The Texture of an Ordinary Saturday

I dropped three seasoning packets into the pot of vigorously boiling water. The bright red powder dissolved instantly, transforming the liquid into a deep crimson broth that wafted a heavy scent of MSG into the kitchen space. Fully inhaling the aggressively stimulating aroma, I emptied the remaining flakes from the vegetable packets into the mix.

While living as ‘Kaian,’ I had consumed an immense variety of rare, structurally magnificent foods that were profoundly beneficial for the human body… yet there were moments when I desired absolutely nothing healthy, falling prey to an intense craving for things that were fundamentally terrible for my physical form. This was especially true whenever I awoke in the middle of the night harboring a slight hunger. During those exact moments, the image of a bowl of ramen—complete with freshly sliced green onions and a single egg cracked directly into the broth—would linger so vividly before my eyes that a stray tear would occasionally escape. I harbored a quiet belief that I would never manage to consume such a luxury again for the rest of my existence, so the reality of preparing it right now felt deeply moving.

If I managed to force my eyes open within this specific domain again tomorrow morning, I resolved to consume a combination of black bean noodles, spicy seafood soup, and sweet and sour pork for lunch. Should I perhaps order double-cooked pork and chili shrimp as well? Considering we embodied a trio of adult men, we would easily possess the capacity to clear that much food, right? Well, if we failed to finish the entire spread, we could simply discard the leftovers. Wait, a structural issue remains… do I actually possess the financial means? Exactly when was my corporate payday?

After breaking the noodle bricks in half and dropping them into the broth, I whirled around to locate my smartphone, which was highly probable to be resting inside the pocket of the coat I had worn previously. Standing right by the kitchen threshold, Eun-ho questioned, “What is it?”

“Ah. I simply wanted to check my phone.”

Eun-ho cast a brief glance over his shoulder before executing a casual shrug. Stepping across the floor with absolutely zero audible footsteps, Eun-soo vanished into my bedroom before emerging a second later holding my smartphone. Balancing three raw eggs in my palm, I accepted the device from his hand. As if executing a precise barter system, Eun-soo collected the eggs directly from my fingers and took up a position right in front of the boiling pot.

“Are you anticipating an urgent message from someone?”

“No, not particularly.”

While a structural possibility existed that an individual might try to contact me, it was completely impossible for me to recall every trivial detail from ten years ago. Even so, harboring a slight sense of curiosity, I checked the missed call log first. Manager Park, Team Leader Lee, Assistant Manager Kim from our client company… After casually bypassing the business notifications that had accumulated over the weekend, I accessed the messaging application.

[Kyung-i: Senior, I just managed to wake up…]

[Kyung-i: My entire Saturday has been completely obliterated (crying emoticon)]

Reading the messages Kyung had transmitted roughly thirty minutes prior, a soft chuckle escaped my lips as my thumbs tapped against the digital keypad.

[Go get some hangover soup. I’m having ramen.]

Standing directly before my form, Eun-ho extended his thumb and firmly depressed the power button located on the side of my smartphone. The screen plunged into darkness before I could finish inputting the final characters.

“The ramen is completely finished, brother.”

Staring at the fellow who was clearly displaying a bout of petty jealousy, I depressed the home button once more to illuminate the glass.

[I just cooked it. Get some proper rest.]

After successfully transmitting the text to Kyung, I tapped the corresponding icon on the home screen to access my banking application. But what exactly was my digital certificate password again?

While I remained focused on tapping the edge of the smartphone with my fingernail, the two individuals who had been actively trying to murder each other a moment ago seamlessly co-authored a proper dining environment—unfolding the low table, arranging the ceramic bowls, and retrieving a dish of kimchi from the refrigerator. Come on, I have expended several years of my life navigating the corporate corporate landscape; there is absolutely zero structural possibility that my bank account holds less than a hundred thousand won. I would easily possess the capability to charge a standard spread of Chinese cuisine. Accepting that comforting realization, I settled myself into the vacant seat they had reserved for me—the one offering a direct view of the television screen.

Watching Eun-soo scoop a massive portion of noodles and deposit the bowl directly before my form evoked a deeply surreal sensation.

Following my mother’s passing, I had never consumed a single meal alongside another human being within the confines of this living room. Whenever I crossed paths with Kyung, we invariably settled our meals outside or lounged around the interior of his studio apartment. His neighborhood happened to be significantly closer to the bustling downtown districts, and while he would frequently question, ‘Senior, do you desire to head over to my place?’, he had never explicitly asked, ‘Can I come over to hang out at your house?’

Glancing back and forth between the two individuals anchored tightly at my left and right sides, I commenced my meal.

The ramen… while the initial fragrance was undeniably spectacular, the actual flavor profile was remarkably ordinary. It appeared my palate had become overly refined after spending ten years navigating the lifestyle of an imperial prince. The broth felt intensely spicy, greasy, and salty, causing my chopsticks to grind to a halt after a mere few bites. Even so, there was an underlying amusement in watching Eun-ho consume his portion with absolute precision—as if the ramen were a plate of high-end pasta from a luxurious restaurant—while Eun-soo devoured his noodles with a series of hearty slurps. The stark contrast offered a satisfying confirmation regarding exactly who embodied Arnebs and who represented Rottenmeyer within this dynamic.

After the pot was completely emptied, I illuminated the television screen. I spent the afternoon chuckling at an ancient variety broadcast airing on a cable network, followed by a rerun of a television drama that had premiered recently—though from my personal perspective, it was a piece of media from a decade ago. Amidst the white noise, I naturally drifted into sleep. When my consciousness returned, my body had been meticulously moved over the surface of my electric blanket, flanked once more by the two versions of Kallios who had proceeded to utilize my frame as a human bolster.

A quiet thought surfaced that this specific world was a fraction… a tiny fraction acceptable. Every single element originating from Capre had consistently betrayed my underlying expectations and desires, meaning there was absolutely zero certainty regarding what catastrophic shift would manifest next; yet, waking up in the early hours of the morning sandwiched tightly between my two younger brothers yielded a remarkably peaceful sensation.

My two younger brothers were twenty-two years of age. Eun-ho was currently enrolled in a university curriculum, while Eun-soo had bypassed higher education to enter the workforce immediately. When I questioned him regarding the exact nature of his employment, he marched straight into the master bedroom—which had transformed from my mother’s old quarters into a storage area, and currently functioned as their shared room—before returning with an immense bundle of magazines to showcase his achievements. The pictorial spreads featuring his form—clad in remarkably expensive garments while sporting an intense scowl—were quite… no, they were profoundly magnificent.

“This is spectacular.”

The corners of Eun-soo’s lips lifted slightly at the praise.

“You look truly magnificent.”

Eun-soo… looking back at the version of him from the novel, there were far too many elements I regretted being unable to provide for his sake. It would have been wonderful if you had managed to be born and raised as my true sibling in reality. Perhaps the intense longing I harbored during those dark days was currently reflecting itself within this dream of ‘Jung Eun-chan.’

Desiring to extract a few more compliments, Eun-soo sifted through the stack of media resting beside his hip and extended a specific issue toward my form. The cover of the thick fashion magazine featured a massive close-up image of Eun-soo cupping his own face between his palms.

“Wow. Does this mean you are incredibly successful?”

While I possessed absolutely zero comprehension regarding the landscape of fashion publications, appearing squarely on the front cover of a book struck me as an immense achievement, prompting me to question further.

“If you manage to pull in a massive income, I could easily throw in the towel at my corporate job and simply lounge around the house all day.”

“You have every right to do exactly that.”

“Huh?”

“I bring in more than enough financial means to ensure you never have to labor again, brother… so could you please consider resigning from your company?”

A sincere declaration returned in response to my casual jest. Shifting my gaze toward Eun-ho, who was currently lounging across the sofa while perusing a foreign English text, I offered a soft laugh.

“Even so, I still need to earn enough to settle Eun-ho’s academic tuition.”

“There is absolutely zero structural necessity for that. I managed to secure a full institutional scholarship for this upcoming semester as well.”

Eun-ho locked his eyes with mine, supporting Eun-soo’s stance with a calm, “Simply resign, brother.”

“Should I actually just throw it all away…?”

This domain wasn’t reality anyway. Returning to my home world only to trap myself within the endless wheel of daily commutes and late-night corporate overtime felt remarkably unappealing. Furthermore, I had completely forgotten the operational mechanics of office work during my tenure as an imperial prince, meaning that returning to the firm would yield absolutely nothing aside from transforming me into a convenient punching bag for insults.

After pondering the choice for a brief moment, I rolled onto my back while clutching the magazine featuring Eun-soo’s face tightly against my chest.

“Come on. A human being still needs to maintain a proper occupation. If an individual spends every waking moment simply lounging around and consuming food, how exactly are they any different from a beast?”

Within this specific domain, the role assigned to my consciousness was that of an older brother to ‘a pair of Kallioses born and raised within the Republic of Korea.’ Unless the underlying situation completely fractured at a later date, I harbored absolutely zero desire to project the image of a pathetic, incompetent older sibling.

Rather than existing as a fragile, burdensome ‘Kaian,’ I found myself distinctly fond of this role as the household patriarch, ‘Jung Eun-chan.’ Operating as the head of a family was one of the precise milestones I had always wished to achieve. While a structural possibility existed that I might miss the ideal window if I lived my life aimlessly… I had firmly resolved that if I were ever blessed with a household of my own, I would execute my duties with absolute perfection.

But regardless of the future, let’s ensure I secure some rest tomorrow.

The moment the resolution solidified, I lifted my smartphone and transmitted a text message to Manager Park. [I will be utilizing a day of annual leave tomorrow.] The exact second the message registered as sent, the device vibrated intensely with an incoming call. Verifying the caller ID, I refrained from answering, flipping the device face down onto the table instead. While the operational details of corporate tasks had faded from my mind, the terrifying regularity with which Manager Park delivered his verbal tirades remained perfectly clear. Let’s see how much you struggle without my presence. Serve you right.

The corporate shift scheduled for tomorrow was successfully deferred to the following day. In that case, what would be the most magnificent method to spend today?

Lifting the magazine resting against my chest to study the photographic image of Eun-soo once more, I turned my gaze toward the real Eun-soo sitting right beside me, who was observing my form intently. His soft, completely relaxed expression was entirely devoid of the lingering shadows that characterized Kallios Rottenmeyer.

So this is how you project yourself when born and raised as Jung Eun-chan’s younger brother. I opened both of my arms wide. Eun-soo immediately bent his waist, leaning his upper body forward to rest his cheek squarely against my chest. Wrapping my arms securely around his frame, I gently patted his back.

“Eun-soo-ya.”

“Yes?”

“Tell me some stories from your school days.”

“School?”

“Yeah.”

Sloppily stroking through the magnificent texture of his hair, I waited for him to speak. After contemplating the request for a considerable duration, Eun-soo began reciting a tale from his initial entry into middle school. Within the archives of Eun-soo’s memory, the ‘older brother’ he knew was entirely distinct from my actual historical self.

I listened to the narrative describing how ‘brother’ had attempted to press a sharp crease into Eun-soo’s school uniform trousers the night before the entrance ceremony, only to completely incinerate the fabric, prompting a burst of hearty laughter from my lips. That was a historical mistake I had personally executed upon my own summer uniform back when I was a second-year in high school. I remembered spending the weekend distributing commercial flyers to secure the funds for a replacement pair of pre-owned trousers, forcing me to navigate life in cropped pants until then; yet within this specific reality, Eun-soo was the one forced to roam around in cropped trousers due to my mistake.

“Did you intensely detest me back then?”

At my question, Eun-soo lifted his head slightly to lock his gaze with mine.

“I actually quite enjoyed it.”

“Liars go to hell.”

I aggressively ruffled his hair, tossing the neat strands into complete disarray.

“No, I am being entirely sincere. Because it was something my brother executed for my sake…”

Eun-ho, who had been aggressively flipping through the pages of his text, slammed the volume shut with a resounding thud. Smoothing down Eun-soo’s disheveled hair, I lifted my gaze to observe Eun-ho. Shifting his weight off the sofa, he marched over to seat himself right beside the crown of my head.

“What is it?”

“Nothing in particular.”

“Why don’t you share a story from your school days as well?”

Eun-ho offered absolutely no verbal response, reaching out with his fingers to gently adjust my bangs instead. Staring up at his face, my eyes naturally drifted shut. Eun-soo, who remained comfortably pressed against my side, resumed his narration. He claimed that whenever Eun-ho and Eun-soo were scheduled for school excursions, I would personally prepare their lunchboxes. Hearing his declaration that the fried tofu rice balls I prepared back then were intensely delicious, I finalized our dinner menu for the evening. Fried tofu rice balls.

Since executing the preparation process manually was far too tedious, we would simply purchase them from a local shop.

[Kyung-i: Senior]

[Kyung-i: What are you up to]

[Kyung-i: I am intensely bored, care to catch a movie?]

While navigating the path toward Gimbap Heaven to execute our fried tofu rice ball hunt, a series of messages arrived from Kyung.

Glancing at the two individuals who were currently displaying a massive amount of interest in my smartphone screen, I questioned, “Do you two desire to watch a movie?” Eun-ho immediately extracted his own device to initiate a search query.

“Is there actually anything worth watching?”

“Well, I wouldn’t know.”

“Do you genuinely desire to watch a film, brother?”

Pondering his question for a brief moment, I shook my head from side to side. Rather than sitting entirely still to absorb a visual broadcast, I significantly preferred the act of reading a text. If a book grew tedious, an individual could easily skim past the sentences, whereas a film forced you to endure the duration with absolute patience.

However, Kyung possessed a magnificent talent for selecting films that minimized my boredom. Out of every ten movies we consumed together, we would encounter a failure only once or twice. Consequently, whenever Kyung proposed a theater outing, I had never once declined. While the dynamics might have operated differently within this world containing my younger brothers, that was precisely how the original version of myself functioned.

[Kyung-i: I am footing the bill for a 4DX screening]

Since the experience was entirely free, there was absolutely zero structural reason to decline. I transmitted an immediate response.

[Can I bring the kids along?]

[Kyung-i: Excuse me, senior, but 4DX tickets are intensely expensive]

[Kyung-i: Tell the Lake duo to guard the house and come entirely by yourself]

[We are currently reading this message together right now]

[Kyung-i: Ah]

[Kyung-i: (jumping puppy emoticon)]

[Kyung-i: Brother, do you possess absolutely zero secrets?]

[Kyung-i: Do you lack a private life entirely?]

[Kyung-i: (tantrum-throwing puppy emoticon)]

“Does this fellow completely lack other friends? Why on earth does he feel compelled to call our brother every single day? Constantly inviting you out for drinks, demanding to watch movies…”

Listening to Eun-soo’s bitter grumbling, a soft laugh escaped my lips just as another notification arrived with impeccable timing.

[Kyung-i: Hey, you two should seriously consider sharing him occasionally. My only true friend in existence is your older brother.]

“Yeah. Kyung’s single, solitary friend is me.”

Of course, the exact same reality applied to myself; my single thread of companionship anchored entirely to Kyung.

At any rate, it appeared Eun-soo refrained from addressing Kyung with proper older-brother honorifics. While Kyung occasionally behaved somewhat poorly around my form, he maintained an entirely different demeanor when interacting with the outside world. Delivering a light reprimand, I typed out a response. “But Eun-soo, calling him ‘this fellow’ is entirely inappropriate. Kyung happens to be three years your senior.”

[Forget the movie, do you simply want to grab some dinner instead?]

[My treat]

[Kyung-i: Senior Eun-chan…….]

Staring at the weeping puppy emoticon Kyung transmitted, a quiet chuckle escaped my lips.

[Kyung-i: I assume the kids are tagging along for the meal as well, correct?]

In place of a verbal response, I located an emoticon depicting a character clutching their stomach in intense laughter and sent it across the network. Kyung’s chatroom immediately became completely flooded with weeping graphics. Bypassing the smartphone that was currently crying out with an immense frequency of message notifications rather than voice calls, I adjusted the device to silent mode and slid it deep inside my pocket.