Chapter 8: More Than Just a Meal: The Taste of Belonging

It was Lunar New Year’s Day morning.
Thanks to Ji-eun, I now woke up automatically at eight o’clock.
I tidied up my bedding, washed up quickly in the bathroom, and came out when I heard Ji-eun’s voice.

She called for me every day at eight o’clock without fail.
“Jihoon Oppa~ Are you awake?!”
I opened the door, and Ji-eun greeted me with a bright smile.
“It’s tough for you, waking up early every day… Where’s Grandpa?”
“He’s waiting for you at home! We’re having donggeurangttaeng for breakfast. Let’s go!”
Ji-eun tugged at my sleeve.
“I’m going, so stop pulling.”
I let Ji-eun lead me to their apartment.
“Grandpa~ I brought Jihoon Oppa~”
“Oh, you’re here? Go ahead and relax in the room. It’s Lunar New Year, we should have some holiday food.”
“Did you make donggeurangttaeng this morning? You should have called me earlier…”
Grandpa replied with a gentle smile.
“No, no. The community center gave us the jeon and namul yesterday. I just made tteokguk this morning.”
“Oppa, Oppa. I helped Grandpa make tteokguk, see? I did a good job, right?!”
“Yeah, you worked hard this morning.”
“Hehe.”
Ji-eun looked up at me with a bright smile. Did she enjoy being praised that much? Well, she was still a kid.
“You two sit down. I’ll get breakfast ready in a minute.”
Grandpa tried to get up as soon as I arrived.
“No, it’s okay. We’ll do it. You rest, Grandpa. Come on, Ji-eun.”
“Okay! Grandpa, you rest! I’ll set the table with Oppa! We’re good at it now!”
Grandpa chuckled and stayed seated.
“Alright, go ahead. The tteokguk was just made, so there’s no need to reheat it.”
“Okay.”
Ji-eun and I went to the kitchen and took out the namul and jeon from the refrigerator.
“Heat up the jeon in the microwave.”
“For how long?”
“Just a minute and a half.”
“Got it~”
“And can you take the side dishes and set the table in the room?”
“Okay!”
While Ji-eun went to the room, I ladled the tteokguk into bowls. The bowls were hot, so I put them on a tray and took them to the room.
“Oppa, Oppa, I heard you get a year older when you eat tteokguk. If I eat ten bowls, will I be the same age as you and become your friend?”
“Do you think I’ll just sit here while you eat ten bowls? Don’t overeat, just eat slowly.”
“Let’s eat, everyone. This looks delicious.”
Grandpa took a bite of tteokguk, and Ji-eun and I started eating too.
Ji-eun picked up a donggeurangttaeng and took a bite.
“Donggeurangttaeng is so yummy!”
“Don’t just eat the jeon. Eat some namul too.”
“I don’t want to eat vegetables.”
“If you want the jeon to taste even better, you have to eat the vegetables too, even if they don’t taste as good.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. That’s how it works.”
I ate some spinach, and Ji-eun followed suit. Then she ate a donggeurangttaeng and looked at me with wide, sparkling eyes.
“It’s true! The donggeurangttaeng tastes better after eating spinach!”
It actually worked?
“Yeah. Eat a lot. Be careful; the tteokguk is hot.”
“Okay! You eat too, Oppa~ Grandpa, Grandpa, try the donggeurangttaeng!”
“Haha. Alright, I will. Ji-eun, make sure you chew your food well, okay~?”
“Okay~”
Ji-eun continued eating with a happy smile. Grandpa and I exchanged a smile, looking at her, and finished our meal.
Ji-eun, who had declared she’d eat ten bowls of tteokguk, only managed to finish one, probably because she ate so much jeon. As we cleared the table, Ji-eun followed me.
“Oppa, let’s clean up together~!”
“How about you clean up by yourself?”
“No~ I want to do it with you!”
“Fine. Soak the dishes in water.”
“Okay!”

After washing the dishes with Ji-eun, I returned to the room. When I sat down, Ji-eun sat right next to me.
“Hehe.”
I was about to ask her why she was sitting so close when she just giggled.
“It’s Lunar New Year, you should do sebae. Ji-eun, hurry and bow. You too, bow and get some New Year’s money.”
“Huh?”
“I’m happy to give a student some New Year’s money, so just do it.”
I was a bit taken aback, but Ji-eun tugged on my sleeve.
“Oppa, Oppa, let’s bow together!”
“Huh? Oh, okay.”
I got up and stood in front of Grandpa.
“Happy New Year.”
“Grandpa, Happy New Year~”
After we bowed respectfully and stood up, Grandpa took out envelopes from his pocket.
“Okay. Ji-eun, and you too. Have a healthy and happy new year. Here’s your New Year’s money.”
It seemed he’d prepared mine in advance.
“Thank you.”
“Thank you~”
Ji-eun and I received the envelopes.
Ji-eun smiled brightly, holding the envelope in her hand.
“Oppa, let’s go get fish-shaped bread later.”
“I don’t think anywhere will be open today since it’s New Year’s Day. But if they are, let’s go.”
“That’s too bad. I wanted to buy fish-shaped bread for Oppa and Grandpa.”
As soon as she got some money, she thought about spending it on others.
“Save it to spend with your friends when you start school.”
“Oppa is my friend too~ If the fish-shaped bread place isn’t open, should I buy you chicken?”
I chuckled at Ji-eun’s suggestion.
“No, I’ll buy you chicken, you buy the fish-shaped bread.”
“Hehe. Okay. Grandpa, let’s go to the market at lunchtime!”
“Okay. Let’s go to the market together. Come on.”

I went to the market with Ji-eun and Grandpa. There weren’t as many vendors as usual because it was Lunar New Year’s Day, but there were more than I had expected. There were also a lot of families visiting the market.
“Be careful not to get lost. Okay?”
“Then, let’s hold hands like this, right?”
Ji-eun grabbed my hand.
“Whatever you want.”
“Oppa, where should we go first?! Should we go to the fruit stand? I’ll buy you some!”
“Don’t worry about buying me anything, and save your money for when you need it.”
“But I want to buy Oppa and Grandpa something delicious~”
“I appreciate the thought.”
“Okay~. Oppa! Grandpa! Let’s go over there too~!”
“Slow down a little. Grandpa needs to keep up.”
“Haha. Don’t worry about me. I’ll keep up.”
Still, I held Ji-eun’s hand tightly and matched my pace with Grandpa’s. Ji-eun also adjusted her pace to match ours, holding my hand.
“Oh, by the way, how’s Ji-eun’s school preparation going?”
“She went to the pre-enrollment meeting, and they said she can start attending in March.”
“Doesn’t she need a school bag, shoe bag, things like that?”
Ji-eun interrupted our conversation.
“Yes! I’m starting school next month?! We should go together, Oppa~”
“High school starts earlier than elementary school, so we probably can’t go together.”
“Then I’ll just go to school early~”
“What are you going to do at school all alone?”
“Hmm, read or study?”
“Sure, then.”
“Yay! Promise?!”
“Yeah. Grandpa, you rest at home! I’ll go to school with Oppa!”
“I keep telling you, don’t bother Oppa too much, okay?”
“Okay! Don’t worry! Oppa and I are really close!”
Ji-eun said confidently. Grandpa and I made eye contact and smiled.
“You’ve become quite close with Ji-eun.”
“Well, it just happened naturally since we spend so much time together.”
“Haha. That’s good. Keep being good friends.”
“I intend to.”
I’d only exchanged a few words with Grandpa when something caught Ji-eun’s eye.
“Oppa! Grandpa! Look over there-!”
“What is it now?”
“Fish-shaped bread-!!”
“Do you like fish-shaped bread that much?”
Ji-eun responded with sparkling eyes.
“Of course! It’s fish-shaped bread season in the winter! Let’s go! I’ll buy you some!”
Ji-eun pulled me with all her might.
“Hey, hey, I’m going, so stop pulling. I’m going to fall.”
“Grandpa, hurry up~”
“I’m alright, you two go ahead.”
“Then, we’ll go ahead.”
Ji-eun and I arrived at the fish-shaped bread stand before Grandpa.
“Six fish-shaped breads, please-!”
“Alright~ What filling would you like? Red bean paste or custard cream?”
“All red bean paste, please-!”
“Just a moment~”
Ji-eun finished ordering and looked at me.
“Hehe. They’re going to be so yummy!”
“Why don’t you try the custard cream filling sometime?”
“Nah, fish-shaped bread has to be red bean paste, Oppa!”
Her firmness made me chuckle.
“Here you go~ Fish-shaped bread~”
“Thank you~ Here’s the money!”
Ji-eun took a 10,000 won bill from her pocket and handed it to the vendor. The vendor smiled and asked,
“Oh, you’re paying? How grown-up~”
“Thank you~”
“Here’s your change~ Enjoy!”
“Yes~ I will~”
Ji-eun hugged the warm bag and looked at me.
“Oppa, see? I can buy fish-shaped bread by myself now.”
“Yeah, you’re amazing. Let’s go brag to Grandpa.”
“Hehe. Okay! Grandpa~ I bought fish-shaped bread!”
As soon as she finished speaking, Ji-eun ran to Grandpa.
“Hey! Wait up!”
“Hurry up, Oppa~”
I thought this would be the coldest winter. But thanks to Ji-eun and Grandpa, it was warmer than I expected. It was a boisterous and warm winter, with warm breakfast every day.