PHUW 30

While trying to type a short verification code to recover his ChocoTalk account, Ahn Haeri’s hands shook uncontrollably. Since he still couldn’t remember his birthday, Jeong Mok pulled his bankbook from the clothes piled on the back seat and read it out for him. The verification screen appeared, and just as the message saying ChocoTalk was now searching for the account popped up, the result appeared.

[No registered account found]

“What?”

Something was wrong. Haeri started the process over from the beginning, but the result was the same.

“What, it’s not working?” Jeong Mok asked from behind the wheel. Instead of answering, Haeri opened Niver and tried the ID search there.

This time, something came up, and he finally let out a huge sigh of relief. After resetting the password and logging in, a prompt appeared asking if he wanted to reactivate the account, since it had been inactive for a long time. His excitement cooled halfway.

He checked his email first. Nothing but spam. It was the same for the memos. No blog either. There were only three joined communities: a secondhand goods cafe , a real estate cafe, and a cafe for Grace Orphanage.

He opened the secondhand goods cafe first without hesitation. If he had bought or sold something, maybe there would be an address or phone number left in a private comment. But he was disappointed the moment he entered. His account had been blacklisted for violating cafe rules, meaning he couldn’t access any board.

Blacklisted from a secondhand goods cafe? What the hell had he done to get banned from a site with millions of users? Sent trash in a package after getting paid? Or picked apart an item he’d received just to demand an unreasonable refund? If it was the first, that was petty thief behavior. If the second, he was just a troublemaker. Either way, it wasn’t good.

‘No, there could be a reason. Maybe the account was hacked or something.’

He clung to that slim possibility to smother his discomfort, Haeri moved on to the real estate cafe. At least here, he could enter the boards, but there were no posts or comments left. Looked like he’d only lurked.

The last one was the orphanage cafe. Unlike the other two, he hadn’t expected much here from the start. The member count barely reached twenty, and the last update was nearly eight years ago, before the orphanage closed.

It would probably be full of spam if he opened it. After two disappointments, there was no need to go for a third. A cafe that had been left standing for fourteen years would still be there tonight or tomorrow morning. He locked his phone and shoved it in his pocket.

When he looked up, the car was at a complete stop, and the driver’s seat was empty. They were in an open lot in front of a convenience store. Jeong Mok was just coming out, carrying a white bag.

Thump.

Sitting back in the driver’s seat, Jeong Mok handed him the bag.

“Did you find anything?”

“No.”

No matter how he tried, Haeri couldn’t hide his sulky tone. If they hadn’t been outside, if Jeong Mok hadn’t been there, he might have thrown his phone, cursed, and rolled around on the floor. As he tried to wrestle down his frustration, Jeong Mok started the car again.

They had taken the highway on the way there, but now they were on a national road. Cracking the window let in a cool breeze s. Branches brushed close enough to touch the car, bringing with them the scent of greenery.

“There are plenty of other ways, so don’t get too discouraged.”

The calm reassurance, given after letting him have a moment to collect himself, felt truly kind.

“Yes, I guess so.”

He’d never expected it to be easy from the start. If it were, the police station wouldn’t have needed to run a fingerprint search when they already had so much else to do. But now he knew his name and where he came from, and he had money, a card, a phone, and a cool hyung who said he’d spoil him as much as he wanted. Things were looking up.

Haeri forced himself into a positive mindset, he opened the plastic bag on his lap. Inside were a digestive drink and a banana milk.

“What’s this?”

“Digestive medicine and a few other things.”

A digestive was exactly what he needed. Even after eating the meat, his stomach had felt stuffed and tight.

“Can I drink this now?”

“I bought it for you.”

Haeri cracked open the bottle with a sheepish smile.

“How did you know I’d need it?”

“I just did.”

He must have guessed from the way Haeri had been staring at his apps. Haeri downed the bitter liquid in one go, he suddenly realized something as he screwed the cap back on.

“Is that why you said we should eat first?”

“Yeah.”

Jeong Mok gave him a sideways glance. He should’ve kept his eyes on the road, but unlike before, there was something subtle in the way he turned his head back. Even without a smile, his expression made Haeri’s chest feel strangely tight.

“I figured you might not have eaten properly at the Korean beef place.”

“Did I look pitiful back then?” Haeri asked, eyes lowered, rolling the empty bottle between his palms in embarrassment.

“No, not at all.”

“Come on.”

“I’m serious. You really didn’t. I just…”

Jeong Mok paused, then gripped the wheel a little tighter, as if making up his mind.

“…I just felt so bad for you that all I could think was I really wanted to take good care of you.”

The words spoken in a low voice, were the most embarrassingly heartfelt things Haeri had ever heard. If they’d been in a relationship, it would’ve been the kind of confession you’d write “Day 1” about in your ChocoTalk profile. His heart, already warm, now stirred restlessly.

Why say something like that? Between two men, no less. If this hyung kept it up, people really would mistake him for some perverted gay guy. He should’ve started babbling something to shake off the awkward moment. But for some reason, his mouth wouldn’t move.

And then, a thought crossed his mind. That maybe, even if it took time, he wanted to quietly swallow this awkwardness whole.

*

At a now-familiar three-way intersection, Jeong Mok asked,

“We’re still going to the construction site. Is that okay?”

“Of course it is.”

When they’d stopped by before going to the bank, it had been empty and quiet. Now more than a dozen workers bustled around, half Korean, half foreign. The moment Jeong Mok pulled up at the site entrance, a large, heavyset man with a belly raised a hand and walked over.

As Jeong Mok got out of the driver’s seat, Haeri quickly followed.

“Hey, Director Jeong, you’re here?”

“Foreman.”

The foreman seemed genuinely happy to see him, but Jeong Mok’s manner was cold. He only gave a brief nod before taking a pair of work gloves from a bundle nearby and putting them on. For someone addressing an older site foreman, he was rude. Coming from Jeong Mok of all people, it was so curt that Haeri felt a chill beside him.

If the foreman noticed, he ignored it, carrying on in a friendly tone.

“Well now, what’s this? Hit the lottery while I wasn’t looking? What’s with the Benz? You were always driving that Porter truck. And who’s this?”

“A younger brother I’m living with.”

Haeri didn’t know why he’d introduce him like that instead of saying he was the kid from the accident he’d taken in for now. But Jeong Mok was thoughtful enough that there was probably a reason, so he let it go.

He bowed silently in greeting. The foreman seemed to give him a once-over, then smiled and held out a hand. Haeri reflexively moved to take it, but Jeong Mok blocked him with a firm poke to the side.

“Let’s take care of work first.”

“But we should at least exchange names. Is he your cousin?”

“Yes.”

The clipped reply cut off whatever the foreman had been about to add. Only after confirming Jeong Mok wouldn’t budge did the foreman start talking about the job. Haeri trailed behind them toward the building.

Inside, the interior finishing was underway. Jeong Mok inspected every corner with a sharp eye, checking if the tiles were aligned, if the windows were properly installed. Anything he didn’t like, he pointed out immediately. The foreman frowned, muttering that such small things shouldn’t count as defects, but when Jeong Mok silently marked them with a carpenter’s pencil, he called over the installer and told him to fix them.

“Hey, what happened to your head?” the foreman asked when he finally noticed the gauze on the back of Haeri’s head.

“He hit it on the corner of a desk,” Jeong Mok answered for him. Haeri only smiled awkwardly.

“That so? Must’ve been hard. Be careful.”

While they worked, Haeri looked around, wondering if he might have dropped something here that night, or if there was any clue to be found. But in the messy building, aside from materials and construction debris, nothing stood out.

“Hyung-nim, I’ll be outside.”

He let Jeong Mok know, then headed straight out.

He recalled the CCTV footage the detective had shown him. It had been on the building’s right side, his left when facing it. He’d been hiding among stacked boxes of materials there, and Jeong Mok, startled by sudden movement, had thrown the crowbar.

But when Haeri found the spot now, there were no boxes. Just bare dirt with patches of dried puddles, a few bricks, and some tiles lying around.

“This is the place…”

“What’re you looking for?”

A middle-aged worker passing by called out to him.

“Did you happen to find a phone or anything here? Like, about two weeks ago?”

The man frowned, not in anger, but as if thinking.

“The day Director had that accident?”

“Yes.”

At the mention of the accident, the man’s face lit with recognition.

“I wasn’t here that day. Hey, Jang!”

“What?”

A man in the distance stopped carrying a bundle of hoses to answer.

“The day the boss had that accident, did you clear out the boxes here?”

“Foreman Kim made such a fuss, so yeah, I cleared ’em.”

“I mean, who actually moved them?”

Mr. Jang looked Haeri over for a moment, shook his head.

“No idea.”

And with that, he disappeared into the building, hoses in hand.