"Happy birthday, Cheong-San!"
"Cheers!"
"You're finally a man!"
In the shopping district of Gangnam-gu sat the refurbished restaurant, or to better put it, a fast-food diner. Gone were the brown and rugged brick walls of the corner lot store. In its place were smoothed limestone walls with windows accented with red and yellow. The sides of the building were lined with a vibrant red canopy that worked as a shelter for those eating outside. Reoccuring colors of yellow, red, and white were splashed accordingly across the building. Yellow and red neon lights framed the building and windows, attracting the gazes of locals and tourists alike. The most eye-drawing part of the store came from the recently planted tree in front of the store's entrance. And above the glass double doors to the diner was a yellow neon sign complemented by a red background that spelled 'Cheong-San's est. 2004' in English and Korean. To the side of the neon, the sign was the logo of a small cartoonish tree in red.
Long gone was the 'Cheong-San's Bistro,' and in its place was the radically popular fast food joint, 'Cheong-San's.'
Located on the third floor of the restaurant was a party, which had been reserved by the owners to celebrate their son's 18th birthday.
The birthday of Lee Cheong-San.
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"Cheong-San, grandpa hasn't seen you since you were this small! Come drink some Soju with me."
"Surprised, big bro? You should be! Your cousin here traveled half the day to come to greet you. Give me a hug!"
"Let your auntie tell you some advice for a young handsome man like yourself. You shouldn't wait until the ladies..."
The birthday boy smiled politely as friends and family members alike wished him well, either shaking his hand heartily or discreetly handing him money for his own use. While Cheong-San appreciated the sentiments, his desire to eat his mother's new fried chicken variant made his mannerism a bit impatient with the crowds of people that milled around on the third floor. Sitting next to him several of his friends.
"Man," said the boy sitting next to him, "I wish my parents owned a fast food place as well. I could eat hamburgers, fried chicken, and french fries every day. Is that what an American lives like?"
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Exasperated, Cheong-San shook his head. "Gyeong-Su, that's why about 30% of Americans are obese..."
"He's right," said another girl with hair put up into a bun, "but I don't think it matters when you're talking about Gyeong-Su, who once ate a stress ball because he thought it was a real apple."
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"Shut up, I-Sak!" shouted Gyeong-Su, causing several pieces of french fried pieces to fall out his mouth as he argued with I-Sak. Cheong-San was grotesquely fascinated by how someone could talk so loudly while shoveling both a hamburger and several pieces of peppers in his mouth.
Tearing his gaze from his best friend, he turned to I-Sak. "Do you when On-Jo will come?"
I-Sak just shrugged. "That bitch said that should be here at 6 and it's already 6:30."
Just as he was going to ask why On-Jo was out so late, he heard someone clear their throat loudly.
"Everyone, can I please have your attention!" shouted a woman wearing an apron over her clothes.
His mother Lee Ji-Hyun waited a moment for the people to quiet down before continuing. "I would like to thank once again everyone for attending my son's birthday."
Smiling, she gestured to Cheong-San who was sitting in the back eating some of the french fries to stave his lust for the new release of fried chicken. "As you know, my Cheong-San loves fried chicken."
"The restaurant?" someone called out.
Lee Sang-Hoon, who was standing next to his wife, laughed. "So-Jo, when did you get off work? I thought firefighters worked all night."
The firefighter So-Jo just waved a middle-finger back at his dad jovially.
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Mom just shook her head, unable to hide the amusement on her face. "So for his birthday, I experimented with a lot of ingredients to savory fried chicken that he would love. I'm happy to present it to you."
From downstairs, several workers from the downstairs kitchen carried trays up to the third floor. The strong scent of grease and spice unconsciously made Cheong-San lick his lips.
Everyone else laughed at his blatant want to have some chicken.
Ji-Hyun clapped her hands together. "Ok! Because it is Cheong-San's birthday, I'll let him have the first taste of our 'Spavory' chicken."
Walking up to the tray's of chickens, he put several pieces on his plate with a chopstick. Picking up a piece, he took a big sniff of the dark orange drumstick battered in breadcrumbs and topped it in a glaze and sesame seeds. Without due, he took a big bite. He could feel dozens of eyes on him, waiting in anticipation for his final verdict.
"How does it taste, Cheong-San?" asked Ji-Hyun, hopefully.
"Well... I think it tastes bad."
"..."
"..."
Concerned that something was wrong, his Sang-Hoon was about to head downstairs to check who messed up the fried chicken when Cheong-San spoke up again.
"It tastes so bad, that I'm afraid that it would be bad to give it out to other people, Mom. I don't want you to waste food, so you should just give it all to me to eat instead," he said, giving a mischievous smile to both his parents as he proceeded to get a plate full of chicken.
Gyeong-Su started laughing out loud as he realized what happened. "Cheong-San, you rat-bastard, even on your birthday you troll your parents."
Both Sang-Hoon and Ji-Hyun started to both chastise him as people started to taste the fried chicken themselves. And from the looks of it, they really did enjoy themselves.
After getting an earful from Mom, he was finally saved by Dad. Walking back to his table, he felt someone kick the back of his leg, almost causing him to fall forward and spill the precious plate of chicken.
"Damn, what the hell!" he cursed. Turning around, he noticed the shorter girl with a ponytail give him a smirk.
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"You shouldn't scare auntie and uncle so much after they went through the trouble of making a new menu food for you." said the girl.
"What took you so long to get here, On-Jo?" he said while rubbing his back leg, "did you really have to do that, I almost dropped my chicken."
On-Jo gave him a thoughtful look. "The chicken that you said tastes so bad?" Taking the plate out of his hand, she headed back to the table with Gyeong-Su and I-Sak. "You wouldn't mind me eating the fried chicken that tastes bad, right?"
Sighing, Cheong-San followed her back to the table.
Sitting down, he saw his mom approach his table with more plates of fried chicken in her hand. Seeing more food come to them, both I-Sak and Gyeong-Su squealed in happiness while On-Jo clapped loudly as Ji-Hyun placed the plates down.
Gracious, On-Jo did a slight bow towards his mom. "Looks great. Thank you."
"Mom," he bemoaned, "you already worked so hard to prepare for the party today. You should take a break. My friends and I can get food for ourselves. And why did you bring out so much?"
Ji-Hyun just batted her hand at the complaint. "Ah, my Cheong-San is growing up so quickly, if I can't baby you now, when will be able to when you're older. Besides, I remembered that On-Jo eats a lot. Speaking of which, On-Jo, did you see speak with your dad yet? He's somewhere in the crowd drinking with Sang-Hoon"
On-Jo nodded. "Dad said that he had to get back to work after he sobered a bit up." Turning to send a glare at him, On-Jo spoke up earnestly to his mom. "I don't eat a lot. I just eat well."
While Ji-Hyun gave a small smile, Cheong-San could see that she was very happy. "Oh, yes, sure. That's what I like to hear. You eat up as well, Gyeong-Su."
"Yup!" garbled out Gyeong-Su through his munching.
"You too, A-Sak."
Looking embarrassed, I-Sak corrected his mom. "It's I-Sak, auntie, not A-Sak."
Unfazed by her mistake, Ji-Hyun made a joke out of it. "You changed your name?"
Both females laughed at the corny joke. He thought his dad's jokes were cringy until he realized how worse his mom was. She once made a joke as they were watching a movie, saying, 'I'm something of a chef myself.'
He literally felt his soul leave his body from that one.
"Mom," he said, saving I-Sak from continuing to laugh at such a corny joke, "if you wanna change names, you should start with the restaurant. Why would you use my name? {In-N-Out} would sound totally better."
His mom harumphed at that. "I named this place Cheong-San's Bistro way before you were born. Just because it changed a bit doesn't mean the name will."
"Exactly. You named me after the restaurant."
Cheong-San slightly groaned as he felt Gyeong-Su elbow him in the side, shushing loudly with his mouth full. "Ahh, quiet. I really like it. Sounds like a tradition. And I think everyone at school know's Cheong-San name."
"Yeah?" asked Ji-Hyun, pleased to know their business was well-received.
"Of course," said Gyeong-Su, buttering up to his mom. No doubt to eat more food here later. "All the girls and boys always say, 'Let's hang out at Cheong-San's and grab a bite' or 'I'm hungry for Cheong-San's chicken.'" In the last part, the boy laughed at his own dick joke.
"He's right," commented I-Sak.
Hitting his head against the wall, Cheong-San looked at his mom. "See what I have to deal with?"
"Miss Ji-Hyun! We need you downstairs." shouted one of the fast-food workers downstairs.
Sighing, his mom gave him a quick hug before waving to people as she descended down the stairway.
Taking another bite of his double-double, he saw a hand sneakily grab two chicken wings from his plate.
"On-Jo! You just stole my plate! Is your something bottomless when it comes to fried chicken?"
Munching on one of his wings, On-Jo gave Cheong-San a triumphant look, her lips turned upward both in victory and content from scoring another piece of chicken. "Of course, I eat well, I'm a growing girl."
Gyeong-Su sniggered at that. "She better be still growing or she'll be stuck that short for her whole life."
Without a word, On-Jo gave Gyeong-Su a kick to his leg, causing the offending boy to hunch in pain as he rubbed his bruised leg.
I-Sak, who was taking a sip from a straw, rolled her eyes. "Idiot," I-Sak said, shifting the topic of the conversion. "Did you hear about our science teacher?"
Lee Byeong-chan? While the man was particularly strange at times, he was never too strict or anything. "What about him?"
"He smells like a rotting corpse," said I-Sak, as if it was an indisputable fact.
Ah, now he knew what they were talking about. "Na-Yeon spread that rumor, right? That girl needs to stop focusing on gossiping so much."
"It's true," On-Jo butted in. "He was absent after his son went missing. But then he came into class - she said he smelled like a corpse."
In disbelief, he tilted his head. "How does she know what a corpse smells like? Had she smelled one before?"
"She swears she knows every smell," said On-Jo, "so if it hasn't been smelt before, it has to be the one of a rotting corpse."
"...That is the most flawed logic I've ever heard leave your mouth. Ow!"
"Do you want to hear the story or not?" asked On-Jo impatiently.
"Fine, fine, continue."
"So, when his son went missing, he started acting weird."
"He was an outcast," said I-Sak, "I heard he got bullied all the time."
He knew the kid, they played MineBuild sometimes. After digging deeper and deeper into the boy's life, he found that he was being bullied by Yoon Gwi-Nam and his friends. He immediately offered any help, but shockingly that offer was turned down. He said to Cheong-San that if he asked for help, that would only make things worse. Even his dad, a teacher at the school, couldn't do anything about it, so could a student do anyways. Quickly the boy tried to change the subject, trying to lighten the depressing mood as they played SkyWars.
While he didn't know much about the science teacher's personal life, he didn't believe the slight;y eccentric man to murder his own son. Could Yoon Gwi-Nam and his cronies be at the root of his disappearance?
"Mm-hm. It sucks. I feel really bad for Mr. Lee. Remember last week when he just left class?" said On-Jo.
He recalled Mr. Lee rushing out of the classroom after writing about the subject regarding the parasites, tachyzoites, and vacuoles in a rushed manner. The strange part was he wrote those parts in English.
"They say he was a genius," remarked I-Sak.
On-Jo nodded at the statement. "They say a lot of geniuses go crazy..."
Gyeong-Su laughed at that. "At least you don't have to worry about going crazy. I know Cheong-San tutors you every-Ow! Stop kicking me!"
"You're trying to talk trash at me?" retaliated On-Jo, crossing her arms.
Gyeong-Su quickly shook his head, not wanting to anger the girl. The scene made Cheong-San chuckle.
"Hey, Cheong-San," spoke up Gyeong-Su, bringing a wrapped box up to the table. "Here's your present."
"Thanks, Gyeong-Su," he replied gratefully.
"No, problem," Gyeong-Su said, wrapping an arm around him, "just don't forget to ask your parents to give me that friend's and family discount."
"Here's mine as well," I-Sak said, handing a small envelope to him, "it's nothing special just some money."
"Still, thanks for the gift," said Cheong-San, giving the girl a fist bump.
He then felt a pain shoot up from his toe, letting out a small scream, he glared at On-Jo who nonchalantly continued to eat her food. "You know, I have a name you can use. In a basic conversation, people generally use it to interact."
On-Jo shrugged. "It gets your attention quicker. Here's your present. Be grateful I waited in line for at least an hour for this."
Accepting the present from his childhood friend, he gave her a smile. "I appreciate your effort, MIss Nam On-Jo, thanks."
On-Jo instead felt her face get slightly hot at that. She just summed it up to anger. "What the hell? Don't make this any weirder than it has to be. This is just my thanks for tutoring me after school."
Regardless, he raised his cup up. "Thanks again for being my friends. Here's to another year! Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
***
"Cheong-San, what does this sentence mean?"
"It says {A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment}, so this line refers to Mr. Darcy talking about how his compliments..."
"Cheong-San, how do I find the length of the downhill track?"
"Well, it's better to draw a picture first of all the sides of the cone..."
"Cheong-San..."
"Here's how to do this..."
Inside an apartment, both Cheong-San and On-Jo went over several practice questions for the upcoming tests in May.
Cheong-San had offered to help his parents clean up after the party, but his parents quickly denied his offer, reasoning that he should focus on studying and getting a good night's sleep. Waving a quick goodbye to Gyeong-Su and I-Sak, he and On-Jo headed back to their apartment complex.
Originally, the apartment had been home of the Lee family for a majority of Cheong-San's current life. So when Cheong-San's became a go-to place for fast food, his parents decided to buy a house. But seeing how convenient it was to have Cheong-San live closer to school, they continued to rent the apartment for his use.
After his parents had moved out, he had made rearrangements with the help of On-Jo, who took it upon herself to oversee the new layout of the apartment, stating it was basically her apartment as well. She even took it upon herself to regularly use the now spare room where his parents slept as a bedroom when she was over.
Cheong-San first pleaded to Uncle So-Jo about the problem with having a girl sleep in the same place as a boy without supervision. The man just laughed it off and jokingly said that he trusted him. His reason was that as a firefighter, he had a duty to the state, and that meant being gone from home for long and strange hours, so it was better for On-Jo to stay with someone than by herself.
And that he would bring down the entirety of the Emergency Response team on him if he tried anything funny.
"I'm so tired." yawned On-Jo, "I'm going to take a shower and head to bed."
"Ok," he said, stretching his back.
"If you peek the bathroom while I'm taking a shower, I'll fuck you up," On-Jo warned, pointing her finger accusing at him.
"How many times do I have to tell you, that was an accident!" Cheong-San said, defending himself. "How was I supposed to know you were in my house? You can come and go as you please."
"That's why I'm warning you now," On-Jo said, walking to her room in his apartment. "Peak and I'll fuck you up."
Surrendering, Cheong-San raised both hands. Pleased at seeing her warning well heeded, On-Jo headed to the bathroom to take a shower first. Bored, Cheong-San decided to take a look at his presents.
Going over the several presents, like clothing or money, he saved the presents from On-Jo, Gyeong-Su, and I-Sak for last.
From Gyeong-Su, he received a small, battery-operated plasma lamp. Flipping the lamp over, he noticed that it had already come with two nine-volt batteries.
From I-Sak, he strangely got...ankle weights? Now that he thought about it, he sometimes mentioned wanting to get some weights for exercising, but never got around to doing so. Nevertheless, he was thankful for the considerate gift.
Opening the last gift from On-Jo, he gasped. With the noticeably white 'HIKE' symbol on the chest was a black vest. Last he checked, the supply of the newly released vest was so high in demand that only US stores had a chance of being in stock with these. For a high schooler like On-Jo, she must have spent a fortune to get this!
Making up his mind, he decided to be extra nice to On-Jo and help her improve on her next test. While he pranced around holding the weight vest in the living room, On-Jo watched the spectacle, doing her best to hold in her laughter. She let him have his fun today, it was his birthday after all.
Still so giddy from all the gifts, he decided to sleep in early to try some of the gifts in the morning. As Cheong-San slipped into bed, he didn't notice the scroll that had magically dropped at the side of his bed due to the darkness. As his eyes became heavier and heavier, he fell asleep, unaware of the scroll by his side.