Seeing me bewildered, Hyungnim continued speaking.
“Let’s meet there next time. Hang in there until then. Well, I should… Ah, right. My brother didn’t mention me, did he? I happened to meet him when I was in the area for work.”
I’d been troubled about how to bring it up, but Hyungnim spoke first. I quickly chose my words in my head.
“Yes, I heard.”
“I was worried too, so I asked the attending doctor. The surgery went well. He said in all his years practicing medicine, he’s never seen someone recover this fast. So don’t worry too much.”
Isn’t that all personal information? And if he’s an errand center boss, how does he know the doctor at Seogong’s hospital? He spoke so casually it made my head spin.
“Ah, yes… He’s recovering well now.”
There were more than a couple things I wanted to question him about, but I couldn’t. I wondered if there was any information I could dig up and called out to Hyungnim as he was leaving.
“Ah, Seogong said he received a business card at the hospital but accidentally lost it. Could you tell me what kind of card it was? When he asks what you do for work, I need to be able to answer…”
“What does Jiwoo say?”
“Pardon?”
“What does Lee Jiwoo say I do?”
I cleared my throat while reading Hyungnim’s expression.
“Well… that you do something less than honorable… like an errand center or detective agency…”
At my words, Hyungnim chuckled.
“But I can’t tell Seogong that, so… Hmm, let’s say a hardware store. Gwanwoo Hardware Store. Say I’m learning the trade there. Sales too. The business card just has my name and contact info, so that should work.”
A hardware store out of nowhere? Is it even a real shop? Something felt off, but I nodded.
“Well, I should get going, so see you next month. Fighting.”
Hyungnim disappeared like the wind, just as he’d arrived. In the end, the iced americano I ordered sat untouched without a single sip.
I stared at the cafe door Hyungnim had left through for a long while before sighing and collapsing into my chair. I must have been nervously chewing the inside of my cheek without realizing it because it stung.
I was completely drained.
***
Lee Jiwoo, who’d supposedly gone to Chile, still hadn’t contacted me even after ten more days had passed. No matter how far away on the other side of the globe that country was, enough time had passed for him to have gone and returned.
Was he searching for Hyungnim there? Or had some other problem occurred? Or maybe he was already back in Korea. This lack of contact for so long felt like proof that I wasn’t that important to him.
He’d even plucked out his hair saying he wanted to feel like we were together even when apart. His words were just pretty lies—I guess he didn’t actually like me after all.
His eyes never looked like those of a man in love, so I’d somewhat expected this, but I hadn’t thought he’d suddenly go radio silent like this. I had a feeling he’d learned some other information about me after going to Chile.
“……”
I stared blankly at the phone Jiwoo had bought me and called one more time, but the power was off.
“Ha.”
I sighed and stood up. The sun was starting to set, so I figured I should head home. These days I’ve been coming out every morning just to kill time while pretending to commute to work. Not knowing when I might meet Jiwoo, I couldn’t even look for part-time work—I was just wasting day after day.
Should I start looking for work again from tomorrow? My identity seemed to have been exposed already, so there was no more reason to follow Jiwoo around.
The problem was Hyungnim. Was it okay to fail at this job? Would there be a penalty? Usually in movies, when you get involved with a bad organization, it’s impossible to leave without paying some price.
At the very least, they’d cut off a finger before letting you go—would Hyungnim really just let me be like this? After giving me 100 million won? The fact that he was the boss of a less-than-honorable company made me even more anxious.
But even if I went back to that day, I had no choice but to take that job. I’d already maxed out all my loans long ago, and there was nowhere else to borrow money from. Even if I’d gone to a loan shark, they wouldn’t have lent me 100 million won. Plus, the interest there is insane, and if you can’t pay back the money, all kinds of threats, verbal abuse, violence…
“Yeah, I made the right choice. I did well.”
That choice was the best option. Thinking that, I trudged along among the people busy with their commute. Getting jostled this way and that in the crowd, I walked glumly when I suddenly felt puzzled.
But why are there so many damn people? Even if it is rush hour, this much…
“Whoa, jackpot. She’s over there.”
“Where? Where?”
I lifted my head that had been bent down like someone looking for ants. Only then did the clamor of people’s voices reach my ears.
“Wow, it’s really her. Whoa, she’s seriously fucking pretty.”
“Who is it? A celebrity?”
“It’s Park Saebyeol. The female lead from <Our Love>.”
From the scattered words, I realized a celebrity had appeared in this area. I found myself swept up in the crowd of people rushing in one direction like a zombie horde.
“W-wait a moment! Just a moment!”
I flailed my arms like I was swimming and shouted desperately. Camera flashes went off from all directions, and calls of “Noona,” “Unni,” “Saebyeol-ah” poured out like shouts.
Somehow managing to escape into an alley, I caught my breath, completely exhausted. Why did a celebrity suddenly show up here when there are already so many cars because it’s rush hour?
I’d been walking while looking at the ground the whole time, so I had no idea what was going on. Since they seemed to be filming while moving, after waiting a bit, people dispersed like the tide going out and the street quickly became quiet.
I stared blankly at the backs of people getting farther away, then turned my head again. Let’s just hurry home.
Thinking that, I dusted off my clothes and was about to walk away when I stopped. Because in that spot that had been packed with people just moments ago, I saw someone crouched down alone, holding their head.
“……”
Pink head…
I approached the man as if possessed. The closer I got, the more my suspicion turned to certainty.
“Lee Jiwoo-ssi?”
I bent my waist slightly and grabbed his shoulder. Through the skin contact, I felt a damp trembling. The moment my eyes widened in surprise, Jiwoo looked up at me.
“……”
“……”
From the moment he was crouched down protectively holding his head, I thought it was strange. He was suddenly trembling on the street as if he’d encountered a tiger.
“Seo, Seoun-ah…”
His face, pale as could be, was completely soaked with tears. The moisture filling his eyes flowed down like a waterfall, and his voice was choked with what sounded like grief.
Even as Jiwoo reached out and pulled me into a tight embrace like grabbing a lifeline, I couldn’t move an inch.
***
The crying showed no signs of stopping for quite a while. Even though the street had become quiet due to the sudden celebrity appearance, it was still rush hour. It was only a matter of time before a man sitting on the ground sobbing would become a zoo monkey.
I forcibly pulled up Jiwoo, who didn’t want to let go, and with him clinging to my waist, went deeper into the alley. Fortunately, it was a dead end with just some trash and no one around.
“Lee Jiwoo-ssi.”
“Huk, heu-euk…”
“What happened? Why are you crying?”
Just how long had he been crying there? His skin was damp and his hair ends stuck to his forehead, completely drenched in cold sweat.
“Are you hurt somewhere?”
At my question, Jiwoo shook his head. In that instant, tears splattered in all directions. Some splashed on my cheek too, startling me so I reflexively closed my eyes.
Then Jiwoo burrowed into my embrace again. His grip was so tight it cut off circulation. But he didn’t seem to be simply crying from sadness—it looked almost like a panic attack, so I couldn’t push him away.
I sighed inwardly and silently patted Jiwoo’s trembling back.
How much time passed like that? The sobbing that had seemed like it would choke him gradually subsided. Now only sniffling sounds and gasping breaths could be heard.
“……”
I raised my head and looked at the night sky where not a single star was visible. I suddenly had no idea what this situation even was.
“Huljjeok…”
“……?”
I was mechanically patting Jiwoo’s back, spaced out and staring blankly, when a strange sound reached my ears. Because Jiwoo had sniffled. I mean, he verbally said “huljjeok“…
