Gi-Gyu and Tae-Shik glared at each other for a while before Tae-Shik gave in. “Are you sure you have a handle on this?”

“I don’t carry around a handle,” Gi-Gyu joked.

“Huh?” When Tae-Shik seemed confused, Gi-Gyu laughed and asked, “Haha, handle on what?” 

“Are you confident that you won’t…” Tae-Shik trailed off, unable to say the words. Frustrated, Gi-Gyu tilted his head and prodded, “What are you trying to say?”

Tae-Shik didn’t reply; it looked like he was trying to think of the right word. Finally, he asked, “Are you confident that you won’t turn into an animal?”

“Yes, that will never happen.” When Gi-Gyu replied promptly, Tae-Shik replied, “All right then.”

A short silence fell. Before long, their three bowls of soondae[1] soup arrived, and the meal began rather tensely. Thankfully, Suk-Woo cleared the air with a generic compliment.

“Wow… This is so delicious! You have no idea how much I missed this. I would love to come here from time to time to eat, but I’ve been way too busy lately.”

“Are you still that busy?” asked Gi-Gyu; he had already finished his bowl.

“Yeah… I’m actually busier than ever nowadays.” When Suk-Woo replied, Tae-Shik asked, “Gi-Gyu, haven’t you...