The alley where Seo Eunho would occasionally smoke during work was about 5 meters away from the convenience store. When hiring Seo Eunho, a minor, the boss had made a request—he didn’t care about other things, but at least when it came to cigarettes, please smoke where customers couldn’t see.
Since it wasn’t a difficult request, Seo Eunho came to this spot every time he smoked. It was a perfect location—out of people’s sight while still having a clear view of the convenience store where he worked.
However, these days Seo Eunho often thought this alley was too narrow. And also that it was more visible to people than he’d thought. There was no point in going out of his way to enter the alley to smoke. Lately, when he stood in this alley, people’s attention would often be drawn to him.
“He hasn’t been hanging out with those guys lately.”
The cause was Tae Shinwoo, who had been coming every single day recently. Seo Eunho alone could hide his body in the alley, but Tae Shinwoo was a completely different story. Moreover, that bastard had no intention of hiding himself. It was obvious, seeing how he deliberately stood at the entrance of the alley, constantly striking up conversation.
Since the alley entrance was on a main street, unfortunately for Tae Shinwoo, it was no different from standing in the middle of the road. The gazes that flowed over because of him would inevitably discover Seo Eunho as well. Seo Eunho sighed and put out his cigarette.
Thanks to Tae Shinwoo, the number of times he came out to smoke during work had decreased lately. Customers he’d never seen before in his life had increased, as had customers asking for his contact information. Sometimes he’d even see customers who seemed to be looking for Tae Shinwoo. This was thanks to how often Tae Shinwoo would follow him not just while he smoked, but even into the convenience store, chattering nonsense and killing time.
Things had been like this ever since he’d been called to the faculty office. From that day on, Tae Shinwoo had come looking for him every single day.
“Why would that be?”
Seo Eunho answered indifferently. He knew that bastard was talking about Jang Hoyoung and Kim Junseong. Since that day, he’d stopped hanging out with those guys too, so there was no need to think long about it.
“It’s because of you.”
“Really?”
It was a statement blaming him, yet Tae Shinwoo smiled with satisfaction. Just as Seo Eunho wondered why he’d react that way, he elaborated, saying “Then you should be grateful to me,” helping him understand. Seo Eunho soon let out a hollow laugh.
Seo Eunho knew he was accepting Tae Shinwoo to some degree. Even though he was a bit prickly, he no longer told him to stop coming. Though it didn’t seem like he’d listen even if told, there had been a change in his mindset too.
The truth was, lately that bastard didn’t bother him much. There were minor inconveniences, but this level was tolerable. He was even showing the devotion of responding to every single one of his meaningless remarks, wasn’t he?
‘Just pretend you don’t know like you’ve been doing. He must have come to his senses by now.’
Though he didn’t really want to admit it, Tae Shinwoo’s antics in the faculty office—attacking everyone present there with an innocent face—had played a part in that change. At the time, Seo Eunho’s cheeks had been tingling from forcibly keeping down the corners of his mouth that kept trying to rise.
Why had that situation been so amusing? Tae Shinwoo must have enjoyed it immensely too.
Anyway, thanks to Tae Shinwoo, the teacher whose spirit had been completely knocked out issued an eviction order to the three of them, including himself, telling them never to commit the same act again. And that was it. There was no need to bring their parents, no community service to do. It was a refreshing conclusion.
‘What the fuck is that bastard saying right now? Is he seriously spouting that we begged and he gave it to us?’
Of course, it seemed only Seo Eunho felt that way, but that wasn’t his concern. As soon as Seo Eunho left the faculty office, he immediately burst out laughing. Since he was no longer inside the faculty office, it seemed okay to laugh now.
Naturally expecting Seo Eunho to join in cursing the homeroom teacher and Tae Shinwoo, when he suddenly burst out laughing, those guys looked him over as if they were seeing some strange spectacle. But Seo Eunho couldn’t quite stop laughing.
‘What’s with you? Did you go crazy from being pissed off?’
‘Pissed off? Haha, why would I be pissed? This is fucking hilarious right now.’
‘What’s so funny? We just got treated like beggars and came out, is this situation funny to you?’
‘Why wouldn’t it be funny? It’s seriously fucking hilarious.’
How amazing was it that he’d taken down everyone around him in one shot without batting an eye? And how proud of himself he must have been after doing that. Thinking about it made him keep laughing. Even though he was also on the receiving end, it felt so satisfying.
He laughed so hard that tears even came. Seo Eunho wiped his eyes while keeping the corners of his mouth raised.
‘Hey. That bastard just screwed us over. Don’t you get it?’
‘Who doesn’t know that?’
‘Then what’s so fucking funny when you know that!’
But the laughter that seemed like it would never stop gradually subsided thanks to those guys who had gotten extremely angry in the meantime. Seo Eunho’s expression soon became no different from usual. Looking at Kim Junseong huffing and puffing, seemingly more upset because of him, Seo Eunho said indifferently:
‘Everything he said was true, wasn’t it?’
There wasn’t a single wrong statement. That’s why Seo Eunho found it even harder to understand why those guys were angry. Thanks to that, they’d gotten out of the faculty office safely without receiving any punishment. So what was there to be so pissed about?
‘Hey. True my ass! That bastard was acting like we begged and he gave us charity.’
‘So that’s why it’s true. It’s true that you went around making money by begging, isn’t it? Why? Does it sting because he said something true?’
‘Who begged? Hey, are you taking Tae Shinwoo’s side right now?’
He’d been in a good mood until just coming out. At those guys’ attitude of suddenly raising their voices, Seo Eunho was genuinely annoyed.
‘So what if I take his side a little? We were about to get punished unfairly, but he got us through it safely, wasn’t that enough? What do you want me to do? And shouldn’t you guys feel a bit sorry toward me? I clearly never stole money, never took a share of the money you guys stole. But I got lumped together and cursed at with you.’
‘That’s…’
‘Let’s just stop. You guys might live well enough to hate being treated like beggars, but I live so pathetically that it doesn’t bother me at all.’
It was a voice so cold it was hard to believe it came from someone who’d been laughing just moments ago. Seo Eunho then left the spot without even listening to those guys’ response. Behind him, he heard the sound of the faculty office door opening, and the sound of footsteps following him continued as well. He couldn’t identify someone by their gait, but Seo Eunho was certain it was Tae Shinwoo.
Tae Shinwoo gradually got closer to Seo Eunho, who was walking slowly. Seo Eunho had briefly smiled at the time before quickly withdrawing his expression. He didn’t particularly want to let on that he’d found this situation amusing.
“You have way too many things to be grateful to me for. You survived in the faculty office thanks to me too.”
“It was something that happened because of you in the first place.”
Was it because of the exhilaration he’d felt for a moment? Seo Eunho thought about why Tae Shinwoo wasn’t as uncomfortable as before and reached a conclusion. Well, there was no need to think long about it. What did it matter either way?
“You didn’t have to accept it. And it’s true I helped, isn’t it?”
Is this bastard crazy? Even after already concluding he was crazy, he still found himself thinking this once more. Seo Eunho clicked his tongue.
“So you did all that shit to make me grateful?”
Seo Eunho thought that perhaps Tae Shinwoo had created this entire situation. Could it be that Tae Shinwoo was the one who spread the rumor about money being stolen in the first place? That place was somewhere with few people around, after all. Thanks to that, he’d been called to the faculty office, and afterward stopped hanging out with Kim Junseong and Jang Hoyoung. Seeing that bastard’s grinning face, it seemed like that’s what he’d wanted. Looking at how he was nodding, it didn’t seem like he’d guessed completely wrong either.
“I figured you’d say that.”
Of course, even if Tae Shinwoo hadn’t stepped in, it was something that would have happened eventually anyway. Though he knew this, he still blamed Tae Shinwoo, but that bastard didn’t care at all. Rather, he seemed pleased. Was he happy because his prediction was correct?
Maybe his future goal really was to receive divine inspiration and open a fortune-telling shop. Otherwise, what could be so enjoyable about looking into people’s minds?
Seo Eunho didn’t bother voicing this thought that seemed strange even to himself.
“So when are you leaving today?”
Instead, he threw out a shitty question. Every time Tae Shinwoo came, Seo Eunho always asked the same thing. At first it meant “you’re annoying so leave,” but now he did it because it felt empty if he didn’t. Whether he left or not didn’t really matter.
“I just got here to hang out. Where does anyone ask when you’re leaving as soon as you arrive?”
Tae Shinwoo’s answer was mostly similar too. It meant he wasn’t leaving. Usually after that, Seo Eunho would show no reaction and just keep his mouth shut. Whether he just stood there or whatever.
“Why do you keep coming to hang out when someone’s working?”
But today, for some reason, he felt capricious and unusually continued asking questions. It probably wasn’t a particularly welcome thing to say to Tae Shinwoo.
“There aren’t even any customers, so what does it matter? I’m playing with you because I feel bad seeing you stand there alone.”
A nonchalant answer soon returned. For a moment forgetting that Tae Shinwoo was someone who didn’t consider others’ circumstances at all, Seo Eunho laughed as if dumbfounded.
“Customers don’t come because you’re the only one who comes. Usually it’s busy.”
“That’s even better then.”
“Not for the boss though.”
“Do I have to consider that situation too?”
Seo Eunho didn’t answer. In truth, his own thoughts weren’t so different from Tae Shinwoo’s. The boss’s circumstances weren’t his concern. He’d never actually thought about it.
But with a contrary mindset of not wanting to agree, Seo Eunho turned his head as if looking for something to do. The problem was Tae Shinwoo, who curled up the corners of his lips as if he already knew what Seo Eunho was thinking.
While you’re thinking the exact same thing.
If he said that, should he nod and say he’s right? He didn’t want to lie about something this trivial.
“You work until morning, right? Then how much do you earn?”
Seo Eunho briefly pondered, but it was rather useless. Tae Shinwoo had changed the subject with a very random question. He had so much interest in useless things.
“A decent amount.”
When he vaguely evaded, Tae Shinwoo nodded. Being a minor and receiving less than minimum wage wasn’t particularly something to be proud of.
“Then I’ll give you that decent amount of money.”
Tae Shinwoo spouted something utterly absurd. Seo Eunho closed his mouth and stared at that bright face that didn’t suit him.
“Instead, spend that time on me. Let’s hang out, with me.”
