TFEB 10

Chapter 10…

 Chickens and a Bicycle

Let’s slowly think back to how things ended up this way in the first place. That was my position. I believed it was all because of Cha Jun-jae’s tendency to obsess over pointless things.

The sound of bicycle wheels rolling along was aggravating my already sour mood.

Cha Jun-jae and I were walking along a coastal road near the white waves. With one hand on the bicycle handlebars, Cha Jun-jae gazed out at the sea. His dark eyes captured the orange sunlight with a charm different from the one he’d possessed as a child.

Don’t most people go through an awkward phase as they grow up, when they become less attractive? These days, I took meticulous care of myself, but back in my school days, I’d traded snacks for a good figure.

But Cha Jun-jae? He ate whatever he wanted and went through adolescence around the same time I did. So how on earth had he managed to avoid even the slightest embarrassment in his graduation photos?

I could believe that God might favor one particular person. After all, even I clearly distinguished between people I liked and those I didn’t.

But this was too much. Wasn’t it excessive for God to keep someone so favored by His grace by my side for this long?

“Jun-jae.”

Cha Jun-jae’s hair was tousled by the wind, and he looked to be in a good mood. His expression as he leisurely enjoyed the scenery made my insides twist with jealousy.

“Thanks for bringing me all the way here. Gosh, you really didn’t have to.”

“Is this where you’re staying?”

Of course not. Did he think I’d been living on the side of a coastal road?

Cha Jun-jae slowly stopped smiling as he looked up at a pub with a rather decadent atmosphere. Not wanting to give him the wrong idea, I forced myself to come up with an explanation.

“No, that’s not it. I told you I don’t work here. Um, what’s it called… I have to go down that alley over there, but… it’s a bit rough. The smell, the horse manure, ugh. When I first came here, I was so shocked…”

“Over there?”

“Huh?”

“Let’s go. I’ll walk you there.”

Although he said he’d walk me there, his eyes weren’t smiling at all.

I knew Cha Jun-jae to some extent. He was so squeamish that he wouldn’t even touch raw fish. I crossed my arms and stood guard at the entrance to the alley, as if I were graciously giving him one last chance.

“You really don’t have to walk me there. I know these roads better than you do, Jun-jae. If you’ve spent that much time here and still can’t find your way around, you should go see a doctor, okay?”

“Hmm, I wonder.”

“Right. Even you think that sounds ridiculous, don’t you?”

“You don’t want to show me where you’re staying.”

Cha Jun-jae pointed out my dark intentions in his slow, measured voice.

My agitation gradually subsided.

“It’s not like that.”

Whatever he found so amusing, Cha Jun-jae lowered his head once before looking back at me with a faint smile.

I was dumbfounded when he simply walked past me and entered the alley without permission. Did he even know where he was going?

“Hey, Jun-jae!”

I shook my head, trying to clear my muddled thoughts.

I had to find some way to chase away this fox trying to invade my comfortable little nest.

Fortunately, I knew a few of his weaknesses. And today’s plan was an extension of that knowledge.

I hurried after him, practically running hard enough to make my feet sweat, and caught up beside him.

“Aren’t those pants expensive? They’re going to get splattered with mud.”

“It’s fine.”

“Your shoes are going to get ruined, too.”

“It’s fine.”

No matter what I said, Cha Jun-jae kept repeating the same answer like a robot.

He’d always been like that. Whenever he decided he wanted something or had something he wanted to do, he’d display a level of determination and stubbornness that hadn’t been there before.

Once he reached a certain point, not even his ancestors could stop him.

While inwardly pacing in frustration, I forced myself to smile casually.

“Wow, haha, look over there.”

Cha Jun-jae’s eyes widened slightly at the sight of the alley after being accustomed to nothing but paved roads.

The ground was a mixture of mud and reddish clay, so it was difficult to tell which was which. That alone must have been shocking enough.

I’d once seen a giant monitor lizard crawling right beneath the feet of a woman hanging up her laundry.

But today, instead of a precious monitor lizard, we were greeted by a bunch of alley troublemakers.

I looked at them expectantly and added a little exaggeration.

“They just let those things roam around freely here. Those guys are thugs, you know? They’re chickens, but they fly. They actually fly!”

The white chickens, black chickens, and speckled chickens looked completely different from the chickens back in Korea. Their charisma was on another level, and they were as big as professional wrestlers.

Watching their impressive neck-twisting techniques as they pecked at food, I could almost understand the rumor that dinosaurs were the ancestors of chickens.

I made sure never to provoke them and escaped as quickly as possible on my bicycle.

That was because, back when I’d first arrived and was too exhausted to do anything but walk, the chickens had actually flown at me and picked a fight.

Today, too, I puffed out my chest as I looked at the four chickens with particularly intimidating eyes.

I subtly glanced at Cha Jun-jae, anticipating his displeased expression.

“Scary… isn’t it?”

I had no chance to look away before our eyes met.

At some point, Cha Jun-jae had started watching me.

I couldn’t tell whether he’d been observing me since we entered the alley or even before that, but instead of looking frightened, he burst into a hearty laugh.

“Eun-dam, are you scared of chickens?”

Even though he couldn’t eat raw fish. Even though he looked like he was about to throw up whenever he saw anything with scales.

I wanted to expose his hypocrisy and point out that he was actually scared enough to cry.

With fire in my eyes, I snapped at him.

“Those things are huge. They look small right now, don’t they? But if you get close, they’ll chase after your calves with their beaks. They think you’re food.”

“So you’re afraid of chickens.”

“Of course I’m afraid! Wouldn’t you be?”

“Then why do you live here?”

Without realizing it, my voice had risen as though I were debating why chickens were frightening.

Then Cha Jun-jae’s final question came out in an extremely low, steady voice.

I flinched at the sound and bit down on my lip.

His indifferent eyes, as if they were lashing me with a whip, gave me the wrong impression.

It sounded as though he were saying that staying here instead of returning to Korea, despite being afraid of chickens, was somehow my fault.

Hurt by his words, I lowered my head to avoid his gaze.

Perhaps Cha Jun-jae still had something to say, because he brought the bicycle to a stop.

“I’m scared, but even if I’m scared, I’m still on vacation. I just have to keep running away from them.”

“Are you really that afraid of chickens?”

Sometimes, Cha Jun-jae said things that seemed completely out of touch.

Most of the time, he gave off the impression that he simply wasn’t interested in other people’s thoughts or lives.

Perhaps other people would describe someone with that sort of attitude as eccentric or four-dimensional.

But I wanted to call someone like him a psychopath.

“I’m scared. So I’ll ride my bicycle alone and go as fast as I can. See you later. If you just walk up to that spot over there, you’ll find a horse carriage soon.”

At that, Cha Jun-jae seemed to understand. He stretched out his leg and pressed down on the bicycle’s brake.

I was briefly delighted that we’d finally gotten through to each other.

But then, instead of turning around and leaving as I’d expected, Cha Jun-jae started walking in a strange direction.

He slowly approached me and stopped behind me.

Surrounded by his shadow, I was too flustered to say anything.

Whoosh!

A hand suddenly slipped around my waist.

My body was lifted into the air against my will, and my eyes widened.

“Uh, uh…”

That was all I could manage to say.

Because Cha Jun-jae had lifted me from behind, I’d completely lost control of my body.

My feet, no longer touching the ground, flailed helplessly as I tried to get him to put me down.

At least my mouth was still free, and my lips slowly parted.

I was already having trouble processing the fact that Cha Jun-jae’s hand was around my waist.

Then my nose, having suddenly inhaled a large amount of air, caught the scent of his cologne, too.

It smelled like a clear, cloudless sky, and the fragrance immediately made me want to buy it.

I was so curious about which brand it was that even my pride began to waver.

Just as I was about to tell him to put me down, my feet finally touched the ground.

Cha Jun-jae had seated me on the bicycle.

He turned around, released the brake, and firmly gripped the handlebars like a pilot taking control of an aircraft.

“No, I… I’m fine.”

“I’m not afraid of chickens.”

“You don’t have to… do this…”

Even as I shook my head, I found myself facing Cha Jun-jae’s broad chest.

His shirt seemed to shine whiter than usual, as though he’d dressed up especially for the occasion.

Something that smelled like a mixture of cologne and his natural scent made my head spin.

In the end, I gave up, clutched my head, and stared straight ahead.

“If you’re going… then hurry up and go.”

“Okay.”

Having achieved his goal, Cha Jun-jae leisurely began pedaling, even humming a little tune.

His firm hands gripping the handlebars, the scent of his cologne that I could no longer stop noticing…

It felt as though every part of Cha Jun-jae had enveloped the entire alley.

From now on, whenever I passed through this alley, I’d probably remember my own helpless figure being carried away in a bicycle carriage.

Foxes eat chickens.

I was the fool for thinking that man would be afraid of them.