Jihwan, likewise soaked halfway through but having only taken off his shirt, asked while brushing back his hair.
“The business hasn’t properly started here yet, so it’s fine even if you pull out now. You know that.”
“I know.”
“Of course there are a lot of good conditions here, but….”
Jihwan’s sentence trailed off, but Jonghyeok already knew what came next. Nothing had been finalized yet about how to sell off this village. It was a perfect location to build a resort, but unlike when they’d gone through with the contract and started redevelopment before, there was no one currently stepping up to buy the resort site. It had been a case of coming to casually look the village over and it immediately turning into work.
It was a shame, since it was a place that could make a lot of money down the road, but pulling out now wouldn’t mean taking a loss either. The previous business had also wrapped up successfully, so it wasn’t as if money was tight. If anything, it was overflowing.
“You wrapped up the last job well. You don’t need to bother yourself with more work if you don’t want to.”
Though he still won’t be able to shed the reputation of running a gangster operation.
“If that’s really how you feel, then head back up and we’ll stay and….”
“…Um.”
And the person who cut off Jihwan’s words walked over silently and stopped in front of Jonghyeok. Jonghyeok’s eyes moved slowly.
It was Jeongan.
“Is the missus already looking for me?”
“No, that’s not it.”
“Then what.”
Jeongan was holding something in both hands. He glanced briefly at Jihwan, who was watching him, and at Yongsik washing up inside the bathroom, then set down what he was carrying.
“These are towels. And clothes to change into…. There wasn’t much decent to bring, so I brought what was clean at least. If you need more, let me know.”
Inside were underwear, new towels, roomy clothes, and several bars of soap still in their wrapping. Jonghyeok glanced it over for a moment, then turned his gaze to fix on Jeongan.
In front of me he openly protects Mrs. Oh, and now he’s handing me things like this….
“Then… I’ll get going.”
“Jeongan.”
Rubbing between his brows, Jonghyeok picked up a towel that smelled of fabric softener and threw it over Jeongan’s head. Then he pulled out a cigarette, put it to his mouth, and tossed the lighter to Jeongan.
“Light it.”
Not knowing why, Jeongan, with the white towel still draped over his head, lit Jonghyeok’s cigarette without a word of complaint. The lighter’s red flame flickered and swayed in the wind before catching onto the cigarette.
Jonghyeok drew on the filter deep enough to hollow his cheeks, watching Jeongan. The tip of the cigarette burned down with a faint crackle.
“It was only a little while ago that your grandmother threw me out.”
“…..”
“So why come here.”
“…Even if you’re leaving, you need clothes to leave in.”
Jonghyeok breathed in air mixed with the sea breeze and laughed faintly, blowing acrid smoke over Jeongan’s face.
Then, watching the eyes that looked back at him, he rubbed Jeongan’s smooth cheek, careful not to hurt him. The faint flush that had risen there cooled quickly, showing clear skin again. Jeongan flinched a little at the large hand approaching him, but didn’t outright refuse it. Seeing that, Jonghyeok let out a hollow laugh.
What kind of kid acts like this. Blocking me from going near his grandmother one moment, then coming forward on his own to hand me things like this the next. Eyes that clearly remember what I did, and yet he doesn’t step back even when I get close….
“Doing fieldwork again after so long feels stifling, but… this is fun.”
“…..”
“You remember you’re responsible for this.”
“…Yes.”
“Go on now. I’ll call for you later.”
Jeongan bowed his head in greeting, then gathered up the towel that had been over his head and the shirt Yongsik had taken off, and left.
“Bring Yongsik his towel and clothes.”
“Yes.”
Blowing out cigarette smoke as he watched the direction Jeongan had disappeared in, Jonghyeok fiddled with the soft towels in his hand and crossed his long legs, clad in dark suit trousers. Even that small movement made the countless muscles in his thighs ripple faintly.
After thinking something over for a moment, Jonghyeok let out a long breath and tilted his head back.
“Let’s head to Seoul tomorrow. I need to find a buyer for the village.”
“Are you going to handle it yourself?”
“Yeah.”
Jonghyeok had a vicious streak, and when there were people who resisted him like this, he felt an even stronger urge to compete. He was the type who couldn’t feel satisfied until he’d broken them down completely. He felt a deep-rooted thrill in that process.
The higher he climbed with a title attached to his name, the harder it became to find that kind of enjoyment. Even the guys who’d once rolled around in back alleys started acting proper once they had titles of their own, and it just wasn’t as fun as when they were still down in the gutter with him.
And I’ve been bored lately anyway.
Both the person fighting tooth and nail to reject his business and this strange village were worth diving into personally again after so long. He needed to loosen his hands up sometimes too.
It seemed the time to see that kind of fun again, after a long while, had finally come.
The next day, true to his word, Jonghyeok left the village early in the morning. He left Yongsik behind in the village, though. Jeongan, who had gone out from the blue dawn to handle the deliveries he hadn’t been able to finish the day before, found himself stopping his bike without meaning to, watching Jonghyeok get into the car.
“Take good care of the neighborhood.”
Jonghyeok got into the car with that greeting, as if he were someone who’d lived in this village for years. Jeongan gripped his wobbling bike tightly against the rough dawn wind. Perhaps because of it, his hair fluttered in the air instead. The scent of the sea, grown stronger, seeped in between the strands.
“Take the older road. Don’t come by way of the coast.”
Though Jonghyeok was already far off, Jeongan said that instead of a proper goodbye. Jonghyeok wondered for a moment what that meant, then realized it was a way to avoid getting lost in the mountains on the way.
With a curious expression, Jonghyeok watched Jeongan, who stayed rooted in place even as the car pulled away and slowly grew distant. The distance kept widening until he couldn’t make out details anymore, but it was clear that Jeongan was still standing there. He could even make out Jeongan bowing his head in farewell.
Rural villages cut off from the city all had that same insular atmosphere wherever you went, which was strange enough on its own, but this village was odd in its own particular way. It wasn’t that they openly rejected him, but it wasn’t as if they simply welcomed him either. A peculiar atmosphere he couldn’t quite put into words. Jonghyeok shook his head, thinking of Jeongan’s inscrutable attitude.
Only once the car had been out of sight for a good while did Jeongan climb back onto his bike. In the meantime, the diligent sun scattered even brighter light over the village. Ding-ding, Jeongan rang his bike bell on purpose as he pedaled. His eyelids were a little heavy from going out early to catch up on deliveries, but he pushed through it, waking himself up to the morning.
Until just a few days ago there hadn’t been many flowers at all. While those people of uncertain identity had briefly stayed, yellow flowers had bloomed all over the village. The leaves, too, were gradually dressing themselves in green. It was supposed to be spring already, but the cold season was only now turning into something that truly felt like spring.
Ding-ding. Maybe it was just his imagination, but the wind that swept in off the sea and reached nearby seemed to carry the scent of flowers with it. Jeongan pedaled faster, thinking he’d pick some wildflowers on his way home. His light-colored hair fluttered lightly in the air along with him. Dandelion seeds scattered their spores far and wide in his wake.
“Hyung. Did you send those people off? Someone said they saw people leaving?”
“As if they’d really leave. Rude bastards like that don’t listen the first time you tell them. Even if you curse them out six ways to Sunday, they never actually go.”
“Then why’d they leave? I saw earlier that they only left behind one guy with tattoos.”
“Don’t you get it, leaving someone behind like that? It means they’re coming back.”
“But why’d they leave, though? Did they go handle something real quick?”
“Who knows, maybe they’re off bringing back even shadier guys.”
“Honestly, he’s good-looking though. Right? Maybe it’s because he’s from Seoul, but he’s real polished.”
The neighborhood folks, gathered to sort out the spring greens they’d picked, naturally brought up the subject of Jonghyeok. The wooden platform was already piled high with all kinds of greens. Spring cabbage, mugwort, aralia shoots, wild garlic, butterbur…. Jeongan hurriedly parked his bike and got off in front of the scene playing out by the supermarket. Seeing the platform piled full of greens, he found himself taking a deep breath without meaning to.
“Jeongan’s here. Done with deliveries?”
“Oh, Jeongan. We kept a good eye on the shop for you. Don’t worry about it.”
“We’re using the kitchen inside for a bit. That okay? We’ll clean up everything before we go, us aunties.”
“Jeongan, get your auntie a drink, would you? My mouth’s feeling a little bored.”
Jeongan bowed his head in greeting to Mrs. Oh and the aunties already gathered there, checked once to make sure his bike wouldn’t fall over, then hurried to throw open the supermarket door.
The aunties had shown up since morning wanting to use the platform. Whenever he went out for deliveries, he always carefully locked up the shop, but when the aunties were around, he could just close the door and head out without worry. Whenever the aunties were on the platform, the uncles never showed up out of nowhere to throw trash around or kick the door in.
“Mijin’s family came by and bought soy sauce. You got money?”
“Yes.”
“I just told them to go on when they wanted change back. Like it makes that much profit to be asking for change. Even at their age, that stingy. Such a tightwad. A real tightwad.”
Soy sauce. Jeongan hurriedly pulled out the ledger and wrote down the product that went out and the money received. Meanwhile, Auntie Yeongi, who’d been boiling ramen in the little kitchen inside the shop, spoke up brightly with a laugh.
“Save up that change and get our Jeongan off to the city.”
Jeongan laughed softly, and, catching the spicy, mouth-watering smell, went over to the drinks fridge and pulled out an armful of drinks. He set one down in front of Auntie Yeongi, then one each in front of the aunties gathered on the platform and Mrs. Oh.
“Thanks, Jeongan.”
“Jeongan, how much do I owe you?”
“Goodness. Wasn’t this one on Jeongan?”
