“You were born and raised here and you’re still this clueless? Hey. Open your eyes and look around. Are there any other servers here who only serve? Any other idiot who keeps their head down like you? If you had any sense, you’d figure it out on your own.”
The words came out sharp and aggressive. But Yi-won had no way to defend himself against them. Just as the person said, Yi-won was a server — not an entertainer — at Blue Moment, one of the lower-tier establishments even within the island.
He had never once gone into a room for the purpose of entertaining a guest. It wasn’t that no one had ever tried to single him out. There had been more than a few scuffles in hallways and waiting areas. But in the end, the guests would always give up on Yi-won without much of a fight and pick someone else.
Enough so that people would occasionally mutter that it made no sense unless someone was looking out for Jeong Yi-won. Every time Yi-won was on the receiving end of that kind of suspicion, he denied it.
There’s no one like that. I don’t know anyone who could do that. The only person I have is Shin Mi-sun. But the suspicious looks followed him regardless. It was useless.
“It really gets under my skin, how you’re the only one on this miserable island who gets to stay peaceful. Huh?”
“……”
“Must be nice. Some of us grind like animals and still can’t see the end of it. We’re all stuck in the same rotten fate in here — no different from each other, right? You’re putting your body on the line too. Aren’t you?”
Aren’t you? They shoved Yi-won hard on the shoulder.
The entertainer from Room 12 had just been beaten up by a group of guests moments ago. The reason was that they were sick of seeing the same faces and wanted someone new. What followed were threats that made no sense.
Hey. You’re telling me there’s not a single fresh face? You want me to set this place on fire and check every face that comes crawling out? Every time I don’t see a new one, you want to lose a body part?
They knew full well they had no real power or standing to say such things — and yet they raised their hands as though handling a lifeless doll. Getting hit was nothing new, and threats were just part of daily life — but for some reason, this time it felt unbearable.
Among the guests who frequented Blue Moment, the only new face was Jeong Yi-won — and yet, for whatever reason, Yi-won kept slipping past the entertaining each time. If they’d just put Yi-won in a room, none of this would have happened. Why did Jeong Yi-won get to stay comfortable in body and mind? This was too unfair.
The exploding emotions were on the verge of spilling over into a one-sided physical confrontation.
“You ignoring me? You think I’m a joke? Hey!”
“Hey, enough. What’s the point of blowing up — it’s not like he’d know anything. Drop it.”
“Fuck, I’m just so goddamn pissed!”
“Calm down and let’s just get back to work. This isn’t anything new. Yeah?”
They made a point of shouldering into Yi-won hard enough to make a sound as they passed. The bathroom door slammed shut with a bang. The faucet at the sink ran loud and obnoxious, and Yi-won, not knowing where to look, quietly breathed in and said nothing.
After that, he ran into those two far more often than felt like coincidence. Every time, Yi-won would avert his gaze and hurry away. He couldn’t stand the needling, pointed glares they threw his way. Their sharp eyes had gone beyond venting — it was accusation, open contempt.
Shin Mi-sun had said it to Yi-won once. That people here shared similar circumstances and similar hardships, but they had to keep pushing through with a kind of ruthlessness — and when that’s all you’re left with, what remains is nothing but bitterness.
When hardship hits, people don’t reach out to comfort each other. They resent whoever seems to have it just slightly better. In the end, even in the worst of conditions, people always manage to draw lines and rank themselves — because people are people, no matter where they are.
Yi-won threw himself even more desperately into finding things to do. If he wanted to chip away even a little at the resentment aimed at him — unfair as it was — there was nothing for it but to keep busier than everyone else. And honestly, he didn’t know any other way.
After Yi-won had gone off in search of work and disappeared, the two who had been running their mouths about him stopped in their tracks. As if on cue, they both turned around at the same time to make sure he was completely gone.
“He’s gone.”
“Looks like it.”
Once Yi-won was out of sight, they approached the floor manager, who was sorting through supplies.
“Hyung.”
“Yeah. What.”
“Hyung, what do you think about Jeong Yi-won?”
“Think about him how.”
The floor manager — who had worked at the establishment long enough to become a manager without being affiliated with SJ — glanced up briefly from the inventory list and answered without much interest.
“Don’t go poking at a quiet kid for no reason. Do your own thing. The quieter they are, the more likely they’re a hornet’s nest you shouldn’t be messing with.”
“We’re getting stung every single day — what do we care about hornet’s nests. Why does Jeong Yi-won get to just docilely serve? It’s not fair. Either way, he’s just as trapped on this island as the rest of us. Don’t tell me he’s got something going on with SJ?”
“What would he have going on. Whoever put Jeong Yi-won in our place is probably someone from SJ.”
They thought about it. Then that meant the only conclusion they could draw was that even Jeong Yi-won — born on this island — must have borrowed money from Woo-hyuk’s family somehow.
All this time there had been so much back-and-forth about whether it was true or not — but either way, wasn’t it becoming clear that Jeong Yi-won was no different from the rest of them? The two of them, leaning against the counter, exchanged a look.
“When the time is right, send Jeong Yi-won to Room 12.”
“Those guys? Those gangster bastards?”
“……”
“Hey, no. Those guys play like they’ve got nothing to lose. Gambling, drugs. They only go for betas because they like breaking in someone who puts up a fight. Yi-won is young and inexperienced — sending him in there is a bit much.”
“Those bastards are the ones demanding a new face!”
Among all the bad guests who came to Cheongun Island including Blue Moment, the ones in Room 12 were younger and, maybe because of that, more violent and merciless. That was exactly why those two thought Yi-won was the perfect candidate to throw in there. Because then they could watch Yi-won get destroyed and feel all the more satisfied.
“What’s there to worry about. They’re just tatted-up gangsters who got a taste of money through online gambling — if anything blows back, it won’t amount to much.”
The floor manager, who had been frowning at their exchange, shook his head.
“Send the wrong person in there and we’re all fucked.”
“Honestly, you don’t know when you’re getting out of this island either. Have you never once been annoyed that Jeong Yi-won’s never had to suffer for real? Just look the other way this once. I’m not in my right mind right now.”
They had been waiting for their chance. Any opportunity to screw Jeong Yi-won over.
“Room 12 — we have to send Jeong Yi-won. I can’t let it go, not after what happened today.”
“And what do I get out of it?”
“I’ve got a little bit of living expenses saved up. I’ll give you half. And that music professor Moon at Sejin University of Arts — the one you said looked promising last time — I’ll figure out a way to set something up with him. How about it.”
Now that their minds were made up, it had to be tonight — the two of them stared each other down, eyes lit with determination.
“Now that I hear it again, you two might actually be right. Deal.”
The manager caved for a pittance of money and a pittance of affection. Having barely enough to scrape by was something they all had in common.
Jeong Yi-won needs to learn his place too. I won’t let this go.
Blue Moment was packed. Every room filled up again almost as soon as it emptied, and the noise never let up. In the middle of it all, Yi-won moved back and forth between the floor and the kitchen without a moment’s rest.
Every dirty job fell to Yi-won. Cleaning up the floor of a room wrecked by a drunk guest’s vomit was standard. Running cigarette errands, moving a guest who had passed out in the bathroom back to their room — that was Yi-won’s job too.
Emptying ashtrays in the entertainers’ waiting room. Quickly picking up used condoms still filled with semen, scattered carelessly all over the place. All of that was his as well.
And kitchen work — he was more practiced at it than anyone, so when things slowed down on the floor, he would walk in without being asked.
“Ow……!”
While peeling an apple, the blade grazed the tip of his finger. A bright red bead of blood welled up along a thin line. He tucked his thumb between his full lips and sucked on it, then quickly got back to arranging the fruit platter — colors laid out neatly on a large plate — and rushed it out.
Yi-won. His name being called again. Yi-won pushed aside the curtain and stepped out of the kitchen.
“Yes, hyung Seok-ju.”
“Yi-won. Set up Room 3. You’re the designated server there. You’re handling it, and the order was placed in advance so they’ll be arriving soon. Wait inside and check if there’s anything additional they need. It’s a designated table, so give it extra attention. Got it?”
“Designated? Me?”
“Yeah. Get ready.”
He quickly grabbed the bill that had been tossed onto the counter. Yi-won started entering the items listed on the bill into the system. He wasted no time preparing what needed to go out first — high-end liquor, glasses for each guest, and the standard fruit platters that came with the order.
