“The abalone is plump and good today.”
“Yeah. It was delicious.”
He liked the everyday conversation he shared with Baek Sang-eun too. Go Seok-jun had never imagined Baek Sang-eun as an adult. He never thought there’d be a day when they’d sit side by side doing dishes together. They say even siblings become like friends when they get older, and he wanted to get along with Baek Sang-eun like that even after going to Seoul.
“Do you want to come with me when I dive for abalone?”
“No.”
“Or do you want to surf together?”
“No.”
“Can’t you go because you’re scared of the ocean?”
“No!”
His crouched body flinched and bounced. The foam on Baek Sang-eun’s hands touched Go Seok-jun. The foam on the back of his hand disappeared in the blink of an eye. Between the clattering sounds of dishes, Baek Sang-eun’s rough voice popped out.
“Is it because Uncle’s parents died in the ocean?”
“Watch your mouth.”
Go Seok-jun growled while holding a dish. Baek Sang-eun calmly met Go Seok-jun’s eyes. He was utterly calm even after thoughtlessly bringing up someone else’s dead parents.
No matter how uneducated he is, does that mean he can insult someone else’s parents like this? To Go Seok-jun, the ocean and his parents’ deaths were a terror that made him cling to someone like his nephew and even kiss him. He threw down the dish he was holding with a thud and grabbed Baek Sang-eun’s collar with his wet hands.
“My real grandma and grandpa also died in the ocean.”
With his collar grabbed, Baek Sang-eun added casual words: “Could you give me the dish you just threw first?” Go Seok-jun’s hand fell limply. Baek Sang-eun picked up the dish and examined it from all angles. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be cracked anywhere.
“Still, I’ll absolutely never die in the ocean.”
“This bastard, talking about dying and living in front of an adult.”
“But Uncle got better right away when we kissed.”
Baek Sang-eun murmured lowly. Go Seok-jun stiffened his body and ground his teeth as if the small basin in front of him were the ocean itself. There’s a limit to how much a young bastard should tease an adult.
Just moments ago, he’d been quite satisfied sitting side by side with this guy washing dishes together and sharing trivial conversations about nothing, but looking again, this bastard is a lost cause. Go Seok-jun was reminded of the low-quality hyungs who ruled the port when he was young—Baek Sang-eun had followed in their footsteps exactly.
Canceling the thought he had just moments ago about ‘wanting to get along well with Baek Sang-eun even after returning to Seoul.’ As soon as he leaves Yongju, it’s over with this bastard too, forever. Just like it had been until now.
As he stood up from his crouched position, Baek Sang-eun’s eyes disgustingly stuck to Go Seok-jun and followed him.
“Do you want to go on the boat again?”
At the grinning face, Go Seok-jun kicked away from his spot and went outside the gate. After walking just a few steps, his heart was beating like crazy.
***
Even though it was his day off, Go Seok-jun finished preparing to go out. Since he had to drive long distance, he took out black jeans instead of dress pants to wear. Since he matched the color of his underwear and socks, his socks were dark green.
He’d been holding back and finally found time to go to Seoul. He had to meet Boss Hwang and settle his household goods too. While he was there, he should get his hair cut too. He looked at his face in the rearview mirror and arranged his bangs with his ring finger.
He deliberately didn’t tell Baek Sang-eun he was going. There was no need to report everything to that guy, and things had become awkward after grabbing his collar.
Even though he knew he should act like an adult, he kept doing childish things. I think I was more mature than this even when I was young.
As he was setting the navigation, Kim Hyeon-taek, the village head who happened to be passing by the parking lot, knocked on the driver’s side window. Kim Hyeon-taek was the husband of kimchi master President Kang Hae-suk and an ahjussi who had looked after Go Seok-jun from the same neighborhood since childhood. Just as Baek Sang-eun thought of Go Seok-jun as uncle, Go Seok-jun also regarded the village head as an uncle.
“Seok-jun, are you going to work at this hour?”
“No. I’m going to Seoul today.”
“Is that so? Be careful driving such a long way. Make sure to stop at a rest area in the middle. Okay? Let’s see, should Uncle give you some travel money?”
“That’s scary talk! If I take travel money from you, Ahjussi, I’ll have to resign.”
He waved his left hand in the air as if he were an upright police officer who’d never accepted bribes. The village head also stepped back a few steps and put a cigarette in his mouth. With a pleased face, he watched the back and said “All right, all right” until Go Seok-jun’s car finished reversing. Even though it had been over fifteen years since he got his driver’s license.
He closed the driver’s side window as soon as he passed the squid sculpture. Because he didn’t like the fishy smell permeating the car.
The national road was really, really long before getting on the highway. This is why Yongju County has no development. For the countryside to develop, it needs to be either near an IC or have a high-speed train station. Yongju County, which is far from the IC and doesn’t even have regular trains, let alone high-speed trains, will continue to remain a backwater village.
Just thinking about leaving the stuffy countryside made him hum naturally. He drove leisurely along the long national road leading to the IC, singing along with the song flowing from the car audio.
“Huh?”
As he slowed down entering the section enforcement zone, a live fish truck began appearing in the rearview mirror. Though the driver’s face and car number weren’t confirmed in the rearview mirror, his spine went cold. Others might think of course there’d be a live fish truck in a fishing village, but not Go Seok-jun.
He moved to the passing lane to create distance from the truck following behind and stepped hard on the accelerator. Vroom, the rpm rose rapidly with a loud engine sound.
“That bastard’s acting crazy again.”
He clicked his tongue. The truck also moved to the first lane and increased speed. No matter how much Baek Sang-eun stepped on it, the output of a sedan and a truck were different. Go Seok-jun, who fled fast enough to feel shaking from the car body, let out a long sigh and moved back to the driving lane. The phone navigation screen kept flashing red, warning of speeding.
Who made the road this shitty? Not long after the section enforcement ended, he entered an elderly protection zone. Go Seok-jun’s car eventually had to reduce speed too. Just then, the traffic light turned red and he stopped at the stop line.
The truck also immediately stopped behind the sedan. Go Seok-jun called Baek Sang-eun. Baek Sang-eun still used the number he’d had since childhood. When he entered elementary school, Go Seok-jun handed down the phone he’d been using, and he used the number as is. It feels strange to call the number I used to use when I was young.
Shortly after the signal, the recipient’s voice came through.
“Is that you behind me?”
—Where are you going right now?
“Are you going to drive like that?”
—Why are you going without telling me? We promised to tell each other when we’re going somewhere. Pull over to the shoulder. If you don’t pull over, I’ll make it so you can’t go.
“You’re a funny guy. Who are you to stop me from going? I’m going to ‘my house,’ why. I’m going to rest at ‘my house’ where I can stay comfortably. Bye. Sang-eun-ah, take care.”
He ended the call with a grin. Just then, the light also changed to green. Go Seok-jun’s car, with the accelerator stomped down hard, shot forward like an arrow.
“Ahhh!”
Bang! His body swayed with a thunderous sound. The seatbelt pulled taut and pressed against his chest. The truck that cut into the lane didn’t stop there and scraped the passenger side. A hair-raising sound continued.
“This crazy bastard, really!”
The only asset Go Seok-jun owned under his name was being smashed.
He tried to turn on the emergency blinker first and pull the car to the shoulder, but the car wouldn’t move—he must have crashed into something. Baek Sang-eun got out of the truck, which also had its emergency blinker on. The perpetrator vehicle owner opened the victim vehicle’s passenger door as if to check. Screech, the fender made a loud crumpling sound.
“You have the nerve to crash into a car with a police officer in it?”
“Ah… First get out, I called the auto shop ahjussi, so he’ll come to pick up the car.”
“I won’t let you off easy.”
He got out, opened the trunk first, and took out a cigarette to smoke. When he tried to call the insurance company, Baek Sang-eun stopped Go Seok-jun, saying he’d take care of everything himself.
“What are you going to do? Are you going to pay for everything?”
“Yes. Car repair costs, person repair costs, I’ll pay for everything.”
“Then what about a replacement car? How am I supposed to commute to work?”
“I’ll take responsibility for that too.”
Leaving only those words, he moved the car to the shoulder and was making a phone call somewhere. Still wearing those pink sunglasses pushed up like a headband.
In the time it took to smoke one cigarette, the tow truck arrived. Go Seok-jun blankly watched the tow truck hook his precious car, and then watched as the car with its blinker still on was dragged away. Then he glared at Baek Sang-eun with all his might and walked in that direction.
“Get in first. I’ll drive you.”
“Take me to the terminal and you go to the hospital first.”
“What hospital? I’m not hurt.”
“You need to go to a mental hospital! Fuck!”
As he obediently climbed into the truck’s passenger seat and even fastened his seatbelt, Go Seok-jun stamped his feet. Even though an adult man was bouncing around, the truck with properly reinforced shocks had little shaking.
Baek Sang-eun’s car probably needed work on the driver’s side too. But perhaps because the damage was less due to the difference in vehicle height, or maybe the one doing the hitting gets hurt less than the one being hit, his car rolled along just fine.
Go Seok-jun first called the Chief. He said there was a traffic accident on the national road, and the tow truck just took the car away. The Chief made a fuss and told him to go to the hospital for an examination and rest for a few days. Actually, since it was just the side of the car scraped, there wasn’t much impact on the driver’s seat, but if he didn’t rest at times like this, when would he rest?
“Haaa… Why is our Sang-eun-ah doing this again?”
“Because Uncle tried to go to Seoul without telling me.”
“Why should I tell you I’m going to Seoul?”
“Because we’re lovers. We promised to do that. Uncle broke your promise.”
“Why! Am I your lover! Are you really crazy? Does your father know about this?”
