#78

Tae-heun happily devoured the duck. The already delicious duck stew tasted even better knowing the youth group president was paying. Unaware of the ulterior motive to exploit his labor, he readily accepted and ate his fill.

As soon as the meal ended, three trucks moved in the same direction—toward one of Kwon Il-taek’s warehouses. The older brothers carefully gathered the necessary materials: circular pipes for support beams and cables to bind them. They claimed they weren’t taking them, just borrowing. The trucks then headed towards Yeoncheon Ajja’s collapsed pigsty.

The pigsty was located in a place best described as a small hill. Built on a little over 100 pyeong of land, the small-scale pigsty looked like it had been used for at least half a century. It was so dilapidated that not only had the left side, with its rotted support beams, completely collapsed, but the right side looked precarious as well.

The pigsty was constructed with wooden beams and a slate roof, and the space for the pigs was simply a crude brick wall plastered with cement. The partitions, built to separate or group the pigs, were also rotten, making it unclear where to even begin repairs.

The older brothers’ claim of having worked on the pigsty all night meant they had only worked to prevent the right side, destabilized by the collapsed left side, from falling. Finding suitable support beams in the rain at night couldn’t have been easy, so their hardship was evident without explanation. Thanks to them, all the pigs survived except for a few injured ones.

The pigs, crammed into a makeshift, narrow pen outside the pigsty, squealed incessantly, creating a deafening noise. It was loud enough to make a man lose his voice.

“How are we supposed to repair this? We need to rebuild it.”

Tae-heun grumbled.

“That’s exactly what I said! Is it even right to exploit people’s labor for free?!”

The youth group president, who had been completely deflated, strongly agreed with Tae-heun, his voice rising in anger.

“Hyungnims, we’re not some volunteer group! Why are we fixing a collapsed pigsty? That’s why I didn’t answer your call yesterday.”

“Shut your mouth, you brat! You’ll have no excuse even with ten mouths!”

The eldest brother barked menacingly. He then pleaded with Tae-heun, the man, and the other four brothers of the “Five Eagles.”

“I’d much rather pay people to do this, I really would. But, as you know, Yeoncheon Ajja had a terrible time with swine fever last year and the year before. He’s in massive debt because of it. If he had the money to fix the pigsty, he would have hired people already. Let’s just lend a hand this once. If we just put up a few proper support beams and do some patching, he can get through the year, right? What’s the point of being good neighbors if you don’t help each other in times of need?”

It wasn’t at all moving. The image of the villagers exploiting the man under the guise of neighborly kindness only fueled his resentment. However, everyone nodded in agreement, comforting each other. They didn’t seem to mind that Kim, the owner of the pigsty, known as Yeoncheon Ajja, was nowhere to be seen.

The work began. As expected, the heavy lifting fell entirely on the man. He carried the circular pipes from the truck bed like Jesus carrying the cross, moving to wherever the older brothers called him. Even though the pipes were hollow and not impossibly heavy for the older brothers to lift, they deliberately made the man, with his leg injury, do it.

“Kim Siljang, Kim Siljang, come here. Why are you doing that?”

When Tae-heun tried to help the man move the pipes, the eldest brother stopped him.

“How is Mr. Ki-beom supposed to move this alone? These people have no conscience.”

“Oh, Kim Siljang, come on. Ki-beom can move it alone, so let him. It’s not that heavy.”

Then, he loudly asked, “Ki-beom, are you tired? Need help?” The man naturally replied, “I’m fine.”

Damn it. Are they serious?

Tae-heun forcefully pulled a pipe from the truck.

“I told you not to do that.”

“Then let the Hyungnims do it. You said it wasn’t heavy.”

He grumbled and followed the man.

Choi Gi-cheol and the Five Eagles were all the same. He thought they were better than Choi Gi-cheol because they took the lead in village work, but they were just as bad when it came to exploiting the man.

The man hung out with them, but he was never truly part of their group. Or rather, they didn’t seem to want him to be. They pretended to be nice to his face, but talked behind his back. All that talk about the kindness of rural people was nonsense. Tae-heun gritted his teeth, devising ways to get back at them.

As soon as the pipes were moved, they started building the support beams. Even the older brothers, who had been watching, had to step in at this point. Once the support beams were in place, they haphazardly crisscrossed the pipes to create the framework of the pigsty.

Choi Gi-cheol, who only pretended to work, was excluded from the heavy lifting. Instead, he was in charge of cleaning the pigsty, but he didn’t even start, instead continuously feigning nausea. He was truly something else.

It was the day after the rain, so the air was thick with humidity. The sky was cloudy, and the temperature wasn’t particularly high, but it was stifling. After some time, when everyone started complaining of hunger, Kim, the owner of the pigsty, appeared. Kim, who lived near the pigsty, seemed indifferent to the struggling youth group members, no matter what he had been doing.

“Come inside and have lunch.”

He said this curtly and turned back.

“Alright, everyone, let’s eat.”

The eldest brother shouted.

Tae-heun was hot and tired and didn’t want to eat, but Kim’s audacity made him follow him inside. He gritted his teeth, thinking, “I’ll eat everything in this damn house.”

But the moment he stepped inside Kim’s house, his resolve vanished. The air was thick with the smell of a bachelor’s home, untouched by ventilation, and dust swirled with every movement. The floor was a mess of carelessly discarded clothes and belongings. And the kitchen? The sink was piled high with unwashed pots and dishes, swarming with flies. The pigsty was a hundred times cleaner.

“Oh, mister. You really need to clean your house. What is this?”

Choi Gi-cheol chimed in with a scolding remark. The older brothers and the man glared at Choi Gi-cheol disapprovingly. For once, Tae-heun was on Choi Gi-cheol’s side. He didn’t even care about the reason behind Kim’s lifestyle. Everyone has their own story.

Tae-heun couldn’t bear to stay inside and went out alone. The man followed him immediately.

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

“I don’t have much of an appetite.”

The words, “My stomach is upset,” were on the tip of his tongue, but he chose a gentler phrasing. The older brothers and Choi Gi-cheol were going to eat inside, and there was no need to make a fuss. Especially since the man was with them.

“It’s instant ramen, it’s quick.”

“It’s okay. Mr. Ki-beom, you should go eat quickly.”

The man looked at Tae-heun worriedly before heading back inside.

He lit a cigarette, watching the pigs squeal. He finished one cigarette and was about to light another when the man reappeared, carefully carrying two bowls of instant beef bone soup ramen. Tae-heun took one, still holding his cigarette.

“Let’s eat outside.”

The man said.

He couldn’t refuse the man, who had gone to the trouble of bringing out ramen just to eat with him.

“Seriously, I’m not going to die from skipping a meal.”

Tae-heun grumbled, and the man added, “Still…”

He wanted to eat as far away from the pigsty as possible, but weeds sprouted everywhere. Worried about the man, who wasn’t wearing a shirt, getting a rash, he settled down near the pigsty, ignoring the smell.

“It’s perfectly cooked.”

The man said with a hint of pleasure.

“It is.”

Tae-heun agreed.

He shouldn’t have said he didn’t have an appetite. He never imagined that hot ramen, without even a cool barley tea to drink, could be so delicious.

“Wow, this is amazing.”

Tae-heun exclaimed, and the man smiled subtly, as if he wasn’t surprised.

As he slurped the noodles and broth, sweat beaded on his forehead. Tae-heun wiped the sweat trickling down his temples with the back of his hand. He glanced at the man, and saw sweat running down his chest. His gaze naturally fell to his cleavage. It was then that he noticed his rather plump nipples. The sight made him choke.

Cough, cough. The spiciness caught in his throat, making him miserable. Tears welled up. Fortunately, the coughing stopped quickly, but the image of the nipple lingered. It wasn’t even his breasts, just his nipples. Everyone has nipples. He had them, the older brothers had them, even Choi Gi-cheol had them.

Why, of all times, did he notice nipples while eating ramen? Even if the man had more developed chest muscles than others, his chest was flat, and even though his nipples were quite plump, the thought of sucking on them crossed his mind.

Damn it. He was restless when the older brothers, having finished their meal, appeared with paper cups. This allowed him to stop thinking about nipples.

“Drink this.”

The older brothers had brought drinks for Tae-heun and the man. It was flat soda, but it was refreshing enough.

“Let’s have a cigarette.”

At the eldest brother’s suggestion, they exchanged cigarettes. Tae-heun was also offered one. The man was naturally excluded.

“Ki-beom doesn’t smoke.”

One of the Five Eagles said.

Officially, that was the case. Since Tae-heun was the only one who smoked with the man, he kept quiet. It was nothing much, but he felt strangely good about having this little privilege.