Chapter 28.1

Chapter 28.1

Miran blinked up at André, not immediately understanding what he meant. Her lips parted with a soft “Ah,” and she quickly lowered her head. Through the curtain of hair that fell forward, her ears were redder than her cheeks.

Without raising her eyes, Miran nodded, her head bobbing slightly. Watching her, a slow smile spread across André’s lips. At that moment, the loud barking of a dog filled the awkward silence between them. Miran looked up and gently tugged on André’s jacket sleeve.

“Let’s… let’s go inside.”

She swiftly turned around, opened the back door leading to the rooftop room, and hurried up the stairs like a squirrel, disappearing onto the roof.

André chuckled softly and followed her. After closing and securing the back door, he climbed up to the roof and stepped into the open rooftop room. He remembered to lock the door behind him, a habit ingrained from growing up in New York.

When he turned around to put a plastic bag with two bottles of soju on the dining table, Miran asked.

“André, did you have dinner?”

“No.”

“I haven’t eaten either.”

Miran busily opened and closed the refrigerator door and peeked into the cupboard on her tiptoes. She turned to look at André with a slightly embarrassed expression.

“Uh… do you want some ramen? I don’t have much else to eat in the house right now. I could make it less spicy—”

“Okay.”

André, taking off his jacket and hanging it on the back of a chair, interrupted her with a simple answer. He wasn’t picky enough to turn down food in this situation.

With a clatter, Miran placed a pot on the stove. Soon, water began bubbling in the large pot. The lamp on the dining table did not cast enough light to reach the gas stove, making the small kitchen area seem quite dim. It seemed like she hadn’t replaced the ceiling light yet.

“Do you have a new fluorescent bulb?”

Miran turned around, having just tossed three packets of ramen into the pot. André pointed at the ceiling with his index finger. Miran rolled her eyes as if trying to recall something.

“I think unni bought some a while ago…”

She opened the middle cupboard and stretched on her tiptoes towards a white paper box peeking out from the top shelf. Her fingers just barely brushed the box.

Watching her, André stood up and reached over her shoulder.

“Oh, thanks.”

André took the long box, pulled out a fluorescent bulb from it, and easily replaced the light bulb with a slight tilt of his head. When Miran flipped the switch on the wall beside the sink, the room instantly brightened.

“Ah, it feels so much better with the light on! Thank you, André!”

Miran beamed at him as brightly as the new fluorescent light. André simply nodded in response.

After breaking two eggs into the ramen and stirring them, Miran turned off the stove and placed the pot on the dining table. Despite initially raising his eyebrows, questioning who could finish all that ramen, the two quickly devoured the spicy noodles, sitting across from each other with the pot in the middle. They even shared a drink from the soju that André had brought.

André set down his chopsticks and smiled faintly. His lips tingled. He was glad he had gotten used to spicy food during his three years in Korea. This experience felt like a unique local cultural immersion. It was probably the first and last time in his life he would eat ramen in someone’s rooftop room, so he decided to enjoy the moment without any reservations.

When André offered to help clean up and do the dishes, Miran insisted he not bother and pushed him away.

“Oh, by the way, did you find your bag?”

“Yes.”

André answered, leaning against the sink with his arms crossed, and Miran jumped up in joy as if she had found her own lost bag.

“I noticed your big travel bag was missing and wondered. That’s such a relief! Where did you find it?”

“At the Cactus.”

“So, are you back on duty now? Is it okay for a soldier to be out like this? Oh, is it because you’re an officer—”

André briefly considered telling Miran that he was no longer a soldier but decided against it. Instead, he acted like he hadn’t heard her question and straightened up from the sink.