DS 34

It was his first time being humiliated like that. His jaws clenched, his hands trembling with rage. Clutching his forehead tightly with one hand, he jumped to his feet. Blood vessels had burst in his eyes.

“You, you fucking bastard, you’ll regret this…”

He didn’t even have time to pick up his fallen shoe. Barely grabbing his phone, he fled in a hurry. Bang! A loud noise echoed from the iron door at the entrance that he slammed, as though in retaliation.

“Huff…”

Regardless, the man frowned as if annoyed and took a drag from his cigarette. He picked up the lighter from the floor, tossed it in the air once, and caught it again.

A tense atmosphere lingered in the restaurant after the violent storm had passed. How could there never be a peaceful day? Eun-myeong felt like he wanted to just faint right there.

* * *

Jjang-ja wasn’t seen for several days after that. He was someone who had lived his whole life lording over others. But after being humiliated like a dog in front of so many people by Manager Kang… The damage to his pride must have been immense.

Even though he wasn’t around, Eun-myeong suffered from needless anxiety. He had been pushed around like a toy by that guy for years. He knew that Jjang-ja wasn’t the type to back down that easily.

The more his pride was hurt, the more his competitive spirit was provoked, the more Jjang-ja’s violence would escalate. Even though things were quiet for now, he couldn’t shake this precarious feeling that something was about to go down, badly at that. As they say, it’s always too calm before the storm.

“…”

Hence, he finished his serving duties in a state of high tension even today. Until the fish restaurant closed, Jjang-ja didn’t show his face.

Walking wearily back to the hotel, Eun-myeong suddenly stopped and scanned his surroundings.

It was dark all around, and there weren’t many people walking about.

‘…Maybe I was wrong…’

He tilted his head once and continued walking. He definitely felt like someone was watching him from somewhere. But brushed it off, thinking it was just his imagination.

Telling himself he was being too sensitive these days because of Jjang-ja, Eun-myeong hurried his steps, thinking about how he’d satisfy his hunger with cup noodles when he got back to his room.

His unfortunate premonition came true, waiting right in front of the hotel lobby.

“Hey!”

Suddenly, his ear was painfully grabbed. Eun-myeong looked up with a yelp. As expected, it was Jjang-ja.

“So, you work here now?”

The moment he saw his face, Eun-myeong felt his stomach drop. He was wearing a beanie pulled down low to completely cover his forehead. Thanks to that, the cigarette burn wasn’t visible. True to his nature of living and dying by his pride. 

Why did I have to meet him in front of the hotel, of all places?

“Why are you here, Hyung?”

Eun-myeong instinctively knew the answer but asked him anyway. The feeling of being watched by someone earlier hadn’t been his imagination. If even someone as dull as him had noticed it, it couldn’t have been just a feeling.

“Did you follow me?”

Ignoring that had been a big mistake. Eun-myeong anxiously looked around quickly. He was worried about running into that man.

“I used to come here all the time to eat, fuck, you just come here to work? Never even got laid here?”

Jjang-ja snickered mockingly. The staff standing at the entrance wore their usual business smiles, but their expressions were strangely dark.

“Maybe I’ll take a look inside. It’s been so long.”

As he put Eun-myeong in a headlock, he attempted to go inside.

“I’m sorry sir, but entry is prohibited in sandals.”

The hotel manager politely blocked Jjang-ja’s entry.

Eun-myeong found this somewhat strange. He had come to the hotel barefoot before, and they hadn’t said anything then, but they were stopping Jjang-ja. He wondered if he had received special treatment thanks to that man.

“Do you know who I am?”

Jjang-ja tried to argue with such petty excuses, but the manager signaled to the bodyguards.

“Please escort this person out.”

He caused such a commotion that it took three strong men to drag Jjang-ja outside.

“Fuck, this is bullshit!”

At the bottom of the stairs, Jjang-ja kicked the decorations in frustration. Eun-myeong wanted to just leave him there and disappear into the hotel, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it, worried that Jjang-ja might do something dangerous if left alone.

“Fuck, fuck!”

Jjang-ja spat out curses, seemingly unable to bear his frustration. No one around paid any attention to him. It was as if he seemed invisible, his existence meaningless. Without being the restaurant owner’s son, Jjang-ja was nothing more than a worthless thug.

Jjang-ja panted and snorted. Then he suddenly spoke to Eun-myeong.

“Hey, go to the ship and bring the drugs. We can sell them.”

He was ordering him around as if it were natural, shamelessly.

“A ship called Tteoggal-ho is coming in at dawn, right? There’s a place where they put the fish. They must  have hidden the drugs there.”

Eun-myeong drew in a sharp breath. He was so shocked that his tongue felt like it would roll up like a blanket down his throat.

“No, I don’t want to, I can’t do it, I’m scared…”

He quickly shook his head. Something had happened because of those drugs before. After what he and his sister had gone through, how could he do such a thing again? Just thinking about it made Eun-myeong’s shoulders tremble with fear.

“Hey, this all happened because of your sister! That bitch, that stupid one got caught.”

Eun-myeong bit his lower lip hard. How dare he blame his sister? While he was used to being insulted all his life, his sister shouldn’t have to hear such words. Who was he to insult smart Eun-joo noona, who worked so hard to live his life?

Anger made Eun-myeong’s throat quiver.

“You know what I mean, fuck? It’s either you or your sister.”

Jjang-ja pointed his finger in Eun-myeong’s face several times, warning him as if etching it into his brain.

“Try to resist one more time, I’ll actually wreck everything.”

Then he left, his slippers slapping against the ground. At one point, they heard him screaming “Aaargh!” in frustration.

Even after returning to his room, Eun-myeong couldn’t sit still, frantically pacing around. For the first time in a while, he found himself picking at the hangnails beside his fingernails.

He felt like he was going crazy with anxiety. What exactly did Jjang-ja expect him to do?

But what was scarier was that time kept moving steadily forward despite everything. After nervously shaking his leg for a while, Eun-myeong carefully picked up the hotel phone after much deliberation. After a few rings, an excited voice came through.

―Oh, Eun-myeong!

Hearing his sister’s bright voice made him feel like all the worry that had built up like toxins in his body was being purified. He relaxed noticeably merely from hearing her voice.

“Noona, well, it’s nothing but…”

He wanted to get her opinion, just in case. Since Eun-joo noona was the smartest person he knew, he thought she might have some brilliant answer.

―Eun-myeong, sorry, I’m at a company dinner and it’s too noisy. Can I call you back when I get home?

But the response made his shoulders slump a little. Now that he noticed, he could hear noisy chatter in the background. It seemed like she was at a bar. Even though it was late at night, it seemed she was having a great time with her colleagues.

Eun-myeong really didn’t want to disturb his sister. Trying not to show his distress, he put on a bright voice.

“Yeah, it’s nothing. Just wanted to say hi.”

―I’ll definitely call when I get home.

“Okay, got it.”

Eun-myeong quickly hung up. Then he curled up into himself.

As time passed, Eun-myeong’s thoughts began flowing in their familiar patterns. Resignation, denial, pessimism… If he was going to end up in Jjang-ja’s grip anyway, maybe it would be better to do as he says from the start. Before his sister got hurt, too.

Eventually, the darkness around him began to recede, and a hint of gray started to mix in. Fortunately, the man hadn’t returned to the room yet.

For a moment, he hesitated about whether to call the man to say he was going out briefly. The phone number was on the contract, so he could look it up. But Eun-myeong only worried while looking at the contract, never actually making the call.

After all, he wasn’t someone who would worry even if Eun-myeong wasn’t in the room.

Eun-myeong carefully prepared to go out. He needed a flashlight but couldn’t find one in the hotel room.

At times like this, it would have been nice to have a phone, but his had been washed away on that day when the rain poured like the world was ending. The shock of watching his phone slip into the drain like a rat that day still hadn’t faded.

‘What should I do…’

As he looked around for something to light his way, something caught Eun-myeong’s eye. He carefully reached toward the bedside table. The man’s alligator leather lighter was there. He usually kept it tucked inside his jacket, but seemed to have forgotten it today.

Eun-myeong put the lighter in his pocket and carefully left the hotel room.

Boom! The door closed behind him. It sounded like his heart was sinking. The heavy explosive sound made him jump, startling himself.