Work Text:
“You should be more careful. I might be working on a new recipe and unable to sew a name tag on.”
Gyeong-su smiles around his chicken. A new uniform is more than he can afford. Having Cheong-san chicken tonight will force him to extend his food budget. Yet, he knows Cheong-san’s mom will sew the name tag back on, feigning obliviousness when her son is home late with kiss swollen lips, and she's going to beg him to take home some chicken for his grandmother.
Will she realize Cheong-san’s name tag is missing, too? No. Cheong-san's family can afford to have several more lying around whereas him? A white-hot feeling creeps up his back, recalling when people tugged the name tag off, knowing he could never afford another, laughing when someone asked whoever wanted a dirty welfie? Well, it was never someone. Someone always wore that pink cardigan with no wrinkles and shrieked when he passed her. Being poor knocked him into the same class as garbage, men worse than Gwi-nam.
Giving Cheong-san his name tag? Being a friend is already dangerous. People will know him as the one interested in a welfie.
“I’ll be more careful.”
Cheong-san deserves better.