Chapter 1022 – #100. Utopia (7)
“Yes, I’ve seen it before.”
“Really? Why can’t I remember?”
Haesol’s confession was so unexpected that I was surprised.
Did he approach me warmly because we had met before?
Without knowing it, she misunderstood that she had a very bright and wrinkle-free personality.
“If it were a boy as handsome as you, I think I would remember him. It’s amazing.”
“I didn’t have this kind of face back then.”
“Really?”
Did it look good as you grew up?
There is a converse, but isn’t there also a possibility of the opposite?
I don’t think it’s that new.
“Can I come again next time?”
“Of course. I’m old and lonely every day. I’d be grateful if you could come and talk to me.”
“Then I’ll see you next time.”
Until then, I thought that when he said he would come again next time, he meant that we should have lunch sometime.
However, it wasn’t long before Haesol’s visit made me realize that my thoughts were a misunderstanding.
“Huh? Haesol?”
“I’m here, sister.”
A few days later, the person who knocked on the door with a bright smile was Jin Hae-sol, who had disappeared and said he would come again.
“They took good care of me.”
“Have you already checked there?”
“I can see the growth.”
This house was a building without high walls.
So, when an adult man woke up, he could peek into the yard.
I wonder how many people would be interested in an old man’s house.
“Oh my, what did you bring so much?”
When Haesol came in, her hands were full of something.
“I ate too much last time. I brought some food.”
“I live alone anyway, so I don’t eat much…”
“I plan on causing trouble again today. Please accept this.”
She said she brought it because she felt sorry because she eats a lot, but she couldn’t accept it.
I had no choice but to accept the food Haesol brought.
“Meat?! How did you get this?”
Meat is food that is not easy to eat.
In the past, it was almost impossible, but now we raise our own chickens and eat them as a special meal at least once a month.
I heard that they plan to increase the number by raising more chickens in the future.
Chicken is a special food that can be eaten once a month, but what about meat such as pork or cow?
I have a vague memory of ever eating beef, so I can’t even remember the taste, and I think I’ve only eaten pork about once a year.
‘That’s because I only tasted one bite.’
But Haesol suddenly brought meat.
“Are you a pig?”
“Yes. It’s a pig. Front leg meat and pork belly.”
“Even if you want to get something like this, you can’t?”
“Don’t worry. I have the ability to get you this much. I want to eat stir-fried pork with this. Can you do that?”
“Of course!”
Jeyuk is a food that people don’t like or dislike.
It was also my favorite food.
“There’s red pepper powder too?!”
“I want to eat pork, but can I leave out the red pepper powder?”
“You’re so meticulous! I’ll make it delicious.”
I smiled brightly and excitedly ran to the kitchen.
While Haesol was concentrating on cooking, she looked around the house.
“Nothing much, right? Since I live alone, I haven’t made anything up.”
“I like it because it’s neat. And I think it’s good because it’s frugal and not extravagant. I had a chance to look at another house, so I went in, and it was just decorated with jewels and gold. But it didn’t look very nice.”
Gold and jewels had no value in Utopia.
Having something like that hanging in your home is ultimately luxury and vanity.
“Thank you for looking at me favorably.”
“But the furniture is very old.”
“Ugh. I can’t help it. But it’s not broken.”
“Are you writing it while revising it?”
“Yes.”
“If you had told me, I would have replaced it with a new one.”
“I live alone, so why would I need a new one? It’s not something I use a lot.”
My goal is to live as if I exist or not and then leave this world.
No matter how much I had, it was just a hassle.
This meant that unless there was a family member to clean up after the house, someone else would eventually clean up the house.
I didn’t want to make that person suffer for no reason.
With minimal items.
Just to the level where it is not inconvenient to stay.
“I think I could easily leave here if I wanted to. I don’t have much luggage at home.”
“…”
Jin Hae-sol can see through your inner thoughts very easily.
“Did I say something unnecessary?”
“As I get older, I start to worry about what happens to me when I disappear. Especially since I don’t have a family.”
“You’re still young, but are you already thinking like that?”
“You’re young. You’ve lived long enough.”
Being young was something that only suited the young man in front of me.
“Aren’t you lonely for not being able to start a family?”
“I would be lying if I said it wasn’t appropriate, but being alone isn’t all that bad. Each has its pros and cons.”
After touring the house, Haesol came to my side while I was cooking.
“But there’s no need to prepare like this, right? I think I’d rather leave my mark on this place, not just organize it.”
“If I were your age, I would have thought the same. But as I got older, my thoughts changed. And this is a place where I am no longer needed in the first place. But why do I have to leave my mark? Who on earth would like that mark?”
Leaving a trace is also a funny word.
Even if you leave something like that, it won’t be permanent, right?
One day, even traces will disappear.
The end was clearly visible, so I didn’t want to act dirty and leave a trace.
“Why do you think no one will like it? You’ve done so much for this place. Can’t you ask for that much?”
“You know who I am.”
“I told you. We met before.”
“I didn’t know you knew exactly what I did.”
“I know that Utopia would not have developed this far if it weren’t for Seonju’s sister. She saved countless people.”
It feels strange to hear about my own achievements from the past.
“Anyway, I don’t need any of that. I’ve never thought about wanting to be treated by others for what I did.”
I have already seen my close friend change.
I got goosebumps all over my body when I imagined myself being like that.
I absolutely hate it.
“So are you going to keep going like this? Because I don’t want to be a nuisance.”
“Yes. I want to do that.”
My retirement life was like preparing for death.
I know that this is something that Haesol, who is still young, cannot understand.
She didn’t ask for understanding.
“Then it doesn’t matter when you leave Utopia. You’ve already prepared to leave.”
“Because you don’t know when you’re going to die, you prepare in advance. Does it bother you a lot?”
From a young person’s perspective, this can’t help but be bad.
“No, it’s annoying. I actually thought it was a relief. I thought it would take a long time, but I knew it wouldn’t.”
“What do you mean?”
Haesol sometimes said strange things like that.
Even when I asked what he was talking about, there was no answer.
Instead, perhaps because he wanted to change the conversation, he asked if the stir-fried pork was ready.
“Are you done?”
“It will be soon.”
“I’ll cook the food.”
Steam was coming out of the rice cooker that had just finished cooking rice.
After finishing the steaming process, I opened the door and the white rice, exposing its white flesh, let out hot steam.
“The food is good.”
“That’s right. I’m sure there will be a lot of rice.”
“As much as I want. I thought I would eat a lot, so I did a lot.”
Haesol left Gobongbab like she said.
Other side dishes were quickly placed on the table, and the main dish, stir-fried pork, was completed.
It’s been a long time since there was food on the table.
“Are you only serving it like this when I come? You usually just cook it.”
“… It’s like that when you live alone.”
“I am very serious about food, so I always eat delicious food. I like to enjoy gourmet food.”
Delicacies? Do you enjoy gourmet food?
I never thought even a man could say the word gourmet.
If it were an ordinary resident, they would probably have burst out laughing at the word gourmet.
Isn’t it nonsense to eat gourmet food when it’s so hard to make a living?
But it didn’t seem like Haesol was lying.
I think perhaps he is treated that way because he is a man.
If you look at the fact that he helps with farming, it doesn’t seem like he’s doing his share of the work or being greedy.
‘But if someone who doesn’t know the situation hears it, it could be a pain in the ass.’
I was worried that if I said something like this, people would hate me and call me an old man, but due to my personality, I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.
“It’s okay to say that to me, but don’t say it to anyone else.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Maybe he was so distracted by his own body that he didn’t immediately understand what I said.
“Even though food supply has stabilized, there are still many people who think it is insufficient. It will get better, but not yet.”
“Ah, is it because I said it was gourmet?”
“Yes. I guess I have to be sensitive when it comes to eating.”
Haesol thought for a moment and then lowered his head.
“I didn’t think about that part. I’m sorry.”
“It doesn’t matter to me. As you can see, it’s not a situation where you can’t eat when you want. What I’m talking about was someone else’s case.”
“That’s right. There could be a lot of problems. Thank you for pointing it out. It almost caused a big problem. I almost caused a misunderstanding.”
“Yes. I’m glad.”
I was worried because I didn’t know how Haesol would take her advice, but she accepted it without being offended.
Her relationship with her close brother was ruined, and she was worried that her relationship with Hae-sol, who had been the source of energy for her in her lonely life, would also be ruined.
“You said the right thing, but why were you so nervous?”
“Ha, that’s right. Why was I nervous?”
Haesol’s laughter made me laugh too.
“You’re pretty when you smile so brightly.”
“What? There’s nothing she can’t do. She’s pretty.”
Even though she knew it was meaningless, she felt embarrassed.
“She’s gorgeous. She was pretty before too. It was so bad that my mind kept wandering and causing trouble.”
“Do you keep saying strange things?”
He says something strange again.
Anyone who sees him will think he’s trying to seduce me.
Of course, it’s nonsense.
“Why do you just say it’s a strange sound?”
“Huh?”
At that time, Jin Hae-sol asked me in a serious voice without any mischief.
“Because you’re saying strange things…”
So can you say that it’s not a strange sound?
My mind keeps wandering, telling me I’m in trouble or that I’m pretty.
I don’t think it’s something a young person should say to an older person.
