“Sure.”
The two of them started tidying up the messy department room, grumbling as they went. Jingyu gathered the nearly empty food containers — dried scraps stuck all over them — and stuffed them into a plastic bag, while Haneul scrubbed the grimy floor with a mop.
“Seriously though, why are there so many advertising flyers in the department room?”
“Looks like everyone just left them here. Either way, let’s collect them all and throw them out.”
At Jingyu’s words, Haneul gathered up the mass of flyers spread across the table and picked them up. Just then, a certain piece of text caught his eye.
[L00king 4 Blue🔵Cuck00🐦
01O-123⃣4-🖐678
#QuickTransfer💰 #SafetyGuaranteed💯 #OneCallAway🆗]
It reminded Haneul of the flyer he’d been handed on the street just a little while ago. He rummaged through his bag and pulled it out.
“Yun Haneul, why is something like that coming out of your bag?”
“What even is this?”
“You seriously don’t know about Blue Cuckoo?”
“……”
Haneul looked down at the flyer with an expression of complete ignorance.
“Blue Cuckoo — it’s slang for surrogacy.”
Haneul’s head snapped up, eyes wide, and he practically shouted.
“People are still looking for surrogates in this day and age?”
“Omegas, specifically.”
“Wait, seriously?”
“Even if omega rights have improved compared to the past, there’s still no shortage of cases where omegas with a high probability of bearing alphas are illegally trafficked.”
“Wow…… that’s completely insane, isn’t it? There are things a person should do and things they absolutely shouldn’t. I don’t even want to imagine it.”
“Right?”
The two of them had been chatting away and had more or less finished cleaning up when someone walked into the department room.
“Kim Jingyu.”
“Jeonghun, you’re here?”
“Haneul’s here too.”
“Yes, hello.”
Jeonghun ruffled Haneul’s hair as he bowed in greeting. He looked around the noticeably cleaner department room and smiled.
“Did you two clean this place up?”
“Yes.”
“I stopped by earlier and nearly fainted from how filthy it was. You two really worked hard. And here’s the archive.”
“Thank you.”
After bowing in thanks, they were about to head out of the department room. But just then, Jeonghun called out from behind them.
“Aren’t you two going to the alumni guest lecture today?”
“Ah, we were planning to go next week.”
“Who’s it for next week again?”
“Ah…… I’m not sure.”
“You have to go at least once a semester — it’s mandatory. There are penalties for not attending, so make sure you go next week without fail.”
“Yes.”
The two of them answered in unison and walked out of the department room.
“Jingyu, I’m heading out too.”
“Off to another part-time job?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright, good luck.”
Haneul waved goodbye to Jingyu and dashed out of the College of Education.
“Blue Cuckoo……”
As he walked to the bus stop in front of the school, Haneul turned the flyer over and over in his hands, lost in thought for quite a long while. Then, all of a sudden, he stopped dead in his tracks, shook his head, and muttered under his breath.
“I must be out of my mind.”
At Haneul’s outburst, the strangers nearby all turned to look at him. Embarrassed, he scratched his head for no reason and hurried off to the bus stop. The bus he needed to take was drawing closer by the second, and he stepped forward to board it. That was when it happened. The phone in his hand flashed and buzzed.
“Hello.”
— Hello, sir.
“Yes, Seowoo’s mother.”
A bad feeling crept over Haneul at the call from a parent, and he didn’t get on the bus. Instead, he waited for her to speak first.
— Sir…… I’m sorry, but it seems Seowoo won’t be able to continue the tutoring sessions. She’s moving up to her third year of high school, you see?
“Ah, yes……”
— Going into third year…… I feel like she needs lessons from a professional instructor rather than a university student.
“Ah…… I see.”
— Thank you for everything up until now.
“Of course. Seowoo will do just fine going forward. Thank you for everything.”
The call ended on Haneul’s last words. He waved the bus driver on and dropped onto a bench. The sudden notice of termination drained the color from his face in an instant.
The hospital bills……
One or two tutoring jobs could never cover the enormous cost of treatment anyway. He knew that — and still, all he could do was sigh. With two or three hours suddenly freed up, Haneul gave up on taking the bus and trudged on foot to his next part-time job at the convenience store.
Early morning milk delivery, library assistant shifts whenever he could fit them in, three tutoring jobs, overnight shifts at the convenience store, weekend shifts at the pub……
I can’t take on any more work…… What am I supposed to do?
Even cutting sleep to the bone and doing nothing but work, the amount a student could earn in a month was next to nothing.
“Oh, you’re here — you’re early today.”
“Yes, I’m here. The delivery’s coming soon, right? I’ll get the stock moved and shelved first.”
“Haneul, can we talk for a second?”
A bad feeling washed over Haneul at the owner’s call. But he hid his unease behind a smile and walked over.
“Things have been tough for the store lately…… I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright.”
And just like that, the convenience store owner delivered a bombshell — Haneul’s job was over too. Fired from two places in a single day, even lifting his feet to walk felt like dragging lead weights.
“And the rental deposit is barely anything to begin with.”
Shuffling along with no energy to spare, Haneul turned into the alley with its steep hill and endless flights of stairs. This path he had walked countless times somehow felt unusually grueling today. In stark contrast, the higher he climbed, the brighter and closer the moon became — and somehow it only looked more vivid and beautiful for it.
“Ah…… What am I really going to do now?”
Haneul stood in the open space in front of the gate and looked back down the path he had climbed. The glittering cityscape sprawled out below the hill was a world away from the weariness this neighborhood carried in the daylight.
He took in Seoul’s nighttime scenery for a brief moment, then let out a long sigh, pushed open the rust-red blue gate, and headed down into the semi-basement room. Pushed by the wind, the gate swung shut with a sharp, grating shriek of metal on metal.
“Hah……”
Haneul stepped inside and let his bag drop to the floor.
“Mom…… Dad…… what am I supposed to do?”
Even so, Haneul couldn’t bring himself to give up on getting his last remaining family member the treatment she needed. If his sister died too, he would truly be left alone in this world.
