“There’s no way you, who just smiles and lets it go even when someone picks a fight right in your face, would do that. Is this the one who interfered and made things bigger?”
Jong-hwa, who had been thoroughly ignoring Jung Hyun-wook, finally jerked his chin and sneered. That was fortunate. It seemed Jong-hwa hadn’t heard the detailed story. Just as I was about to mumble something to send Jong-hwa inside—
“He was almost sexually assaulted by a drunk perverted bastard. It seems he’d been constantly harassing and bothering him before. During the struggle, he injured his right arm a bit and had to get stitches…”
Jung Hyun-wook sighed quietly there.
“Fortunately it’s not a serious injury, but… there might be a scar.”
I raised my head and looked at Jung Hyun-wook. Jung Hyun-wook, who had revealed everything, observed Jong-hwa as if trying to find some kind of answer. A suffocating silence flowed.
“Ha! Fuck…”
Jong-hwa, who roughly swept up his closely cropped hair, looked at a loss for words.
“I’ll immediately…! That fucking bastard!”
“That fucking bastard is already in the hospital.”
The agitated Jong-hwa stopped abruptly. That’s why I couldn’t trust Jung Hyun-wook’s rationality when he went wild at dawn. I had to send him back quickly.
“Now…! Since we’ve arrived, you should go back.”
Perhaps it was an even bigger mistake. Jong-hwa seemed greatly shocked that I had opened my mouth toward Jung Hyun-wook. Jung Hyun-wook, who had been silently observing such Jong-hwa, broke the silence first.
“I’ll be going now. Go inside and rest. See you at school.”
Jung Hyun-wook turned around. My gaze followed the back of him walking alone down the narrow, dirty alley for a long time. He would probably have to take the village bus and subway on a long journey back.
***
Jong-hwa was silent. Contrary to my expectation that he would pour out words as soon as we entered the house, he shut his mouth tight and fell into thought. I watched that face silently, then took off my coat. Even if I couldn’t go to school, I had to go to work at the convenience store.
I don’t trust Jung Hyun-wook’s words that he resolved everything. The recorded CCTV and what I had told Jun-il up to now would have helped explain the situation, but anyway, the important thing was compensation for property damage.
By the way, why is Ahn Jong-hwa holding out here instead of going to work? When he usually acts like it would be a disaster if he missed even one day. Thinking I should feed him lunch and send him off to his afternoon work, I washed rice.
“Sit here for a moment.”
Jong-hwa’s gaze turned to my right arm, which I had changed into a short-sleeved shirt. Waterproof tape was attached over the gauze.
“I didn’t get many stitches.”
Jong-hwa, who sighed, couldn’t quite look me in the eye. He raised his head and looked out the window. Elementary school students leaving school were running by.
“Quit the convenience store. How much does that even pay… Ah, fuck! If he kept doing that before too, why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know either. Usually it was just him being drunk and stubbornly claiming the ATM was broken.”
“Quit right now.”
At the command to just quit, I felt a surge of emotion. It was my job that I had worked hard at, even if it was always insufficient. There were difficult drunk customers of course, but I also met Jun-il, with whom I formed my first comfortable relationship besides Jong-hwa, and customers living hard through the dawn. I felt something like camaraderie for the first time.
I hated how the kid acted like a guardian responsible for me. I’m not a burden. I wanted to share his burdens too. My words came out coldly in resentment.
“There’s something you’re really curious about. Ask me that.”
The kid’s eyes that met mine wavered for a moment. The kid shares everything with me, but he doesn’t always tell the truth. That was the case with the expensive academy fee he gave me three months before the college entrance exam, my tuition that he said was an advance payment, and the deposit for this semi-basement room.
Sometimes when Jong-hwa stays out overnight on the three days a month he gets off, claiming to work a substitute shift, he can’t meet my eyes on the days he comes back reeking of cheap women’s perfume.
But he had never avoided it like this. I was ready to tell him, but Jong-hwa looked reluctant. However, thinking there was no avoiding it, he opened his mouth.
“Can you talk about it now? Or is it only to that bastard again this time?”
I shook my head.
“The words came out because of him, but this time feels different. I think I can tell other people too.”
Jong-hwa fumbled in his coat pocket and pulled out a cigarette. He was about to light it with a lighter but broke it instead. The kid gave an empty laugh.
“Fuck, what is this. It’s a good thing but I feel fucking shitty.”
He roughly swept his closely cropped head that he’d gotten cut a few days ago. Sitting there was the young boy who had looked like he was about to cry when he heard my voice in the backyard of the orphanage back then. But a voice much lower and more harsh than back then, an adult’s voice, said,
“I wanted to let you speak too.”
My heart sank at those brief words.
“I know I’m whining like a middle schooler who just got his friend stolen. Fuck! What’s so special about that bastard? Do you even know how you look at him?”
Should I have said I didn’t know? But I couldn’t. Because I had already realized it myself. Seeing me give no answer, Jong-hwa roughly grabbed his coat and went outside.
***
Gripping the hospital room door handle, I thought. This man needs to know. Because of you, I lost two nights’ worth of part-time pay, got a scar on my right arm that will last a lifetime, and a promising law student is about to get a red mark on his record.
I’ve been standing in front of this man’s door for 10 minutes now. Time was heading toward evening. Once official visiting hours passed, the hospital corridor became deserted except for medical staff. The nurses were starting to give me suspicious looks.
After long deliberation, I opened the door and went in. Contrary to my expectation that the man whose face was nearly destroyed that day would be lying there like a critical patient, he was fine. The lawyer said he had injuries requiring 12 weeks of treatment.
The man with gauze plastered all over his face was eating piles of delivery food on the table while roaring with laughter at a comedy show. In a word, he was faking his injuries.
Seeing that made me feel deflated. But I bowed deeply. I started with a polite greeting. Because I had a goal today, and I couldn’t leave here even one step before achieving that goal.
“The lawyer said he wouldn’t come.”
The man said with a fishy smile. When he pressed the remote, the TV sound stopped all at once. Silence came to the hospital room.
Beep— When he pressed another button, a dim, subdued light turned on. It was a wonderful view overlooking the Seoul night scenery. The taillights of cars lined up in a row on the road sparkled.
The hospital room was luxurious. I heard these private rooms cost hundreds of thousands of won per day. Was he planning to extort all this as settlement money? Seeing that he has a good job, maybe his nature rejects shabby places.
What should I say first? So many words poured out in my head that I was rather at a loss for words. I anxiously bit my lower lip. The man who got up from the bed approached. He pressed my lip with his index finger.
“Such pretty lips, you shouldn’t hurt them. You… can’t speak, right? Is that why I’m so attracted to your lips? What a waste. I bet your voice would be killer… Can you make sounds?”
I pressed down the nausea rising from my solar plexus and laboriously spat out word by word.
“Please withdraw the charges.”
The man’s eyes widened in surprise and flashed with interest. He licked his lips as if savoring them.
“To withdraw charges, there needs to be settlement money. Do you have money? Looking at that bastard’s pitiful state, even if you shake him down, not a penny will come out. Ha…! Pathetic bastards.”
My clenched fists trembled with humiliation.
“Words are truly fascinating. Without hearing the conversation, actions alone can’t explain everything… like our business last night. But then this secret promise exchanged between us remains. How about it? If you let me put mine in those lips, I can withdraw the charges.”
Just as the man’s hot breath drew close, the door opened with a crashing sound. A cold presence rushed in. In Jung Hyun-wook’s hand as he gasped for breath was a phone with the call duration still running. His large body heaved as if he was out of breath to his limit.
Jung Hyun-wook, who came straight in without even catching his breath, took the phone from the pocket of my field jacket. He confirmed Jung Hyun-wook’s name on the caller ID and roughly pressed the end button. Despite it being midwinter, Jung Hyun-wook’s face was drenched in sweat. He was still breathing hard, showing how much he had run.
The man who stumbled backward bumped into the corner of the bed and sat down. Jung Hyun-wook’s eyes writhed as if they would explode at any moment. I grabbed Jung Hyun-wook’s arm tightly as he approached the man and spoke. In a way I had never spoken before. As clearly as possible without blurring. So that he absolutely could not disobey.
“Hyun-wook. You know why I came here, right? Don’t make all of it useless.”
Jung Hyun-wook’s upright face twisted with indescribable anguish. I realized I had finally hurt him.
Jung Hyun-wook left the hospital room as if he didn’t want to see or hear anything. The remaining task was mine. I threatened him using our conversation that would have been recorded on Jung Hyun-wook’s phone as a weapon.
Our positions were completely reversed. This blatant and sordid recorded conversation scared the man. It was fortunate at this moment that he was someone in a position to hire an expensive lawyer. Because in situations like this, people with more to lose are at a disadvantage.
