“A Guide?”
Instead of taking out the hand he’d put inside his worn padding, Lee Heewoo just stood still and asked back. It wasn’t so much that he didn’t want to hold hands, but rather that on this cold day he didn’t want to take out his already frozen hand and make it curl up even more.
But the other person seemed to take that action as a rejection and awkwardly lowered his hand. Lee Heewoo, who hadn’t raised his head until then, quietly watched the man’s large hand fall downward. The hand he glimpsed was incredibly huge and had many scars.
“Ah… Well, a Guide… There are people we’re looking for. Have you perhaps not heard of it?”
“Yes… I don’t really watch the news…”
Lee Heewoo turned his gaze to the side and answered vaguely. He was hearing the question about being a Guide for the second time now, but he still wasn’t interested. More important to Lee Heewoo right now than that was the current time and the time remaining until his Bonita shift.
“Sorry but I’m in a hurry…”
Lee Heewoo, who spoke as if muttering, went around the man to brush past him. No, he tried to brush past him. If only the man hadn’t grabbed Lee Heewoo’s wrist.
“Excuse me…! Huk!”
Perhaps because it was padding he’d gotten for free, the sleeves were a bit short, and because of that, his exposed wrist was caught by the man.
When his wrist was forcibly grabbed, his mood instantly soured. It wasn’t that being grabbed itself put him in a bad mood, but because Lee Heewoo, who was busy trying to make a living, didn’t have time to comfortably wrangle with a man. Especially since Bonita was the part-time job with the highest hourly wage among Lee Heewoo’s jobs, he became even more anxious.
But the expression of the man who grabbed Lee Heewoo’s wrist through his clothes was somehow strange. Not only had both eyes widened as if they’d tear, but the black pupils had shrunk small, making him look exactly like he was shocked. Lee Heewoo carefully tried to shake off the grabbed hand, but the man’s brutish hand didn’t budge.
“Let, could you let go…”
“Ah… ah.”
“…”
He’d said it because it seemed like he couldn’t shake it off on his own, but the man acted as if he didn’t hear Lee Heewoo’s voice. Lee Heewoo debated whether he should use force to remove this hand.
In the end, when there was no more time to hesitate here and he tried to take out his other hand to grab the man’s hand and forcefully remove it, a hand suddenly stretched out from behind.
“I see Mercury Team 7 doesn’t teach even basic Earth etiquette.”
It was an extremely low and monotone voice. The tone, which was neither fast nor slow, had no highs or lows, so it sounded almost like a machine speaking.
The hand that popped out dropped the man’s touch that had been clinging to Lee Heewoo’s padding as if tearing it off. Only after the connection was severed did the man in front of him seem to come to his senses. The man, whose breathing looked labored, glanced at Lee Heewoo once and then hurriedly left.
Lee Heewoo, who had finally shaken off the man, let out a low sigh of relief. Lee Heewoo slowly turned around to face the person who had helped him.
“Thank you for helping me.”
After bowing his head and then raising it, the other person was taller than expected. Only after raising his chin quite high could he see his face.
To describe his first impression of him: an extremely ascetic and clean-looking foreigner. Light brown hair that brought to mind an autumn golden wheat field, dark skin tone, and on top of that, sparkling yellow eyes. At a glance, you could tell he was a foreigner.
The perfectly fitted suit and dark-colored coat were so long that if Lee Heewoo wore them, they’d drag on the ground unattractively. Lee Heewoo wondered if this man was also an ‘Esper,’ but his attire wasn’t out of place.
“…”
“…So-sorry but I’m in a hurry. May I go now?”
When the golden-eyed man just wore a gentle smile on his lips, Lee Heewoo, who had no time, ultimately had no choice but to ask first. He knew it wasn’t the right thing to say to someone who had helped him, but he really had to move now so he couldn’t help it.
“Are you that busy?”
“Pardon? Yes… My part-time job time is almost here.”
“Part-time job… I see.”
Since he didn’t have a wristwatch or anything, Lee Heewoo took out his flip phone from his pocket to check the time. Looking at the time written on the screen, if he ran he could arrive safely. Of course, only if the conversation with the man in front of him ended right now.
“Once that ‘part-time job’ ends, will you no longer be busy?”
“…I, I suppose not?”
He didn’t know why he was asking such a thing, but Lee Heewoo answered blankly. It was something he said without much thought because he was thinking he needed to end the conversation quickly.
In reality, just because his part-time job ended didn’t mean Lee Heewoo would be leisurely. It just meant it wouldn’t be to the extent of not even having time to talk like now. After all the part-time jobs ended, he had to return home according to the tight bus schedule and then barely finish eating a meal.
“Then I’ll see you after your part-time job ends.”
“Pardon?”
“My name is ‘Heichi.'”
The golden-eyed man—that is, the man who introduced himself as Heichi—turned around and left with those final words. Lee Heewoo, who had been watching Heichi rapidly distancing himself with long legs, soon came to his senses and ran toward Cafe Bonita.
Like that, he completely forgot about what Heichi had said while frantically making coffee and baking waffles at Cafe Bonita.
* * *
“Oh Heewoo, good work. Just take out the trash on your way out.”
“Yes, yes.”
Lee Heewoo, who answered quickly, entered the employee break room that doubled as a storage room. In the corner there, Lee Heewoo’s worn padding that he’d taken off and left as soon as he arrived at work was sleeping peacefully.
Since it was already dark outside, having gotten as dark as it could get, if he went out now an even fiercer knife-wind than in the morning would be blowing. Lee Heewoo put on his worn padding and carefully zipped it all the way up, then went outside and grabbed a trash bag as big as his body as the boss had requested.
Because trash bag fees were so expensive, the Matgal Meat Restaurant boss always packed the largest capacity bags so full they exceeded the limit, and this time was no different. Lee Heewoo dragged the trash bag as big as his body with both hands as he went outside.
Naturally, the trash bag smelled quite a bit. Lee Heewoo headed toward the garbage area while holding back the stench rising from the bag with familiarity. Of course, it weighed quite a bit to lift up, so he was still grunting in the meantime.
“…Huh.”
Then the trash bag was suddenly lifted. It wasn’t Lee Heewoo’s doing, but rather the person who had been behind the trash bag that blocked more than half his field of vision. Lee Heewoo, whose trash had been stolen, finally faced the person who’d snatched the bag.
“Uh, I mean…”
As soon as he saw him, he knew it was the man he’d seen during the day. The golden eyes that still sparkled even at night and the low-saturation brown skin tone were hard to easily forget. However, perhaps because his mind had been so rushed at the time, he couldn’t quite remember the name.
“Heichi.”
“Ah, Heichi… I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. This, should I put it down over there?”
Heichi, who was lightly holding the trash bag as big as Lee Heewoo’s body in one hand, pointed to a corner of the alley. Similar trash bags were gathered there. When Lee Heewoo, who’d been opening and closing his lips, nodded his head, Heichi went to the corner of the alley and put down the bag.
Although his body was weak, he wasn’t particularly lacking in strength, but the trash bag Lee Heewoo had tried to lift was really heavy. Although it was a bag for throwing away general trash, inside it contained everything from light food waste to various recycling trash. But Heichi lifted it very lightly, as if lifting a sheet of paper.
He must be strong. Lee Heewoo simply thought only that.
“Are all your part-time jobs finished now?”
“Pardon? Ah, yes…”
“Then are you no longer busy?”
“Uh…”
No longer busy? Lee Heewoo subtly turned his eyes to check the digital clock of a tall building visible in the distance. 11:11 PM. He had to move quickly to catch the last bus going home.
“I have to… go home… To do that I have to catch the bus…”
Lee Heewoo, who wasn’t in the habit of conversing with people, was on the slow side when it came to speaking, and the people he met at work generally found this Lee Heewoo frustrating. But Heichi, even while Lee Heewoo spoke slowly, didn’t rush him or anything and just stood still waiting for the words to completely end.
When he finally finished saying he had to catch the bus, Heichi finally opened his mouth.
“The bus. May I ride with you?”
“Pardon? Ah. Ah, yes…”
“I’ll follow you.”
Like that, a strange scene was created with Lee Heewoo leading the way and the large foreign man following behind him. Even while going to the bus stop, Lee Heewoo kept looking back at Heichi to confirm he was really following.
The bus arrived and Lee Heewoo first brought his transportation card to the terminal. Balance: 9,870 won. Lee Heewoo’s heart felt shabby at the small remaining balance. He’d have to charge it soon, but he had almost no living expenses left for this month.
“Hey hey, that fifty thousand won bill won’t work!”
That was said to Heichi, who had followed right after Lee Heewoo safely boarded. Lee Heewoo, who turned his head, faced Heichi standing blankly holding a fifty thousand won bill. A fifty thousand won bill just to ride a bus.
He must not be familiar with Korean culture since he’s a foreigner, Lee Heewoo thought as he stepped forward.
“…I’ll pay for you. Driver, two people.”
The driver glanced at Lee Heewoo, who had stepped forward instead, and then operated the terminal so he could bring his card again. Beep. Lee Heewoo’s heart became complicated as he confirmed the remaining amount was now less than 9,000 won.
It can’t be helped. Let’s think of it as payment for helping me today.
Heichi, who received Lee Heewoo’s help, safely boarded the bus. The two people went to the very back seat of the bus, which had almost no passengers, and then sat down side by side.
Rattle, rattle.
The late-night bus racing down the road with almost no cars rattled terribly. Lee Heewoo glanced to the side, wondering if the foreigner Heichi, who seemed unfamiliar with buses, might get motion sickness.
Then he made eye contact with Heichi, who had been staring intently at him. At close range, too. Lee Heewoo hurriedly turned his head toward the opposite window.
“How far are you going?”
“How far is Lee Heewoo going?”
“…I’m going ten more stops.”
“I’m also going there.”
Although there seemed to be no reason for Heichi, who looked affluent no matter how you looked at him, to go to that place that was nothing but a poor hillside neighborhood, he accepted it for now since that’s what he said. Lee Heewoo, who had been fidgeting with his hands in his padding pockets, opened his mouth again.
“Um, th-thank you for today…”
“For what?”
“For helping me earlier…”
“Ah.”
Heichi seemed to have only then recalled what happened in the afternoon. He nodded his head.
“Not at all.”
“I should at least buy you a meal, but I… don’t have money…”
“Are you perhaps hungry?”
Grrrrrrowl.
As soon as Heichi’s words ended, his stomach vibrated. Lee Heewoo, whose ears turned bright red, moved the hand inside his padding pocket to firmly press down on his stomach. How long had it been since he ate the soup rice, and he’s hungry again?
Heichi, who had been quietly watching such Lee Heewoo, suddenly asked,
“Would you like to go eat?”
