“So how was the interview?”
At midnight crossing from Friday to Saturday, Han looked at Jiwon with expectant eyes.
Even though he’d taken the same interview himself, he asked with an expression as if he knew nothing.
“That, the confidentiality agreement.”
“Ah. Right. There was a penalty fee, wasn’t there? Sorry.”
Saying this, Han held out a bottle of water.
“One plus one.”
Even though Han knew Jiwon had received the interview fee, he didn’t say anything about treating him.
“Pick what you want to eat. I’ll treat you.”
He couldn’t just let today pass, so he said this.
Han must have received the same money too, but if it hadn’t been for Han, he might have missed the interview opportunity, so Jiwon wanted to show even a small token of gratitude.
Then Han said, “Really? I’m going to sweep everything up, is that okay, hyung?” and laughed. His face was full of mischief.
Fuck. He resembles him.
For a moment, his throat caught. He forced a smile to appear indifferent.
“Yes. Sweep it all up.”
At Jiwon’s words, Han let out a cheer.
Unlike his exaggerated behavior, what Han held in his hands was just triangle kimbap with a 30% discount sticker nearing its expiration date and cup noodles on a two-plus-one deal. When Jiwon picked up cola as his drink, Han made him put it down, saying, “That’s not a sale item.” He was truly thrifty.
“Times like this are perfect for a beer. Tsk.”
Han expressed his regret while picking up a coffee drink that was also on sale.
“You know I got the interview fee too, right?”
Han asked as they sat down.
“It was at 3:30.”
“Man, you really do have a good memory. Hyung, let’s have a beer at our place sometime. We can grill some pork belly too.”
“Okay. Let’s do that.”
He knew it was just something Han said casually, but he agreed.
For the two of them to drink, it would only be possible after 5 AM when everyone’s shift ended. But by then, both Jiwon and Han would be exhausted, too busy to drink and just rushing home to lie down. Even if it were possible, they’d need to get permission from the Madam who lived with Han first.
The two sat at the convenience store table, promising to meet another time while eating triangle kimbap and cup noodles.
“But honestly, I was disappointed.”
Not knowing what he meant, Jiwon looked at him, and Han glanced around before mouthing the word “interview.”
“I thought there’d be a Maybach too.”
“Ah….”
He’d completely forgotten about that customer.
“Oh come on, hyung. Our interview was all thanks to the Maybach, how can you forget that?”
Han scolded him.
“Did that customer really arrange the interview?”
He asked back, pretending not to know.
“I told you before. Didn’t you get a business card, hyung?”
“Business card?”
Ah, that. Back then, he’d simply thought of him as just a substitute customer, so he’d put the business card in his shirt pocket without even looking at it. And forgot about it.
How much he’d been scolded for that.
Only now did he laugh while recalling that day.
“What. I thought you knew everything, hyung. Actually….”
Han glanced around, then came very close to Jiwon and was about to say something. But before he could even open his mouth, Han’s phone rang. It seemed a customer had arrived.
“Hyung, let’s talk later.”
Han hurriedly left the convenience store.
Left alone, Jiwon finished the remaining cup noodles and cleaned up the table. He also cleared away the trash Han had left behind. Since he’d have to wait at least an hour or two for his turn anyway, he continued sitting in the convenience store waiting.
To avoid unnecessary thoughts, he killed time with idle musings. Like imagining what he’d do if he won the lottery—fantasies that had nothing to do with Jiwon’s current situation.
And so began the last task of another day as a room salon dedicated driver.
It was a rarely lucky day. Not only had he received a huge interview fee yesterday, but today alone he’d received over a hundred thousand won in tips. He hummed, thinking it wasn’t for nothing that it was the weekend.
Jiwon, who’d been in a heightened state all day due to yesterday morning’s provocative interview, boarded the early morning bus without even realizing he was tired. He went to his gosiwon and collapsed, falling into a deep sleep for the first time in a while.
When he opened his eyes to the alarm sound, his body felt so light he was surprised at himself. As he walked to the gosiwon’s communal shower, he checked the texts and missed calls that had come while he slept. Among the loan and insurance ads, lottery and stock advertisements, there was an acceptance text.
[We sincerely congratulate Mr. Kim Jiwon on passing. Please click the link below to confirm details regarding the second interview.]
Jiwon was bewildered by the acceptance text that had arrived in just one full day.
Wondering if it might be spam, he checked the number three times. It was the same number that had given him the first interview opportunity. When he clicked the link, precautions similar to those from the first interview were written. One peculiar point was that he should come on an empty stomach.
It would be a lie to say he hadn’t expected to take the second interview. Not only had the horn-rimmed glasses brought up the second interview even after seeing the state of his cock, but he’d considered the fact that he’d deliberately given hints about the interview as a passing signal.
With an excited heart, he checked the acceptance text again.
Could this interview really, truly be the straw I’ve been searching for so desperately?
What if it’s not a straw but a trap?
What if I’ve got it all wrong?
He soon shook his head.
Hadn’t he known it wouldn’t be an easy task?
After being stuck in a deadlock for over six months, unable to do this or that, this was a path that had barely opened for him. It wasn’t too late to go see for himself what kind of path it was, whether it was the right path, and then make a judgment.
Whatever it is, I won’t give up.
He comforted himself, thinking this was probably the first step.
Have I changed to become like that bastard just because I’ve been living as Kim Jiwon? he thought with a bitter smile.
The second interview was scheduled for the very next week, Tuesday, June 11th at 10 AM, and only the interview location had changed.
From Taeseong Building in Sagye-dong, Yongnam-si to a building in Gangnam.
When he marked the location on his map app, it was in a place directly opposite to Taeseong Building. Since it was just one of the office buildings in the same neighborhood anyway, it wouldn’t be hard to find.
He first reported this fact, then took a shower. Then he took eggs and seaweed and went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. He made kimchi fried rice for the first time in a while and put two fried eggs on top. Meanwhile, two texts arrived from President Choi.
After placing the seaweed to eat with kimchi fried rice on the table next to Room 305, he checked the texts.
A smile spread across Jiwon’s face.
“Room 304, did something good happen?”
Room 305, who was drinking from morning as always, asked Jiwon.
“Something good? Nothing like that.”
“Seems like there is though? Did you come into some free money or something?”
Room 305 asked casually.
Though it was probably just something said offhand, he laughed inwardly at the good intuition.
“I wish.”
Jiwon answered like this and ate a big spoonful of rice.
He had an appetite for the first time in a while. Even though his side dishes were just seaweed and fried eggs, it was very delicious. Was kimchi fried rice this tasty? He reflected on himself for always just eating plain rice with kimchi or seaweed out of laziness.
When the old man from Room 301 belatedly came to the table next to where Jiwon sat to eat breakfast and tried to make conversation, he quickly cleared his table. He didn’t want to ruin his good mood because of the old man.
Jiwon dropped off the suit he’d worn to the first interview at the dry cleaners, then boarded a bus to Gangnam to go to work at the cold storage warehouse that had no separate weekends.
On the bus, he kept giggling as memories of the interview came to mind. In broad daylight, wearing a flashy mask while naked, he’d shown his cock and buttocks in front of the camera. They’d even taken photos with a measuring tape. It was strange no matter who heard about it.
By the way, what will they make me do this time?
He recalled the horn-rimmed glasses’ enigmatic words. He’d said it wasn’t masturbation or sex. There wouldn’t be any undressing either. But could there be anything more explicit than taking photos naked? No matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn’t think of anything.
Honestly, he didn’t care what they made him do.
Right now, he was just grateful to have something to try doing.
But the moment he got off the bus, he forgot all about the interview and everything else, running until his feet sweated to survive the harsh daily life. He disassembled and repackaged frozen pollack boxes until he was sick of it.
Only after arriving for work at the room salon did he think about the upcoming second interview again. He wanted to ask Han if he’d passed too, but he didn’t. If someone like himself passed, there was no way Han would fail. If this was a real interview, Han was the optimal person.
“BroCup?”
“Kind of. But I also work in the field. You can tell by looking at my face.”
Jiwon sat at the convenience store bar table and looked out the window at the falling rain. Because of the rain that wasn’t in the forecast, he’d worked nonstop as a substitute driver until arriving at the room salon. Honestly, on a day like today, he wanted to just sit and rest in the convenience store, but he couldn’t.
Maintain your daily routine no matter what.
Because of those words that wouldn’t leave his head like a warning sign, he drove other people’s cars back and forth across Seoul. Thanks to that, Jiwon, who’d become exhausted, was very glad to arrive at work at the room salon where he could at least catch his breath.
As soon as he arrived at work, he picked up the hostesses in the van. That was all. Unlike the substitute driver app that rang constantly, the room salon was quiet. At a time when he normally would have done at least two rounds, he hadn’t received a single team yet.
Han must have been free too, as he wandered around in front of the shop with an umbrella, eventually coming into the convenience store and sitting down.
Han was unusually quiet. He was so quiet that just when Jiwon was wondering if something was wrong, Han manipulated his latest smartphone and very carefully held it out to Jiwon. It was a notepad.
Hyung, I got the second interview. Tuesday at 3:30. What about you?
Jiwon nodded affirmatively. Then Han grinned and quickly erased the memo.
“I knew it. You and I really resemble each other.”
At Han’s words, Jiwon neither affirmed nor denied, just smiled awkwardly.
Jiwon looked alternately at his own face and Han’s face reflected in the convenience store glass.
They did resemble each other. They were supposed to. But if he were to rank them as top, middle, or bottom, Han was top tier, while he himself was lower-middle tier.
Anyone who saw the hunched shoulders, the pallor so pale it looked bleached white, the unfashionably shaggy hair that frustratingly covered his eyes, and the dark circles under his eyes wouldn’t even think that the radiant Han and Jiwon resembled each other.
No one except Han talked about Jiwon’s appearance. Generally, “a tall guy” was the only phrase that described Kim Jiwon.
He thought Han’s eye for recognizing him, catching the fact that they resembled each other, was impressive.
Han’s appearance shone especially today. Even as a man looking at him, he was pretty and handsome. Exactly the kind of face commonly described as “pretty-handsome.” Although he wore BB cream, even under fluorescent lights his smooth and healthy skin showed well. He was better-looking than anyone on TV. He was a guy too good to be worn down in a place like this entertainment establishment.
“But why do you work in a place like this?”
Without realizing it, he asked Han a question he shouldn’t have. He regretted it as soon as he spoke.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that….”
He wanted to smack his own mouth.
“Hey, what’s there to be sorry about? Everyone asks me as soon as they see me, I was wondering why you only asked now, hyung.”
Han replied with a laugh.
As if more than grasping the intent of the question, he opened his mouth readily.
“Honestly, I want to be a celebrity too. But if they dig into me, there’s too much that would come out, so I can’t.”
Saying this, he scrunched up his nose.
“I’ve been doing it with guys since middle school. I did it with a teacher first, then with friends, and my friend’s older brother too. Needless to say school seniors and juniors, I did it with kids from other schools too. Oh, and I did it with my friend’s father too.”
He giggled as if it was something funny.
“And with neighborhood ahjussis and old men with money. Honestly, you can say I’ve done it with anyone with a cock. I have a really strong stomach. I do all sorts of things. Not forcibly, but voluntarily because I really like it. When I do that, I feel amazing and I even get money, how advantageous is that? When I needed spending money, I’d meet ahjussis from chat rooms and do it, then use the money I got to go to clubs and sleep with hot hyungs. I bought clothes and shoes I wanted, ate delicious food. I even bought my dad a birthday present with money I got from doing it with my dad’s friend.”
Han casually spilled his past episodes as if it was no big deal.
“Some of it was on purpose, but somehow everyone knew I was homo. Not just the teachers, even the principal knew. Even my mom, dad, and relatives all knew, so that’s everything said. I’m kind of like that. Excessively honest.”
Having said this much, Han turned to look at Jiwon.
“Tell me honestly. Were you shocked?”
He asked with a mischievous expression.
‘This is a bit awkward to say, but he played around quite promiscuously. Just looking at the videos left on the deceased’s phone…. Well, you’ve already seen it, so you know.’
He’d been quite shocked.
His father must have been too. That’s why his heart couldn’t take it.
But not now.
He’d seen worse, and learned of worse things.
“Should I be? I thought Seoho was a serial killer or something.”
Jiwon meant it as a joke in his own way, but because of his tone, it came out sounding serious. His ears burned with embarrassment.
“Wow, hyung makes jokes too?”
Han laughed loudly.
As if seeing something amazing, he stared at Jiwon’s face intently, then nudged him with his shoulder.
“By the way, are there any customers?”
Jiwon cleared his throat and changed the subject.
“Yeah. Two teams. But both teams are just doing the basics. One team didn’t even call for hostesses. They have something important to discuss among themselves or whatever. Fucking bastards. A room salon isn’t a conference room.”
Han shuddered.
Unlike Han, Jiwon hoped they’d hit balls. On rainy or cloudy days, his arms hurt too much. His arms had already been hurting since the cold storage logistics center, so he’d chewed and swallowed two painkillers, and after running around nonstop as a substitute driver on top of that, honestly he had no strength left to hold a steering wheel. Imagining having to practically carry drunk customers and escort them to a motel room in this state was horrifying.
Jiwon sipped his coffee to avoid revealing his inner thoughts.
Tap tap, at the sound of knocking on the convenience store glass, Han and Jiwon simultaneously looked that way. It was the Manager.
“I’ll go first, hyung.”
Han hurriedly left the convenience store.
Now that Han’s gone, my phone will ring soon too.
Jiwon sighed and glared at the black screen. Fortunately, even after a long while, the phone remained quiet.
In the end, he didn’t pick up a single customer all night, and received 20,000 won from the Madam as consolation money. He considered taking a taxi with that money, but eventually got on the bus.
Maintain your daily routine no matter what.
Don’t forget that Kim Jiwon is a debtor.
