70
The shop he arrived at after running quickly had a different atmosphere than usual. Since he only stopped by here at night, his impression was that it was always noisy, but the midday shop was like an artificially decorated set. It was eerily quiet. Taein, who headed through the dim lighting to the alcohol storage, looked down at the boxes he had delivered.
“You came? Taein?”
Boss Bae, who opened the door from the next room, raised his hand to show Taein.
Among Taein’s customers, he was someone who was relatively less high-handed, and also someone who had made a contract with him without any big reason. As soon as Taein saw Boss Bae, he bowed his head 90 degrees.
“Hello, boss. Can I open just one of these alcohol boxes to check?”
Imported alcohol was repackaged according to the quantity before going out. When Taein pointed to one large paper box and asked Boss Bae for permission, Boss Bae nodded.
“I don’t know what big thing I could do in Gaepan. You know too, right Taein? I have no intention of making big money with this, right? I’ve been running this well for 5 years, so what is this about? If it were places like JAM or Dohwa, I could at least think some crazy bastard was being competitive. Ha, I’m really dumbfounded.”
As if he had nowhere to appeal, Boss Bae endlessly lamented his situation. Next to him, Taein was bringing a small knife to open the box and examine the inside. He didn’t forget to say “Yes, that’s right, boss, I’m sorry.”
The alcohol looked fine like this. There were no traces of torn labels, and the cap area was also intact. Taein, who was examining the bottle mouth area relying on the dim light, turned his head to the other side.
He happened to see empty alcohol bottles stacked in crates. Taein picked up one of them and carefully examined the top and bottom of the bottle. As Boss Bae said, he had heard that such things often happened at major establishments like JAM or Dohwa. Since all the people doing business were thugs, they tried to bring down rival bars with all sorts of tricks. But why would such a thing happen here?
It was only briefly that he felt puzzled, when he saw a small hole drilled in the cap area. A hole that wouldn’t even look like a hole if you didn’t look closely. As if pierced with a syringe or needle, there was a groove the size of a small dot. Some of the empty bottles had caps and some didn’t, but most of the bottles with caps attached were all in this state.
“Boss, did you happen to report this?”
“Hey, I can’t do such things….”
Even though it was a quiet place for a Gaepan establishment, Boss Bae showed a negative reaction, as if engaging in illegal activities was the same. Taein, who was holding several empty bottles, said “Ah” and nodded.
“Why, is there something there?”
“Yes, if you look here….”
Taein held up three bottles at once, extending the mouth area so Boss Bae could see the caps. The dim light at the level of a light bulb precisely hit the hole in the center of the caps. Boss Bae made a surprised “Whoa” sound and looked at Taein.
“Such things… No, Taein… listen… I’ve been in the alcohol business for 20 years… this is my first time in my life… what is all this… how much money will I lose to the center… I have no enemies, I’ve only been dealing with my regulars, so how could such a thing happen?”
In front of Boss Bae who put his hand on his forehead, Taein had nothing to say. He said he wouldn’t report to the police, and he wasn’t particularly shifting responsibility to him, so he didn’t know what reaction to have. He’d been saying sorry and apologetic since earlier, but even now no other words came to mind besides those. Taein, who put the bottles down on the floor, put his hands together and bent his waist.
“Boss, I’m really sorry. I’ll go to the warehouse today to check the CCTV, and I’ll tell the manager and pay for a month’s worth of alcohol. Even if they say no, I can deduct it from my salary….”
“No, Taein. This isn’t right.”
Even though he made the big decision to say he’d deduct it from his salary, Boss Bae’s response was cold.
“Honestly, what can I do? Catch the culprit? Even if we catch them, it’s no use. Our image is our life, and the moment rumors spread about who did such things, it’s all over. You know how sensitive this field is, right? The culprit? Ha, even places like Dohwa and JAM don’t cause big problems…. How could I do anything similar to that?”
“Ah, boss…. Then how should I….”
“Sorry, but Taein, let’s end our contract here. I have no ill feelings toward you. But this time you have to make the sacrifice. You know I made a contract with you without questioning this and that, right? I hope you’ll do the same for me this time. You understand what I mean, right?”
To Boss Bae who confirmed this with wide eyes, Taein could only say this:
“…Yes, boss. I understand what you mean. I’m so sorry. You trusted me and made a contract, but for such a thing to happen….”
“No, I even confirmed the bottles were pierced, so would I blame you? But Taein, you also have responsibility, and I need someone who did wrong. You can say the alcohol was already like that from the warehouse, right? Ah, there won’t be any legal problems. After all, I just need to make excuses to my regulars.”
Boss Bae, who had only been lamenting his situation throughout, spoke with a firm attitude when it came to responsibility. Taein didn’t know how much he should think about this first-time experience. First, the contract would be terminated, and if he said the alcohol was wrong from the warehouse, it would cause damage not only to him but also to the distribution company. He opened his mouth to try pleading belatedly, but Boss Bae had already turned his back saying to clean up and leave.
The door to the living space prepared next to the customer room was tightly locked.
Even when he knocked on the door calling “Boss,” he couldn’t even hear Boss Bae’s voice.
Taein stood in front of it for about 30 minutes before leaving the bar.
When leaving this place, the surroundings were always dim, but today everything was bright.
Only his current situation seemed dark.
Since he had already come to Gaepan, he needed to stop by the warehouse. Boss Bae said it didn’t matter, but he felt he needed to at least check the CCTV to feel relieved. Taein wandered around Gaepan like someone with nowhere to go, then turned direction around 2 o’clock and headed to the warehouse. It was a 30-minute walk or a 15-minute run.
Since there were people working during the day too, Taein bowed his head several times as he approached the warehouse.
He greeted first, from the security guard to colleagues who didn’t look favorably upon him.
“Playboy, I heard rumors you caused trouble?”
“Rumors?”
The man who stuck his body out of the big truck grinned while looking at Taein.
“Hey, this field is small. How absent-minded were you at work for pesticide to get into alcohol? You’re really something, aren’t you?”
“No, hyung-nim. It’s not that I was absent-minded at work,”
He wanted to argue, but the man said “Hey, forget it” and left the road with his truck. It was in front of the garage where many trucks were sleeping. Taein felt only bewildered, wondering why rumors, and so quickly at that, had spread.
Honestly, he wanted to seek advice from the warehouse manager, but if a regular employee knew about it, it would naturally have reached the manager’s ears. Taein, whose feet stopped in front of the warehouse, couldn’t go in either direction anymore.
Rather, the manager who was coming in after eating lunch called Taein first.
“Hey, are you Kang Taein?”
As if he recognized him just from his back, Taein immediately turned around at the familiar voice.
“Ah, hello, manager. I,”
Before he could report the situation he was in, the manager first made an annoyed face and pointed to the warehouse entrance. On one side, alcohol was piled up, and on the other side was a space with an office door. Following behind the manager, Taein couldn’t even open his mouth. No matter how he looked at it, the manager didn’t seem like he would listen to him.
Sure enough.
The manager rummaged through drawers and pulled out all documents related to Taein. Contracts he had filled out before working, documents related to contract partners, and on top was a <written pledge> that was only valid in this warehouse.
Content stating that individual employees would be held responsible when unseemly incidents occurred was written in Taein’s handwriting. He even remembered pressing his thumb with red ink there.
“Why do you think I pulled this out? It’s better for you alone to be fucked than for our entire warehouse to be fucked, right?”
“Manager, I’m really sorry. It’s not that I did that, but someone seems to have drilled holes and put something in there. Can’t I just check the CCTV once? If I do that….”
“Then what would change? You want rumors to spread that our security was breached? Wouldn’t it be better for all of us if rumors spread that you did that stuff out of resentment?”
“No, why would I have resentment….”
“I don’t know. That’s your situation now. Should we protect you while damaging the warehouse’s image? You can just leave this field and that’s it, but can the warehouse do that? Let’s end it with you taking the blame alone. Boss Bae said the same thing.”
“Manager, I was wrong. Since I did everything wrong, please forgive me just once.”
Taein, who had done nothing wrong and had nothing to be forgiven for, recklessly said those words first.
The manager seemed to have already made up his mind, only making annoyed expressions. Then he threw the pledge toward Taein and spoke with a pathetic face.
“Hey, I understand this job is the best for your experience and your age, but would it kill you to earn a little less? The young one has gone completely crazy over money. Hey. You see the confirmation box, right? Just sign there. I’m busy.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
