Chapter 810: Seafood and Memories

It was late in the evening when the last of the visitors left. Only then could I stretch out my body and relax.

But just as I settled in, the doorbell rang again. It was Myeong-su and Hyeon-seong, who had left earlier.

“What is it?”

I greeted them with a halfhearted tone and a cursory look, making Myeong-su wrinkle his face strangely.

“What do you think? We came to grab some drinks. Grandma! Can we borrow Mu-hyeok for a while?”

Myeong-su shouted, and Grandma came out of the main room, saying,

“Go on! Take him away! I’m tired of seeing him.”

Instead of stopping them, Grandma pushed me out the door.

“Hey, Grandma!”

“Go out and play with Myeong-su and Hyeon-seong! Grandma wants some peace.”

Seeing how tired she looked, I couldn’t say anything. I just ended up going outside with my friends.

“Where are we going?”

“How about grilled clams? It’s hard to find in Seoul.”

Hyeon-seong quietly nodded in agreement to Myeong-su’s suggestion.

The mention of grilled clams perked my ears up.

“Let’s go to Jagalmadang for old times’ sake.”

Jagalmadang in Yeongdo was a place I used to go to often with my friends when we were kids.

It wouldn’t be bad to go there again after so long.

Since it wasn’t far, my friends decided to ride in my car.

“Have the bodyguards wait outside and only Manager Ma come with us. I want to eat quietly with my friends.”

“Yes, Boss.”

The bodyguards trailed behind us at a distance, and I walked naturally toward Jagalmadang.

“Hey! Where are you going?”

Myeong-su called out as I walked ahead.

“What? Isn’t this the way?”

“Have you really not been here in a while? The whole place got wiped out by Typhoon Maemi a few years ago. They moved all the clam shacks up the hill to a new village.”

“Really? How did you know that?”

“What are you talking about? Have you forgotten I’m a member of the National Assembly?”

I bickered with Myeong-su as we walked.

The beach at Taejongdae was covered in pebbles. The sound of them crunching underfoot was pleasant.

That’s why it was called Jagalmadang, and there were many grilled clam tents along the pebble beach.

“I was going to redevelop this area anyway. Thanks to the typhoon, I was able to bulldoze it all. It’s changed quite a bit. Come this way.”

I followed Myeong-su.

After just a few steps, the lights of a sign reading ‘Original Grilled Clam Village’ came into view.

“They really moved everything.”

“Why would I lie? All the original tents are in here.”

As we entered, grilled clam restaurants lined both sides of the path.

“Does Seok-i’s aunt still run her place?”

“Yeah, she runs it with Seok-i. Should we go there?”

“That’s great. We can see her and boost their sales while we’re at it. Let’s go there.”

Myeong-su nodded and gestured, leading the way.

The front of the restaurants were full of Ajummas and Uncles shouting greetings, while the insides were packed with customers.

They looked like people who’d returned to their hometowns for the New Year, and came to eat grilled clams with family and friends.

The atmosphere was noisy, but there was no hawking at us.

“No hawking?”

“Of course not. They recognize me. I’m a member of the National Assembly.”

Myeong-su stopped for a moment, placed his hands on his hips and stuck out his stomach.

Always showing off. I nudged his knee with mine and nodded.

“Aren’t you embarrassed acting like that in the street as a member of the National Assembly? So, how much further?”

“We’re almost there.”

Deeper inside we found ‘Seok-i’s’ sign at the very end.

Then, Hyeon-seong, who had been quiet, looked around and made a comment.

“…The location isn’t great. Are they doing okay?”

He seemed worried about the location of the restaurant, which was at the opposite end from the entrance.

“It’s true. But they change the location of the shops by lottery every two years. It’s all luck.”

A familiar woman who had been dozing in front of the shop opened her eyes at the sound of our voices.

She stared blankly at us for a while, as if she wasn’t fully awake, then she got up, startled.

She immediately rushed over to Myeong-su.

“Oh my goodness, who is this? It’s Congressman Lee, isn’t it?”

“Auntie! It’s been a while. How have you been?”

“I’ve been doing well. Oh my, I see you on television all the time, Congressman. You haven’t changed a bit since you were little…”

The Ajumma recognized Myeong-su right away and greeted him warmly. But it took her quite a while of staring to realize who Hyeon-seong and I were.

“Mu-hyeok and Hyeon-seong, is that you? Oh my! I wouldn’t recognize you two! You’ve both grown so much. Jin-seok! Come out here! Your favorite Mu-hyeok Hyung is here!”

A young man who was grilling clams for customers inside turned his head toward the entrance when he heard the Ajumma’s voice.

It was Jung Jin-seok, looking as he did when he was a kid. He stopped what he was doing and stared at me without a word.

He was tilting his head to the side, clearly unsure.

It was understandable as we were quite a bit older than him.

But that hesitation was short-lived, as he quickly showed his delight.

The little kid who used to follow us around calling us ‘Hyung’ had already grown up so much.

“Hyung!”

Jung Jin-seok asked for forgiveness from the customers and ran over to us.

“It’s Mu-hyeok Hyung, right? It’s really our Mu-hyeok Hyung?”

The mountain of a guy had a deep voice. But his words were just as they had been before.

“Jin-seok, you’ve grown so much. Do you recognize your Hyung?”

“Of course! There is no way I wouldn’t recognize my Mu-hyeok Hyung. That’s Hyeon-seong Hyung beside you. I saw Myeong-su Hyung’s face just the other day, so I recognize him.”

Hyeon-seong quietly nodded, and Myeong-su grinned, putting his arm around Jung Jin-seok’s shoulders as he joked around.

“I can’t believe that little kid grew up so fast and is helping his mom with work. I think I was in my military uniform the last time I saw you at that event at Busan Station, right?”

“Yes. I was on my final leave and saw you there briefly. I wasn’t sure at the time. And Myeong-su Hyung being a member of the National Assembly? I still can’t believe it.”

“What? Hey! What’s wrong with me?”

“To be honest, out of all the Hyungs here, you’re the most…”

“You little brat!”

The banter between the two made both me and Hyeon-seong laugh heartily.

“Hyungs. Let’s go inside. I’ll give you the best service.”

“Yes! Hurry up and go inside. I’ll bring out the freshest seafood! Hurry in.”

Jung Jin-seok led us to the best spot, with a view of the sea, at the very end.

“Just wait a minute. I’m going to bring the best ones for you. I need to finish grilling for the other customers first…”

“Jin-seok, go do your work. Don’t worry about us too much.”

“But…”

I waved him off.

He then quickly went to another table, grabbing the tongs and scissors as if he had never been reluctant.

Then he spoke in a friendly voice.

“Oh my! Hyungs, and everyone else here, I’m sorry! My old Hyungs are here after a long time! I’ll give a free drink for the trouble, so please be understanding.”

I chuckled at the sight of Jung Jin-seok. He really had grown up.

“What about drinks? Soju and beer?”

Myeong-su asked as he casually walked over to the refrigerator, and I nodded.

“Any other alcohol?”

“Nope! I just asked out of courtesy!”

Myeong-su confidently brought over soju and beer and called out to the Ajumma who was preparing food in the kitchen.

“Auntie! Bring us some side dishes first! I’m starving!”

The Ajumma poked her head out of the kitchen and replied to Myeong-su.

“Wait a moment! Why are you in such a hurry! I thought you were someone since you became a Congressman, but you’re the same old you!”

“Ha, Auntie, you’ve never heard that people die when they change.”

Myeong-su replied with a smirk and poured soju and beer into beer glasses. In no time, three glasses of mixed drinks were ready.

“Let’s have a refreshing drink first.”

Myeong-su slid a glass towards each of us and held up his glass.

Hyeon-seong and I raised our glasses and clinked them with Myeong-su’s.

“Ah! This is great! What a wonderful day. Great friends! Great drinks! And this atmosphere with the view of the sea! I’m already drunk.”

At Myeong-su’s nonsensical ramblings, Hyeon-seong placed his glass down and spoke bluntly.

“You really seem drunk already. What sea view? It’s dark, we can’t see anything.”

“What? You’re dead. Hand over your glass, you brat. Double the soju, double.”

Watching the two bicker brought back memories. I burst out laughing.

After laughing for a while, I said to them with a voice full of amusement,

“Ah, I’m going crazy. Sometimes I wonder if you two are friends or enemies. Seeing you two still doing this makes me remember the old days.”

I turned my head and looked at the dark sea.

No light was reaching us. Just as Hyeon-seong had said, I couldn’t see anything.

“Even though I can’t see it, the cool winter wind and the sound of the waves bring back old memories. I think I’m getting drunk on the atmosphere too. I’ll side with Myeong-su for today.”

Hyeon-seong clicked his tongue, and Myeong-su grinned triumphantly.

Seeing them like that, I turned my head to look towards the sea again.

Because of where we were, the sound of the waves was very gentle.

The sea breeze that brushed my face was full of familiar smells.

It was so long ago that the memories were hazy, but the smell was etched into my mind.

At that moment, the Ajumma brought out the side dishes along with seafood like sea squirts and sea cucumbers, and also live octopus.

“Okay, eat this first.”

“Oh! Auntie, it’s been so long since I’ve had the octopus!”

Myeong-su, who loved live octopus, smacked his lips and grabbed a spoon.

Without a word, I picked up a spoon and put a spoonful in my mouth.

The sensation of it moving in my mouth made me feel inexplicably happy.

“Hey! What’s with that, putting a spoon in first!”

Myeong-su said, surprised, as he grabbed a spoon and put it in his mouth as well.

“Yeah, this is it. You really can’t get this taste in Seoul.”

I nodded at Myeong-su’s words and poured liquor into my glass.

For some reason, I craved soju today. When I was with my friends, I wanted soju rather than expensive alcohol.

This time I took a sip of soju and picked up a sea squirt and put it in my mouth.

The sea flavor filled my mouth, and it felt like all my worries were gone.

“Hey, why are you moping around and eating alone?”

“It’s fine, just eat. It’s funny to keep toasting like kids.”

“I am a kid. Let’s do a toast. Cheers!”

After tilting our glasses and finishing all the food the Ajumma brought out, Jung Jin-seok came with a large set of clams and put it on the chair.

“Hyungs, I’ll grill these for you.”

Myeong-su snatched the tongs and scissors from Jung Jin-seok who was placing the clams on the grill over the charcoal fire.

“It’s okay. This Hyung will grill it. You shouldn’t make your younger brother do things like this.”

“Wow! Myeong-su Hyung has really changed, huh?”

“Hey! You are getting cocky now, huh? You’re too old to talk back to your Hyung like that.”

I spoke to Jung Jin-seok, who was standing there blankly without the tongs and scissors.

“You’ve done your part, sit down. Isn’t this the first time we’re having drinks together?”

“Yes, Hyung. It is the first time.”

Jung Jin-seok immediately sat down on a chair. He then waited politely, holding his soju glass with both hands.

I chuckled at the sight and filled his glass, overflowing with affection.

Jung Jin-seok turned his head and emptied his soju glass at once, then passed the glass to me.

“This time, I’ll pour a drink for our Mu-hyeok Hyung.”

As I took the glass, Jung Jin-seok poured it full.

He stopped just before it was about to overflow.

“This is my affection, Hyung!”

Always joking around. I drank the alcohol he had poured in one gulp and placed the glass down.

“Let’s just eat and drink. I want to hear about how you’re doing.”

“Yes, Hyung.”

While the grilled clams were cooking on the grill, I kept drinking while listening to Jung Jin-seok’s story.

“There wasn’t much for me to do, so I came down to help my Mom. I guess I’m not made for life in Seoul.”

I nodded as he told me how he had found a job at a small company in Seoul, but came down after a year because he couldn’t adapt.

“Yeah, it’s hard to adapt to Seoul. But why didn’t you contact your Hyungs?”

“Hey! It has been so long, how could I contact you without any reason? One must have a sense of shame, Hyung.”

Jung Jin-seok, who was making a fuss, picked up extra tongs and scissors.

He then cut up the grilled scallops with the scissors and placed them on my plate.

“Here, Hyung. Have a bite! They’re perfectly cooked.”

I put the grilled clams that Jung Jin-seok had cut into my mouth and nodded.

I said to Jung Jin-seok, who was looking at me with expectant eyes, as if responding.

“Grilled clams are the most delicious here.”

“Of course. I picked out the freshest ones.”

We drank and talked all through the night.