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Taein, who had fallen asleep in the early hours of dawn, woke to the sound of water pouring. When he got up, he saw the bathroom light was on. He quietly pushed back the covers and went over to see Eundo with both hands stretched straight out, touching his own face. The water was flowing nicely, but there wasn’t much water actually on his hands. With his eyes tightly shut, he was washing his face, seemingly unable to gauge how much water he was getting.
“Puu.”
Even though it looked like he was washing his face with almost dry hands, he kept making “puu” sounds intermittently.
“Puua.”
Oh my. Taein, who had been thinking to himself, leaned his body at an angle and grinned.
“Ha!”
Thinking he was done, the child took a big breath and turned off the faucet. With his small hands he felt around the sink until he touched something and pressed it down.
His eyes were still closed. Still with his back turned, Eundo stretched out his arms like he was celebrating and searched for a towel. Taein didn’t know why he wasn’t opening his eyes. Watching the child who kept touching only the wall tiles, Taein took a big step forward. When he pulled out a towel and placed it on the child’s face, the small body startled.
“Hup, ah.”
“Did you wash your face all by yourself?”
“Yeah, mmph.”
With hands diligently wiping his face, Eundo couldn’t give a proper response. He would try to open his eyes only to have them close again, and try to speak only to have his mouth blocked. Taein mischievously wiped his face even more thoroughly.
“Pretty good. Pretty good.”
“Hyung-a. Hap.”
Even as he called “hyung-a” and laughed, when the towel touched him, the child’s expression crumpled like a tin can. Taein found that expression funny and cute, so he would pretend to offer the towel but stop his movement right in front of his face. How many seconds did he spend looking at those tiny gathered eyes, nose, and mouth? Eundo slowly opened his eyes and tried to check what was in front of him.
“Would you like me to keep wiping?”
“No, hyung-a. Let’s stop now…!”
Taein, barely suppressing the corners of his mouth from rising, nodded and placed his hand on Eundo’s back. Eundo, who had wanted to leave the whole time his face was being wiped, walked away without looking back. With nowhere particular to go, he just leaned against the kitchen wall. Taein, who had followed him out, chuckled when he saw this.
“Come here. Let’s get you dressed.”
“Okay.”
He handed the child, who quickly toddled over, the clothes he had washed yesterday. With just a little help from the side, Eundo could easily manage getting dressed. Pants and a thick t-shirt. He’d have to put on the outer jacket when they went out. After just putting on the top and bottom clothes, Taein went to the kitchen and quickly prepared the child’s meal. Because they woke up late, making rolled eggs would be too much trouble. Eundo also liked well-shaped fried eggs. It wasn’t difficult – he just had to be careful not to break the yolk.
“Hyung-a, an egg flower bloomed.”
“That’s right. It’s hyung’s artwork.”
At the dining table, Eundo said an egg flower had bloomed and saved the yolk for last. Whether he was being boastful or not, he just seemed to like the meal his hyung made and the time eating together. Even though Taein kept joking around, his expression hardened during the few seconds when he wasn’t speaking. It was because the thoughts he’d had all night still hadn’t ended. Today, even the meal Eundo was eating made him feel sorry.
* * *
Even after loading Eundo into the van and coming back up, it was still morning. The time to start the day over again. Taein first looked for his phone, but there was no way such a thing would be at home. Since it hadn’t been there from the hotel, it seemed like it was probably at JAM. Sigh, Taein dropped his head low and let out a sigh as he put his hand against the window.
It would be quick to go there, but it wasn’t a place he particularly wanted to go to on his own feet. At least it was morning so there wouldn’t be people there, but he might run into Jang Ihwan. Since he didn’t know what had happened after yesterday’s situation, he didn’t know how Jang Ihwan might come at him. He wanted to stay quiet until the official interest payment date came around. Of course he’d have to save up money…
Here he was being picky about this and that. When money was the most important thing. Shouldn’t he worry more about scheduled matters than potential ones? Interest, monthly rent, maintenance fees, Eundo’s kindergarten fees. Even just picking out the major ones, that’s what it amounted to. This wasn’t the time to be lost in peaceful thoughts at home.
As soon as he felt that way, Taein just grabbed his hat and left the house.
If he was going to go, it was better to go even a minute earlier. As far as he knew, the rooms were occupied until 8 AM, so if he went now it wouldn’t overlap with that time. He didn’t know all the passcodes for every establishment in Dog Alley, but all the staff knew the entrance passcodes for the biggest ones, ‘Dohwa’ and ‘JAM.’ Maybe it was more openly known because no one dared to mess around there.
Taein, who had been running for a while, saw a car turning from Dog Alley direction and stepped aside.
He briefly saw it and moved his body out of the way, but what kind of car it was and what color it was quickly became unclear. Taein looked at the beach on the side until the car passed, then turned his head. Even though it should have been long gone, the car was still standing there. Now that he looked, it seemed like a car he’d seen several times. A large black sedan. For some reason, he could see the lights blinking. Then the car slowly approached and pointed its front directly toward him.
Taein, who had stepped back to avoid the car, looked at the front windshield.
It was too dark to see inside.
The car stopped in an appropriate spot and turned off its lights. He could see someone getting out of the driver’s seat.
“Ah, if I can’t reach you, this is useless.”
The person who got out saying that was a man. It was Yoon Donghwan.
The man who slammed the car door shut and raised his arms up looked at Taein with his head tilted down.
“You said you needed money urgently.”
It seemed like he had contacted him about the loan. Taein quickly spoke up.
“I was actually just going to look for my phone right now. I think I left it there.”
Last night, whenever he had a moment, he had also thought about the man. More precisely, not the man but the money the man would lend. When he first heard about it, it seemed so unreal that he was suspicious, but as time passed it felt like a lifeline. Seeing that he had come all the way here, had that exceptional loan proceeded smoothly? Taein, who was momentarily tense, just stared at the man’s face.
“What. You’re going to the hotel like this?”
“No. It wasn’t at the hotel…”
“Then.”
The man who cut him off added with an expression that showed he didn’t understand.
“You’re going to Dog Alley?”
“…Yes, there are no people there right now.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
The man who was at a loss for words at the firm response scratched his chin with his thumb. The sun that was barely showing was shining on the man. Perhaps because of that, the man was looking at Taein with his eyes squinted. After nearly a minute of silence passed, Taein spoke first.
“I need to go quickly.”
“Wait a minute. Let me think.”
“……”
The man who turned his eyes to look at the beach soon made some decision and called somewhere. Taein furrowed his brow because of the man who made a phone call first without saying anything to him. What about the time that was passing while he was kept standing there like this? Someone might come if it got past noon. If he was going to go, he had to go now. Taein, who became anxious, just waited for the man to finish his phone call.
“How many burner phones are you turning over right now? Do you have any? Ones you can use right away. Huh. In the trunk? Are you in your car right now? Then come toward the Dog Alley intersection. The front road along Siheung Bay. Yeah, got it.”
He didn’t know why he was suddenly handling his own business. Taein only understood that he had called someone over here and immediately spoke up.
“Excuse me. I don’t have time. I was grateful yesterday, but if it’s not about the loan today, I’ll be going now.”
It was just as he briefly spoke and bowed his head.
He could see a car coming out of Dog Alley in the back and racing quickly toward here. Even though it was a narrow road, the “vrooom” engine sound echoed loudly around the area. The car stopped behind the man’s sedan. The person who quickly got out was large and wore a gold necklace around his neck. It was a typical Dog Alley gangster style. Wondering if it was a gangster he knew, he stepped back, but fortunately it was someone he’d never met.
“Hyung-nim. Dojin hyung-nim.”
The gangster who extended both hands also bowed 90 degrees to greet the man. He used a heavy dialect, but it seemed like he said “Dojin hyung-nim.” Dojin? Wasn’t it Donghwan? Taein, who was watching the two people from some distance, frowned by himself.
“It’s been a while since you contacted me.”
“Give me the item first.”
“Yes, since it’s what hyung-nim is looking for, it’s something with absolutely no risk.”
Speaking so loudly, the gangster who went to the trunk appeared with something in his hand. What was held in his thick hand was a phone.
“How much?”
The man who put his hand in his back pocket tried to pay for the phone. But the gangster immediately extended both hands saying no, it’s fine, and stepped back three steps. It seemed like he meant he wouldn’t give the phone if he was going to pay money.
“Ai ai. What would I become if you paid?”
“Hey. I got it, so just hand that over.”
“Eh, our hyung-nim.”
It wasn’t quite speaking, but it wasn’t not speaking either. Every word the gangster said had an “eu” sound mixed in. Juhang dialect was close to Seoul speech, so there were hardly any people who spoke this distinctively. Just as he was thinking about the gangster’s origins, he could see the man receiving the phone and pressing something. While doing so, he also told the gangster who was fussing in front of him to go. The gangster said “yes” and put his head toward his shoulder as he stepped backward. Saying “hyung-nim, this younger brother is leaving,” the gangster got in his car, reversed, and left the area. It seemed like he was planning to go back to Dog Alley.
Because the gangster had been so overwhelming, Taein was just blankly watching the departing car.
Then the man came around to the front of the hood and spoke to him.
“Just use this?”
He was offering him the phone he had received from the gangster.
“Why would I use this?”
“Aren’t you going to borrow money? You need to receive my contact for something to come out of it. And. What are you going to look for there? The room you were in, that’s their fuck room – where and how are you planning to get in?”
“……”
Taein only raised his eyes to look at the man. The man was right. He knew the entrance passcode, but he hadn’t thought carefully about which room he needed to go to, or how to get into rooms that were double-locked according to grade. He had just come this far with his eyes blinded by just wanting to find his phone.
Taein’s eyes turned to the phone the man had offered.
“Just take it when I tell you to take it. Communication is basic.”
So he said he was going to look for his phone, but the man was offering him a burner phone. Communication. He roughly understood what that meant, so there were no questions arising in his head. The man even shook the phone saying “here,” telling him to take this. Taein reluctantly took the phone and looked at the screen. Basic wallpaper. There was one scratch at the bottom, but it looked fine to use. Taein, who pressed the call button to check the history, saw one number with a record.
It seemed like the man had called his own number once.
Sure enough. He heard the voice saying “That’s my number, so save it.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
