In one corner of the soup restaurant with no customers, Lee Heewoo was blankly staring at the television while wiping chopsticks and spoons. Today too, the television was going on and on about Espers and Guides. As he blankly listened to the news, letting the content flow in one ear and out the other, Heichi came to mind—the one he’d parted with last night after eating beef.
Heichi was certainly kind and gentle.
But at the same time, there were also strange aspects about him.
For instance, for several days now, Heichi would appear from somewhere whenever it was time for Heewoo’s part-time job to end. His commute time, after finishing his flyer distribution part-time job, when moving from the soup restaurant to Bonita, and even after getting off work. Heichi would appear during all the times when Heewoo wasn’t working and naturally claim the spot next to him.
It wasn’t that Heewoo disliked it. Even when his grandmother was alive, and when he went to school, no one had ever come to pick him up. He had no memories of being with someone on his way to school, on his way home from school, on his way home from work, or on his way to work. So in truth, while pretending not to care about Heichi coming to find him every day, he was actually very pleased.
But he’d known for a while that it was strange somewhere. No matter how much Heewoo had lived a life without a single friend, he knew that this situation of someone following him around this much wasn’t normal. Was this also because he was an Esper and Heewoo was a Guide? If only there were Guides around, he wanted to grab just anyone and ask.
On top of that, just thinking about what happened at the meat restaurant yesterday…
“Good grief, those crazy bastards. The world is coming to an end, an end.”
The boss, who had been coming out of the kitchen while wiping his hands on his apron, suddenly shouted at the news. At the voice ringing piercingly through the quiet soup restaurant, Heewoo startled and his shoulders trembled. When he turned his head, he saw the boss’s gaze fixed on the television mounted on the soup restaurant wall.
“What the hell is so special about that damn Guide thing, huh?”
—A short while ago in downtown Seoul, an incident occurred where a man claiming to be a so-called ‘Guide’ assaulted another man. According to the police, the perpetrator had been deceiving people around him by pretending to be a Guide to gain their trust, then received large sums of money from multiple people under the pretext of investment…
Recently in the world, all sorts of incidents surrounding Espers and Guides had been occurring. Since public attention had been focused on Espers and Guides for several months already, it couldn’t be helped. In the midst of this, it was somewhat unexpected if anything that there were almost no incidents directly caused by Espers themselves.
“That Guide thing, at the end of the day it’s nothing more than selling their body. Isn’t that right? Heewoo?”
“W-well…”
“You know that person I mentioned before? In the end, she abandoned her husband and went to an Esper. Even if the world is coming to an end, still, how could she abandon her own husband? Huh?”
Lately, the soup restaurant boss’s hatred of Espers and Guides had gotten a bit worse. Since stories about Espers and Guides flowed from the news and all sorts of broadcasts, the boss would curse whenever he saw it on television. Each time, Heewoo had to pretend otherwise while tightly clenching his sweating palms without realizing it.
If he got caught being a Guide like this, it felt like he’d get fired even from the soup restaurant. He was already feeling hopeless after recently losing two jobs, so that was truly something he didn’t want.
“Anyway, money, money, money. Money is the problem. Money is the problem. That’s why, I told that bastard to spend some money on his wife from the start.”
“Ah, that… the boss’s friend couple you mentioned last time…?”
“Right! No, to be precise, my friend is the husband. I only knew his wife’s face from accompanying them as a couple. Well, she’s not his wife anymore now.”
While the boss put his hands on his hips and focused on chatting, Heewoo quickly concentrated on wiping the chopsticks and spoons. To wipe all these chopsticks and spoons by himself before getting off work, he had to move busily.
“A person, you see, shouldn’t be like that. You know? There’s morality and there’s trust. Everyone’s just blinded by money and…”
It was around the time when wiping the chopsticks and spoons, while letting the boss’s chatter flow in one ear, was almost finished. After putting the wiped chopsticks and spoons into the utensil containers and placing them on each table, organizing the utensils was also done. It was when Heewoo, who had been moving busily alone instead of the boss who wasn’t budging from in front of the television, wiped away a drop of sweat stuck to his forehead with his sleeve.
Trrrrrr. Trrrrrr…
It was the ringtone of his own flip phone that even Heewoo was hearing after quite a while. Since the only calls he received were spam, the landlord grandmother, or otherwise loan sharks urging him to repay money, Heewoo would always tense up first when his phone rang. The boss must have heard Heewoo’s phone sound too, as he paused his chattering for a moment.
Since there were no customers anyway, he asked the boss for permission and answered the phone. Then from the other end of the phone came a kind and polite voice he’d never heard before.
—Hello, this is Wonhwa Bank. Am I speaking with customer Lee Heewoo?
“Yes… Yes?”
Thinking it was roughly a spam call, he properly grabbed the phone he’d casually held against his shoulder. Heewoo politely adjusted his grip on the flip phone with both hands. Then the boss, who had been glancing at him, gestured with his eyes asking what was going on with a puzzled expression.
—For customer verification, may I confirm your name and date of birth?
While thinking it might be spam, since it was actually the bank Heewoo mainly used for transactions, he first gave his personal information. Then the bank employee, who seemed to be checking the information briefly, finally stated the purpose.
—The reason for my call is that a transaction of 287,694,520 won was confirmed to have been deposited around 11:07 AM today, so I’m contacting you to confirm the transaction details.
“Huh?”
Heewoo blinked his eyes. His ears must be broken.
—Yes, customer. A deposit of 287,694,520 won was confirmed in Lee Heewoo-nim’s account around 11:07 AM today, so I’m contacting you to confirm the transaction details.
With a dazed face, Heewoo briefly pulled the flip phone away from his ear. At the nonchalant reaction, the boss who had been watching from the side also kept opening and closing his mouth asking what was going on with a very curious face. Heewoo bowed his head to the boss to ask for understanding, then headed to the bathroom while pressing the flip phone close to his ear.
“Um… what do you mean by that…”
—Yes, customer. First of all, the depositor in the transaction details is only written as ‘compensation,’ so may I ask if this fund is for personal use?
“…”
Compensation?
Could it be, that compensation?
Heewoo repeatedly opened and closed his mouth wide, at a loss for words. Perhaps because he’d heard such an unrealistic amount, this situation didn’t feel real at all. Could the compensation Heichi mentioned yesterday be this? So, the compensation to receive for that convenience store incident is 280… million, 8 thousand?
It didn’t feel real at all, but Heewoo urgently felt he needed to wrap up the call first. It was because he was currently in the middle of working. It seemed they’d called to confirm since such a large amount that hadn’t been in Heewoo’s account before had been deposited. The bank employee ended the call in a consistently kind tone just like at the beginning.
Even after hanging up the phone, Heewoo couldn’t dare leave the bathroom and just blankly stared at the wooden partition wall.
“Heewoo! What are you doing in there? Hogging the bathroom by yourself?”
“Ah, ah…! I’m sorry!”
Heewoo rushed out in a flurry. Outside the door, the boss stood looking at Heewoo with his usual appearance. Looking at the clock, it was because Heewoo’s off-work time had approached.
Before Heewoo could even properly come to his senses, he hastily grabbed and put on the coat he’d worn in. Still, only the amount of 280 million, 280 million, 280 million remained in his head. The boss asked a question looking at Heewoo like that.
“What kind of phone call was it to make you like that? Did someone tell you to repay a debt? You’re completely out of it.”
“Ah…”
Ah, debt.
Heewoo suddenly remembered the debt he had remaining. When he’d last checked the amount, the balance was a bit over 200 million. After recalling that, he suddenly felt rushed. First, he had to go to the bank to confirm whether money had really come in under the name of compensation, then resolve his debt.
“B-Boss, I’ll be getting off work now…”
“Oh, is it already that time? Okay, take care. Heewoo, tomorrow…”
Ding-a-ling.
Heewoo left the store before the soup restaurant boss even finished speaking. The boss left alone in the store tilted his head while watching Heewoo disappear in the distance. This was because the diligent and polite but timid part-timer Heewoo had never once left his spot before the boss finished speaking until now.
“Come to think of it, somehow, his appearance… has gotten better?”
The boss suddenly looked at the clothes Heewoo was wearing as he moved away. Heewoo’s clothes, which had seemed like they were picked up from some used clothing collection bin, had all been changed to new ones. Among them were even logos of expensive brands that the boss knew.
“Did he suddenly win the lottery or something? Nah, where would that kid get money from…”
—Meanwhile, news has also been reported that a Red Dwarf Guide was discovered in South Sudan, Africa. This case is the first officially confirmed Red Dwarf Guide on Earth, and the attention of the international community is focused on it. According to the reward standards paid to Brown Guides and above, this Guide will receive a reward of 100 million US dollars…
At the news content that came through, the boss’s head turned. The phrase on the screen saying “100 million US dollars” stuck thickly to the boss’s pupils.
