JD 2

The man ahead climbed the steps two or three at a time, as if to flaunt his long legs. Hakyung, whose legs were of average length, panted as he hurried to follow. Thankfully, the man stopped on the second floor.

The office had a clean white tone all the way to the doorknob. Hakyung had only seen places like this on TV; it was his first time seeing one in real life. His eyes darted everywhere, busy trying to take in the new surroundings.

The man said nothing and headed to another door deeper inside. While Hakyung was wondering how far he was supposed to follow, heads started popping up one by one from behind the office partitions.

“You’re here, sir?”

“You came early today, sir.”

“If you’d told us, I would’ve come to pick you up. Thank you for your trouble.”

The owners of the emerging heads were all built similarly to the man—large, with closely cropped hair and scars scattered across their faces. They were all dressed in identical black suits that didn’t quite look like uniforms, but even someone as clueless as Hakyung could tell these men were involved in something dangerous.

God… they say unlucky folks break their nose even when falling backward. Of all places to sit for a quick rest, it had to be a gangster den?

The corners of Hakyung’s lips drooped. He felt like he could cry if someone so much as touched him. Just as he stood frozen in place, knees weak and unable to move, the man who had opened the inner office door turned back.

Clicking his tongue at Hakyung, who stood planted in the middle of the hallway like a nail in a board, he called out.

“You coming in or not?”

Judging by the way he looked ready to grab Hakyung by the scruff of his neck, he couldn’t just stay there. Hakyung scrambled to move. He hadn’t moved that fast on land in ages.

The gazes of the large men, puzzled about who he was, bored into the back of his head, making it tingle. He couldn’t even remember how he’d managed to breathe. When he came to, he was already seated across from the man.

With those same long legs that had carried him up the stairs, the man now sat with one leg crossed, scanning Hakyung’s resume.

“No wonder. I thought I smelled fish—turns out you’re a dolphin.”

A deep, gravelly voice rumbled like it scraped the ground. The huskiness sent a tingle down Hakyung’s spine, and he sucked in a short breath before exhaling. As scary as the man’s words were, Hakyung knew he had to correct him.

“Um, I’m not just a dolphin. I’m a river dolphin.”

“What?”

The man’s thick brow twitched, clearly not amused by the answer. Intimidated by the man’s intense expression, Hakyung quickly folded his hands on his lap.

It’s not like they’d be spending much time together—what difference did it make whether he was a river dolphin or a sea dolphin, idiot.

His inferiority complex about sea dolphins made him say something stupid again. Glancing nervously at the twitching eyebrow, Hakyung swallowed hard.

“Why are you carrying this around?”

“…Sorry?”

“The resume. You looking for a job? You broke?”

Both were true. He was looking for a job, and he was broke. But that didn’t mean he wanted to work for gangsters.

They could ask him to sell organs, smuggle drugs, or serve drinks in some shady back-alley club. Just imagining it was horrifying. He’d rather go back home and endure his grandmother’s nagging.

Hakyung started to nod but quickly shook his head instead. He just wanted to get out of this scary place as soon as possible.

If they asked for a seat fee, he’d gladly hand over his entire fortune—twenty thousand won.

“You are broke, huh? Don’t lie.”

The man narrowed his long, slitted eyes and gave Hakyung a crooked smirk as he looked him up and down.

Those pitch-black eyes, devoid of light, locked onto him—and it felt like being a fish laid out on a cutting board.

Hakyung fidgeted with his fingers on his lap and offered an excuse that wasn’t really an excuse—because it was the truth. As time passed, he found himself missing the warmth of home, and his nose stung.

“I was… thinking of going back to my hometown…”

“You got fired?”

“Umm…”

He hadn’t even gotten the chance to be fired—he never made it to the interview stage. He’d just been duped by Kim Taeyoung’s prank and ended up running around for nothing. But that wasn’t something worth explaining to the man, so Hakyung forced a vague smile.

The man, interpreting that vague smile however he pleased, tossed the three-page resume filled with densely written text onto the table and said:

“You’re hired. Work here.”

“…Excuse me?”

“The guys here are all fish like you. Even if it’s just cleaning, they throw a fit if it’s a human doing it. Was getting on my nerves. You’re perfect.”

What an unkind explanation. The man lumped Hakyung and the employees together, calling them “fish,” but strictly speaking, dolphins weren’t fish—they were mammals. Changing someone’s roots out of ignorance was plain rude.

And that wasn’t the only rude thing about him. Hakyung had clearly written in the resume that he wasn’t looking for cleaning work—he’d applied for an office job.

He had taught himself Excel and Word in his spare time at home. The more he worked with numbers and letters, the more fun he found them. One of the main reasons he’d come all the way to Seoul was because he wanted to do office work, not catch shrimp.

And now he was being told to be a cleaner…? It was absurd. But of course, he didn’t dare show it, scared as he was of the man.

The more he replayed the man’s words in his head, the more it infuriated him, and Hakyung’s lips began to pout. He tried his best to hide it, but his face was already an open book of dissatisfaction.

“Tuck your lips in and follow me.”

“I-I’m really fine, thank you. I should get going now.”

Fearing he’d end up trapped doing nothing but cleaning day and night, Hakyung quickly stood up from his seat. But the man was faster. As Hakyung turned to leave, he caught him by the arm and held up three fingers.

Not understanding what that meant, Hakyung tilted his head in confusion. The man grinned with an impish smile and said:

“Three million. After deductions, you’ll still take home three. What do you think?”

“Huh…? T-three million?”

“Revised after six months. No cuts.”

“S-six months later, and no cuts…?”

The man nodded. As Hakyung’s eyes followed the motion of his head, he slowly turned back and sat down quietly on the sofa again.

His eyes were still full of doubt, but about 85% of that suspicion had melted away. It no longer felt threatening.

Not knowing what the man might be thinking as he observed his now sheepish gaze, Hakyung quickly placed his resume into the man’s hand, worried he might change his mind.

“Um, I wrote down freshwater swimming, Word, and Excel as my skills… but I’m also good at cleaning and unclogging toilets. I used to do big clean-ups for the elders in the village, too…”

“That so?”

“Yes! Also—also! I’m amazing at dishwashing! I get along really well with water!”

If he had a tail, he’d be wagging it. Enchanted by the promise of a 3-million-won paycheck, Hakyung did his best to sell every one of his strengths. The man seemed to like his eagerness and crossed his legs the other way, fixing his gaze on him.

“Then we’re making it official?”

“Y-yes! Um, but… you will give me a work contract, right…?”

Even though the three million won had blinded him, he still had a sliver of caution left. What if they told him to clean and then made him dispose of a corpse? The suspicion curled his toes.

“Oh!” the man exclaimed, as if suddenly remembering, then pressed a button on the table. It was the kind of bell you’d find in a restaurant.

Ding-dong! A cheap chime echoed, and a man in a black suit came running into the office.

“You called, sir!”

“Yeah, I’m putting him on as a cleaner starting today. What’s that contract called again?”

“The… the employment contract?”

“Right, that. Bring one. The kid’s awfully suspicious.”

“Understood, sir!”

With a loud reply, the employee bowed at a 90-degree angle and left the office.

Hakyung flinched at the fact that the man had to ask what a work contract was called. Just how shady was this place that even the word “contract” felt foreign? But it was too late now.

He needed a steady paycheck, and the man and his crew needed a cleaner who wasn’t human. Judging by what the man had said, everyone here was likely from some aquatic species—and if that was the case, he really was a perfect fit.

Considering he’d already been swindled by Kim Taeyoung and had nothing left, going back home now would only earn him pity. Might as well take the job and see what happens. If things started to seem shady—like they were trying to sell his organs—he’d just run for it.

Blinded by three million won, Hakyung even began to overestimate his own physical abilities. Trying to think positively, he rolled his eyes in thought.

Watching him closely, the man tapped the table with his fingers. The sound echoed in the silence, startling Hakyung, who turned his wide eyes toward the man.

“Kid. You scared of the ocean?”

“…Huh?”

The sudden question tilted Hakyung’s head. How did this man know that he was so afraid of the ocean that he couldn’t even dip in a toe? Confusion spread all across his face.