Chapter 52
They said it would rain, and gray clouds were piled up layer upon layer in the sky. From late afternoon, the sun completely disappeared and the sky became gloomy.
‘Geosang Labor Agency’
Taeju bent his body and entered under the worn-out sign. When he climbed the steep stairs and opened the translucent door, the smell of cigarettes stung his nose.
“Oh my, Manager Jo, you’ve come?”
“I told you to stop calling me manager.”
“You’re right under Boss Moon, so of course you’re a manager. Why do you keep saying you don’t like it?”
The one approaching Taeju with a sly smile was Choi Seongsu. He was the son of the Geosang Labor Agency director and the actual operator. Although small in stature, he was a man with a quite sturdy build and sharp eyes who handled anything cleanly once entrusted to him—whether it was legal or illegal.
“Instant coffee is fine, right?”
“Yeah.”
Choi Seongsu seated Taeju on the guest sofa and stood in front of the water dispenser across from him. The sound of instant coffee falling into the cup was particularly noticeable amidst his humming. Looking at Choi Seongsu’s back, Taeju was lost in thought for a moment.
This morning, Jeonghyeok had handed Taeju a memo. The content was simple.
Name: Kim Yuwon
Gender: Male
Age: 22
Occupation: X
Address: Seoul, Jungsan-gu, Yeongyo-dong 77-1, River Park Officetel 2101
It was common to assign people to debtors. Although it was rare for Jeonghyeok to personally handle such matters, it wasn’t unheard of, so Taeju accepted the memo without suspicion.
Since it was work he always did, Taeju had no particular thoughts, but only after scanning Jeonghyeok’s memo once more with his eyes did he realize one fact.
River Park Officetel 2101. That familiar address was none other than his hyung-nim’s home address. Did I see the address wrong? He opened his eyes wide and read it again, but it was the same. That was definitely hyung-nim’s address.
When he thought it was strange and wanted to check once more, Jeonghyeok had already left work. It was too trivial a matter to contact him separately, and above all, even if it was written incorrectly by mistake, he hesitated thinking whether he could have confused it with his own address. He had to follow orders first, so he came to find Choi Seongsu, but his head had been throbbing since earlier.
When Choi Seongsu, carrying two paper cups with steam rising from them, sat on the sofa, Taeju handed him the memo he had kept in his jacket pocket and said.
“This. Our hyung-nim personally mentioned this matter, so please pay attention to it.”
Choi Seongsu sipped his coffee and familiarly received the memo. Then, after scanning through the content, he frowned and said.
“Twenty-two? He’s really young, isn’t he?”
“…That’s right.”
“Tsk, tsk. If Boss Moon told you to assign someone to him, he must be quite hopeless.”
“If possible, assign someone today.”
“Of course. They’ll start waiting in front of his house from tonight at the latest.”
Choi Seongsu walked leisurely and placed the memo on his desk with a thud. He flipped through a few pages of the paper pile stacked next to it, then picked up the receiver of the landline phone in the distance.
Meanwhile, Taeju poured the moderately cooled coffee into his mouth and then crumpled the empty paper cup.
“Hey, it’s me. Are you in Yeongyo-dong right now? No?”
Choi Seongsu, who was talking to someone on the phone, scribbled something on paper with a ballpoint pen while holding the receiver between his shoulder and ear.
“Then find someone available right now. Yeah, yeah. Okay.”
After ending the brief call, Choi Seongsu gave Taeju an okay sign. His work processing was incredibly fast.
Taeju nodded and threw the crumpled paper cup in his hand into the cylindrical trash can under the table. As he got up from his seat and straightened his jacket, Choi Seongsu, who had been stretching beside him, looked toward the window and said.
“The weather is really gloomy.”
“They say it’s going to pour rain from tonight.”
“Ugh, I absolutely hate rainy weather.”
Choi Seongsu, who had been shivering, hurriedly followed behind Taeju as soon as he heard his footsteps heading toward the entrance.
“Take care, Manager!”
“Ah, this bastard really.”
He was tired of telling him to stop calling him manager. Looking at the giggling Choi Seongsu, Taeju shook his head as if giving up and went down the stairs.
***
After showing signs all day, the cloudy sky finally poured rain all night. Yuwon frowned and opened his eyes at the sound of rain beating violently against the window.
5 o’clock. It was time he should sleep more, but he couldn’t easily fall asleep due to the relentless rain sound beating at his ears.
Yuwon, who had been tossing and turning, looked at Jeonghyeok lying next to him and lay on his side. His profile with his eyes closed in a peaceful face was perfect as if sculpted. As he always thought, the line from his forehead to the bridge of his nose was as straight as if measured with a ruler. His deep eyes and angular jaw were very masculine and handsome.
I probably fell for this face, didn’t I?
The day he first saw Jeonghyeok at Cheolpan-jip suddenly came to mind. He had fallen completely for a man whose identity he didn’t even know, and was the one who glanced at the store entrance every day, expecting when he might see him again. Even then, he never imagined such a day would come. He couldn’t believe this situation of lying in the same bed with that man, and a small laugh escaped him.
Anyway, he really needed to sleep, but as he was carefully examining Jeonghyeok’s face, his mind became alert. This time his gaze went to the thick eyelashes. Jeonghyeok had not even a speck of softness throughout his face and entire body, but uniquely, only his eyelashes were very soft and beautiful.
Yuwon rested his chin and stared at them. They were long and curved upward as if deliberately made up. I want to touch them once. That wouldn’t be okay, would it? As he was hesitating and moving his fingertips, it happened.
“What are you doing instead of sleeping?”
“Ah, you startled me.”
Jeonghyeok’s eyes, which had been closed without any movement, suddenly opened. He was so surprised that his body jumped for a moment. Yuwon stroked his chest and said.
“You startled me. How long have you been awake?”
“Just now.”
Jeonghyeok, who had been looking at the ceiling, turned his body to lie on his side. Instantly, they were in a position facing each other.
“What are you doing instead of sleeping?”
“I woke up. It’s noisy because of the rain sound.”
Jeonghyeok stared at Yuwon, who was speaking softly. His eyes seemed to be gauging whether what he was saying now was true or not. Then he suddenly stretched out one arm and pulled Yuwon’s back into an embrace. Yuwon, who had stiffened, was helplessly drawn into Jeonghyeok’s arms.
“Why? Do you dislike this too?”
“…No.”
Yuwon said while embracing Jeonghyeok’s waist in return.
“I don’t dislike it.”
“You shouldn’t say you don’t dislike it, you should say you like it.”
When Jeonghyeok deliberately corrected Yuwon’s words sternly, Yuwon chuckled and said quietly.
“I like it.”
“It’s completely like prostrating and receiving bows.”
Only then did a faint smile appear on Jeonghyeok’s lips too. As they held each other like that for a while, one thing Yuwon had forgotten came to mind.
“Ah, right. I’m going to see Director-nim today. She contacted me yesterday.”
“Why?”
“She said she has something to ask me. She said it wouldn’t take too long, so I said okay.”
So that’s why the call time was so short. That kind of business was completely understandable.
Jeonghyeok answered while resting his chin on top of Yuwon’s head.
“Alright. You have an appointment, so sleep quickly.”
The low voice settled heavily in his ear. It felt even more so because his voice was hoarse from not being awake long.
Yuwon lowered his head and buried his face in Jeonghyeok’s chest. Thump thump, the slowly beating heartbeat came like gentle waves.
Behind his back, fierce rain still poured as if it would pierce through the window. Just moments ago, the rain sound was too loud for him to fall asleep, but now that sound actually brought drowsiness.
When he opened his eyes, Jeonghyeok had already gone to work. Feeling some inexplicable emptiness, Yuwon tidied the bedding and moved slowly while looking at the window where rain was still pouring.
He roughly finished the housework and arrived at the orphanage exactly at 2 o’clock, the appointment time. In the narrow alley where only one car could barely enter, he could see the front gate of a low villa. In the flower bed, they seemed to have planted new flowers as colorful pretty flowers were lined up. Their appearance, all shrunken from the heavy rain, was pitiful.
Yuwon gripped his umbrella tightly and hurried his steps. He entered the villa, shook off his umbrella, and knocked on the first-floor office door. Hyojin, who opened the door slightly and came out, smiled brightly and greeted Yuwon.
“Hello, teacher.”
“Oh? Yuwon came too?”
Hyojin, with rabbit-like eyes, seemed happy and clapped her hands a few times, then placed slippers in front of Yuwon’s feet. Yuwon took off his sneakers and changed into slippers while asking.
“Who else is here besides me?”
“Yeah, go into the director’s office once. I’ll bring barley tea right away.”
Looking at Hyojin’s back as she headed to the kitchen, Yuwon knocked on the director’s office door. Misook’s voice telling him to come in was immediately heard.
“Director-nim, I’m here…”
Yuwon, who opened the door and entered, couldn’t finish what he was saying. His tongue had stiffened completely.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
