Plin Ch 2.4

Plin had never received such a thing in his life. A gift… He had received many things that some lucky people ‘found on the street’ and gave to him, but a real gift that was bought with money…

Plin examined the ear warmers again. His ears had been very cold this morning. How did a person without beast ears know? In his surprise, he stared at Hugo, who nodded. Plin lowered his gaze and touched the fluffy ear warmers, finding them fascinating. He had never had such a warm and soft item. It seemed like an expensive material.

When he turned the ear warmers over, the front side was revealed. Embroidery was stitched on the two ear warmers.

[The Scope Official] [★Peddler Plin★]

What is this… With the words embroidered in large, neat letters, Plin frowned openly in front of the customer.

“Congratulations on becoming The Scope’s official peddler.”

“…..”

“Don’t tell me you don’t know what that means?”

The man asked arrogantly. He looked like a typical chaebol heir from a TV series.

“Actually, yes… I don’t really understand what this means…”

“You don’t know? This reaction is also… refreshing.”

Hugo chuckled to himself and then began to explain to Plin.

“You’ve become a regular contracted worker. So, first. You can enter through the main entrance. Second, you can take the elevator. Third, your health insurance co-pay will be cheaper. Do you understand, darling?”

“Oh…”

That was great.

“Fourth, if there’s a son of a bitch who s*xually harasses you…”

Hugo paused for a moment as if to choose his words.

“You can report the bastard who says things like ‘selling smiles and shaking your ass’ to the HR team. Because you’re an ‘official’ peddler.”

Plin tilted his head in confusion. He was clearly and overly accurately grasping Plin’s difficulties as a peddler. As if he had been watching his daily life. He often felt a tingling sensation on the back of his neck while making deliveries, as if someone was watching him, but that happened often, so he thought it was just his excessive imagination.

“Let’s get along well forever, okay, Plin Fallfox?”

“Yes, well…”

Plin couldn’t hide his awkwardness in the face of his most gentle smile.

Why is he being so nice to me? He wondered what he liked about him, or if he was doing this because he wanted to have another one-night stand. He seemed to despise him a lot yesterday, but his attitude changed overnight just because they had a good night together. He was definitely a strange person… His mind became complicated.

As Plin thought deeply, his ears stood up straighter than usual.

In fact, a yellow light had been blinking in Plin’s mind since a while ago.

<Danger, I don’t know what it is, but it’s dangerous! Run!!!>

While his instincts and intuition were holding hands and shouting at the top of their lungs, his slow reason thought stupidly.

<But… what’s so dangerous…? If you just look at the conditions, isn’t it a sweet job…? It seems like a good deal…>

“Darling?”

“…Yes? Me?”

“Your employment contract will be ready when you come for the evening delivery. Sign the contract then.”

“Yes… thank you.”

Plin took the ear warmers and hurriedly left the executive director’s office. He was lost in thought, alternating between twitching his left and right ears. Hugo wanted to talk to Plin more, but he didn’t stop him. There was no rush because there was no more surefire way to tie someone down than with a contract.

Plin was now an official peddler, so he could take the elevator, but he habitually went to the emergency exit. As soon as he came out, he took a deep breath.

His throat was clogged with dust. Because of the moisture seeping into the walls, the smell of cement vibrated.

“…Ugh.”

When you realize your own servility, you feel self-loathing. Plin punched the wall with his fist. Although he had obtained the status of an official, he should have said what he had to say before that. Just like with Branson earlier, he couldn’t get the words out at the right time, and it was stuck in his throat.

[Why am I your darling? That’s a title that requires mutual agreement, isn’t it? And you spread strange rumors, didn’t you? When I was making deliveries, people were acting strange. I was very rude yesterday, but you were very rude too. It’s not right to bully people just because you have a lot of money. I’m really upset. And give me money for the roof you broke.]

He could have spoken so eloquently. He wondered why he had been so hesitant and couldn’t say the obvious things, why he couldn’t say the words he had practiced. He had to make his position clear so that the delinquent executive director wouldn’t take him lightly. But why did his mind go blank in front of the executive director? Was it because he was an executive director? Because he was handsome? Because he seemed to have a bad personality?

Plin let out a deep sigh, throwing the empty pouch into the basket. He thought he would definitely say those words the next time he met him. In fact, he might not be able to speak so eloquently, so he would have to tone it down a bit. As he was carrying the light basket and running down the stairs.

His phone, which didn’t usually ring, rang. It was an unknown phone number.

“This is Plin Fallfox.”

—I’m calling because I saw your ad in the newspaper.

The man’s voice coming through the phone was deep.

“…Yes.”

— I think I know the sibling you’re looking for.

“……”

Plin froze and couldn’t say anything.

—Currently 23 years old, a house snake species. Black hair, blue eyes, is that right?

“……”

What was he hearing right now?

—Hello? …Did you hang up?

“…T-Thank you. Yes, that’s right.”

Plin, afraid that the informant might hang up, spewed out the words that wouldn’t come out. Once he started talking, the questions poured out like a burst dam.

“I-Is he alive? You’re not going to tell me about a funeral or anything like that, are you?”

—Yes. Let’s talk about the details in person.

The man cut him off briefly.

“W-Where should I go…”

—Upper East Forest Station at 10 o’clock. Come find Ethan.

“Yes, yes. I-I’ll be there soon. Thank you.”

It was a magical phone call. Under the green light of the emergency exit sign, Plin stood there blankly for a while. Transparent, bead-like tears traced down his cheeks.

“Andrea…”

He was alive. He was really alive somewhere. People told him to give up, that he was probably already dead and not to look for him, but Plin didn’t believe it. See. He was right…

Plin took a deep breath.

He called out his younger sibling’s name, whom he missed so much. It was a face he had now somewhat forgotten. Plin sat down and clutched his rapidly beating heart. It was a strong beat that he couldn’t tell if it was from pain or joy. So many unbelievable things had been happening since yesterday.

***

Plin took the subway, walking with a heavy gait. City Forest was notorious for its expensive subway fares, so he usually walked most distances, but now he didn’t care about the fares.

It was off-peak hours, so the subway wasn’t crowded. The seats, which smelled musty from the carpet, were empty. As he sat there absentmindedly, a dull comfort settled into his legs, which had been running for hours.

The round-bodied train soon entered a dark tunnel. Even though the seats were cushioned, his body swayed limply with the rattling movements.

[This stop is Middle Forest Junction, Middle Forest Junction. Please be aware that there is a wide gap between the train and the platform.]

An announcement flowed from the oldest public transportation in the city.

[The train will now depart. The doors are closing.]

The sound of people talking softly, the announcements, the rattling of the train wheels on the rails, and the white noise of the engine accelerating surrounded him. Like an astronaut floating in space, Plin was isolated, drifting in his memories.

The cold yet warm days of his childhood came vividly to mind.

Around the age of 13, the two young boys lived together in a dilapidated house in Middle Forest Junction.

They cleaned the desolate space, where the building materials that made up the bones of the structure were exposed, with their small hands, and sealed the gaps in the windows with plastic… The abandoned house was meticulously decorated by the abandoned young boys.

When the shed became livable enough to be called a house, Plin started a business.

‘Plin! Why are you so late?’

When he came home after selling gum all day, Andrea would run to him, rubbing his black hair and acting like a baby.

When they were still young, a two-year difference was a significant difference in experience. Thirteen-year-old Plin acted like he was a very big adult.

‘Andrea, were you very bored?’

‘Yes, I finished my studies, but I was so lonely because Plin wasn’t here.’

Andrea really acted like a baby. Plin raised his hand high and stroked the hair of his angel-like younger brother, who was taller than him.

‘Sorry, I’m late.’

‘…I know you were late because you were working. I know, but I was still disappointed, so I whined.’

When he mumbled in a dejected voice, Plin hugged his warm body even tighter. He was a snake, but his body retained a generous warmth.

‘Plin, I’ll definitely succeed later and make sure you don’t have to suffer.’

‘No, I’ll earn a lot of money and buy Andrea lots of delicious things… What do you want to eat?’

‘I don’t know… I can’t think of anything.’

‘I like sausages the best, what about Andrea?’

‘Yes, then I want sausages too.’

‘Okay, I’ll buy you a hundred sausages.’

Plin said, spreading his hands wide. Then Andrea would laugh for no reason. His peachy cheeks would puff up.

‘Plin is so cool.’

‘…Andrea is cool too.’

‘I’ll really succeed. For Plin…’

‘Yes, Andrea is good at studying, so you’ll do well.’

‘Plin is also diligent, so you can succeed. But you don’t have to. I’ll do everything for you.’

Andrea didn’t know, but Plin also relied heavily on his younger brother.

So why wasn’t he showing up? He had been searching for so long, advertising so much that he couldn’t possibly not know he was being searched for. Was he not showing up because he hadn’t succeeded? How foolish…

He wasn’t interested in whether his brother was successful or not. Plin just wanted to see Andrea one more time. If he could just confirm that he was safe, he wouldn’t be depressed every evening. He was filled with worries, wondering if he had frozen to death somewhere or if bad people had done terrible things to him.

If he found Andrea, he wanted to feed him until he was full, even though it was late. It was different from when he was young and couldn’t do much. He also wanted to take him to the chicken skewer place that the real estate agent had told him about. He could pay off the debt a little slower. When they embraced each other, their hard lives wouldn’t feel so lonely.

Plin bowed his head and wiped away his tears.

He was embarrassed to cry in public, but no one would be looking, so it wasn’t too shameful.

He was jolted out of the sweetness of the past when the announcement, which had only been noise, hit him like cold water.

[This stop is Upper East Forest. Passengers transferring to the Conroy Line, please get off at this station.]

Upper East Forest.

The reality, which had been temporarily blurred by being soaked in the sweetness of the past, was sharply awakened. Plin pressed his red eyes with his palms.

He was slowly getting closer to Andrea.

***