Chapter 1
It was a Friday in January when a cold wave hit.
At the end of an alley where low houses were tangled together, hot steam rose from a round chimney.
On a worn-out sign that was almost completely faded, the characters for “Cheolpan-jip” were barely glowing. Even the character for “jip” was hardly visible, so from a distance it just looked like the two characters “cheolpan.”
Cheolpan-jip was a small pork belly restaurant known only to people living in the neighborhood. It had quite a few regulars thanks to being in the same spot for a long time, but after apartment redevelopment began in the area, the existing regulars disappeared and it became a gathering place for construction workers’ company dinners.
When evening came, the inside of the restaurant filled up with red-faced workers. They would casually spout dirty jokes and sometimes split into sides to fight over who was better or worse. The noise was so loud it made your ears hurt just listening to it.
“One more soju over here!”
“Yes.”
Yuwon answered gently and brought over a bottle of soju in the brand the customers had been drinking. Then the table next to them also clamored for one soju and two more beers.
Even as he replied “Yes, yes,” he was quietly cursing to himself. That damn “fire Friday.” Yuwon hated that term the most these days. It was because of the customers who flooded in every Friday night.
It would be fine if they just ate their meat quietly and left, but the problem was they always drank and caused trouble.
They’d eat 100,000 won worth of food and then refuse to pay, or they’d keep breaking glasses and turn the floor into a complete mess.
At times like that, forget about burning Friday or whatever—he just wanted to burn everything down with fire.
“Three servings of pork belly and one soybean paste stew, two bottles of soju—that’ll be 56,000 won.”
When it came time to ring up at the counter, he could finally rest a bit. After catching his breath and finishing the payment, Yuwon said goodbye to the two customers leaving the restaurant.
They were the only couple who had been drinking quietly, but it seemed they couldn’t stand the noisy interior and were leaving. To think that decent people had to give up their seats because of those loud, ill-mannered ajeossis. Feeling somehow bitter, Yuwon let out a deep sigh.
He threw the crumpled receipt in his hand into the trash and was about to move again when Sohyeon, who worked with him, scurried over to his side.
“Ugh, I feel like I’m going to die. Is today some special day that only I don’t know about?”
Unlike Yuwon who worked since the afternoon, Sohyeon worked part-time in the evenings and had to move frantically busy from the moment she clocked in. Maybe that’s why her usually cool and refreshing eyes were all twisted up.
“It’s because it’s Friday. I’ve been getting reservation calls since this afternoon.”
“Is this the only place for company dinners? Why is it always our restaurant?”
Two bottles of soju and three cold noodles. Even while grumbling, Sohyeon diligently entered the order into the POS system, then for some reason glanced around cautiously before approaching Yuwon closely and whispering.
“By the way Yuwon, be careful of the psycho today.”
“Why?”
“He’s been totally low-pressure since earlier. We’re already busy enough to die, but he keeps picking fights, you know?”
The “psycho” Sohyeon was talking about was Boss Park. The owner of Cheolpan-jip, he was an unmarried man in his early fifties with bulging eyes, a protruding belly, and full of greed. His personality was so hysterical that there was a reason Sohyeon called him “psycho.”
“Bitching and moaning about tying your apron properly. It can get a bit crooked when you’re working, right?”
Sohyeon shook her head as if fed up and warned while glancing toward the kitchen where Boss Park was.
“When that psycho is in a bad mood, he picks fights with you for no reason. Don’t even make eye contact. Got it?”
Whether it was because he felt comfortable or looked down on him, Boss Park was particularly harsh toward Yuwon, who had worked at Cheolpan-jip the longest.
When he was in a bad mood, he’d find fault for no reason and deliberately give him more difficult work. There had even been times when he yelled and got angry at Sohyeon when she tried to subtly help out of pity.
If it weren’t for knowing the director, he would have quit long ago.
Yuwon smiled bitterly and nodded. That’s when it happened.
“Where the hell did that bastard Kim Yuwon go? Hurry up and set table 5! What are you doing!”
Boss Park’s thunderous shout could be heard. He was someone who had a knack for knowing when people were talking about him.
Startled, Sohyeon left the counter first. Yuwon also replied “Yes!” and moved his body quickly toward the kitchen.
Fresh kimchi, seasoned bracken, pickled onions, and lettuce wraps. Yuwon lifted up a silver tray loaded with side dishes that went well with crispy grilled pork belly and frantically carried the side dishes between the drinking customers.
The space between customers sitting on backless round stools was very cramped. Inevitably trying to find gaps and moving this way and that, he couldn’t help but bump into people.
“Excuse me, just passing through.” Because of his unusually round bottom for a man, Yuwon had quite a hard time twisting his waist like a pretzel.
The more he did so, the more his arm holding the tray rose up, blocking Yuwon’s view. In his urgency, he didn’t have the leisure to properly look around. It was natural that he didn’t see someone right in front of him.
“Ah!”
With a short scream, the sound of plates clattering rang out.
When Yuwon’s body collided with something and he dropped the tray, the side dishes on top also came tumbling down together. It would have been fortunate if they had just spilled. He could just clean it up and wipe it down.
The problem was the huge man standing in front of Yuwon. Unfortunately, seasoned bracken was stuck flat against his black coat.
“……”
Yuwon, who had gone stiff, looked up at the man he had bumped into. A cold gaze met Yuwon’s eyes from under thick eyebrows.
It was just a moment, but it was a look that was hard to face. Yuwon immediately lowered his head.
“S-sorry. I’m really sorry.”
He was frantically trying to find wet wipes when a loud roar came from behind him.
“Kim Yuwon! Are you crazy?”
It was Boss Park’s voice, who had witnessed the situation from beyond the kitchen partition. As if he had used some kind of teleportation, he had already reached Yuwon’s side and was yelling while spitting.
“This clumsy bastard, I knew you’d cause an accident someday! Are you really not going to get your act together? Oh my, boss-nim. Are you okay? This is so embarrassing, what should I do.”
Boss Park approached the man with both hands politely placed on his bulging belly. It was an utterly servile posture.
Yuwon had never seen Boss Park bow and scrape to someone like this before. No matter how much customers bought, he would just smile good-naturedly and throw in services like drinks.
Do they know each other?
The moment that thought crossed his mind, Boss Park exploded with anger once more.
“Hey, you bastard. What are you keeping your eyes for? Why do you carry around eyes that can’t even see a person right in front of you, huh? I kept you around out of pity for this pathetic thing. Damn it, really.”
Without even a chance to respond, sharp criticism continued.
Normally he would apologize without much thought, saying he was sorry. But today his mouth wouldn’t open. It was because those words about keeping him around out of pity stuck in his chest like a thorn.
Unable to say anything and just hanging his head low, Boss Park seemed frustrated with Yuwon and began getting even angrier.
He didn’t hire people out of sympathy but made a mistake, this is why family education is important. Picking at only the painful parts and pouring out a stream of verbal abuse, it felt like his cheek was stinging even though he hadn’t been slapped.
Suddenly Sohyeon’s warning came to mind. That the psycho was low-pressure today so be careful.
What terrible luck. Of all days, to make a mistake he wouldn’t normally make on a day like today.
Yuwon bit his lower lip hard. His toes curled and he felt dizzy. This level of harsh words was nothing, but why did his chest ache so much today…
“Stop.”
That’s when it happened. The man who had been wiping his coat with a handkerchief from his companion suddenly spoke.
“Keep it moderate. It’s unpleasant to listen to.”
The low voice made the surroundings fall silent. When the man slightly frowned, Boss Park trembled as if it was some great disaster and said,
“Oh, I’m sorry, boss-nim. I got so angry at what this kid did that I…”
“Fuck, shut”
“……”
“your mouth.”
Yuwon unconsciously shuddered. Even though he knew it was said to Boss Park, it happened reflexively.
The man’s heavy voice had that kind of power. It was as if invisible threads had wrapped tightly around his entire body, making him unable to move.
“People make mistakes living their lives. Isn’t that right?”
It was a voice that could be mistaken as quite affectionate at first listen, but there wasn’t a hair’s worth of warmth in the man’s eyes looking at Boss Park.
The man threw the handkerchief he was holding into the trash can under the table and said,
“Now get back to work.”
Yuwon stared at the man as if mesmerized. He turned his gaze from Boss Park and briefly looked at Yuwon.
A gaze containing nothing quickly moved away.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
