“Could I stop by the cleaning staff break room for a moment? There’s someone I need to meet but I can’t reach them.”
Surely he wouldn’t refuse my request just because he didn’t like my voice. As I looked up at him anxiously, the man readily picked up a key card and led the way.
“It’s morning break time now, so everyone should be there. Are you looking for work by any chance? We’ll be hiring lobby desk staff soon. I’ll put in a good word for you. With that voice, you’ll definitely get hired.”
So he didn’t dislike my voice after all. As we got off the elevator, the man said,
“But I don’t smoke Dunhill Light. Next time I’ll go and tell you what I smoke.”
I just followed behind without any response. When we walked to the end of the hallway, there was a storage-like place in the corner of the stairs.
There was no designated seating area. Just some cushions on the cold marble floor, where the ladies were resting covered with blankets.
When they spotted me, their eyes all widened. The lady who had called me Chapssaltteok avoided my eyes. The atmosphere became stiff quickly.
The door to the changing room inside seemed to be locked. The man opened the changing room door with the master key and told them to pack up things to take when they quit in advance.
After the man briefly greeted them and left, silence fell.
“You came to gloat. What, do you have more to say?”
The Chapssaltteok lady was the angriest.
“There she goes talking like that again. You even bought us food yesterday. Student, we enjoyed it.”
“My heart hurts so much. When I think about how that bastard Hyun-wook tricked us, I wake up in the middle of the night.”
What does that mean…
“Jung Hyun-wook… what did he trick you about?”
“You didn’t know either? That bastard Hyun-wook is the son of the chairman of Songrim.”
“Unnie. This isn’t a company, so it’s not a chairman, it’s the representative attorney of Songrim, I’ve told you so many times.”
“Same difference! Is that what’s important right now! He hid all that and came to us, turned us against each other, instigated us! And this is how things ended up.”
Jung Hyun-wook is whose son? My mind stopped for a moment. I couldn’t process what I heard.
‘What torments me is… that I could have changed it. From my position, it was a method I couldn’t do even if it killed me. But to people for whom that’s survival, I’m ultimately just a hypocrite.’
The words Jung Hyun-wook confessed last night came to mind. My mind went blank.
“Unnie was jumping up and down at first saying there’s no way Hyun-wook would do that. And yesterday, you said such harsh words to a kid who couldn’t even lift his head in front of us. Honestly, what did he do to turn us against each other? All he did was help us till the end. I don’t know why he kept it a secret though.”
“The deception is the most important thing! Why would someone whose father is the chairman here do cleaning work! Protest about getting fired! Because of us? Do you really believe that?”
The sharp words directed at Jung Hyun-wook stabbed me. I found it hard to believe.
“That can’t be. You must have misunderstood something.”
“There’s no way we misunderstood. The chairman’s secretary came and confirmed it directly. They even had us sign a confidentiality agreement. They said if we don’t leak this, they’ll give us severance pay and compensation. They’re telling us to take the money and leave.”
The lady who had been pouring out harsh words suddenly had reddened eyes.
“I really can’t sleep thinking about Hyun-wook, it makes me so upset. Last night I was lying down and my wrist was aching. When I thought about how that kid must feel when sleeping too, my heart suddenly broke.”
“Unnie. So why do you say things you don’t mean and drive a nail through the kid’s heart?”
That’s when it happened. Jun-il’s words came to mind.
‘No… that hyung seems kind of rich… hanging out with that hyung is kind of… classy, you know.’
I ran straight to the convenience store. Jun-il, who had worked the night shift with me, was finishing the morning closing and getting ready to go home.
I dragged Jun-il to the office with the “Staff Only” sign and asked him point-blank.
“You said Jung Hyun-wook seemed rich, right?”
Contrary to my expectation that he’d be dumbfounded, Jun-il had a somewhat guilty expression and slightly averted his gaze.
“Did you have a basis for saying that?”
“Well…”
Jun-il, who had been stalling, roughly tousled his hair. He rummaged through a bag hanging in the corner of the office and pulled something out to hand to me. It was a silver metal watch.
“What… is this?”
“Actually, hyung, when the convenience store was in chaos. That hyung came and left this with my father. He said he doesn’t have money right now but if given a little time, he’ll compensate everything.”
“…What?”
The owner had clearly told me the main office would handle it with insurance.
“At first I accepted it without thinking much. But a few days ago, my cousin hyung came to our house and saw this, and he said if it’s real, it’s worth a mid-sized car. My cousin hyung’s family is rich. So I asked hyung about it that day. I thought it was fake, but I was still bothered… Father said to just return it. He said to pay back the repair cost slowly while working. If it really doesn’t work out, then forget it.”
My legs gave out and I slumped into a chair. I felt chills. My body trembled on its own.
“Hyung, are you cold?”
Jun-il brought a blanket from the corner of the office, but my body’s trembling didn’t stop.
***
Ironically, the moment you think you know someone well, you discover their most unfamiliar side.
“Haang… ah… aah…! It’s good…! I’m going crazy…. That spot feels so good…!”
“Huu…”
I couldn’t possibly go to school, so I returned home aimlessly. A strange woman’s moans echoed through the semi-basement room. The louder that sound grew, the faster the sound of flesh hitting flesh became.
“Ah, fuck….”
Jong-hwa roughly scratched his throat and poured out his excitement. Along with the woman’s gasping moans, the loud sounds entered a lull.
I crouched down on the steps in front of the entrance.
“Don’t pull out. Let’s do it one more time.”
“We’re out of condoms.”
The sound of picking up and putting on clothes.
“Why can’t you get it up without a condom?”
“Don’t say useless things and get up now. I have to go to work.”
“But what’s gotten into you? You said you could never do it at home because you live with a friend. Are you not living with your friend anymore?”
“He went to school. If you’re dressed, leave quickly.”
The woman grumbled about how he’s sweet during it but so cold after he’s done, then opened the door and came out. She was a sexy and cute woman in a mini skirt. When she spotted me, her eyes widened. But she immediately waved with a cute smile and disappeared up the stairs. The click-clack sound of high heels going up the stairs woke my dazed mind clearly.
When I opened the door and went in, Jong-hwa, wearing only pants, was opening the window with a cigarette in his mouth. His back, slick with sweat, had clear scratch marks.
Jong-hwa, who discovered me, looked flustered for a moment but soon had an indifferent face. I took off my shoes, went in, and flopped down on the floor.
I was too exhausted to calmly handle this situation. Jong-hwa picked up the t-shirt that had fallen on the floor and pulled it over his head. Then he set the table.
“School.”
“Don’t you have to give her a ride? It’s far from here.”
It’s too far and inconvenient to go wearing dress shoes. Jong-hwa looks at me with an incredulous expression.
“I have a car.”
“Ah….”
“Why didn’t you go to school?”
His pronunciation was all slurred because of the cigarette in his mouth. Suddenly I was curious.
“But why can’t you get it up without a condom?”
“The fuck, what did you say?”
Jong-hwa, who was placing side dish containers on the table, suddenly yelled.
“No. I just happened to overhear.”
Right then, the microwave that had been heating instant rice beeped its alarm. Jong-hwa placed the steaming hot instant rice on the table with his bare hands.
“Just fucking eat.”
“Am I a glutton?”
“Ha…!”
Jong-hwa whirled around and rubbed his head vigorously. His prickly hair would only make his own palm sting if he rubbed it.
“I won’t fuck at home anymore, so stop the nonsense and eat. Today was the first time. Okay?”
