“He wants to catch them and finish it completely.”
The boss whispered to Eunchan in a quiet voice. What, does he want us to catch them and beat them until just before death? Or really kill them? Eunchan frowned.
“I don’t want to go to the police station. We’re not people who do that kind of work either.”
Even Hyungsik was a kid who’d never hit anyone in his life. They’d done illegal work, but never anything that would really land them in jail. And in this day and age, people all work while following the law—the rule was not to do jobs threatening people with tools like in the old days, even if you were paid hundreds of millions.
“We have to catch them and talk. It seems like they’re pretty malicious. They’ll come back, definitely. So please watch your mouth, okay?”
The boss grabbed Eunchan’s shoulder and shook it weakly, then soon took out cigarettes from his back pocket. To Eunchan, who still had suspicious eyes, the boss offered him a cigarette, asking if he’d go smoke with him.
“I quit smoking. Because I have no money.”
“You’ll become rich by saving. Man.”
“Hyung! I cleaned everything up!”
The boss smiled bitterly and soon went up to the building rooftop to smoke, and Hyungsik came out of the boss’s office and called Eunchan. Eunchan handed one chocolate bar on the desk to Hyungsik as a token of appreciation for his hard work.
“But am I really handling this job? Alone?”
Hyungsik asked with a sly smile, having apparently heard the story through the boss’s office door.
“Try it. It’s not that difficult a job either. The boss will do it with you too.”
“What about you, hyung?”
“I have the work I’m doing now.”
Eunchan spun the swivel chair round and round and tore up the article he’d clipped. Kim Noeul, Kim Noeul, Kim Noeul… The old folks living there aren’t dead yet, right? It was such a narrow countryside area that they even knew how many spoons the house right next door had. And how interested they were in other people’s business. Eunchan desperately prayed that the elderly’s memory would be poor.
“Hyung, want to drink tonight?”
“Can’t, I’m going on a business trip tomorrow.”
“You’re really going?”
Jackpot. Hyungsik clapped softly, saying it was amazing. If you had the name and date of birth, finding someone was nothing, but finding someone with just a name was no different from finding a needle in the desert. Even though they’d received a lot of down payment, to think they’d really start the work.
“I have to go…”
It’s not one won but 6 million. Eunchan didn’t expect he could really find them either. The boss was probably the same. He just believed that if they made a show of it and pretended to work, that side would pay for the work.
“It’s not just me getting jerked around.”
It was hard labor together with that impressive lawyer. Eunchan picked at his itchy ear and cleared away the empty coffee cup.
* * *
[Due to personal circumstances, tomorrow’s business trip will be difficult. I’ll contact you later. Han Inju.]
Eunchan sighed looking at the text that came late in the evening. Someone turned down drinking plans because of tomorrow’s business trip and is lying in the office, and he ends it by just sending one text like this?
“Fucking thank you.”
He’d already been dragging his feet not wanting to go, but to think he’d send such welcome news. If he were next to him, he’d want to give him a handshake if not a hug. Eunchan smiled and stretched widely. He didn’t want to go home, it was hot outside, and the electricity bill was scary.
In the past too, he’d often stayed alone and spent time in the boss’s office after everyone had left work. After turning on the air conditioner and rolling around on the sofa, there were many times he didn’t want to go to his house that was not just hot but scorching. If only the bathroom had hot water, he would’ve just lived at the company.
The clock hands were already pointing to 9. Still, for health, you have to sleep comfortably at home. In the 100-year-old age, Eunchan, who wanted to live to 100, started packing his things leisurely. After unplugging the charger from the outlet, turning off the air conditioner, and even packing his toothbrush tools, things were roughly organized.
Coming out of the office building, bright signs lit up his dark eyes. Because it was located at an intersection full of bars, it was bright and noisy like daytime even at night. Eunchan walked past a food cart with clam shells piled up in bundles and briefly considered calling Hyungsik.
“Should I just eat something simple?”
The dinner of two triangle kimbap was regrettable. Eunchan shoved his phone in his pocket and headed to the bar alley he often visited. Promotional flyers and loan advertisement stickers stuck to the soles of his feet like gum.
This street was still dirty, chaotic, and difficult. Eunchan entered a pork skin restaurant located in a corner of the alley. The acrid smoke and noisy chattering were heard welcomingly.
“Hyung, I’m here.”
“Eunchan came? What should I give you?”
To watch sports highlights, Eunchan took a seat under the television. The owner hyung, who’d become friendly because he frequented the place, recognized Eunchan’s face.
“Two servings of pork skin and doenjang jjigae. One bottle of soju too.”
“I’ll give you the soju as service.”
“That’s my hyung.”
After giving a thumbs up, he pulled out a disposable wet tissue placed on the table. If he ate up to one bottle of soju roughly, it would be around 11 o’clock. There’s no need to bother saying he’s not going on the business trip, so it would be fine to skip coming to work tomorrow. Eunchan twisted open the soju the refrigerator gave him right away.
“It’s bad luck to drink alone.”
“It’s fine. My three years of bad luck ended last year.”
Letting hyung’s words from behind flow in one ear and out the other, Eunchan gulped down one glass first. Was it a day he handled it well—the taste wasn’t bitter but sweet. Eunchan hummed and put the young radish kimchi that came out as a side dish in his mouth and chewed.
—…Financial structure evaluation points lowest, the future steps regarding social enterprises are drawing attention.
The 9 o’clock news was still in full swing. Watching the anchor reading the headlines, Eunchan thought other thoughts. Who won baseball today? Even without looking it up, of course Eunchan’s team would have lost, but he was curious about the score difference. After one bad player draft, they started on a downward trend…
“I’ll do it. Hyung, go take care of business.”
Two pieces of pork skin came up onto the heated grill. Not wanting to bother a busy person anyway, Eunchan snatched the tongs from hyung’s hands.
“Eat well.”
It was a place where he’d been steadily stamping his face since not long after getting employed at the errand company. Company dinners were always held here, and Hyungsik’s birthday party was held here too. Eunchan put a spoon into the doenjang jjigae that came out in a small pot and ate a spoonful. It was a taste that didn’t come out even when he made it at home.
He quickly got hungry at the sizzling sound on the grill. Eunchan filled the empty glass with soju again and drank it down. He wasn’t particularly fond of alcohol, but when he occasionally thought of it, he’d come alone and drink. His tolerance wasn’t bad either. He drank a bit better than others.
Still, eating alone is most comfortable. I don’t have to deal with drunken antics either. The boss got angry when drunk, and Hyungsik cried. Hyungsik had mentioned in passing last time that he himself had drinking habits too, but it was actually rare to show such behavior. The two of them always passed out before Eunchan got drunk. Cleaning up afterward was always Eunchan’s share.
“Look, it’s on the news.”
“Oh— is this that thing?”
While cutting the cooked skin, at the voices heard from the table right next to him, Eunchan unconsciously raised his head and looked at the TV.
—…Speculation continues following the lifting of forest land with a minimum area of 40,000 square meters. Currently, the Righteous Hope Party has raised doubts about the procedure, claiming prior information leakage regarding frequent ownership transfer registrations in the planned development area…
“That’s the lottery these days. A ton got released this time.”
“They knew in advance, right? Through connections, everyone was buying and selling land.”
Incheon, Chungcheong, Gyeongnam, Jeonnam area… Did that lawyer also know in advance? That it would be released? Eunchan unconsciously put the freshly cooked skin in his mouth, then burned the roof of his mouth and spat it back onto the plate.
“Ah, hot.”
“They say they’re calling like crazy to the landowners.”
“Why?”
“Why else? To sell to them. Oh my, lucky them. Those people. I wonder what virtue they accumulated in their past lives.”
“…”
That’s also the reason Han Inju and Myeongjin are looking for Kim Noeul. But that place isn’t treasure land. Around there are only mountains and mountains, and rice paddies and fields. The only means of transportation was the one village bus that came and went, and there was an airport, but the village people didn’t use it often.
Kim Noeul-ssi is lucky. I’m jealous. While some people have difficulty eating pork skin with one bottle of soju. I wonder if Kim Noeul knows right now that they’ve won the lottery.
Eunchan took a big spoonful of rice and swallowed it along with his envy.
* * *
The buzzing vibration and ringtone noisily rang throughout the small one-room. Eunchan pulled up the blanket to cover his ears, but the phone showed no signs of settling down.
“…Are they crazy, who is it at this hour…”
It was a summer night when he’d emptied one bottle of soju and returned home in a good mood. When night came, the weather became cool so he opened the windows wide, and it was only a few hours after he’d finally laid down his tired body after even finishing the bothersome shower.
Eunchan fumbled around the bedside, picked up his phone, and looked at the bright screen with bleary eyes. The caller was the boss. After briefly wondering whether to answer or not, Eunchan, finding the aftermath bothersome, slid the call button.
—Eunchan-ah!
“…Ah, what time is it now to be calling?”
—Ya, I’m really sorry. Sorry. I tried not to call you as much as possible, but this bastard Hyungsik must be dead or something—he won’t answer even after dozens of calls, and I’m in Daejeon right now because of something at my in-laws’ so I can’t do anything about it. I know you’re going on a business trip tomorrow and know you’re busy, so I don’t want to give you work…
Perhaps it was quite urgent, the words poured out overflowing. Eunchan briefly held the phone away from his ear and sighed. I tried to rest but that’s gone down the drain. I even purposely didn’t share the text from Han Inju.
