Beyond The Control

Chapter 18

“Eat up quickly.”

I moved the remaining meat on the grill to Song Ji-hyeok’s plate. It tastes worse if it gets too crispy.

Then I put raw meat on the grill and waited for the right moment to flip it skillfully. When the red color was about half gone, I quickly cut it into bite-sized pieces with scissors. Meanwhile, Song Ji-hyeok was watching my handiwork.

“You’re good at grilling meat.”

“I worked part-time at a BBQ restaurant for a long time.”

Of course, it wasn’t a high-end restaurant like this, but an ordinary chain. But I seemed to have a talent I didn’t know about, as I was complimented on my grilling skills every day. The owner even tried to keep me by offering to make me a full-time employee with a higher hourly wage when I said I was quitting.

Suddenly, I had a strong urge for alcohol. Beer didn’t seem enough, and since the main event is always the best, I ordered a bottle of soju.

It was time to show off my skills here too. I opened the bottle cap with a flashy bartender-like motion, and Song Ji-hyeok stared at me with his mouth wide open. Although it was the reaction I expected, I felt an unnecessary sense of pride.

“You can do all sorts of things.”

“This one trick is enough to liven up the atmosphere at company dinners.”

“Ah, I see.”

It’s too late to act nonchalant now that I’ve seen your surprise.

“Do you drink soju too? Want a glass?”

I filled the glass he held out without a word. As we lightly toasted and drank, Song Ji-hyeok’s expression seemed strange. He hesitated and took the glass from his mouth, then looked at me with a slightly frowning face.

“What’s wrong?”

“…It’s nothing.”

He replied briefly and drank again. After slowly emptying his glass, his expression still looked subtle.

“It’s completely different from beer.”

I looked at him with slightly surprised eyes at those words.

“Have you never had soju before?”

“No.”

That’s unexpected. As soon as I turned twenty, I was busy trying soju, beer, and even bomb shots.

“If you don’t like it, you don’t have to drink it. Should I order another bottle of beer?”

“No. It has a strange taste, but it’s not bad. It’s drinkable.”

Is he putting on a brave face, or does he really find it drinkable? I suppressed a smile that was about to rise at his behavior of pretending to have a poker face now.

He’s still just a kid.

‘Well, he was probably still wearing a school uniform around this time last year.’

That’s also why I don’t get truly hurt or damaged even when he acts nasty sometimes. He’s still a kid at twenty. I should understand and embrace him with the heart of a generous older brother.

In that spirit, I was about to wrap up another piece of meat for him when my phone suddenly rang. I checked the display and immediately answered with a bright expression.

“Oh, noona.”

– What are you doing? Are you done with work?

“Yeah. I left work on time and came out for dinner. Have you had dinner?”

It was actually a meaningless question. Hospital meals always come at the same time.

– I ate a while ago. Looks like I caught you at a bad time while you’re eating.

“I’d answer your call even if I was in the bathroom. Is everything okay?”

– Everything’s fine. I just called because I saw you in the online news today.

Come to think of it, my sister’s voice sounded brighter than usual. It seemed like she had seen the article earlier but waited all day to contact me in case I was busy.

– There were photos in every article too.

Unlike my excited sister, I scratched the back of my neck in embarrassment. I already knew that in every photo, I was either captured like a passing extra or appeared as small as an ant’s dropping.

I suddenly felt resentful towards the reporters. They could have paid a little more attention to the background characters.

“How are you feeling? Any pain?”

– I’m perfectly fine. The food tasted even better while watching the video of you.

“Wow. You even watched the video?”

Seeing this, it seems the saying “Even a hedgehog thinks its own child is cute” didn’t come from nowhere. Of course, I’m not my sister’s child but her younger brother, but it’s true that she sacrificed a lot as the eldest daughter to take care of me.

– Of course I watched it. And that Song Ji-hyeok? He’s really handsome. I was surprised to see him with you.

That person is right in front of me now…

It seems his claim that the soju was drinkable wasn’t just bravado. He seemed to have developed a taste for it, as I saw him refilling his own empty glass. Normally, drinking alone would look pathetic, but as my sister said, with his good looks, it looked like he was shooting a liquor commercial.

– Is he handsome in person too?

“Well, I guess so…”

Since I have eyes, I can’t bring myself to say no.

I answered somewhat glumly on purpose, and I heard my sister laugh loudly. Then her voice continued, slightly calmer.

– Eat well, be careful not to get hurt. You know you can always contact me if anything’s tough, right?

“I know. Don’t worry about me, and take care of your health too. If nothing comes up, I’ll visit you on the weekend.”

– Alright. My little brother, I love you.

“Me too. I love you, noona.”

As I finished the call and raised my head, I paused. Song Ji-hyeok was looking at me. I could see his porcelain-white face had turned slightly red.

He probably wasn’t drunk yet. Maybe he’s the type that doesn’t handle alcohol well?

Before I could ask, Song Ji-hyeok spoke first. But I heard a rather unexpected question.

“Was that your girlfriend?”

“No, it was my older sister.”

At that, his expression noticeably crumpled.

“Your older sister?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t lie. Who says that kind of thing to their older sister?”

This time, my expression turned slightly sour. I don’t understand why he’s suddenly picking a fight when we were drinking well.

“What did I say?”

“…You said ‘I love you’ and stuff. Does that make sense to say to your older sister?”

“What doesn’t make sense about it? I said I love her because I do love her.”

“So you’re saying it’s normal to say that to your older sister?”

What’s with this novel oddball?

I briefly thought he might be joking or teasing me, but looking at his expression, that didn’t seem to be the case. He really seemed to not understand saying “I love you” to an older sister.

I was the one who didn’t understand. Isn’t expressing affection between family members the most basic thing?

Of course, there might be families that are stingy with expressions depending on their family culture, and I know that especially between siblings, they often half-jokingly refer to each other as “Mom and Dad’s children” or “family registry mates”.

But if there are families like that, there are also families like mine. Everyone’s circumstances are different, so hearing him speak like that without consideration made me feel unpleasant.

“You have an older brother too, right?”

“Don’t even mention that bastard.”

He immediately frowned as soon as I brought it up. Thanks to that, I could immediately tell. It seemed the relationship between siblings in his family was very bad.

Even so…

As I said, family circumstances are different for everyone. It’s annoying that he speaks only from his own perspective like a frog in a well, but if I act the same way, it would only lead to a fight.

‘What can I do? I should be patient as the older one.’

With that thought, I decided to show my generous side as the elder once more.

“Let it go in one ear and out the other. …My family’s situation isn’t very good, so my sister became independent early and started earning money. When I became a middle school student, she brought me to Seoul and supported me entirely. Now she’s in the hospital because her health is very poor, and honestly, the situation isn’t optimistic. But I’m grateful that I can still tell my sister, who’s staying strong, that I love her.”

Song Ji-hyeok’s reaction was, of course, an expression of hearing something he never expected. His pupils seemed to be shaking.

Just seeing that confirmed my guess. It wasn’t that he spoke with bad intentions, but he seemed to not have considered that other families might have different circumstances.

At this point, I became slightly curious about his family environment, but first, I needed to wrap up the current situation.

“Are you sorry?”

“…Yes.”

Oh, he’s honest.

Even if he had maintained his attitude to the end, it couldn’t be helped, but seeing him apologize as if he had never lost his temper made me feel my own mood softening. To change the atmosphere, I deliberately made one request to him.

“If you’re sorry, then take a picture with me.”

“A picture?”

“To show off our friendship.”

While I was at it, I added one more pleasant remark.

“My sister said you’re handsome.”

“…She has good taste.”

Well, look at him getting all high and mighty so quickly.

I turned on my phone camera and stretched my arm upwards, capturing both of us in the frame without difficulty. Due to perspective, my face looked slightly larger, but anyone would look like that at this angle, so I had no complaints.

[Actually eating with Song Ji-hyeok haha]

I immediately sent the photo to my sister with the message, but there was no immediate reply. She probably hadn’t fallen asleep yet, so maybe she went to the bathroom.

“Give me a drink.”

As I put down my phone, I held out my empty glass. Perhaps still feeling apologetic, Song Ji-hyeok filled my glass without a word.

However, it was disappointing that it was the last. We were almost done with the meat too. Should I just close my eyes and order two more servings?

As I was contemplating, Song Ji-hyeok spoke to me again. He had been downing his drinks as soon as he received them, and his face looked even redder now.

“Why did you skip that interview question earlier? You’re close with your sister.”

Why do you think?

“I don’t like being the subject of people’s gossip.”

I’m not sure if he’s looked up his own articles, but there are crazy people who leave malicious comments even on Song Ji-hyeok, who’s hailed as a national hero. As for me, I was perfect prey for even more people to chew on and spit out.