Eunchan rubbed his bloodshot eyes and basked in the sunlight streaming through the window. Throughout the early morning, Miro’s whining and clinginess—though he wasn’t sure if “clinginess” was the right word to describe it—anyway, whether it was a sleeping habit or not, Eunchan had no choice but to endure Miro continuously burrowing into his embrace while sleeping, unable to bring himself to push him away.
After tormenting him so he couldn’t sleep, Miro himself was now deeply asleep, breathing softly and peacefully. After slowly removing Miro’s arm that was draped over his chest, Eunchan picked up his phone from the table right next to him. An urgent text from Hyungsik had come in during the morning.
[Hyung I checked the registry and the owner is different the boss wants to meet]
Eunchan, who had been thinking of making up an excuse about being sick and not going to work, buried his face in the pillow. I should’ve just refused everything and gone home to sleep. The bed and environment here were better than his messy house, but still, home was best for resting.
Should he leave before Miro woke up, or wake him to say goodbye before leaving? Eunchan pondered for a moment. The former would likely result in Miro calling later asking why he didn’t wake him before leaving, and the latter would likely result in him having to return to the hospital again today.
Answering the phone was also a problem. That person was surprisingly talented at bewitching people. If they talked on the phone, the conclusion would end up being him returning to the hospital room again. In the end, both options had the same result, so Eunchan held his head.
First, let’s leave the aftermath to the future Kim Eunchan, and let the current Kim Eunchan escape. I’m getting off work early today too. He had to meet with a lawyer next Monday too, so he needed to conserve his energy. Eunchan carefully stretched his legs out from under the blanket.
Having completely gotten out of bed, Eunchan looked at Miro with his eyes closed. His sleeping face looked just like an angel. Eunchan debated whether or not to touch the hair scattered over the pillow, then simply tucked the blanket carefully over Miro’s slightly exposed shoulder.
Since he had slept in the clothes Miro bought him instead of pajamas, he needed to change back into his original clothes. Should I just go to work like this? He didn’t usually accept things from others easily, but a t-shirt and pants… wouldn’t that be okay? Somehow, thanks to his lowered guard toward Miro, Eunchan had thoughts he wouldn’t normally have.
Let’s wash up and brush my teeth at the company. Eunchan roughly stuffed his phone and wallet into his pockets and put the clothes he’d taken off yesterday into a shopping bag.
As Eunchan looked once more at Miro’s face, still asleep, he noticed a notepad on the nightstand.
<I’m going to work. – Kim Eunchan>
After picking up a pen and leaving a note, Eunchan finally drew the curtains to prevent sunlight from entering the hospital room. He didn’t want to disturb Miro’s peaceful and tranquil sleep.
“Sleep well.”
I’m leaving without having slept well, but at least you should sleep well. Eunchan bid Miro farewell and walked out of the hospital room. It was the start of another day, no different from yesterday.
* * *
On his way to work, Eunchan stopped by a cafe and got a sweet drink to go. He’d considered just getting americanos for everyone, but since he often stole Hyungsik’s drinks, he picked out an expensive one and had it packaged. 10 AM. It was quite late for going to work, but it didn’t matter since there were only three of them anyway.
Today too, Eunchan set up the boxes scattered here and there on the building stairs against the wall as he walked up. After yawning widely and checking his phone, there was no contact from Miro yet, as if he hadn’t woken up. I’m surprisingly worried about him.
“Hyung!”
Hyungsik, who had been on his phone in front of the office door, acknowledged Eunchan as he came up the stairs.
“You got here early.”
“Hyung, did you buy new clothes? Wow, you chose something that looks really authentic.”
Hyungsik, who recognized the expensive brand Eunchan was wearing at a glance, looked at the clothes and admired them, saying they looked real.
“Someone gave them to me. Have some coffee.”
Eunchan, who didn’t bother explaining that they were real, handed the carrier to Hyungsik. Hyungsik poked the iced chocolate and asked permission to drink it.
“Can I have this?”
“Yeah. Drink it all. Where’s the boss?”
“He’s inside. Wow, but if the registry is different, we can’t do it, right?”
“It obviously looked different. Who would entrust reburial to a place like this?”
Graves are moved only after choosing a good day and performing rituals to avoid bad luck, and if it’s your parents’ grave, it’s normal to pay extra to have it done properly. Who would entrust it to a place like this when there are professional companies? As expected, it was a request with impure intentions laid bare.
“Hyung, what do you want for lunch?”
“Should we eat lunch early? Go with whatever you want to eat.”
He was hungry since he’d come out right away without eating breakfast. Eunchan grabbed toothpaste and a toothbrush from his desk drawer and told Hyungsik it was fine to order now.
“Then how about snack food?”
“Yeah, order it. I’ll just brush my teeth and come out.”
“Okay—”
Pushing Hyungsik into the boss’s office first, Eunchan headed to the bathroom. The old building’s bathroom, which they took turns cleaning since there was no cleaning staff, was a shitty place with no hot water and occasionally clogged toilets. At least it was summer now, which was fortunate—if it had been winter, he wouldn’t have dared to brush his teeth.
After roughly brushing his teeth and washing his face, Eunchan looked in the mirror and tidied his appearance. He’d thought he wore what looked least expensive to sleep in, but looking again today, there was a luxury brand logo on the chest, so it absolutely didn’t look like cheap clothing. The fortunate thing was that because he was the one wearing it, no one would think it was real. Even Hyungsik didn’t think it was real, he just admired how authentic it looked.
I should wear it carefully and return it. Eunchan pushed his bangs back and reflected. It doesn’t suit my station. Like how even if I wear good clothes, I can’t live up to their value. Eunchan glanced at himself in the mirror for no reason and composed himself again.
Returning to the office, Eunchan put his oral hygiene tools on his desk. After checking his phone one last time with no notifications, he roughly grabbed paper and a pen and headed to the boss’s office.
“Boss.”
“Oh, Eunchan. What were you doing that you came out without washing up at home?”
“Saving on water bills.”
“You’re going to be rich, you.”
When the boss gave a small rebuke, Eunchan cheekily deflected and settled into the sofa across from Hyungsik and the boss.
“You heard about it, right?”
“It was obvious it wasn’t his land, so.”
“Looking at the names, they seem to be brothers.”
“Ah, really?”
The client’s name was Choi Junhyung. The landowner’s name was Choi Junsik. They looked like brothers on the surface.
“Wasn’t he the person who came with him?”
“No. That person was Choi Junsu. I think they’re three brothers.”
“What, is that land being redeveloped?”
It’s land that’s not his share, hmm… Eunchan scratched his head and continued thinking. It’s a land dispute here too.
“Looking at it, it seems like development has already started with a construction company involved.”
“The construction company would have looked into all the graves, right?”
Those people hadn’t just been working for a day or two either; rather, they were professionals who moved even more meticulously.
“Looking at how the registry is unchanged, they haven’t written the contract yet. They’re planning to stake the grave before that. The person who came now is the eldest, and the land owner is the second son. The second son is in America right now.”
The boss clearly organized the situation, having investigated it all at some point. Even though he’d retired from being a detective, he still had many connections, so gathering information was easy.
“But anyway, isn’t the landowner this person Choi Junsu? What’s good about relocating a grave?”
Hyungsik, who had been quietly listening while sucking on his chocolate drink, soon threw out a question.
“You receive money separately for graves. Plus, he’s the eldest son, if he says he’s been performing ancestral rites, they have to pay him that price.”
“Ah, really?”
“But they already put them in a columbarium, and now they’re going to secretly put them back in a grave. Really, what filial sons.”
Eunchan spoke mockingly of the clients. Working, he’d met all sorts of people and seen many unseemly things. This level was about cute in comparison, but still, to move your own father’s body around like this. Even Eunchan, whose affection for his father was shallow, found the situation difficult to understand.
“So what are you going to do, boss?”
Chewing on the end of his pen, Eunchan opened his mouth again and threw a question to the boss. The boss was the one who wrote the contract and also the final decision-maker.
“No matter how much we squeeze them, those people won’t give us more than 500. The construction company will be guarding that land, so how can we relocate?”
The boss clicked his tongue, mentioning the 5 million won they’d received as a down payment.
“So?”
“We’ll contact the construction company, and if we can get money, we should take it.”
“After paying the penalty?”
“Just return the 500 we received.”
The conclusion was reached. The boss fumbled in his pocket and soon pulled out a cigarette and lit it. Eunchan asked the boss with an ominous feeling.
“Don’t tell me we have to work this weekend?”
“Let’s finish it quickly and rest, I’ll give you more money, man.”
“I have a business trip on Monday.”
“What, the lawyer? Did you schedule it again?”
“Yes.”
Eunchan let out a big sigh at the schedule that gave him no rest, wondering if his work fortune had exploded.
“Good job. Finish that quickly too. I’ll give you separate vacation time later.”
“How much will you give me?”
“I’ll give you a week?”
“…Really?”
Eunchan asked again happily at the vacation that was longer than expected.
“Yeah. There’s no work in summer anyway, so rest after you finish the big stuff. But let’s get into this job quickly.”
Cigarette smoke rose from the boss’s fingertips. Eunchan smiled and responded to the boss’s words.
“I’ll work hard.”
“Yeah. That’s the attitude. Later, let’s go to that land and talk with the construction company.”
“Today?”
“The faster the better.”
Where was that land again? Was it South Chungcheong? It seemed like going home today wasn’t going to happen. It might even be an overnight trip. Eunchan leaned his head against the sofa headrest.
“…We ordered tteokbokki, can we eat that before we go?”
And Hyungsik, who had been watching the atmosphere between the boss and Eunchan while only drinking his beverage, carefully spoke up. We ordered snack food earlier… Hyungsik began pleading with the boss to eat before going, with a disappointed look.
