73
[Aren’t you coming?] [Hope Loans Jang Ihwan]
[I don’t understand ㅋㅋ] [Hope Loans Jang Ihwan]
Such texts had arrived during the night. Even in his half-asleep state, Taein deleted both messages. He usually just saved texts saying “send money” or “do this by when,” but keeping these kinds of threats in his message box also felt bad. After doing that, Taein dry-washed his face and got up from his spot. Because he had covered the window with cheap curtains, the room was as bright as broad daylight.
Taein went to the kitchen and first checked the refrigerator. Since it was morning when he had no appetite, making rolled omelet that Eundo liked was essential. He took out eggs, Vienna sausages, and onions and heated the pan. When he put the quickly made egg mixture on the pan, there was a sizzling sound as the surface cooked. Taein also started heating another pan and put Vienna sausages and onions on it. Originally bell peppers would go in here too, but all the ingredients had run out so this was the best he could do. Kang Eundo’s lucky… Whenever he put in bell peppers, Eundo would cover his mouth and nose with both hands saying it hurt here.
Taein laughed something like a hollow laugh and turned his head back.
He had looked in that direction for no reason, but Eundo had woken up from sleep and was looking around. With his shoulders drooped down and his eyes not even fully open, he looked like he could fall back asleep at any moment. Taein, who had put the fully cooked rolled omelet on a plate, kept his eyes fixed on Eundo while speaking.
“Kang Eundo, are you awake?”
“Hyung…”
The automatic “hyung” that came out had no strength in it. Taein roughly tidied up the surroundings and headed to the living room. Perhaps noticing that hyung was approaching, Eundo was stretching his arms here and there with his eyes closed. It was because the habit of clinging to him from when he was a baby still remained. Taein got on top of the blanket and became Eundo’s pillar.
“What’s wrong. Your eyes won’t open?”
While hugging Taein’s legs, Eundo nodded his head.
“Mmm… there are a lot of spider webs…”
It was morning so he couldn’t see well in front of him, but Eundo always blamed it on spider webs. Sometimes he would ask “Did spiders come by? They came by, right?” but today he openly said spider webs. Taein said “Yeah, I guess so” and took the child into his arms. The sight of him firmly supporting his bottom and heading to the bathroom somehow felt like a cicada stuck to a tree. Only after putting the child who was stuck tight on the toilet lid did Eundo open his eyes wide. The dim bathroom lighting seemed to be okay.
“Are you awake or pretending?”
“Mmm, I’m awake.”
“Then get up and wash your face.”
“Okay.”
Eundo slowly put his feet on the tiles and stood up. Since the sink height still didn’t match him, he stretched his hands almost like doing a cheer to get water on them. His short, white arms moved diligently, but it was hard to tell if he was washing his face or spraying water everywhere. After watching for a while from behind, Taein reached out his hand.
“Are you a watering can?”
“Yeah…”
Taein, who had gotten water on one hand, wiped various parts of Eundo’s face. Even as his white cheeks were pushed by the hand and water got in his eyes, Eundo didn’t say a single word of dislike. Before, there was a time when face wash foam got in his eyes, but even then he only said “Hyung, Eundo’s eyes hurt” when it was time to eat. Since his touch wasn’t delicate, he couldn’t know unless he was told each time. Taein, who had become conscious of this for no reason, wiped while avoiding the eye area as much as possible. He was especially careful when applying cleanser.
“Wubu.”
When he rinsed cleanly and also pulled and wiped his nose and lips thoroughly, Eundo made sounds like “wup, wububu.” He seemed to be struggling with the sudden touch. Taein took a towel from behind and held it out in front of Eundo.
“Here, try wiping.”
“W, okay.”
He hugged the towel to his chest and only wiped his face with the part of the cloth that stuck out. He seemed to be doing well at something but also not doing it well. Taein raised the corners of his mouth again and helped him hold the towel properly. Even in the dim bathroom lighting, all the downy hair that had grown on Eundo’s face was visible. Baby smell. Unable to resist the sudden impulse, Taein quickly lowered his head and put his nose to the back of Eundo’s neck. Between the fragrant soap scent, the baby scent that had also permeated the blanket rose up. Eundo suddenly seemed ticklish from something touching him. He raised both shoulders up high and laughed saying “hyung.”
“Kang Eundo is still a baby.”
Taein, who pulled his face away while casually throwing out the words, held out his hand to Eundo. Eundo grabbed that hand and said he wasn’t a baby.
“Then what are you?”
Sitting in front of the small table, Eundo did his self-introduction amazingly well.
“I’m a child.”
“Ah, really?”
Taein, who held back laughter in front, nodded saying “I see.” He also pushed side dishes and rice forward saying eat your food. Eundo picked up his spoon while informing him once more that he was a child. Is five years old a child? Don’t children know how to do more things than this? He had momentarily puzzling thoughts, but his attention was stolen by the sight of Eundo eating. Eundo seemed so happy that there were no bell peppers in the stir-fried Vienna sausages that he even praised hyung, which he usually didn’t do, while using his spoon. Words like “hyung is cool” and “hyung is the great king.” Every time such unexpected praise was heard, laughter also leaked from Taein’s mouth.
* * *
After sending Eundo to kindergarten, Taein brought a job information magazine from outside. Even when he was working, he would look through it when bored, so he knew which pages had what information. He planned to focus on Myeongsin-dong and Jeonwa-dong, but if there were no suitable positions, he was thinking of looking into Jangpo-eup as well.
It had already been 4 days since he couldn’t go to work. He had been looking around here and there, but it was difficult to find a job. He had worked serving at a restaurant for just one day, four hours, but other than that, he couldn’t even get interviews. It was because unlike the summer beach that was crowded with people, there were no visitors at all in early spring. Without people, how could business work?
The restaurant where Taein had worked was in relatively better circumstances, but even that place was reluctant to use Taein as a regular employee. To Taein who had brazenly said “Please call me next time too,” they only waved their hands saying “Oh, I’ll just have to do it alone.”
All sides were walls and obstacles. There were no positions for simple serving or counter work, and even when he tried to challenge other work, he couldn’t even try anything upon hearing they only wanted experienced people. But now he really had to do something. Taein, who had been concentrating on reading the information magazine, fixed his gaze on one small advertisement box.
New delivery company. Beginners welcome. Simple labor.
At the “Call first” text visible below, Taein picked up his phone. When he pressed the number to attempt a call, an unfamiliar man’s voice was heard right away.
– Hello.
“Hello. I’m calling after seeing your ad.”
– Oh, how old are you?
“I’m twenty-four this year, ah, twenty-five.”
Since he rarely talked about his age anywhere, even in March he was confused about how old he was. Taein, who hurriedly corrected himself, waited for the man’s answer.
– Too young? Young guys are all just punks in this neighborhood… I…
Words like “what can I trust to give work to,” “we’re a small delivery company,” “we’re just starting out” poured out smoothly. Taein said “Yes, I’ve done delivery work for a long time so I can do that well too, I’ll work hard,” but the man’s reaction wasn’t favorable. He even spilled anecdotes about being startled by punks and only repeated that men of that age couldn’t be trusted. And that wasn’t even the end. When talk unrelated to work continued, Taein tried to wrap up first.
“Ah, boss. Then I’ll… I’ll apply next time.”
– Yeah! Do that!
The call ended with a refreshing answer. The time they talked like that was 30 minutes. Whether he needed a conversation partner, the boss talked about all sorts of things except saying he would hire him. Hah, looking at the screen and sighing, Taein went to the phone company homepage and confirmed that 100 minutes out of 160 free call minutes had been used up. Since he didn’t know what kind of work he’d be doing until the end of the month, he was trying to save on calls as much as possible, but 30 minutes flew away just today. He really shouldn’t make phone calls unless necessary.
The moment he had such thoughts, a phone notification rang.
[Hey send money, let’s get 700,000 today ㅋㅋ I’m passing by the kindergarten right now] [Hope Loans Jang Ihwan]
“……”
It wasn’t to the level where he didn’t have kindergarten fees to pay immediately like Jang Ihwan had threatened that day. The problem was that if he took that out, only about 150,000 won would be left. The official interest payment was at the end of the month, but Jang Ihwan had sent him a text trying to take away fresh money again in the midst of this. Taein, who frowned and opened the reply window, was just about to send a reply saying he couldn’t give it today.
The screen switched and a call came from an unfamiliar number.
Could it be the delivery company? The last number seemed to be 6, and this number also started with 6 at the end. Taein, who pressed the call button, brought the phone to his ear.
“Yes, boss.”
– Boss?
It wasn’t the voice of that older man from earlier. It was a young man’s voice. Taein immediately looked at the screen and carefully examined the number. It wasn’t Jang Ihwan, and it wasn’t Jang Heungcheol either… It didn’t seem like a call from the liquor warehouse either. Taein, who had quickly gone through his thoughts, brought the phone back up.
“Where is this?”
– This is Ilsim Capital. If you want to borrow money, we need to start working from today.
“Ah. You said it would take at least a week.”
– Originally that’s the case, but Kang Taein-ssi has a lot to do. Is the address Myeongsin-dong 771-6 correct?
“Yes.”
– I’m passing by Sihwa Beach right now.
“Then it’s right in front.”
– Right, so come out.
“…Understood.”
Taein, who had hung up, stared quietly at the phone screen. 6543. Now that he looked, it was a simple combination. Earlier the boss’s number only had the 6 that caught his eye. Taein first saved the nameless number. In case there would be problems if he saved it as “loan scam,” he only entered “Ilsim Capital.”
After that, Taein got up and recklessly combed his hair that looked like he had just woken up. He had showered, but since he hadn’t dried his hair properly, it was set in an ugly shape. No matter how much he combed with his hands, a few strands sticking up couldn’t be controlled. Tsk, making a rough sound, Taein pressed down a baseball cap that was lying around randomly. He put on his usual going-out clothes and left the house.
Outside the building, an incredibly large black sedan was parked.
As he stopped for a moment, unable to get his bearings, the passenger seat window rolled down and someone revealed their face.
“Oh, over here.”
It was the man he had seen that day, who looked too much like Gu Wanjae.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
