“Is there anything I can help with?”
Yugeon asked while seeing off his brother who was leaving the house all the way to the yard. Migeon stopped walking and looked back at Yugeon, tilting his head as if puzzled, then soon made a face of realization.
“Sorry, I forgot. I’ll buy you a TV today.”
“What?”
“Isn’t it because you’re bored?”
“No… That’s right, but is there just some pastime or something you can ask me to do? Saying you’ll buy a TV sounds like you’re telling me to keep playing around.”
“Can’t you? Since you came back after a while, even if you rest comfortably for a few years…”
“It’s a really tempting offer, but how can I… when everyone’s working? And don’t buy the TV.”
“Why?”
“If you buy it? Is the internet even connected?”
“It is…”
“What? It is?”
It was truly surprising news. When Yugeon was excessively surprised, Migeon narrowed his eyes and said sullenly.
“Do you think this place is some remote area…?”
“A remote island village…”
“?”
“No, never mind. Anyway, don’t buy a TV. If there’s just something like a pastime to kill time… Ah, my room!”
“?”
“You still haven’t cleaned it, right?”
“……”
“Should I just clean it myself?”
“…I put unused furniture in there so you can’t clean it alone, hyung. I’ll do it. There’ll be a lot of dust too, so it’s not good for your bronchial tubes, hyung.”
“Ah…”
“…Then, how about helping out Grandma at the fish market a bit?”
“Huh? Fish market?”
“Yeah, she’s old so she’s wanted to rest for a while, but there’s no one to take over the fish market so she has no choice but to keep watching over it. I think she’d be happy if you said you’d help even for a bit, hyung. They have a TV there too, so it’ll be good for killing time.”
“…Really?”
“If you’re interested, I’ll tell her for you.”
“I want to! I’ll do it! I worked at a mart. I should be able to help with a small supermarket!”
At Yugeon’s answer full of enthusiasm, Migeon nodded slightly.
The next day, Yugeon headed to the fish market with his brother who was going to work. The entire time they walked together, Migeon was concerned about his feet without Yugeon knowing. When they arrived at the fish market, Jin Gageum welcomed Yugeon with both hands raised.
While Yugeon was being welcomed by Jin Gageum, Migeon checked the time once and called Yugeon.
“Hyung.”
At the call, Yugeon who looked back asked Jin Gageum for understanding and approached his brother.
“I have to go now.”
“Ah, okay. Be careful.”
“I’ll come after work. Let’s go home together.”
“Hm? Okay. Be careful.”
“Yeah, you too, hyung.”
Migeon walked backwards and waved at Yugeon for quite a while. Yugeon, who had been waving his hand standing in front of the fish market as if in response, also came into the fish market when his brother turned around and started walking. Jin Gageum was looking at him and smiling warmly.
“You two have good sibling affection.”
Yugeon scratched the back of his head as if embarrassed and blushed.
“Geon is kind. Even though I’m a lacking hyung, he takes good care of me.”
Jin Gageum laughed out loud and patted Yugeon’s back a couple of times.
“You did well coming back, Yugeon.”
It was warm words and touch, but Yugeon became a bit troubled. It felt like he wasn’t yet qualified to receive the words “you did well coming back.”
The island’s only fish market was small and old. Moreover, since it was a place run by an elderly grandmother, there wasn’t even a POS system. It seemed most calculations were done with a calculator or mental arithmetic. On one side of the checkout counter, small notebooks lined up, seemingly recording credit accounts. Also, in front of the display shelves, large handwritten price tags were attached. It seemed to be put up by Jin Gageum whose eyes were dim. Behind the checkout counter was a small room with sliding doors, and inside that room was a TV.
Jin Gageum explained to Yugeon the things he needed to do at the fish market. Yugeon understood what she told him right away, and Jin Gageum praised him endlessly saying young people’s minds work well, but in fact, since it was a fish market run by one grandmother alone, compared to the mart he used to work at, the number of items and the number of things to do weren’t that many.
Jin Gageum stayed with Yugeon until lunch, but perhaps judging that it would be okay to leave him alone after seeing him work, she gave him the keys and went home, leaving Yugeon alone at the fish market.
Yugeon stretched and sat on the edge of the wooden platform outside the fish market. Since it was a platform under a large zelkova tree, it was appropriately shaded, and the island’s dock and sea could be seen at a glance in the distance. The sunlight was hot and it was humid because it was an island so it was hot, but the gently blowing breeze was somewhat cool. As he sat, perhaps because his eyes were dazzled, he somehow became sleepy.
“Lee Yugeon?”
Then someone tapped Yugeon’s shoulder. When he looked back, Lee Junghyeok was standing there. His face and clothes were completely soaked with sweat.
“What are you doing here? Why are you dozing off like a sick chicken?”
Junghyeok passed by Yugeon, opened the fish market door and shouted.
“Grandma~! One cola… Huh? Where did she go?”
As Junghyeok was looking around inside the fish market, Yugeon came in and held out his hand in front of the checkout counter.
“Cola? One thousand won.”
“…What?”
“Part-time job.”
“Well well?”
Junghyeok smiled, handed over one thousand won, and took out a cola from the refrigerator.
Yugeon and Junghyeok sat side by side on the platform. Junghyeok drank cola, and Yugeon put ice cream in his mouth.
“Seeing you’ve even found a job, have you completely decided to settle down?”
“Well, not yet. Since my brother’s working, I can’t just play around, so I’m doing this temporarily.”
“Well, it is a bit embarrassing, right?”
“What kind of work do you do?”
“Me? I work in the field beyond that hill over there.”
Yugeon glanced beyond the hill following Junghyeok’s hand, then asked.
“Don’t you take the boat?”
“I get severe motion sickness so I can’t.”
“Ah.”
“Don’t you get seasick?”
Yugeon shook his head.
“I was fine when I came here.”
“Tsk, the brothers are the same.”
Yugeon just smiled.
“Oh right, I heard that Sanghoe ahjussi attacked you a while ago, are you okay?”
“Huh? Yeah… I’m okay.”
Junghyeok looked Yugeon’s body up and down and stopped his gaze on the bandage wrapped around his arm.
“As if you’re okay. Anyway, he was ridiculous. Who was he to blame anyone? Good that he died, what.”
“……”
Junghyeok crumpled the empty cola can and threw it into the trash can.
“If he was going to go anyway, Jaeyeong should have gone with him too, tsk.”
At the sharp words, Yugeon became uncomfortable. He thought his words were too much, but as someone who didn’t know their circumstances, he couldn’t readily add words either.
When Yugeon couldn’t hide his uncomfortable mood, Junghyeok glanced to gauge the situation and got up from his seat.
“I should get going. Good luck with your work.”
Junghyeok waved his hand with a smile as if nothing had happened and left. Yugeon, who confirmed Junghyeok getting farther away, slumped his shoulders and sighed.
“Uncomfortable, so uncomfortable.”
And he went inside the fish market.
Unlike the house, the fish market was quite hot. Yugeon turned on the fan and sat in front of the TV blankly staring at the noisily chattering screen, then checked the time. It was just past 3 o’clock. Yugeon looked outside without realizing it. It was a time when the sunlight stung just by looking.
“I wonder if Geon is okay…”
As he muttered blankly for no reason, the door opened and someone came in.
“Grandma… I…”
It was Jaeyeong. Both Jaeyeong and Yugeon froze in surprise upon confirming each other. When Yugeon couldn’t say anything and just gaped, Jaeyeong looked around inside with an awkward face and asked.
“Where’s Grandma?”
“She went home today…”
Yugeon stopped talking and slowly looked at Jaeyeong. He was holding his completely scraped arm, and his clothes were all covered in dirt. It seemed like he had fallen.
Yugeon silently got up and took out things like disinfectant, ointment, band-aids, gauze, and bandages.
“What do you need…?”
At the careful question, Jaeyeong seemed to press his lips tight, then only paid for one ointment and left. Yugeon, who had been clicking his tongue bitterly at Jaeyeong’s back as he moved away outside the door, turned around to put away the things he’d taken out, then shrank his shoulders and gasped for breath.
A somehow familiar chill brushed along his spine.
Yugeon’s face quickly turned deathly pale, and goosebumps began rising along with cold sweat. Yugeon, who had been standing frozen and trembling, ran out of the fish market as if fleeing and collapsed face down on the platform.
“Heok! Huk… huk!”
Yugeon, who had been breathing with his mouth wide open, hurriedly turned around and looked inside the store. Nothing was visible. But suddenly his lower abdomen began to hurt as if being torn.
“Euuk… uk…”
Yugeon clutched his lower abdomen and crouched down under the platform. His clothes became soaked with cold sweat. His lower abdomen, which was now just flat, hurt exactly like that day. As he was barely enduring what seemed like a scream would come out, urgent footsteps and a voice full of worry approached.
“Lee Yugeon? What’s wrong?”
It was Lee Yerim. Lee Seyeong could also be seen behind her. Yerim seemed flustered and frantic, then lowered her body in front of Yugeon and met his gaze.
“What’s wrong? Where does it hurt?”
Yugeon shook his head with his teeth clenched in pain, then pointed at the fish market.
“Over there…”
“Huh?”
Yerim and Seyeong looked at the fish market following Yugeon’s hand.
“Inside there…”
“Inside?”
Yerim, who had been asking back, soon sighed softly, then got up and went into the fish market and came out with something. It was a medicine box and water. It seemed she understood Yugeon’s action as meaning to bring medicine. Yerim made Yugeon take the medicine and helped him up to sit on the platform.
Yugeon, who received and took the medicine in the confusion, felt the abdominal pain subside after a while.
Thanks to that, the cold sweat stopped and as his face that had been distorted in pain gradually became comfortable, Seyeong felt Yugeon’s forehead and asked.
“Are you okay now, oppa?”
“Yeah…”
Yugeon answered somewhat blankly. He didn’t know the abdominal pain would subside just from taking medicine. Was it just a simple pathological symptom?
Seyeong stroked her chest and sat next to Yugeon.
“Wow, I was really startled.”
“Sorry, were you very surprised?”
Seyeong hit her chest as if to ask if that was even something to say, and Yerim also sat next to Yugeon and asked.
“By the way, why was that? Aren’t you really sick somewhere?”
“Nothing hurts… Did I, did I get heat stroke?”
When Yugeon deliberately acted casual, Seyeong shouted.
“Oppa! That’s not heat stroke, you picked up something weird and ate it. These days if you eat the wrong food in this heat, it’s really serious!”
“Y-yeah… I’ll be careful.”
“Geez, I came to see you after hearing you’re working part-time at the fish market and aged ten years.”
Seyeong clicked her tongue and fanned herself with her hand.
“Really? Since I’m sorry, I’ll give you each an ice cream.”
Yugeon hurriedly got up and was taking out ice cream from the ice cream freezer when he stopped his hand looking at the inside of the store visible through the glass window. Then he turned around and asked Yerim.
“Yerim, um… was there nothing inside…?”
“Inside? What?”
Yerim opened her eyes wide and tilted her head. Seyeong also tilted her head and looked inside the store.
“No… if there wasn’t anything, that’s fine.”
At the two’s reaction, Yugeon smiled awkwardly and waved his hand, then took out ice cream and held it out to the two. The two received the ice cream with bewildered faces and each added a word.
“Hey, that’s scary for no reason.”
“Right, oppa…”
“Haha, I guess I saw wrong… Maybe I really did get heat stroke.”
“Geez, it’s because you’re too skinny. Even working under this blazing sun, we don’t get heat stroke or anything.”
“Right, look, these muscles!”
At Yerim’s words, Seyeong went one step further, rolled up her short sleeves, and showed off her biceps.
“Oh…”
They were truly artistic biceps.
