By Zephyria Whether the news of the closure had spread among the students by word of mouth, more customers than usual flocked to the store, even on its last day. Apparently, someone had posted the closure notice on the university’s anonymous community app. With the start of the new semester just weeks away, the Shop Owner, who was busily carrying charcoal briquettes, seemingly hadn’t expected such a crowd and eventually teared up.
It wasn’t just the Shop Owner couple’s culinary skills that had kept the place going for so long. Although he hadn’t had any personal conversations with them, quite a few customers offered Ryu Jeong farewell greetings filled with regret. After bowing deeply to the last customers who left with warm wishes, Ryu Jeong returned alone to clear the tables. The Shop Owner, who had just finished washing his hands, smiled wryly and said,
“You’ve worked hard all this time, Ryu Jeong.”
“You’ve worked hard too, Shop Owner. And your wife as well.”
“Seeing all the customers leave like that… I feel a mix of relief and regret.”
The Shop Owner sniffled, seemingly embarrassed, and rolled up his sleeves. After clearing the tables with him, the Shop Owner’s wife, who had been tidying up the kitchen, asked if he wouldn’t like to eat before heading to his cafe job, though it was a bit late. He was a little pressed for time before heading to his cafe job, but he couldn’t refuse the kindness, which might be the last, so he reluctantly sat down at the table.
“If you ever crave chicken ribs, don’t bother buying them from another place, just give us a call. We’ll pack them up and send them to you by courier, even if it’s just for our Ryu Jeong.”
It was the last day of business, and they hadn’t planned on continuing into the evening, so they hadn’t stocked up on many ingredients. Nevertheless, what the Shop Owner’s wife brought out for him to eat was an amount of chicken ribs that didn’t seem like leftovers at all. Ryu Jeong noticed that she had deliberately set aside a portion for him and nodded, blinking hard to hide his stinging eyes.
“Since you’re not working anymore… isn’t your daughter happy?”
“Oh, you don’t even have to ask. She’s thrilled. Ever since she was little, she’s been singing about how she wished her mom and dad would stop working and stay home. Our son-in-law says we should go on trips to nice places more often from now on. Even if it’s just empty words, it’s nice to hear.”
The Shop Owner’s wife smiled, personally serving him a portion of the steaming chicken ribs. Having worked in front of the stove for so long, her hands were covered in various burns as she handed him the plate.
“We don’t live far away, so I’m planning to go over and help with the housework from time to time. When my grandchild gets a little older and starts going to daycare, I’ll take them there and pick them up instead.”
“Hey, are you going to be taking care of kids at your age?”
“Well, she’s my daughter, who else would do it?”
The Shop Owner made a large wrap and spoke gruffly, while the Shop Owner’s wife, who had been speaking with a gentle face, glared at him. Even though they were closing down, seeing them bickering as usual made him smile involuntarily.
As he smiled and picked up his spoon, the Shop Owner’s wife, who had been watching Ryu Jeong closely, spoke to him cautiously.
“Ryu Jeong, what are you planning to do now?”
“…Pardon?”
Ryu Jeong’s eyes widened at the sudden question. The Shop Owner’s wife pushed a plate of side dishes towards him and continued,
“Well, we’re at the age where we should be preparing for retirement and enjoying the rest of our lives, but you’re just starting out. Have you… thought about going to university?”
The Shop Owner’s wife, watching Ryu Jeong’s reaction, seemed worried that she might have offended him. It was a question that showed she had chosen each word carefully.
Since all three of them had been so busy, they had rarely had deep conversations other than exchanging brief greetings. It was usually just asking if they had eaten, so the rather profound question was simply bewildering.
Ryu Jeong hesitated to answer, glancing at the Shop Owner. The Shop Owner, who was silently moving his chopsticks, didn’t seem interested in their conversation, but judging from the fact that he didn’t say anything, he seemed curious as well. Ryu Jeong rolled his eyes back and forth before lowering his gaze to the pure white rice. It was probably just a coincidence, but hearing a similar question for the second time, following Lee Do-hyeon, made him feel strange.
“Ryu Jeong, you may have your own reasons, but you’re only twenty-three, don’t you think it’s a waste of time to keep working part-time like this?”
The Shop Owner’s wife, who had no idea that Ryu Jeong had a debt of hundreds of millions of won, was genuinely worried about him. A cynical thought crossed his mind – would she say the same thing if she knew about his debt? – but he was touched by the sincere concern of the adults.
At the same time, Lee Do-hyeon’s offer came to mind once again.
“……”
Would he be in his future?
Ryu Jeong, meeting the Shop Owner’s wife’s eyes, simply smiled instead of answering. The Shop Owner’s wife didn’t ask anything more. The three of them continued their last meal in a quiet atmosphere. It was an ordinary meal, just like it had always been, nothing special.
He made a mistake at the cafe and got his clothes dirty. While transferring the blended smoothie into a cup, he dropped the blender, soaking not only his apron but also the sweatshirt he was wearing underneath. As a result, he had to throw away all the drinks he had made and make new ones, and he had to apologize to the waiting customers several times because the orders were piling up.
The reason why Ryu Jeong, who almost never made mistakes, had such a major accident was not simply because his hand had slipped. The words of Lee Do-hyeon and the Shop Owner’s wife kept swirling in his head, making it impossible for him to concentrate on his work. His head was already a mess, and then he had an accident, making him feel pathetic beyond endurance.
After finishing work, Ryu Jeong, driven by the driver, went to Wolhyeon-dong and changed his clothes at his house on the hillside. The clothes he had moved to Lee Do-hyeon’s house a few days ago had all been thrown into the used clothing collection bin as soon as he bought new clothes, so Ryu Jeong changed into the most plain-colored top among the clothes hanging in the dressing room. It was a stroke of luck that he had brought one set of clothes with him, just in case.
And Ryu Jeong had no idea that it would be the root of all evil.
“…Huh…”
Ryu Jeong, who went to the convenience store to work, paused when he saw that no one was there, and was startled when he saw the face of the person coming out of the warehouse.
“What is it? You’re making me feel bad.”
It was Noh Hee-cheol, not the Shop Owner, who was guarding the convenience store. Noh Hee-cheol’s face, which had been indifferent, suddenly contorted, as if he was offended by Ryu Jeong’s sudden stop upon seeing him.
Why was Noh Hee-cheol here now? It was quite awkward that Noh Hee-cheol, who almost never arrived on time for his shifts, was guarding the convenience store even though it wasn’t his working hours. He glanced inside the warehouse, wondering if he was there with the Shop Owner.
“Where’s the CEO?”
“I don’t know. He said he was busy. He went to meet some city council member.”
He didn’t know whether he knew or not. Either way, it meant that he was filling in for the Shop Owner, who was away. Ryu Jeong nodded slightly, understanding that much, and stepped inside the counter to get his uniform. He just had to go in and put his arms through the vest, but Noh Hee-cheol, as if he was in a hurry, shook his legs crookedly and urged Ryu Jeong.
“Hurry up and change and come out. I have an appointment and I have to leave soon. Ah, I’m so busy, but my dad was being a pain in the ass, so I postponed my appointment. Ah, it’s so annoying.”
He had to move out of the way for him to get in. He couldn’t understand why he was waiting without leaving right away, even though he hardly ever wore his uniform, as he put it, because his ‘pride was hurt’. Ryu Jeong, moving sideways through the narrow counter, barely entered the warehouse where Noh Hee-cheol had been standing a moment ago.
“What is it? Did Hyung buy new clothes?”
No, he was about to go in. If it hadn’t been for Noh Hee-cheol, who suddenly stopped Ryu Jeong with a question.
“I didn’t buy them… I got them as a gift.”
“Who? A friend? Does Hyung even have friends?”
“Ah, well… yeah. I’ll change my clothes and come out.”
Since he was his boyfriend, he guessed he was a friend… Ryu Jeong swallowed the embarrassing thought he couldn’t say out loud and tried to end the conversation.
But Noh Hee-cheol didn’t let Ryu Jeong go so easily. He had been staring at him listlessly, wondering why he was wearing something other than a hoodie, but his eyes widened when he saw the backpack hanging on Ryu Jeong’s back.
“What about the bag?”
“…Huh?”
“Don’t tell me you got the bag as a gift too?”
His hand shot out before he could even speak. Noh Hee-cheol grabbed the ring on the backpack as if grabbing Ryu Jeong by the scruff of the neck and pulled it back sharply. Ryu Jeong, who almost fell backward from the pulling force, turned to Noh Hee-cheol with wide eyes. He didn’t even have time to get angry. He tried to back away from the face that had suddenly gotten so close, but the force holding the bag was so strong that he couldn’t even budge.
“Why, why are you doing this?”
“Is this a fake? Where did you get it? Wow, how can a fake look so real? Did you go abroad somewhere? This isn’t a size you can find in Korea, is it? Did you buy it from some fake market or something?”
There was a hint of doubt in Noh Hee-cheol’s voice. Unlike fake leather, the outer skin had a subtle sheen, the logo was perfectly aligned, and above all, it felt quite heavy even when considering the contents, as if it was really made of genuine cowhide. He had been wondering why someone who had been wearing clothes that looked like they had been lying on the street for years was wearing clothes that were obviously brand new, and now he was wearing a bag that was a perfect fake, so he couldn’t help but be surprised.
“Wow… I really want it.”
Noh Hee-cheol, who tended to spend lavishly compared to his income, usually wrapped himself in luxury goods that didn’t suit him. Of course, few of them were genuine, and most were A-grade fakes. He was proud of the fact that he had found something that didn’t look fake, so he was beside himself with envy when he saw Ryu Jeong’s bag, which looked even more real than his own.
He said that it wasn’t just A-grade, but S-grade, and Noh Hee-cheol was so excited about the bag that he forgot he had an appointment. He confidently rattled on about how even if he put it up for sale on a used goods website, pretending it was genuine, no one would ever find out unless they had it appraised, even though it was clearly a criminal act.
If this went on, he might ask him to sell it to him, saying, “What does it matter if it’s fake?” Ryu Jeong, unable to understand Noh Hee-cheol, who was so excited that his face was flushed red, barely managed to snatch the bag from Noh Hee-cheol’s grasp and retreated towards the warehouse, afraid that he might be snatched away. Noh Hee-cheol, as if regretting that he couldn’t see it anymore, strode closer.
“Pretty my ass, it’s so damn pretty. Ah, Hyung probably doesn’t know, does he? The real one costs about five hundred, right? No, more than that.”
“…Five, five hundred?”
“It depends on the size, but this one would easily go for seven hundred.”
An astronomical amount of money flowed from Noh Hee-cheol’s mouth. Ryu Jeong thought he had misheard, but even after hearing it again, it was an unbelievable price. He even said that the one he was carrying was more expensive because it wasn’t small. Hearing that, the weight on his shoulders felt even heavier. That was because this was one of the things that Lee Do-hyeon had chosen for him to carry around ‘lightly’.
How could a bag be so expensive? Of course, he had expected it to be quite expensive compared to the clothes he had worn in his life, but he didn’t expect it to be so absurdly expensive. If the bag was this expensive, what about the clothes? He seemed to hear a whooshing sound, as if the blood was draining from his face. He couldn’t close his mouth and just blinked blankly, and then he met Noh Hee-cheol’s eyes, which were filled with greed as he licked his lips.
“Why are you making that face?”
Suspicion immediately flew at him. Noh Hee-cheol looked at Ryu Jeong’s unusual expression and scanned him up and down. Of course, if someone who didn’t know much about luxury goods heard that a bag cost seven hundred, they might be surprised, but Ryu Jeong’s reaction was somehow a little different.
Come to think of it, there were more than one or two strange things. He hadn’t noticed it before, but even the sneakers that Ryu Jeong was wearing were all new. Did he get all of this as a gift? As he muttered to himself, he raised his eyes and saw Ryu Jeong, looking wary, meeting his eyes with a startled expression.
“I, I really got it as a gift.”
“You got all the clothes and the bag as a gift?”
Ryu Jeong, as if hesitating for a moment, nodded slowly. Noh Hee-cheol, tilting his head crookedly, carefully examined his complexion, which had somehow become glossy. Could it be that it wasn’t a fake? The thought suddenly popped into his head that he should check it himself.
“Ah! Why, why are you doing this?”
“Ah, let me just take a look.”
Noh Hee-cheol reached out his hand without hesitation. Ryu Jeong, who was dragged along as he was, could only struggle without being able to stop Noh Hee-cheol from opening the bag zipper and rummaging through the inside. Noh Hee-cheol, not stopping there, even stuck his hand inside Ryu Jeong’s neck.
The lukewarm and damp hand scratched his nape and back, and then he grabbed the tag as if he was about to tear the clothes apart. Neither the bag nor the clothes had the ‘tag replacement’ marks that were unique to fakes, and the angle of the brand logo was not distorted at all. It meant that it wasn’t a fake that looked like a genuine product, but a genuine product.
“Where did you get it?”
Taking advantage of the gap where his strength had loosened, Ryu Jeong quickly broke away from Noh Hee-cheol. Of course, he couldn’t leave the convenience store and go home, so all he could do was go into the warehouse and be wary. He felt a sense of shame at the unpleasant touch. Ryu Jeong, barely exhaling his trembling breath, stubbornly repeated the same answer.
“I told you, I got it as a gift.”
“No, you fucking bastard. Do you really think I’m a retard? Who would just give something that costs over five hundred as a gift? To someone like you. Are you kidding me? It’s so ridiculous.”
Ha! Noh Hee-cheol, who let out a big laugh, glared at him with fierce eyes. Ryu Jeong, holding tightly to the handle on the warehouse door, swallowed hard. When he thought about the prices of the clothes piled up in the dressing room, which he had never even worn out once, his hands trembled, but his priority was to avoid Noh Hee-cheol, who was overly angry.
He couldn’t understand why he was so angry. He had been so envious when he thought it was a fake, but when he found out that it might be genuine, he completely changed and attacked him as if he had been betrayed.
Ryu Jeong glanced at the emergency call button visible on the side of Noh Hee-cheol, and then became aware of the cell phone he had put in his pocket. Would it be better to report it to the police? He was just being a little threatening, and he hadn’t been beaten, so would the police even accept it?
“…Ah, this fucking bastard.”
As he rolled his eyes back and forth, a harsh curse popped out of Noh Hee-cheol’s mouth. Ryu Jeong flinched and raised his eyes. He thought he was talking to him, but Noh Hee-cheol was looking at his cell phone, which was vibrating violently. He pressed the call button nervously, and before the person on the other end could even open his mouth, he shouted.
“Ah, you fucking bastard. I’m going! I’m going! Stop calling me! Do you have diarrhea? You’re not even a dog, you’re looking for me so much, really.”
A roar no less than Noh Hee-cheol’s came from the other end of the receiver. Noh Hee-cheol, who added another round of curses to it, looked at Ryu Jeong, who was frozen stiff, and gritted his teeth as if telling him to wait and see.
“I have so many questions, but I have to go now, so I’m just going for now. Tomorrow, no… next time. We’ll talk then.”
Noh Hee-cheol, who warned him with a finger, picked up the cigarette pack and lighter that he had carelessly put down next to the POS and left without looking back.
Afraid that Noh Hee-cheol might come back, Ryu Jeong stood there without moving until another customer came in. The customer, who looked at Ryu Jeong with strange eyes, whose face was pale, paid for the cigarettes and turned around, and only then did Ryu Jeong stagger into the warehouse, put down his bag, and put on his uniform.
There was no contact from the Shop Owner, who had said he was away because he was busy. Ryu Jeong, looking around the empty convenience store where only the faint sound of the radio was echoing, glanced at the bag placed through the crack in the warehouse door that was about to close and sighed deeply. He felt like he had done something wrong for no reason.