim Chul-jun, probably had foods he avoided.
“That’s not it. It’s just... it’s been a while.”
“Huh?”
“Chatting away during Chuseok while eating Chuseok food.”
At Chul-jun’s somewhat bitter demeanor, Yeon-jun recalled an interview with Kim Chul-jun he had seen on TV once.
Just as Yeon-jun had lost his wife during the upheaval, Kim Chul-jun had lost his parents.
When asked by a reporter what the hardest time was, Chul-jun had answered, “Holidays.”
Feeling the awkward silence, Yeon-jun cleared his throat and changed the subject.
“By the way, didn’t you say you were going to buy sikhye? But you came back with homemade sikhye?”
A beat later, a reply came.
“Yeah, I made it and came back.”
“You could never be an aristocrat. What kind of person takes thirty minutes just to buy some sikhye?”
“Every place I went to was sold out. I barely managed to buy this.”
“Uncle! Kancho, where’s the Kancho?”
Seo-jun grinned and pulled out a snack from his coat. It was the snack that Seo-woo had repeatedly asked for.
“Here.”
“Wow!”
“And this one’s for Hye-jin.”
“For me too?”
“Hye-jin, you like throat candy, right? Here.”
Since Ko Kyung-soo was busy, it was usually Hye-jin’s grandmother who raised her, so Hye-jin had quite a mature palate.
“Thank you!”
Receiving the throat candy she hadn’t even expected, Hye-jin beamed with a radiant smile. It was the kind of smile that made those around her smile too.
Seeing that, Chul-jun felt a warmth spreading in a corner of his heart. It was a comforting warmth that filled an empty space.
Park Yeon was on his way to the cinema with Doo-shik for the first time in a while.
While Seo-jun had received master Kwak Gyeong-cheol’s traditional soju as a bribe, Park Yeon had received movie tickets as his.
Of course, Park Yeon didn’t see them as bribes at all, but as a pure Chuseok gift...
While on their way to the cinema—
Doo-shik suddenly stopped in his tracks.
“Why did you stop all of a sudden?”
“What’s your angle?”
“Angle?”
“You must think I’m a fool.”
“Aren’t orcs fools though?”
“I’m not! Want to know why?”
“Go ahead.”
“This isn’t the way to the cinema. You have to go that way to get there. But you, who said we were going to see a movie, are heading in the wrong direction. What could that mean?”
Scratch scratch.
“Maybe it means we’re going to a different cinema.”
“Hmph, as expected—wait, what?”
“I said maybe we’re going to a different cinema.”
“If it’s a different cinema, you mean CGB?”
“Yeah.”
“What about GigaBox?”
“We’re not going there anymore.”
“But that was the only one you ever went to.”
“We’re not going anymore!”
“Really? Why not?”
“Because...”
Because there was no longer a reason to go.
Swallowing his words, Park Yeon spoke.
“More importantly, what kind of person do you think I am to have such impure intentions?”
Feeling embarrassed, Doo-shik cleared his throat.
“Let’s just go.”
“Apologize first.”
“Alright, I’m sorry.”
As Park Yeon nodded with satisfaction and picked up the pace, Doo-shik muttered under his breath,
“...Why am I even apologizing?”
“This looks good. Let’s watch this one.”
“Black Priest?”
Doo-shik, carefully scanning the poster, shook his head.
“I don’t like the synopsis.”
“I do. A story about priests purging evil... It’s a story that stirs the soul. Feels like looking back on my youth.”
“Says the guy who got purged by Seo-jun.”
“Why bring that up here?!”
“If you want to reminisce about your youth, this one fits better.”
Doo-shik pointed at a poster.
“Hwarang Gwanchang?”
Without much thought, Park Yeon read the title and caught sight of the tagline underneath. His eyes flared up.
‘Gwanchang, who charged into enemy territory twice and finally died on the third attempt—this time in history, he survives again!’
“How is it? Perfect, right? I can’t remember how many times Seo-jun saved you...”
“...”
“That story even spread to the Demon Realm. That’s why even the demons don’t remember much else, but they do remember the name Veltebray. At one time, ‘Veltebray’ even came to mean ‘mercy.’”
His insides were boiling, but Park Yeon couldn’t argue. All he could do was search for a new topic to change the subject.
Then, fatefully, something popped up on Park Yeon’s radar—a grateful being capable of changing the subject.
“Let’s stop and go greet President Hwang.”
“President Hwang?”
To Doo-shik, Hwang Tae-su was someone to be grateful to—after all, he was the one who let him ride the elevator.
Park Yeon pointed to a familiar silhouette loitering in front of the ticket kiosk.
Sure enough, Hwang Tae-su was getting his ticket from the unmanned kiosk. Seeing this, the two of them walked over to him together.
Meanwhile—
“Honey, what should we watch?”
“What do you think?”
“I think Black Priest looks good.”
“Sounds good. I’ve wanted to see that too. Let’s go with that.”
Hwang Tae-su printed the tickets. Just as he was about to return to his wife—
“Oh my, President Hwang! How delightful! How nice to see you!”
“Hello, sir.”
“No, this is… no, what is this… why?”
Hwang Tae-su looked visibly flustered. Frankly, it was hard not to be.
‘I came here on purpose…’
The closest movie theater to Hwang Tae-su’s house was GigaBox. Even so, he came to CGB to eliminate variables.
Park Yeon never came to CGB. For some reason, as if it were smeared with honey, he always went to GigaBox.
Even if it was unlikely, he might run into Park Yeon at GigaBox, so he had purposefully chosen this CGB instead.
And he thought he had eliminated every variable perfectly.
‘So why is Monster 2 here!’
Of all places, at this CGB!
And of all times, at this very time slot!
“President Hwang?”
“Ah? Yes, Mr. Park.”
“Hoho. You seem surprised too.”
Damn right I’m freaking surprised.
“Honestly, I was surprised too. Who would’ve guessed President Hwang would be at this CGB, and at this time? Seeing you like this makes me even happier.”
“Ah… I'm happy to see you too. But what brings you to CGB instead of GigaBox?”
“Well… there’s no reason to go there anymore.”
Park Yeon smiled bitterly.
“Who are they?”
“Huh?”
“They seem like people you know, so I figured I should say hello too.”
“Ah… that is, um… well…”
While Hwang Tae-su was stammering, Doo-shik bowed politely.
“I’m Park Doo-shik, indebted to President Hwang!”
Hwang Tae-su’s wife, Park Ye-hee, smiled brightly and turned her gaze to Park Yeon.
“Are you President Hwang’s rose?”
“His rose?”
“Ah, I mean his spouse.”
As Park Ye-hee nodded, Park Yeon offered a gallant hand kiss and a courteous greeting.
“It is an honor to meet you. I am Park Yeon.”
“Hohoho. Your manner of speech is so classic.”
“I’ve heard that before. But I didn’t expect President Hwang to have promised his life to such a beautiful lady.”
“Hoho, you speak so sweetly too.”
Hwang Tae-su, who had been watching carefully, stepped between the two. It wasn’t so much jealousy as… protection.
“But Mr. Park, what brings you here today?”
“Hohoho. Didn’t you give me those movie tickets? Thanks to you, I came to watch a film. Thank you again.”
Hwang Tae-su was filled with regret.
Damn it… I shouldn’t have given them those tickets!
Should’ve given something else instead!
But even when the sky falls, there's always a way out.
“Have you decided what you’re going to watch?”
“Ah, actually I haven’t decided yet.”
Yes!
Even in a tiger’s den, if you keep your wits about you, you can survive!
Delighted, Hwang Tae-su said,
“Then how about this one?”
“‘The Time I Long for Moonlight’?”
“It’s a romance film that came out recently. Don’t you like romance movies, Mr. Park? Hahaha.”
“The title is intriguing. May I hear the plot?”
“Ah, it starts with a boy living in the present losing his phone, and that phone ends up in the Joseon Dynasty hundreds of years ago. A noble lady finds it, and though realistically impossible, they begin to talk over the phone, and that’s how the movie kicks off.”
“Hooh…”
Park Yeon let out a fascinated sigh.
Just hearing the plot, it sounded like it hit his taste exactly.
“What do you think, Orc?”
“Doesn’t sound bad.”
“Thank you, President Hwang. I’ll watch this one.”
“Hahahaha. Don’t mention it.”
That’s when it happened.
“That one’s not that interesting.”
“……!”
“Hm?”
“Just hearing the plot it might sound interesting, but it’s actually pretty boring.”
“D-Dear.”
“Why? I went to see it with Myeon unnie a few days ago. It was really boring. I fell asleep.”
Hwang Tae-su wasn’t shaken. When with Monster 1 and 2, unexpected things always happened. A variable like this… just had to be overcome.
“You like action movies. Of course it didn’t suit your tastes.”
“Well, that could be true.”
Whew…
Just as he was about to sigh in relief, his hand felt empty.
Wait—
The ticket he just printed was gone. And where did it go…?
“‘The Spy Who Moved Next Door’? This looks fun.”
It was in Doo-shik’s hand.
“President Hwang, what’s this one about?”
“……”
“President Hwang?”
“Why are you like this today? That one’s fun.”
Dear god, please…
“It’s a hot topic lately. The story starts when a handsome and beautiful couple moves into the house next door, and at first the main character is happy about the nice neighbors, but then accidentally finds out their secret.”
Stop. Please, stop!
“What secret?”
“Just like the title, the couple turns out to be spies.”
No more, please!
“Hooh, this sounds interesting. What do you think?”
“A comedy movie? Doesn’t sound bad.”
“Hohohoho. Since things turned out this way, why don’t the four of us watch together?”
Hwang Tae-su, who had lost his soul, suddenly shouted out.
“We can’t do that!”
“Hm?”
“President Hwang?”
“Why not? You almost burst my eardrums.”
“Ah… um, well. Don’t you two like romance movies? Besides, this movie…”
“We can just come back tomorrow to watch that one, can’t we? You gave us several tickets after all.”
“……”
At that moment, a quote flashed through Hwang Tae-su’s mind:
‘Today’s me wants to kill yesterday’s me.’
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