“Uh…?”
Yongsik must have fallen into a deep sleep, because he woke with a start and sat up awkwardly.
“I need to close up the shop now. If you keep sleeping like this you’ll catch a cold.”
“…Already closing?”
He yawned languidly, checking the time on the gold watch strapped to his wrist.
“It’s only six?”
“It’s the countryside.”
“…Guess so. Alright, got it. Go on then. I should head back and eat dinner too.”
His yawn was so huge that even watching him made Jeongan catch the drowsiness. Holding back a yawn of his own, Jeongan dropped a couple of coins into the vending machine next to the arcade game. The machine lit up its buttons red as it took the coins. Jeongan debated between milk coffee and regular coffee, then pressed milk.
Thunk, came the sound of the cup dropping, along with a loud mechanical whir. In the quiet, sleepy village, even a low sound like that quickly became noise.
At the same moment, the smell of coffee spread, and Yongsik sniffed and turned around.
“Got more coins?”
“Yes.”
“Lend me some, would you. I’m out of coins.”
Jeongan nodded and turned back to the machine, which let out one final beep. He pushed open the plastic flap and reached in to take out the paper cup.
“Here.”
“What, this is for me? Hey…!”
Rubbing his stomach as if he were hungry, Yongsik accepted the coffee with genuinely moved eyes. He blew on it and slurped it down like broth, even letting out a satisfied “kyaah” sound.
“Vending machine coffee really is the best. Tastes good.”
“Then… I’ll get going.”
“I’ll pay you back for the coffee later, don’t forget to remind me. Got it?”
Jeongan bowed his head in greeting and got on his bike. If he was any later, the old man who’d phoned in a delivery order was sure to lose his temper.
“Hey, Jeongan! You do drinking snacks for delivery too, by any chance?”
“Yes. If you need it, I’ll bring some.”
“Alright then. Get going!”
Dragging his acupressure slippers along slowly as he walked, Yongsik called out loudly. Jeongan slowed his bike to answer, then pedaled hard again.
Even so, at the last delivery stop, he got an earful. Apparently he was too late. Naturally he didn’t get paid on the outstanding tab either, but it was common enough that Jeongan just bowed his head without much reaction and left the house.
Stepping outside, he found that pitch black darkness had already settled over the neighborhood. Jeongan suddenly felt as if he were the only one left in the quiet village. His feet naturally carried him somewhere other than home.
Following the darkness, he found his own secret spot that no one else knew about and crouched down there. It was really nothing more than a hidden little gap with a good view of the sea and mountains, but sitting there, Jeongan rested, listening to the sound of the waves breaking. He breathed in the deep, clean scent of the air.
Filling his lungs with the quiet air, Jeongan pulled out the cigarette he’d tucked into his back pocket and put it to his mouth. The lighter seemed low on gas, but he managed to light it anyway. Feeling his lungs warm faintly, he breathed out white smoke.
He kept smoking like that for a while, drawing in and breathing out, when he noticed a low sound growing gradually closer. It was a black car.
“Hyung…!”
Yongsik, in his red and purple shirt, was running down toward the car. Jeongan hurriedly stubbed out his cigarette and held his breath. He’d never realized that this spot, where almost no one from outside ever came in, actually had a clear view of the entrance into the village.
He guessed the reverse was probably true too, that he could be seen from there just as easily.
“Hyung! Why are you only getting here now! Do you know how long I waited all day for you?”
“Waited, my ass. You look like you’ve been living it up.”
“What are you talking about. I’ve practically wasted away waiting for you!”
“And what’s with those clothes. You actually went out wearing that?”
“Yeah, doesn’t it suit me? All the villagers were complimenting it.”
“Forget it. Just grab the bags.”
Beside him, Jihwan, who really had wasted away, turned his head aside. He seemed to have brought quite a lot of luggage, and looked utterly exhausted, probably from driving all day. Leaving the village at dawn and arriving back at this hour… it really was an unreasonable schedule.
Even so, thanks to Jeongan’s advice, they’d found the road relatively quickly today, but the road was so rough and complicated that Jihwan had still been stuck at the wheel for a long stretch.
Jeongan naturally brushed himself off, stood, and walked over toward them.
“Hello.”
Jonghyeok, apparently noticing Jeongan approaching, spoke up indifferently.
“Where’s the missus.”
“She said she’d finish up work and go to bed early today. She’s probably lying down by now.”
“Guess old people turn in early.”
“Yes.”
Without complaint, Jeongan picked up the share of the bags meant for Jihwan. Yongsik hurried over, his floral shirt fluttering, saying he didn’t need to carry anything, but Jeongan still ended up gathering quite a lot into his arms.
“Guy looks like that but turns out he’s got some strength on him.”
“…Yes.”
Not knowing how else to respond to that, Jeongan just answered with a simple yes.
At the same moment, Jonghyeok tilted his head and bent down slightly to look Jeongan over. He seemed to find the simple “yes” fairly amusing.
“…..”
“…..”
With darkness gradually swallowing the village deeper and deeper, the face of the man in front of him was as threatening as ever. Maybe because he’d just come back from the city, but his more sinister air and neatly put-together appearance only proved he was an unfamiliar outsider. Black pants, black shirt. A man who bared his solid build in nothing but a thin shirt, as if he didn’t feel the cold at all despite the chilly countryside night. Fierce eyes that seemed half-hidden in the darkness surrounding them.
Beyond the usual smell of sea breeze that always hung over the village, a faint scent like cologne suddenly reached his nose. A sharp, strange fragrance that put people on edge.
The strange tension from the first time he’d met him on the mountain and the way he acted around Mrs. Oh overlapped dizzyingly in Jeongan’s mind. Jeongan swallowed hard.
“…I’ll pass by first.”
The mood was so different from the men in the village who often threatened Jeongan. His tongue felt dry and shriveled. Even when the drunk men in the village raised their hands at him, he felt his throat tighten, but this was a different kind of weight entirely. It was different when he spoke formally versus casually, different yesterday versus today….
Jeongan gave a brief bow of his head and walked past Jonghyeok. Jonghyeok let out a hollow laugh, watching Jeongan’s back disappear into the darkness.
“Little brat.”
Whether Jeongan heard that or not was unclear, but he kept walking briskly. Jonghyeok had somehow already taken nearly everything out of his hands at some point, but Jeongan still carried his own share stubbornly. He walked on, gripping the various bags tightly, his footsteps making a steady crunching sound against the dirt.
“Come here.”
Once they reached the house, Jihwan disappeared inside right away. Yongsik patted Jihwan’s shoulder and held out a kettle of barley tea to him. Jeongan hesitated over whether he should head home or stay longer, then walked over to stand beside the dark-clad man watching him.
Unlike the city, night came early in the countryside. Once the sun set, thick darkness quickly swallowed everything around, dense enough that you could barely see your own outstretched hand. There were a few things here and there that might have been streetlights or something else entirely, but the only reliable light to lean on was the round moon floating calmly far off in the sky.
It was the same now. Even buried in the pitch black countryside darkness, Jeongan’s face somehow seemed to show up clearly, and Jonghyeok let out an openly mocking breath at the sight.
“I’m staying here.”
“…What?”
“I said I’m staying here for a while. Until I’ve talked to that Mrs. Oh, or whatever her name is, and finished up business.”
“Yes.”
Even having witnessed how Jonghyeok treated Mrs. Oh, even having seen him throw a villager to the ground, Jeongan answered flatly, without much reaction.
“Hyung! I set up lights here earlier!”
Right after that, artificial light took over the surroundings. With Jeongan’s face now showing up even more clearly because of it, Jonghyeok silently furrowed his brow. A pair of brown eyes was looking up at him.
For a brief moment, silence fell between the two of them.
“You’d better think carefully. About what you should be doing while I’m here.”
Jeongan thought it over for a moment, then shook his head.
“If there’s something you need me to do, just tell me.”
His tone was calm, but Jonghyeok caught the strange undertone hiding behind it. Either way, it seemed like Jeongan thought he was the one responsible for looking after him, since he apparently had business with Mrs. Oh. Nothing like what happened before could be allowed to happen again, and Jeongan clearly hadn’t forgotten what he’d promised either.
Jonghyeok let out a short, hollow laugh.
“Give me your phone.”
“…My phone?”
“You said you’d do what I tell you. How am I supposed to reach you if I don’t have your number.”
Jonghyeok held out his hand, looking at Jeongan’s neck, which seemed to glow faintly white even in the thick darkness. Jeongan stared at the large hand held out in front of him, then hesitantly pulled his phone out of his pocket.
“Does this thing even make calls.”
“It works fine.”
“Looks like it can barely even turn on.”
The phone Jeongan pulled out was an ancient model, one of the very first smartphones ever released. Looking at his falling-apart bike and worn-out clothes, it made sense the phone wouldn’t be anything cutting-edge either. Still, maybe it was something that it wasn’t a flip phone.
