PSY CH 15

Despite pretending not to, Sooeun seemed to keep glancing behind her and instinctively turned her body at the sound of someone leaving. She then stared at Arin’s back intently.

“I didn’t expect to see her here…”

Jooyoung asked.

“Do you know Arin?” 

“Ah, of course I do.”

Sooeun waved her hand dismissively

“You remember that super-large convenience store owner from the intersection back in the day?” 

“Hmm… I think I remember.”

There was only one convenience store in the neighborhood, so it vaguely came to mind. The lady usually worked at the counter while the man sat next to her, drinking Makgeolli^[1].

Sooeun lowered her voice, even though Jooyoung was the only one listening.

“That old man… had an affair that girl, Arin.”

“…An affair?”

“That’s right!”

The convenience store owner had already been in his fifties when Jooyoung was a child. It was hard to imagine that he had an affair with Arin. 

“He went to karaoke all the time, giving her money and gifts. Then you know what? One day, everything blew up?”

“…”

“At first, people thought he was having an affair with the boss lady, but she swore up and down that it wasn’t true.”

Sooeun waved a hand, then clapped both hands together.

“That’s when we found out—it was Arin with him!”

“…”

“She’s really something else, you know. She told people she was just being nice to customers, but she got that old man, nearly fifty, wrapped around her finger… Tsk, tsk.”

Sooeun shook her head, clicking her tongue. 

“This happened years ago, and after that, the store owner couple moved out. They talked about divorcing, but in the end, they stayed together because, after all, a couple is a couple.”

“…”

“Anyway, Jooyoung, you’d better not get too close to Arin. You’ll end up in some bad water.”

Jooyoung nonchalantly replied, “Yeah.” With his lukewarm response, Sooeun stared at him intently. Upon thinking about it, most people would have perked up and eagerly listened to this kind of story, but Jooyoung seemed to listen without much care.

“Do you know what Arin does for a living?” 

“I have a rough idea.”

With a blank expression, Jooyoung gave her answer, and Sooeun clicked her tongue again.

“Are you being naive or just indifferent? You too are really something else…”

“Pardon?”

“No, no, never mind. Just use it up and let me know if you need more.”

Sooeun really did seem to come just to drop off the goods, as she left the pawn shop immediately after. Jooyoung examined the samples she’d handed him, turning them over in his hands before placing them under the desk.

“Ah.”

A small orange drop fell at his feet. He looked down, realizing it was the melted ice cream. The ice cream he hastily packed inside its wrapper had completely melted and was dripping outside. 

Jooyoung carefully wrapped some toilet paper around his hand and gently wiped away the ice cream. The pawn shop was filled with the refreshing and sticky scent of tangerines. After filling the trash can with used tissues and wet wipes, Jooyoung slumped into the chair.

It suddenly occurred to him that he didn’t have Arin’s contact information. He had known her for just over three weeks now, but he had never thought to ask for her phone number.

“That old man had an affair that girl, Arin.”

Even after hearing Sooeun’s words, Jooyoung didn’t feel much. The only thing bothering him was that Arin had left with such a stiff expression.

“Ah, it got in here too…”

Jooyoung, who had been staring blankly at the chair, noticed that ice cream had also spilled into the drawer. The sticky orange liquid had spread all the way to the top drawer.

As the contents inside the drawer came to mind, he felt a heavy pressure in his chest.

“…Sigh.”

Jooyoung lay his head down on the desk, which still faintly smelled like tangerines. For the moment, he didn’t want to think about anything.

***

Arin, who used to visit whenever she was bored, suddenly stopped showing up that day.

It bothered Jooyoung, but he didn’t think going to the karaoke bar to find her would be a good idea. It didn’t seem like there was a reason to go after her either. He simply decided that he’d ask for her phone number if she came by next time. But more than anything, Jooyoung had a bigger problem to deal with.

“Can I ask you for a favor?” 

It was on his way back from the supermarket. Even though it was a short distance, his calves were soaked from the torrential rain. He closed her umbrella with a grim expression and almost bumped into Dohyun at the entrance of the building. Perhaps because of the rain, he was standing in the way of people passing by, smoking a cigarette.

“…What favor?”

Jooyoung asked, holding the dripping umbrella. He was already feeling uneasy from encountering Dohyun every time lately.

“I lost my wallet, and I’m out of cash right now.” 

“…”

“Could you lend me some money?” 

Between the sound of the rain pattering down, Dohyun’s low voice echoed. Jooyoung bit his lower lip and cast a wary glance at him. A faint smoke swirled above his hard expression.

“Sorry, but I don’t have any cash either.” 

“…”

“Go borrow it from someone else.” 

Dohyun’s eyebrow quirked, and he brought the cigarette, which was wedged between his index and middle fingers, to his mouth. As he puffed out, the coldness of his expression stood out even more.

Dohyun stretched out his hand and shook off the ash outside the building without even taking his eyes off Jooyoung. 

“…”

Jooyoung, who had been watching the thick smoke, was the first to step away. His white hand gripped the umbrella tightly.

Dohyun had changed since the day he came to search for his wallet. The man who used to ignore him whenever they crossed paths had started to speak to him first. Sometimes it was trivial small talk, and other times, like today, it was a request that carried meaning.

Jooyoung climbed the stairs and stopped in front of the pawn shop, unable to go in. He stared at the rainwater pooling in his slippers for a moment before turning around.

“Why are you following me?”

He’d been bothered by it for a while but dismissed it, thinking it was just a coincidence that their paths happened to cross. But when he followed him all the way to the pawn shop, he couldn’t help but ask.

“You told me to borrow money from someone else.”

Jooyoung finally understood his words and frowned. Dohyun kindly flipped the sign hanging on the door. “Closed” was now switched to “Open.”

Stepping back, he looked down at Jooyoung as if waiting for him to open the door.

“…”

Reluctantly, Jooyoung unlocked the door. His mind was filled with warning signals.

The metal door creaked open, releasing a smell of rust and old iron, and the pawn shop revealed its worn interior. Jooyoung entered, leaving Dohyun behind.

“What are you going to leave here?”

Dohyun, wandering around the pawn shop, raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“You need to leave something behind if you want to borrow money.” 

“Something?”

“Yeah.”

Dohyun glanced at the old, sunken sofa and muttered to himself, “Ah, something…” Then, he suddenly turned to look at Jooyoung. 

“I’ve already given you something.”

There was an undeniable spark of interest in his eyes as he stared directly at her. Jooyoung immediately understood what he meant by “something.” Her fingers, which had been gripping the edge of the desk, curled inward.

“That’s a luxury item. You should give it a little more value.”

Dohyun casually tilted his chin, smirking.

The loud warning signals that had been blaring in Jooyoung’s mind suddenly stopped. A sharp silence filled his head, which now felt as blank as a sheet of paper. 

Jooyoung reached out with his right hand and grabbed the handle. Then, he pulled out the very item that had been unsettling him all along.

“I’m sorry.”

He placed the black leather wallet into the basket with a soft thud.

“I didn’t give it to you right away because I thought you might misunderstand.”

“….”

“I’m sorry if it made things uncomfortable.”

Jooyoung pushed the basket outward. Dohyun’s gaze, which had been directed at him, shifted downward to the wallet. 

“…”

Standing motionless and staring at the wallet, Dohyun approached the counter. He leaned against the window frame, standing at an angle. His slanted shoulders were so broad they nearly blocked the entire counter.

He wore an unreadable expression. It was hard to gauge what he was thinking. Slowly, a crease appeared on his forehead, and he seemed to be facing something unpleasant. It looked as if he was dissatisfied with the current situation.

“I didn’t touch anything inside.”

But as soon as Jooyoung added those words, Dohyun’s dimming eyes suddenly gleamed with interest. 

He grabbed the wallet in one swift motion and deliberately opened it to check the contents. As he skimmed through the bills with his thumb, he scratched his eyebrow with his index finger. He glanced briefly at Jooyoung, then snapped the wallet shut. 

“But the money is gone.”

Jooyoung’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“What do you mean…?” 

“…”

“It can’t be. I didn’t touch anything inside.”

Then, Dohyun took the bills out one by one and began counting them. One, two—after flipping over the last one, he flashed a sly grin.

“Two hundred thousand won.”

“…”

“It’s missing two hundred thousand won.”

The fluttering bills made Jooyoung’s gaze waver aimlessly.