“If hyung came early, you should’ve turned on the air conditioner. You’re not the boss, so why are you saving on electricity bills?” Hyungsik’s grumbling voice tapped at his ears. Eunchan patted Hyungsik’s shoulder and smiled faintly.
“I’ll have jajangmyeon.”
“Let’s get tangsuyuk too. We worked our asses off until yesterday.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Hyungsik’s eyes gleamed as he efficiently pulled out the company card from his pocket. Eunchan nodded roughly and stretched out widely. He’d intended to just close his eyes for a bit, but ended up sleeping like a log until Hyungsik arrived. If the boss had been there, he would’ve nagged for at least 30 minutes straight.
“I’ll order from Jangan Seong.”
“Yeah. Tell them to throw in some freebies.”
“Of course.”
Eunchan roughly cleared away the empty paper cups and tissues from the desk. Soon Hyungsik tapped his phone a few times, then let Eunchan know he’d placed the order.
“Hyung, did you see this?”
“What?”
“There’s a huge fuss about several development restriction zones being lifted this time. You said your hometown is completely rural, right? Check if your area is on the list.”
“That place is totally rural, ya. And I don’t own any land there.”
“Still, you never know. Your parents, no, your grandparents might own something. They say this is an even bigger jackpot than the lottery.”
Hyungsik made a fuss and urged Eunchan on. Eunchan picked at his ear and glanced at the news window Hyungsik had opened with disinterested eyes. Looking at Hyungsik, who at least owned a house on Seoul land, Eunchan asked back.
“Don’t you have any?”
“My ancestors lived here for generations. Fuck, they should’ve bought some Seoul land.”
Eunchan burst out laughing at Hyungsik’s words.
“Having a house in Seoul is already something. That’s the real lottery.”
“It’s so embarrassing to even call it Seoul though.”
Hyungsik rested his chin on his hand and enthusiastically scrolled down with the mouse wheel. At the article saying land values in the unrestricted areas would start at billions of won minimum, Hyungsik exclaimed in admiration.
“I’m so fucking jealous. What kind of people are they?”
“Rich people, obviously. That’s why they’d have land in the first place.”
“That’s true.”
Eunchan got up from his seat and headed to the table in one corner. After unfolding the folding chairs to set up the space and roughly wiping down the table with wet tissues, a dining area was quickly prepared. And not long after, the sound of “Jajangmyeon delivery!” announcing the arrival of food was heard from outside the office.
“Hyung, your timing is killer.”
“They make food fast there. Hurry up and bring it.”
Eunchan rubbed his hungry stomach and urged Hyungsik on.
* * *
Even while eating jajangmyeon, the topic was still about the land that had been released. Hyungsik made a fuss saying SNS was already going crazy.
“They say it already went up by billions because they’re building hotels and apartments in the released areas. Crazy.”
“Your noodles are getting soggy, just hurry up and eat.”
“I should’ve bought land like this instead of Bitcoin. Ah, I’m so fucking jealous. Really!”
Hyungsik kicked his feet saying his stomach hurt, but Eunchan calmly just put tangsuyuk in his mouth. Hyungsik, who had been staring at his screen the entire time while holding chopsticks, finally took his eyes off his phone and looked up only when he heard the sound of the office door opening.
“Eating?”
The voice of a man in his 50s full of phlegm was heard first. The boss, wearing a worn leather jumper and holding a newspaper in one hand, greeted his two employees.
“You’re here?”
“Hello, boss-nim.”
The boss actually came to work. Since they’d had a hard time until yesterday, he’d definitely seemed like the type to rest for a few days using being tired as an excuse. He was a boss who didn’t move unless it was something big, so maybe some work had come in today. Hyungsik stood up awkwardly and nodded his head in greeting, while Eunchan shoved tangsuyuk into his cheek and nodded roughly while still sitting.
“Eat quickly and air it out fast, we have a client coming.”
Just as Eunchan predicted. The boss waved his hand dismissively and went straight into his office. At the somewhat hurried behavior, Eunchan and Hyungsik exchanged glances.
“Hyung, it looks like another big job came in.”
“Let’s clean up quickly.”
Eunchan spat out a small curse. The wound from falling while chasing yesterday hadn’t even scabbed over yet. Seeing the usually laid-back boss come in this early and prepare to meet a client, it seemed like it would be even harder work than last time. Even though it was still early afternoon, not even 1 o’clock yet, his body was already tired.
Hyungsik hurriedly opened the windows and Eunchan cleaned up the leftover food. Unable to throw away the remaining tangsuyuk, he looked around, and Hyungsik perceptively prepared a disposable plate.
“Hide it under the cupboard, we’ll eat it later.”
“I’ll just put it in the fridge. What if bugs get in?”
“Okay, then.”
Eunchan tapped Hyungsik’s shoulder and headed to the boss’s office. When he knocked, the hollow, light wooden door shook along with Eunchan’s fist.
“Boss-nim, we cleaned everything up.”
Through the slightly open door gap, the boss could be seen holding a dry rag. At Eunchan’s voice, the boss nodded roughly then called out loudly for Hyungsik.
“Oh. Hyungsik-ah! You go out and buy some coffee. Get the expensive kind.”
“What kind?”
“There’s a cafe in front, right? Get it from there.”
“What kind? Americano? Cold or hot?”
“Ah, fuck, just figure it out!”
At the boss’s yelling, Hyungsik dashed out. The sound of urgent footsteps running down the stairs filled the office.
“Then I’ll…”
“You know that orchid we got last time? Go get that. Let’s decorate in here.”
“We threw that out because it all wilted.”
“Aigo, isn’t there something else?”
The boss hurriedly wiped down the mother-of-pearl nameplate that he’d said he got made cheaply last time with a dry rag. Matching his pace, Eunchan roughly picked up the broom standing in the corner and swept the floor.
“Is some important person coming or something?”
“They are. You hurry up and search Myeongjin Construction on the internet.”
“Why a construction company? Did you take on another demolition contract? I told you not to take those jobs.”
Thanks to the boss being a former detective who was as greedy for money as he could be, Hyungsik and Eunchan often had to get involved in illegal work too. When Eunchan clicked his tongue and dropped the broom on the floor, the boss shook his head saying no.
“No, man! The company formally, legally requested it.”
“Myeongjin Construction is a huge company, why would they give us work? Boss-nim, are you being scammed?”
“If you’re not going to help, get lost. I’m going crazy with how busy I am.”
Leaving the boss on the verge of yelling behind, Eunchan sat in front of his computer. Myeongjin Construction. One of the top construction companies in the country, a company even Eunchan, who was completely ignorant of that field, had heard of before. They build apartments, hotels, and various buildings. Eunchan first clicked on the article at the very top.
[Development Restriction Zone Lifted, Myeongjin Construction’s Continuous Requests for Lifting]
[Urban Development Business, Is Myeongjin Construction Taking the Lead…]
[“Greenbelt Lifting is Premature,” Strong Protests from Environmental Groups]
He’d only skimmed three or four headlines with his eyes, but Eunchan immediately felt uneasy.
“Boss-nim! Do you really have to take this job? It feels really fishy.”
“Why, why?”
“No, looking at the articles, it doesn’t seem like a company doing good work.”
At Eunchan’s shout, the boss came out and approached close to the monitor. The boss read the article headline Eunchan pointed to, then smiled faintly.
“Do you work for an environmental group or something? It’s not that fishy.”
“Isn’t this something we’ll get blamed for?”
“No, if that were the case I would’ve refused too.”
The boss patted Eunchan’s shoulder, saying he’d already contacted all his fellow detective colleagues about the call from the big company.
“Then what is it?”
“They just want something simple—”
Eunchan asked in a low voice, and just as the boss was about to answer,
“Is anyone here?”
The suspicious client from that impressive company had arrived.
* * *
“Ah, if you’d contacted me in advance, I would’ve come out to meet you.”
“That’s alright. Where should we talk?”
It was a man wearing a suit that looked expensive even at a glance. Perhaps because his hair was neatly swept back exposing his forehead, or because he wore glasses, he looked somewhat intellectual. The boss and Eunchan, intimidated by the aura of an educated person, just stood there blankly in front of the man looking for a place to sit.
“Where should we talk?”
“Ah, come inside. Eunchan-ah!”
“Y-yes.”
At another approaching glance, the boss finally came to his senses and guided the man to his office. He called Eunchan’s name, and though Eunchan had no idea what he was being told to do, he answered reflexively.
‘Help me!’
He barely managed to read the boss’s signal, but there was nothing Eunchan could do. The man’s unhesitating shoe sounds traveled across the office floor, and the boss’s powerless sneaker sounds followed behind.
“I’ll go check if Hyungsik is coming.”
He didn’t want to go in with the boss. Whether it was because of his limited education or not, Eunchan found people of that type quite uncomfortable. Moreover, he was someone from that impressive Myeongjin Construction, and he didn’t want to get sued for some petty reason. However, just as Eunchan was about to leave the office, the man who hadn’t entered the boss’s office yet stopped Eunchan.
“The employee should listen in too.”
“Me?”
“Aren’t you an employee?”
“Ah, right! This guy is our company’s planning team leader.”
The boss answered heartily instead of the flustered Eunchan. The man nodded slightly, then gestured to Eunchan.
“Planning team leader my ass…”
I should’ve gone to buy coffee instead and let Hyungsik do this. That bastard Hyungsik, is he grinding the coffee beans himself, why is he so late? Eunchan continued his thoughts while dragging his feet. There was one small window, a desk with a mother-of-pearl nameplate on it, and only a small table and sofa placed in front of it—that was all there was in the boss’s office. The man sat comfortably on the sofa as if it were his own home and put down his briefcase. The characteristic cracks of synthetic leather split open in rhythm with the man’s weight.
The boss and Eunchan sat side by side across from the man and watched. And soon their faces stiffened at the voice recorder and documents that came up onto the glass table. This was too serious. Eunchan hoped the boss would back out of the job even now, but unfortunately, there was no sign of that.
“My introduction is late. I’m Han Inju.”
The man took out his business card from the leather case and handed one each to the boss and Eunchan.
