PSY CH 31

Perhaps the medication didn’t suit him; every time he took the sleeping pills, he felt groggy even the next day.

“Sigh…”

Jooyoung forced his blurry eyes open as he drank an energy drink. In this state, dealing with customers naturally became a problem. One time, someone even got angry at him for not understanding what they were saying. Even though he apologized, the person remained visibly upset, leaving him at a loss. Still, he usually felt a bit better by afternoon, so Jooyoung told himself to just hang in there a little longer.

But around 11:30, right before lunchtime, trouble finally broke out.

The pawnshop was generally quiet on weekdays or weekends. Just like the low population, there were rarely any people who actually came in. Yet today, the place was suddenly engulfed in chaos.

“Oho! This kind of disrespectful nonsense never happened when your Grandpa was around!”

A man with streaks of gray in his hair shouted loud enough to shake the whole pawnshop. Even without all that, they could’ve communicated just fine. Still, he was too busy yelling, spitting with every word.

“It’s just an automated message that goes out when interest payments are overdue.”

Jooyoung said as he rubbed his throbbing temple with his fingers.

“What’d you say?!”

“…”

“I’m telling you, your Grandpa never did that kinda thing, jeez!”

The man yanked up his slipping belt and pointed a finger at Jooyoung from across the counter.

Occasionally, people passed by beyond the metal gate, where a piece of wood served as a doorstop. Each of them glanced inside, faces full of curiosity as they walked past. It was understandable—the man’s voice echoed loudly enough to shake the hallway.

“I said I know that already, so why are you sending messages to rush me, huh?!”

It was nothing more than a routine message that he regularly sent to anyone with overdue interest payments. Sometimes, some elderly clients would forget their repayment dates or interest dues. Since pawnshop interest rates were fairly high, and most people borrowed money using valuables as collateral, sometimes for just a few bucks, many even thanked him for the reminder.  This was the first time someone had stormed in and gotten angry about it.

“I’m telling you, it wasn’t just sent to you.” 

“I don’t care if it wasn’t! Why are you pestering people like that?!”

His argument was simple. He claimed he had his own plan for the overdue interest, so why was he being pressured with messages? It wasn’t like he borrowed from a loan shark—how could Jooyoung be so lacking in basic business ethics?

“It’s not like I took out a loan or anything. I left my stuff fair and square and got money for it. Okay?!”

His face was flushed red, probably from drinking during the day. Every word he spoke reeked of strong alcohol. He licked his darkened lips and let out a loud belch.

“Sigh…”

Jooyoung sighed and ran a hand through his hair. By this point, he concluded that arguing any further was pointless. In a cold voice, he said: 

“Would you prefer we just stop sending you the messages?”

The man, standing upright with his hands on his hips, glared at Jooyoung with fierce eyes.

“What? ‘Would you prefer’? ‘Would you prefer?!’”

“…”

“Where do you get off, acting so high and mighty…”

Now he was picking on Jooyoung’s tone, of all things.

“How could an outsider like you talk so casually like that, tch…”

“…”

“You’re not the old man’s grandson, are you?” 

Jooyoung pressed the fleshy part of his palm against his brow. It felt like his eyeballs might fall out from the pain.

“I knew it! You, you’re a spy sent in to play money schemes, a damn spy!”

The man didn’t stop at rambling nonsense. All of a sudden, he slammed his hand down on the counter with a loud thud and brought his face right up to the glass. A fog of breath clouded the surface.

“Come out here, damn it!”

BANG! BANG! Each time he pounded his fists, the glass vibrated.

“I said get out here!”

The man must’ve been furious that Jooyoung wasn’t budging from inside. Out of nowhere, he kicked the flower pot beside him. With a thud, soil spilled out in a messy heap.

“You picked the wrong guy to mess with, I’m telling you!”

As he kept violently kicking the fallen pot, the man suddenly shoved his hand through the service window. His hairy arm swept wildly across the desk.

Jooyoung stepped back and quickly grabbed his phone. He’d call the police if it came to that… but he prayed things wouldn’t escalate. Even if he was the victim, he wanted to avoid getting tangled up with the police at all costs.

“Excuse me, over here.”

Just then, someone appeared beyond the metal gate, peeking in from the hallway. It was an employee from the office next door, and unexpectedly, Dohyun was standing beside him.

“It seems like he’s been drinking.”

“…”

“Shouldn’t he be removed? That man caused trouble last time too—”

His hushed voice murmured an explanation. A moment later, Dohyun scanned the inside of the pawnshop. At that moment, the man was still reaching through the service window, knocking over pencil holders and calendars in a frenzy.

“How dare you, huh?!”

Before anyone realized it, Dohyun had stepped in and forcefully yanked the man’s arm back. The man, who had been on the verge of shoving his entire shoulder through the window, stumbled back while letting out a soft gasp.

“What do you think you’re doing right now?”

The man slurred, “And who the hell are you, hic,” glaring with half-lidded eyes and jabbing a finger toward him.

“I said, what do you think you’re doing here?”

“What I’m doing ain’t your business, who do you even think—oh… Dohyu~?

The man, who had been fuming a second ago, suddenly widened his eyes in shock.

“You do know this is my building, right?”

“D-Dohyun-ah.”

He had been causing a scene just moments ago, acting like he owned the place, but now he was fidgeting like a scolded puppy with its tail between its legs. It was clear he was nervously watching Dohyun’s reaction.

“H-Hic! Dohyun-ah, it’s not what it looks like, I wasn’t trying to…”

As his darting eyes searched for a way out, he suddenly snapped his gaze toward Jooyoung and glared.

“Yeah, him! Him!”

“…”

“He’s trying to run some kind of money scheme on us! That’s why I spoke up here!”

It was absurd. Just sending a reminder text because of an overdue payment was suddenly being called a money scheme? The truth was, the man had simply come to vent while drunk.

“You’ve been drinking.”

At Dohyun’s low voice, the man visibly shrank, no longer standing tall. He was already smaller in both height and build than Dohyun, and now hunched over, he didn’t even reach Dohyun’s shoulder.

“I just had a sip of makgeolli^[1]. Just one sip, it’s not even proper liquor…”

“…”

“Dohyun-ah, now’s not the time to be giving me a hard time. Him! He’s the one causing all the trouble! That punk’s trying to stir things up in Maeyang!”

“…”

“I knew it from the moment he started getting chummy with Lee Arin!”

Suddenly, he even brought up Arin’s name, blaming Jooyoung outright. Jooyoung had heard the rumors floating around the neighborhood, but this was the first time he was hearing it thrown in his face.

“Should I call Uncle Woosang?”

At that moment, the man who had been passionately ranting with spit flying shut his mouth tightly. A short cry escaped him.

“W-Why would you say that, Dohyun? It wasn’t me! I didn’t drive! I swear!”

His face went pale as he jumped in place, shouting that it would be a big problem if he did so and insisting that he hadn’t been the one driving. But ironically, the man had been clutching his car keys from the moment he entered the pawnshop.

“I’ll call my wife and have her move the car right away…”

“…”

“Dohyun, I was wrong. Please, just this once.”

Dohyun said nothing, only looked down at him in silence, which made the man grow increasingly desperate.

“Please? If I get caught one more time, I’m out. Three strikes.” 

“I don’t care if it’s three strikes or ten. If you come here and throw another fit, I won’t let it slide.” 

“Got it, got it. I’ll be real careful.”

Dohyun let go of the man’s arm like he was throwing out the trash. The man wiped his sweat-soaked forehead with his hand, then stared in dismay at the car key in his palm. He quickly shoved it into his back pocket while sneaking glances at Dohyun. A pathetic smile played on his lips.

“Aren’t you leaving?”

At the follow-up order to get lost, the man stammered, “Y-Yeah, I’m going,” and stumbled out of the pawnshop.

Dohyun remained by the door, watching not only the man but the other onlookers from neighboring offices until they all cleared out. One by one, the crowd dispersed, and before long, only Dohyun and Jooyoung remained in the pawnshop.

“…”

What was he supposed to say? He had undeniably received help from him, but the discomfort and unease he felt were stronger than any sense of gratitude, and the words just wouldn’t come.

A moment later, Dohyun turned his body slightly, and their eyes met. Jooyoung flinched. It was the first time he had seen Dohyun since that day, and it made him tense.

“You should try seducing him and calming him down sweetly.”

Dohyun was the one to speak first.

“Don’t you like men?”

“…”

“Don’t you have some kind of charming little technique for softening people up?”

“What?”

The words were so insulting that Jooyoung’s expression hardened. He was too shocked to speak.

“Never mind if you don’t.”

Dohyun, on the other hand, looked unbothered, like he’d just exchanged a casual greeting. 

Jooyoung felt his heart sink with a thud. The pressure weighing on his shoulders was no joke. A faint regret crept in—maybe he’d made a mistake.

He had feared how Dohyun would act after finding out his secret, and now that fear was beginning to take shape.