PSY CH 1

Whoosh—The fierce sound of rain came pouring in through the half-open window.

It sounded like someone had spitefully dumped a basin full of water all at once. The sky hung gloomily overhead, heavy with dark clouds, and the rain-soaked trees drooped their branches low.

This marked the beginning of the so-called monsoon season.

Sticky humidity crept up around his ankles. Jooyoung flapped his T-shirt, which clung unpleasantly to his sweaty skin, and looked up at the ceiling. The air conditioner, yellowed and faded from its original color, sputtered weakly as it struggled to blow out lukewarm air.

“…”

Jooyoung’s eyes narrowed sharply.

The air conditioner must be broken again. The sixteen-square-meter space refused to cool despite lowering the temperature to 18 degrees and maximizing the fan speed.

In the middle of summer—right at the start of the monsoon season, no less—what kind of disaster was this? Even if he called a repair technician, who knew how long he’d have to wait.

“Ah, it’s so hot…”

Finally, Jooyoung gave up and raised the electric fan to its highest setting. The fan worked properly, at least. The powerful blast of air seemed to dry his sweat and provide some relief.

He stared blankly at the fan blades for a long while, until he felt a presence from outside. As he pushed himself up with his hand on his knee, a woman in her 50s was standing beyond the counter. Since the outer iron door had been left open to let the air flow through, there was no sound of a door opening.

“Welcome.”

As he opened the window, Jooyoung turned the electric fan toward the wall and moved just enough to leave a space between himself and the woman. 

The woman, rummaging through her bag, glanced at Jooyoung and frowned. Then she asked abruptly.

“Young-i?”

Jooyoung blinked slowly.

“It’s you, right? Young-i!”

Though he didn’t answer, the woman shamelessly slipped her head through the window gap.

“Don’t you recognize me? It’s me, Aunt Eun.”

“Ah…”

She tapped on the windowsill and said each syllable with emphasis, “Dry.clean.er!” Only then did Jooyoung realize who she was. The woman’s vague impression grew clearer as it was clothed in memory.

Jooyoung lived here in Maeyang City with his Grandpa until he was twelve.

A small city with a population of 180,000. In early spring, plum blossoms bloom in profusion along the river that cuts the city from east to west, and every election season, campaign banners promising to tackle the declining population with region-specific jobs hang in abundance.

Maeyang City was a place where the exquisite beauty of nature coexisted with the helpless atmosphere unique to a fading town.

The woman in front of him used to run a dry cleaner not far from the house where he lived with his Grandpa. She would often peel garlic on the bench in front of her shop, and whenever Jooyoung passed by, she’d press a 1,000^[1] won bill into his tiny hand and wink, telling him to buy some ice cream.

“Aunt Sooeun?”

“That’s right!”

Straightening her back, Sooeun took a step back and began scanning Jooyoung from head to toe. 

“Wow, I wasn’t sure at first, but the moment I saw your eyes, I knew it. You still got that same maneki-neko^[2]’s yellowish eyes-like look!” 

Jooyoung’s eyes were unusually light in color. Hence, it always drew attention, for better or worse.

“Now that I really look, I can still see the trace of your childhood face, too.”

After giving him a thorough once-over, Sooeun peeked inside the counter and asked.

“Where’s your Grandpa? Why are you here?”

“He’s in the hospital. Hyodam Hospital.”

“Oh dear…”

Clicking her tongue, Sooeun looked at Jooyoung with a sympathetic gaze. Judging by the fact that she didn’t ask why he was hospitalized, she probably already had a rough idea of the situation.

“So, are you back here for good?”

“Not exactly. I’m just staying until he’s discharged.” 

“Well, I guess, what would a young guy like you even do here? Right?”

Once again, Jooyoung could only give an awkward smile.

After a long stream of reminiscing, Sooeun suddenly clapped her hands as if remembering something she’d forgotten.

“Oh goodness, look at me.”

She rummaged hastily through her bag and pulled out a small ring case.

“Here, I’d like to leave this with you.”

When he opened the ring case handed to him, a thick gold ring lay inside. It was the first time someone familiar had come by, so Jooyoung hesitated to inspect the item as he normally would. But seeing his reluctance, Sooeun waved her hand and said, “Go on, go on, take a look.”

Jooyoung quietly slipped on a pair of gloves and examined the ring closely. After confirming the assay mark, he weighed it—11.25 grams. That was about three don^[3]. He placed the ring back in the case and told her the loan amount based on the current market value.

“Can’t you throw in just 50,000^[4] won more?”

Sooeun grinned slyly and slung her bag around her shoulder. After a moment’s hesitation, Jooyoung said he would. However, she immediately waved him off.

“Hey now, you’ll get in trouble doing that.” 

When Jooyoung trailed off with, “It’s because it’s you, Aunt Sooeun…” A hearty laugh followed.

“You were such a softie as a kid, and look at you now—still exactly the same.”

In the end, Jooyoung wrote up the ledger under her watchful gaze and handed over only the exact amount she was eligible to borrow. Sooeun casually tucked the money into her bag. It seemed her request for an extra 50,000 won had just been a joke. 

After a bit more small talk, she finally turned to leave—but not without one last reminder.

“If I miss two payments, it will be yours! Don’t forget.”

“Yes, yes.”

“With that look of yours, you oughta act a little sassy. Now you should know how to do that, eh?”

Jooyoung saw her off with a more relaxed smile than before. Once her fading footsteps disappeared, he crouched down again in front of the fan. 

Customers continued to trickle in occasionally. Jooyoung passed the time by checking the ledger and sending texts to borrowers with overdue interest. 

By around 3 p.m., the humidity had peaked.

“Ah…”

Jooyoung let his head fall back without resistance. He stared up at the harsh fluorescent light until his eyes began to ache. Deciding he couldn’t take it anymore, he got up. Maybe a quick trip to the convenience store for some ice cream would help.

He tugged down his bunched-up shorts and changed into a different pair of slippers. With just his phone and wallet in hand, he stepped out of the pawnshop. 

After firmly locking the metal door, he made sure to hang the “Out for a Moment” sign. Below the words, Jooyoung’s phone number was scrawled in crooked handwriting, written by his Grandpa before being hospitalized.

Outside, the downpour had turned the world into a misty blur, like water vapor rising from the pavement. Jooyoung opened his umbrella and carefully avoided the puddles as he walked.

The store wasn’t far. After crossing one intersection, passing a community credit cooperative and a Lotteria, and turning the corner, he reached “Woori Supermarket,” a small grocery with a faded green sign. 

He stood in front of the ice cream freezer for a long while, then finally grabbed a pear-flavored freezie. He wanted to buy a few more, but the pawnshop didn’t have a fridge, so he could only buy what he could eat right away.

“Please throw the receipt away.”

At Jooyoung’s soft Seoul accent, the store clerk glanced at him. Fair skin, sharp cat-like eyes, and plump lips—though damp from the rain, his pretty features hadn’t lost their charm. The clerk’s gaze lingered on Jooyoung’s slender back until he disappeared from view.

Jooyoung opened his umbrella with the ice cream still in his mouth. With a few of the metal ribs poked through the thin fabric, the umbrella looked flimsy and unstable. However, since the pawnshop was close by, he decided not to worry. 

He walked through the rain that beat fiercely against his umbrella, sucking diligently on his ice cream. Each time he squished it with his hands, the ice inside softened and broke apart just enough to eat easily.

The rain showed no sign of letting up. By the time he reached the building, his calves were completely soaked. 

“Ugh…”

He hurried inside. Someone was crouched near the left side of the entrance, so he instinctively moved to the right wall, holding his umbrella with both hands while keeping the ice cream in his mouth. 

“…Huh.”

He tried to close the umbrella, but the bent rib wouldn’t budge. He tugged a few more times, but it didn’t help. If anything, the tension in the warped frame made it seem like it might tear through the fabric altogether.

Flustered, he didn’t know what to do when he suddenly felt someone watching. Turning his head, he saw the man crouched by the entrance looking straight at him. Jooyoung froze in surprise, not because of the man himself, but because in his large hand, he held the exact same ice cream.

The man’s gaze slowly shifted to the one Jooyoung was holding between his lips.

“…”

“…”

Tap tap tap—the sound of rain hitting the ground echoed through the silence.

The man was wearing long clothes, oddly inappropriate for the hot and humid weather. The zipper of his anorak was pulled all the way up to his neck as he ate his ice cream, which made the whole thing feel strangely ironic.

Jooyoung tore his gaze away and went back to struggling with the umbrella. However, the man’s stare didn’t waver—so persistent it started to feel oppressive. In the end, Jooyoung placed the umbrella on the ground without closing it.

“Did I splash water on you?”

He carefully transferred the ice cream to his hand and asked politely.

The man didn’t reply. He just kept staring. Thinking maybe the rain had drowned out his voice, Jooyoung kindly pointed to the umbrella and tried again.

“Did I get you wet?”

Still, there was no response.

“…”

Feeling awkward, Jooyoung sucked his lower lip into his mouth. He wondered just how much water could’ve splashed to make the man react like that. However, when he carefully glanced at the man, there were no signs of water.

At this point, a different thought began to creep in—an ominous worry that maybe he had gotten himself tangled up with some thug. It wasn’t an unreasonable suspicion. The man was strikingly handsome, but there was something off about his vibe. His demeanor just screamed trouble. Maybe he was even one of those regulars at the adult arcade on the first floor of the building.

Jooyoung hesitated. Should he try to close the umbrella again? Just yank it shut and risk breaking it? But the thought of damaging his Grandpa’s umbrella made him pause.

“Hey.”

Just then, the silent man stood up and called out. He had looked large even while crouching, but now that he was standing, he towered over everything. Jooyoung had to crane his neck all the way back just to meet his eyes.

He swallowed hard. Embarrassing as it was, he was a little scared. While waiting for the man to say more, he cast a quick sidelong glance toward the stairs on the left—ready to bolt if it came to that.

“Are you a twiggi^[5] or somethin’?”

But what came out of the man’s mouth was completely unexpected.