PHUW 69

“What do you mean…?”

Haeri looked at the uncke with a puzzled expression. The old man jabbed Haeri’s side with his elbow, just like a supporting character in a historical drama saying, ‘Come on, you rascal.’

“Don’t play dumb. Will I eat you alive just because I know?”

To someone who still thought the two were on good terms, there was no need to explain in detail that he had been unilaterally thrown out and cut off from contact. But he did make it clear that it was difficult to talk about.

“If it’s something related to Jeong Mok hyung-nim, I can’t exactly talk about it openly…”

“I know, I know. Of course you can’t go around blabbing. But I wondered why you moved out in such a hurry, and why Jeong Mok suddenly disappeared, ha ha ha. Anyway, tell him congratulations from me.”

The way he looked at Haeri carried a peculiar nuance. It was a sly smile that meant, ‘You know what I mean, even if I don’t say it outright.’

“Ah, yes.”

Since he was smiling and saying congratulations, it did not seem to be anything bad. Haeri forced a clumsy smile and let it pass.

“But we used to live in the same neighborhood, greeting each other and all. One of these days we should get together for a meal, if you have the time.”

The cowardly wrestling match was finally winding down. Just then a couple of cars came from the other direction, so Haeri and the old man each pulled on their fool dogs’ leashes. Maybe because they had tired themselves out, the dogs gave in obediently.

Beep beep beep.

Haeri’s phone alarm rang. He had set it an hour before his part-time job, but since he had come so far, he would have to hurry back not to be late.

“I’d better go now.”

“Already?”

“Yes, I have work.”

“Alright then. Come by our house sometime. My wife would be glad to see you.”

“Yes. I’ll come again to say hello.”

To be honest, Haeri wanted to keep talking and pry into what had happened with Jeong Mok. But he really had no time.

Since it was difficult to take Gom-i on the bus or in a taxi, he had to walk back quickly. It seemed he should buy a bicycle at least. Bowing his head toward the old man who waved, he turned back the way he had come. The exhausted Gom-i kept glancing back from time to time. Whenever he did, Haeri also looked back, and it seemed even Janggun was looking this way with reluctance as he left. As if the two oversized cowards had reached some kind of understanding.

“We can come again next time. Let’s go.”

He coaxed the very reluctant Gom-i to head back. He must have hurried too much, because when they arrived at the convenience store, there were still about thirty minutes left.

“You’re back early. Dinner?”

“I didn’t eat.”

“Then how about some ramen? Go pick something from the stockroom. I’ll take a small one, you get a big one.”

“Sounds good.”

Already hungry, Haeri happily went to the stockroom and grabbed two cup ramens from the oversupply. When he brought them with hot water to the deck table, the owner came out with wooden chopsticks. While the ramen was cooking, Haeri took out the dog food always kept in the convenience store, filled Gom-i’s bowl, and poured fresh water. Gom-i finished it all in an instant, then flopped onto the cushion at the edge of the deck. His drooping eyes showed he was about to fall asleep.

“How far did you go to wear the dog out like that?”

“The neighborhood where I used to live.”

Haeri answered as he peeled open the ramen lid.

“Smells great.”

They devoured the ramen in no time. The owner lit a cigarette after his meal, and Haeri mixed in a pack of instant rice and scraped the broth clean. As he patted his stomach, the conversation with the old man earlier came back to him.

“By the way, boss. What does it mean when someone suddenly says congratulations about a person you know?”

“What are you talking about?”

The owner, cigarette in hand, looked at him. Haeri explained, stripping away the details and leaving only the bare bones, that someone had said congratulations about someone he knew.

“Maybe he got a job?”

“He already had one.”

“Then it’s marriage.”

“What?”

That was completely unexpected. Marriage? Jeong Mok?

“But he doesn’t have a girlfriend.”

“Maybe you just didn’t know?”

Something flashed through his mind then. The person who had called Jeong Mok. It had definitely been a woman. She had asked to meet, and Jeong Mok had been very annoyed.

“There was a woman chasing after him.”

“Really? Was she good-looking? Wealthy?”

“He looks like an actor and he’s tall. He’s very rich, has four cars and a two-story house of his own.”

“Then it’s a hundred percent. The woman chased him until she caught him. Maybe they had an accident? If he’s getting married suddenly without telling anyone. Usually, when the man doesn’t like the woman, he drags it out while acting like a bachelor, then if something happens, he ends up having to marry.”

The owner sounded convinced. Jeong Mok, marrying because of a shotgun wedding? Haeri was so shocked he could not close his mouth. So much so that he completely forgot the old man had mentioned hearing it from the news.

“But he’s not like that.”

“No one ever really knows what’s inside a person.”

It was such a common saying, yet it struck him vividly. He truly realized he knew nothing about Jeong Mok. He had imagined things as he pleased and judged as he pleased. He should have asked more directly. Though he wondered if Jeong Mok would have answered even if he had.

Seeing Haeri’s shocked face, the owner clicked his tongue, stubbed out his cigarette, and stood up.

“Time’s up, I’m heading in.”

“Yes. I’ll clean this up. Good night.”

No sooner had the owner gone home than customers began pouring in. Pointing out the locations of items, working the register, restocking shelves. Haeri was too busy to keep thinking about Jeong Mok.

***

In the dark parking lot of a cafe that had closed early, a black sedan slid in and stopped. The driver, who skillfully turned the car to face the road, cut the engine and stepped out. A man well over 190 centimeters tall, dressed in a black suit, melted into the shadows cast by the car and building. His gaze was fixed on the convenience store across the diagonal, its lights still on.

1:07 a.m.

He used to arrive just before two. But on some days Haeri was already gone after work. From then on he deliberately started coming around one. When there was time to spare, Haeri was often sitting at the small table set on the deck. Holding his phone sideways, he moved both thumbs with deep concentration as if he were gaming, then hurriedly stood up whenever a customer came.

Unlike the bright scene across the street, this side was engulfed in darkness. The only light that flickered on and off was the phone screen inside the heavily tinted car. Notifications piled one after another across the spotless glass surface of the screen. Most came from overseas branches in distant time zones, but among them were also urgent emails from domestic branches. Some even sent follow-up personal messages requesting immediate confirmation.

Jeong Mok’s gaze stayed fixed only on the convenience store across the street. A late reply would not cause any real issue. If a problem arose, that in itself would only prove the organization was sloppy and incompetent, so it was better for such a company to collapse early.

Unlike himself, whose complexion had worsened and jawline sharpened, Haeri’s face looked rounder and brighter than before. He was normally cheerful when greeting customers, and at times he even smiled radiantly while petting Gom-i.

It should have been a relief that there was no trace of suffering. Yet strangely his mood sank. This was not the way he had wished him to be.

‘Pathetic loser.’

To see himself harboring such lowly hope proved he carried Jeong Yeongil’s blood. He had cut off the relationship harshly, even hurting him, yet far from letting go, he was now secretly stalking. He knew it was a crime, but he could not endure it if he did not see Haeri’s face at least once every two days. Was this what withdrawal symptoms from addiction felt like?

He etched Haeri’s cheerful and lively figure into his retinas. When he poured a glass of whiskey into his fatigue-worn body, that same Haeri would come to him. Throwing off his clothes, spreading his smooth white thighs, straddling his waist, and seducing him with lewd eyes. He was finding it harder and harder to fight off these delusions that only a lunatic would have.

He should not be watching him at all. His head knew it, but his body would not comply. By the time he regained awareness, he was already here.

Bzzz.

The phone vibrated again. It was not the one fixed in the dashboard holder. Jeong Mok reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the phone with the broken screen. He needed to get it repaired but had not found the time. No one knew this number except people he had known before becoming vice president of Hyeonsan, but recently one more person had been added.

–Sorry for the late hour. This is Chief Ahn.

Chief Ahn was someone Choi Sangeon had vouched for as trustworthy, entrusted with unofficial work and covert investigations in gray areas. He was not actually the secretary general, but since he handled everything including illegal affairs as a closest aide, he was called chief and treated the same as a secretary general with ten years’ experience.

–The additional investigation on Hongil Trading Company is complete. Sending the report.

A text document was attached beneath the short message.

The moment he saw the words Hongil Trading Company, Jeong Mok opened the file. He could not read it properly because of the cracked screen, so he had no choice but to forward it to his work phone and open it there.

Hongil Trading Company was the workplace of the late Lee Sangjin. Lee Sangjin had been Haeri’s classmate through elementary, middle, and high school. The two had run away together in their second year of middle school and were later expelled together for lack of attendance. Because of that, Haeri remained a middle school graduate to this day.

But not Lee Sangjin. Though the education office records listed him as a middle school graduate because of the joint expulsion, the resume kept at Hongil Trading Company said he had graduated from Media High School in Gyeonggi Province. There was even a copy of a diploma. But according to Chief Ahn’s investigation, he did not appear in that year’s Media High School graduation album. It was academic fraud.

That was not the only illegal act Lee Sangjin had committed or been involved in.

Hongil Trading Company itself was a shady business. On the surface it was listed as importing miscellaneous manufactured goods through Incheon Port. But the company president was a mid-level boss in an Incheon-based crime syndicate, and the employees all carried fraud and assault convictions like badges of honor. No matter how one looked at it, it was a front company.