Episode 34
Si-yul closed the door with a smirk. He wanted to leave after the car departed, but he couldn’t make Kwon Yuwon wait by lingering. He took one step, two steps backward slowly, then turned around when he heard the car engine start.
For some reason, he looked back again after a few steps. The car was still in the same spot.
He saw Kwon Yuwon sitting at a table outside the convenience store. There was a green soju bottle on the table. Sensing something was definitely up, Si-yul hurried his steps. Before arriving, he sprayed pheromone deodorant liberally to completely mask Woo Hyun-se’s scent.
“Why are you drinking alone instead of waiting a bit longer?”
“You’re here. Why are you so late? I thought you were nearby.”
“I ran here too.”
It seemed Yuwon had intended to drink alone, as there was no paper cup for Si-yul. Yuwon glanced inside the convenience store once, sighed, and then offered his own cup. Si-yul took the paper cup without hesitation and drained the soju inside.
“Why the sudden drinking? Your alcohol tolerance is only half a bottle.”
Yuwon, who had been leaning his head back and looking at the sky, straightened up. He stared at Si-yul for a while, then laughed emptily.
“You, isn’t it hard working until dawn every day?”
“It’s manageable. Why, are you having a tough time lately?”
Yuwon had entered the workforce since high school. Like Si-yul, there wasn’t a job he hadn’t tried. No matter how difficult the work was, Yuwon would do it without complaint. For him to show his struggle like this, it must be no small matter.
Si-yul became quite scared. Yuwon rarely confided his worries to him. It could be that he had already done something.
Yuwon silently refilled the alcohol cup. He filled half of the large paper cup and downed it. His face contorted as he chewed on the side dishes. It wasn’t just because of the bitter taste of alcohol.
“I was thinking about the past.”
“When we were in the orphanage?”
“No, when we were doing deliveries. The sucking up was awful back then, but the money was good, wasn’t it? I thought we’d be able to buy a house soon.”
Si-yul nodded, filled the empty cup with alcohol, and drank it just like Yuwon. Of all the jobs he had done, it was the easiest on his body and paid the most. But if asked to do it again, he wouldn’t jump in without hesitation. The first person that came to mind was Woo Hyun-se. The man who gave him a stable job and told him not to do things like drug deliveries.
“Pig contacted me.”
The hand reaching for a side dish stopped in mid-air. It was a memory he didn’t want to recall. The cramped cubicle, what he almost endured on top of the toilet. The plump belly, the fat hand pressing down on his neck, and the boar-like breathing leapt from his memory and pounced on Si-yul. Goosebumps rose like barnacles on his extended neck.
Si-yul raised his hardened eyes. Yuwon, about to grab the paper cup, instead grasped the neck of the soju bottle and drank straight from it. His eyes were hazy.
“A big job came in… he asked me to do it.”
“I thought there hadn’t been any contact. When?”
“I got the call today.”
Si-yul’s appetite vanished completely. He looked at Yuwon with a blank expression. Yuwon didn’t avoid his gaze. Well, he wouldn’t know the details of what Si-yul had gone through since Si-yul hadn’t fully disclosed it. It wasn’t an incident that left a deep scar. It was just an attempt, nothing more than stepping in filth while walking down the street.
“…Remember when that bastard didn’t give us work for a while? What was Pig’s condition back then?”
Yuwon’s previously calm expression hardened rapidly. Si-yul filled a cup with alcohol and offered it.
“You can tell me now.”
Yuwon looked down at the cup, then roughly flicked his wrist. Without touching the side dishes, he hung his head like a criminal and mumbled. Unable to hear clearly, Si-yul leaned his ear across the table.
“I can’t hear you. What did you say?”
“…He said to hand you over. If I handed you over… he’d pay double.”
Si-yul had only guessed that an unreasonable ratio would be demanded, but never imagined it would be something like this. There was a reason why Yuwon had stubbornly refused to reveal it even when asked about the cause. Si-yul poured a large amount of soju into the paper cup and downed it in one go, trying to gather his whirling thoughts.
“That fucking crazy bastard, really.”
“Of course I refused. You’re not some object to be given away. I was prepared to cut ties and even cursed him out. But this time, he didn’t say such nonsense. He just asked me to do the job cleanly. It wasn’t even difficult. You remember the ‘throwing’ we used to do? It’s that.”
“…”
“At first, I didn’t want to do it, you know? How could I trust him? But the advance payment… The money we’d get after finishing the job is several times what we’ve earned so far.”
“Yuwon.”
“If we do just this one job, we can leave this place. We can get a lease deposit and live together.”
The soju bottle was already empty. His insides were burning, and he wanted to drink more. In the past, he might have readily agreed, believing that Yuwon would handle things well, saying he’d follow whatever Yuwon decided to do. But strangely, now his words were stuck in his throat as if glue had been poured into his mouth. The thought of stepping back into that world made him uneasy, and he didn’t want to let Yuwon do that job alone either.
“Can’t we not do that?”
Yuwon, who had been staring at the ground while speaking, raised his head. He looked very surprised, as if he hadn’t expected Si-yul to try to stop him.
“I don’t think we can trust that Pig bastard. Let’s just work hard and earn money even if it’s tough. We’re not starving right now, so there’s no need to take unnecessary risks.”
“Kwon Si-yul. We need money.”
“Let’s earn it slowly, I’m saying.”
Yuwon slammed his fist on the table with a bang. His hand was so tightly clenched that veins bulged on the back of it.
“Do you think we can save money just doing part-time jobs at bars? It’s impossible. Other bastards at least have parents to support them, but we have fuck all, you know that. There’s only the two of us in this world, how long will it take to save for a lease deposit and buy a house with pennies? In a world where prices rise overnight, how can we save that kind of money? Dust gathering dust in this world!”
“Yuwon.”
His voice grew louder as he got more excited, until it was trembling. Si-yul called his name once more, saying “Yuwon-ah, calm down,” but his sharp gaze remained pointed. Although they had been together since before they could walk, Si-yul didn’t know how to calm down this Yuwon who was burning like fire.
In the past, he would have quickly yielded, giving Yuwon the lead and saying to do as he wished. But this time, he didn’t want to do that. He wanted to stop Yuwon. He looked straight at him without avoiding his gaze.
“Still, let’s not do it. I don’t want you to do that. One dangerous experience is enough.”
“…”
“If it’s really tough, I’ll work alone and you can rest a bit. You might be tired. If you don’t like the inn, let’s look for somewhere else. We can also look into loans for a lease deposit together.”
Yuwon remained silent. He was pressing his fingers against his eyes as if they were throbbing.
“Yeah. Even if we get jobs at companies, we probably won’t earn enough to buy a house in Seoul. But if we save hard, we could gather a lease deposit soon, right? There are two of us. Or it doesn’t have to be here. I saw on the news that with the deposit money for here, you can buy an apartment in the countryside.”
He rambled on purpose. He wanted to change Yuwon’s mind somehow. Yuwon pressed his temples for a while, then looked at Si-yul blankly.
“…You’ve changed a bit.”
After scrutinizing Si-yul, Yuwon spoke after a long while. Si-yul only then opened his eyes wide and pointed at himself with his index finger. Yuwon let out a breathy laugh at this action of asking if he was different from before. His hardened expression softened a bit.
“Yeah. In the past, you would do whatever I said unconditionally.”
“I tried to stop you from doing deliveries at first too.”
“Will you give in if I insist this time too?”
“No.”
Even if Yuwon threatened to go their separate ways or leave if Si-yul didn’t agree, like he used to, Si-yul wouldn’t give in. He would try his best to stop him. He had a bad feeling about this. Pig wouldn’t have promised a large sum of money for an easy and simple job.
They still had no money. Even working late into the night, their earnings were barely enough to get by compared to when they were delivering drugs. Still, he didn’t want to go back. It wasn’t about turning over a new leaf.
It was just…
Si-yul fiddled with the damp paper cup. He could still feel the palm on his back as if it were still there. The touch had been warm and gentle.
He wanted to stand proudly in front of Woo Hyun-se. Even though he had nothing but his balls and was full of shortcomings, at the very least, he didn’t want to show him getting caught by the police for participating in illegal activities.
Yuwon puffed up his chest and then exhaled like a kettle releasing steam. His puffed cheeks deflated. Wanting to drink more, he shook the empty bottle over his open mouth. Only a drop or two fell. He clicked his tongue and wiped his lips.
Si-yul had joined in, but Yuwon had drunk more than his usual limit. His cheeks and under his eyes were reddish, and he hiccupped slightly. His pronunciation was also slurred.
“Si-yul, I really want to live well with you.”
“I know.”
“It’s so sad that we don’t have a place to rest comfortably in this wide land. Before we get older, I want to earn money quickly and live in a nice apartment, sharing rooms with you.”
The heat cooled quickly. He really had a fiery temper. He would boil up quickly and cool down just as fast. Knowing this Yuwon better than anyone, Si-yul just nodded and listened to his laments without saying a word.
