95
Cough, what woke him up wasn’t sunlight but coughing. Taein, who opened his eyes at dawn before the sun had even risen, leaned his upper body out of bed and coughed several times.
In the narrow room, yellowed wallpaper, dust piles sitting in the corners of the ceiling. There were even dirty spider webs.
A motel room located deep in the corner of Juhang’s outskirts was the space Taein was currently staying in.
Four days ago, after checking the studio apartment and coming out, he had nowhere to go. He briefly thought about going to Jang Ihwan to take back the bank account and ID card that had been stolen, but it was merely wishful thinking. There was no way Jang Ihwan would give them back obediently, and he didn’t have the confidence to secretly steal just those items from the thugs’ den. It seemed like he would only get involved in more bad situations for no reason.
That day, as Yoon Donghwan had said, Jang Ihwan had definitely drugged him.
Even when facing Yoon Donghwan, his mind kept going in and out, and even in the motel room he had rashly entered, he slept for over twenty hours. Originally it was a motel that charged 10,000 won per day, but when he said he would pay 50,000 won all at once, they told him to stay for a week. So he could keep sleeping. Though it felt uncomfortable since it wasn’t his money, he planned to pay back all the money to Yoon Donghwan when the situation improved.
Though he had skipped over the explanation about loan interest without discussing it, there would be interest anyway. It seemed like he could deposit that interest along with about 60,000 won all at once.
Right now his situation wasn’t good so he had never heard anything about interest from Yoon Donghwan, but once he found work, he would discuss the remaining matters with him too.
Since Taein woke up early in the morning, he went to the communal bathroom to shower.
With just one bar of soap, there was no problem washing his body.
Taein, who had rubbed the blue soap on his neck and head, breathed out white puffs while getting hit by the water. The water temperature was close to cold. From the exterior, it looked very old and worn, so he hadn’t expected anything from this aspect. He was just washing thinking “at least water comes out.” Even though the daytime temperature rose to 20 degrees these days, it had nothing to do with morning showers. His whole body shivered.
“Cold…”
Quietly muttering to himself, Taein came out of the shower room and opened the slightly ajar door of Room 6. Since it was a rough wooden door, it made annoying sounds when opening and closing. Yesterday, he had ignorantly slammed the door shut and got scolded by the ajusshi who had been staying long-term in the front room. Taein, who quietly closed the door, immediately headed toward the window. A window only two spans wide that was embarrassing to even call a window. Still, this had to be opened for some ventilation.
As soon as the window opened, the wall of the adjacent building was revealed. It was a 4-story building made of brown bricks. From what he had learned while looking for work in the area, it seemed the adjacent building was being used as an organized crime office. Day and night, large men frequently entering the building often caught his eye. It wasn’t just judged by clothes or build, but the conversations that leaked through the window made him guess their occupation.
Hyung-nim, should we beat up those bastards from Dog Alley first?
Wait, you bastard. Are you going to eat just that one thing and stop?
Still. There’s also what the Seoul hyung-nim said.
Fuck. Hey. You’re my direct subordinate, man.
Ay, I know.
In the motel room where even the TV was broken, their conversations were the only source of entertainment. Taein often fell asleep listening to sounds that came up until late at night. Yesterday the voices were noisy too, so he had his eyes open until dawn. Considering when he fell asleep, he woke up early.
Cough, after a short cough, Taein left the room and walked toward the counter.
Since he didn’t have a cell phone, he was asking the owner for understanding and using the counter phone. Since there’s no such thing as free in this world, he had to buy at least one drink on the way in.
Taein saw no one at the counter and picked up the phone.
When he quickly entered the number, someone immediately answered the phone.
“Hello. Could I possibly speak to Eundo,”
– Ah, it’s Eundo’s hyung. Eundo.
Whether busy, he called for Eundo before Taein’s words even finished. It was the voice of someone supervising during morning hours. When he called “Eundo,” a faint “Yes~” sound could be heard from the side. Though unclear, it was Eundo’s voice. Then the dull sound of the phone being passed over was heard.
– Hyung?
To Eundo who immediately asked “Hyung?” Taein answered while twisting the phone cord with his hand.
“Yeah, it’s hyung.”
– Hyung, where are you?
“Yeah, hyung is working with the bosses. I made time briefly to call. What time did you sleep yesterday? Did you sleep early?”
– Yeah, did hyung sleep early too?
“It doesn’t matter if hyung doesn’t sleep early. You played well with your friends too, right?”
– Yeah… hyung.
“Kang Eundo.”
– Yeah?
“Always have confidence. Greet the teachers well.”
Somehow Eundo’s voice seemed to be getting smaller, so he told him to have confidence and added that he should greet the teachers well. Just saying nice things wasn’t enough given how high the walls of reality were. He didn’t know how many more times he could have calls like this. He was also thinking about gradually reducing the frequency of calls and looking into adoption agencies. For that, Eundo would also need to become an even more proper and good child than now. He probably gave advice to the child because he had such thoughts.
“You must never use bad words.”
– Yeah… hyung.
At first his voice was definitely bright. He wondered if his mood had gotten bad because of his call for no reason. Taein lightly spoke to Eundo who had quietly said “hyung.”
“It’s morning so you have no energy.”
– …Hyung.
“Yeah, eat your meal later.”
– Hyung, I want to see you so ba…
The ending was slightly tearful and couldn’t be heard well. Taein was left speechless. Just yesterday during the call, the child had only said things like “Eundo is having fun,” “it’s good,” so he was also flustered. Worried he might cry loudly if he did something wrong, Taein quickly threw out words.
“Kang Eundo, hyung is making a lot of money. How can I make money if I just play with you? Right?”
– …Yeah…
He had definitely cried a little as the sound of dragging out “yeah” could be heard.
“…Hyung will come this week. What do you want to eat?”
He hadn’t originally planned to, but the words just popped out. Then the child shouted loudly “Hyung!”
– What? You’re coming to see Eundo? Are the bosses okay with it?
“Why are you worrying about the bosses… Just tell me what you want to eat, man.”
– Eundo wants eggs… ham…
It was a menu they often ate at home. Since he still had a baby’s palate, it seemed like small home side dishes came to mind more than chicken or pizza. Taein smiled silently and quickly wiped one corner of his eye. Though he was speaking calmly, tears had formed and his vision had briefly blurred.
“Got it, let’s eat with hyung and have snacks.”
– Yeah hyung, Eundo will wait.
“Okay.”
– Yeah, hyung come quickly.
“Got it.”
After hanging up like that, all the strength in his body was drained. He had been speaking as nonchalantly as possible worried that his current situation might be discovered. Today he had gotten unnecessarily more nervous and even got a cramp in his leg. Taein, who quietly put down the phone, limped across the motel corridor. He stopped briefly in front of Room 6 that soon appeared. He quickly turned his body first.
Until yesterday he had gone around all the nearby stores, but hadn’t been able to find a single proper job.
Today he planned to go out early in the morning and find at least day labor work. Since he wouldn’t have a cell phone for the time being, running around on foot was the only method.
While doing so, Taein thought about making a phone call to Jang Ihwan too.
Anyway, the bank account with over a thousand in it was in Jang Ihwan’s hands, and there was a high possibility that the bastard also had his ID and burner phone. He had immediately gotten a temporary ID issued and tried going near the bank, but Dog Alley thugs happened to be stationed around like sentries, so he had returned empty-handed. It seemed like they knew he would appear at the bank and had spread thugs everywhere. Seeing that, he lost strength and was looking for jobs first.
Taein, who had made up his mind firmly, opened the motel building door.
Today he would do manual labor and try calling Jang Ihwan. There were too many risks to rashly go to Dog Alley. What if he caused harm to Yoon Donghwan or people around him like that time? Taein knew the reckless Dog Alley thugs well, so he decided to just try calling first. Avoiding wasn’t the best strategy. He had to reach some conclusion.
The weather outside was nice.
When showering, it was cold enough to make his whole body tremble, but the outside air itself was warm.
Taein, who looked beyond the alley, thought of the nearest manpower office.
He didn’t know the exact location but roughly…
While thinking such thoughts and looking ahead, he saw a car suddenly enter the alley.
It was a large luxury vehicle. And then, he heard the sound of a door opening from the side. The brown brick building visible right from the motel room. Large men came rushing out from there and blocked the alley. All the faces were unfamiliar, seeming like organized crime members completely unrelated to Dog Alley.
Taein stuck to the corner of the alley and tried to go his way.
He was walking forward quietly when suddenly he heard a loud greeting saying “Hello.”
He could also see the organized crime members standing beside bowing their waists.
Taein’s eyes naturally turned toward the person being greeted, then sank down low.
Yoon Donghwan was getting out of the car.
Since that day, he couldn’t contact or speak with him, so he had been spending time aimlessly. He hadn’t expected to run into the man in a place like this. Somehow he felt like he had done something wrong, and he had tried hard to send money but it had been taken back by Jang Ihwan, which was embarrassing. Taein walked with his head down, his feelings complicated.
The organized crime members still bowing their waists, and he was walking while hiding as much as possible behind them.
“Huh? What’s this?”
Yoon Donghwan was walking this way with his face stuck forward. It was then that the organized crime members standing in a row turned around. Taein swallowed his saliva at the gazes that suddenly focused on him.
“Ah, uh… it’s been a while.”
When he gave an awkward greeting, Yoon Donghwan smiled while raising one corner of his mouth.
He raised his hand and pointed to the building behind. Then the large men who had been looking this way with puzzled eyes went into the building in a line like kindergarteners. The already narrow alley had felt suffocating because of the large men, but now it had finally become a normal alley. Yoon Donghwan’s face, which had come close, had an absurd smile hanging on it.
“A while? You made it a while.”
For a moment he wondered what he meant, but it seemed like words criticizing him for not being reachable. Taein immediately opened his mouth.
“Ah, sorry. That day I lost my phone too… And something happened at home.”
“What. You’re walking around just fine.”
“…Yeah, my leg wasn’t hurt.”
Though he couldn’t read the intention, he answered for now. Then Yoon Donghwan stood on one leg while running his hand through his hair.
“That’s bullshit.”
As time passed and he thought about it more, he didn’t come to see Yoon Donghwan as an enemy. Since most men in their twenties he met in Juhang were enemies, it took a long time to even view him favorably. Though he couldn’t be certain, he could at least see him as someone who wouldn’t harm him. Someone who wouldn’t torment him for no reason. Taein obediently gave an answer even to the rough words.
“Just, since you asked like that.”
When he wasn’t looking at his face he didn’t know, but seeing him, questions came to mind too.
“Ah… but by any chance that day.”
Yoon Donghwan looked at Taein with his head tilted to the side.
“The money you were going to give me the rest of, did that possibly go to the same account…”
If more loan money had come in that day, it would have just fattened Jang Ihwan’s belly. He wasn’t the type to just let money slide.
“You talk about money as soon as you see me.”
Though money was the only thing to talk about with Yoon Donghwan, bringing up money talk immediately was a bit awkward. Taein closed his mouth.
“Besides that.”
“……”
“Nothing else?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
