DS 28

The man hadn’t returned to the hotel last night. Eun-myeong was left alone in the room, quietly preparing to leave.

After washing up thoroughly, he opened the closet with a creak. A space filled with dozens of the man’s suits. Next to them hung several new clothes – the ones Bear had brought in last night.

Eun-myeong quickly grabbed a pair of underwear. He put his legs through the holes and pulled them up.

As if proving their expensive nature, they fit snugly against his body. But there was an opening at the bottom that made them dangle. Eun-myeong’s face fell. How could he go outside wearing something like this?

He examined the other pieces one by one, but they all had outrageous designs. Lace trimming, ribbons, and even mesh underwear.

Disgusted, Eun-myeong crumpled them all up and stuffed them in a corner. The one he was wearing now, with its open bottom that spread to the sides, was the most modest of them all. He let out a deep sigh.

Nevertheless, he stuffed his old clothes over the wrinkled underwear and opened the hotel room door with a creak. The thug who had been guarding the front was nowhere to be seen.

Eun-myeong stepped outside hurriedly. His small heart was pounding.

He couldn’t remember how many days it had been since he’d last been outside. Like a mole emerging from underground, he stared blankly at his surroundings. The sky was gently bathed in sunlight. The cold had subsided considerably. The first place the half-freed Eun-myeong visited was his home. He opened the door with a creak and went inside.

Chills ran down his spine. The blood that had stained the yard was completely gone.

“…”

The fishing net had been removed, and though he couldn’t tell what they’d used, the dirt in the yard had been completely scraped clean. The man had never lowered his gaze in front of others. It probably wasn’t the boss who cleaned it – perhaps the thugs under him?

Eun-myeong carefully entered the messy house. Everything was exactly as he’d last seen it. The lamp shade had fallen in the middle of the living room, and Bear’s shoe prints were carelessly stamped everywhere.

He stood there blankly looking at the scene. A space no different from ruins. No matter how he looked at it, it no longer seemed like a place where people could live. He let out a resigned sigh.

“Haa.”

Then he began gathering his belongings.

Though he’d thought there was nothing worth taking from the house, looking now, there were a few decent items. He packed clothes and underwear. The unused bamboo salt toothpaste was still there, and his old toothbrush was fine, too. He diligently packed the fishing net as well. He was sweating profusely. He wrapped everything in a bundle and slung it over his shoulder.

Meanwhile, the way his private parts dangled in the middle of the underwear felt more than just a little strange.

The next place Eun-myeong headed was the sushi restaurant. He moved slowly.

Though it was a street he used to frequent, like having meals, today it felt unusually unfamiliar, making his steps hesitant.

Unexpectedly, the lights were on at the distant sushi restaurant. Eun-myeong approached slowly. He had imagined it would be in ruins like his house, but customers were coming and going normally. When Eun-myeong quickly opened the door and entered, he heard Hyojin Noona’s loud voice.

“Welcome!”

Eun-myeong blinked as he looked at Hyojin Noona.

“…Hey, Eun-myeong.”

Hyojin Noona stood frozen in place with a startled face. Aunt Jung-hye, who heard the unconsciously uttered words, poked her head out from the kitchen.

“What, Eun-myeong?!”

Aunt Jung-hye’s face had aged considerably during that time. As soon as she spotted Eun-myeong, she ran out of the kitchen in her socks and hugged her.

“We thought you’d been sold to a shrimp boat!”

She grabbed Eun-myeong’s cheeks, asking where on earth her child had been rolling around to show up only now. After catching up for a while, they scattered quickly when a customer called out, “Check, please!” The restaurant still seemed busy. After a long time, Eun-myeong also picked up an apron and helped with serving.

They put down Eun-myeong’s bundle in a small room. They sat in a circle eating pears. The large, full pears that couldn’t even fit in one hand were originally for customers, but the bruised ones were cut around the blemishes and eaten by the staff.

“When you and your sister disappeared one after another, we thought you’d run away.”

Eun-myeong’s portion of the pear was extremely large. He opened his mouth slightly and took a crisp bite. The aunts added comments one by one, with him in the middle.

“I thought it was for the better actually.”

“What sin did they commit to be tied down like this, these young kids…”

It felt like watching a soap opera. From what he heard, the sushi restaurant had been closed for quite a while. The boss had gone bankrupt in a major incident and disappeared.

Though he had been their boss for decades, since he hadn’t been particularly cruel, instead of expressing regret or concern, everyone had the attitude of “we knew that bastard would end up like this.”

He had worried about what if someone questioned the sushi restaurant owner’s whereabouts, but that turned out to be a needless concern. The sushi restaurant that Eun-myeong had expected to be abandoned was fortunately bought at a very low price by a female owner afterward.

“Is the new owner busy? How come she never comes down from Seoul?”

“I saw her face once before, she’s incredibly pretty. Like a celebrity.”

“She’s a bit strange, though, seems kind of crazy.”

Aunt Jung-hye circled her finger near her temple.

“When we said we’d work hard, she told us to work only as much as we’re paid.”

“That’s good for us then.”

“What’s good about it. Last time I saw that woman getting out of a gangster’s car.”

“Which gangster?”

At the word “gangster,” Eun-myeong naturally turned his head. His eyes grew wider at the next words.

“You know, that gangster who used to spend a million won a day at our restaurant. The one who always asked for Eun-myeong whenever he came.”

They were indeed talking about Boss Kang Pyeong-won. Did he sell it to someone he knew? Eun-myeong thought slowly.

“He got out of this fancy car at first, and would you believe it, he even opened the car door for that woman himself.”

Boss Kang opening a car door? As someone who knew the man, Eun-myeong blinked at this unimaginable testimony. He had always been grabbed by the scruff of his neck like hunted prey and thrown into cars.

Eun-myeong put down the pear he had been crunching on. A sticky sweetness pooled in his mouth. But his mouth felt too dry to eat more, so he just swallowed.

“The woman flipped her long hair back like this and walked into the store, clicking her heels. They both looked good together, tall and handsome.”

Aunt Jung-hye imitated the woman entering in heels, swaying her hips dramatically. Another aunt beside him asked,

“So what, is that bastard involved with both Eun-joo and that owner?”

Aunt Jung-hye slapped her knee with a sharp sound.

“Yeah, that rotten bastard! I knew it!”

Then she bitterly cursed, saying face-reading was truly scientific, that she was half-fortune teller, and that such a man would live however he pleased unless he met his match in a woman who could control him. Eun-myeong let out a deep internal sigh. No, it wasn’t like that with Sister Eun-joo…

“Still, it must be comfortable with the new owner being in Seoul.”

Of course, it was better for employees to have less harassment with the owner far away. The previous owner used to drive them crazy by occasionally dropping by to nag about sales despite not doing any work himself.

But, the man hadn’t returned to the hotel for once. Could he have gone to meet this woman they were talking about?What if he had someone else he was seeing? Eun-myeong didn’t know what to do with his feelings of guilt.

On the other hand, he felt wronged too. He couldn’t believe how he played around just based on looks. If he had someone he was seeing, he should practice absolute fidelity. Why did he keep doing such perverted things to me?

“Sigh.”

Eun-myeong let out a small sigh. The piece of pear he had left remained lonely on the plate. Though it bothered him somewhat, he didn’t reach for it again. Though it was quite late when he returned to the hotel room, the lights were still off as expected.

Eun-myeong unwrapped his bundle and spread out the fishing nets all over the room. He quickly began weaving in the sophisticated room where they seemed completely out of place. He was so focused that sweat poured down his face. It felt good to be working with his hands again after such a long time.

The man didn’t return to the hotel that day either. The thought crossed his mind that he must have gone to meet that woman. Along with the possibility that he might never return to this rural corner where a country bumpkin like him lived.

Concerns about what would happen to him and where he would live slowly began to surface. As one worry after another broke through like water through a dam, a net full of concerns was caught and pulled up.

What had happened to his sister by now? Their last conversation had ended that way. And what about Jjangja…

With his heart troubled and complicated, Eun-myeong finally let his busy hands fall onto his thighs.