“Get out. I’m seriously calling the cops. Shit if you want, I don’t care.”
As I lifted my phone, Roban took a sip of green tea and finally opened his mouth.
“It must’ve been the year before last. That’s when I started feeding the stray cats. For a few months, things were fine. Then one day, someone started throwing away the feed. I kept watch and found out it was the apartment women’s association president. She said feeding them would lower the property value. I asked her what that had to do with anything, and she just treated me like some crazy punk for talking back. There wasn’t even anywhere I could file a complaint.”
Roban lifted his head and continued with a solemn expression.
“So I decided to really become a crazy bastard.”
He said he’d decided to punish whoever kept secretly dumping the cat food. He chased them around relentlessly and harassed them. There weren’t many legal ways to mess with someone, but one of them was exactly what he’d done to me—standing his ground in front of their door and refusing to leave.
The women’s association president had already moved away, and apparently she’d left no openings. She wasn’t home much, so ringing her doorbell and running didn’t do much, and since she didn’t have a car, he couldn’t block her in either.
“But sometimes, when that lady walked her dog, she wouldn’t even put it on a leash. So I bit it.”
“You bit that lady?”
“No. Her dog.”
The women’s association president would often walk her pet around the apartment complex, and because she didn’t use a muzzle, there had even been incidents where stray kittens got bitten.
When Roban protested, the woman dismissed it with, “It’s just a little bite, what’s the big deal?” So Roban lured the dog in with treats and bit its hind leg. The woman protested angrily to him, and he threw the exact same words back at her—“It’s just a little bite, what’s the big deal?”
“Then what about the parking fight? That guy has nothing to do with it.”
“That guy sometimes tossed cigarette butts into the cats’ feeding bowls. I told him a few times, but he wouldn’t listen. So I blocked his car.”
Roban, who had been proudly recounting his exploits, suddenly shot to his feet.
“Are you leaving?”
I felt a flicker of relief and moved to see him off, but he turned back and said he’d left the ‘babies’ outside earlier and hadn’t brought them in. He came back inside right away. After setting the adult products near the entrance again, he sat down on the sofa and brightened when he spotted the Blood Planet access device under the coffee table.
“Oh? You play Blood Planet?”
“N-No. It’s my friend’s.”
There were too many embarrassing aspects to admit I played, and more than anything, I didn’t want to reveal my in-game character. Roban said he played Blood Planet too and got overly excited, saying this must be fate and asking for my in-game name. I ignored him.
“Come on, tell me. I’m a ranker. Are you a Psychic? Or a Guide?”
“But if we’re on different servers, what’s the point?”
“I play on Antares. My name’s Moment.”
“What?!”
“You know me?”
“I-I’m not sure. Since you’re a ranker, I think I might’ve heard the name somewhere……”
Roban said if my level wasn’t high, he could carry me—like some generous benefactor.
How is this even possible?
The world might be small, but how could ShutUp and Moment both be people in my real-life surroundings? My life was becoming more exhausting by the day.
Bzzt—.
Just then, my phone chimed. The message was from “Big Mouth,” which meant it was ShutUp. The moment Jun got home, he must’ve planned to log in, because he sent this message to me—Gentle.
[When are you coming in?]
The bastard who had just bitten and sucked on my hand was now lying in wait to invade Gentle from behind. It would be humiliating if ShutUp discovered my identity—but I didn’t want Moment, who was standing right in front of me, to find out either. I’d formed links with both of them.
“Just go. I’m tired.”
“I’ll keep in touch and come hang out often.”
“Don’t contact me. And don’t come over.”
Even as he slipped on his shoes, Roban joked that we were going to become best friends. Somehow, this place felt like it had bad feng shui. Maybe it’d be better to move somewhere farther away at the same price, even if it meant struggling a bit more.
Even as the front door closed completely, Roban was still standing outside waving.
Click—.
The moment the door lock engaged, I even slid the bolt across. As I turned to head back inside, something nudged against my foot.
“Ah! Fuck! Why didn’t you take this?!”
I grabbed the box of adult products and hurriedly opened the door. I ran, calling out to Roban, who was just about to get into the elevator. Even though he clearly saw me holding the box, he got in and went down anyway.
“Haa— haa.”
Just as I caught my breath, another message came. It wasn’t from a saved number, but judging by the content, I could immediately picture the face of the guy who had just left.
[A gift to celebrate becoming friends]
I was about to carry it downstairs and toss it into the trash collection bin, but then I paused.
Should I throw it in as a freebie for whoever buys the Relax skill?
Earlier, he’d mentioned it cost 200,000 won. Then maybe I could sell it on the used market site for a decent price?
“An object isn’t guilty.”
After staring down at the box, I picked it back up. But I couldn’t bring myself to take it into the room—it felt like bad energy would spread if I did—so I left it by the entrance and took off my shoes.
“Haa……”
A lot had happened today. I didn’t have the energy to play, so I messaged ShutUp that I wanted to rest today and opened my laptop. Like Han-woo had suggested, I posted on the forum: “Selling Relax skill.” In the body, I added that I’d include a male adult product as well. Then I left the screen open and went to shower.
When I came back and checked the forum, there were more comments asking what the adult product was than people wanting to buy the Relax skill. After I replied with the product name written on the box and its intended use, that post ended up racking up the highest views and comments in history—along with sparking massive controversy.
In the end, the sales post was deleted by the moderator. And my forum ID was blocked, preventing me from posting anything further.
***
I started my day at the real estate office, diligently sweeping the floor like I was sweeping away yesterday along with it. Just then, the hardware store owner next door approached me with a broom in hand.
“Things have been tough lately, huh?”
When was the last time someone had offered me words of encouragement like that? At the warmth of it, I stopped sweeping and invited him inside. I shook a coffee mix packet into a paper cup and admitted that I’d been pretty out of it lately because of various things. I handed him the coffee, made one for myself, and sat across from him.
“Seems like you’ve been clashing with the place across the street pretty often. Doesn’t sit right with you, does it?”
The hardware store owner nodded toward the black car parked outside the real estate office. With that direction, it was obvious who he meant.
“Well, he’s still a client, so I just go along with it. I’m the one in the weaker position—what choice do I have?”
I took a sip of coffee with a faint smile.
Then, unexpectedly, something from the past slipped from his mouth.
“His parents used to come to my shop often too, you know.”
“Ah, you mean Juni? I heard his mother passed away……”
Leaning in closer toward me, the hardware store owner lowered his voice to a whisper. Jun’s parents had died in a car accident a few years ago. That’s how someone so young ended up becoming a landlord.
“I used to go over to that building to fix things, so I was in and out a lot. Back then, he just seemed like a blunt young man. But after losing his parents like that… maybe that’s why he grew darker. Tsk, tsk.”
As he sat back up straight, I adjusted my posture as well, quietly absorbing his words.
His parents died in a car accident…….
That must be why he lives alone. I nodded to myself. My own father had died in a car accident too, so I could understand that kind of heartache. Back then, I couldn’t even stand the sight of cars that were the same model as my father’s.
Still, since I’d heard this from a third party, I had to pretend I hadn’t heard it at all.
“Boss!”
A shout came from outside the office.
It was someone calling from outside the hardware store next door. The owner stood up with his paper cup still in hand. I bowed slightly, telling him to take care, and he waved before heading out.
As I slumped back into my chair, I suddenly found myself missing my mom.
All I’d done was reply “Have a good day too, Mom,” to the flashy picture message she’d sent telling me to have a great day and an energetic week.
We talked on the phone occasionally, but this was the first time since coming to Seoul that I’d wanted so badly to hear her voice. When I pressed the call button, it didn’t ring long before she answered.
[Hello?]
“Mom! Mom, what are you doing?”
[Oh, I’m at a flower exhibition right now with Mrs. Hyeja next door.]
Around her voice, I could hear someone saying, “Oh my, look at that—hurry, take a picture.”
I was gently asking how she’d been lately when she said she was busy right now and that we should hang up.
“Okay, Mom. Always be careful with the ca—”
I was about to tell her to be careful with cars, but she’d already hung up.
They say when family is far away, you miss them and long to see them. I guess that didn’t apply to my mom.
“What the hell. Doesn’t she miss me?”
Still, I’d worried she might be sitting alone at home, but it seemed like she was having fun with the people around her. That, at least, was a relief.
