By Zephyria The shantytown, where redevelopment rumors had been swirling for years, was the only neighborhood Ryu Jeong had ever known since he first arrived in Korea. Now, everyone had left, but back then, it was hard to find an empty house among the many houses packed tightly together. Although everyone was poor, it was an ordinary neighborhood where laughter never ceased.
But now, Ryu Jeong and a few elderly people living alone were the only residents left. There were shops like barbershops and laundromats, but since the shop owners were also residents of the shantytown, more and more shops closed down as they began to leave. The nearest convenience facility was the convenience store where Ryu Jeong worked part-time, but even that was inaccessible to the elderly living in the shantytown with its many hills and stairs.
So Ryu Jeong often volunteered to run errands for the elderly. Most of the time, it was grocery shopping, which was quite a hassle since he had to go back and forth to the market four stops away. Still, he always showed kindness without saying a word. They were more like parents to him than his own father, with whom he had lived.
“Grandmother. Grandmother, are you there?”
After calling out several times without an answer, Ryu Jeong hesitated for a moment before pushing open the gate. Peeking inside, he saw Grandmother completely absorbed in the television. She probably couldn’t hear well and didn’t know he had come.
He cleared his throat and went inside, and only then did Grandmother notice him and turn around.
“Oh, my goodness, you startled me. Are you here now?”
“Yes. I’m a little late. I’ll put the groceries in the fridge.”
Ryu Jeong smiled back at Grandmother, who was smiling gratefully, and strode into the kitchen. The old refrigerator had little inside compared to its size. She said she didn’t have much of an appetite and couldn’t eat much even if she tried, but he couldn’t help but feel bad whenever he saw it.
“Is there anything else you need?”
“What else would I need? Jeong, you change the light bulbs and sweep the yard. You do everything every time you come.”
“Still, please tell me if you need anything. I’ll help you.”
Grandmother nodded, saying she understood, then suddenly clapped her hands and urgently pointed outside.
“Oh, I almost forgot. There’s a bag outside. Take it with you when you go.”
Looking outside, there was indeed a black bag. It looked quite heavy, and when he wondered what it was, he found several ripe red apples inside.
“Apples?”
“Yes, the man upstairs left them, and when I tried one, it was crisp and delicious.”
“Why don’t you eat them all, Grandmother?”
“I’m too old to dislocate my jaw. I’ve eaten enough. Take them all and eat them later.”
He knew she was just saying that to give them to him. He tried to refuse, but he had no choice but to take the bag because Grandmother was so insistent. He bowed his head in thanks, and she waved her hand, telling him to go and rest.
Ryu Jeong carefully closed the open window one last time and left the house. He didn’t forget to remind her to lock up well.
Old Lady Jeong’s house wasn’t far from Ryu Jeong’s. It was just a complicated route. After winding through the complicated alleyways, climbing the worn-out stairs, and delving into another narrow, sloping alley, he saw the familiar green gate. The gate, which he had painted himself not long ago, was the gate to Ryu Jeong’s house.
He habitually checked his watch and saw that he had exactly two hours to sleep, just as he had expected. After finishing his night shift, Ryu Jeong would get a little sleep and then work a serving job at a chicken rib restaurant in the university district. He only worked briefly during the busiest lunch hours, so at three o’clock, he would throw off his red apron and head straight to the café across the street. After a five-hour shift, he would go back home and take a nap before going to work at the convenience store.
There was a reason why Ryu Jeong was saving sleep to earn money. It was because of his father. His father, who had been holed up in the Philippines for years, addicted to gambling, came to Korea and started borrowing from illegal private lenders. He used that money to pay off his debts in the Philippines, and then he frequented gambling dens again to pay off his debts in Korea.
Ryu Jeong, who thought he was just drinking a little, didn’t know he was spending his time in gambling dens. On the day he graduated from middle school, he received two pieces of news. One was that his father had died after being run over by a car while sleeping on the street, and the other was that he had to pay off all his debts.
“…….”
Ryu Jeong paused as he was about to take out his padlock key. The door, which he had clearly locked last night, was slightly open for some reason. In a shantytown where there was nothing to steal, the number of people who would force their way in was limited.
Ryu Jeong sighed deeply. His sleep was gone. He was so tired that he could have fallen asleep as soon as he lay down, but his mind became clear as if he had been splashed with cold water. The cause of his troublesome labor was just across the door.
“Is this bastard not coming in today? Should we just go?”
“Ha, I came all the way up here with so much effort.”
Harsh voices crossed over the gate. He could run away and hide until they left, but Ryu Jeong knew all too well that would only make things worse for himself. After mentally preparing himself, he cautiously pushed open the gate.
“Yo, you’re here.”
“…….”
The scene that greeted him was utterly miserable. Men in gaudy shirts were smoking cigarettes in the yard as if it were a designated smoking area. One of them was standing on the porch without taking off his shoes, peering into the closed door.
Unable to go in, unable to run away. He stood there, unable to do anything, when the man who had been rummaging around on the porch jumped down and approached him in an instant. The man’s open mouth reeked of stale cigarette smoke.
“Aren’t you going to greet us?”
“…Hello.”
“Not a good hello.”
The man replied as if Ryu Jeong was the reason for his discomfort. Come in. As Ryu Jeong stood there, unable to choose his words and intimidated, the man gestured with his chin as if doing him a favor. He even stepped aside to make space.
“I… I only have water to drink…”
“Do you think we came here to chat with you?”
“But… it’s only the 25th…”
He thought he was mistaken, but today was definitely the 25th. That meant they shouldn’t be here for another six days.
When he replied in a barely audible voice, the man let out a loud, hollow laugh. Then, he raised his fingers and pressed them hard against Ryu Jeong’s forehead. Ryu Jeong’s thin body swayed greatly, but the man didn’t stop.
“I know, you bastard. I know it’s the 25th. But the 31st is a Sunday.”
“Then… come then.”
“The Lord’s Day, you bastard. The Lord’s Day.”
The man finally made Ryu Jeong fall over. Ryu Jeong barely managed to stand up on his trembling legs. The man scratched his nose, grabbed Ryu Jeong’s arm tightly, and stepped onto the porch with his shoes on. Ryu Jeong, who was forcibly dragged up, was pushed against the door. His back hurt as it slammed against the fist-sized padlock.
“Open it.”
Ryu Jeong opened the padlock as the man instructed. The man strode into the darkened room and urged Ryu Jeong to hurry up. Reluctantly, Ryu Jeong opened a drawer on one side of the room. A moment later, a crumpled paper bag was in Ryu Jeong’s hand.
“Three short?”
The man opened the bag on the spot. He licked his fingertips and flipped through the bills one by one, then looked at Ryu Jeong with a puzzled expression. It was the reaction he had expected, but his mouth felt parched.
“I… I had to buy medicine…”
“What medicine?”
“Hey, let’s go. Can’t you tell? He looks like he’s about to break. He must be sick or something.”
As Ryu Jeong hesitated, only moving his lips, the man in the yard impatiently urged them on. Hearing those words, the man finally looked Ryu Jeong up and down. He seemed displeased, but he readily backed down, as if he thought it made sense.
It wasn’t wrong. He was often sick, and more than that, he didn’t have the money to buy suppressants because he had to pay for Noh Hee-cheol’s hangover cure. He breathed a sigh of relief, but as the man was about to turn around and leave, he suddenly grabbed Ryu Jeong’s wrist.
“Ah…!”
“What’s this on your hand?”
His wrist hurt so much that he dropped the bag he had been holding tightly until then. The man laughed in disbelief when he saw the apples spilling onto the floor.
“I haven’t hit you in a while, and you’re living like you’ve lost your mind? You even have the luxury of buying fruit.”
Before he could make an excuse, a fist flew and struck him. He barely had time to clutch his stomach when he was kicked in the shoulder this time. It was a luxury to hope that someone would stop them. The men who had come with him were all in the same gang. They all said, “There he goes again,” threw down their finished cigarettes, and lit new ones.
“I’m only doing this much because I feel sorry for you.”
Ka-ak, spit. He spat a thick wad of phlegm next to Ryu Jeong’s face, who was lying on the ground, pouring out his anger as if he had something to vent. If he felt sorry for him, he shouldn’t have hit him in the first place. Ryu Jeong averted his gaze from the liquid pooling on the yellow linoleum and closed his eyes tightly.
“You know you’ll have to pay late fees for the three you’re missing today, right? Do your math and pay on time.”
He nudged Ryu Jeong’s head with his toe, picked up an apple, and bit into it with a crunch. Then he strode out. He didn’t even receive the greeting that he had forced Ryu Jeong to give him when he came in.
“Ha…….”
His beaten body hurt, but he was making sounds of air leaking from his mouth. He found it funny that he thought he was lucky that it was only this much, as the man had said. Had he become accustomed to being beaten so much? Even in this situation, he was still sleepy. He thought about just sleeping as he was, but Ryu Jeong chose to get up. Noh Hee-cheol was enough to be late because of sleeping.