You Were My Love

Scene 52 - Cruel

The thick, large rectangular earthenware plate had metallic glints on its surface.

It added to the beauty of its stone-like appearance.

Lee Jum Seung thought it combined well with the distinction of the carefully laid contents.

Now his mouth was watering in anticipation.

His greedy eyes turned back to the raw pieces that were artfully displayed around various fresh, crispy seaweeds and taro root slices.

He dipped the thin piece of the plant in the tangy sauce and shoved it whole in his mouth.

Then, squinting at his plate, he wondered whether he was going to change the order in which he wanted to swallow the various savory treats he had been so eager to taste.

For decades had he been a regular customer.

So whenever he showed up at the Koraebul, he didn't have to ask any more.

He had his own table.

And the chef prepared his personal, large plate with a full assortment of his favorites.

His exclusive, customized seafood orgy.

Jum Seung had created his own feeding routine and he feasted successively on the shellfish, the green barnacles, before devouring the briny, rich, fleshy twenty centimeters oyster.

Then the tasty red snapper and the fresh flounder.

There seemed to be no end to his greediness when he also engulfed the clams and the sea cucumber, then swallowed the flatfish and the octopus at a faster pace as he looked forward to the next bites.

Now was the time to wolf them down.

He drooled as his hand hovered over the marble-like dish, his mouth salivating as his eyes roamed hungrily over his "little wonders" : urchin, abalones, sea pineapple, and his all time favorite – whale belly, back and crunchy fin.

The delicate flowers of his hand-carved silver chopsticks were about to swoop down on the next bite when, from the corner of his shrewd eyes, he saw a tall, lean figure enter the place.

Just after the blond male had come in and scanned the area, the waitress hurried to him with a flushed smile.

Before she could say anything, he charmingly grinned back at her while nodding curtly towards the regular senior customer, indicating he was waited for and would be joining him.

She bowed and gestured him to the table, then walked back with a regretful face towards the counter.

He dropped his smile as soon as he started to get nearer the private table.

Instead of their habitual, respectful admiring gaze, now Hae Wong's eyes sported a careful, yet quite defiant, hateful stare.

Lee Jum Seung's face was as straight as usual.

But you could nearly hear the cogs of his thoughts click and tick whenever he would surreptitiously behold his offspring.

His glances were somehow encompassing, evaluating, arranging.

They were not demanding, or ordering or directing any more.

Their contacts had always been purely professional, business-related.

But now they were limited to strict necessity.

As far as Hae Wong could remember, never would Jum Seung call his son and ask how he fared, what he had been doing or busy with.