JD 3

“How did you know…?”

“You wrote it in your cover letter yourself. Ah, or did you say you’re not scared anymore now? Image training?”

The man’s fingertip touched Hakyung’s resume. Now that he mentioned it, he remembered writing something about “the greatest crisis in life and how I overcame it.”

His greatest crisis was his fear of seawater, and to overcome it, he had been doing image training regularly. Thanks to that, his fear had supposedly diminished a lot.

…That’s what he wrote in the cover letter. He thought the man hadn’t looked at it, but apparently, he had read it all.

Hakyung was startled at the man’s speed reading—but more than that, he thought, That was a lie… Weren’t cover letters supposed to be fiction anyway? He’d simply been faithful to that convention.

Since Kim Taeyoung had already arranged for someone else to get the job, he was told to just bring in a decently written resume and cover letter. So he poured all his effort into crafting a compelling piece of fiction.

In short, Kang Hakyung was still afraid of the sea. Very much so.

He had been around six years old. One time, his family had gone to the mudflats to dig for clams. It was great fun—just lightly digging into the soft mud would turn up clams the size of his fist.

That must have been why little Hakyung could spend hours doing it. He’d been so focused on digging clams that he didn’t notice when the sea, which had receded far out, began to creep back in.

His family had already left the mudflats and were sorting through the clams they’d gathered. Only Hakyung, lost in his shell-hunting, remained.

His family seemed to be shouting something at him from a distance, but there was no way those words could reach the ears of a child so immersed in fun. Even when the water lapped at his ankles, he didn’t change his squatting position.

As a river dolphin, he instinctively knew how to swim, so he didn’t feel any danger.

But the rising sea was faster than his family trying to fetch him.

Wham!

Still in his clam-digging posture, Hakyung was knocked over by a wave. He tried to get up, but the waves kept crashing into him, making every effort futile.

A small child, used only to playing in calm river water, couldn’t withstand the constant battering of the sea.

That was when both Hakyung and his family realized something was wrong. As the adults rushed toward him, the seawater rose above his height and swallowed him whole. He shut his eyes, filled with nothing but fear.

How much time had passed? He thought for sure he’d been swallowed up for good—but when he opened his eyes, all he saw was blue sky.

What happened? Little Hakyung blinked in confusion and looked around.

“Kang Hakyung! Are you stupid or what?!”

That shrill voice came from beside him. It was Kim Taeyoung, the boy from next door.

He’d come along to the mudflats but had refused to enter, staying under the parasol the whole time—yet here he was, soaking wet and fuming.

Still not grasping the situation, Ha-kyung’s eyes darted around. Seeing that dazed look made Taeyoung even angrier, and he shouted again.

“Do you even realize you almost died out there?!”

“Uh, yeah! I was scared!”

“Ugh, idiot. Dumbass.”

Taeyoung kept hurling insults at him for a while. But Hakyung didn’t say a word back. He had just fallen into the sea while digging clams—like a total idiot of a river dolphin.

When Taeyoung finally paused, Ha-kyung cautiously asked,

“Then… did you save me, Taeyoung?”

“What…?”

“I was completely underwater… You were the one who pulled me out, right?”

For a moment, Taeyoung fell silent at the innocent question. Then he gave a big nod.

“Yeah! I dragged you out of the water. Look at me! I hate salt water, and I’m soaked because of you!”

Taeyoung gestured to his drenched clothes. The way he spoke was laced with the arrogance unique to saviors.

While Hakyung’s family, who had arrived late, scolded him, Kim Taeyoung merely stood there with a smug look, not even attempting to stop them. But that was fine. The fact that he was standing on the ground and breathing at that moment made Hakyung incredibly happy.

That was the moment Kim Taeyoung became Hakyung’s lifesaver. Because of that, Hakyung had been blindly good to him to the point of pretending to die if Taeyoung told him to.

During school, he was the one running errands for Taeyoung, doing small homework assignments, summarizing exam materials, and even making mistake notebooks, all to deliver them. After graduation, Taeyoung began gradually extorting money from him under the guise of giving him allowance.

It wasn’t unusual for Taeyoung to show up at the store where Hakyung worked, demanding expensive seasonal items.

By this point, even the adults who had once told Hakyung to be good to Taeyoung started to tell him to stop, saying it was going too far.

However, Hakyung didn’t mind even if he was a bit uncomfortable. If he had gone wrong at that point, not only his life but his family’s would have been ruined as well.

At least to Hakyung, Kim Taeyoung was more than a lifesaver; he was like a god. After this incident, though, Hakyung was truly, truly disappointed in Taeyoung. He didn’t know what would happen in the future, but…

From that day on, the sea was a terrifying thing to the point that Hakyung would wake up in a panic from just dreaming about it, and he never went near the coast.

But he couldn’t just write that truth in his cover letter. So, he had added a little MSG to it… He didn’t think anyone would call him out on it. It was a huge disappointment.

Hakyung broke into a cold sweat under the man’s piercing gaze. Nervously, Hakyung rambled on, saying things he hadn’t been asked.

“Um, this is just a pure curiosity since I’ll be working here from now on, but…”

“What are you curious about?”

“Could it be… perhaps… the fish… employees in the office… are sea creatures? If so, do they go to the sea periodically? And I… I need to go with them too, right?”

As a river dolphin, Hakyung was fine with tap water for hydration, but he had heard rumors that species born in the sea had to visit the ocean occasionally to replenish themselves.

If that was the case, his statement in the resume would be found out to be a blatant lie, and the high salary of 3 million won per month would also fly away.

It was a shame to have something he hadn’t even started to be ruined already. If that was the case, Hakyung was prepared to start saltwater training right away.

Did the man feel the tension in Hakyung? After a brief thought, he shook his head.

“Why would you need to go along?”

“Oh, I see…!”

Seeing Hakyung visibly relieved, the man smiled faintly, raising one corner of his mouth, and gestured for him to leave.

Hakyung quickly bowed and turned to leave.

“Wait a minute.”

Why again?! What now? The man grabbed Hakyung’s arm again. His unpredictable attitude made Hakyung take a deep breath and turn back.

“Yes?”

“I think the address is wrong.”

“Address?”

“You’re not commuting from this address, are you? You should have written your home address in Seoul.”

Hakyung’s heart sank. Of course, he didn’t have an address in Seoul. When Kim Taeyoung had invited him to Seoul, the conditions he offered were lodging and meals, office work, a five-day workweek, annual leave, and overtime pay. It sounded too good to be true.

So, why would Hakyung think about finding a house? He came to Seoul with just a few clothes and a laptop.

Today, he planned to go to a bathhouse with 20,000 won, and starting the next day, he would stay there using the money in his bank account.

At least, if he started receiving a salary, he might be able to get a room in a goshiwon (very small, budget-friendly type of housing in South Korea), he thought, running hopeful scenarios in his head. When Hakyung didn’t say anything for a long time, the man clicked his tongue.

I think I heard that sound before… Ha-kyung’s shoulders shrank.

“Well, never mind. I was just wondering if you were planning to use our company’s employee dormitory.”

“Dormitory…?”

“Yeah. The rooftop room up there.”

The man pointed to the ceiling with his thick, long finger. Ha-kyung’s eyes followed the finger and then quickly nodded.

“I’ll take it! I like the dormitory!”

“Really? Great. Wait here.”

The Hakyung who had been shaking in fear like a scared puppy was gone. Now, the only Hakyung present in this space was a new employee on the verge of his dream job.

With eyes sparkling, Hakyung pressed his hat down low, embarrassed to show how much he liked it.

Ding-dong! The doorbell rang again, and a different employee entered. This one was massive, like a door.

“The new janitor is going to stay in the rooftop dorm. Go show him, Geowong.”

“W-What…? Rooftop dorm…?”

Geowong, who had a confused expression, immediately noticed the narrowing of the man’s brows and quickly changed his attitude.

“Ah, yes! Of course! The dormitory! Let’s go, janitor!”

With a sudden burst of realization, Geowong shouted “dormitory!” and gently pushed Hakyung, who was standing awkwardly in the middle.

He felt the firm, stone-like palm on his back.